Fall Affair 2010 on-site registration

It was definitely different being at the park a little earlier this year. I think there were pros and cons to that, of course, and which category you ranked things in probably depends on whether or not you were interested in the water park. :)

But was I the only one who thought all three coasters have definitely seen better days? Legend which is usually my least favorite ran the smoothest in my opinion. I have never landed so rough at the bottom of the second hill on Voyage that I can remember. And Raven which usually makes me smile the entire time, felt like it was jack hammering to me. They were definitely not my best rides. I wonder if anyone shares that experience.

Voyage was a little rougher in spots compared to HWN (last time I was there), noticed some hammering on a few of the crossovers but nothing too bad. Legend seemed about the same, but Raven seemed faster than at HWN.

I disagree on the "seen better days" comment though, as I thought the slight increase in rough^h^h^h^h^hintensity made both Voyage and Raven a bit better :) Of course, I'm the only person in our group that likes (liked?) Son of Beast (in small doses, spread throughout the day).

Voyage did indeed have an extra-slamming effect on all three big hills, but I thought that contrasted perfectly with the oh-so-nice floater airtime across the top of the hills (in the back seat). Especially the second hill... you'd sail over the top, held down by the restraint all the way to about 2/3 down, then *WHAM!!* at the end :D Good stuff!

I thought Raven was running perfectly... I didn't notice any jackhammering, although there was a little bit of shuffling in the back half. But it just added to the intensity!

Legend was glass smooth except for the bottom of the second hill, where there looked to be new wood.

Voyage was as brutal as ever (thats a good thing). There was a bit of roughness at the bottom of the large hills, but nothing that detracted from the ride by any means.

Also, my mom is one of those who calls it Voyager. And she kept calling herself out on it after Pat's comments! haha

I agree with Valleyfair Raven was in top form. Legend was the best rides I have ridden with the exception of the second drop, I also noticed the new wood and made a comment to Scotty it wasn't broken in yet.

Voyage was great as always, I find car 5 row 2 to be the best rides, extreme floater air and less severe at the bottom of the drops, just my opinion.

Raven 5 laps
Legend 5 laps
Voyage 59 laps

Had a great time and a nice chat with Pat.
Thanks Jeff and GOCC and of course Holiday World for this event.

I really shouldn't have included Legend in the mix. It was running pretty well; I'm just not a huge fan of lateral G's.

But Raven and Voyage were noticeably rougher. I get the difference between intensity and roughness and jack hammering qualifies as the latter. I'm the one who thoroughly enjoyed the Voyage rides in the pouring rain last year, too. Something just seemed off for me for both of these coasters this year.

That's a shame. All three were running amazingly for HWN. Voyage was actually not as rough as it was in 2008, and I finally decided that I liked Raven (Ended the trip on Raven for 5 rides, was running insane, and not rough).

I can't vouch for Raven and Legend as I only took 1 and 2 rides respectively, but for Voyage I noticed it rougher than in years past at HWN earlier this year, but thought it was better for this event after my 7 laps. I could only make it 4 or 5 laps during HWN before succumbing to a headache.

What baffled me were the select few people that insisted on riding one color train over another. I honestly didn't care, I just like to friggin' ride! And preferably in a row that allows me to re-ride. Still, I can't wait for the Timberliners!

~Rob

HeyIsntThatRob? said:
What baffled me were the select few people that insisted on riding one color train over another. I honestly didn't care, I just like to friggin' ride!

~Rob

And you call yourself an enthusiast.

I'm with you - I just wanna ride. Can a human actually notice the 1 second difference between trains that was noted earlier?

There was a debate during HWN about the 2 trains and how different they were. I rode both trains, in many different seats, and neither myself nor anyone in my traveling party (some of which are far more hardcore than I) could tell any difference.

I've visited Holiday World pretty regularly throughout the season, and thought the Voyage was running impeccably on Saturday. True, this does lead to being on the receiving end of some wild physics, but I honestly didn't have a bad ride the entire day/night. Not only did all three seem to be running as fast as possible, but on the Voyage especially, I never had one bad seat--even in the third or fourth car there was plenty of airtime.

On the flip side, the Legend was probably my favorite for HWN, but Saturday it seemed rougher than normal, and the least re-ridable. (Of course, my least favorite at Holiday World is still one of my all-around favorites.)

All in all, a great event with plenty of ERT and some great Voyage rides in the dark. Thanks for everybody who put this together.

I thought Raven was a little rough in the back half, while Legend was much better in the second half than the first, and I've never seen that before. The helix ran incredibly well.

Voyage was a little rough in the climbs out of the first few hills, but the second half was really pretty excellent. Aggressive as always, but great. I didn't do a ton of laps on any of them, so your seat/train may vary.

I sat in the Timberliner, but it wouldn't go anywhere. :)

Get out and push?

~Rob

Jeff said:

I sat in the Timberliner, but it wouldn't go anywhere. :)

What was your immediate impression?

"Why won't these darn things move?" ;)

My personal impression for HWN is that they're comfy. But the trains on the ride weren't uncomfortable, so...

My impression? Holy crap is this comfortable. And if I put my hands up, I won't get bruised ribs. Or bruised anything. They feel both open and protective at the same time. I also have a better appreciation for what the testing involves, and why it would be unlikely that they'd ever pull a Maurer Sohne.

The irony is that comment is that HRRR is the first ride that came to mind when I hopped into the Timberliner....

Of course, while it probably doesn't need to be said - I was comparing lapbars (something I myself know a little about), and not car couplings (something I rely on Dave to explain, LOL).

I was musing about this over on Pointbuzz, so please forgive the redundancy, but for those of you who have sat in the new trains, does the restraint design allow for any out-of-seat airtime, or are you tightly snug between the seat and the lap belt, and consequently will only feel upward force?

I thought that Raven was running in fine form; I have ridden that one when it was faster, when it was slower, and when it was rougher, but on Saturday it seemed that while it was not running its fastest or wildest, it was running really, really well..

The Legend seemed to me to be running slower than normal, but very smoothly by its own standard.

The Voyage was running great. I have had wilder rides on it, but I have also had much rougher rides on it. It seemed to be performing consistently, in both trains, though I never rode it up front. I remember a few years ago it was beating people pretty badly in the third car but otherwise doing okay; no reports of that this time around. It was banging and hammering a bit at the bottoms of the first, second, fifth and seventh drops, but it really wasn't bad. By comparison, at HoliWood Nights this year it wasn't banging around at the bottoms of those drops, but the "potholes" on the way up the second hill and at the top of the third hill were really pretty bad. Those are completely gone now. In all, the Voyage is running better at the end of this season than a lot of major wood coasters run at the beginning of their seasons. I mean, the Voyage was hammering a bit, but I didn't see anyone avoiding rear axle seats because of it. That speaks volumes right there.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I've yet to get on any ride that produced airtime negated by the restraint. Not one.

Well, it sounds like at least a few others noticed a "difference" in Raven and there's some consistent experience in the banging/hammering at the bottom of the big drops of Voyage.

I mean, the Voyage was hammering a bit, but I didn't see anyone avoiding rear axle seats because of it. That speaks volumes right there.

That really doesn't negate my experience of it, though. And if I was experiencing it, maybe others were, too. Just because you didn't see or hear anyone referring to it, doesn't mean it didn't happen.

It sounds to me like maybe others did experience it, but it didn't deter them from riding. That's all I wanted to know.