Great Escape first time!

Finally got to ride Comet! This is a top 10 coaster for me. I've waited so long to ride it. The park was great, lots of trees and some hills. All the trees reminds me of Great Adventure (but better managed..)

The Comet has quite a history...

What else did you do? Did you just ride the Comet?

Tell us more! :)

I always thought that Great Adventure's trees were very well managed...

Am I the only one who thinks the Comet is a so-so ride? It is fast, but it just doesn't do it for me. The layout is similar to the Phoenix, but a bomb would have to off under my seat to get any negative g's. I have been there 5 times since it was built, I've ridden it at night, during the day. Other enthusiasts that were there were raving about it, even Paul Greenwald, who was the biggest Comet fan ever, since lived near Crystal Beach.

I have heard about the re-profiling and tracking it with southern yellow pine (inferior, compared with superior Douglas Fur) and haven't been since.

The park itself is charming , but not enough to bring me back unless they add another coaster. Please let me know if any of you feel the same way.

By the way, my favorite woodies are:

1. Coney Island Cyclone

2. The Legend

3. Boulderdash

4. Phoenix

5. Giant Dipper (Santa Cruz)

6. Twister

7. The Beast

8. Georgia Cyclone

9. Coaster (Playland BC)

10.Wildcat (Hershey)

The Comet was a topic of debate even before the changes were made in the past few years. Some people rave about the Comet being the ultimate wood coaster, claiming it is even better than Knoebels' Phoenix. Others complain that the coaster is very uneventful, offering none of the airtime and laterals that made it legendary.

I rode the Comet for the first (and only) time when it was relocated to The Great Escape in 1994 and to be honest, I don't remember too much about it. I remember it being a good ride but back then, the only CCI I had been on was Dutch Wonderland's Sky Princess- other coasters in my current top 10 such as The Legend, Boulder Dash, Rampage, Dania Beach Hurricane and Knoebels' Twister were years away from being built. I wish I could remember more so I can compare the "new" Comet to the "old" Comet when I get back to The Great Escape but I don't think that's going to be possible.

I suspect that the Comet is a fantastic coaster- how could anything designed by Herb Schmeck in the 1940s be anything less than perfect?- that happens to be extremely moody. While the Phoenix is always "on", the Comet is one of those rides that is prone to sometimes warming up by the end of the day. In other words, a good ride relies more on luck than anything else.

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fanofwood said:
Am I the only one who thinks the Comet is a so-so ride?

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No, I mildly enjoyed my rides on Comet this year. I was expecting something a bit more *edgy* since some folks were SO upset about the changes made to the ride...the way it was running when I was there (with 2-train ops even) made me wonder HOW any modifications could've hurt such a relatively tame ride.

From what I've heard though, Comet is a NIGHTTIME ride and I musta caught it on a subpar day...

Of course, I *loved* Nightmare, and got lots of grief over that....LOL! :)

Comet is really moody. It's a moody, wooden coaster. Try riding it after it's been sitting in the heat or after a nice rain storm. WOW! I also highly recommend night rides. They are awesome.

Here are my favorite parts:

-Coming off the first turnaround in the back seat(s). That is insane.

-The second bunny hill on the first return. It gives three pops of air. This is by far my favorite part of the ride. It truly feels out of control here.

-The second hill after the double down. It throws you up and then tosses you to the left. Lateral forces and negative g's at the same time!

-Going up into the final turnaround in the front seat(s) is awesome. Great airtime.

I just don't understand why this coaster hasn't been cloned. It's got such an awesome layout. Same goes with Phoenix (I haven't ridden it but after hearing what people say, I trust it's magnificent). These rides should be re-created.

I'm still interested to know about the rest of your day J7G3. What else did you do while you were there?

Don't feel alone rollergator. I personally love the Nightmare myself. I know a lot of people do. It's just the wait that gets to some people. The ride itself is fast and fun. When I went on it for the first time I was expecting a Schwarzkopf Wildcat. What I got was a Jet Star 3. It's a great design.

If you take away waiting in line I'm sure people's opinions would change. It's a very decent coaster.

Rhino, Nightmare is a jet star. The Jumbo Jet/ Jet Star 3 has 3 seats (so 6 passengers total) per car and a train of 2 cars coupled together. It also has a spiral electric lift.

Whops. You're right. My bad. ;)