Hades Media Day 5/24/05

Scott and the park did an awesome job with the event and I want to thank them for a fun day off work. The park opened at 10 and we all got our wrist bands and went in. First thing I did was go to the Delphi gift shop, and I think I bought the second ever Hades t-shirt. It was at least the second of the day, and the lady said they just came in. I don’t know if they were there on Monday or not. The shirt lists all of Hades stats on the back, and it was constantly read throughout the day.

The ceremony was not scheduled till 11, so we had an hour to go ride. I got the first back seat ride on Cyclops, in an empty train, without having seen any warm up runs on this coaster, and got ejected hard like always. This coaster always performs.

Going over to Hades, I saw all the enthusiasts over there. The ends of the train had lines, but I found a walk on seat in 1.2 and took it. The train was full which does not regularly happen at Mt. Olympus. We had a good fast run with plenty of air, and there even was a brief minor float over the return hill over Zues that was not there when I was there last. Scott, being the wealth of info that he is, told me that last time the best time from drop off the lift to brakes was 60 seconds and now the best time is 57 seconds. Apparently they are shooting for 54, but my personal goal is 50. :) Throughout the day I tried different seats, and the only time I would get any air on that return over Zeus (and almost get air on the turnaround) is in 1.2 with a full train.

I am not going to go into details that are repetitive with my last recent Hades trip report, but here a couple new thoughts on the ride.

The tunnel outrun is very very good. The return is very good too, but the outrun is at least twice as good, hence the two "very’s". It is just insane speed with good pops of air and a nice laterals that all fit well into an out of control feeling.

Most people seem to disagree, but I like the left seats best on this ride. The right has the high side on the 90* bank turn which is why most people prefer it. They both take the outside on a enough turns so they are pretty equal in that regard. I think left gets significantly better air in two spots. The first is the double up. On the landing, the track banks left for the climb up the turnaround. That puts the riders on the right back into their seats much quicker than on the left. The second is the banked bunny hill which only seems to give a minor pop on the left. I get a good lateral push on the left on the 90* bank, and I prefer the extra air over being on the high side on the 90* bank.

1.2 is an amazing seat for air on this ride. I have a feeling that once this ride speeds up, it will be the seat on this ride. The float over the turnaround speed hill is so long. Right now the back is best for the pre-lift till the bottom of the first drop, and 1.2 is best after that. However, the back is much better on the rest of the ride than the front is on the first part. I think that the back is probably the best seat right now, but 1.2 is very close and often overlooked so far. The new air is being generated in this seat, so look for it to get better.

The weather was very nice, and last time I was there it was quite cold. So last time I did not notice how cold the tunnel stays. There is a huge difference in temperature from outside on a hot day to down in the tunnel. The temperature change is more gradual on the first tunnel run, but very abrupt after the turnaround. It is like racing into a cooler and it feels great.

Mt. Olympus and The Gravity Group did a great job with this coaster and it is certainly worth a trip from anywhere to check it out. This is a rockstar ride that will make any enthusiast’s top ten woodie list and will top several. If you like your woodies as aggressive as possible, this is your ride.

20 new Hades pics from Media Day.

Wow, I did not see on that first pic that I got Scott and company taking a POV. I just want to say that I saw them getting management permission to do that. *** Edited 5/26/2005 3:19:17 PM UTC by RavenTTD***

Mark *** Edited 5/26/2005 5:35:10 PM UTC by Marko***