KK

Hrm. I will have to admit that this Intamin product did not live up to expectations, either ride experience wise or reliability wise (well, I guess I expected it to break and it did, so maybe it did live up to expectations).

The line was 3 hours most of the day running all four trains. Minor breakdowns (about 20 minutes) every 2 hrs. or so. Around 3pm they took a fourth train off for some reason and then put it back on about 30 minutes later, adding 45 minutes or so to the wait time. I had to leave the line, it was moving so slowly. (In addition to only running 3 trains, they were dispatching really slowly and with all the transfer stuff, a rollback when they added the 4th, and all the testing, the line was crawling for a long time).

Psychologically, the line is torture, too. Just as you approach the station, the line splits to the two sides. Then once you're in the station it splits to the two trains. The closer you get to the ride, the slower you go. I timed about 5 minutes for a 4 train cycle, so in the main line, when they're really cooking, It's 72 ppl per 5 minutes. Once you pass the split, it's 36 ppl per 5 minutes, and once you pick a row, it's 5 minutes per pair. So 12 pairs in the front row = 1 extra hr.

On to the ride itself:

The launch was kind of blah. I actually liked SR's and Xcelerator's better. It just wasn't that "sharp." There wasn't any single instant when I felt plastered to the seat. It felt like both SR and Xcel got up to 50MPH way faster than KK did, but KK kept going rather than tapering off. The height on the top hat was great, with a great view, but really no time to appreciate it. Over too quickly (didn't feel the brakes at all). The drop and spiral were also kind of blah. Not great air anywhere and the drop really just wasn't all that. I think the spin took a lot of the potential air out of the drop. Second hill had no air at all.

Rode once in back, once in row 2. Front row was an extra hour or so.

I will have to say, the quad. station is amazing. The launch was definitely the bottleneck and when all four trains were running, they were keeping the launch full. Trains about once every 1:15. They claimed to only allow items in zippered or buttoned pockets but weren't checking. They did check to make sure I had a strap on my glasses. Any bags or loose articles had to be stowed in a locker => they made sure the trains loaded quickly and effieciently, which also made poaching very very hard.

So of the 4 stateside rockets, my ranking is SR, Xcel., TTD, KK (though I only rode TTD twice and it was at CP, so it was hard to have a bad ride on such a good day).

And I arrived at the park at 9:55 and there was already an hr. wait for KK, though the queue had not really opened yet, so I guess lots of people camp out early.

On a completely different note, I played a round of DDR (the machine in the arcade by the swings that is inside plays 4 songs to a dollar) and had mad combo's but my PA is still only around 60%. Any mad DDR players have some tips? *** Edited 6/1/2005 2:48:35 AM UTC by ApolloAndy***

Glad you hit KK, Andy! :) I trust your opinion too, regardless if you are a SFGadv fanboy. ;)

See ya soon!

Fanboy!?!? I hate the place! (and yet, find myself there once a week....sigh. If only I lived near an actual good wood coaster).

Well Andy, when you come to Valley Joe, we have a nice GCI waitng here for you.

Or you could just stay at SFGAdv for another year, if the new woody lives up to the 'pre-hype'...

Or not...

I'm going there on Sun, mon and tues the 5th, 6th and 7th of june. When do you think i should hit it for the least wait. Wait till Mon even if its open Sunday, hoping it will still be open on the monday. Run to it at the begning of the day(either Sun or Mon)(im a fast runner), or wait till like 8pm to hit it(on the monday)(or Sunday).

What do you guys think?

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TeknoScorpion said:
Or you could just stay at SFGAdv for another year, if the new woody lives up to the 'pre-hype'...

Or not...

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Well we all saw how KK lived up to its hype...;)

I would hit it very first thing and get to the park EARLY (at least 30 min. before gates).

I was only there the one day, but it was jammed starting at 10:05. Also, given the reliability, I'd hit it as soon as possible, because you never know when it'll go down for the count. The rest of the park is easily doable in one day, let alone three.

Good luck, and I might have some more information after Fri (when I go again).

Roar west is nice, but it doesn't get me to that park. Actually I have no idea what gets me to that park either, and yet I still manage to end up there once a week or so. What is wrong with me?

SF Fanboy...... you know it too. ;)

Do they have a twelve step for that?

Do you coast alone?

Do you coast to escape reality?

Do you hide your coasting from your loved ones?

I think so............ It's called Cedar Fair. ;)