Moosh & Bass Ride The Bullet!

Bass and I, after a few failed attempts in early December, decided at
the last minute to try Knotts on Dec 26th, braving what we assumed
would be huge crowds, and ride Silver Bullet. Our plan: wait in the
long line twice, once for the front row and once for the last row, and
leave. Since it was supposed to be a beautifully sunny day
[70*...gotta love California winters!] we were prepared for the worst.

But even the best of plans go wrong...but in our case, "wrong" is the
absolutely best thing that could have happened. The park was totally
deserted! Other than the first hour of operation, when it seems the
few hundred people that were in the park were in the Silver Bullet
queue, the coaster was a walk-on the rest of the day. So we ended up
getting rides in almost every row, repeating the first and last row,
and in both middle and end seats.

The crew, 6 working dispatch, one on the mic announcing the carry-on
policy and also working dispatch, and the lead locked away in the
booth, were fast and efficient. 7 people checking OSTRs? This
definitely ain't Six Flags! Dispatches were in the range of 1-3 mins.
Oh, and some of you [Dave Althoff, Kevin Coley?] were worried about
having to leave your eyeglasses behind but so long as you have them
strapped you're OK.

I'm going to let Bass chime in with his own opinion but I loved the
ride! I know a lot of the initial reports from the week the ride
opened were negative but it was pretty cold that week and the ride
hadn't had much time to break in. Well let me tell you it must be
breaking in! Sluggish? Not on any of my rides? Boring? Not on any
of my rides. Forceless? Not on any of my rides.

OK, so the first drop could be steeper but so what? Other then
enthusiasts who cares? Its reminiscent of Revolution's pre-loop drop
that builds great speed and great anticipation. At the bottom of the
first drop are strong positive g's entering the loop. Riders towards
the rear of the train get a nice pop of air coming off the overbank
turn. The Cobra roll, with only one mild snap at the exit and AMAZING
visuals of the entrance plaza, is hella-cool. The ride finishes with
a great Zero-g, alternating corks with a second pop of air between
them, and a water-hugging helix that is more forceful up front then in
the rear of the train.

I still feel the ride hasn't finished breaking in yet and proof of
that came on Jan 2nd. I joined Chris Murray, Mike Kallay, Jeff
Johnson, and others for a few hours at the park. Due to the threat of
rain and the holiday weekend crowds were VERY light. Silver Bullet,
running one train, was a 10-5 min wait tops. After our first ride
every single person who had ridden on opening day or that week said
that it had greatly improved.

So after more than a dozen rides on two different days were does
Silver Bullet end up in my rankings?

1. Batman The Ride [and clones]
2. Montu
3. Talon
4. Silver Bullet
5. Great Bear
6. Raptor
7. Dueling Dragons
8. Top Gun [PGA]
9. Alpengeist

Bass...your thoughts???

mOOSH

Ok, sheesh. You talked me into it, Moosh. ;-)

Cool TR! :-D

-Tina

You spoiled SoCal bastards and your warm temperatures. Rain! Bah! It's still 70! Get back to me when you have waist-high snow!

Good to hear the ride is outstanding.

Gotta say that both Shannon and I are jealous. Both of us were drooling over that coaster when we were out there for Haunt with you guys. If I was working right now, I'd actually consider coming out for Solace.

I'm glad your finding time to relax, Matthew. If it keeps getting better, I can't imagine how insane it'll be by Solace!

I agree robo - I'm looking forward to March more and more as I finish making the necessary arrangements.

I'm happy to see that Great Bear gets some well-ranked love. That ride is seriously kick ass and it seems like loads of people think it boring.

Great Bear ranks highly because the first 1/2 is excellent and totally makes up for the end, which is totally boring. Plus the camera placement is among the worst I've seen on any coaster.

Well, yeah -- but during the second half, you have plenty of time to look at all of those zany supports. That's fun, too, right?

I really don't understand why the cameras are at the end of the ride, as it seems like the stretch between the loop and immelman is perfect for that sort of thing.

LOL, jeff. Your snow looks much nicer than the slush-ice combo in front of my house.
snow in Cleveland never stays pretty for long.

I'm really looking foward to riding it on the winter coaster solace weekend. I think it looks like a complete blast.

I'd rather have waist high slush than some of the ridiculous single digit temperatures we've gotten here in Illinois in the last part of 2004.

Oh, in Cleveland we've had it all so far this year. Nothing better than having to ice pick your driveway so you can get in and out. ;)

Of the inverts I've ridden, my list is about the same except Alpie is my #1.

---

Jeff said:
You spoiled SoCal bastards and your warm temperatures. Rain! Bah! It's still 70! Get back to me when you have waist-high snow!

Good to hear the ride is outstanding.

---

YOU LUCKY PERSON I'D DO ANYTHING FOR THAT MUCH SNOW WHERE I LIVE. ;)

Damn Global Warming. We have barely had 20 inches this season and usually we get 120-130 inches.

Fedex that snow to my place ;) *** Edited 1/4/2005 11:27:39 PM UTC by Ride of Steel***

Here in Southeastern Wisconsin we have yet to get more than a dusting at any given time. That all will change tomorrow, though. :(

Bob

-who hates snow more than anything else in this world.

You aren't coming to Solace, Bob? :(

That sucks! I want my money back. Oh, right. I haven't paid yet. Well, I'll still hesitate to spend it now.

I'll ride the bullet just for you:).

Hey, Tek, if I had a job right now, I would be making the travel plans. Right now airfare is next to nothing, even out to L.A.

I really think next year Solace will be my MUST attend event. Of all the parks I have visited, Knott's is one of my favorite parks, if not my favorite park. The park has a certain charm to it. It's tough to put my finger on what exactly makes the park great, however.

You didn't have a problem putting your finger on it when I saw you at Haunt...and I'm still sore! ;)

Great TR Moosh. So are they still making people remove earrings? Is the ride still silent?