Myrtle Beach Pavilion 4/03/02

Every year, my church takes a trip to do some mission work in another city. This year, our plan ove spring break was a $300 trip to Nashville. This was cancelled, though, primarily because no one signed up. :) Anyways, our youth pastor was talking with one from another church who was taking a mission trip to Myrtle Beach for $70, with the added perk of hitting Pavilion on Wednesday night. Needless to say, spots filled quickly.

Anyways, it was Wednesday night, 8:00pm. Temps in the high 60's, light winds, not a cloud in the sky, and an all-day ride ticket (even though we were there for only 3 hours.) Me and my friends Joanna, Aaron, Ashley, Rachel, and Rebecca walked inside the park with high spirits. The first thing you notice is the LOUD music. I didn't mind though, since it's good music, i.e. not Britney, N'SYNC, etc., and it's better than the noise outside the park. The staff, while quick to load and dispatch, was less than encouraging. I enjoyed the atmosphere overall, though. We knew exactly what we wanted to hit first; Hurricane.

Hurricane, 5-10 minute wait. We sat about 2-3 rows back from the front. I liked the dive to the hill, it races up the first half of the hill. Soon at the top looking over the park. Not much time to look though, cause we were experiencing some nice floating air over those first three hills. Into the first helix, now the Gerstlauer trains become noticeable. Very nice laterals, too bad the U-bar wasn't very kind to my legs.

Out of the helix, into some more floater hills. I wasn't prepared for the last one though, which gave some excellent ejection. Very nice. Now the second helix around the Scrambler. It wasn't as intense as the first, but that's probably a good thing. Now back into the station. We rode it again later, only this time it had transformed from a good ride to an awesome, air-filled, ferocious machine. The forces on our second ride were massive. Overall, I was impressed with the ride. Great airtime, the surprise ejector hill, 2 intense helices, and the proximity with other rides makes this another CCI winner.

We then hit a few flat rides, including the Pirate, Haunted Hotel, and the Sleigh Ride. Joanna and I also rode the Scrambler and the Enterprise, which is still my favorite flat ride ever. No one else wanted to ride those 2 with us. They're no fun. :) We also met up with my youth pastor, who started asking the Age/Weight guessers if he could guess their age/weight. He was also 2 of 6 in Pop-A-Shot. OK, time for the back of the park, and Mad Mouse.

Mad Mouse, walk-on. My first wild mouse coaster, I wasn't expecting it to be as intense as it was. It was extra sweet since no brakes were applied. The last hills gave a few pops of air, too. It was pretty fun, especially since Aaron was "driving." "Sharp turn, sharp turn, drop, hill..." It was pretty funny.

We then hit the front of the park to finish our night on the Rainbow and the Carousel. I learned something that night: Huss Rainbows make me queasy. I got an ice cream cone at the entrance, and had a laugh as half the youth group tried to ride Willie The Whale, a kiddie ride. The ride-op made them get off before he started it, I believe because it was too heavy,but I'm not sure. I got a good picture of it though.

While the staff was forgettable, my company was great, as were the rides. The scattered palm trees were an interesting sight, and I admired their ability to cram so much into a small space. I had great fun at this park, and have no regrets about going to Myrtle Beach.

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All the world is born right-handed. Only the greatest can overcome it.

Awww yet another person goes to Myrtle and doesn't ride Swamp Fox :( Swamp Fox is the best ride at Myrtle IMO, and I know others will agree. Glad you enjoyed Hurricane and had a good time though!

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|| Jonathan Hawkins ||
http://www.starcoasters.com
http://www.thrillspot.com

My sister Jamie and I got the opportunity to ride Swamp Fox again (be proud Jonathan :-p) on 4/3. It was running exceptionally well despite the overload of maker-outers in line..... We sadly had to skip out on the Pavilion since we were with the grandparents and all, but there's always next time :-)

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http://www.angelfire.com/retro/sadiespage

I agree with you Starcoasters. I went to Myrtle Beach last week and easily put Swamp Fox to the top of my list. The airtime is so crazy on it. It was so much smoother than the Hurricane. I love how on the first drop of the Swamp Fox you litterally have to stand up. I just wish that the Family Kingdom had more to it. Everything they have there is also at the Pavillion pretty much.

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Lake Compounce: New England's Holiday World

The nice thing about that little dip on the Hurricane, in the front, it almost feels like you stop for a second before being pushed up, in the back, you just rip right through all that stuff. The hangtime in the front is amazing, it almost feels like you fall before the car. & of course, it's a rip over in the back.

Out of dozens of rides on the Hurricane, it'd be hard to say I've had a really air filled ride. There are always moments, & sometimes it comes in the middle of a helix & that's strange:), but I've never gotten air outta those return hills! Makes me curious, I need to get down there & check it out. The air I always find is in the second seats, especially at the top of the first speed hill, & the air across the second one into the first helix(I believe that's what they're called, speed hills?). But, sad to say, modern lapbars, I just never get air with them, even when leaving them up several clicks. The best air on a "new" wood coaster I could say I've ever had was ONLY on the Georgia Cyclone. Not that I don't like "new" wood. Like I said, I need to check it out:

Next time I ride the Swamp Fox!

Nobody ever goes over there, it's sad, & it only cost like tree-fiddy to ride! There's plenty to do at Family Kingdom, it's called the SWAMP FOX! The Log Flume there is, ummm, unusual, too. It scared me half to death first time I got on. Let's just say, I thought someone had pulled the plug. Anyways, they have a few unusual things around, & people usually stop making out when you say "hey!".

Alas, for I have never ridden thy king of woodies the Swamp Fox. Summer brings newhopes as we will hit the pavillion and family kingdom.

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800,000 years in 7 seconds: Time Machine the movie or next S&S creation?

Try and hit Myrtle Beach Grand Prix if you can, you can at least get 2 credits off of it (the reverchon spinning and the kiddie :P). The Top Star Tour flat there is also great; one of my favorites. A lot of people really love Reverchon spinning mice, but the one there just didn't 'do it' for me. HOWEVER, a little bird told me the ops there sometimes will remove the pin from the car so that it spins freely instead of at timed moments. If you head there and ride it, request that they remove the pin. Don't give them your ticket until they do ;-). There are 7 coasters at Myrtle, and I was able to go on 6 of them (they wouldn't let me go on the kiddie at Family Kingdom, even though it was the same as the one at Grand Prix :P). And oh yeah, Family Kingdom has a cool Sally dark ride.

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|| Jonathan Hawkins ||
http://www.starcoasters.com
http://www.thrillspot.com

*** This post was edited by StarCoasters on 4/16/2002. ***