Myrtle Beach Trip

I went to MB this past week with my aunt and cousin. We drove down 3:30 am Monday Morning and got there about 6 or 7 on Monday Night, and drove back today. We stayed at a Hampton Inn that was ocean.

My hopes of hitting any type of thrill ride this trip was low from the very beginning because my cousin and I share ZERO interests. He's obsessed with sports and I'm obsessed with skiing and rollercoasters.

I hate golf. I hate golf. I had to golf 3 18 hole courses because he wanted to and we ended up at 6, yes six, different Miniature Golf places. Not fun.

Anyway, somehow, I don't know how I did it, but I convinced them to go to the Pavilion. After finding a parking spot, I more than willingly shelled out the $26.50 for my 1.5 hours of fun.

First ride, of course, was the Hurricane. I ran up the stairs to the station, and hopped right on in the 4th car. In the row behind me there was a lady who appeared to be in her 70s. I hope I'm like her when I get older. Anyway, I was preparing for the worst. The turn to the lift hill is pretty sweet. The first drop was great, lots of air. As soon as I realized that my spine wasn't jackhammered at the bottom of the first hill, I knew it would be a decent ride. The first two hills after the first drop were loaded with air. The helixes, WOW, they were incredible! Lots of laterals, and some very rough spots, but really intense and fun. Overall the ride was great, maybe it's just because I haven't been on a coaster in a while. I ended up riding it 6 times and I gave the ride op a $4.00 tip for all the hard work she was doing, despite the racial comments she was getting from a bunch of preteens.

In between my rides on the Hurricane, I rode 3 other rides.

The Arrow Mouse, Mad Mouse or whatever it's called, despite how everyone raves about it, was boring and slow. The trims weren't even on and it still barely whipped you around the turns. I've been on Hershey's, BGW (now at BGT), and Carowind's, and that was definately the worst. They were running 5 cars even with no line which was nice however.

I also rode Hydrosurge, a river rapids ride. They did a an excellent job of fitting this ride it and it was really fun and I didn't get too soaked because the waterfall(s) weren't on. Great ride.

I also rode the Pirate/Galleon and it was swinging really high, but I didn't get the stomach in my throat feeling I usually get from those rides. I hope that's not a bad sign for drop towers this summer...

So that was it at the Pavilion. My cousin and aunt sat and talked about colleges and I enjoyed myself immensly. Sure, hypothetically $26.50 is a rip off, but it was so worth it.

We didn't make it to family kingdom because apparently miniature golf was more fun, despit the fact that the park was 1/4 mile from our hotel. I kept staring at that Chance drop tower like it was Drop Zone at PKD. I hope I didn't miss much with both the drop tower and Swamp Fox, but I'm glad I did go to the Pavilion because Hurricane rocked my socks.

It's too bad the park is closing, I thought it was clean and well laid out. The only negatives were that Top Spin and Rainbow were closed, both of which I really wanted to ride.

So aside from the golfing and the long drive, I had a good time. The beach was nice, Myrtle Beach itself has lots to do, and the Pavilion made the 14 hour drive worth it. Contrary to popular belief, The Hurricane is GREAT!

I'm either heading to Vermont skiing or Six Flags New England on the 29th/30th, both to check out colleges so hopefully that will work out.

Thanks for reading!

The ride is very, VERY intense. Unfortunately, some of that intensity comes from the fact that it absolutely beats the crap out of you. In the front of the train, the air-time is lacking and you get slammed in the curves. In the back of the train, the air-time approaches painful in the crappy G-trains and you get absolutely killed in the helixes. I'm going to post my trip report soon with my detailed opinions, but for now I have mixed feelings.

On a side note, the Top Spin is most likely permenantly down according to a manager at the park, and the Rainbow is in its yearly re-hab (which for some reason they always seem to do during Spring Break). After the way the ride was running last year (INSANE mode), I'm not surprised the ride needs a re-hab. I have a video of the insane speed on their rainbow last year at my website, ThrillAddict.com

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It sounds like the Hurricane-Force Five may be one of those "Credit and Forget it" Coasters but as always I cannot know until after I've Ridden it. ( If I only had a Dollar for every tome I was told a Coaster was "Credit and Forget it" - Citing thinghs such as Slow Ride, Jarring Ride, Bad Trains, Etc, but after I ride it I find a Good Ride that makes no hesitation to make it to my "Top Ten" List. This is why riding "unknown" Coasters is so much fun, you don't know how it is until you ride it! ;)

Hurricane was a bit too rough for me, but I still liked it. It's one of those woodies that really tests your endurance level. Ride of Steel...I'm glad you got to check it and Pavilion out. It will truly be missed.