Nick broke the bell!......SRM TR
Associated parks:
None
Well, i left school at about 2:10 which was definately a good thing. Don't worry, last period I have band, and my teacher had already informed us that he would not be present, so I didn't miss anything. I left with my parents, who wouldn't miss SRM for the world, and two of my clsoest friends. David is a big coaster fan and Megan doesn't have much experience with coasters but she loves them all the same. The 3 hour drive was actually bearable this year since i had 2 pals come along.
Once we got to the park we had to get our pre-registered tickets and then stand in line to get my two pals tickets. The line was a little long, but hey, i guess if you are too lazy to pre- register you should stand in line. We soon got our tickets, and everybody went into the holiday theatre. We saw many old friends and familiar faces, and I got to introduce David and Megan to some people. It was nice.
Quick run down of the presentation:
1. Will gives a quick little welcome speach, and announces that ERT will be extended to 1 AM. Pandemonium insues, with many of us doing the "WE ARE NOT WORTHY" bow thingy. Will also makes the crack that they had recently been acquired by Michigan's Adventure and then when the expected groans come up he asks the crowd "What?? Is that a bad thing?!?!" HILARIOUS. Will doesn't have the greatest comic timing in the world, but his writers were dead on with that one.
2. Then Pat came up and we all noticed the wrap on her arm. She has cancer, and i thought it was very dignified and moving to tell us. I consider this women the "Mother" of all of rollercoaster-dom, and what she has done with Holiday World is nothing short of what people like Ron Toomer, Disney, Taft Broadcasting, John Allen etc... have done for the industry. She is surely and living "Legend" and all of our thoughts and prayers will be with her. She then added that nobody was to cry because she brought no l kleenex. She DID, however, bring toilet paper, which shot out at the audience from rollers on the wall. Very fun, and very moving. Pat Koch is an inspiration.
3. Auctions. They actioned off all of the lap bars from the Legend's first season. I picked up one for 50 bucks, plus a I got a flag from the Raven's lift from its first season for 30 bucks. I am ecstatic to say the least. I got Pat to sign the flag later on. She was, of course, very gracious.
4. Lets just say that the door prizes ceremony was HILARIOUS. Paula Werne is on URC and RRC and she had plenty to say about some of the posters.
5. Will then showed the 3 new TV spots for the park. All three were great, totally the best amusement park ads I have seen in my life. I may give more details about them later on the general forum.
6. Then Will, and Pat, and Paula and a few others sing us the brilliant "Build A Coaster Chorus" which they also sang at CoasterCon. Surprisingly, these cats can really sing, too. they are putting out CD's of it (no joke) so you may be able to find it on Napster soon, if you would rather be a rat and just steal it. ;)
7. Will talks for a bit more, and then we go eat. (I think I am getting all of this in the right order. If not, flame me all you want. ;) )
Next we eat. The guilty pleasures come back in full force as we scarf down the awful, greasy, yummy nummy pizza and the creamy-dreamy-hands down-melt-in-your-mouth-best-in-the-universe-get-up-and-testify-to-the-lord fudge. New flavor too: Cream Sickle. It was TOO DIE for. Did i mention the fudge was good?
So we walk on down to the Raven and get ourselves the first ride of the day, and I was surpirsed to no end. The retracking is absolutely THE BEST improvemtent made no any coaster ever. Last year the ride had started to slide a little bit in quality, but this year so many of the problems had been smoothed out, its like the maintenece guys had read my mind. It was still a little controlled for much of that first part of the night, and really I was just waiting for the Raven to really let loose.
Next we headed over to Legend for my first rides since the last SRM. It was noticably even wilder then last year. The first drop is still the best first drop in the world. The spiral drop is still insane, the pile driver is still the best 3 seconds+ of airtime you will ever get on any coaster, and the helix and finale have more laterals than all of Ohio's coasters combined. In a word, a masterpiece right up there with Raven and all of the other coaster masterpieces of all time. Ladies and gents, we will be telling our grandkids about the Legend and the Raven.
The night went on with long lines, which frankly, put a damper on things. i remember clearly back in 98 getting many repeat rides on the Raven well into the night during ERT and this was just not seen this year. Also, with the long lines, double and triple rides were not to be seen. Alas, i have a feeling that SRM will just never be the same, but I guess it is better than nothing. I am just happy that I got to be ravenguy98 back when SRM still felt like a little private party, back in the south indiana woods. Now......i dunno, there are just so many people, and I know that is really a good thing, but I miss the old days.
So, the coasters keep on getting faster and faster, you know? Suddenly, The legend becomes something that I don't even think can be classified as a coaster. Honestly, I can't think of a single coaster, except the Raven, that has this much intesity, speed, wildness, airtime and laterals from the first drop to the breaks. Words really can't describe what I am trying to say here, but I will say one thing. As CCI builds more and more coasters, steel coasters just mean less and less. Really, after these night rides on the legend and the raven, steel coasters really don't mean anything, and really are just after thoughts in my mind. Eventually, I could even see steel coasters going extinct within a few decades, because nobody will need them once they ride a few of CCI's masterpieces. Honestly, compared to The Legend and The Raven, every steel coaster in the world is a kiddie ride. NOT ONE OF THEM comes anywhere close to even thinking about being close.
Nick broke the bell. Yeah, and let me tell you, it was kinda annoying since I was in the back of the line of the legend when it happened, but it was funny afterwards. Yeah, nick broke the bell.
The Raven finnally broke loose at about midnight. It ripped off its shackles of the retracking, gave the finger to every single rider, and tried to rip them apart on every ride. it was nice to see the Raven back in bone crunching, rib cracking health again. I am thinking that next year will be a banner year for the Raven.
We left at about 1 after one last ride on the Raven. Like I said, words cannot describe the fury and rage that these two rides have. You'll just have to see for yourself if you doubt anything I say. All in all, the coasters were other-wordly, the lines were long, but the times were still fun. And I even got to try out the new waterless urinals that everyone has been talking about. www.waterless.com is the website, i think. Thanks for reading,
Matt
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WARNING: THIS POST MAY ACTUALLY INCLUDE SARCASM AND OR HUMOR. PLEASE CONSIDER BEFORE RESPONDING.
Once we got to the park we had to get our pre-registered tickets and then stand in line to get my two pals tickets. The line was a little long, but hey, i guess if you are too lazy to pre- register you should stand in line. We soon got our tickets, and everybody went into the holiday theatre. We saw many old friends and familiar faces, and I got to introduce David and Megan to some people. It was nice.
Quick run down of the presentation:
1. Will gives a quick little welcome speach, and announces that ERT will be extended to 1 AM. Pandemonium insues, with many of us doing the "WE ARE NOT WORTHY" bow thingy. Will also makes the crack that they had recently been acquired by Michigan's Adventure and then when the expected groans come up he asks the crowd "What?? Is that a bad thing?!?!" HILARIOUS. Will doesn't have the greatest comic timing in the world, but his writers were dead on with that one.
2. Then Pat came up and we all noticed the wrap on her arm. She has cancer, and i thought it was very dignified and moving to tell us. I consider this women the "Mother" of all of rollercoaster-dom, and what she has done with Holiday World is nothing short of what people like Ron Toomer, Disney, Taft Broadcasting, John Allen etc... have done for the industry. She is surely and living "Legend" and all of our thoughts and prayers will be with her. She then added that nobody was to cry because she brought no l kleenex. She DID, however, bring toilet paper, which shot out at the audience from rollers on the wall. Very fun, and very moving. Pat Koch is an inspiration.
3. Auctions. They actioned off all of the lap bars from the Legend's first season. I picked up one for 50 bucks, plus a I got a flag from the Raven's lift from its first season for 30 bucks. I am ecstatic to say the least. I got Pat to sign the flag later on. She was, of course, very gracious.
4. Lets just say that the door prizes ceremony was HILARIOUS. Paula Werne is on URC and RRC and she had plenty to say about some of the posters.
5. Will then showed the 3 new TV spots for the park. All three were great, totally the best amusement park ads I have seen in my life. I may give more details about them later on the general forum.
6. Then Will, and Pat, and Paula and a few others sing us the brilliant "Build A Coaster Chorus" which they also sang at CoasterCon. Surprisingly, these cats can really sing, too. they are putting out CD's of it (no joke) so you may be able to find it on Napster soon, if you would rather be a rat and just steal it. ;)
7. Will talks for a bit more, and then we go eat. (I think I am getting all of this in the right order. If not, flame me all you want. ;) )
Next we eat. The guilty pleasures come back in full force as we scarf down the awful, greasy, yummy nummy pizza and the creamy-dreamy-hands down-melt-in-your-mouth-best-in-the-universe-get-up-and-testify-to-the-lord fudge. New flavor too: Cream Sickle. It was TOO DIE for. Did i mention the fudge was good?
So we walk on down to the Raven and get ourselves the first ride of the day, and I was surpirsed to no end. The retracking is absolutely THE BEST improvemtent made no any coaster ever. Last year the ride had started to slide a little bit in quality, but this year so many of the problems had been smoothed out, its like the maintenece guys had read my mind. It was still a little controlled for much of that first part of the night, and really I was just waiting for the Raven to really let loose.
Next we headed over to Legend for my first rides since the last SRM. It was noticably even wilder then last year. The first drop is still the best first drop in the world. The spiral drop is still insane, the pile driver is still the best 3 seconds+ of airtime you will ever get on any coaster, and the helix and finale have more laterals than all of Ohio's coasters combined. In a word, a masterpiece right up there with Raven and all of the other coaster masterpieces of all time. Ladies and gents, we will be telling our grandkids about the Legend and the Raven.
The night went on with long lines, which frankly, put a damper on things. i remember clearly back in 98 getting many repeat rides on the Raven well into the night during ERT and this was just not seen this year. Also, with the long lines, double and triple rides were not to be seen. Alas, i have a feeling that SRM will just never be the same, but I guess it is better than nothing. I am just happy that I got to be ravenguy98 back when SRM still felt like a little private party, back in the south indiana woods. Now......i dunno, there are just so many people, and I know that is really a good thing, but I miss the old days.
So, the coasters keep on getting faster and faster, you know? Suddenly, The legend becomes something that I don't even think can be classified as a coaster. Honestly, I can't think of a single coaster, except the Raven, that has this much intesity, speed, wildness, airtime and laterals from the first drop to the breaks. Words really can't describe what I am trying to say here, but I will say one thing. As CCI builds more and more coasters, steel coasters just mean less and less. Really, after these night rides on the legend and the raven, steel coasters really don't mean anything, and really are just after thoughts in my mind. Eventually, I could even see steel coasters going extinct within a few decades, because nobody will need them once they ride a few of CCI's masterpieces. Honestly, compared to The Legend and The Raven, every steel coaster in the world is a kiddie ride. NOT ONE OF THEM comes anywhere close to even thinking about being close.
Nick broke the bell. Yeah, and let me tell you, it was kinda annoying since I was in the back of the line of the legend when it happened, but it was funny afterwards. Yeah, nick broke the bell.
The Raven finnally broke loose at about midnight. It ripped off its shackles of the retracking, gave the finger to every single rider, and tried to rip them apart on every ride. it was nice to see the Raven back in bone crunching, rib cracking health again. I am thinking that next year will be a banner year for the Raven.
We left at about 1 after one last ride on the Raven. Like I said, words cannot describe the fury and rage that these two rides have. You'll just have to see for yourself if you doubt anything I say. All in all, the coasters were other-wordly, the lines were long, but the times were still fun. And I even got to try out the new waterless urinals that everyone has been talking about. www.waterless.com is the website, i think. Thanks for reading,
Matt
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WARNING: THIS POST MAY ACTUALLY INCLUDE SARCASM AND OR HUMOR. PLEASE CONSIDER BEFORE RESPONDING.
I was on the train on the course when the bell broke. Had to get walked off the train while the bell was hanging there. As a result I never got my complete ride. I want my full lap, darnit!!! :)
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Scott W. Short
scott@midwestcoastercentral.com
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com
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Scott W. Short
scott@midwestcoastercentral.com
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com
lol at scotty.
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WARNING: THIS POST MAY ACTUALLY INCLUDE SARCASM AND OR HUMOR. PLEASE CONSIDER BEFORE RESPONDING.
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WARNING: THIS POST MAY ACTUALLY INCLUDE SARCASM AND OR HUMOR. PLEASE CONSIDER BEFORE RESPONDING.
I was on the course when it happened also!!!!!!! It was weird we got back and looked up! There was no bell! Hey guys, Nick should win the NoBell prize;).
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You can't run and you can't hide...The Beast at PKI
*** This post was edited by PkI FaNaTiC on 5/13/2001. ***
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You can't run and you can't hide...The Beast at PKI
*** This post was edited by PkI FaNaTiC on 5/13/2001. ***
Oh, and if any of you guys are publishers, and are stunned by my beautiful prose, and would like to publish this TR, just send the check to 139 Esaat 7th St. Paris, KY. Thanks! ;)
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WARNING: THIS POST MAY ACTUALLY INCLUDE SARCASM AND OR HUMOR. PLEASE CONSIDER BEFORE RESPONDING.
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WARNING: THIS POST MAY ACTUALLY INCLUDE SARCASM AND OR HUMOR. PLEASE CONSIDER BEFORE RESPONDING.
I could not agree with this TR more. SRM 01 was without a doubt the best coaster experience of my life. Due to the 6 hour drive I did not get in with my friends until about 6:10, so we went straight to the eating and then to the rides. I did manage to get on the last ride of the night on Raven (about 1:15 or so). I don't know how many people stayed the next day, but there was no one, and i mean no one at the park. There was no line to speak of for the Raven or the Legend. Of course it was not in the dark, but the two were still flying in the day time. What a great couple days.
*** This post was edited by d7droog52 on 5/14/2001. ***
I wonder, in a few years how many dozens of coaster enthusdiasts will swear on a stack of Guide to Rides that they were on the Legend when the bell broke.
Kinda like everyone was on King Cobra when it derailed.
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----
David Bowers
Mayor, Coasterville
Kinda like everyone was on King Cobra when it derailed.
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David Bowers
Mayor, Coasterville
I will go on record now and say I was NOT on the legend when the bell broke
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I dinna cry when me own father was hung for stealing a pig. But I'll cry now.- Willie
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I dinna cry when me own father was hung for stealing a pig. But I'll cry now.- Willie
Um...I hate to sound like a dummy, but what is the bell and how did it break? Why did the coaster have to shut down because a bell broke? I've never been to Holiday World and I've heard a lot of the broken bell so I couldn't help wondering.
I wasn't *on* the Legend when the bell fell off the tower, but I was at least in line. :)
Explanation for Screamer's benefit:
The station for The Legend has a bell tower on the top of it. Check the streaming video of The Legend on holidayworld.com; it's the very first thing in the video. (Seeing the video will help this make a lot more sense.) The bell is rung by the ride ops pulling a rope inside the station.
Anyway, the rope got pulled a bit hard once, and the bell got yanked off its mount... still attached to its rope, it fell down the side of the building -- and dangled from its rope/chain/whatever against the outside wall of the building.
Unfortunately, it was the side of the building directly over the final brake run. :)
That's why they had to shut the coaster down -- if the rope had broken and the bell had fallen to the ground, it would have fallen through the brake run structure and had a good chance of hitting the track directly. So they spent about 30 minutes working on getting it detached gracefully while the rest of us watched...
Not something you see every day. :) Probably one of the more unique coaster riding experiences (err, waiting in line experiences) I've had...
Explanation for Screamer's benefit:
The station for The Legend has a bell tower on the top of it. Check the streaming video of The Legend on holidayworld.com; it's the very first thing in the video. (Seeing the video will help this make a lot more sense.) The bell is rung by the ride ops pulling a rope inside the station.
Anyway, the rope got pulled a bit hard once, and the bell got yanked off its mount... still attached to its rope, it fell down the side of the building -- and dangled from its rope/chain/whatever against the outside wall of the building.
Unfortunately, it was the side of the building directly over the final brake run. :)
That's why they had to shut the coaster down -- if the rope had broken and the bell had fallen to the ground, it would have fallen through the brake run structure and had a good chance of hitting the track directly. So they spent about 30 minutes working on getting it detached gracefully while the rest of us watched...
Not something you see every day. :) Probably one of the more unique coaster riding experiences (err, waiting in line experiences) I've had...
I wasn’t on the Legend when the bell broke but I was next in line. So I got the first bell-less Legend ride! I think the Holiday World maintenance crew did a great job getting the bell down as fast as possible.
As a first time SRM attendee, I was blown away by both coasters. They are both just so intense, day or night. And not knowing what the lines where like in previous years, I did not think the wait times at night where unreasonable. Plus on Saturday morning that lines where really short. At one point a got 7 consecutive re-rides on the Raven, which was an unexpected treat.
As a first time SRM attendee, I was blown away by both coasters. They are both just so intense, day or night. And not knowing what the lines where like in previous years, I did not think the wait times at night where unreasonable. Plus on Saturday morning that lines where really short. At one point a got 7 consecutive re-rides on the Raven, which was an unexpected treat.
I was sitting in the last seat when the bell broke and was the first one evacuated from the train. It was funny for me to finally get evacuated from a train since I had been evacuating people for the past 8 years at SFGAM. I was just laughing about the whole thing while the employee's were all freaking out. I imagine that they don't have to do to many evac's at HW. Will was helping with the evac. We hit the brakes really hard. What a wild night.
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BMCOASTER
bmcoaster@wi.rr.com
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BMCOASTER
bmcoaster@wi.rr.com
Did anyone see the dent in the ceiling of the station to the Legend? I got there early Sat morning to catch a few rides before EPT and i noticed a HUGE dent where the bell nearly pulled the handle through. Oh by the way, does Holiday World deliver? I'm craving pizza and fudge again?
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1 SRM 2001 t-shirt, $12; 1 used Gerstlauer lapbar, $50; Getting bruised kidkeys from the Legend, Priceless
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1 SRM 2001 t-shirt, $12; 1 used Gerstlauer lapbar, $50; Getting bruised kidkeys from the Legend, Priceless
It's part of the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" theme this ride has. The bell rings when the train returns to the station, it's really cool when it isn't falling off.
In the original story, the townsfolk rang the bell when the Headless Horseman approached to warn people. Or so The Legend goes. :)
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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
Sheik al Squeak said:
"Did anyone see the dent in the ceiling of the station to the Legend? I got there early Sat morning to catch a few rides before EPT and i noticed a HUGE dent where the bell nearly pulled the handle through. Oh by the way, does Holiday World deliver? I'm craving pizza and fudge again?
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1 SRM 2001 t-shirt, $12; 1 used Gerstlauer lapbar, $50; Getting bruised kidkeys from the Legend, Priceless"
I saw the dent! I did! I did! love the sig, by the way.
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WARNING: THIS POST MAY ACTUALLY INCLUDE SARCASM AND OR HUMOR. PLEASE CONSIDER BEFORE RESPONDING.
I can only imagine someone trying to bring that lapbar aboard their flight home. That's hard core, no thank you. I was perfectly happy with my small piece of Legend wood I obtained on the way out.
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