Night rides on Raven and Legend?

Yes PR. That was the fastest/wildest ERT session on The Legend IMO. I've been to all of the SRM events except for the infamous first and the very last one in '03. I'm not trying to sound biased about the GOCC event, but there were 145 enthusiasts riding both coasters for 2 hours with all three trains (at the time) running. Legend was unstoppable that night as Jeff had to man the controls after the computer was shutting the ride down because the trains were coming in so fast. As Jeff put it, "The computer is saying that the trains shouldn't be back yet (so soon) after being dispatched".

(BTW, that bolt broke in the afternoon and was replaced before ERT started)

I do believe Rideman is correct about Stark Raven Mad in '98. The Raven was running berserk that night. I'll never forget that evening either.

Wood Coaster Fan Club - "Sharing a Passion for the Classics" *** Edited 4/28/2005 11:29:26 PM UTC by Thrillerman***

That's unbelievable that it was running so fast, it was messing with the computer system. Man, I hope we may one day again be blessed with nighttime ERT at Holiday World.

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RideMan said: moved out, Raven went wild!

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I remember it well. Jeff told me later that when he walked the track after the storm, it was really freaky going into The Raven's tunnel ... lots of little, glowing eyes were staring back at him. Poor little critters were hiding from the storm! (Poor Jeff!)

Not to ever take away from Jeff's credit...but we *do* have a 10-person maintenance crew. Sean and Heath in particular are "coaster cats" as well. :)

Paula *** Edited 4/28/2005 11:47:45 PM UTC by Raven Maven***

Many of the people I've heard after a night ride on Legend come off swearing there really WAS a headless horseman chasing them through the woods. There's something disorienting about that ride in the dark. Beast runs in a clearing in the middle of a woods, and Thunderbolt drops into and out of a wooded ravine, but Legend runs right through the trees for its entire run, with no bright lights from an adjacent ride, no distant view of city lights, and no Beastlike slow lift hill and pause on top to break the spell. Legend is just relentless breathtaking plunging through pitch blackness. I really don't know if there's any other coaster out there which can match it.

Anybody remember the srm event where the bell fell from the legends station. That night was the best night rides on any coaster ever for me. It will be hard to beat!

The last SRM was my first trip to Holiday World and I rode Raven as dusk passed. I thought that there couldnt be a better ride ever built. Then I rode Legend.

Legend at night when I didn't know the layout was INSANE. It was good afterwards, but nothing beats riding Legend without having good visual references. It's "Crazy-Go-Nuts!"

That reminds me, I have to plan a HW trip this year....

My greatest coaster riding experience happened at SRM in 2002. After 10pm is when these coasters start getting crazy. There was something magical about it and I long for another night like that one.

I like the Beast at night, but I'm afraid that the pacing, airtime, smoothness, drops, turns, and sheer suprise on Legend and Raven is about a million times better.

Legend was running great with the PTC's in the 2003 SRM. However, Im one of the few who prefered the G train and I still don't think it can give quite as good a ride as the G train gave in 2001 and quite honestly, My ribs were far more bruised from the PTC's.

That coaster is so intense running like that. Even the die hards kinda gotta take a short break after about 5 rides. The most rides in a row I seen was 12 by my friend Kris.

This wasn't even at a event, but our first visit back in 2000 on july 4th. Both from having fun and getting mooshed, I came back in the station litterally in tears with laughter.

Mrs. Koch, (operating at the time) rushed over and ask me if I was ok. I kinda looked silly saying "That was the most fun I've ever had!" and tears running down my cheeks.

Im still after a few hundred rides prone to *Legendary fits of laughter^ after a particuarlly good mooshing ride.

If you ever catch that episode of Worlds Greatest with Paula and that SFSTL guy and Paula Screaming the whole ride. You'll notice that she was almost in his lap. You don't get that from over engineered steelie :)

Chuck, who can't stand to ride it with people that hang on for dear life, Worry about pain or just plain wimps. I don't mean that as a insult but sometimes it seems that some people don't know how to have fun.

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bduc420 said:
Anybody remember the srm event where the bell fell from the legends station. That night was the best night rides on any coaster ever for me. It will be hard to beat!

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That was 2001 and just as soon as I and some Chilly B dude walked in the station house. The bell came down.

It's Legendary.

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bduc420 said:
Anybody remember the srm event where the bell fell from the legends station. That night was the best night rides on any coaster ever for me. It will be hard to beat!

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I didn't get to see (or hear) the bell come down because I was on the train that was out on the course at the time. I was one of the lucky ones who had to exit the train on the brake run just to be safe.

Twenty years from now, some maintenance man is going to complain about having to climb up into the attic every morning and check the mounts on the bell. Hopefully someone will be around who can tell the story of the night that Holiday World went for the no-bell prize.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Twenty years from now, some maintenance man is going to complain about having to climb up into the attic every morning and check the mounts on the bell. Hopefully someone will be around who can tell the story of the night that Holiday World went for the no-bell prize.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Sort of has a *Ring* to it!

Oh how I yearn for more ERT on either coaster. It's taking a *toll* on me....

All this punning is un-bell-ievable! ;)

Talk about bats in the belfry! (sp)

Of the people that have ridden it as well as Raven and Legend, how does Boulderdash compare to these two? I know that it is a really tight run through the woods, but I haven't read anything on how night rides are on it.

IMHO it don't! BD was a good ride though, The insaneness isn't there though.

Chuck, who just may have caught BD on a bad day

Boulderdash for me, doesn't quite get to the standards of say a night ride on Raven or Legend. It is however still very good, and can get quite disorienting in the dark as you plow through the woods.

I forget which year I went down to Holiday World...it was either 2001 or 2002. Anyway, I got ERT after the park closed on The Legend, and as others said, it was a religious experience.

We were on a train that came in too fast and shot waaay past where it was supposed to brake. Will Koch actually ran up with a piece of chalk to mark where the front of the train stopped, and it was at least 15-20 feet past the normal stopping point. That ride was absolutely insane and disorienting. What made it even better was that since we overshot the station they had to send us back around to correct the computer so we also got a re-ride out of it.

Ouch Dave.

Raven and Legend are both great in the dark, though I think Legend may benefit more. Both are better than Beast in the dark.

The only dark coaster ride I've had that I recall exceeding Legend was SROS at SFA before they built Raven. Back then it was pitch black out on the run. The track seemed to just end at the top of the lift hill. You saw nothing after the lift until you approached the 3rd hill which was shillouted looking like a wall ahead instead of a hill. Fantastic ride!