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We arrives at the park around 11:30. Great weather. Hot and sunny. There was a short line to pick up tickets but we (myself and a friend from Toronto) were in quickly.
We headed to the back of the park to skip the biggest crowds and walked onto Ghoster Coaster. Lots of fun for a junior coaster and well worth the time.
Minebuster was next. 15 minute wait for the back. Great speed down the first drop and some good head chopping effects going though the water park, but not too much to make it stand out. My friend got banged around a little which she didn't care for but it didn't seem that rough to me.
Skyrider. 25 minute wait for the back. Horrible loading procedures that took forever. Ride was smoother that I remembered and was quite a bit of fun. Keep your head back and everything is fine. However, very little to make it stand out.
We headed back to the front of the park and rode Dragon Fire. It was a walk on for the back. Nice smooth loops, good corkscrews but over too soon. I also don't care for the strait flat track from the first drop to the loops. All in all a fun ride, but little to make it worth a second ride.
Wild Beast was decent ride. I bet it would run amazing at night. Back row was a 25 minute wait. Lots of getting tossed around and if it wasn't for the slow first turn-around I would have liked it more.
Thunder run was a 5 minute wait and was a lot of fun. Decent speed and I enjoy the two laps policy. Laughing all the way.
We skipped the Bat and hit the bridge on Timberwolf falls to cool off. Soaked, we headed to Top Gun. After a lengthy delay for a lost article search (I don't know what they dropped but it better be good and almost life threatening) we got on towards the back but not last car. I like the inversions but miss the g's of the Batman clones. It was also quite rough but proper head placement seemed to do the trick. My friend got banged around and was a tad annoyed when we got off, but her first thrill of inverted inversions made up for it. It's so pleasant to see a non-coaster geek enjoying a coaster for the first time.
After "supper" we headed to White Water Canyon. It was an hour wait and it had to be one of the most boring tube ride out there. I though the one at The Great Escape was short but fun. This was just short and especially annoying after a 1 hour wait.
Time for the Fly, my first wild mouse. What can I say? Laugh out loud fun the whole time. I loved it. You actually feel like you're going to fly off the track. It's one of only two coasters that had enough to make me want to ride again.
The second was Vortex. Damn. I love this ride. I've been on The Big Bad Wolf and Ninja at SFMM and this one destroys both of them. Speed and the perfect elements over the water. World class coaster and I'm guessing the best of the suspended.
That was it.
As for other rides of note, Drop Zone was great, The Rage (pirate ship) was fun due to the fact it was over water, and swings proved a fun distraction.
The staff operating the rides varied drastically. Speed and effective loading on Vortex made great use of the 2 trains. The methodically slow loading of Skyrider made a mockery of two train operation. Food "service" was horrible. We stood in line for a soggy sub for 25 minutes (I'm not even exaggerating) and there were only 3 people in front of us. Painfully slow at Arthur's Pub. It was so bad after waiting 10 minutes we left, went around back and got a few beers and some nachos from the bar. Great place to chill overlooking Arthur's Baye though.
We checked out the water park, but the massive crowds prevented rides or even relaxing by the pool. It was to be expected on such a hot day.
All in all, a fun park that I will return to. However, besides Vortex, it lacks big thrills. My friend and I were more interested in a fun day and a few beers than re-rides, but even if we were, there was very little I'd ride again. Great park though and I'll definitely return.
Thanks for reading.
*** This post was edited by Mtl_Shag on 7/21/2002. ***
Great TR! Did you not go on any of the Mondial flats - Cliffhanger, Shockwave and Psyclone? Those some of the best attractions in the park! To avoid roughness on Minebuster I suggest riding in the last car first row.
Thanks. I'll use that Minebuster info next time.
I don't care for Cliffhanger due to the pelvis crushing, but I would have LOVED to ride Psyclone and Shockwave. Wait times posted at 1 hour or more kept us away though. It was much more of a relaxed day at the park than a "gotta get on all of 'em" kind of day. Leaves plenty for next time too...
Vortexguy: You guys did a fine job and restored my faith in ride ops, at least at PCW. I would have hopped on for a second ride (or third) but as I mentioned my non-coaster friend usually has her fill with one.
Now if you could only speak to the ICEE guy who didn't have sports bottles, overfilled the cup and then wiped it with a dirty rag... ah but I just love to complain...
*** This post was edited by Mtl_Shag on 7/22/2002. ***
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