PGA

Dont really hear a lot about this park other than its extremely dethemed. You hear a lot about inverts such as B:TR, or Carowinds Top Gun, montu, Talon, why dont you hear a lot about PGA's Top Gun, is it really a bad ride? I am also curious about their Vortex, is that ride any good?? I believe it was B&M's first coaster?? Please share about the coasters at PGA and the park! Thanks!

My opinions are based on my visit in 2001.

Top Gun is not a bad ride. It only has three inversions but how they placed it at the front of the park makes it unique. The zero-g roll twists right over the Showtime Theater and the flatspin/final helix are placed right over water.

Vortex was B&M's second coaster (Iron Wolf at SFGAm was first) and all I can remember is headbanging. It seemed that Vortex was designed to fit in a rather tight area so some transitions were a little rough.

Psycho Mouse was brand new and I enjoyed it. It was my first Arrow Mouse and it was a surprisingly good coaster for its size.

Grizzly - if you're looking for good wood coasters, head over to SFMW or SCCB. Grizzly is absolutely boring. This ride has no air time and no laterals. It's like a giant kiddie coaster.

Invertigo was also a surprise. While PKI had Face/Off already, I never had a chance to ride it so Invertigo was my first Vekoma inverted boomer. I loved it and I think the Invertigos are the best thing Vekoma has ever created.

Demon was sort of a let down. It wasn't bad but nothing close to SFGAm's Demon. I remember the train shuffling going up the lift hill and the tunnel after the second hill was dark (unlike SFGAm's which has lights).

Greezed Lightning was my second Schwarzkopf shuttle loop (my first was Monte at KBF the week before) and thought it wasn't as intense as Monte. I believe GL was a weight drop launch. I also remember the train was braked before flying through the station backwards.

And lastly, Stealth was bumpy. Maybe I was spoiled by X Flight since it was new at the time. While X Flight and Stealth are near identical rides, I prefer the in line rolls of X Flight over the corkscrews on Stealth. I also remember the trains reclined a little more abruptly in the station.

Other than that, PGA is a nice park but like you stated is extremely dethemed. They do have some good flat rides (Revolution, an Intamin looping starship, and Berserker, a "Bayern Kurve" style ride stand out the most) but like most theme parks, they need more flats. It's also kind of sad to think the park will never expand. It is so landlocked that they were building an office building in the parking lot when I was there.

PGA has been dethemed in a lot of areas, but it's not extremely dethemed. They've got more theming than SFMW, not that it's hard to have more theming than them... ;) What it does have though, is a nice atmosphere, and a nice collection of rides. They aren't the greatest in the world, far from it. However, some of the coasters are good, albeit too short. Top Gun is by far, the most intense Beemer I've been on yet. Short, but intense and sweet. I just miss the Whizzer, and now GL... :(

PGA deserves a lot of props for what they've done for us local Nor Cal ACErs too. They've put on some great events for us, and have been nothing but inviting. That was due in large part to Derek Hanna, the PR guy and a Nor Cal ACEr. However, he's not at the park anymore, so we'll see what happens this year. Hopefully the extended welcome to us stays on even after his departure. :)

Justin

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Never look a gift horse in the mouth, because horses have very bad breath

PGA is in re-building mode which can only be a good thing. Alot of theming is being added to the park, new flats and a new coaster coming next year. Tim Fischer is going to do wonders for that park. BTW, Top Gun remains my favorite B&M invert.

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People complain about clones, yet can't even come up with original conversation, which is ten times worse.