Phoenix Phall Phunfest with Phlying Turns!

Quickie thoughts on this year's PPP:

1) Flying Turns: This ate up about 2 hours of our time with all the waiting. The ride ops were very organized and quick to get trains out, but the capacity on this ride seems prohibitively low. My friend and I got to ride together in the front car, and we had other adults in the "sled" as well, so our car smoked through the course. This is an attractive, fun little ride! Would I ever wait 2 hours again for it? No, but it is definitely worth a re-ride when lines calm down a little.

2) Twister ran much better this year again. Still pretty rough, but extremely fast and fun as well. One ride.

3) Phoenix was awesome again, but I was getting so much airtime from my favorite seat that I was too afraid to put my hands up. I'm about 20-25 pounds lighter than I was at last year's event, so I had even more room between me and the buzz bar. Scary in the best possible way. 4 laps.

4) I'm pretty sure they tightened Fandango's lock system. One ride was uncomfortable with the tightness, and the second ride gave me absolutely no air whatsoever because I was so tightly restrained. Still my favorite pendulum ride in my area though, and I like the no light show thing they do for PPP. 2 rides.

5) Downdraft: why did I think I liked this ride? Jaya and I were both wishing we had a V8 after this one.

6) Bumper cars: Still the best. 1 ride.

7) Cosmotron: They were playing Bohemian Rhapsody when we got to our car, but then they switched it to a lame Pitbull song for the actual ride. Last year they did this by switching from Metallica to Purple People Eater. Why? It would be so much fun to ride to some different music than the usual Musik Express type songs, especially for Halloween.

8) The pizza was disgusting again. Jaya wanted to eat it because hell, it was free, but we both managed about half of one slice and then threw it out. Waste of calories and time.

9) The crowds didn't seem as bad this year. Lines for the cars, train ride, flyers, and Flying Turns were out of control, but everything else was pretty tame. When we arrived, the place was packed and I was worried, but we easily did everything we wanted to do (except Kosmos Curves, which we missed by about two minutes), and we had a great time. Things seemed a little less happy and wild than last year, but it was still one of my favorite park events of the summer. Can't wait until next year!

That was the most tempered response I've seen about Turns. Most of what I've read has been irrational gushing or inevitable anticipointment.

Consider yourself lucky. All I've seen is the irrational gushing based on the afterglow of PPP and the excitement of the ride finally opening.

I could use a good dose of anticipointment.

You guys must be hearing reviews elsewhere. The ones I've read here have been fairly benign, save for one.

All i've read is that it's a fun little ride.

I still say "meh."

I'll get there at some point for it. I mean, I've waited this long - what's a little longer?

I was anticipating a better response from you Gonch. Now I'm anticipointed. Jealous?

What? The Turns have opened before the onset of the glaciers of the next ice age? I'm turely surprised.

The thing I DID find neat about Flying Turns was the feeling of extreme roller skating. The ride looked like a roller skating rink gone horribly awry.

Now my friend Jaya has decided she wants to build a mini-Turns in her back yard, and the vehicles will be modified skateboards. I don't think with all her intelligence and knowledge that it will take almost a decade to build either. *chuckle*

Bunky - - - > If I may ask....what didn't you like about Downdraft? I kind of thought it was a little intense. It also got up to full speed very quickly, but that was late August.

I didn't like that it made me wanna hurl chunks! *laugh*

Downdraft would be SO much better with some padded restraints....I ride it, but it hurts way more than necessary.

The train ride was pretty cool (cheesy fun) with the story-line rather than the random alien/mining/western/pirate items from the past.

The leaves were excellent this year, I didn't realize it had gotten cold enough for a good year of "leafing." Win!

The rumors of some airtime missing from the turnarounds on Phoenix were proved true.

Wish we could get some operators on the flyers that would let us go nuts ....miss the old days on that one.

Bumper cars...world's finest.

Turns were pretty much what I expected - I know I don't stand in for "average park guest 1" - but I love it for what it is.

rollergator said:

I love it for what it is.

That's what parents of ugly and/or stupid kids say.

If you don't like the other Mack and Intamin bobsleds (Avalanche, Vibora, Alpine Bobsled) - then you probably won't get much out of this one. Personally, I'd probably put it about equal with the exceptional ride at Blackpool...except this one is wooden, and it's WAY closer.

Most reviews I heard at PPP, even from more enthusiasty types, were that it's simply a fun ride, and I'd tend to agree. And really, that's what I expected it to be. I do wish I could ride it without waiting an hour, but since I only ever get to the park during PPP weekend, I'm not sure that will ever happen!