PKD - August 15, 2001 (Great park!)

I also visited BGW on August 13, but I decided to write my report on PKD since this was my first visit and I liked the park more.

We stayed at the Best Western right next to the parking lot and had no trouble getting to the park in the morning.

We finally got in the park at around 10:40 after waiting 20 minutes to buy our passes. A guy in line right in front of us graciously handed us a coupon that was $8 for up to 6 admissions. Wow, we saved $32 on our admission. Not too shabby, eh? ;)

As soon as I walked in the park, I noticed that it was a lot nicer than what I had seen from the parking lot the previous evening. I had no idea the park would be so clean and well maintained. This was my first Paramount Park so I had no idea what to expect. There was lots of shade and tons of different places to eat. Something that Busch Gardens doesn't have.

We got in line for Hypersonic at around 10:45 and ended up waiting for about 1 hour 20 minutes. The launch was awesome, but after the vertical spike, I noticed a little headbanging that I could do without. I would describe the ride as 1.8 seconds of pure fun! It's a great ride, but not worth that amount of waiting time in the scorching sun.

After this, I headed to Volcano and encountered a 1 hour wait. This ride is lots of fun but is very short. There was quite a bit of headbanging but it didn't matter because the OTSR's are so comfortable. Now I got the two longest waits out of the way.

After this, I got in line for Flight of Fear, which was about a 30-minute wait. The ride is lots of fun, but still not what I would call "smooth." I also ride about 45 minutes before closing time and waited no more than 5 minutes.

Other coasters I rode:

Grizzly - It was Grrrreat! I feel that this is the best wooden coaster that PKD has. It's most definitely the smoothest. There was absolutely no wait at all during the day, so I was able to ride it 7 times, and 4 times in a row without getting off right before closing.

Rebel Yell - Ouch! It was obvious that this coaster hasn't aged too well, as it was one of the few coasters I actually hoped the ride would be over right after the first drop. There was lots of screeching during the ride, as with all of PKD's woodies. I also noticed while heading back to the station that some track on the first drop isn't aligned properly. Well, one ride on the forwards side was plenty for me.

The Hurler - "I think I'm gonna hurl!" Seriously, who thought of this design? There is plenty of room there to make a decent ride. The turn after the first drop is what got me, but the rest of the ride was decent.

Scooby Doo - This is a fun little ride that really picks up speed. I still have bruises on my knees from it though ;).

I also rode the flyers (forget the name - had something to do with Eagles) and the very scenic Log Flume.

All the employees were nice, the food was good, and the park was great.

If they were to add a hypercoaster, then this park would definitely be in my top 5, maybe even higher.

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Kennywood Insider's Guide
http://kennywood.coaster-mania.com

There was lots of shade and tons of different places to eat. Something that Busch Gardens doesn't have.

When I was at BGW, there were so many trees, I couldn't even see some of the rides.

Also, how could you possibly have headbanging on Hypersonic? It has lap bars.
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Parks for 2001: SFEG, Lakeside,Funtown USA, Palace Playland, HP,BGW,PKD,Alton Towers.

That's funny, cause I thought the exact opposite way you felt about Grizzly and Rebel Yell. I thought Grizzly was way too rough and too much screeching. I guess it has its good and bad days. I liked Rebel Yell, IMO the smoothest woodie if you don't include Scooby Doo. Scoody Doo did surprise me alot, I actually enjoyed it. My knees were banging the whole time on Hurler.

I enjoyed my rides on both the Grizzly and Rebel yell as well as Hypersonic and Flight of fear.How can you say that there was head banging on Hypersonic?I thought the ride was smooth as glass.I was at PKD yesterday and had a great time especially all the re-rides on Rebel yell both forwards and backwards.The only thing I didn't like was the wait times for Hypersonic and Flight of fear.Just read my trip reportentitled PKD 8/18/01-Hypersonic xlc and Rebel yell re-rides.

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PT300 said:
"There was lots of shade and tons of different places to eat. Something that Busch Gardens doesn't have.

When I was at BGW, there were so many trees, I couldn't even see some of the rides.

Also, how could you possibly have headbanging on Hypersonic? It has lap bars.

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I think I said that wrong. I meant that BGW doesn't have a wide variety of places to eat. They have tons of shade, I agree, and you can't see some of the rides.

For Hypersonic, maybe it was because I sat in the back, but they have little indentations for your head to fit into, and my head was knocked around a little bit. The turnaround, and especially where they take your picture, is where it's a bit rough for my tastes. In my opinion, the ride wasn't worth the long wait.

I noticed that PKD's wooden coasters aren't as well maintained as say, Kennywood's. The only ride I disliked was Rebel Yell. Other than that, all the other rides were fun.

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Kennywood Insider's Guide
http://kennywood.coaster-mania.com/

Let me put in my objection to the comment about headbanging on Volcano. I've never experienced it. I agree that Hypersonic is a one-trick pony. I thought of it as a Space-Shot with a coaster train instead of the traditional seating. I also agree that FOF is not as smooth as I expected without the OTSR's. Instead of headbanging, I shifted around in the seat a little bit. The lapbars did make a big improvement though.

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Batwing-Bow Down

It's good that you got the two longest lines out of the way. Hypersonic XLC looks awesome. What is the ride capacity?
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"Duff Man Says... Ohhhhh Yaaaaa!"
Current Favorite Coasters:
1)Raging Bull 2)Millennium Force 3)Medusa (SFMW) 4)Vertical Velocity (SFGAm) 5)Dueling Dragons (Ice)

*** This post was edited by StealthmF5m3 on 8/20/2001. ***

Well, in my personal opinion on the rides, I think that Volcano has to be the smoothest ride in the park.  Headbanging?  When?  My deaf boyfriend who is very sensitive about his ears adores this ride and has never complained about headbanging.  I've not ridden Hypersonic yet, so the jury is still out on the head banging there, but I'm still nervous to get onto Flight of Fear even though they removed the OTSR.  I agree with you that I like Grizzly better than Rebel Yell.  Rebel Yell has a few really jarring moments that I could do without, whereas Grizzly, though needs some grease, is a fun ride.

You didn't mention Anaconda.  Did you ride it?  Its a little rough but a lot of fun.

Supersonic

Well, I experienced headbanging on Volcano around the turns. It presses your head against the restraint, and then pushes it against the opposite one. I didn't mind at all, it didn't hurt or anything. Volcano was an awesome ride, and I think I liked it better than Alpengeist during my trip, despite the length of it.

No, I didn't ride Anaconda because 1) the line was long 2) everyone who got off was holding their neck 3) I've had my share with Arrows ;)

And for Hypersonic, it just shook me up. Like I said before, it's 1.8 seconds of pure fun.

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Kennywood Insider's Guide
http://kennywood.coaster-mania.com