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This is my home park, an hour and a few minutes away from me, so i figured id post a quick review of the place just for everyone that hasnt been. Hopefully ill be able to check out PKI when i go to ohio in a few weeks. Anyways, it was a tuesday, the park was dead, and of course Hypersonic XLC was still closed, as it was the sunday that i went. Lots of water dummy testing, and very very disappointing seeing it cycle like that, considering i got to ride it every single trip last summer :( OK , on to the rides.
We arrived at 1015am and waited at the gate to zoom to the Congo area of the park which has the best rides. Our first morning ride was on VOLCANO:THE BLAST COASTER. I immediately took my buddy to the front car, he had never been on an LIM coaster before, so he was in for a treat. In fact, he was really nervous. Off with that 0 to 72mph launch in 4 seconds, around the high speed turn, and then straight up through that second launch into that 155 foot tall sidewinder. A smooth ride around the mountain after that with 3 barrel rolls, and a nearly 90 degree banked hill that plunges into the moutain for a finale. My buddy got off and his legs were shaking :) Just a note, the front is awesome, u get the full force of the launch up the sidewinder....but at the very back, the hangtime when u come out of the top of the mountain is incredible...it literally feels like you may very well fall out !
FLIGHT OF FEAR: we got on this one next, and when my buddy saw it take off he was like "OH GOD not another launch coaster"... New lap restraints like everyone knows, and as we took off and entered the cobra roll and immediately into the next inversion, the little girl in the seat in front of us was screaming at her friend, saying " you said this didnt go upside down ! " LOL Incredible G's at the back , thats my absolute fav place to sit on most of Premier's spaghetti bowls. And hats off to PKD, it was almost pitch black in the building, and that made for an even more intense ride.
ANACONDA: What can i say about this Arrow looper? The first hill isnt steep even if it is 144 feet into a tunnel under the water. Up into a 100foot tall loop directly into a sidewinder...after this, it becomes brutal, with a nasty headbanging butterfly configuration and 2 painfully slow corkscrews back to back. I can only ride this ride once, because the headache just isnt worth it for the rest of the day.
SHOCKWAVE: The first stand up coaster on the east coast...all ive gotta say is...TOGO !!! LOL of course the most pleasant and smooth riding coasters ever to have been designed. I ride it simply because the loop pulls some awesome G's, other than that, i got off feeling like i needed a trip to the chiropracter.
We took a break then, and grabbed some lunch, and then decided to tackle the wood coasters.
REBEL YELL: its a hilly twin tracked coaster, the car on the left is turned in the opposite direction so u have the option of riding this coaster forwards or backwards. HUGE amounts of air time, its a typical out and back coaster with nothing but camel backs and a turn around that has an amazingly steep pitch up .
GRIZZLY: Ive been on alot of woodies in my day,and ive gotta say, this is one of my all time favorites. Its only about 90feet high, but let me tell u, it packs a mean and nasty punch, the back seat has the most airtime, i dont think my butt stayed on the seat for longer than a few seconds. Watch for the tunnel, when u enter it at a pretty quick clip, the track jerks from left to right, giving u a HUGE amount of airtime, and also making u feel like u are going to get your head chopped off, because it happens JUSt as your head is about to pass under the tunnel's entrance.
THE HURLER: Talk about your trip to the chiropracter. Think Mean Streak on a smaller scale, it has a decent first drop directly into a steeply banked curve, lots of camel backs, 2 more steeply banked curves, and 2 great sections of headchoppers.
We didnt bother to ride RICOCHET, its a wild mouse coaster that u can ride at any state fair, nor did we take a ride on AVALANCHE...its a bobsled style coaster that is way too short to wait as long as u have to wait for it..its a kid's favorite.
The line for Volcano may have been half an hour at its peak, we rode it 3 different times that day. The Flight of Fear was virtually empty most of the day, i think alot of people that visit the park dont realize that it has only lap restraints now, so they stay away from it, which was fine with us. We logged 5 trips on FOF, once in the front, 4 times in the back. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that Hypersonic will open up very soon.
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X-Flight World's Only flying coaster!
Batwing World's only flying coaster!
S:UF World's only flying coaster! Don't you love SF ?
Some people can't handle a little head banging.....
ANACONDA IS A GREAT RIDE!
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~Santa Cruz Trip Report just added with lots of pix!
yeah, Ricochet is awesome man...its the first mouse with the custom 50 foot drop....and though ive never ridden Mean Streak at CP, ive talked to many, and Hurler sounds worlds better than that thing. at least Hurler doesnt trim you halfway down the first drop ;)
and i second that comment on Anaconda....when you are an enthusiast, you ride Arrow knowing fully that you will get some whipping....just part of the game:) i personally love anaconda, always has been, and always will be most likely my fav steel coaster there:)
Tim (that is, until we finally get that hyper weve needed for years:))
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"hi, my name is Tim, and im a coasterholic"...."Hi Tim!!" hehe:)
I know Arrow's are brutal....and im a diehard enthusiast, otherwise i wouldnt even ride the thing the first time....LOL
AND AMEN to us needing a hypercoaster. PKD already has enough in the launch department. Its a shame their contract with Vekoma fell through, the flying dutchmen coasters were supposed to be Paramount's , not Six Flags'. Stealth is at Great America, so i could have just seen XFlight or Batwing at PKD :(
I say clear out the area behind Volcano and the Flight of Fear, and Morgan Manufacturing if u are reading this PLEASE build PKD a huge hyper out and back :)
I love Hurler. Never any lines, little rough, great air!
Anaconda is a headbanger in the middle, but if you brace yourself for it, it isn't that bad. One of Arrow's better loopers.
Nice TR.
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