PKI-4/28, or, has Mr. Twister been dethroned?
Associated parks:
None
First time at PKI on Sunday. We got to the park about 11:00, and the parking lot was only about 1/4 full. Seeing the huge structure of SOB was enough to make me start drooling, and it seemed as though my friends couldn't walk fast enough for me. Anyway, here we go with the coaster reports.
Adventure Express: Fun Arrow Mine Train. I liked the helixes, and overall this was just a fun ride. Sure it wasn't fast enough, but what mine trian is? I liked the effects in the second lift with the statues and everything, but it seems to me that it would have been more suited for the first life. Anyway, 5/10
Top Gun: The only other Arrow Suspended I had been on was Ninja @ SFMM, and Top Gun blew it out of the water. I liked the theming in the station, the did a good job trying to make it look like an aircraft carrier. The first drop and turn were amazing, and the ride was even better after that. It was a little short, but at least it had a lot of speed, which Ninja doesn't. 7/10
Drop Zone: Waited about an hour for this, but it could have been better if the crew had been working more efficently. I work at an amusement park, and I know that you have to be enthusiastic and have energy to do your job well, otherwise you come off looking like you don't care. Anyway, it was a fun drop ride, like all drop rides it was too short, but otherwise it was a lot of fun and provided a nice view of the park. 7/10
Son of Beast: Rode this one two times, once around noon and again right before closing. I must say, if a ride can be made less fun by restraints, this is the one. I can only imagine what it would be like if they put trains like on Beast on this thing. Even with the restraints though it was an amazing ride. I looked back from the lift and I could see the track peices of King Cobra lying by a shed behind the coaster. It looks like this one does have a future in another park. The first drop was one of the best I have been on. The helixes were remeniscent of the helixes on the defunct Mr. Twister, only much, much larger. I thought the loop was a fun and unique element, and overall liked the ride. It just hurt my legs too much. 9/10
Racer (Twice) and Recar: I thought this ride is an excellent example of how if old rides are maintained properly, they can still be great. Airtime was great in both tracks, but possibly a little better in the first row of the last car on the forwards side. I liked the backwards side a lot though, my first backwards coaster and I must say that it is a lot of fun. Racer: 6/10, Recar: 6/10
Flight of Fear: WOW. I had heard that this was good with lapbars, but I had no idea it would be this fun, fast, disorienting, or awesome. I was totally blown away. I thought that the theming was superb, almost better than Disney in some respects. The only bad thing was that it broke while we were waiting in line, but so many people left that it didn't make a whole lot of buisness. I talked with the ride ops while they were in the que telling the crowd what was going on, and told them they were doing a good job, because people weren't treating them very well. If there was one thing that I wish the GP would realize, it would be that ride ops have no control over what goes on when a ride breaks, and that they are doing the best they can. Anyway, I loved the ride. I as anticipating the last corkscrew, but it still caught me off my guard. I loved the overbanked turns that are in it, and overall this is now my #1 steel coaster. 10/10
The Beast: If FOF gets a WOW, this one gets a HOLY S***! I waited the extra time for front row, and the anticipation almost killed me. The wait was well worth it. This was just an amazing, out of control coaster. I kept my hands up the whole time, even in the tunnels. Speaking of Tunnels, how about that first drop? Although it is the same idea as Goliath's, this was 10 times better. Once again the helixes were reminiscent of Mr. Twister, but the tunnels made them that much better. All of the tunnels were awesome, and the way it hugs the terain made it great. I would give anything to live in one of those houses that are across the valley, To be able to see most of the circuit of this masterpeice would be somehting to look forward to at the end of the day. In conclusion, it is going to take some serious thinking, but this creation may have dethroned Mr. Twister as my favorite all-time woodie. It is just to early to decide. My favorite ride of the day, and possibly all time. Rating: 11/10
Vortex- This is one of the most beautiful coasters I have ever seen in my life. Its setting is great, and provides for some very nice picture spots. In the seat though, it was an arrow megalooper. The design was more original than the other ones I have been on, and I really like the first drop. The transtions were very rough though, and this one kind of gave me a headache., It was still fun though, but in my opinion it was not as good as Viper @SFMM. BTW it did look really good with the new coat of paint. SF could take some pointers from this park in making their coasters look good. Overall 6/10
Runaway Reptar: A fun SLC with a new design. This is a great ride to take kids on, and was fun because the relatively slow speed provides for minimal headbanging. Overall, a nice break from the big coasters. 5/10
Beastie: I felt I had to finish off the family, so I took a spin on this purple (why purple?) creation. A fun ride, and the unbanked turns made for some very fun moments, since i am much bigger than the person I went with. She kind of got squished. Anyway, another fun ride that is great for the kiddies. 5/10
Well, I think thats everything. Face Off was closed all day, but I wasn't too bummed out because Ive ridden a boomerang, and I can't imagine that the difference between these two is enough to make me very upset. I didn't get a chance to ride Tomb Raider either, because everytime we tried it was closed for mechanical reasons. Oh well, I can ride a Top Spin at work. Other than that, this had to be one of the best days of my life. It was good to see a park that unlike many SF parks, goes for Quality over Quantity, and not the other way around. This is the one of the best parks I have been to, and I feel that riding the Beast is one of my true 'initiations' into the enthusuast community. I am only sorry that I will not be there in June to ride it again with all of you guys. I didn't see any CB shirts, but if you saw a tall guy in a SFEG windbreaker and a black SF hat walking around with a short girl, that was me. This is my first TR, so I hope that it was a good one. Later.
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"If somebody throws a rock and knocks a man off his donkey, do we say that he's stoned off his ass?
*** This post was edited by Mustang on 4/30/2002. ***
*** This post was edited by GhettoCoaster on 4/30/2002. ***
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Son of beast/top gun crew 2001 and 2002
life is like a coaster. you have ups and downs and when you least expect it you go upside down
I know it's a typo, but i've been laughing for about 5 minutes at "yop spin."
Good TR. It's great to hear about PKI from someone who's never been there before! Fresh, unbiased perspective.
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Doesn't it seem as though morons always have the caps lock on?
Mustang:
You did miss something with Face Off. Invertigos are much more intense than Boomerangs. But no, Face Off is not the equal of Beast or FOF.
Good trip report Mustang. It sounds like you had a pretty good day at the park.
Face/Off is A LOT better ride than a normal Boomerang. I don't know that I would even compare the two.
What do you mean you can ride a Top Spin at work? I wish I could do that.
I'm glad you enjoyed your visit to PKI. It's not my home park but it's one of my favorite places to go. I don't care for some of the coasters as much as you do, but there's just something about the park. I've never had a bad day there.
Kyle
Another FoF satisfied customer. And people were doubting us last year when we went on and on about how good the ride was!
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"
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"Attention all Time Travel Commitee Members; the reasearch and development meeting will take place last friday at O-Three-Hundred hours. Do not be late."
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