Ravine Flyer II - B-Roll film shoot.

Hey guys. Yesterday I was lucky enough to be able to participate in a B-Roll film shoot at Waldameer Amusement Park. We spent most of the day on Ravine Flyer II but also shot on Comet, Steel Dragon and a few people stayed for a ride on Ravine Flyer III.

Yesterday was unbelievable. 52 consecutive laps. The day surpassed all of my expectations. I thought I might ride a few times here and there, but Other than moving around the train occasionally, I never got up, other than to eat and well, you know. Waldameer was nice enough to treat us all to Applebees for lunch. In terms of intensity and pure craziness, I still have to give my vote to Voyage, but I can't ride that more than a handful of times. This is very reridable. If needed, I could have stayed on much longer than the 52 times we had already ridden.

I prefer the left side of the train in the back seat. Of the 10 airtime moments, i think 4 felt like ejector. Keep in mind that it was cold. So this could be different with warmer weather. I only had three rides in the very back seat and it was the first 3 rides, so I wasn't yet paying attention to the details. That being said, I recall there being good air over the hills. I didn't get any front seat rides and will defiantly go back sometime this summer. The 2 biggest laterals in my opinion were the right turn just after the first drop and the right turn going up through the turnaround. The 90 degree turn is of course amazing. This is a very well paced ride that is non-stop from beginning to end. The view is pretty sweet too. There is much to see and you have to ride it a few times to really get a good look around.

Most of my rides were toward the front due to my morning purchase of a red Ravine flyer T-shirt. I have transition lenses in my glasses, so the guy if you see a guy in the pics from Saturday in a red shirt with what appear to be sunglasses, it's me. Rob did a great job and I can't believe some of the places they stood to get video.

Yesturday was definatly fun. I now have 56 laps on the Ravine Flyer 2. The maintmence staff was great too. Fun all around. To bad we could not catch that Damn bird :) And we made a name for the turn around. We call it the "Damn It Turn" *** Edited 5/21/2008 6:42:15 PM UTC by Ken Jones***

I didn't get any front seat rides and will defiantly go back sometime this summer.

Some typos are funny :)

Thanks for the write-up, Jason. I can't wait to experience RVIII for myself in less than a week!

Jason it was nice meeting you yesterday and yes I will agree that RFII is amazing. I cannot wait to get a night ride in on that thing. I'm really really glad to have a GOOD wood coaster now within 2 hrs of me.

~Rob Willi

Sounds like a good time.

Not sure I'm motivated enough to ride any coaster 52 times - let alone 52 consecutive times. :)

Because of the computers there was always at least 45 seconds between dispatches. And when ever they were fiddling with the onboard cameras or moving to a different shot location there was some downtime in the station. The 52 consecutive laps including lunch and a couple brief breaks went from 9:30am to about 3pm.

52 laps = 78 minutes & 28.56 miles (according to RCDB)

LOL Moosh, speaking of typos...

Wow, I'm beginning to wonder if I am the only one who was completely underwhelmed by RF2. I fully expect it to get much better as it breaks in, but I'm honestly surprised at how good of reviews it's already getting. Perhaps it's already gotten much better, because there certainly were not ten airtime moments when I rode it; maybe 7, and only three were strong.

Regardless of how it eventually turns out, it is a good coaster.

The airtime moments defiantly became more noticeable as the day went on. Not all were as prominent as the others, but I think once it warms up they'll all really be there.

I see quite a few people mention Voyage in their RF2 reviews. If you are hoping to ride a coaster half its length and and expect it to be compareable to Voyage. Well, Waldameer will have just have to that as a compliment. I'm going to put in my intense catagory along with Knobel's Twister, Hershey"s Wildcat and Geauga's Villian. However I would have be satisfied to put it in the fun catagory with K.W. Thunderbolt, Knobel's Phoenix, Conneaut lake's Blue Streak. The fun rides are the ones I see people run off the exit and right back in line. Very few do this with the intense rides. Is Ravine Flyer 2 intense? Just watch for rerides on the Comet and Steel Dragon to get your answer.

It was basically Voyage crossed with Raven and Thunderhead with a Boss looking ending. Regardless it's a great ride.