SFWoA 9-30-01 - First time in 6 years
Associated parks:
None
Villain - I had never ridden a CCI woodie, so I was looking forward to this a lot. It did NOT disappoint. Villain is perhaps the best wooden coaster I've ever ridden. I couldn't believe how fast it seemed through the entire course. It just never slows down. Every turn is a high lat-G experience, with great drops and excellent hand choppers. I was extremely impressed. This is the best ride at the park, IMO, and it had the longest line, about 30 minutes, which would have been much shorter if they weren't running one train. I rode it twice.
Batman: Knight Flight - I'd ridden Medusa east earlier this summer, so it wasn't my first experience on a floorless. Overall, I thought Batman was a better ride. The low to the ground, high speed turn following the loop was great, the inversions were intense (I got some hang time in the loop in the back too), and the layout was much more interesting, and compact than Medusa. I thought the quick direction changes and good positive Gs made the ride. It seemed to keep its speed a lot better than Medusa did. The only thing missing is a Zero-G roll. A great ride. It was a walk on almost the entire day, and later on, it was only a 3 train wait. They were running 2 trains, so it went quickly. I waited 5 minutes for the front seat my second time through. I rode it 4 times.
X-Flight - X Flight was unlike any coaster I've ever been on, but I was slightly disappointed by it. The first dive and swooping turn are really cool, and the helix at the end is neat, but the positioning is a little uncomfortable because your knees are bent. This is by far the smoothest Vekoma ride I've been on, but it just wasn't enough. With a slight change in the seating (you need to be completely horizontal...as it is, you're head is actually below your feet when you're on your back.), and a more interesting layout, these Vekoma flyers will be real winners.
Superman: Ultimate Escape - While I don't think it was as good as some people are saying (who think it's the best thing out there), this is a darn fun ride. The launch was great, and both spikes were great. I loved the back seat, so you're the full 180 feet up when you're on the vertical spike, looking down. It's quite a sensation. I was laughing and smiling throughout the whole ride. Just a ton of fun.
The Big Dipper was good, but not as airtime packed as it's been on some other occasions. I rode Mind Eraser since there was literally no line for it, and it convinced me to swear off boomerangs forever. I've only been on 2, at SFDL and here, and they both were so painful, and unexciting, I view them as a waste of time. I'd much rather ride a good flat ride than another boomerang. I spent the last hour of my trip taking photos, of which I got quite a few really good ones. I'll post the new pics on my website in a few days.
Overall, a very fun short day at the park. I loved S:UE, Batman, and Villain, and thought X-Flight was pretty good too.
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Jman
Webmaster: Gravibulb Coasters
http://balder.prohosting.com/gravbulb/coasters/
*** This post was edited by Jman on 9/30/2001. ***
Jman said:
X-Flight - X Flight was unlike any coaster I've ever been on, but I was slightly disappointed by it. The first dive and swooping turn are really cool, and the helix at the end is neat, but the positioning is a little uncomfortable because your knees are bent. This is by far the smoothest Vekoma ride I've been on, but it just wasn't enough. With a slight change in the seating (you need to be completely horizontal...as it is, you're head is actually below your feet when you're on your back.), and a more interesting layout, these Vekoma flyers will be real winners.
"
Have you ever known a Vekoma layout to be original or different? There's already clones of the Flying Dutchman (Stealth is very similar, but a prototype. Batwing is the other clone). They have only one SLC model, one Boomerang model, and one Super Invertigo... what other coasters have they made that are original layouts?? None I can note of under the Vekoma name brand.
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Proud to be an American!!
About the park itself. There were NONE, I repeat, NONE of the ATM's working in the park. How in the world do they expect to sell anything with no ATM's working?
The staff: two speeds. Slow and slower. I also don't think that most of them washed their uniforms all season long!
The park has some good rides. However, the park needs much improvement if the want to compete with CP.
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Did I mention, that I like coasters...
ROLLER COASTER - CUSTOM DESIGNED - MK 1200
1 Six Flags St.Louis Theme Park USA Eureka, MO 1986
2 Nanhu China Guangzhou 1986
3 Lotte World (indoor) Korea Seoul 1988
4 Parc Astérix France Plailly 1989
5 Six Flags over Georgia USA Austell, GA 1989
6 Kumdori Land Seoul Taejon City 1993
7 Fantasy Island UK Ingoldmells 1999
(From Vekoma's site, parks with custom layouts).
Plus don't forget the SLC+ with the added helix at the end (basically the same as an SLC).
Also, Vekoma has many more different kinds of coasters than DB listed. Check the site for more info.
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Don't look down-Oblivion
*** This post was edited by PT300 on 10/2/2001. ***
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