Stark Raven Mad and SFKK

This is my trip report from my insane weekend at Stark Raven Mad and SFKK.
Left Dallas at about 4PM and arrived in Texarkana around 8PM. Scott Connor
and I left town around 9PM heading towards Holiday World. About 70 miles
outside Texarkana, Scott's car broke down. His brother in law picked us up
around 2AM. After arriving back in Texarkana, I caught the 4:50AM bus back
to Dallas. Once in Dallas I headed for the airport and caught the last seat
on the 12:50 flight to Louisville.
Arrived in Louisville around 3:59PM and was met at the gate by Jason K.
(coasterphotos.com) and we head towards Holiday World. We arrived in Dale,
IN around 4PM and I checked into the Motel 6 and then head towards the park.
I have never been to HW before, once we arrived we headed towards the
Holiday Theater when the sky dropped out and the storms came in. After about
10-20mins of rain the ERT started and we head for the Raven. WOW, what a
coaster. Mega air and intense. I love HW's lapbar policy as well. Riding The
Raven with 2 clicks on the lapbar and a loose seatbelt is the way to go.
After a few rides on The Raven, we headed to the Legend. Now, I've heard
good things about this ride, but I hate Gerstaluer trains. After my first
ride on the Legend, I was in love. After a few rides on the Legend, we rode
the Banshee which was running on insane mode.
Dinner was good, although I wish I could of tried the fudge. After dinner
the real ERT started. These two coasters are insane at night and I loved
every single ride.
The next day we went back to Holiday World and rode the Howler, which is a
nice little Zamperla. After that we got several rides on the Raven and the
Legend and got off just in time for the photo walkback. This was my favorite
part of the trip, getting to see these coasters up close. After the walkback
we headed for Louisville and Kentucky Kingdom.
Once in Louisville we head towards Kentucky Kingdom. They way the entrance
is set-up is very confusing and the park is laid out funky. Once inside SFKK
we headed for Chang. This is one of the coasters I was looking forward to. I
love this coaster as well. After Chang we rode T2, which gave me a new love
for Serial Thriller at Six Flags Astroworld. This SLC is just horrible.
After T2, we ate dinner at the Picnic Grove and chatted with Brad and Brian.
After dinner I headed for Roadrunner Express. This is a nice mouse, but I
was told the brakes were very light that day. I like it, except for the
brakes at the end which I wasn't expecting and slammed my rib cage into the
lapbar and felt like I broke several ribs. After Roadrunner, I rode
Hellivator. Eh.. not much. After Hellivator I rode the Rollerskater and The
Quake, then I headed for Twisted Sisters. TS was squealing bad. I rode the
Teal side first. Not much to talk about. It was slow and boring. After that
I rode the Pink side and thought the same thing, not much fun. After a few
rides on TS, I headed back to T2, and got a few more rides in. Then I headed
for Chang where I spent most of my time. After Chang, I rode the Giant
Wheel. Then it was time for the ERT. Before the ERT started I got in about 3
rides on Thunder Run. During the ERT, I sat in the very back and loved every
second of that coaster.
All in all, this was the best trip of my life. I'm already planning next
year's SRM and may even attend the MACC event this Fall. Thanks to Holiday
World for a great event, Jason for putting up with me and picking me up and
anyone else I met and rode with.

You can see the photos here:
http://members.nbci.com/xcoaster1

Don't forget
"Nick will NOT operate the BELL ! !"
*** This post was edited by Lone Star Thrills on 5/15/2001. ***

I was a bit disappointed with the Chang crew. They moved extremely slow and didn't hit interval once the entire time I waited in line. With only 2 trains that's not a great sign. They should have been hitting interval every time. This made the line extremely long. I can't believe how bad Chang has faded. The supports are ready for another coat of paint. Wasn't it repainted in 1999?

-------------
BMCOASTER

bmcoaster@wi.rr.com

Chang seemed alright to me, not the smoothest B&M out there, but pretty good. I like Riddler better, but I'd rate it on par with Mantis and higher than Georgia Scorcher.

Twisted Sisters was a let down, perhaps the park was trying to build a moderate family style ride. They run like a pair of mine trains, not bad but not as exciting as I expect CCI coasters to be. Are they always that sluggish, or do they need a good oiling?

Did you end up staying at that Executive Inn, Jeremy? I thought it was a bit overpriced, and it reminded me of a Steak N Ale, but it was within walking distance and all.

Yes I ended staying at the that place. I was watching the TV station they had talking about the hotel and walked around a bit and almost got lost. They had good pizza (Room Service) and I ended up paying $125.00, well that was including the room, room service and a few calls back to Dallas.
Overall with SFKK, I was quite impressed. I had been told that it was a bad park. I was impressed with Chang and Thunder Run. I aggree with Pancake, Twisted Sisters run very slow. I was told that TS has never squealed like that before, so I imagine this is another woodie being killed by SFTP's lack of experience of keeping up wooden coasters.

-------------
Jeremy Murphy
http://www.lonestarthrills.com
http://members.nbci.com/xcoaster1

When I think about it. The longest I wiated for Chang at SFKK was only about 15mins. After about 6:30pm the lines died big time. Everything was pretty much a walk-on after that time. I got more than plenty of rides on the coasters and flat rides.

-------------
Jeremy Murphy
http://www.lonestarthrills.com
http://members.nbci.com/xcoaster1

Yeah, I think we just visited on a bad day for Twisted Sisters. Kind of a PR gaff on the park's part, since so many ACErs and net enthusiasts were visiting the park for the first time that weekend and are inevitably going to post negative reviews everywhere.