The Road to 125-KBF & SFMM

In the latter part of February, Mike G (Incidentalist) and his lovely wife Amy were in town. Mike wanted to know if there was any coaster riding I was wanting to get done.
Hell, yeah!
I had not been on Speed:TR, and my cc was still standing at unlucky # 113. Well, on that Monday we headed out to Primm, NV, and Desperado. Now, I know this ride gets flicked a good share of crap, but I've always liked it. I rode it the first year it opened, and the next. I didn't return to it until '03 ( see, I used to visit vegas a LOT before I decided to move), and found it still largely enjoyable, but not as smooth as it once was. Well, I still love it, but it calls for a rider to ride it defensively; never a plus for any coaster. But once you get down the pattern of where you can have your hands above your head, and which transitions call for you to hang on and brace yourself, the experience is quite fun.
The same cannot be said for the motion sims at Buffalo B's. After having them "break" (LOL, but Windows needed to be re-booted, again, according to the ride op), we got a few very, very, very, bumpy rides on the thing.
Then the single scariest moment of my life occured. Mike and I had purchased an all-day pass, and went to take a dive on their drop ride. As we prepare to ascend the tower, it seems our harnesses haven't locked into place! If you pull down on it and release it, it bounces up until it becomes taut with the belt clip. When we mention this to the op (who does not have the biggest grasp of the language), she says (words to the effect) not to worry about it, that it isn't the primary restraint. All I can think about how I hope this little belt holds all the pressure of my body pushing up against it as we fall... It's outta my hands, I think.
Amazing, frightening air on this S&S at Primm. Evil are the restraints. Anyways, we ended up on Despy about 4 times, which would be sufficient. We never had much of a wait. It was President's Day, and the crowds were just enough to keep it constantly running.
I met up with Mike again on Thursday. He and his wife had just returned from the Strat, and we were going to the Sahara. Speed:TR would end up being my 114th coaster. I felt the overbank coming out of the station was a tad rough in the front, but relatively smooth in the back. Nice air on the spike, and that second set of lims is a blast!

2 weeks later, it's Thurs March 10th, and a bunch of assorted nuts are in town, pre-Solace. It was as good to see some old friends again as it was to make some new ones.
I hadn't been inside the Adventuredome since it opened. I remember the coaster, the flume, the laser tag, and a bunch of cheesy dinotronics displays; it was right around the JP phenom, after-all.
Well, the dinos are out, and in are more rides. Yeay for me! :)

On to New York, NY. Those that did Man Ex now have bruises to match the ones I got a few weeks ago at BB's. At least the fountains at Bellagio are soothing, and the interior Chihuly stuff is incredible.
On Friday aound noon, it's time to head out for my first ever Solace event. It had been a long time coming.

People who sleep in the passenger seat have absolutely no idea of how fast I'm driving, right? It's impossible to scare the unaware, right?

Now, the event. Try as I might, I could not keep my hands up on Xcelerator. I think the survival instinct kicks in somewhere around the half-second mark. Supreme Scream was next. See, I don't mind space shots or combos, but turbo drops scare the crap out of me. Onto to Monty. It had been 20 years since I was last at KBF, and I was looking forward to this classic. Last time at PGA, before they ripped it out, their Schwartz shuttle was de-clawed before the back spike; I was bummed. But I heard this one still let the train fly backward through the station and up that back spike. Well, of course it does and it totally kicks ass!! Back seat rocks!

And now Ghostrider.I was taken by surprise by it's swiftness. I did not expect it to haul butt around the track the way it did. I didn't find as much air here as others have claimed, but it's still a first-rate ride.
Dinner was great. The speaker, not so much.
ERT on SB opened about 40 mins early! KBF is impressing me! Silver Bullet even more so! I love this ride! I just don't understand the problem some have with it. Yeah, it could be more a lot of things; doesn't mean it would be any better. I like it exactly as it is.

"Oh look. You can pre-register for tomorrow morning's event now", as you exit the Silver Bullet gift shop. "Who cares?" I think to myself..

Morning brings more ERT. I get my kiddie coaster credit on Timberline Twister, and get my Jag on. Get Boomerang out of the way, and return to Xcelerator, where I finally am able to keep my hands up during the ride.I'm so proud...
More rides and onto the luncheon.
Next up, Scandia. I had heard good things about the Miler here.
All from masochists, apparently.
What a bumpy, painful ride! Another coaster one must ride defensively! well, that and the kiddie provide two more credits, so now I stand at 122.

Back to Knott's and more rides. The Screamin' Swing was way better than I'd heard; absolutely loved it. Stan, you da man! After an absolutely stupidly long wait for the Rockin' Tub to start it's cycle once we were sat, it finally did. Thank goodness a grain of sand has so much power nowadays!;) We finally exit, and agree it's a fun little ride. NIght ERT was great, but that's a given.

Sunday morning would bring my triumphant return to SFMM after a 5-year absence. I finally get to do X. Nasai was right. 'Nuff said. I took a nostalgic ride on the Goldrusher, the one that sparked my fascination with roller coasters years ago. Still a fun ride. I said hi to old friends like Riddler's, Batman, Goliath (still impressed), Supes (went higher than previous attempts), and Collosus, that new-fangled hybrid wood/steel coaster-60% steel now and counting! I took one for the team and joined in on a ride on Psyclone, mainly because my bruises were fading, and we can't have that!
I needn't have worried. Whatever bruises Sucklone managed to miss, Scream! found and added to them. I am NOT a fan of this ride. I can understand why others are, and I prolly will give it a second chance on my next visit (just not on the outside seats). Hey, it's 124, what can I say? Canyon blaster would be 125. I don't care what it ended up being; I'm just glad to get to the one and a quarter mark.

Overall, the mountain was underwhelming. X is great, for sure. And some of the others are cool as well. Perhaps it was the automated voice over in their "tram" that still advertised for rides that have been closed for years, but something about the park was just so sub-par.
As the group passed one of those big indoor kid's playgrounds, I thought to myself how I wished we had those when I was a kid. I know! Next year, lets get some ERT in that thing before the park opens! Now that would be fun! :) *** Edited 3/31/2005 12:16:06 AM UTC by Robocoaster***

You forgot your first ever coaster in the rain on Desparado! It hurts so good during the first half with all the airtime, then it all just plain hurts after the MCBR. I must admit that my memory of Despy this time is better than my last visit. Just those damned old school Arrow transitions.

So I take it that you didn't get up the Strat when everybody else came to visit? You don't know what you're missing with Big Shot. Best Flat Ride Period! X-Scream is just a big F you What a tease. They need one of those hanging over the edge at the Royal Gorge here in CO.

Glad you enjoyed X, as I remember you looking forward to it. Still can't wait for my ride, although I have been and will remain doing so for quite some time.

I will never forget the look on your face on that turbo drop at BB's. That was definately pretty freaky, especially with all the airtime that we got. Get's the ole heart a racin'.

Robo, great TR! I think that restraint issue is pretty common. I've had that happen on the S&S towers at Vancouver, Puyallup, and Knott's. It is freaky, though.

Glad you enjoyed the bukkake on X. ;)

Robo, it was the shizzle travellin' wit ya, had a great time in Vegas due to your "hosting" the place. Check out da pics on my site! :)

Chihuly drooly! :)

Suffering thru the Scandia credits was, well, a team-building experience...and I wouldna missed that 125th (on a kiddie no less, LOL) for anything...

FANTASTIC getting to meet Brent, next time he rides though...;)

Love ya Robo, now get your butt back to the PNW...:)

Rob, It was a blast hanging out with you most of the weekend!

Next time you AND Brent need to join us at the Stratosphere for an X-Scream ride or 10. :-P. I am planning on going back out there around my BD (which isn't till December) for that oh-so coveted ride on Insanity (and the Thunder guys....lol.) Dawny, wanna join me? :-D

One of the most memorable things about *thee* trip was the drive to/from LA and Las Vegas. The drive back was especially fun with Kristin and Jeff. I think we ALL knew that Buffalo Bills' was a given, even though Bill *warned* us we would not have enough time....lol. Still, we just had to stop. Next time I will plan on spending more than 20 minutes there. ;-)

Despie wasn't as painful as I thought it would be, but we only had one ride. I am sure 2 rides (maybe 3 depending on what painkillers are in your system) would of been enough.

Ditto for Manhattan Express. :-)

-Tina

<---who puts Speed: The Ride in my top, um, 15 now. lol.

*** Edited 4/2/2005 10:38:32 AM UTC by coasterqueenTRN***

Speed=great

Despy=good

ME=crap that I can't believe I paid for

If ME was at a park and I didn't have to pay seperately for it, I'd do it more, but it wasn't $20 worth.

Glad we got to hang with you, Rob Blob :). Hate that I only got to meet Brent briefly at the Bellagio, but oh well. There's always next time...

How much does a ride on ME cost these days? When I went in 2003 it was 12 dollars. That is the most overpriced rollercoaster I have ever riden. Speed only cost me 8 dollars for an all day pass!

It was $10 summer of 2002. I haven't ridden since, and won't. It's not worth snot, personally speaking, and I will never ride it again.

ME costs $12 if you pay full price. The small booklets that are found in every cab in Vegas had a coupon for $4 off a single ride. So I payed $8 to accomplish what easily could have been done by slamming my head in a door for a couple of minutes. Even the straight sections of track are rough, what's up with that?

ME cost us $19 for one ride in March on a Wed. nite.

Speed was $13 for an all day pass. Too bad I only hit it 2 times, I loved that ride.

When I go back to Vegas, I'll still get an all day pass for Speed and Strat, but I won't ride High Roller. I will Ride Xscream and Big Shot, and I'll attempt (once again...) to ride Insanity.

No more ME!

$19?? I was just there in Feb. and the price wasn't that high. I could be mistaken with my prices but I am 100% certain that the full price wasn't $19. Wow!

This was my second trip to Vegas and the only new ride was X-Scream. I passed on High Roller this time and I'm going to pass on ME next time, unless I'm with someone who really wants to ride either one. But that's doubtful. The all day pass for Speed is the best way to go. I've done it both times now with no regrets. How many rides did we end up getting on Speed Robo? Something like 15 or 16 times pops into my head. On a cool Vegas evening it was the bomb.

I got in around 15 rides on speed on about an hour with my all day pass. I also purchased an all day pass for the strat., with the Big Shot and High Roller. I missed X-scream by only one month, dang it.

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nasai said:
Glad you enjoyed the bukkake on X. ;)

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And boy, did I ever! My trip on the actual ride was swell as well.

Mike, I did forget my first coaster-in-the-rain ride; short term memory loss due to old age, I guess. Everything everybody has said about raindrops "hurting" or "causing welts" now makes sense. Visit again soon and we'll take a day trip to the mountain. Sorry to hear about Amy's job; I hope things take a turn for the better!

Tina, the sentiment is returned. All the Divas are charming!:) Here's hoping Silverwood is in your future. Brent WANTS to do Big Shot, but that teeter-totter may take some convincing (i.e. drinks).

Bill, the pics are great. The one of DawnMarie and me on the scrambler is a head-scratcher. The Chihuly stuff is amazing; nice shots! But your missing a certain boarded-up establishment on the beach that might be Matt's doing? ;) Thanks for convincing me to power ride Monty; now I get it. :)

Teckno, too bad your assimilation was thwarted. J/K, it was cool to finally meet you and Jaamal. Now that you've had a taste of Vegas, I suspect you'll be back someday. :)

Thanks to everyone I ran into for an awesome weekend. :)
I can never look at a rock wall again without smirking...

Rob,

I'll definately take you up on that jaunt to LA. With the veterinary conference in Vegas every year, I can guarantee we'll be through at least every other year or so. There's so much I still need from the greater LA area, it'll keep me busy getting all the credits I've missed.

We need to rendezvous at Lagoon sometime this summer. I want to get Lagoon and Cliff's under my belt before moving back to StL this summer.