TR: "Do The Little Puyallup" - 4/12/03

Well, since I'm a new resident of the Seattle area, my first concern was the serious lack of coasters. I had heard good reports of the coasters at Silverwood (about a 6 hour drive from my house) as well as the addition of Timberhawk at Enchanted Village, between Seattle and Tacoma. However, the problem with living in the Pacific Northwest after being born and raised in California is the fact that the coasters up here aren't open year round, so you've got to take advantage of any opening of the coasers that you can.

The Puyallup Spring Fair runs for a weekend, as opposed to the full fair schedule in September. I hopped in the car around 11:00 AM for the 45 minute drive down to the fairgrounds in Puyallup. The first sight I got after paying the $7 entry fee was the solitary S&S tower and the two towers of a Sling Shot, both upcharges - $10(!) for one ride on the S&S Tower, and $30 for the Sling Shot. After taking a look around at the different carnival rides, I scoped out a ticket stand and purchased 20 tickets for $15, which is a discount as opposed to the $1 per ticket normal price. Most rides were anywhere between 3 to 5 tickets. The carnival rides were being operated by Funtastic Amusements. I was a little disappointed, when after purchasing the tickets, I realized that only two of the 4 coasters in the park were open, and one of them was the kiddy coaster. For some reason, the Herschell Monster Mouse wasn't open, and the Schwarzkoph Wildcat was in a section of the fairgrounds that weren't open to the public. Oh well, I guess that means more rides on the ACE Coaster Classic, "Coaster Thrill Ride".

The wooden coaster in the park has some rather unimpressive stats on paper, but once you walk up to it, you realize it's a special ride. Walking into the station, I noticed the three trains (Ol' Yeller, Orn'ry Orange, and Blaz'n Blue), and the unique downward slope that the unload station occupied. My first ride was in the back of Ol' Yeller, as the other two trains weren't needed due to light crowds. A quick trip up the 55' lift hill provided some great views of the rides that were operating, including a Zamperla Cliff Hanger, a Chance Inverter, and others that I hadn't seen. After cresting the top, I noticed that the drop included a double dip followed by glorious airtime hills! Seeing as this was the first ride I had on a coaster in over a month and a half, I relished every moment of air that was provided - and even though it was only 1:30 PM, the airtime was plentiful! The turnarounds weren't heavily banked, and it felt a bit like a mouse. A thoroughly enjoyable ride, and one that I'm glad is in my backyward - even if it's only open for three weeks out of the year!

Since the other coasters weren't open, I had to find something else to do with the tickets that I had. I took a ride on the Cliff Hanger, and was very underimpressed. I also took a ride on the Chance Inverter, and got a great ride like I always seem to get. I am a huge fan of the Inverters, and wonder why there hasn't been too many of them permanently installed in California.

After a couple hours walking around the park, I was out of tickets and full from carnival food, and left the fair. I know I'll be back in September after CAC.

Mike

(edited to fix paragraphs)
*** This post was edited by SteelForce 4/13/2003 1:44:48 AM ***

Paragraphs, Man. Seriously.

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CBClub member #30 and #364 (renewal)

Sorry about that - apparently doing copy and paste doesn't maintain carriage returns in this forum software!

Mike, welcome to the NW! Can't wait to meet you. Hopefully at the opening of Timberhawk? Or even before would be nice. Are you running up to the PNE for Coaster's 45th Birthday? Let a brother know. :)
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I have been arrested more than you.

I won't be able to head up to PNE for the birthday celebration, as I'm still waiting on my passport to make it easier to cross over into Canada. Had way too many problems the last time without it.

Next coaster trip I have planned is going out to Silverwood on opening weekend, May 3-4. Should have my camcorder by then, so I can start my video producing career with some Silverwood footage. ;-)

Steel Force,

Welcome to the PNW. If you change your mind about the PNE event,e-mail me. I will be passing through Seattle on Wednesday 4-16-03 enroute to Vancouver,BC. The two persons who were going with me had to bail out due to a nasty speeding ticket and a work schedule conflict,so
I am now going up to the PNE solo.:(
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Meet me at the PNE on April 17,2003. Happy 45th birthday,Coaster!

Hey Mike!

Nice report. Too bad the other coasters weren't open, and you didn't get the chance to tackle the monster known as Kersplash!

I'm very jealuous of your upcoming Silverwood excurision. I'm sure you'll love both Tremors and Timbers Jr.

Is it August yet?

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'The sickest thoughts I ever had make my day less of a drag.' - We Regazzi

¡Hola! Another PNWer in the ranks is most welcome:) I'm the guy with the leadfoot (sorry Ron!).

You'll definately want to hit the fair in September, and I'm glad you appreciate CTR. That coaster alone made me a John Miller fan, and is the sole reason for my visit to SFWoA in 6 weeks, to ride Big Dipper.
It also motivated me to end the trip at Kennywood, where there are 3 Miller creations (heaven!)
And don't be fooled; the summers here are nice...

It is nice to find out about another PNWer. I think there are 7 enthusiasts in the area now ;) Your trip report was very nice. I really love Coaster Thrillride and think it is very overlooked by enthusiasts. Hope to see you around sometime this summer.

Aaron