WoF, Celebration City, and Silver Dollar City

I made an impromptu stop at WOF on my way to Banson on Friday the 27th. By impromptu I mean that I had no intention of stopping there, but when I drove by I changed my plans thinking I could have about 7 hours at WOF and still have a full day to do the Branson parks. The only additional cost for me was the $10 parking charge.

First I went straight to Patriot as I hade not got a chance to get this credit yet. The ride was much better than I expected. It was well paced and very fun in the back. The front was okay too, but not as good. I would not say it had airtime as you did not come off your seat, but it did have some good low gravity sections, and it just had a good overall feel.

Next I rode the front of Timberwolf. That ride has always been best in the front and the first two thirds of the ride was still good but then there was a new trim that kept the shaking under control but killed the action on the final bunnies. Oh well, it is still a good ride.

Next was Mamba and I got some air on it. I had some graying out in the helix that I did not recall from last time. The second hill had that amazing air, and the bunnies had a bit of air despite the trims. At this point I had only been in the park about 2 hours but I had already did all I wanted so I left for Branson. I figured I could get some evening hours in at Celebration City since that park is open to 10 (Silver Dollar City closes at 7).

After my first experience with Branson traffic, I checked into my hotel just after 6 and Celebration City was just under a mile up the road. Parking was free, I got my pass and went in.

First up was Jack Rabbit. It looked really cool for a small compact steel coaster. They just let in enough people to fill the train, so if you go in last you don’t get to choose your seat. They only have 3 cars, 1 row per car. I got the back both rides and even though the front looked like it would have good air too, the back did not disappoint. This coaster has bunny hills that do what bunny hills should. Great ride, two thumbs up.

Next was Thunderbolt. If Jackrabbit focused on negative g’s, Thunderbolt was the positive g version but it was very wild compared to other compact steel coasters that size. It was a surprisingly strong ride.

Next I did a flat next to Thunderbolt called Orbiter. I have only seen this flat at one other park; it is called daVinci’s Cradle at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. I love this flat at BGW and this one is run much faster. I have a new number one flat ride and this is it. This ride is so fun and wild. I wish every park had one and ran it like this.

Then I went looking for the Ozark Wildcat but took an extra lap around the park instead because you have to walk thru an arcade building to get to that section of the park. That is one thing about this chain (Silver Dollar City and Dollywood) that is annoying. Once I figured out how to get there, I got on the last seat.

This ride kicks tail. The air is very good in all possible spots and there is a section of mini bunnies that is awesome in both the back and front. I heard that it did not have any air when it first opened and if that is true, I hope Renegade develops as much as this. Now there are three GCI’s I like with good air, and no, LR is not one of them.

The following day I went to Silver Dollar City and found free parking again. Wildfire was first up and in line I noticed how fast the transition to steep was on the first drop. Naturally I headed to the back and was not disappointed. That was the best B&M first drop I have ever experienced. They did not overdo the inversions on this ride either. The first 4 are large fun ones and then it just has one okay non-headbanging corkscrew before the ride ends. Many loopers try to get their inversion counts and track length up before they finish and they end up ruining their rides. I saw the same philosophy in design here as Dollywood’s looper even though they have different manufactures, and I like it. Also, for those who don’t know, Silver Dollar City is a lot like Dollywood as a park.

After about 3 rides on WF, I went over to Powder Keg. The front looked like the spot here and that is where I headed. The launch was strong but not the kick in the gut that is Hypersonic, and there was good air over the first hill but not excessively strong. There were two more pops of air before the lift hill that drops into a helix that ends the ride. The drop off the lift looked like it went steep fast like WF so I tried the back on this ride too. There was good air on that drop in the back, but you lost one of the previous airtime moments in the back so it was still 3 good pops. Powder Keg is certainly a decent ride.

I also got credits on Thunderation, an Arrow mine train with a couple cars pointing backwards, and Fire in the Hole, a half coaster, half dark ride with a splash of water. This ride is similar to or the same as a ride by the same name at Dollywood. There was a kiddie coaster for you credit-hos that I skipped.

The park has a disk-o that seemed much bigger and faster than the one I went to at Mt Olympus, but I still was not impressed. All the spinning does is detract from the rocking motion making the majority of the ride pointless. Oh well, some people seemed to like it. I did some other rides, saw a few shows, and got some really good park food. Dollywood and Silver Dollar City both have some of the best park food I have ever had. I don’t know why they don’t do better in the polls in that category. Two hours before close a thunderstorm rolled in and I decided to leave at that point.

Branson is an interesting town itself. There are billboards for shows everywhere and when I was rained out Saturday night, I went to see a magic show near my hotel. It was entertaining, certainly better than the magic shows I have seen at parks, but I still thought $30 was over priced. However I was down there and did not feel like riding out the rain in my hotel room.

Sunday I was making such good time headed back to MN, I decided to stop at a casino just shy of the MN boarder that I had heard about from some other poker players. After about an hour wait, I got on the 1-2 no limit texas hold’em table and won just over 200 and then got back on the rode and made it back to my place by 10.

So that's why I didn't see you at Valleyfair on Friday. ;) Glad to hear you still enjoy Timber Wolf despite its faults. OzCat is awesome. Hopefully Renny's finale will pick up some speed and deliver a more satisfying finish like OzCat has.

Yeah, that is why I skipped it. All the stars lined up for me to take a trip that weekend, and I just felt like getting away. I hope you all had fun at Coaster Craze.

I don't know, I thought Renegade was very good during the evening and the ERT that night. I didn't care for it much early in the day, but it was a different ride that night. Very fast. I don't think the ending will get much better than that, but I could be wrong.

Ozark Wildcat had airtime from the beginning and it just has a better/stronger ending than Renegade. That said, I think I might like the first half of Renegade better than the the first half of Ozark Wildcat. *** Edited 8/1/2007 4:44:49 AM UTC by Railblazer***

That's about how I feel, David. Renegade is a fun ride and has definitely gotten better since opening day. It starts out pretty strong, but then it's just floaty after the first 1/3 ord so. Where as OzCat gets better as the ride goes on, finishing really strong. Perhaps another year will add some extra kick to the end of Renegade, but I doubt it could get much better.