- July 28th, 2015, 6:01 pm
#81779
I'm a 48 year old man, and I was teary eyed a couple of times on Sunday. One was on the return leg of the ACE walkback tour, as I was taking in the sounds I've heard countless times over the years that I wouldn't hear after that day. The lift motor and chain speeding up as the trains were dispatched. The squealing of the trains as they hit the curve out of the station. The sound of the trains as they round the curve and race on to the lift chain. The click-clack of the anti-rollbacks. The screams of joy and / or terror as the trains head over the hill and into the first drop. The trains as they go up hills and down hills, screech a bit around the turnaround, and then up and down more hills. Then that sound as the trains roar into the brake run to end the race.
The big teary eyed moment came that night, when I was getting the last ride I'd get on a coaster I rode almost every time I visited the park. Going up the lift I yelled out the words from the Burma Shave style signs that adorned the lift hill for most of Thunder Road's existence. "Grit your teeth, bear the load, enjoy your LAST ride, on Thunder Road". That last ride itself was a lot of fun, really fast and really smooth. But when hitting those brakes for the last time, the teardrops came. Not bawling or anything, but certainly quite misty-eyed. I was kinda glad the dispatches were going a bit slow, as I got a bit more time to get a grip on things before reaching the station and getting off for the last time.
I got a ride on Fury afterwards, one of several on the day, and I had a blast on that ride. I've thought it somewhat of a bittersweet year, getting what is for me {and more than a few others} the best steel coaster on the planet only to lose a beloved ride like Thunder Road. Objectively speaking I had to admit that if they had needed to take out Thunder Road to build Fury I would have taken that trade, no offense to Thunder Road whatsoever. T-Road was a really fun coaster, especially when racing, and it's surprised me numerous times over the years with some unexpected airtime, but it's simply not the thrill machine that Fury is. I've chosen to look at 2015 as the year that Fury replaced Thunder Road, with some bonus time to enjoy and say goodbye to our old friend while also enjoying the new.
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...But I'm definitely taking this harder than I thought I would. I LOVED Thunderroad even before they announced the closing. I had just posted a bunch of pictures of it and a video of my friend and I getting excited to ride it on FB. It was my 3rd fave coaster at the park. The first being Fury, the second, Intimidator...I'll miss it a lot. 
