- August 14th, 2007, 10:57 pm
#21722
Met up with Jonathan and Wes tonight for some night riding. I think we were all pleased with the park being open late during a weeknight, and would like to see this become a trend. We noticed they already have Scarowinds stuff up in front of the flume. A bit early isn't it?
First up were some Flyer rides. As usual it took me my first ride to get in the flow of things, got some decent snaps the second time around. From there we headed to Top Gun.
In something that I hope is just coincidence and not a trend, Top Gun had one train on it. This is the third or fourth time I've seen this in my visits this year, on weekdays or Sundays. The station was full, so they definitely could've used both trains on. Took us several cycles to get on the back, which delivered it's usual solid ride.
Onwards to Thunder Road, which was open only on the forwards side. And of course, with half the ride closed - they only have one train on. What is this, Six Flags over Charlotte? Jonathan and I got a wheel seat, which was unlucky it turned out. T-Road is washboarding like crazy over most of the track, especially on the return run. We saw lots of new lumber on the supports at the turnaround, but they seem to need quite a bit in the trackbed as well.
Wes opted out on Saturator Farewell Tour, so Jonathan and I hopped on the back hoping to not get too wet. Had an uneventful ride with no good targets presenting themselves for a bomb, and we only got a little wet. As we were heading to the exit ramp, water started pouring right on our car where we had just been sitting - apparently it wasn't aligned right with the refill and all that water dumped on the seats. THAT would've sucked had it happened a bit sooner - we would've been drenched.
Thought about this ride some, and the real problem with it is that the only time it's one you really want to get on is when it's really hot and there's lots of people in line and on the sprayers to bomb. With it's low capacity, though, the wait is just too long. We all seemed to think that they have to put something there as it's just too big an area to leave empty, and that a flat was the most likely prospect.
We headed to Drop Zone next, and all commented about how it's a bit weird riding these now after the accident in Kentucky. We noticed that Cyclone is running two trains, and we still walked past it. Had a good DZ ride, then went to Hurler. Another one-train operation here. Hurler gave some good air but was rattling a good bit, not as smooth as some rides I had on it earlier in the season. Grabbed another ride towards the back, and this confirms my thinking towards this ride - ALWAYS ride near the front.
We finished off the night with some more snappage. My first ride on Tub 8 sucked, couldn't get that thing to do anything. The next on Tub 5 made up for it, with several big snaps that my back is currently thanking me for. Got another good ride and then we called it a night.
I had a good time, but have to say that I'm disappointed in the operations at the park. One thing this park always had going for it was that they ran multiple trains on all the coasters even on slow days - seems this isn't the case anymore. And if you're going to cut operations, WHY do it on the star attraction at the park? TG should *never* have one train operation unless there's a mechanical problem. On top of this, the dispatches were often pretty slow everywhere.
Couldn't tell what the "construction" near Hurler was, we walked over by the go-karts and Skycoaster and couldn't tell anything, nor could you really tell anything from the ride. I cant' see it as being much of anything given it's location.
KenB
First up were some Flyer rides. As usual it took me my first ride to get in the flow of things, got some decent snaps the second time around. From there we headed to Top Gun.
In something that I hope is just coincidence and not a trend, Top Gun had one train on it. This is the third or fourth time I've seen this in my visits this year, on weekdays or Sundays. The station was full, so they definitely could've used both trains on. Took us several cycles to get on the back, which delivered it's usual solid ride.
Onwards to Thunder Road, which was open only on the forwards side. And of course, with half the ride closed - they only have one train on. What is this, Six Flags over Charlotte? Jonathan and I got a wheel seat, which was unlucky it turned out. T-Road is washboarding like crazy over most of the track, especially on the return run. We saw lots of new lumber on the supports at the turnaround, but they seem to need quite a bit in the trackbed as well.
Wes opted out on Saturator Farewell Tour, so Jonathan and I hopped on the back hoping to not get too wet. Had an uneventful ride with no good targets presenting themselves for a bomb, and we only got a little wet. As we were heading to the exit ramp, water started pouring right on our car where we had just been sitting - apparently it wasn't aligned right with the refill and all that water dumped on the seats. THAT would've sucked had it happened a bit sooner - we would've been drenched.
Thought about this ride some, and the real problem with it is that the only time it's one you really want to get on is when it's really hot and there's lots of people in line and on the sprayers to bomb. With it's low capacity, though, the wait is just too long. We all seemed to think that they have to put something there as it's just too big an area to leave empty, and that a flat was the most likely prospect.
We headed to Drop Zone next, and all commented about how it's a bit weird riding these now after the accident in Kentucky. We noticed that Cyclone is running two trains, and we still walked past it. Had a good DZ ride, then went to Hurler. Another one-train operation here. Hurler gave some good air but was rattling a good bit, not as smooth as some rides I had on it earlier in the season. Grabbed another ride towards the back, and this confirms my thinking towards this ride - ALWAYS ride near the front.
We finished off the night with some more snappage. My first ride on Tub 8 sucked, couldn't get that thing to do anything. The next on Tub 5 made up for it, with several big snaps that my back is currently thanking me for. Got another good ride and then we called it a night.
I had a good time, but have to say that I'm disappointed in the operations at the park. One thing this park always had going for it was that they ran multiple trains on all the coasters even on slow days - seems this isn't the case anymore. And if you're going to cut operations, WHY do it on the star attraction at the park? TG should *never* have one train operation unless there's a mechanical problem. On top of this, the dispatches were often pretty slow everywhere.
Couldn't tell what the "construction" near Hurler was, we walked over by the go-karts and Skycoaster and couldn't tell anything, nor could you really tell anything from the ride. I cant' see it as being much of anything given it's location.
KenB
