Kemah Boardwalk and Bullet Discussion Thread

I haven't been to Kemah this year, but a quick check of their website indicates no new rides. Anyone been there yet this year?

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/bay_area/news/article_90413878-530a-5f13-8c4f-f8e0f966ae73.html

Landry’s, Inc. announced Wednesday that Mark A. Kane has been appointed as the general manager of the Kemah Boardwalk. Kane is responsible for all aspects of business operations of the Kemah Boardwalk which includes 9 branded restaurants, a 53-room boutique hotel, a 424-slip marina, 13 amusement rides, The Beast speed boat attraction, a 117’ yacht, varied retail operations and a variety of theme park style food and beverage, games and attractions. He assumes full profit and loss responsibilities for the unique property, in addition to handling short and long term strategic planning.

 

“Mark is a proven performer with an excellent track record in strategic development, operations and marketing,” said Keith Beitler, senior vice president and chief operating officer for Kemah Boardwalk. “His knowledge of the amusement and theme park hospitality industry blended with his vision and energy makes him a dynamic addition to the Boardwalk.”

 

Kane is a seasoned professional with over 30 years of experience in the amusement and hospitality field. He was previously the President at Six Flags New Jersey Entertainment Complex, owned by Six Flags Entertainment Corp., where he successfully managed the profit and loss performance of the largest property in the Six Flag system, consisting of three world class facilities; Six Flags Great Adventure Theme Park, Wild Safari drive-through Animal Park and Hurricane Harbor Water Park. In this role, he was responsible for the full scope of business management duties; developing and aggressively engaging in strategic initiatives; executing financial disciplines and budget strategies; assembling and developing a well coordinated management team that was rated the company’s best by Six Flags; and with bridging key external relationships to ensure necessary support. Prior to being assigned to the Six Flags New Jersey Entertainment Complex, Kane held various positions within the Six Flags portfolio as well as a stint as the executive vice president and chief operating officer at Skee-Ball, Inc. Kane graduated from Rowan University with a degree in Psychology, is married and has three beautiful daughters.

Mark is a great leader. I worked under him at SFNE when he was General Manager. Kemah will certainly benefit with him there.

Screamscape just reported that the Aviator swing ride has been removed from the park and the possibility for the old Babins to be removed as well for future expansion. However, it was in the best interest of the park to remove the ride after the 'malfunction' as the news called it.

Question for Houstonians if that is what you call one from Houston. I will be staying downtown on Sunday around noon until Monday early AM and was wondering if it is worth taking the Metro bus to Hobby, renting a car, driving to Galveston pier for the coaster and then to Kemah for the Bullet. It is $20 for the car and 45 minutes each way on the Metro. Then pay $10 to get on the pier, $6 for the ride, $6 for parking at Kemah and finally $6 for one ride on Bullet. Is this worth it for these 2 coasters? I don't have all the money in the world so are they worth the financial and time investment?

Question for Houstonians if that is what you call one from Houston. I will be staying downtown on Sunday around noon until Monday early AM and was wondering if it is worth taking the Metro bus to Hobby, renting a car, driving to Galveston pier for the coaster and then to Kemah for the Bullet. It is $20 for the car and 45 minutes each way on the Metro. Then pay $10 to get on the pier, $6 for the ride, $6 for parking at Kemah and finally $6 for one ride on Bullet. Is this worth it for these 2 coasters? I don't have all the money in the world so are they worth the financial and time investment?

Well, if your never going to make it back to the Houston area then I would consider it. Just know from Houston to Galveston is about an hour drive but you can go by Kemah on the return drive. I recently just rode both coasters with in the last week. Bullet needs some work done to it, but its still a good ride. Iron Shark on the other hand is a fun coaster with its location. I would recommend riding Iron Shark at least twice since its a short ride. I mean personally, I like both coasters but I would want more time to do some of the other rides as well.

Also as far as parking goes. You can park for free on the seawall but on a Sunday, you will probably have to walk a few blocks. At Kemah, they do have free parking, when you turn right, its over to the left. You just have to ride the boat to get across the canal but it saves you money. They have a couple of signs with Free parking to show you were to park.

For anyone who has been to Kemah, is it common for them to close Boardwalk Bullet's line off if it gets too long? That's the reason they're giving for it being closed.

Edit- Looks like they were just doing a routine maintenance check. The ride opened and it's really good! Much smoother than I expected with a lot of airtime.

Anyone local know if Boardwalk Bullet will be open within the week? If not I will call the park but I have a spring break trip and would love to get a ride on one of my bucket list coasters.

Anyone local know if Boardwalk Bullet will be open within the week? If not I will call the park but I have a spring break trip and would love to get a ride on one of my bucket list coasters.

as you note, best bet is to call em to ask.

it's down for "Winter Maintenance".. but I think it's been down for a while at this point (at least since early Feb).

I was down in the Houston area a couple weeks ago for the first time and checked out the boardwalk. The Bullet was awesome, though a bit rough. The ride packs a lot into a small footprint.

^It's unreal how much track they manage to pack into a tiny footprint. I feel like there were at least 10 times (slight exaggeration possibly) where I thought we were about to head into a brake run but the ride just kept on going.

I felt the same way. If this thing doesn't have the record for track crossovers, it has to be up there.