mike robinson

I would care about riding the newest and most popular rides. I used to go to Astroworld just to ride the Texas Cyclone. Lots of things have changed post 9/11. I sure don't like flying as much because it a huge PITA. And I don't like going to parks as much because virtual queues have made them a huge PITA to me. Not everyone, I can only speak for myself, but these systems make my day more of a pain than its worth.

This is why these systems hurt people who go to their home park a lot. Can you really justify spending that much money for a family of four that goes once a week? Seems like parks did just fine for a long time just running at capacity.

I think I would give each Park manager a budget and tell them the rest is up to them. Six Flags parks were the best when each park was run from in the park, not from corporate. The GM's know what the parks need. Let them do their job.

I agree Kemah could build a pier if they wanted to. Galveston Bay is pretty protected from the open Gulf. Storm Surge would be a more serious concern. (and Kemah is very familiar with Storm Surge!) At any rate it does California stop building because of Earthquakes? But back to the point. I think Kemah has area to expand if they want to even without a pier.

I would say there is a pretty good chance The Bullet will be open, especially on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. If they do any more maintenance it will be during the week. As always, best bet is to call first.

Took my first spin on the Bullet on Saturday and it was a Gorgeous day to ride!!!!!!!!! (Especially noted when coming home to watch the Packers play.) The ride was not riding much differently when I rode on opening day. The opening sequence is glass smooth with some crazy laterals and pops of air time. The real difference is in the back of the train which is just incredible fun with some amazing air time starting from the first drop and continuing through the first part of the ride with lots of pops of air until the end. My last rides on the Bullet before this were in September, and I have read that the ride was brutal in October and November but if that is the case, the recent track work has corrected this. The bay turn still has a couple of spots where is shuffles but that turn is much better than it ever was, even on opening day. The last turn is still a little sluggish but that is really the only negative thing I have to say about the ride. I think the ride is even better than it was. I don't think The Bullet lost anything with the recent track work and is in fact a better ride in the back. I did not ask for ride times or clock it myself so I can't give any specific "lift to brake run" times but I would imagine its about the same as reported here in previous posts. I think a few more tweaks on the track will occur to get the last turns of the ride up to speed, but other than that, the ride is running very well.

I am very interested to see how the trains a running from day to day. If I do not get down to Kemah this weekend, it will be next and I would like to know how the track and trains are breaking in as the ride is probably changing everyday. So thank You Texcoaster and GuruGuy and everyone else for updates! I do not think this coaster is finished being built yet!

Sure it was the kids fault but looking at the video it is easy to see why the case was settled. The idiot in charge of Premier parks. The man had no credibility even back then.

Six Flags Astroworld started selling beer in 1982 at one location in the park. There was a lot of predictions that it would be terrible for the park but it really made no difference at all. I was working at Excalibur which was right next to the Festhall where the beer was sold and to be honest we were expecting trouble, there was no more than the usual. As others have pointed out, it is very expensive to drink at a park and those who really want to get drunk will do so before hand or sneak in a flask. Those were the people that I remember being an issue.

I expect The Bullet to be a very different ride when it re-opens, not in a bad way but it will ride more like TGG envisioned. There is a lot of track work being done on the first 1/3rd of the ride that will make the ride much better. As GuruGuy said, this nothing more than bringing the ride up to spec as it was designed.

Here is a news article that covers the situation... Something Fishy at the Fairgrounds

That is good news. I think we can all agree that the slower the train is, the ride can be a lot rougher and the faster the train is, well it just gets better and better. I think thats why we are seeing such a discrepancy in some of the trip reports.

Psyclone was ok when it opened but later visits were pretty bad. It was similar to the Texas Cyclone, but the there were a lot of differences especially in the turns where psyclone has much more banked turns than the TX Cyclone. It is kind of strange that they were torn down almost a year apart but for very different reasons..

I just saw a story about The Bullet on CNN. Kemah is getting lots of free publicity out of all this...

I was led to believe they have been made some very generous offers for several years. I would have to think with the money that Fertita has, and the location of that property, that the Boardwalk folks would have been very aggressive to purchase that land. Like I said in a previous post, I think its personal. Just read the statement the owner made "I would never sell to that man!" As far as rankings, well sure being local probably has a lot to do with it. Not like I can just hop in my car to compare it to other coasters. I think I have only 3 new wooden coaster credits in the past 3 years so that really influences my picks. Without throwing numbers I will just say that it is a terrific ride. Time will tell if your right about the track.

Yep, they should have made plans once the inevitable started. I honestly feel its more about money then sentiment. Pretty obvious from the interview they did that this is more of a personal dislike for Fertida (Owner of Landry's and the Kemah Boardwalk) I think it should be obvious that the coaster is not going anywhere and the local politicians are backing the Boardwalk so I think it is these people's best interest to learn to live with it or make other arrangements.

I do feel kind of bad for the people living next door, but I think they are really milking it to make $$$$$ out of the deal. Problem is, this kind of thing happens all the time in the Houston area. Long time home owners are all of a sudden living next door to a bunch of yuppie stack condo's or a toll road or freeway. So this situation is not unique. Its been going on for a long time and until Houston and the surrounding communities start zoning, it will keep happening. These people are getting a ton of press because its because of a Roller coaster. I bet there are hundreds of similar stories around town that get no press because a cheap condo is not nearly as newsworthy. After being out there, I think the boats on the bay make more noise than the coaster and I would probably feel a lot worse if they hadn't been outside BBQ'ing on Saturday. To be honest the house is close enough to see the knick-knacks in the windows as you go up the lift. I expect Woody Allen to be making a sequel there soon. Nobody should be forced to give up a home (even if its a weekend home) but I would bet that all the businesses in the area are thrilled.

Its Interesting, the last 2 Wooden Coasters I have ridden before getting on the Bullet were El Toro and the Ozark Wildcat at Celebration City. (No Voyage or Hades yet for me, yet) So thats really 3 top 5 coasters for me that all have very different rides. El Toro is so smooth it doesn't even feel like a wooden coaster and the restraints are so tight that it really takes away from the ride. The Wildcat is so graceful with such smooth flowing elements, anybody can enjoy it. The Bullet is just sheer power despite its small size. Its not too rough, but it gives a ride that is barely contained. The pacing is frantic and much of the ride is unexpected. So if I had to rate these 3 in order, it would be 1. Bullet 2. Ozark Wildcat 3. El Toro (El Toro would be a number one with different restraints.) These are all excellent rides but very different rides. I really need to find the time to ride Hades, The Voyage and The Kentucky Rumbler to give me a different perspective.

I think Rastuso gave a very good account. It is accurate. We rode about two rows apart on the first public ride. I remember we were both grinning pretty big when we got off. I think I was more impressed than him, but his opinion is valid in my book.

Oh yeah. Its really good. This coaster is hard to describe, its like they haven't invented the words for what this coaster does. It is so different from anything else I have ridden. Almost like they drew a normal size coaster on a piece of paper, crumpled up the paper and built that. This coaster is a non stop run from start to finish. There are a couple of places to catch your breath, just for a second and then your thrown back into the structure whipping around turns and more turns. I just don't think we have seen a coaster that acts like this in any of our lifetimes. I looked at the Travers book today to see if I could compare and I have to say, The Bullet looks better than any of those coasters.

After a dozen rides I could not tell you what happened from start to finish. After the first drop, there is a hard right banked turn. This is the fastest part of the ride and your just screaming through the structure. After that a lot of stuff happens. Left. right, up and down... One of the coolest parts is the dive under the station where the on ride pictures are being taken.

I can honestly say that I can't think of another wooden coaster I like better than the Bullet. It is that much fun.

Its true. Heard it straight from the source. This does not mean the coaster is open by any means. There is still testing that needs to be done so don't head down to Kemah expecting a ride. (yet) It was ridden today by real people and by first hand accounts its a great ride. The ride was described to me as fast and a lot of fun.

I do not think tension was a factor as much as the weight of the cable pulling downward. I would think this is really a freak accident, not the cable snapping but the results of it. I think it could just as easily caused an injury by striking any of the riders, though not as drastic as this. I think this was probably one of those Murphy's law situations where the cable looped around her feet and the weight of the cable combined with all the motions involved caused a catastrophic injury.

I think that might be a little optimistic, thats about 2 weeks away and I would guess they have at least 4 weeks worth of work to do. My best guess is the third or fourth week of July. I know Kemah wanted it open for the 4th, but a lot of rain early this year slowed them down. Its getting closer and closer.....