coasterphotos

Had dinner at Saltgrass tonight...think I found the other path to/from the ride. See the photo below for part of the path. If you look carefully from Saltgrass you can see most of the path snake through under the ride towards the station. Weather wasn't the greatest for these photos as it was cloudy and raining. I didn't get to see the fireworks show last night as I had to get up early today, but it is indeed a good show as I've seen it in the past. The 4th of July show is really good...probably about 3x as large as the Friday shows. Just expect limited parking and lots and lots of traffic on the way out. The first show of the year is usually pretty light, but I went to one of the later shows last year and it took me over an hour to get home (and I live 4 miles away). View from a table at Saltgrass Possible entrance or exit

Photos from today, more at my site. The turn near the front of Saltgrass with what appears to be another walkway being built above the lower one. The tallest turn is going up A covered walkway appears to be being built....

Where did you hear that from? A week of rain shouldn't change a possible opening date by 2 months.... Not to mention they don't work on Sundays and holidays anyways...and those are the 2 days where it has rained the most in the Kemah area.

Is there a low enough point for a walkway to go over the track?? (a la RCT) I know it seems highly improbable due to the fact that idiots come in every size, but is it a feasible option? JJ It's hard to tell if there is anywhere to go over or under the track. There is so much wood in the area around the station it is getting harder and harder to make out what is what. An entire section of track has already disappeared from view forever (unless you are on the ride).

No problem....I just hope they left a way to get to the station! I have yet to be able to figure out where the entrance will be.

There is no such thing as a "special permit/pass" to get into the construction area...it just isn't allowed. Good luck if you try.

They only time Kemah has flooded was during tropical storm Allison in 2001 and they had the boardwalk back open in a few days. Everything built at the boardwalk has the possibility for flooding and hurricanes taken into account. During heavy rains there is flooding all over the Houston area due to the low elevation of the city so building it close to water doesn't really increase the chances for flooding all that much. In fact, the coastal areas usually have far less flooding problems than the inland areas during heavy rain / thunderstorms. AstroWorld flooded a few times...and it was nowhere near water.

Weekly update View from the Sky Tower The final section of the ride to be built continues to grow

This week's update: Decent weather continues here in the area so construction is still moving along pretty good. Structure for the final section of the ride is going up. Construction on the station continues Sections of track at the base of the turnaround structure

Kemah Boardwalk is open 363 days a year including the rides (weather and maintenance permitting). It will be the same with Boardwalk Bullet.

Latest construction photos attached...more at my web site. Construction on and around the station is progressing The structure for the turnaround at the top of the lift is nearly complete after 4 weeks. Overview of the ride.

A couple photos from today: The station is coming along nicely View from the tower

Hmm...yeah...looking at the model it looks like the entrance would be on the side opposite of the current walkway that runs near Saltgrass. Will be interesting to see how they connect the entrance of the ride to the current areas. Edit: Actually...on second thought...that side of the ride is right up against the yard for that white house next door...and there is a pretty low section of track that runs under the higher sections...so I think that is out. You can see what I'm talking about in this photo: http://www.coasterphotos.com/maingallery/v/Kemah/2006/042007/Kemah-Construction-042007-29.jpg.html

I'm glad I'm not the only one that is confused as how we'll get to the station to ride this thing! Here are a couple photos from today, more at my site as usual. View showing the turnaround structure before the first drop View showing the lift with the top chain gear now in place and ground work being done for the remainder of the ride

Work continues on the structure for the turnaround at the top of the lift before the drop as well as a new section near the station. The part of the ride that goes under the station is now visable. Overview from the parking garage

Both Joyland and Wonderland are fun parks. No, they are not big theme parks with big rides, but they are family owned and operated...and the people that run them love what they do and the owner of Joyland is sort of a coaster nut himself. I've been to both parks a few times now and have a really good time everytime I go. It is taking Joyland longer than they thought it would to get Greezed Lightnin' up. The picnic area has been relocated and part of a playground (Joyland is located in a park) has been moved out of the way by the city. This ride is like nothing this park has ever done before, but be assured that they will get the ride built and opened as soon as they are able to.

Thanks Derek, I have a feeling I'll be making a few "lunch" trips down there on my break at work after it opens...not sure if I'll have time to eat while I'm there though

Considering that the tallest part of the ride after the first drop is about 1/2 the height of the drop, I think this is going to be a very fast paced ride. There are a lot of direction changes throughout the ride which will be taken at a pretty fast speed, including a couple 90 degree banked turns. As far as facing the lift towards the water, yeah, I'm sure they could have designed a ride to do that, but maybe it wouldn't have allowed them to make quite as long of a ride or there were other issues. I don't know how memorable a view of muddy Galveston Bay water is anyways....

Except...the current design wouldn't have fit on the plot of land that way. The portion of the ride nearest the bay is narrower than the portion of the ride nearest the street. (The attached google image was taken when in 2004 when new rides were being installed and Saltgrass was still under construction. The area outlined in blue is where the coaster is being built Construction area

Nah...it's not going to get THAT cold...and we'll be back to 80 in no time. Here's a couple from yesterday from a different angle. View from the Sky Tower View from the Sky Tower

Yes. There is a Kemah Boardwalk flag, the Texas state flag, the US flag and the Canadian flag. I would guess the Canadian flag is there since the builder (Martin & Vleminckx) is based in Canada.

Lift hill was topped yesterday (Monday 4-2) around 2:30pm. Photo is from today (Tuesday 4-3) The coaster has reached it's maximum height.

I didn't go by today, but there weren't really any high winds (at least compared to a storm a couple weeks ago) in the area. Just a lot of rain. Pretty sure they didn't get anything done today though. Attached is a photo from yesterday. Construction continues...

Photos from 3-23-2007, more can be seen at my site. They've been working on the turn that will also support the turn at the top of the lift...this will be the tallest part of the structure Closer view of same turn.

There is no announced date. Best we can do is go by what the sign says: "Summer 2007".