total13

Thanks! I did ride the Looping Star &, yeah, it wasn't painful as a coaster goes - the seats with the gonad-crushing hump in the middle hurt the most. That's why I rode it again once they opened the front seats - they don't have the hump. That shirt is probably close to ten years old. I think I got it from a catalog called Betty's Attic but I'm not positive. They also had a shirt with Mortimer Moose's face on it - my ex got that one. I haven't watched it in a while, but I'm almost positive Whipper Snapper was Revolution. I seem to remember them going to that ride when Chevy shot John Candy in the rump with the BB gun.

This past Saturday (May 19, 2007) I ventured an hour north of Nashville to Bowling Green, KY to meet up with a co-worker’s daughter’s Girl Scout Troop at Beech Bend Park. It was my first time there (even though they advertise pretty heavily in the Nashville market) & was pleasantly surprised. Perhaps it was because there was barely anyone in the park. I couldn’t understand why - the weather was beautiful (sunny & 76 degrees) – then, an employee pointed out that this was the first day Splash Lagoon (the water park) was open. Oh, that’s where all the people are… Needless to say, we walked on every ride (sometimes being the only ones on the ride) & had our choice of seats on Kentucky Rumbler all 8 times we rode it. The park is very family friendly with a good collection of flats & an extensive selection of kiddie rides. It is definitely the smallest park I’ve been to in a very long time but easily the friendliest – I only counted 2 ride ops under the age of 40. Around noon, I looked down at my watch & realized that we had covered the entire park in 2 hours (10:00 open). One thing I did wish is that they stayed open until it got dark (6:00 close). I understand that it’s not a huge corporate park, but I really love riding flats at nite & wouldn’t have minded a dark ride on Rumbler. A couple tips if any of you visit in the future: 1-Antique Cars is probably the lamest drive-yourself car-ride. You pretty much just drive around on parking lot asphalt. 2-Haunted House is not really haunted. It’s just dark. You can barely even see what they are trying to scare you with. 3-White Water Express takes about 3 rides to get you moderately wet. 4-The Flying Bobs cars don’t swing very much. You can tell that it has been operating forever & is in the need of a good greasing. 5-The Sizzler is probably the best one I’ve been on in my entire life. 6-Shock Drop goes up the tower extremely slow & doesn’t pause when you hit the top – you down immediately. 7-Power Surge gives you plenty of inversions if you sit by yourself in an inside seat. 8-The Wild Mouse spins the best with the orange car & the heaviest person in your group (of no more than 3) getting in first. 9-Looping Star has gonad-crushing seats & no leg room unless you are in the first row of seats. At the start of the day, the op wasn’t letting anyone sit in the first or last seats coz she said that it had been running through the brakes recently (always a good sign, right?!?) & she was trying to keep the load a little lighter. Later in the day, a different op had the entire train open (that’s the only reason I rode it a second time). 10-Kentucky Rumbler gave me the most air in the front seat (both sides about equal). The ops, although encouraging about on-ride photography & filming, wouldn’t give repeat rides (even though there was no one in the queue) coz they claimed management do not allow it. I’m sorry I didn’t take any on-ride photos/video but I had just bought my camera earlier that day & didn’t feel quite comfortable with it – my old one had broken the nite before. Also, since my computer won’t upload the video I made of the day, here’s the link to it: Now, with all of that said & done, here are some pictures. (I am so worried that they'll post in the reverse order. Oh well, here it goes...) Thanks for reading! Oops. Almost forgot. The shirt I wore that no one had a clue what it was in reference to. I felt really old. Finally, the most ghetto Skee Ball ever. They didn't even spit out prize tickets. BTW: Can you figure out what's missing? I noticed at least 2 things... One of the overbanked turns. One of the best woodies I've ridden. Small, yes. Short, yes. Exciting from start to finish, absolutely! (For tons of more Kentucky Rumbler goodness, check out the video.) "Hi. My name is Kentucky Rumbler & I'm a great intense coaster!" For some reason, I just love how the lift chain goes into the building below. I know, I'm lame. Kentucky Rumbler's first drop from the platform. I'm on the next train. Woo hoo! Kentucky Rumbler (the Holy Grail of BBP) from across the pond. Scratch that. At 22 years old, I'm surprised there are ANY left. It's hard to believe that there are only like 4 of these left operating in the US. Looping Star's, umm...., loop. Nothing says "extreme" like a 36 ft loop on a carnival coaster. Looping Star from across the pond. You can't see it, but a bird also lives on the upper tier of this ride. One of these days he's gonna get squashed by a mouse. I'm glad it wasn't us. The spinning Wild Mouse was great. Especially when you went over the bunny hills backwards. I told myself that I wouldn't be a credit whore but I couldn't resist the Dragon. Car 13 on Power Surge got me stuck upside down. It was great! Me to the ride op: "You told me to watch my feet when the ride was ending, not my head." This has to be the most annoyed bird but, hey, he's the one that built his nest up there. Shock Drop aka 50 Ft Tower Of Terror aka I'm Gonna Wet Myself. I am deathly afraid of heights but rode it anyway. White Water Express looked like it'd get you soaked. But it don't. Too bad the cool dark Ragid Rapids Water Slide was closed. A lot of the girls hung here at Splash Lagoon. Ooh, cold water! The action-filled Sizzler & the action-less Flying Bobs from across the pond. The girls had to drag me on Moby Dick but it was a blast! Tons of air when you sit on the ends. I taught two 13 year olds how to ride the Starship 3000 upside down. I taught a 10 year old how to get the most whirl out of a Tilt-A-Whirl. "Lean this way... now... this way..." Dizzy Dragons made me extremely dizzy. It gets rather hot inside a big plastic dragon that sits out in the sun all day. I feared for my life on Jitter Bug. Plastic seat + old chain + 190 lbs = disaster. This is the only time I saw anyone on the Tea Cups. The scariest thing at the Haunted House was the ride operator. She kept forgetting to use the brake & cars were slamming into each other at the station. Note to self: Change sign to NOT SO Haunted House. The Ferris Wheel that I hardly saw anyone on. The station of the lame Antique Cars. Notice: no adults. The Kiddie Bumper Cars. Notice: no kids. The Adult Bumper Cars. A "short bus" girl wiped out after getting off of Rainbow Rock. Go figure... This is the short bus. Crazy Bus. Not to be confused with the short bus. Is it just me or does Oscar look guilty of something? Oh, he's broken down. Kiddie Hop was giving adults pint-size thrills. Too old to ride Bumble Bee Bop? Not this daring extreme rider. The non-Disney Dumbo-ish ride - Jumping Jumbos. Jalopy Junction is exactly what its name implies. If I was 5 years old I'd ride Happy Pond. It's so cute. Kiddie Whip looked fun. I wish I was 4 feet shorter. The Merry Go Round that I only saw someone on once.

Looks like they've already begun testing. Maverick testing again

First ride: always front. Next ride: always back. Rides after that: depends on which I enjoyed more & that depends on the coaster design itself - not the type of coaster.

Here are a couple notes from the Nashville area: The first is merely hearsay: Developers are planning to install another theme park at or near the Opryland Hotel. Supposedly the mall that was erected after Opryland USA closed in 1997 is underperforming & talks of a theme park resurrection have begun. I, personally, would hope this to be true one day. The second is more than a rumor but perhaps not developed enough to start its own thread: In Murfreesboro (about 30 minutes SE of Nashville), serious talks have started regarding a bible based theme park named, ingeniously, Bible Park USA. This topic has been discussed in various local media outlets in the area over the past month. The latest I heard is that local tax-payers might be responsible for footing part of the bill. The proposed site for the park is in an expanding residential development area. Not surprisingly, there has been a considerable amount of both opposition & support for the plan around here – we are, after all, located in the Bible Belt. The only ride of note that I have noticed is an indoor coaster located in the "teen area". I, personally, would have a hard time justifying going to this park just for one credit. More info, although not much detail, can be found here: http://www.murfreesboropost.com/news.php?viewStory=3688

When it comes to overall satisfaction on a coaster these days, there's no one I'd rather trust than CP & Intamin. I am very disappointed with the removal of that element but am sure that it was done with the (majority of the) riders in mind. Unfortunately none of us will ever know just how extreme/pleasurable/intense the heartline was. I have a suspicion that it'll still be an enjoyable & unforgettable ride. Pipe dream of the nite: CP could've given sites & organizations like TPR, ACE, etc. the opportunity to ride the initial design on a specific day before the element was removed (without any legal ramifications, of course)...