GuruGuys

Chaos at Kemah Boardwalk was destroyed by Hurricane Ike. From what I have heard it was a good riddance as it was a maintenance nightmare from the day it was installed. Ironically, it was wiped out by the storm and replaced with a Chance Wipe Out. -GG

Well maybe they can use them on The Bullet for stress/longevity testing cause the Bullet will surely put them to a test in that area. -GG

I visited the Kemah Boardwalk today and heard that they broke their record for spring break! The Inverter opened today which leaves the view tower as the only ride closed. It was 8:30pm and the place was still very crowded. It is great to see the Boardwalk doing so well, everything looks great lit with most of the rides getting new light packages. The wipeout had a three ride wait, the Bullet was running two trains and had a 6 train wait, they had two trains still running at 80% capacity, and even the carousel was riding at full capacity. Today is the last day of Spring Break for much of the Houston area and I was told by one of the employees that the crowd I experienced was basically 'dead' compared to how it had been most of the week! Here are a few pics from tonight, sorry about the lens flare problems. Even the Carousel was full. Pharaoh's Fury, Wipeout, Ferris Wheel and Inverter all running at once! They are having a few problems with the new lights on the Ferris Wheel but even with some not lit it still looks great! The drop tower looks great even if it does look like a big onion sits on top when the lights turn white! The place was still crowded, especially for a Sunday night.

I hope the Bullet to run well this summer. There were about 20 Acers at Kemah Winterfest that had never ridden Bullet and they all rode multiple times without any problems. A few people had not ridden since the month it opened and noted that it is a completely different experience, and it is. Of course, with this type of coaster, some will always think it is too rough. There is still plenty of room for improvement. Kemah has stated in the past that it is their goal to get the Bullet running as close to design as possible and it will be a long term project to do so. Fixing the first drop and S turn like they did this time (tearing out the ENTIRE TRACK and ledgers and completely rebuilding the section) will be needed for a few other parts of the coaster but it sounds like they have plans to do more work like this in the future. P.S. Will a Mod PLEASE change the sub-header. Bullet did open in February, and is now open, along with most of the rides at the Kemah Boardwalk.

Its running better than ever, clocking speeds of 63-66 constantly the past two days. The first drop to the upper bay turn is smooth as ice, then its back to the same old Bullet, just a lot faster. Hope it stays this was long enough for TPR's upcoming visit (It ran mid to upper 70's during TPR's first visit, and the first drop was painful). Someone needs to update the thread subject again. -GG

According to Kemah's official web page it is scheduled to be open on Feb 27th, the day before ACE South Central's Winterfest... but IMO and from what I have seen so far its going to be very close and weather of course will play a vital role. -GG

Drop Zone now open! Bullet closed for track reworking that was scheduled before Ike. The entire bottom of the first drop from halfway down all the way around to the zig zag have been completely removed ledgers included. It looks quite odd with no track there at all. This is the first time I have seen them completely remove this much track. Maybe they'll get it fixed good enough to hold together and ride well during TPR's Texas trip visit.... maybe. -GG

The drop tower has arrived and is almost fully assembled! Coasterphotos has some shots of its assembly at Six Flags Houston. Wouldn't be surprised if they have it open by the weekend. Last I heard The Bullet will be closed for maintenance starting on the 28th. -GG

The park has only performed 'patch work' in the past. M&V will be down again to do the forthcoming work, it was scheduled for the week after Ike, but once Ike hit M&V had to reschedule the work. This is all my understanding of the situation at least, nothing 'official'. -GG

I've heard about two weeks. Weather always plays a factor here though... -GG

Yeah, they are advertising that they are open on local television a lot these days, saw several ads during the NFL games. The drop tower has been officially announced. Boardwalk Bullet, Train and Carousel are now open however The Bullet will be shutting down in a few weeks for maintenance that was originally going to be done about the time that Ike hit. They plan to have everything up and running by Spring Break (March). This includes the chaos replacement which is rumored to be some brand of spinning wheel ride. I've still not heard the final verdict on The Inverter? -GG

The new Double Decker Carousel is installed and possibly open according to coasterphotos and ABC 13 news ! Things are moving along nicely. Bullet, Train and Carousel now ready! Kemah Boardwalk Recovery Update ABC13 News Coasterphotos Post on SixFlagsHouston Forum with Photo Time to update the Thread Subject again! -GG

That's bull. A log ride could be open almost all year. Houston only has Winter-ish weather in small quantities. Take this week. It was damn cold Monday, and today it's near 80. Log flumes at even Midwest parks are ran in cooler weather than Houston has for 10 months out of the year. All they'd have to do is have it so the splash could be lessened on the few colder weekends. A Shoot the Chute would be a bit different, but a nice long Arrow-esque log flume would be great. -RO I don't disagree, I'd love for them to get a Flume and think it could run most of the year, but would the ridership be worth having it open at a park like Kemah Boardwalk all year? On off-season weekdays the place is dead, all their rides remain open anyway and they shift employees to run different rides (they may have 1 employee running 3 rides). The flume would create problems here, requiring (most likely) more than one employee there full time, and unlike the Bullet (which also requires more than one ride op), I doubt it would see near as many riders during off-season weekdays - perhaps leading to it being closed throughout that time. IMO, even if it was closed a few months of the year, the popularity of the ride during the long summers here would be well worth it. -GG

How did Chance mess things up during Ike? Furthermore, why would they be buying the drop tower through Chance if they were not happy with them? There are other companies that could sell them the same tower. -GG

I've heard possibly a Chance Wipeout for Chaos replacement. And rumors of the Carousel being replaced with a Double Decker version as well. I with they would replace Inverter with a Chance Revolution 20 -GG

The Flume Ride rumour has been around since the Bullet was being built, initially it was said that it would be built around the Aquarium/parking lot using existing structure as support, but then I heard that since Kemah is an all year park they thought otherwise of a ride that would be closed half the year due to weather. We know they are getting the drop tower, the Chaos is being replaced by another ride similar to it, still not sure about inverter. -GG

$9.95 for all day pass which includes unlimited rides on Boardwalk Bullet and Train... Aquarium Restaurant now open! -GG

Most of the rides they had were portable versions, just mounted on permanent foundations. Chaos was a true portable ride still on the 18 wheeler trailer frame but Kemah did such a great job with the queue and making it look permanent that I doubt many customers at all realized it was a portable ride. Even still they choose not to move it when the storm was coming (perhaps they wanted it gone...!). -GG

Looks like Amusement today has now made it public that one of the Kemah Boardwalk's new rides will be a 140ft Tall Larson Super Shot Drop Tower! It will replace the kiddie Yellow Submarine ride located next to Babins' restaurant. Larson Drop Tower This is a GREAT addition to the park! I'm pretty sure we will see one or two more new rides and all this should be up and running by spring break 2009. -GG P.S. Any chance mods change thread to more accurately "Kemah Boardwalk & Boadwalk Bullet" as we are using this for more than Bullet these days?

When was the last time you rode? If you haven't ridden since the TPR meet, it is leaps and bounds better, no more parts that actually hurt (the first drop in particular which was brutal back then), and the 'kidney slam' turn towards the end is fixed. While it is still not where it needs to be, it has become better with each set of changes they have made. There were several riders who rode at the 1 year birthday bash who had not ridden since TPR and they all walked away with better reactions, including Rastuso, who if I recall correctly said he was pleasantly surprised and stated "This is not rough, if you want rough go ride The Giant". He was one of the biggest (local) critics of the Coaster from back then. Ride in the front row, its fun. If you don't like it rough, avoid the other seats. Hopefully when TPR comes back for the Texas trip it will be even better, there is still more work which will be done on it. -GG

Riding The Bullet at the end of the night tonight when the cold front was starting to push through was a blast! I'm glad it is open and they will start to recover some lost revenue, but I hope (and am pretty sure) that they still have plans to do more work to get it running better. As it is now it is running pretty much the same as it did before the Hurricane when he had the 1st Birthday Bash. The front seats are a blast, the back row is 'rough but worth it', and I avoid the middle of the train most of the time, especially on wheel rows, but nothing near as violent as my Rattler rides last month. One of the mods needs to change the topic of this thread. I expect Kemah Boardwalk to be up and 100% by Spring Break with all their rides, and possibly new ones, operational. -GG

Boardwalk Bullet is down for the time being due to Ike and other planned maintenance. Hopefully when it is back up it will be running as good (or better) than ever. Even with its ups and downs I wouldn't rate Giant or Rattler better than Bullet. Remember most of the TPR folk rode (or got opinions) from the TPR Film Shoot when the coaster was running pretty rough (the first drop still wasn't fixed). European Coaster Club came through a bit later and received a better running coaster. So far I've only read one person that rated Rattler better than Bullet (someone earlier in this thread). European Coaster Club hit all the Texas parks which you can use for further opinion and reference: http://coasterclub.org/trips/reports/2008/AA2008/ -GG

Landry's and Babin's, the two restaurants closest to the Boardwalk Bullet, reopened yesterday for business. They have test ran the Boardwalk Bullet and, as expected, work needs to be done. It will still be awhile before it reopens. The remainder of the rides are all still down and will be for awhile. I've heard that for the most part all of the same rides will be back. -GK

A few pictures of Boardwalk Bullet post Hurricane Ike at Six Flags Houston Forums: http://sixflagshouston.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2786&start=15 Thanks to Coasterphotos and Amusement Today for the update: http://www.amusementtoday.com/index.html -GG

Very much agreed. Worrying about fixing up the businesses first seems like a bit of a waste of time since you would still have people who are much more concerned about getting re-established than supporting the businesses. Once the community is set, then the people would more likely be ready to resume their normal lives, which includes the elective choices like shopping, entertainment, and other such things. Trust me, there are PLENTY of people to support the Boardwalk. I went to eat with my family tonight, we had to hit four restaurants before we found one without an hour long wait, and this is just a week after the Hurricane. -GG