GuruGuys

Kemah Boardwalk official website has been updated: Kemah Boardwalk 45-60 days for the first restaurants and amusements to be reopened. -GG

The repairs will mostly, if not all, be covered by insurance. Not sure it will be too hard to convince shareholders to take advantage of the insurance. No problem. Taken from: Landry's Earnings Notice the part in bold (ie. Boardwalk Bullet) -GG

its fine to have an opinion, but back it up with some evidence. So you are saying if it was a small company it would be MORE likely to be back?!? I don't see any logic here. Tilman Fertita owns the entire complex, including a big chunk of Landry's. I totally disagree. The place is major profitable. Houston is a huge, widely spread out city. As another poster mentioned Boardwalk is now the 6th largest tourist destination for Texans. None of this will change. With the Hosuton Metro area alone being a population of over 5.5 million, I don't think this will be an issue. Everyone can have their opinions, I'll just add you to the list of people whom I don't understand their logic. That's OK, cause most everyone doesn't understand mine! -GG

Perhaps when you don't know the situations I can see where there may be doubt. However, if you have read this thread any doubt should have been cleared up by now. Comparing it to SFNO is bad as the situations are totally different. Six Flags was fighting bankruptcy and all. Kemah Boardwalk is just the opposite, they were having a record breaking year, and the coaster was a big part of that. While Kemah may be a small park, it is owned by a huge company (Landry's). New Orleans was almost totally wiped out and SFNO relied mainly on NO to support it. The town of Kemah doesn't support the Boardwalk, in fact, its the other way around these days. Kemah Boardwalk is BY FAR the major tax contributor to the town, I have heard as much of 80% of the city tax income is from the Boardwalk. This is even more reason why Kemah NEEDS the Boardwalk to be rebuilt and fast! It is a tiny city with a population of about 2500 people. The customer base for the Boardwalk is largely based on the people who take a day trip from areas like Woodlands, Sugarland, and other metro area of Houston. While most of us in these metro areas are without power, for the majority that is the extent of the 'devastation'. These people are still going to visit the Boardwalk, no question about that. I don't agree that because it was devastating that nobody will visit it. The Houston Galleria (a big shopping mall) was opened on Sunday, the day after the Hurricane, and it was jam packed. People want entertainment and a place to get away from things, Kemah Boardwalk is a big part of that for the Houston Metro area and will continue to be so. Finally, after seeing more pics of the boardwalk, it is clear that all the new buildings are standing just fine. Landry's looks like the hardest hit, as it is one of the older buildings there (it was there before the Boardwalk was there). For those who have not been there you should not that most of the restaurants are built on a second level, the lower level provided outdoor seating for some restaurants and in many of the pics that have been post you are seeing the bottom level which is full of debris and ruin. -GG

Insurance claims take time, so let's not jump the gun. I'm sure it'll be rebuilt, but I think there's a lot of other things that needs to be done first. Getting a small park open, isn't one of them. Like any other insurance issue, if you have the money you start rebuilding right away. I lost my car to the flood after the storm. I am not waiting for my insurance claim to get through, I fronted the money to get the car towed, get a rental car, etc. The insurance company will reimburse me. Landry's has PLENTY of money, I am 100% confident in saying I am not jumping the gun, they are rebuilding and I would wager they are already in the process of doing so today. I am surprised there is any doubt out there at all about this. I have heard DIRECTLY from the General Manager of the Boardwalk on this subject. Kemah Boardwalk will be back, stronger than ever, and it will take less time than most people imagine to do so. -GG

Kemah will be rebuilt, and quickly too. They have insurance that covers things like this and I was told they are OVER insured. The Bullet was going down for long term work regardless (this time they hope to fix the problem which is causing all the other problems and making it ride so differently from the way it was designed). They will have the restaurants up and running in no time at all. Someone said the chaos was new, it was new to the park but was a used ride. It was a portable ride, as is many of their other rides, which were mounted in a more permanent manner. The portable rides, if they decide to get replacements and not repair the existing ones0, would be able to come in and get installed pretty quick as well. There is NO question at all wether Kemah will be rebuilt. Once it is it will be better than ever. -GG P.S. My Scion XB, on the other hand, is totalled when we got 3 feet of water flooding yesterday, and will not be rebuilt!

Kemah Boardwalk was mostly built very recently and is made to withstand these things. The buildings are not going anywhere and they are very VERY prepared to clean up the mess once the water resides. I don't doubt Mr. Feritita that they will have some of the restaurants open on Monday pending available access to the city. Kemah Boardwalk is going nowhere, they handle these things quite well. -GG P.S. I have no power, nor does most of my area (about 5 miles north of downtown Houston). Internet still works though

There is another Aquarium restaurant and complex next to downtown. It is owned by the same person and shares the same style trains, among other things. Again, I have no idea if they actually took them there, I would just assume that would be a optional location. That location is subject to flooding as well since it is right next to Buffalo Bayou, but it isn't expected to flood this time around. Downtown Aquarium, Kemah Boardwalk Sister site...

Parking garage is located south of the aquarium restaurant. Its a huge 5 story (I think) concrete garage. Its clearly visible on the satellite view, the corner of 2nd and Kemah Boardwalk street, the large building. Kemah Boardwalk on Google Maps Satellite The new google satellite view also includes the coaster, used to be just an empty parking lot until recently. -GG

I think they may send those to the other location (downtown), but not sure on that one. -GG

I believe one train was going to be shipped off for repair, I don't know if it made it that far. Either way the trains are most likely stored one one of the upper floors in the parking garage out of harms way. -GG

I'd go for the Bullet design with a properly installed prefab track. -GG

There have been so many issues with the reliability of the coaster, I am just assuming that adding wood on the lower 15 feet that has been submerged in salt water for almost a day, battered by waves, etc, might require them to tear it down and rebuild. They could fix the other problems with it in the process. I did say tear it down and rebuild, not tear it down and forget about it. -GG

Tilman Ferrita was just on KHOU. He said that the park should be re-opened on Monday night, he expects most of the restaurants to be re-open then because they are extremely efficient in cleaning up after storm surge. He said of course the rides will take some time, and he said that they are most worried about the Bullet because of the storm surge. While it was built to withstand winds up to 130mph, this surge pounding on it for hours will take its toll. They were planning on shutting it down soon for major work, I think it was going to be down for several months, so this will make that a certainty. The coaster trains were already removed, they were already in the process of sending one train back to be worked on. It will be interesting to see if they try to salvage it or just tear it down and start over. -GG

Bullet is open every day. It was open today, was running well with near empty trains. Deadline for RSVP for the Birthday Bash on August 31st is Friday. Email me at miscacct4me@yahoo.com to RSVP. For those who have not ridden the Bullet in while this may be your last change to ride for the time being. I have heard rumblings that it will be closing shortly after this event for a quite some time for more work. -GG

We're having a small get together at Kemah Boardwalk at 10:00 am on August 31st. We will have cake and cookies and ERT from 10:30-11:15 to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of the Boardwalk Bullet. Please email me at miscacct4me@yahoo.com to RSVP. Please only RSVP if you are sure you can make it! -GG

It re-opened about 2pm today and its running fast again, 62-63 seconds. -GG

Boardwalk Bullet broke again Thursday and is down for maintenance. No official ETA on re-opening but I would think within a few days. -GG

Well told, Rastuso. Schlittercon was a blast. The River Float was not too cold for, and the free sky coaster ride was also a nice perk. I managed 5 rides on Master Blaster before the line backed up during ERT, then I rode Wolf instead. I'd never ridden Master Blaster or Dragon Blaster (Revenge) but having now rode both I kinda like Dragon's Revenge better. The theming is really cool, getting splashed and wet while waiting in line makes it go by faster, the projected Dragon head on the stream of water was very well executed and the final drop has a pretty aggressive splashdown. -GG

He has stated that he likes The Voyage because it combines elements of many types of coasters. Floater airtime hills (The Bullet has none), tight turns, ejector air, intensity, etc. Thats is exactly what he did, he compared the two by saying they are totally different types of coasters. A person who rode and loved RFII shouldn't fly down to ride the BB thinking it will be a similar ride; he gave arguments as to why.It is only possible to judge which is better for yourself as everyone likes different aspects of coasters. I think to say he retaliated (ie., to return like for like; especially to get revenge) is a bit extreme. He simply responded with valid statements. -GG

For those of you who rode the Bullet before the recent repairs you will be able to see the significant speed increase as the Bullet returns to the station. Its going so fast people still have their hands up, leaning from the force of the curve right before the station, and enjoying the ride! They are actually working to slow down this return as it is way to fast, before it would nearly stop on the magnetic brakes. http://vimeo.com/1072254 Also, a tip for anyone traveling to ride the Bullet. If you arrive on a busy day be sure to take advantage of the free parking located under the Kemah Bridge. A boat will shuttle you over to the Boardwalk from there and since Kemah now charges for parking in the garage and all but one small lot it is the best place to find easy parking - its never that full. -GG BTW, Lorddoonga or Mods, change subtitle to Bullet New and Improved Now Open or something.

Twist? You arrive at Area 51 in the first five minutes of the film. How is that theme a twist? -GG EDIT: Added spoiler tag to original post, Ive read other people talk about this as a 'twist', I just don't see how personally. The foreshadowing is let on so hard in the first 15 minutes everything else is expected.

To put things in perspective, when TPR visited the Bullet it was running 76-78 seconds. It is now running 61 seconds for the same distance. Its a different coaster for sure. I rode with another local for the first time and he said he was braced for the first drop shuffle, and it just didn't happen. There is new ejector air all over the ride in all seats and the middle seats are now worth riding (but still not as good as front or back three rows). I rode with four coaster enthusiasts from the Wisconson area who are down to visit the Texas parks, all four said that this is easily in their top five woodies. I haven't heard anyone state that in a long time. Those who had rain rides should be happy with the way Bullet is performing. Aside from the first drop, the ride is still rough in places (especially the end), but its much more rewarding. -GG

[spolier] UGH. I thought I was going to see E.T. pop out somewhere. What a horrible, horrible ending. I'd like to have had more real stunts (even if Ford can't do them himself), less CGI. Indy + Aliens (and no thats not a spoiler, its pretty clear where it is going in the first 15 minutes, unfortunately) = 6/10. -GG edit: added spoiler tag, after reading some other posts mentioning plot twists (I dont recall any plot twists at all, alas) Ill be a bit more considerate in the future.

Although I just can't justify paying the ACE membership fee (made that mistake before) in addition to the event fee to be able to attend that day, I am curious how the ACErs will be behaved that day. You can always find an ACE'er and ask them to take you as a guest (sans membership fee). One of the things that makes some people dislike ACE is that when you are attending a park sponsored event you are NOT ALLOWED to say anything negative about the ride, ESPECIALLY to the media. You are taught that if you don't like the ride, say some positive spin. Your ACE membership is on the line, therefore ACE'ers at ACE events are very well behaved at events (at the least ones I have been too). Also, its mostly older folks (30's+) at the ones I have been to. I have no problem with the policy as the park gives us great perks and I can honestly usually find something good to say about any coaster. -GG