Sarah F

That's what I was told, about the bugs & stuff being worked out.

They do let the public ride during that time. Don't believe me, call them . When I called them last weekend, more than 1 employee told me they DO let people ride while testing it.

I heard that the train full of people was the last train of the day.

They let people ride it while they're still working out the bugs in the computer, that's why it's still being referred as testing. SDC is doing what some other theme parks do, and that's having an "unofficial" opening of the ride, meaning they let people ride while they're still ironing out all the kinks. I've heard they do this to avoid making people mad if it breaks down during the official opening.

According to the newspaper here in Springfield, it bumped an empty train that was sitting in the LOADING station, NOT the launch station. The train was returning to the loading station after its trip around the track. Injuries were minor. Does anyone know if that's a common occurrence during testing?

I'd love to be able to supply a picture or two, but I don't have a scanner to be able to do that. When you get on the train, the ops tell you to sit down, and to NOT pull down your lap restraint. The ops lock the restraint for you & then push it down against you. Then, the train slowly pulls out of the station & stops. The track then moves up a little slope into the launch area. You then roll slowly out of the launch area & stop again. You can hear the air make a hissing noise, and then the "dynamite" behind you blows & whoosh! off you go! The launch system pushes the train up & over the first hill (floater hill), you go up another hill & then into the overbanked turn, down & around the old Buzzsaw Falls helix & then up the Buzzsaw chain lift. You then drop down one last time, go back up & turn around and into the final brake run. The coaster is tons of fun, but if you only want to watch it, the observation area is right next to the launch portion of the track, and you can watch the riders' expressions as they take off. If anyone here ever rode Buzzsaw Falls, you'll notice some of the stuff from Buzzsaw in & around the queue house. One clever thing they've done with the themeing is they put one of the old Buzzsaw boat/car on top of the queue & made it look like it crashed halfway through the ceiling. Someone else pointed out that the "torn up" track next to the queue house is part of the old track from Buzzsaw. One of the employees said that they're not quite finished with the theme yet, but I think they've done an excellent job so far. Of course, it's SDC, they always do a great job with the park. Sarah

April 7th is the official opening, and April 9th is grand opening.

It officially opens to the public on April 7th, but they're letting people ride it while they're ironing out all of the bugs. Therefore, since it's technically still being tested, it might not be open when you're there. Just giving you a heads up. I rode it 4 times yesterday & it is absolutely AWESOME!

It's my understanding that the vertical spike is there for safety reasons only. Also, they did not keep the original splashdown that Buzzsaw Falls had. I live only 30 miles from Silver Dollar City, so I can't wait to ride it! Does anyone know how to get an invitation to ride PowderKeg on the day when they have the media & publicity people there? Any info someone can give me would be appreciated. Thanks a lot! Sarah P.S. I've called SDC Publicity department & they haven't called back yet, so I didn't know if there's another way to find out.