texcoaster

Why? We're only talking about 10 or 12 total rides, and the Bullet, Aviator, Train, and observation tower won't be movable. You wouldn't pack up and move every time a storm came into the Gulf, but on those occasions like Ike, when you know three days out that the most likely path is right across yo azz, then you pack up and RUN! Just sayin' And seriously... have you seen what is travelling around the German fair circuit lately? This is hardly ghetto fair stuff. I'm talking about Space Rollers, Schwarzkopf loopers, inverted coasters, mice of all shapes and sizes, drop towers, etc etc etc Nobody said it had to be Zippers, Yo-Yos, and Himalayas. (Although a Yo-Yo on the edge of the boardwalk that swings you over the water would be pretty cool)

After seeing some of the rides that go through town in traveling fairs, and seeing some of the AMAZING portable stuff that German fairs are running, I wonder why Kemah wouldn't just populate their rides area with portable stuff. The quality of the rides is similar, plus if a storm is brewing out in the Gulf, you just pack everything up and drive it out of harm's way for a few days.

IF this happens, it would be a shame... ...but remember, none of this is confirmed yet. It wouldn't be the first time that Screamscape was wrong about a rumor.

HAHAHA, you beat me to it! I had screen-captured that exact same image, so I could go back and see if perhaps I had just imagined the freak show. What originally caught my eye was the marquee for Wonder Wheel and Thunderbolt. I expected to see the wheel still operating as part of a new development plan, but THUNDERBOLT??? Hopefully, those weren't the entrances to some "Coney Island's Past" museum or something. I realize that resurrecting the real T-bolt isn't going to happen, but a modern coaster with a similar layout could certainly be a good thing.

When I read this: two words immediately came to mind -- Boardwalk Bullet. If there was ever a ride that was a perfect testing ground for those trains, Bullet is it. It's a GG design, it pushes the limits of what wooden trains are expected to do, and it has been a maintenance "problem child" from day one. If these trains could turn that little monster into a faster, smoother, less problematic coaster, then parks all over the world would be ordering these trains for their rides (Giant, Rattler, Roar, Voyage, Hades, Mean Streak, Ghostrider, etc etc etc). Sure, it's expensive to buy new trains, but if it saves on maintenance costs and downtime, they'll eventually pay for themselves. I think GG should comp a pair of these trains to Kemah and bask in the increased demand that comes from the rave reviews. (assuming, of course, that the trains do what they promise)

Sure it is. When I rode it, Grizzly was slow, practically lethargic... and boring. Son of Beast was neither of those, but it was so violently rough that I had a headache for the next three days, which completely ruined a chunk of my vacation. So Grizzly, while yawn-inducing, only gave me a bad experience on IT. I soon forgot about it and enjoyed the rest of my day. SOB, while not yawn-inducing, gave me a bad experience on it, and on every other coaster I rode for the next three days, not being able to even enjoy them due to my aching brain, sore neck, and lack of sleep (also caused by the headache). So YEAH... when a coaster sucks so badly that it keeps you from enjoying all the coasters within a three-day drive of it, that MUST be maximum suckage.

Roy was bottoming out a little in the valleys, but not that bad. It's the ONLY time I've ever ridden it when it was anything other than glass-smooth, so I'm sure it will get some TLC in the off season. Giant is easily doable in the front seat. I'll add my "hear hear" to your Wildcat experience, though. What a disappointment that ride was! Felt like it had square wheels.

...and for those of you using Word to do your files, after you delete the coasters you haven't ridden, the easiest way to change all the "n"s into "y"s for the first column is to do a "find and replace" function and have it change every instance of ,n,n, to ,y,n, Then you just click once and all that's left is to indicate the ones you rode this year.

I'm pretty sure it isn't the Mac that's stupid... (I've sent the txt file from my Mac for the last 4 years with no problems)

Bullet is OPEN as of tonight. (Fri, Nov 14, 2008) Kemah is really trying to recover as quickly as possible. Most of the restaurants are open now and getting the Bullet open tonight was fun to watch. When I arrived around 5pm, the ticket booth was being painted inside and all the computer equipment was outside on the sidewalk. As soon as the painters finished, folks were toting in the computers and getting them booted to sell tickets, all the while Bullet is cycling with test dummies. Actual human beings were in the seats by 6pm. It's running a bit rough, but no rougher than it did before the storm. For an empty train, the 68 second cycle time is pretty good. With a full train, it should be 64 or better. Fresh grease all around the track and a newly refurbished train make for a speedy ride. It was good to hear the sounds of a coaster again. FYI: none of the other rides are up yet. The rest of the ride area, except for the aviator and the observation tower and the train, is cleaned off. The support pole for the Inverter is still there, but not sure if it's slated for removal or repair.

They SHOULD all be open. Boardwalk Bullet reopened tonight, and was running rough, but pulling some good circuit times (especially with a mostly-empty train). None of the other rides are up yet, and some of them were not salvageable. Rumors are rampant about what the dead rides will be replaced with, and if the most-often heard rumor is true, then Kemah will have a nice, well-rounded selection with at least one good ride for every age group. Known for sure: Aviator, train, Bullet, and the observation tower are salvageable and will reopen. Everything else is just speculation at this point. SOMETHING will open in the empty spots, but it's not for sure WHAT. ....although I seriously doubt you'll see another Chaos show up there.

Dammit. I missed the Starliner at Miracle Strip by ONE WEEKEND. The park closed for good the weekend before I got there. I missed it at Cypress Gardens by one season. Just a couple months after I visited it, they announced that Starliner would be the next season's new ride. ...and now it's closed. It wasn't really a "destination park" but I had a good time there. Maximum suckage.

Ewww, that new paint on Anaconda is horrid. Shame it was closed, but it explains why you thought Golden Loop was the best coaster in the park. Anaconda is my favorite inverted coaster, by such a long margin that the second-place Raptor doesn't even feel like it's in the same league. The helix around the rock is as insane as it looks, and the two-across seating really makes the opening bit not Batman-like, even though the elements are similar. The long train makes a big impact, especially in the back cars going through the zero-g roll. Here's a page from my personal site that has pics and a video: http://coasterguy.squarespace.com/display/ShowPage?moduleId=52949

Giant is far, far, FAR rougher than Rattler. Rattler has a few body slams, and is a little bit uncomfortable in the molasses helix, but that's about it. Giant is more or less like strapping yourself to a jackhammer that's on a cart with square wheels on a dirt road at 60mph. With no padding. Naked. Now, let me say this: in the early days when Giant was brutal, but only brutal because it was doing a crazy layout at insane speeds and tossing its riders around in the car with laterals, I loved it. It was by far my #1 coaster. In the last several years, however, it has been trimmed to death, the laterals are gone, and all the roughness is due to the worn-out track and old wood. It's not even close to making my top 10 when it rides like this. Yes, the comparison to Mean Streak is valid here. I don't mind a coaster being rough, but I don't like it when the roughness is unnecessary. Note to Six Flags: when you build a woodie, PLEASE budget enough funds to keep it running well as it ages.

So 29% of TPR is 12-15 and fully half are 18 and under? Wow. SOOOOOOOOO many questions, all answered so quickly.

How much time do I have before the timeout? Getting my 100+ woodies probably won't be a problem, but I'm leery about doing 300+ steelies and then having it crap out on me.

It depends on what you like. If you like speed and smoothness with serious poz G's, then Titan is your ride. Mr Freeze and Poltergeist would be in a run for second place. All are good rides. Also, don't let Great White at Sea World fool you into thinking "just another Bat-clone"... it's a bit smaller and more intense. If you like old-school funness, then Shock Wave, Mine Train, and Judge Roy Scream are right up your alley. Shock Wave has some niiiiiice air in the back seat, too. Custom designs and one-of-a-kind layouts your thing? S:Krypton is a beauty, and Boardwalk Bullet is just about the most bizarre wooden coaster layout anywhere. If you catch it on a good day, it's also the best woodie in the state. Catch it on a bad day, and well... see the next section. Like pain? Texas Giant is your dream ticket. Find a wheel seat in one of the last three cars and leave your hands up the whole ride. Steel Eel can also be a good source of back pain on the return leg, and Rattler will loosen your fillings. Oh, and catch Boardwalk Bullet on a bad day and you'll probably need physical therapy just to get down the exit ramp. Fiesta Tx has a decent raft ride and a killer Frisbee and SFoT has a quirky dark water ride that was ruined by a Looney Tunes makeover.

Anyone else having probs with the CoasterFanatics poll helper? I get everything done and ranked, then click "go to step 4" and I get the home page again.

Why stop at a 15yo age limit? Why not just up it to 18yo and make it an x-rated experience? pr0n: the ride!

Took a trip down to Kemah yesterday and have a few observations from things that I saw, plus some info from the park management. [1] HOLY CRAP, they've done a LOT of cleanup work down there! The places that are open look great, new landscaping has been done, everything looks good. [2] Two restaurants are open. The others are going to need a lot more work, based on what I could see past the fences they've put up. The Boardwalk got hit pretty hard. The Starbucks next to the Bullet is just a shell... but they are working on it. [3] Bullet had a test run a few days ago. I can't believe that the lift motor and stuff still works after being submerged in salt water for nearly two days! [4] Bullet will be shut down for awhile. Gravity Group is scheduled to come down and look at it. PBS&J was onsite doing engineering surveys to make sure that the structure was sound and that everything is where it needs to be. Park mgt had scheduled off-season maintenance and trackwork anyway, so this shutdown actually timed out fairly well. [5] The Aviator was being reassembled while I was there. Seems to be OK. The observation tower and Inverter took some damage, but should be repairable. The rest of the rides are pretty much toast. [6] The ride package will remain the same as before for the time being. Swapping out rides would require new foundations and the park is trying to get back up and running as soon as possible. The quickest way to do that is to get replacement rides that match the ones that were destroyed. [7] Judging from the debris placement and water lines on the structures, they estimate that the Boardwalk was submerged in approx 17ft of salt water. [8] Signs placed around the construction area promise a new, improved Boardwalk. [9] Signs near the Bullet promise new midway games coming soon. [10] The margarita stand at the Bullet's entrance (how many parks have that???) is missing. I'm guessing it washed out to sea. If any of you fishermen happen to reel it in, please call Boardwalk management. Putting the Aviator back together

OK, so let's run through a list of double-entendre coaster names: We'll start with a combination that only exists at SFOG. I asked a friend if he wanted to ride Ninja or GASM and he said, "Ninja Orgasm???" Anyway, on to the list of sex toy coaster names: Big Bad John Earthquake McGoon's Brain Rattler Twist n Shout Giant Dipper Kong Swamp Thing Willard's Whizzer (later shortened to just Whizzer, which isn't nearly as funny) Howler Wild One Zach's Zoomer The Boss Fire in the Hole Zambezi Zinger Sidewinder Bar-one Bushwhacker

I liked Heide Park. I went in Colossus' second season, so there was no roughness at all, not even in the helix. Still..... I didn't like it much. The Bobsled, though. OMFG, that thing ROCKS! The indoor section took me completely by surprise and I wish I had bought the hysterical onride shot of me on that ride with the look of shock on my face. The entire ride, I just kept thinking "this is a freaking BOBSLED???? Are you kidding me???" Best bobs in the world, absolutely.

It would go like SFNO did, because it has the same two basic problems that New Orleans has in terms of hosting a theme park: [1] Nobody goes to that city for a theme park. It's not exactly a "family" destination and the adults go there for more "adult" entertainment. [2] It's too damn HOT most of the time for you to really enjoy a day of it. A couple of hours or so and you're ready to get indoors.

as far as chainlifts go, nothing even comes close to UltraTwister.

I was watching the video of "Life in the Fast Lane" and thinking, "Wow... this looks boring as hell. Funny how that little park in South Africa actually turned this crappy layout into a really fun ride experience, but the folks at Hard Rock seem to have missed the opportunity." For a park so heavy on theming, I wonder why they didn't do more with that ride. Was the theming all in the queue?