TR: Kemah Boardwalk and Boardwalk Bullet grand opening

[Rastuso]

Kemah Boardwalk Friday, August 31st, 2007

 

The Kemah Boardwalk has really changed since I moved to Houston. I remember seeing a big article about it when I was on my house hunting trip. I think it had just opened. The pictures showed a small collection of restaurants, a small train ride, and a Ferris wheel. I thought to myself "wow, it'd be great if this place had a roller-coaster".

 

Over the years, Kemah has expanded. I hadn't reallly even realized how much had been added. My only previous trip had been for Winterfest a few years ago. We had a decent Mexican lunch, and rode all the rides on a cold overcast day. They had really expanded, but still no major ride.

 

When Astroworld closed, I knew that eventually it would be a good thing. Kemah was supposedly looking at this coaster before Astroworld's demise, but there is no doubt that it will be more successful now. Kemah is owned by Landry's, and is basically a showcase of all their restaurants. They have their signature Aquarium restaurant at the far end from the rides, and have added a hotel and a lot of small shops to create a bit of a Disney resort feel.

 

I was watching SixFlagsHouston all day to see the status. Rumors were heavy that the coaster would open today, and at about 3pm, the posts dried up, so I assumed everyone had gone to Kemah. As soon as I got off work, I went home and got my son ready. Still no new posts on SFH, so we headed South. We arrived at about 6:30 to see the usual suspects waiting at the entrance. Apparently, some of the early arrivals were awarded with some pre-opening rides by the very enthusiast friendly ride management. I was a bit nervous as there was a train stuck on the lift. BUt, luckily they were just doing an evacuation drill to finish up training. We headed over for our $19 wristbands and joined the other coaster geeks.

 

At about 7 O'Clock, the ride opened to no fanfare, and we went up and waited outside the station a bit. We quickly noticed that the track flys right over the queue, and your average trouble-maker teen could easily stick their hand in the path of the coaster. I meant to mention this to the management and just realized I forgot all about it. They better put a cover on this section of queue before some dumbass kid loses a hand, or some total asshole throws something at the train. We were finally let into the station house. I went for the front seat, back car as usual. My son was a bit scared, so he wanted to move up a car, so we did. We waited a bit, and were off for the innaugural public ride of the Boardwalk Bullet.

 

There is a fairly big dip out of the station, and a U-turn to the lift. You quickly realize that this coaster has a lot more wood than usual, obviously thanks to its location on the Gulf of Hurricanes. About two thirds of the way up, we come to a stop, and fall back an inch and hear all the rollback dogs catch. The second trains crawls into the station from the end brakes since some of them are magnetic, and for the vast majority of rides, you would reach the shutdown spot before the second train was clear of the end brakes. Instead of the chain freezing in place, it stops and rolls back a bit, so the train falls down the lift an inch before catching. This freaked me out a bit and my son got quite scared. I explained how it was totally safe, but do beleive this needs to be fixed. Those dogs are meant to be used rarely, not every ride. I could see a dog failure in the future from overuse. They need to fix it and put in new gears/motor that won't let the chain go backwards without intervention.

 

After about 10 seconds, we start back up at a much faster rate and go over the top. THis is about the only time you can take in the view of the ocean. I'm surprised that they really did not take advantage of the oceanside location. After the long turnaround, all hell breaks loose. The little bump in the first drop does kick you out of your seat, but the drop curves and twists enough that you don't float or anything, The drop is not very long at all, and you quickly got into a hard right and tunnel through the structure. This section was very wild, and a bit jerky already. I have a bad feeling about the future state of this seciton of track, it could easily get brutally rough very fast.

 

THe first half of the ride is flat out fast, and very good. When you reach the last tall hill, the train slows down a bunch, and you then dive back down, and go to the on-ride picture spot below the station in another tunnel of sorts. After that the ride really gets odd. You slow a lot on overbanked curves, and the final 3 or 4 turns are slow and lumbering, reminding me of the SFNE Cyclone's ending section ( and I've only ridden that after the neutering). It's like they ran out of space and had to force the train to hook up with the final brakes.

 

Is this a good ride? Sure is, it's very fun and will thrill the hell out of families and dates at Kemah. Is it a phenomenal ride? Well, not now. I don't see it ever truly flowing like I like a coaster to do. BUt, neither does Voyage, and folks love that. I think the Gravity Group tries to do too many things on their coasters. They never put in a nice swooping turn or drop, they always have to put little kinks and strange changes in the banking. Some like this, I don't, especially in PTC trains. It's no surprise this thing had such a hard time getting up to speed with all the little movements all the time. The train is fighting it's way through the tangled mass of structure all the time.

 

After two rides, my son wanted to do some other things, and I was getting hungry. So, we went to the other rides and rode the excellent little kiddie drop tower and Ferris wheel. We then walked down the boardwalk. We got to one section that looked like a cannery. THe water surface was covered in what looked sorta like catfish, I'm no fish expert. I double checked, and this water was open to the Gulf, so I couldn't believe it. Then we got up to 3 fish food machines and I figured it out. We also saw a restaurant worker throw a bunch of bread crumbs down. It looked like a pirahna feeding frenzy. A few ducks were fighting the fish a bit, but couldn't get into their massive pile. THere had to have been a thousand fish in that area. Hungry? Just bring a net and scoop up a dozen or so. I'm sure that people do that at night sometimes.

 

They had a live band down in the area in front of the inn. This was a really nice place and had a definite Disney resort feel to it. It was lightning very badly all over the sky, but wasn't raining. We got to the Aquarium and saw the Stingray Encounter. My son wanted to do it, so for $5 he got to pet and feed the rays. Some of them would come half way out of the water and you could put the food right into their mouths. YOu were supposed to hold the food underwater and they come up to eat it, but my son wasn't brave enough for that.

 

We finally found the Pizza Oven restaurant and ordered a Pepperoni. They make brick oven pizzas, and they are delicious. A bit pricey at $10 for a 10 inch pizza, but it tasted great. We heard some teenage girls saying the rides were closed due to lightning. Well that sucks, we only had 2 rides under our belts. They had gotten refunds for their wristbands since the rides closed 15 minutes after they bought them. Good customer service! We finished and went into the candy shop for some pretty expensive fudge. They had tons of signs saying no free samples. There was an arcade, but we totally missed it until on the train ride later.

 

It was sprinkling a bit and I figured our coaster rides were done for the day. We headed back and saw Jason Knutson and he said that they still hoped to reopen later. I thought they closed at 10, but it was 11, so I decided to stick around a bit. My son went over for some marathon riding on the drop tower in the rain. I think he got about 20 rides in. We also did the train. A nice meandering tour of the whole place, including a surprise dark ride section at the end under Saltgrass. THere was a cowboy shoot out and explosion.

 

It was still raining and every once in a while there would be a huge lightning strike across the sky. It looked bleak, so we rode more drop tower. Then we headed over to the Bullet. I hadn't seen any lightning for about 20 minutes, but the rain was really picking up. I talked with Jason for a while until the ride manager showed up. We all begged for the coaster to reopen. He checked radar and finally walked up to the station and came back down to the chain and dropped it. Anticipation was very high. I could sense some roller coaster rides for the ages coming up. Rides that would be talked about for years to come. I hadn't ridden a coaster in major rain since a mind blowing romp on the Beast many years ago. That ride defied the castration the Beast had recieved and kicked ass. I had high hopes

 

We go up, and workers took the back seats for "a test run" whcih was horseshit. They really were just cutting in line. We took the front seat second to last car again, just like our very first ride. We head off up the lift and all hell breaks loose times two. The first drop was out of this world crazy. The lumber and shadows working with the water and grease to make the train haul serious ass. THe first half of the ride was simply insane. Easily 10 mph faster than earlier dry rides, made even better with the lack of sunlight. The previously slow hills in the second half were now just sort of breathers before you plunged back down into the depths of twisted wood. Even the strange end section was much faster, and we roared into the brakes, and didn't stop until the fin brake squeezed hard. WOW, WOW, WOW! Everyone was laughing line crazy and hooting and hollering. My son loved it, and so did I. We pull into an empty station and decide to go near the front. We take front seat second car and go out again in the rain. The ride is much smoother in the front, and I think it's actually better up here.The high speed section after the first drop is fantastic, smooth, and mega fast.

 

We took one more ride there, and thought we had to leave after 3 rides. Nope, we could stay. Jason let us take his front seat for one final ride. Definitely one of the best coaster rides I've had in a while. I'm sore today after only 6 rides. This ride, in the rain, is mega aggressive, but hills that really kill it normally become very welcomed breathers. The front is very smooth, but the back is a bit rough, and I fear this ride is not going to age well, like Voyage, but we'll see.

 

I'm really curious to see if the ride really breaks in to the point of the normal rides being like those night rides. If it does, rainy night rides then will be simply mind-blowing.

 

Add the fact that this ride should rarely have a long line except on Saturdays, and this could become a true must visit for enthusiasts. As for now, I recommend you wait. The dry rides were OK, but not extraordinary. In a month or two, on a warm day, this ride could be much much better.

 

I thanked the management for reopening, and we bowed out of the last ride. And my soreness today proves that was a wise move.

 

It was great to be able to welcome a new coaster into existance today for the first time in a looooong time. It's been 8 years for Houston, and that last new ride was a SLC that replaced a truly unique ground-breaking coaster. Now, let's wait for some footers in the parking lot. They could put a nice hyper in with a turnaround on top of the parking garage.

 

I hope Kemah continues to expand. A nice log ride would be awesome. And how about saving the Zombie Castle!?!?

 

Rastus O'Ginga

[almightyfire]

Now this sounds like a more truthful review. The others I have read have been stellar and not one complaint. I hope Landry's go ahead and buy that existing land next to The Bullet and put a nice Hyper also and a really nice Log Ride in. This might be the next big Boardwalk in America. We just don't have anything here in Houston and this is a nice addition. I will be going sometimes next week for my first ride.

[Rastuso]

I always call 'em like I see 'em. You'll rarely see anything from me simply saying "it's great" or "I loved it". I give the good and the bad.

 

-r

[mike robinson]

I think Rastuso gave a very good account. It is accurate. We rode about two rows apart on the first public ride. I remember we were both grinning pretty big when we got off.

 

I think I was more impressed than him, but his opinion is valid in my book.

[restoca]

Thank you, Rastus, for taking the time to compose such an invormative account of your Kemah Boardwalk experience on the night of the coaster's opening. I was working until after 11pm that night and missed out on the excitement you described.

 

I read your review the next day and had a first-hand experience this evening. My feelings are similar to many of the others posted on the various forums, so I'll spare everyone. But I'd like to thank Rastus again for giving such a detailed insight to so many who don't have the luxury of a 30 minute drive to check things out themselves, as I do.

 

It's a very fun ride for those who like wood, and it's in a very nice setting. If you have to travel any sort of distance, you might want to wait until the weather is a bit cooler. Still quite humid here, and crowds seem the worst when trying to navigate the parking lots. October should be quite a contrast to the current scenario. Check kemahboardwalk.com for their events calendar for a better idea of any events that might bring big crowds.

[coasterphotos]

The second trains crawls into the station from the end brakes since some of them are magnetic, and for the vast majority of rides, you would reach the shutdown spot before the second train was clear of the end brakes. Instead of the chain freezing in place, it stops and rolls back a bit, so the train falls down the lift an inch before catching. This freaked me out a bit and my son got quite scared. I explained how it was totally safe, but do beleive this needs to be fixed. Those dogs are meant to be used rarely, not every ride. I could see a dog failure in the future from overuse. They need to fix it and put in new gears/motor that won't let the chain go backwards without intervention.

 

They tried to fix that before opening on Friday. They removed the first magnetic brake coming into the brake run and ran a test. The train came into the brakes way too fast without the third magnetic one and was slammed to a stop by the fin brake. They ended up putting the brake back on and allowing they system to stop the lift to wait for the train to clear that block. Don't know if this is something they still plan on working on or not over the slow winter months. Of course, this won't be an issue when they do one train operation (which they easily could have done the last couple days with only a little longer lines).

[Big Mike]

Missed the dame opening by exactly a week.

 

That sux!

 

Peace, Big Mike

[Team Thriller]

That coaster looks awesome. I've heard so much about it. Hopefully its all true!

[SharkTums]

Thanks for the review Rastus. Pretty much what I expected. I'm not totally amused by The Gravity Groups need to make coasters that "leave you sore and bruised" after a few rides as it seems like that's all they do. To me a coaster should be 'throw your hands up fun', not hold on for dear life and still come back sore.

 

I'm sure we'll hit this up at some point, hope that it handles the test of time.

[kraken613]

I wish they didnt beat you up they should be more like GCIs that you could ride 100 times over!

[CoasterFanatic]

To me a coaster should be 'throw your hands up fun', not hold on for dear life and still come back sore.

 

This is where we differ in opinion Elissa

 

My favorite wooden coasters have always been the ones that left you with a sense of accomplishment for having made it out alive.

 

Thanks for the report, Rastus. Hopefully, Catrina and I will be able to make our way back there next year for a ride on this one.

[verticalzero]

This is a lovely looking woodie, I can't wait for someone to post a proper "Raw track n screaming wheels" POV.

 

Wish I lived near by, I would ride it every weekend.

[fmulder21]

No pics!? I need some cargo pants so i can do a trip report one day.

[coasterphotos]

Taking cameras on the ride is NOT allowed. Special permission would have to be granted from the management and they will not allow handheld cameras at all.

[texcoaster]

OK, after almost 100 rides, I can attest to the following:

 

[1] It's NOT smooth. It's a rough-n-tumble coaster. If you've been looking at the layout, you'd expect this. However, I don't mind a rough ride if it's FUN. This ride is rough because there are high-speed turns everywhere in all directions. That's fine by me. Something like Mean Streak, Rattler, or Son of Beast that are rough but offer very little thrill are not fine by me. Bullet is rough in a Voyage kinda way, but still not nearly as brutal as that ride.

 

[2] The section between the first drop and the big turn that it didn't clear on the first test run... is quite possibly the most intense 10-15 seconds on any wood coaster anywhere.

 

[3] I'm really, REALLY sore now and I still have something in my eye that flew in there about 3 hours ago. I think it might be a piece of a bug.

 

[4] The ride is breaking in. ALL of the rides today were considerably faster than most of the rides yesterday. Some parts are smoother now, other parts are rougher.

 

[5] As the ride breaks in, the middle seats aren't the wild children they were yesterday. They're just rougher. The back end of the train, however, is INSANE on the first drop now.

 

[6] My favorite seat early on was 5right. Now it's 2right by a long shot. OMG the ejector air!!!

 

[7] The neighbor next door needs to sell me her house.

[RIP Psyclone]

Wow, that layout is...interesting.

 

 

I agree With Rastus, that wood is pretty dense.

[texcoaster]

That's nothing... you should see the real one.

[Rastuso]

Yeah, and the layout is a lot more crazy on the real one. This looks more like a GCI model, and this ride definitely NOT a GCI.

 

If the thing is already rougher than Friday, it will be brutal next year, and I mean by January. The first high speed section will be quite unpleasant.

 

-r

[kraken613]

I hope it dosnt get horrible before I get down there to ride!

 

300th post!

[lorddoonga]

I rode Bullet today approx 8-10 times... lost count. Today, Kemah was rather quiet and non-busy for a usual weekday. My overall rating is still up in the air..and I wont rank it until it hopefully smooths itself out. I must say it was very jerky. First time I got on was the last seat. 1st drop was great. But the right turn leading into the S-curve around towards the bay was painful. Know what whip-lash is?? Well, I got gut-lashed, every single time I rode it. First seat was okay. You can still get a decent ride on seat #7 and #8. After several rides I finally stopped bracing myself with my legs and feet against the car. I just let them rest comfortably right out in front of me and held on tight . That was the trick for me not to get gut-lashed! Your gonna need some serious upper body strength to keep from being knocked around. I hope whoever is 48" inches doesn't get hurt ! LOL .... enjoy ?!?!?

[calcajun]

Hey!

 

Was looking at the weather and decided to head to Kemah thurs and spend a day and half with BB then SFFT Sat and Sun. Judging from what we hear i think BB may get to rough for my taste in the near future so i need to get my rides in NOW.

I'll be there Thurs and Fri. WEeee

[lorddoonga]

Knock yourself out.. come get your ride-on!

[ImAPrincess]

To me a coaster should be 'throw your hands up fun', not hold on for dear life and still come back sore.

 

This is where we differ in opinion Elissa

 

My favorite wooden coasters have always been the ones that left you with a sense of accomplishment for having made it out alive.

 

 

I have to agree with Elissa. I'd rather not have to see a doctor when I come off a coaster. I like the "throw your hands up fun" ones Elissa mentioned, although I still hold on for dear life

[timetrial3141592]

To solve the rollback issue, slow the chain down, then bring it up to speed near the top.

[coasterphotos]

To solve the rollback issue, slow the chain down, then bring it up to speed near the top.

 

They do. The train still takes too long to get out of the magnetic brakes on most runs. If the train is full, it usually makes it in time, but empty, it doesn't.