Thrasher Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 It's been awhile since I've posted on the forums. I've been swamped with finishing school, work, and getting everything ready to move to Hawaii. I took a trip last weekend to southern FL to visit relatives, go scuba diving, and ride Dania Beach Hurricane for possibly the last time. I took a lot of pictures, and even after sorting through and getting rid of the sub-par ones, its still a lot. We'll see how many I end up posting haha. Be sure to stick around till the end for some unique, never-before-seen views of the Dania Beach Hurricane (more on that later). First though, we will start off with Uncle Bernies Amusement Park. I didn't actually ride any of the rides here for fear of my safety, but the park was mostly operational and both rollercoasters were operating. The park is attached to a Swap Meet and a 14-screen Drive-In movie theatre... The first rollercoaster was the Abandoned Mine. Looking at the pictures on RCDB from late 2003, this ride hasn't been well kept. The other rollercoaster at this small park is 'Dragon'. There were three of these simulator rides, but only 1 was set up to take guests... Quite possibly the scariest thing at this park was the log flume. I could not tell if it was a portable model or something they built custom... There were also various, nameless rides scattered between the larger attractions... The bumper-cars... and bumper-boats...(through the fence it would seem) Some sort of adventure train, but it wasn't running... A childrens play area, which actually looked fairly new... The most intense ride in the park was probably this ride. It actually looked quite painful. I attached a video... One last note from Uncle Bernies/Swap Meet. I don't know if this was normal or if it was a special but they had a selection of classic and modern high-performance cars and trucks on display... ===================================== Finally get to the good stuff. Boomer's in Dania Beach is home to the classic Dania Beach Hurricane. I visited on a Monday and it was completely dead. I got there a bit early and had to wait until they opened at noon. Between then and when I left, I maybe saw 10 other guests in the whole park. According to the ride-ops, it tends to pick up as kids get out of school. They were doing some work before the place opened... All these cars were employees... View from the parking lot right before they opened... Since it was so dead, I decided to go straight for the Hurricane and chat it up with the ride ops... getting closer... into the queue... As you can see, I had a horrible waiting time... The ride ops were very friendly and knowledgeable. The dispatcher, Scott Horrick, was a former Cedar Point ride op and claimed to be one of the first Top Thrill Dragster operators. He explained to me the incident with the yellow train during testing before it opened. He also claimed to be one of the first to ride it with the designers. The conversation eventually led to me being an enthusiast myself and how I was taking pictures for a trip report. He was very gracious to lead me on a personal tour of the coaster. The tour is offered to local schools where kids get to see the lift motor room and the maintenance areas. If you are nice enough and catch them on a very slow day, they might just give ya the tour. The tour started with a brief discussion on the ride specs and trivia and then the maintenance area. The blue train was operating that day, while the red train was getting a complete overhaul. Scott explained that they had just finished testing the frames for hairline fractures and were waiting on the new parts from a distributor. A bare frame... We then walked along the track to the motor room. The motor room. The motor is a 3-phase (forgive me for forgetting the horsepower). The park invested $30,000 for a second, replacement motor. Scott explained to me that if the main motor was to break down and require extra time, the second motor could be swapped in only a few hours. The tour ended by getting a chance to walk around the base of the coaster. These are some of the unique shots I haven't seen before. Finally, it was time to head back to the station. I grabbed a quick shot of the control panel and set off on my drive back to Orlando. I'll finish off the pictures and this trip report with some pictures of Hurricane's still butter-smooth hills and turns... Thanks for reading and be sure to comment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaceace12 Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 nice pics, Bouncy Bouncy! It actually looks like fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrasher Posted September 4, 2007 Author Share Posted September 4, 2007 Edited, thanks for the tip. Never tried posting Youtube here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterPete Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Nice pictures! That was really awesome of him to give you that tour. I visit Fort Lauderdale every year and always take a trip to the DB Hurricane. As for Uncle Bernies, that place is scary yet so funny. I actually have ridden the Log Flume and felt safe on it but that place is scary. Thanks for the pics! Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yankees15 Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Man I always thought it would be awesome to go on a behind the scene's tour of a coaster. You are very lucky. Thanks for the great pictures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrasher Posted September 5, 2007 Author Share Posted September 5, 2007 I have only been on one other 'behind the scenes tour' and that was CoasterPalooza 2004 at then Paramounts Great America. This tour was indeed awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastercrazed49 Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Last year I drove right by Boomers. Dania Beach Hurricane looked awesome, to bad I couldn't stop. But great pictures of DBH I love how such a great coaster never seems to have a line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeemerBoy Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Nice report, and great pics of my baby. One last note from Uncle Bernies/Swap Meet. I don't know if this was normal or if it was a special but they had a selection of classic and modern high-performance cars and trucks on display... Those may very likely have been some of the owner's personal collection on display. I know he wrecked an Enzo a few years back, and he's definitely got the coin to afford both that and and F-50. Mmmmm, Ferrari. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moose Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 nice pics, Bouncy Bouncy! It actually looks like fun. It is it is it is. It almost looks as intense as Zaragoza's too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jten11 Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 cool.... nice ptr..I was there (Boomers) Sunday night. I would've met you that Monday if I wasn't in a rush to go back to Tallahassee. That ride is still suprisingly smooth and hella fun! Man I was supposed to a PTR on DBH but my camera stopped working on me! Oh well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygator Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 I've always said I had no desire to visit Uncle Bernie's and whore the credits, but if they have Bouncy Bouncy, I may have to make a stop if I ever get to visit Joe's Stone Crab Claws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeemerBoy Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 ^ Larry, I'm not sure sleeveless Gator fans are permitted at Joe's....deep in 'Cane Country. I'll think about you when I'm there in November though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygator Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 ^ Larry, I'm not sure sleeveless Gator fans are permitted at Joe's....deep in 'Cane Country. I'll think about you when I'm there in November though. Nice try, plenty of my Gator buddies that go there quite a bit. I do wear sleeves outside of amusement parks. Cane fans are fair weather, I'll be sure to go after a Miami loss when they are all in hiding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrasher Posted September 5, 2007 Author Share Posted September 5, 2007 cool.... nice Photo TR..I was there (Boomers) Sunday night. I would've met you that Monday if I wasn't in a rush to go back to Tallahassee. That ride is still suprisingly smooth and hella fun! Man I was supposed to a Photo TR on DBH but my camera stopped working on me! Oh well Feel free to photoshop yourself into the station picture or something and we will make this an 'honorary' Photo TR in memory of the broken camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterdude5 Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Awesome trip report... what happened to the tunnel feature on the coaster at Uncle Bernies??? Haha. Boomers looks cool too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrasher Posted September 6, 2007 Author Share Posted September 6, 2007 Here is a great before/after comparison. The 'before' picture is courtesy of Duane Marden at RCDB.com... Before (2003): After (2007): Hopefully they clean the place up a little more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanks4me05 Posted September 7, 2007 Share Posted September 7, 2007 Oh man, you got to view DBH from the right side?! I should have asked him if I could do that (he let me bring my cameras onride) but my dad said I would have been pushing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrasher Posted September 7, 2007 Author Share Posted September 7, 2007 The guy was real cool and took me through the whole educational tour that they give to schools. Just ask for it on a real slow day. It includes getting to walk on the track and around underneath the ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Thriller Posted September 7, 2007 Share Posted September 7, 2007 awesome man! The pics (And video) was great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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