Kemah Boardwalk and Bullet Discussion Thread

[texcoaster]

after about 25 more rides, many with a full train, I can say that it's breaking in nicely. Some of the intensity is back in the zig zag and parts of the ride are a lot better than last night. I'll post a full report tonight.

[kraken613]

I cant wait!

[texcoaster]

Ok, I just took my 500th ride on Boardwalk Bullet at a few minutes after 9pm tonight.

 

In spite of my meh review from the test rides last night, I must say that a day's worth of running circuits around the track has done wonders for the ride. The new track sections just needed to break in a bit, I suppose, since the ride got progressively more intense as the day went on. By the late afternoon rides, the first drop and zig-zag were almost back up to their previous intensity in the back half of the train. The hard slam coming out of the first drop is gone and the brutality of the turn is gone, but the intensity of the right-left-right in the zig-zag is back and so is the airtime in there. WOO HOO!

 

The upper bay turn still has the one-two-three kicks, but has lost almost all of the shuffle that made it so rough before. It doesn't lose much speed through there now, making the front two cars get wicked air going into the water tower turn.

 

The second big drop has some nice yank in the back cars, the bunnyhop has floaters, and the Saltgrass turn was tracking nicely today. The queue line flyover was even getting air in the front of the train.

 

The pop is BACK. Hell yeah! Last night's sluggish rides had tamed it a bit, and while the sharp, painful spike you used to get on the pop has been removed, you STILL get an evil little burst of quick ejector air seemingly out of nowhere. It still takes people by surprise and makes them scream and/or laugh.

 

The back third of the ride, from the station drop to the brakes feels a bit slower and has some nasty shimmy around the final two turns. In my opinion, the next time it has off-season trackwork, they should look at the final two turns and the turn between the pop and the station drop. That turn is REALLY sucking the speed out of the train and has some pretty bad shuffle in it.

 

Verdict? The Bullet is back! Yes, some of the aggressiveness (or roughness, if you prefer) has been tamed. I'd argue, though, that the ride is still as intense as it was before, it's just more comfortable to ride now.

 

Several of today's riders had been on it before (employees of the restaurants were allowed to ride today) and I overheard a lot of "oh yeah, that's a lot better now!" from many of them.

 

I rode all day with Guru, and Almightyfire showed up later, followed by NHolt. I'll let them post their own reviews.

 

I was hoping that the trackwork would pull the cycle time down to around 62 seconds, which would've given it a shot at moving up to my #1 coaster. It ran at 68 seconds most of the day, which isn't too bad considering that it was c-c-c-c-cold today and quite windy. The Texas summer heat should speed it up a bit. Still, I don't expect that it will replace Voyage as my #1 coaster.... but it's not going to drop any spots on my list, either.

 

Oh, and those of you who were there for the TPR shoot will be happy to hear this: even after 59 rides today, mostly in the back of the train, I'm not sore at all. There is no way I could've done that many in the back before...

[GuruGuys]

I agree with pretty much everything Texcoaster said. I wouldn't call the airtime going into the water cooler turn 'wicked' in the front seats, but there is some there which used to not happen unless you got really lucky fast rides. The 'one-two-three' kicks he mentions on the upper bay turn are about 80% less forceful than they used to be and my understanding is that they will be even less noticeable by the weekend.

 

The temperamental nature of the Bullet seems to be back - I have pretty much given up on figuring out a favorite seat as they change hour to hour. Seat 2 right last night and most of the morning today was really fun, but when the track started breaking in this evening it started showing some signs of why I hated it so much in the past. The front seats, as always, are very smooth - much smoother than ever before. The back seats (10-12) provide ejector on the first drop and some nice action on the zig zag after the drop.

 

I rode with a lot of normal customer riders, several of them stated they didn't think they would ever ride it again since it was too rough when they rode it awhile back but their kid and/or partner coerced them into it riding again. At least two of these people stated it was much better than before and even rode again. As Texcoaster pointed out, the entire slam you used to get at the bottom of the first drop is totally gone and the turn up to the zig zag produces some nice downward g's before you get some lateral ejection during the zig zag. I still think the zig zag isn't as aggressive as before, but it is still very fun. I can safely say that there will be a lot of single ticket riders who will go buy another ticket to ride again - I saw it happen more than ever tonight - since it is nowhere near as rough.

 

The ejection in the back three seats is still not what it used to be but it is about 80% as good, which is still very good.

 

Visually, the "Pop" hill looks different, you can tell they smoothed out the hill, but the "Pop" is still there and it was a lot stronger than last night, still not as bad as it was before, but definitely gets your attention! This is one of those 'defects' that I don't mind staying especially now that its toned down a tad

 

While I wish the maintenance it would have made the ride cycle speed up (it ran a constant 66-67 seconds open to close), I think these changes are good overall. It appears that the main problem, the slam at the bottom of the drop, will never rear its face again. Some thought that this aggression was a bonus, others not. Personally, I'm glad its gone and I know it was a maintenance nightmare as well.

 

I totally agree with Texcoaster he stated they need to work on the last 1/4th of the ride, from the turn after the "pop" on in. There is a lot of shuffling and one medium slam forming as you drop from the last little hill before making the final turn into the station. It does seem slower here now and is a bit annoying after you have ridden as much as we rode today. Perhaps this is the part Sharktums was talking about when she mentioned she wished it was down for maintenance longer in another thread.

 

In the end I doubt these changes will move it much further up on your top coaster list because the last 1/3 of the ride is still a bit too slow for the elements to perform properly. I'm sure it will move it up a little for those who have it way down due to roughness. So for those who rode it before the changes, just imagine going down the first drop, not getting slammed into the left side of the car, not getting shuffled right after that, and not getting as violent zig-zag ejector. Otherwise the rest of the ride is pretty much the same. Lets hope it stays this way in the months to come.

 

The Bullet should be open all week but don't expect it to be open with at 11am. Try 1pm or later to be safe.

 

-GG

[ginzo]

Verdict? The Bullet is back! Yes, some of the aggressiveness (or roughness, if you prefer) has been tamed. I'd argue, though, that the ride is still as intense as it was before, it's just more comfortable to ride now.

 

Sounds great. I just hope the thing stays this way until I can get down there. If I get lucky, Baylor will call me for an interview, which would bring me down to Houston in the next few months.

 

The temperamental nature of the Bullet seems to be back - I have pretty much given up on figuring out a favorite seat as they change hour to hour.

 

Sounds a lot like Voyage, which has run the range from "Best. Ride. Ever." to "never again" in reactions for me. If Voyage ran at peak form most of the time, it would definitely be in my top 10.

[RussellHammondnholt]

I got around 15 or so rides in this evening, and it was cold! Well... cold for Houston. There was practically no line so we did not have to wait at all, in fact we never had to get out of our seats on a couple rides.

 

I'm not sure what to make of the "new" Bullet. It is different in some spots and certain seats. Over all I would have to say that it is smoother and a better ride. That brutal section right after the first drop is so much smoother now and other spots seemed a little less intense. The front car was especially a whole lot smoother. However the middle, back, and for some reason the second car were kind of rough not unlike it used to be. I think it all depends on what seat your in and what you like in a coaster. I did get a few "floaters" on a few runs.

 

At any rate I would highly recommend heading down and having a "cold one"! The Bullet is back

[texcoaster]

Sounds a lot like Voyage, which has run the range from "Best. Ride. Ever." to "never again" in reactions for me. If Voyage ran at peak form most of the time, it would definitely be in my top 10.

 

Voyage is my #1 coaster, and I'm really sorta afraid to ride it again. I got nothing but fantastic (although a bit brutal) rides on it, airtime everywhere, never trimmed, triple-down delivering on ever ride.

 

From what I read about its temperamental nature, though, I'm afraid to spend the money to go back and chance getting crap rides on it. I can imagine it would be like someone who rode Texas Giant in 1990 and putting it as their #1, then coming down here to ride it now. What a shocker that would be!

[lorddoonga]

I enjoyed riding Bullet yesterday. The first 1/3 is fast but w/o the "roughness". Now you can actually remember the track course. The turn around the bay is smooth and a blur it goes by so fast now. Front row seat is smoooooooooth as silk. Depending on which seat your in, you can get the feel of the "old" Bullet before spot retracking. No head, back, rib aches : )

[almightyfire]

DITTO. My first ride was in the front and I was truly disappointed TOTALLY to the point I wanted to get a refund on my 20 dollar wrist band but texcoaster and GURU convinced me to give it another chance and ride in the back AND IT IS A TOTALLY DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE THERE. Still some of the roughness but not too extreme. This is the first retracked coaster I have ridden and I do see that it actually chances the ride noticebly. The ride in the front is butter smooth now. You can now ride it all day and not get bruised but that is the characteristic I love about a woodie is the roughness and that is what made THE BULLET unique to me. That first drop was the bomb. Now the second half of the ride is unchanged. It was never that rough anyway. So it is now a coaster for everyone to ride. Now the second half didn't speed up at all.

[lorddoonga]

So true. You can actually ride Bullet ALL DAY LONG and not get hurt in the process. Like Texcoaster said "it lost it's teeth" the brutal stuff.. but I think overall its a fun coaster. Towards the afternoon, the trains were hauling azz. I hope that when spring and summer returns, the wood will give way to the heat and possibly be even better.

[Wes]

Merged the two threads, we don't need multiple threads about the status of one coaster.

[ginzo]

From what I read about its temperamental nature, though, I'm afraid to spend the money to go back and chance getting crap rides on it. I can imagine it would be like someone who rode Texas Giant in 1990 and putting it as their #1, then coming down here to ride it now. What a shocker that would be!

 

Your best bet is probably the Holiwood Nights enthusiast event then. I imagine they'll put in a fair amount of effort to get the woodies in top form for that. And it's early enough in the season that any miscellaneous problem areas that they re-tracked in the off season won't have had enough time to get shredded again. Oh, and several hours of night rides!

[fmulder21]

I was upset but realized that how it was...I rode it and when my girlfriend and i made it back into the station shelaughed at me cause my eyes were watery!(I wear contacts, and my eyes leak during fast front seat action ) I enjoyed being able to walk off and not have to hold my thigh from hurting. When we left i saw tx coasters blue beanie bouce in the air through the first drop.

[lorddoonga]

Everybody had tears of joy and appreciation for the Bullet to open on the Holiday. And there was a chill in the air with the north winds blowing. There was this dude with extra long straggly hair like from the 70s, when he got off the ride he was tearing badly.

[fmulder21]

Everybody had tears of joy and appreciation for the Bullet to open on the Holiday.

I couldn't wait to ride it i had to fudge some stuff at work to leave, and then had to wait 10 mins in line cause some girl kept saying "i'm scared!" with her group of friends. I'll be back for 20 or so rides thurs evening.

[lorddoonga]

Go for it. The best seat I liked was car #8 right side. Going down the first drop it gave me butterflies big time. There was this mega girl sitting in the last seat, when the train took off, her friends in line said "Go Jabba... go Jabba"! LOL

[fmulder21]

I think something is wrong with me...I only feel the first drop in the back seat ONE TIME. After that i can't feel it anymore A little boy around 7 or 8 sat in the back with me last night and asked me "How does it feel in the back!?" I just smiled and said "You'll like it!" in the middle of the ride he said "you were right!" When i was that age i was terrified

[lorddoonga]

fmulder: How did you like coming out of the "shoot" into the bayside 90degree turn?

[fmulder21]

It felt the same to me or maybe i was too cold to feel it.

[texcoaster]

I teared up several times, not from joy but from cold, salty air slamming me in the face when the wind kicked up. Those with contacts seemed to get teary almost every time!

 

I got there before they opened the coaster, and after walking around a bit, I headed for Target to buy a knit beanie cap and some gloves. I'm really glad I did, since I *HATE* cold weather and would've most likely left much earlier than I did.

 

Still, after my 500th ride, I called it quits, even though there was still almost an hour of ride time left. Brrrr!

[lorddoonga]

Yeah, I wear prescrips and I was still teary- eyed.

[GuruGuys]

I almost lost part of my voice due to the cold air (which some might see as a good thing! heh). I did see several people with tears down their eyes. It is even colder today/tonight. I may wait for the weather to warm up before I ride again. It will be interesting to see if they were able to eliminate whats left of the first of the 1-2-3 punches on the upper bay turn.

 

Something I failed to mention before is that apparently tightening up all those bolts has made an difference because the track is swaying a lot less than before.

 

-GG

[GuruGuys]

Here are three different angles of P.O.V. of the reworked portion of the ride. The first two are from the front seat - one pointing down at the track a bit more, one pointing more up to the air (still learning how to use this camera, you wear it like a watch). The last is from the back seat watching the people in front, you can see how they no longer get slammed hard after the first drop.

 

-GG

 

EDIT: Reposted in WMV, smaller file size, larger image size, a bit less quality but hopefully it will work.

Bullet_Track_ReWork_POV.wmv

Bullet POV of ReWorked track area only.

[lorddoonga]

Neat. I like a mean first drop that pins you to the lap bar and slams your bottom to the cushion. I wished the first drop could be 12-15 ft. more.

[GuruGuys]

The video is not working for me, it worked for you? I might have to try to re-upload it and check which codec I used.

 

-GG