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Kemah Boardwalk and Bullet Discussion Thread


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OK, I know that I've gone on and on ad nauseum about those infamous "rain rides" on opening day when the lift-to-brake time was in the 64 second range...

 

After work today, it was running in the 62s with an occasional tap into the 61s. It's not the same ride it used to be. Not even close.

 

Toward the end of the night, some of the ride ops got a chance to ride for the first time since it was fixed. Reaction was unanimous: OMFG.

 

I had placed Bullet at #2 on my woodie list with a note that said "on good days". When it ran in the 68-second range, it was a good ride. Anything over 70 seconds and it was pretty lame. On those days, it barely cracks my top 20 woodie list.

 

Tonight, though, with every ride pulling 62s or faster, it was some of the most intense coastering I've done in ages. The drop and zig-zag opening are still insane, but they're SMOOTH. The whole rest of the ride is affected by this, since there's no shimmy, shuffle, or slamming to slow down the train. The double-up into the second big hill gave me airtime.... in the back seat. No, really. The second big drop (that it used to crawl over) is barely slowing down now and the whole back half of the train gets ejector air. The bunny hop between that drop and the lower bay turn is floater-city. The hop over the queue line next to Saltgrass has some wicked lateral action with air, "the pop" is back in a big way (love the sound of upstops slamming the rails like a machine gun!), and even the drop into the under-the-station turn is giving most of the train some nice floater air.

 

If there is any roughness to complain about, it's between the station fly-under and the brake run. That section has NEVER been fast, and so the track has broken in differently than what the train is hitting now. Once that section gets worn a bit, it should smooth out a little, but I can imagine that the next trackwork is likely to be near the end of the ride.

 

Speaking of the end of the ride... remember how it used to struggle to get to the brake run, then take nearly two minutes to haul its ass through the magnets? No longer. Now the front car gets airtime coming into the brakes, the magnets barely affect the train (it is still doing around 20mph after going through the magnets), and the train screams into the station for a rather abrupt stop.

 

Word has it that another mag-brake is arriving tonight and will be installed tomorrow. That might slow it down enough for two-train operation, which they will need for the holiday weekend. As it is now, the brakes they have won't stop the train before the station brakes!

 

Bottom line: if you haven't ridden the Bullet since it opened today, you haven't ridden the Bullet. The old Bullet is no more. Long live the new Bullet!

 

(fingers crossed that it actually will run for awhile like this without needing more trackwork)

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To put things in perspective, when TPR visited the Bullet it was running 76-78 seconds. It is now running 61 seconds for the same distance. Its a different coaster for sure. I rode with another local for the first time and he said he was braced for the first drop shuffle, and it just didn't happen. There is new ejector air all over the ride in all seats and the middle seats are now worth riding (but still not as good as front or back three rows).

 

I rode with four coaster enthusiasts from the Wisconson area who are down to visit the Texas parks, all four said that this is easily in their top five woodies. I haven't heard anyone state that in a long time. Those who had rain rides should be happy with the way Bullet is performing. Aside from the first drop, the ride is still rough in places (especially the end), but its much more rewarding.

 

-GG

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For those of you who rode the Bullet before the recent repairs you will be able to see the significant speed increase as the Bullet returns to the station. Its going so fast people still have their hands up, leaning from the force of the curve right before the station, and enjoying the ride! They are actually working to slow down this return as it is way to fast, before it would nearly stop on the magnetic brakes.

 

http://vimeo.com/1072254

 

Also, a tip for anyone traveling to ride the Bullet. If you arrive on a busy day be sure to take advantage of the free parking located under the Kemah Bridge. A boat will shuttle you over to the Boardwalk from there and since Kemah now charges for parking in the garage and all but one small lot it is the best place to find easy parking - its never that full.

 

-GG

 

BTW, Lorddoonga or Mods, change subtitle to Bullet New and Improved Now Open or something.

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I rode this past Friday right after work. I just had to check it out. I tell you... it was the first time after riding the back seat that I walked out of the que station TREMBLING. Before it was so slow you could re-group yourself by the end of the ride. Now you can't. I rode the famous 61 sec ride. Awesome first drop and whole lot of ejector. Hard right bank turn soooooo smooth. The bay turn a blur and slam/cruise into the Water tower hill and makes the 2nd big drop totally different. WHOO-HOO! I love racing into the station at the end. When it stops the whole station SWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYS ! Now I understand what The Bullet logo is all about .. LOL

 

Oh... no neck pain no nothin'... ENJOY

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I rode the famous 61 sec ride.

 

One of the ride ops told me that one ride on Saturday came in at 60 seconds. It was running 64s on Sunday when I was there, but that was with a completely dry track.

 

I remember the old days when a dry track would cause it to run at 75-78!

 

I'm trying to coincide my 1000th ride with the one-year birthday on Aug 31. Only 418 more rides to go!

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OK, I know that I've gone on and on ad nauseum about those infamous "rain rides" on opening day when the lift-to-brake time was in the 64 second range...

 

After work today, it was running in the 62s with an occasional tap into the 61s. It's not the same ride it used to be. Not even close.

 

Toward the end of the night, some of the ride ops got a chance to ride for the first time since it was fixed. Reaction was unanimous: OMFG.

 

I had placed Bullet at #2 on my woodie list with a note that said "on good days". When it ran in the 68-second range, it was a good ride. Anything over 70 seconds and it was pretty lame. On those days, it barely cracks my top 20 woodie list.

 

Tonight, though, with every ride pulling 62s or faster, it was some of the most intense coastering I've done in ages. The drop and zig-zag opening are still insane, but they're SMOOTH. The whole rest of the ride is affected by this, since there's no shimmy, shuffle, or slamming to slow down the train. The double-up into the second big hill gave me airtime.... in the back seat. No, really. The second big drop (that it used to crawl over) is barely slowing down now and the whole back half of the train gets ejector air. The bunny hop between that drop and the lower bay turn is floater-city. The hop over the queue line next to Saltgrass has some wicked lateral action with air, "the pop" is back in a big way (love the sound of upstops slamming the rails like a machine gun!), and even the drop into the under-the-station turn is giving most of the train some nice floater air.

 

If there is any roughness to complain about, it's between the station fly-under and the brake run. That section has NEVER been fast, and so the track has broken in differently than what the train is hitting now. Once that section gets worn a bit, it should smooth out a little, but I can imagine that the next trackwork is likely to be near the end of the ride.

 

Speaking of the end of the ride... remember how it used to struggle to get to the brake run, then take nearly two minutes to haul its a$$ through the magnets? No longer. Now the front car gets airtime coming into the brakes, the magnets barely affect the train (it is still doing around 20mph after going through the magnets), and the train screams into the station for a rather abrupt stop.

 

Word has it that another mag-brake is arriving tonight and will be installed tomorrow. That might slow it down enough for two-train operation, which they will need for the holiday weekend. As it is now, the brakes they have won't stop the train before the station brakes!

 

Bottom line: if you haven't ridden the Bullet since it opened today, you haven't ridden the Bullet. The old Bullet is no more. Long live the new Bullet!

 

(fingers crossed that it actually will run for awhile like this without needing more trackwork)

 

This makes me want to hop on a flight down there this weekend. I wonder how it compares to RFII, which turned out to be excellent.

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This makes me want to hop on a flight down there this weekend. I wonder how it compares to RFII, which turned out to be excellent.

 

 

That's like trying to compare Batman to Scream. Built by the same folks, sure, but that's pretty much where the similarity ends.

 

RFII is spread out with lots of hills and airtime.

BB is a tightly wound tempest of direction changes, quick pops of air, and non-stop intensity.... well, at least it is NOW!

 

Anyway, the focus of the two rides couldn't be more different. BB, because of the insanely small plot of land, is not like any other coaster layout.

 

I'm looking forward to riding RFII and Hades. Right now, Voyage and Bullet are my #1 and #2 woodies!

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Arrive at noon and beat the crowds. If you can go an a weekday, even better. From noon till mid-afternoon, you should be able to get lots of rides. The queue backs up around 5pm and lasts till closing.

 

As for best seats, the front is smooth and fun, the back is a bit rougher with killer ejector air. First drop in the back seat is unreal, but the front is wicked in the zig-zag. I'm not crazy about any of the middle seats, but rows 10&11 are good. Rows 2-4 are rough.

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This makes me want to hop on a flight down there this weekend. I wonder how it compares to RFII, which turned out to be excellent.

 

 

That's like trying to compare Batman to Scream. Built by the same folks, sure, but that's pretty much where the similarity ends.

 

RFII is spread out with lots of hills and airtime.

BB is a tightly wound tempest of direction changes, quick pops of air, and non-stop intensity.... well, at least it is NOW!

 

Anyway, the focus of the two rides couldn't be more different. BB, because of the insanely small plot of land, is not like any other coaster layout.

 

I'm looking forward to riding RFII and Hades. Right now, Voyage and Bullet are my #1 and #2 woodies!

 

That's a bit extreme, don't you think? Under that thought process, how did you determine that you like Bullet more than Voyage if they are so different? How do you rank rides period?

 

There is plenty of room for comparison. Is it not possible to just judge which is better? Or which ride is rougher or has more airtime or more intense turns?

 

I guess I don't really understand why you retaliated to his post.

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That's a bit extreme, don't you think? Under that thought process, how did you determine that you like Bullet more than Voyage if they are so different? How do you rank rides period?

 

He has stated that he likes The Voyage because it combines elements of many types of coasters. Floater airtime hills (The Bullet has none), tight turns, ejector air, intensity, etc.

 

There is plenty of room for comparison. Is it not possible to just judge which is better? Or which ride is rougher or has more airtime or more intense turns?

 

Thats is exactly what he did, he compared the two by saying they are totally different types of coasters. A person who rode and loved RFII shouldn't fly down to ride the BB thinking it will be a similar ride; he gave arguments as to why.It is only possible to judge which is better for yourself as everyone likes different aspects of coasters.

 

I guess I don't really understand why you retaliated to his post.

 

I think to say he retaliated (ie., to return like for like; especially to get revenge) is a bit extreme. He simply responded with valid statements.

 

-GG

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Thats is exactly what he did, he compared the two by saying they are totally different types of coasters. A person who rode and loved RFII shouldn't fly down to ride the BB thinking it will be a similar ride; he gave arguments as to why.It is only possible to judge which is better for yourself as everyone likes different aspects of coasters.

 

Yeah, I'm quite aware of the differences between BB and RFII. It's just that I couldn't get excited about flying down to ride a rougher ride. The lay out always looked cool to me, but bashing into the sides is not fun and a waste of precious kinetic energy. So, it's good to hear that it's now flying through its course. RFII keeps a great pace for its entire circuit. It's far from the fastest coaster out there, but it *feels* fast because there is no dead track.

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That's a bit extreme, don't you think? Under that thought process, how did you determine that you like Bullet more than Voyage if they are so different? How do you rank rides period?

 

There is plenty of room for comparison. Is it not possible to just judge which is better? Or which ride is rougher or has more airtime or more intense turns?

 

I guess I don't really understand why you retaliated to his post.

 

Guru beat me to it, but I will agree with him and state that my post was not a retaliation in any way.

 

He asked how BB would compare to RFII and I gave reasons why I don't think a comparison of two very different rides should be a basis for hopping a plane down to ride the Bullet.

 

"Is it possible to just judge which is better?"

 

No, it's not. Unlike many other TPR posters, I refrain from telling someone else which ride they should like better, especially when I've not ridden one of them. Everyone likes different things, so my criteria for "better" might not equal his.... and that's OK.

 

How do I rate rides? I think about two coasters sitting next to each other and ask myself this question: "If you only had time to ride ONE of the two coasters right now, which one would you ride?" Whatever coaster is the answer is the one that gets ranked higher. Simple as that. I don't break it down into "more airtime, smoother, better laterals" and all that. I just think, "of the two, which one would I ride?" and let it go at that.

 

Between Voyage and Bullet, it would be Voyage. No question. Between Voyage and any other coaster I've ridden, same answer. Bullet would come in at #4 if I combine my wood and steel list... behind Voyage, ExpeditionGeForce, and SROS at SFNE.

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  • 5 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Bullet is open every day. It was open today, was running well with near empty trains.

 

Deadline for RSVP for the Birthday Bash on August 31st is Friday. Email me at miscacct4me@yahoo.com to RSVP.

 

For those who have not ridden the Bullet in while this may be your last change to ride for the time being. I have heard rumblings that it will be closing shortly after this event for a quite some time for more work.

 

-GG

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  • 2 weeks later...

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