8/27/08 Dorney Laser Goodbye Fest Voodoo

[CHILLERLC1]

Finally I made it back. I came back to Dorney last Wednesday after not having Laser and Voodoo earlier in the year in June. I had to say goodbye to Laser. It's such a great classic ride, on wooden blocks as well too. Since it was sold I had to get at least two parting cycles on this ride. A looping coaster with just lapbars and seatbeats - Come On! There's no way to ignore that ride.

 

Laser and I go back quite a way, to the days before I was an enthusiast. I saw the coaster in its white and red paint job before. I only rode it when it was its current yellow and purple. On the wooden blocks the portable coaster stood quite a few feet off the ground. It hid some of the view of the coaster, so I was not able to see the true length of the ride when I was younger. I think the tight helixes and the loud music I remembered playing were part of the intimidation with the ride. When I finally became an enthusiast I loved the ride for its gray out loops and tight helix turns. It seems like the ride comes to an ending real quick.

 

That Wednesday I had at least 3 cycles on the Laser. My wait was at least 10-15 a cycle. I was taking pics furiously for I knew I would not be able to next year. As someone pointed out to me, a new piece of information to me was part of the wall of a former pool could be seen on the ride site. Right by the station surrounded by gravel I saw the wall to the old pool. Looking at postcards posted on NewsPlusNotes recently I could see a pool covered the whole Laser pad site at one time. Darien Lake took a similiar approach fillling in a pool with gravel when they purchased and installed Motocoaster. I take my Laser please, thank you.

 

The ride delivered as usual. Light headed, gray out moments in the loops. Really quick transitions in the helixes after the loops. The ride was always pretty smooth. It's just when the train would reach the lowest part of the helix the track would transition from a downward slope into a banked turn. You would feel this slight jerk in banking on the train when you would do this. It's also the same reason I don't rank Dominator the floorless coaster as the best. It has that same kind of transition near the end of its ride.

 

Goodbye my buddy Laser. Thank God Cedar Fair didn't give us a replacement Vekoma Boomerang! That would be so antiseptic and it would be rough too. For once I'll give Hydra some sort of credit. At least it's not a Vekoma. The only traditional loop in the future in the park will be Talon's first loop. The loop void will be there now.

 

I also got the elusive Voodoo coaster that day. Elusive it is. I went to Geauga Lake last year in 2007. I saw it still standing in the horizontal sections in its red track and blue supports. With no towers of course it was not ready for me to ride. This weird coaster, I was not really accepting to call it a coaster when it debuted, stole half of the spotlight from Batman Knight Flight when both debuted, in my opinion. I eagerly followed BKF's construction and it seemed in a back corner that coaster suddenly popped up.

 

Finally after being denied in June with ride being closed the Sunday I finally got Voodoo. The back of the train I was clued I had to debut with. I sat in row 13, next to the last row. The first launch was just a teaser, not Kingda Ka or even CHILLER intense. The ride sounded like it had a turbine engine when it launched. Above the station track near the rear of the train you could hear a loud motor fan running. Flying/floating back up the rear tower was the best feeling of the ride. It seemed like I was on Deja Vu even. It was not close to being in a CHILLER inverted Top Hat in Reverse because we were inverted and the tower didn't twist. I came to understand the name Steel Venom when the holding brakes came on. In the next to the last seat the jolt had the duration of a spit of venom. The sound of the brake seemed like a spit. The two travels up the rear tower are great but the ending for the rear side of the train is lackluster, which is a partial climb for the front of train up the other tower before the train reverses into the station. The coaster motors operator like they sound like snakes.

 

I did at least one second row ride on Voodoo. The second row allowed me once again to cheat on the first row view without the first row wait. The transition up the front tower allowed my ear to touch the restraint. Nothing extreme but I didn't think that was cool. The feeling of running up to the edge of the track was cool, much cooler on Wicked Twister, but on the this ride the back of the train took the pie. The holding brake for the front of the train is more pronounced. There seem to be a longer duration of the brake then.

 

With the rear tower, the first US Intamin Impulse which became Voodoo is actually my favorite. SFDK's altered V2 and Wicked Twister are my other two credits.

 

I spend the rest of my stay at the park riding Steel Force, the Revolution flat ride, and Thunderhawk. It was a lower park party. It's my favorite end of the park and it's going to change yet again pretty soon. I had to take this charming side in. Surprisingly I did not get my mandatory Zephyr train ride. I will my next visit when I'll say I miss Laser.

 

4x Voodoo - 3 back, 1 front

3x Laser - Goodbye my friend. Thank you Grandfather Schwarzkopf

1- Steel Force

1- Revolution Flat ride

1- Thunderhawk

[PKI Jizzman]

I've got to agree with you on the back seat of impulse coasters. Wicked Twister is just pure awesomeness when you're spiraling up to the top, then pausing for a moment before diving back down into the sand. It doesn't look like much, but you're 215ft in the air, facing the ground!!

 

I tell ya what, those old Schwarzkopfs deliver one great ride. I'd love to ride another after Mindbender giving me just a taste of what they can do!

 

 

Very nice report.

-JZ

[maeryk]

Head for superdooperlooper.. not quite as forcey as Laser, but just bars.. I don't think that one even has belts in it.

 

Yet another classic Schwartzkopf.

[Rct3man777]

Laser will be missed. But that's a good thing about utah, here we have a GREAT doppel looper that's NOT going anytime soon!