Voyage and Kentucky Rumbler reviews

[N'at Man]

Rather than write up a true TR I'm going to review the Voyage, Kentucky Rumbler and a few things in between from Holiwood Nights and Rumblefest.

 

The Voyage at Holiday World

 

I took my first ride around 5 PM on Friday in the back seat and while it was great, something wasn't quite right. It turned out to be a dud ride, the only one I had the entire weekend. My second ride, 15 minutes later in the front, was so much better I was shocked. I pretty much declared the ride my new #1 at that point, dethroning Shivering Timbers after 8 years. But I knew this ride wasn't nearly warmed up yet.

 

During ERT I rode exclusively in the back seat with Mike Saunders except for our last rides of the night where we got a double ride in row 2. With every ride the coaster got better. It was amazing. But my first true night ride was beyond belief. By about the second hill light was scarce and by the turnaround you couldn't see anything. I said to some people, every successive ride taken on the Voyage will probably be the greatest roller coaster ride ever taken. I said it again later on Saturday night too.

 

On Saturday we felt like the Voyage was running as well at 3 PM as it was at 8 PM on Friday. It was scary to think how crazy this ride was going to get. Around 9:30 PM we had a ride in the back seat that was flat out stupid crazy sick. That put the ride into another universe. I think we had rides that were a tad bit better later but not all were quite this impressive. So for a good 2.5 hours in the dark the Voyage seemed to max out. That's quite a long time for a coaster to run at it's absolute best like that.

 

The crowds for the ERTs were odd the first night but more predictable the second. On Friday the line for Voyage was fairly short to begin with and it was near walk in the station for a while. I think it was the dinner rush as 15 minutes later the basement queue starting filling up incredibly fast as people wanted to get a few night rides in. Saturday was much more consistent with the crowds dropping after the first round of rides. The basement queue only filled up half way and by the end of the night it was on the stairs to start. I honestly didn't think having three trains on Saturday night would help much but it did. The event wasn't overcrowded as some had speculated and even if anyone happened to think that it was too crowded I'd still say it was a very small price to pay to get night rides like that on the Voyage. The Voyage goes from a clear cut #1 coaster at sunset to out of the stratosphere in the dark.

 

Shivering Timbers, Boulder Dash, Georgia Cyclone, Thunderhead and Tremors. I heard them all fall from enthusiasts #1 spots after riding the Voyage at night. The amazing thing is that people who have varied tastes in coaster styles had no problems at all ranking the Voyage as their clear cut #1 coaster. It blew people away that much. Plus the Voyage has so many parts and sections that resemble other coasters that you're bound to get what you are looking for on this ride aside from very old school ejector airtime. But the speed and mind numbing intensity of this ride easily makes you forget about airtime like that. Still the ride has plenty of pop and float everywhere.

 

Before I get into my detailed Voyage analysis, I will say that the Raven was running flawlessly. It's too bad I didn't have enough time to ride it more at night. Legend on the other hand was horribly slow. It didn't live up to it's own high standards.

 

Back to the Voyage, the ride starts off with a first drop which is probably better than Hades but not Shivering Timbers (close rivals of that type of hill). The second hill is great but again, not like the second or third hill of Shivering Timbers or especially Colossos in Germany (possibly soon to be El Toro as well). The third Voyage hill has a kink in it like the Villain. Again, it's not ST but all of the hills do have adequate floater airtime. The fourth and fifth hills, featuring tunnels and a slight dogleg on the fourth hill, remind me a bit of Tremors but they aren't nearly as outstanding. Still they are very, very solid with airtime. In general I think the out run is the area that could take the most criticism but it really is very good overall and uniquely the Voyage. It's just that in sections I think Timbers and Tremors are better in the out run department. Even Boulder Dash in a few instances as well. But my criticisms mostly die at this point.

 

Having a low turnaround area is pure genius. I never thought of such a thing. The block area, aka the "take a breath" point, actually serves as the high point usually found on turnarounds. To enter the turnaround you start an upward climb to the left, twist right and end up in a double down of sorts to a hard left turn. This may be the best moment of the ride. It's just that there are so many brilliant points of the ride it's hard to say. Either way it's shockingly good. This is followed by a few hops with directional changes before the first 90 degree turn. At night I think this is the one section where you can't predict what direction you will go even if you have the ride memorized. It gets you every time in the dark. From the first 90 degree turn you swoop into the second 90 degree turn. From there you hit a wild directional change and speed bump before a tunnel.

 

After the tunnel you get a very short but much needed breather on the block brake area before diving into the triple down tunnel. It's not the Hades tunnel but it's amazing in its own right. It has a directional change in there somewhere and it ends with a nice plummet down a decent sized drop. It's not the big drop near the end of Rampage but it's good, especially in a tunnel.

 

From here on I have zero criticism and I think the Voyage flat out owns any competing ride style for what it does next. It's the best of any breed in the return run of track. The intensity, action and speed are downright sick and demented.

 

I think there are about four hills next, most with directional changes. The train hauls like a runway truck down a windy mountain road. People used to talk about the magic carpet ending of the Texas Giant but I can tell you this section eats the magic carpet for a light snack. Next there are two crazy speed bumps which lead to the third 90 degree turn. This is the only 90 degree turn that totally works for me. It's like a boomerang or sling shot that just tosses the train even faster around the bend.

 

There is a thrilling, curving speed hill before you go up, twist and dive down into the queue house tunnel. At this point the ride kicks into overdrive. As soon as you thought it would start to slow down a little it takes off. The track goes up to a pop up and turn which at full speed is quite amazing. You careen under the walkway insanely fast into a final bump and curve up to the brakes. I can't even throw out a coaster name that even remotely reminds me of the finale section. It's very unique and it's as powerful as can be. You reach the brakes gasping for breath from the ride experience and the screaming you do while riding.

 

Kentucky Rumbler at Beech Bend Park

 

While the Kentucky Rumbler isn't a #1 coaster like the Voyage, it was hardly a let down during Rumblefest ERT. My first impression during the day was that this is a very fun ride overall and it didn't seem to have any weak spots. It wasn't extremely impressive anywhere but it had plenty of airtime pops in the front seat.

 

At night the ride had picked up some steam. I tried the back seat and it was good but I could tell the front was the place to be. The back is better off the first drop but that's about it. At night the speed and intensity increased nicely. The station flyby hill and a wild curve-hop sequence at the end of the ride impressed me the most.

 

For ERT we were treated to headlights on the train. It was a nice touch although I'm not sure how often this ride will run in the dark. I was afraid the 800 people in attendance would cause long waits but the waits for the one train operation were not bad at all. Some of the GCI folks were helping to check lap bars and that was fun for everyone.

 

Overall this ride is much closer to the ground than Ozark Wildcat. It is more like Oz Cat than Thunderhead but I saw a little of both in this ride. I think Rumbler is a more consistent ride overall than either Oz Cat or Thunderhead. But Oz Cat has a better ending and Thunderhead is just a tier above both. But the Rumbler is definitely a fun ride, one that was great for an ERT session. I think the park has an appealing and thrilling coaster to offer their guests. It has already seemed to help make this park more of well rounded park than it was a few years ago.

[Guest]

Beech Bend said there was only 480 that attended Rumblefest not 800.

 

My review, I honestly can't give one for Voyage. All I know is that it took my breath away and I wanted more and more rides as the weekend progressed.

 

Rumbler was great for a GCII. The only thing I wished was I would have had the chance to ride Rumbler before Voyage. It was flying through the tracks Sunday night.

 

If you want to hear all kinds of stuff from the GCII guys, check out the podcast from ITL this weekend. As soon as Clint puts it up that is!

[SharkTums]

^^Tim, I'm curious to see your top ten wood list. Care to post?

[DerekRx]

Tim, you're a total GEEK!

 

But I agree (I think, I didn't get to analytical with my thoughts on Voyage, but I kept going "yeah, that's true, that makes sense") with your review on Voyage, especially how the first ride was kinda a dud, but by the end of the night it really blew me away.

 

Too bad I didn't get to experience more of Rumbler, but there's always next year at the Con. I'll agree that its a fun ride and great for the park, but its just slightly below Thunderhead and OzCat.

 

So, since I read and agree with what you say, I guess I'm a geek too. Oh well, it could be worse, I guess.

[N'at Man]

Thanks for the correction on the Rumblefest attendance. It makes more sense based on the length of the line.

 

As for my top ten (15 actually), here it is but there are a few things I should probably tweak as far as moving up Raven and moving down GA Cyclone. GA Cyclone still does what I like but it has some nasty, rough track these days. My rankings are almost in a tier order, mostly when it gets to the more extreme airtime rides like Balder, PNE Coaster and GA Cyclone being grouped together. You won't see Thunderhead but its around 16 or 17. Legend just dropped out of my top 15. It's seems strange not to have Balder top 5 or Phoenix top 10 but there are many great coasters out there now.

 

1. Voyage

2. Shivering Timbers

3. Boulder Dash

4. Tremors

5. Hades

6. Balder

7. PNE Coaster

8. GA Cyclone

9. Rampage

10. Raven

11. Phoenix

12. Megafobia

13. Colossos

14. Timber Terror

15. Avalanche