Originally posted by CedarPointFreak
Robb has hit over 500 FYI. Congrats on 100, I hope it was a memorable experience. Too bad it was on an Arrow. [8D]
One of the best Arrows I have ever been on actually.
On to the report!
It was spontaneous as I first wanted to go to Kennywood but realized they didnt open up till 7pm. Ridiculous to drive almost 4 hours only to be at the park for 5 then drive 4 more back home. Stupid!
So, I figured eh, what the heck, I havent been to PKI and Im an hour closer than normal since I was at my girlfriends place.
Upon arriving the rain stopped but it was dreary all day, as the entire weekend was. Our first coaster came in the form of the Italian Job.
Its a good, fun ride and I can see how they aimed it at the family. height restriction was low and the thrill was medium to high. I enjoyed the launch and 270 helix as well as the dive from the helicopter scene and into the long tunnel run.
Next up we headed over to Vortex. I knew it was bad, but it wasnt "as" bad as I thought. There was some air in spots I didnt expect and definatly just as much lateral motion as I figured, though nothing too bad to sit through again.
After Vortex we headed over to Flight of Fear. It was far rougher than I thought it would be but it still was very, very intense. The fact that we HAULED through the end of the course and we STILL were braked pretty heavily is astonishing. Had we not been braked like the other 2 outside versions that second half would have been nothing but a blur. We rode in the back seat and it was simply crazy. Rough, but crazy. All around good solid ride.
We headed out and over to Racer where we picked the backwards track, Im always a sucker for these. However, upon getting to the station the trains got out of sync and the ride ops obviously cared more about their RPH goals than the riders fun because they didnt even take the time to get them sync'd up again. Sucks, so our ride was very uneventful as we raced ourselves. Boring. But the ride has a ton of good airtime and while its not intense, the airtime comes at you in nice plentiful floater. Plus going backwards helps.
From here we went and ate. I was sitting at 97 coasters and I was developing a mean headache (later to completely consume me). So we ate at Festhaus where I had some of the worst mozarella sticks Ive ever put in my mouth but some rather good cake and hamburger. The burger was actually quite good in fact for cafeteria amusement park food.
We then continued our journey to complete 100 and we walked back to the Beast. Ive heard all of the stories...how great it was. How not so great it is now. I have to agree, its really fast, really smooth but thats it. Theres no real good airtime to speak up though there are very good lateral moments. The ride just kept on going. I was pretty tired at this point in the day so both lift hills nearly put me to sleep. If one part does stand out it IS the double helix which kicks your butt. It is alot like Legends but taken much faster, just with more banking. Legends pounds you with lateral G's though isnt as fast. I think I like going faster with slightly less G's more. Its a good ride, but as I saw in the videos, once had glory written all over it. Taking away the buzz bars and adding like 3 medium-hard trims will take away its glory. Not to mention making the chain slow down to a crawl at the tops is painful too.
I then got to ride the ride I think I came with the most anticipation for : DROP ZONE.
THESE THINGS RULE! Sure, I had a raging sinus infection by this time and sure, I wanted to fall asleep. But DANG! I wasnt in the least bit worried about the height or the crawl to the top and even though I was nervous with anticipation that thing was awesome. I dont think Ive felt quite an adrenaline rush like that ride gives. It exceeded my expecations and further more makes me say "POWER TOWER SUCKS!". Which I actually screamed on the way down it rocked so much.
Ok, so next after sitting down and realizing this headache wasnt going away we went over to Face/Off. upon looking at it something just didnt seem right about the shaping. It "looked" heartlined. Its a Vekoma, I was pretty sure they didnt start doing that till like, oh, their Booster Bikes but I actually think these things are along with the Giant Inverted Boomerangs. Because it is! I felt very little lateral forces through the cobra roll and I have to say, the ride is GREAT! I loved the face off concept since I sat across from my girlfriend and the entire ride is actually crafted quite well.
From there we headed over for ride #100. Top Gun's queue takes forever to get through, even if it is just one lane. It still takes forever. I got to see the train ROCKET past us and at least get to 90 degree's on the banking, maybe more because the track was nearly at 80 and the trains swing about 70 degrees.
The lift hill was slow and typical to Arrow Suspendeds, it nearly stops half way then gets going again. The drop is great but this ride makes its mark because it HAULS throughout all the turns. It was non-stop swinging once you hit the Hammerhead turn around right over the lift hill. From there it absolutely rips through its course and being in the back seat felt like I was just being throw from side to side with some heavy forces. This is what an Arrow Suspended SHOULD be. Not Draggin Iron. It was a GREAT, great 100th ride.
So all in all the trip was ok. The weather sucked and so did my sinus at the end. What did perk it up was we got to sit in the parking lot for an hour and listen to Relient K play in the theatre. I didnt feel like spending another 20bucks per person to go watch it plus I needed to lay down. My head by this point, along with my body was in serious pain. Luckily Rachel got us home ok and in one peice.
PKI is good but not as good as I thought. If I went back I would go back for Face Off, Racer, FoF, Top Gun and Drop Zone. I really, really hope one of those goes into CP (doubtful) or GL (possible). Those things are just awesome.