Kemah Boardwalk Bullet - New Gravity Group Woodie

What does? You? [lol]

The coaster, you hear that screaming?

I got a nice little present in the mail today!

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a53/Ja ... G_1520.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a53/Ja ... G_1522.jpg

The shirts are really sweet!

Thanks alot Jason aka Coasterphotos =)

Cool. How much was the shirt?

The shirt, tax, and shipping came out to $21.13.

Not bad at all. I might have to get you to get me one. [:P]

Wearing mine right now!

SATURDAY, 8/25/07: blue tarp over the troubled trackage is up, and workers are still hammering. Doesn't look like there will be any tests today.

For those still wondering, here's a pic with the problem track highlighted:


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Why are they fixing it?

Too high lats or something...

I hope this'll open up by the end of Kemah's season...I was looking forward to POVs.

Kemah doesn't have a season. It's a year-round park.

Bullet ran today with actual human riders!

Workers, Kemah management, etc... all riders report that it is "awesome" and that the back seat in particular offers "plaster you to the lap bar airtime" on the first drop.

Freakin' SWEEEEET. They are hoping for an opening to the public sometime this weekend... this, of course, depends on the weather as well as getting all the appropriate inspections and permits to operate.

I wouldn't travel a great distance to ride this weekend, just in case there are delays, but the weekend after that seems like a sure thing.

Oh, and folks who watched the tests today say that it is hauling azz.

The official page is up: http://boardwalkbullet.com

Can't wait to see a pov of it.

[img.nr]http://boardwalkbullet.com/images/photos/lrg/11.jpg[/img.nr]

Best BB photo yet.

This is semi-official at this point. This means that the news came from an official source, but there has been no actual official announcement to the public as of yet. So, with that in mind:

(ahem)

Boardwalk Bullet will open TODAY, Friday, August 31, 2007!

I plan to get done at work as soon as I can and head down there for an entire weekend of riding. Hoping for at least 100 rides before I have to go back to wok on Tuesday.

The Bullet opened this evening, and in spite of a lightning storm, I got in 10 rides.

Firstly, the structure is really tight, and the queue line going right next to the first drop is cool. There's a wall so you don't see the train, but when it goes by, the entire area shakes like an earthquake. Way cool.

The following bit was also posted to Theme Park Review, but was too long to re-type. Please excuse the cut/paste here.


Loading and unloading went really fast, but the train was often only half full. Interestingly, the initial part of the lift is very slow. Usuallly, about 2/3 up the lift, you'll stop and wait for the other train to get into the station. Then the lift kicks it into high gear and pushes you over the top pretty quickly. When you stop on the brake run, the lead-in track to the station isn't angled very steeply, and it takes FOREVER for the train to get back to the station.

REVIEW: First ride, seat 1L. Lift was fast, the turn at the top was more swoopy than I expected and pretty fast. Laterals, even! The drop is nice, with a little hangtime just over the edge in the front car. The zig-zag track at the bottom is nuts. The upper bay turn is nuts. It's all just a blur until the big hill with the anti-rollbacks. Here you catch your breath and enjoy the view. The drop off this hill is really nice with a sweet little banked bunnyhop at the bottom, into the near-90 banked lower bay turn. This might be the smoothest part of the ride. Up and over the Saltgrass hill, down into the structure, then over a little bunnyhop. At the top of this hill, there is a pop. I don't know what causes it, but NOBODY sees it coming. The entire train is launched into the lapbar fairly violently for no apparent reason. Airtime where there shouldn't be any. Sweet! A seriously banked left turn leads to another big hill that drops down under the station and they take your picture. Neat strobe light effect under there. Coming around the back side and into the final stretch, it loses a little steam, especially on the final turn before the station. All in all, a good ride. Not a white-knuckle ride, but great fun for the whole family. Once you get past the first drop and zig-zag track and upper bay turn, you're done with the "hard stuff".

Review: 2nd ride, seat 11R. Anxious to see if that little flat section at the top of the first drop provides the ejector I predicted in my video. Verdict: HELL YEAH! Nice, NICE, NIIIIIIIICE bit of ejector air, with the train twisting another direction before you come down. The zig-zag in the back is even more nuts than in the front, and substantially rougher (but still not as rough as Giant or Rattler). The big drops are better back here, and the sensation of speed is enhanced. When you're inside the structure, you get lost and can't predict the layout. Turns seem faster.

Review: 4th ride, seat 5R. HOLY CRAP. What's up with seat 5 on the right side????? The zig-zag is not nuts, it's INSANE. The upper bay turn has airtime where none of the other seats did. The lead-in to the big turn had airtime, the bunnyhop after the big turn had air, WTF??? Maybe it's just me. Gotta get Guru on this one.

Review: rides 6-10, in the rain. OH.MY.GOD. They should've named this coaster Jeckyll and Hyde. All that crap I said about "good for the whole family"? Fuggedabowdit! This thing HAULS FREAKIN AZZ when it's wet. Yeah, yeah, ALL wood coasters are faster when they're wet, but not like this. Not EVER like this. I am not kidding when I tell you that the Bullet was toying the the bottom of my top 10 list (my ride list is now at 480), but after the "rain rides" it is sitting SOLIDLY at #4. If breaks in good and runs this fast all the time, this ride will be the surprise addition to many, many top 10 lists. At least one person (with a pretty decent track record himself) has claimed it as his #1 coaster after the wet rides.

My whole life is going to change after tonight. I'll be watching the weather forecasts, praying for rain, and then drive to Kemah during the storm so that I can be on the first trains out after the rain lets up. Yeah, it's THAT much better.

Oh, that #4 ranking is the average sentiment of dry/wet rides. If I only ride it when wet, it would be #2, with only the Voyage beating it out. As it is, Voyage, MegaZeph, and Shivering Timbers are ahead of it... but such notable rides as Coney Cyclone, TxGiant, Raven, Phoenix, and Boulder Dash are below it now.

[jayman]

you deserve congratulations ! you've been real active about documenting this ride, and then you got to ride it a shizload of times. the bitchen part was when you pointed out that it exceeded your expectations.. i should get out there..

re: a shizload of times...

I'm going back every day this weekend for more rides and to take tons of pics and video. I expect to get in 100 rides before the weekend is over.

[jayman]

i think that even now you are our authority on this one !
after 100 rides it'll be undisputable. i got to ride ghost rider after a rain a couple of times.. it was a SERIOUSLY diferent ride from normal days.

Top notch review Mini. I need to get out and ride more wooden coasters.

Im suprised that people "doubted" the design. Just taking what they did on the Voyage and compacting it into a space that small has no other option than to be amazing.

Glad to hear its exceeding those expectations. Now, how to find an excuse to Texas...

For those familiar with Texas coasters, here is a pretty fair analogy:

A dry Bullet is kinda like the section of the Texas Giant between the midcourse and the flying carpet, only MUCH smoother.

A wet Bullet is kinda like the flying carper section of the Giant, wound up tight, wadded into a tiny ball, and stoked with steroids, only MUCH smoother.


Hope that helps.

[Kev]

awww. I kinda like the rough magic carpet section of TG. Nothing like being thrown all around and cracking skulls with your riding partner.