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Expedition Geforce
Let me start off by stating that Expedition Geforce has reclaimed the spot of my number 1 steelie from Nemesis, which took it from EGF last year. Either due to fainting memory or actual daily shape, EGF was even better than I remembered it from my last visit in 2004.
To really tackle this topic??????s question adequately would require me to have ridden Skyrush, New Texas Giant, and their likes, which I haven??????t ?????? all of my references are European. Still, I am pretty confident that EGF would remain among my very faves even if I did ride these more modern US beasts, if not still top 1. Here??????s why.
First and foremost, the layout and pacing. Although the train has used most of its momentum when it reaches the final brakes, there is never a dull moment. The succession of positive and negative g??????s is perfect in my opinion. The positives appear equally strong in both the valleys and the tightest sections of the graceful turns. Most of the negatives are provided by old-school straight camelbacks and bunny hills, which I really like, but then there??????s also two unique elements: the first drop and the airtime transition.
The latter is not really unique anymore, but I imagine it is unique in being not as extreme as the newer breed (Skyrush, I305). It actually feels quite similar to Blue Fire??????s final heartline roll: you can raise your arms and be lifted and thrown around seemingly out of control, but without any painful intensity. E.g. Speed Monster??????s similar transition with OTSRs was really painful and not enjoyable for me.
The first drop is the reason why I always want to ride EGF also in the middle car (one ride in the front, one in the middle, and the rest in the back). There, its uniqueness really shines as a perfect floating sensation into a buttery smooth turn. But in the back, it??????s a different story. You get intense ejector combined with surprisingly quick lateral movement as you are pulled down.
Which leads me to my second point: IF you don??????t get your lap bar pushed down by the supervisor (while we were there, only 1 out of 3 supervisors pushed it down hard, the others just checked it by a slight pull), you can gain some precious inches of air between your legs and the lap bar. From what I??????ve read, this isn??????t possible on the newest Intamins? But it makes one hell of a difference. On the one back seat ride I did with a pushed down lap bar, I didn??????t really feel the airtime on the first drop, less notably than the lateral twist at least. Opposed to that, I was out of my seat for the whole duration of the drop when I had some free space, which made not only the airtime but also the twist feel so much more splendid.
The g-forces on EGF may be less extreme than on newer Intamin??????s, and I??????ll confess stronger g??????s might make it a more insane experience, but they would also decrease re-rideability. And the g??????s are certainly strong enough to make every part of the ride live up to what you expect from it, opposed to e.g. Blue Fire where most g??????s are just a bit too family friendly.
Last but not least, the setting. Expedition Geforce is the perfect name for the pure experience it delivers. Minimal ??????expedition camp?????? theming, but all surrounded by a beautiful mixed forest and crossing above a small lake and the river rapids. The track color was a bit bleached out compared to 2004, but it was a perfect match for the sunlit autumn leaves of the surrounding forest. The view of the whole layout amidst this myriad of warm colors from the top of the lift hill was truly a sight to behold.
Considering the shape of the ride, I??????ve read a review complaining about the final bunny hills?????? lack of airtime. Well that certainly wasn??????t the case yesterday, as the first bunny hill delivered some of the strongest ejector of the whole ride, and the others also produced a fine share. Also, the ride seemed to get faster as the day progressed, and was just pure bliss in the night. While it was still perfectly smooth, it has obtained a slight and steady trembling and rumbling compared to what I remember from 2004. This was more audible (as a nice roar) than actually remarkable on the ride, but it did really add to the experience in my opinion.
Holiday Park
The rest of the park also hasn??????t changed much. One really nice attraction they added is an 80m tall star flyer, which provided us with some more spectacular autumn and night views. They also added a standard wild mouse which is about as crappy as they get, a refurbished entrance and probably some family stuff.
Apart from some minimal, but nice Halloween decorations, there were some Halloween live actors in the queue for ??????Burg Falkenstein??????: some bloodstained dudes with different motivation levels, and one really good creepy clown that added a lot to the experience.
Superwirbel was nice for a night ride and some funny jolts. The river rapids was also neat at night because only very few people were doing it anymore. The old free fall tower was nice, with a somewhat more gradual detaching than other free fall towers, resulting in a stronger sensation of the actual fall. Oh, and there was lots of ladybugs in the park. One of them enjoyed the free fall sitting on my jeans. [:D]
As a final remark, when we got onto the EGF station for the first time, Highway to Hell was playing (for the only time during that day). This was a nice coincidence as I used this song for my offride video I uploaded here back in 2004. But I guess the download link isn??????t working anymore?
Now I??????ll leave you with a couple of pics, interested in reading some of your opinions on EGF!
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nice find!
