TR: Coaster Alley Convergence 2002
BaSSiStiSt
Parks visited: Silverwood (9/7/02), Vancouver Playland (9/8/02), Fun
Forest (9/9/02) and the Puyallup Fair (9/9/02)
Weather: Absolutely gorgeous, except for rainy Vancouver.
Crowds: Very low, almost J-Lo.
After the great reports that came in from CAC 2001, I knew that I had
to make room in my schedule for the event this year. Silverwood had
risen pretty much to the top of my "must visit" chart after knocking
out Indiana Beach and Michigan's Adventure earlier this year. The
urgency that arose earlier this spring about the impending demise of
Vancouver's "Coaster" made that an easy decision to add in, and then
master-planner Mamoosh also hipped me to the possibility of adding the
Puyallup Fair and it's ultra-rare credit, the "Coaster Thrill Ride".
When the CAC date was under discussion, Moosh and I both weighed in
with the opinion that scheduling the event for Sept. 7th would allow
woodie junkies the opportunity to bag all of them, providing they were
up to the ardous task of getting from Silverwood on Saturday to
Vancouver on Sunday. This was the true logistical hurdle; driving was
considered, but the expected drive time (8 hours optimistically, 10
hours being much more probable given the border crossing) was just too
mindblowing for me. Luckily, Alaskan Air offered some good deals for a
three-legged flight (L.A.-Spokane-Seattle-L.A.) and I was able to skip
the drive.
Sept. 7th eventually proved to be the winning date, and plans were
made for those who could attend. I would be meeting George "Legal
Counsel" Booras, Jim "Fireboy" McIntyre and Dave "Flare" Frasier as
they flew in to Spokane, and Mike Overell would be joining us after
driving from L.A. (yes, he IS a loonie). Unfortunately, a number of
people dropped out of the event due to personal or work related
issues, including Moosh. We were bummed to go on without them, but if
SOMEONE had to throw themselves on those four hours of ERT to take one
for the team...it might as well be us.
Friday, September 6th - Come Together, Part 1
I left L.A. at sunup on Friday the sixth. The flight up was very nice,
as I had a whole row to myself on the plane, and was able to go from
side to side as we passed over some notable landmarks, including Mt.
Shasta, Crater Lake, Mt. St. Helens, and finally Mt. Rainier and the
incredible topography surrounding Seattle. A short one hour layover
and 30-minute flight later, I found myself in the wide open prairies
of Spokane.
Jim McIntyre (AKA "Fireboy", or now "FootageBoy", after this trip)
arrived four minutes later, with his 18 bags of camera gear (LOL!). We
grabbed our awesome rental (a Hyundai SUV that was a lot of fun to
drive) and drove into Spokane, as we were hungry and still had 3 hours
to kill before George and Flare arrived. Spokane was kind of funky and
a little run-down at the core. After grabbing some good sammies from
Subway, we drove around for a bit, looking for the Spokane River but
instead finding where all the rich people lived.
After a leisurely scenic drive, we returned to the airport about 30
minutes ahead of their flight from Seattle. Soon we were reunited and
off to Post Falls, Id., as Dave and George regaled us with the
harrowing story of the poor guy on their flight who blew chunks all
over everything on the descent into Spokane...at least it was a short
flight!
Mike Overell checked in via cell phone as we crossed the Wa.-Id.
border, he was about 10 miles behind us. The area was becoming more
hilly and more tree-covered, always a good thing. We soon located our
offramp and pulled up to the Westcoast Templins Resort in Post Falls.
Located right on the banks of the Spokane River, the hotel offered a
spectacular view of the river and the nice vacation homes across the
way. $30 bucks a night? Again, thank god for Priceline!!
After winding down a bit with some unique local and not so local brews
(Flare's Mike's Hard Cranberry Whatchamacalit was damn good, while the
less said about George's Huckleberry Brew the better), we went to the
lounge for some appetizers and some raucous games of pool. Fireboy
proved to be the most skillful, despite my brutal application of the
"Zen Choke" in his direction. After having another round out on the
deck overlooking the river, we decided to head into Coeur d'Alane for
dinner.
We stopped at the water's edge and took in the beautiful (and rather
large) lake. The shore visible to us was just the tip of the iceberg,
as the lake wrapped out of sight southwards for another 40 or so
miles. The sun was just beginning to go down and the sky was alight
with fire. We walked out onto a dock that featured pontoon boat
rentals, boat rides, and, down at the end, 2 seaplanes. The photo
junkies on the tour (pretty much everyone but me) were soon swooning
over the 40 miles for $40 price, and the decision was made to return
in the AM for a flight, as the light was fading fast on this day.
We took the short drive from the shore to the city center and then
parked, wandering around the downtown area in search of a restaurant.
The city was fairly dead, as tourism season pretty much ends after
Labor Day weekend. After speaking to a few locals, the consensus
recommendation was for the Coeur d'Alene Brew Pub and Restaurant,
which promised to fulfill our hankering for good local microbrews AND
good grub. The restaurant was fantastic, with some great food and an
amazing lager. Full, and quite squiffed (Fireboy was the D.D.) we
settled back in at the hotel, with a multimedia presentation on
Fireboy's laptop of Mike Overell's pictures from the drive up from
California.
Saturday, September 7th - Gobs and Gobs of ERT
The morning of CAC allowed us a chance to sleep in a bit. Mike O. and
Flare went to run some errands while George, Jim and I sat down to
breakfast at Mallard's, the restaurant inside the hotel. The food was
absolutely scrumptious, one of the best breakfasts I have ever had.
The view overlooking the River made it even better. I instructed
George on how to eat next to Jim...it's pretty easy to remember: once
the food arrives, never, ever let your hands go further than your
salad fork towards him. Any stray objects in his airspace may and
probably will be eaten. Jim polished off two breakfasts and was
opening the menu again when we dragged him away from the table. Burp!
The day was a bit cloudy but the sun was breaking through as we
arrived down at the seaplane dock. I had decided $40 was a bit much
for a plane ride, so I waited as the others boarded the DeHavilland
Super Beaver and were soon bouncing, hopping, and then flying down the
lake. After a good half-hour spent basking in the sun and nice breeze,
the sound of an engine far off preceded the sight of the tiny speck of
plane returning. After they circled Coeur d'Alane a few times, they
settled down gently and de-planned, all pretty psyched over the
beautiful scenery they had just witnessed and documented. The day off
to a suitable start, we headed to Silverwood.
Silverwood pretty much jumps out at you as you head up Highway 95. The
park's skyline presents a pretty neat optical illusion at first...it
looks like the first drop of Tremors rises up into the lift and first
drop of Timber Terror. I knew nothing of the layout of Tremors, other
than the fact that the first drop went into a tunnel and came out
inside the gift shop. I purposefully avoid learning too much about a
coaster before I ride it. There's nothing better than rounding a
corner or topping a hill and seeing an awesome drop or unexpected
tunnel...something CCI knew how to do exceedingly well!
We parked the SUV and walked under the highway to the main gate. Kevin
Coley (our awesome event organizer, give him a hand!) had dropped off
envelopes for all of us with ERT wristbands and coupons for $7 off the
already low admission price. Thank you Silverwood! We paid and
entered. The layout of the park is rather odd, with a row of shops off
to the right, the park's airstrip in front of you, and the pathway to
the majority of the rides off to the left. The park's train crosses
the path here...this is a beautiful engine, one that the park's owner
outbid Disney to acquire. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a ride on
the train...it's a shame, as this is widely acknowledged as one of the
highlights of the park.
We wound over to the rides area and eventually came face to face with
Coaster Alley. To the left is Timber Terror's very graceful
turnaround, and to the right is Tremors' similar roundabout, a sight
made very familiar to me over the last month by sitting on my desktop,
courtesy of Mike Kallay's ultra-swank desktop shots
(http://www.ghostrider.org/Downloads/Wallpaper/Wallpaper2/Silverwood_-_Tremors.JPG).
I still managed to divert my eyes from the ultra-twisted layout of
Tremors, despite being virtually surrounded by the thing.
Our first ride for the trip would be Timber Terror. Being a huge
Shivering Timbers fan, I was vastly looking forward to this
straight-up out-and-backer. The ride is a real delight, offering a
great kick in the backseat on the first drop and a cool double up.
Cool, I already had one ride bubbling under my top tier and I still
had Tremors to go.
Speaking of Tremors, that's where we headed next. After a short wait,
I boarded in the very last row. I had managed to still see very little
of the layout, and now it was time to learn the whole thing. The first
drop is just vicious in the back, IMO one of the best first woodie
drops anywhere (I still prefer Legend and Cornhole, but just by a lil'
bit). And then, the insanity starts. The little hop up out of the gift
shop and over the path was already flinging you WAY up in the air at
11:30 in the morning. As you fly into the air over this hill, the
mouth of tunnel #2 comes flying at you in the best headchopper I've
ever seen. Usually I never even notice headchoppers, they just don't
do as much for me as they do for some. This one elicted a "holy sh*t"
from me as I frantically tried to pull myself back into the train. No
problem, though, as Tremors took care of this for me by <slamming> my
ass back down. Not for long though, as I again flew up and to the
right on the pullout, in my book the most extreme moment on a ride
full of extreme moments. I can't think of any coaster that has as
intense of a beginning as Tremors.
However, all things must balance out. I found the middle third of
Tremors to be kind of lackluster. Not bad, just not up to the
standards set by the incredible opening. To me, the ride grows
progressively weaker from the 470-degree-odd sweeping turn to the two
forceless bunny hops immediately preceeding the tunnel finale. The end
of the ride picks up the intensity again and redeems the ride. There
is a nice drop into another set of tunnels (unfortunately, this drop
doesn't quite produce the forces it looks capable of) followed by
another air-y pop and then a great slam downwards in the second tunnel
and a sweeping fan turn into the brakes. Ultimately, I rank Tremors
just slightly below my uppermost tier (Legend, Raven, Cornball, and
Timbers) and right in there with Ghostrider and The Beast. Surely Top
10, and just about Top 5 as well.
The rest of the day was a leisurely ramble around the park. Hooking up
with Chris Baran from Coasterbuzz, we toured the rest of the rides.
The Skydiver ride was a lot of fun, as I put my life in FootageBoy's
hands and he recklessly spun us both dizzy, but that gut crushing
restraint really sucks. I used to fit better into these...time to
diet! The Log Ride was nicely landscaped, if not very thrilling. The
Corkscrew was a fun bit of nostalgia. Climbing the metal steps and
riding in the back seat took me back to Knotts in the 70's in a fun
way, that didn't involve polyesther, disco, or Ford Pintos. I also
took quite a bit of time to shop, taking advantage of Silverwood's
end-of-season 40% sale to pick up some geek-wear and a few presents
for the family.
The one downer of the day was unfortunately the luncheon at Lindy's.
It seemed like it took forever to get seated, and then twice that to
be served. By my count, it was over two hours spent that could have
been put to better use, despite the food being pretty good. It was
nice to see everyone, but I really wish we had just dropped in to say
"hi" and then eaten elsewhere, so that I could have gotten in a train
ride and maybe a trip on the Rapids.
As closing time drew near I hauled my swag out to the lot and changed
into cold weather riding gear. Despite being shorts weather during the
day, the temperature had dropped down into the 40's the night before
and I was expecting more of the same. I made it back into the park
just in time for the group photo in Coaster Alley. Following this, the
park asked us to come back to the picnic area for a bit while the park
was cleared of patrons. A P.R. Rep. for the park gave us some juicy
details on the park's upcoming projects (let's just say I will
probably be back to Silverwood in 2004 or so) and the park graciously
provided rare (read: unsellable, LOL) mugs featuring the "Grizzly",
press kits, and refrigerator magnets, as well as a giant tub of Pepsi.
The time had come for ERT, and I was pretty nervous. 4 hours is a long
time to ride, but it's tolerable most times because you'll inevitably
wait at least a few minutes in between each ride. In this case, we
would be riding over and over again, and I was worried whether or not
my old hide would be up to it. My group started out at Timber
Terror...as most of the peeps went to Tremors, we had T.T. all to
ourselves. After about 5 rides, I felt Tremors calling my name, so I
wandered over, displacing the back seat riders. I then proceeded to
reel off about 20 rides on Tremors, a number in the back seat and then
10 in a row in the next to last row as we just rolled through the
station without stopping. I actually wanted to stop on the last few,
as I was starting to feel both nauseous and hungry, but I didn't want
to be the wimp that stopped the run, LOL! By the time the train
stopped, I exited and went down to the benches between the two rides.
I honestly felt pretty crappy, and was wondering if I was done, barely
short of an hour into the event. Even though that would have been
somewhat of a waste, I already had a bunch of rides so it wouldn't
have been a tragedy. I sat out for almost an hour, slowly recovering
my equilibrium. Having food around would have really helped, but
everything was closed and we couldn't leave ERT and come back.
After about an hour, I gave Timber Terror another try. I was still
getting some nausea, but I could keep it together as long as I took a
short break after about 5 rides or so. Another 8-ride-run on Tremors
did me in again, but recovery was quicker and I was going strong by
the end of ERT. As were the coasters...it gets very dark in Coaster
Alley, and both rides had added notches of intensity, especially
Tremors. That pop out of the first tunnel set, holy jezuz!
ERT ended at 10:30 with approx. 19 of the 37 attendees still in the
park. I think the general consensus was that 4 hours is a bit much,
and 3 is probably closer to ideal. However, as David Hamburger pointed
out, it was nice to be able to take a break and not have to worry
about missing the rest of the event. Had the event only been two
hours, I would have been mad that nausea cut my ride time practically
in half. So, next year, 3 hours, and Silverwood, PLEASE let us bring
food in! We'll order some extra pizza for the ride ops, Mkay?
BTW, mention must be given to the ride ops for making this event extra
special. At first they were a little leery of us, as if in fear of
catching the geek disease we all seem to be afflicted with. However,
they soon warmed up and were whooping it up right along side of us,
making Bethany at Holiday World look positively depressed in
comparison. We helped undo all their careful training, getting them to
high 5 trains, turn the lights out in the station, pull up on
one-click bars, and lots of other tomfoolery. This was the extra added
ingredient that make the event great, and kudos to their boss for
letting them ride on the last Tremors train of the night with us!
We all stood around and thanked Kevin for putting this together and
then we were off for our hotel room in Spokane. A short while later,
we were tucked in downtown ($30 Red Lion Ridpath, did I mention I love
Priceline??), with a full 3 1/2 hours to sleep before beginning the
insanity anew.
Sunday, Sept. 8th - Hell Day
When the alarm went off at 4 am (after a 12:30 am tuck-in and
pass-out) I desperately wanted to be anywhere other than out on the
road, heading for the airport. I would have given my left anything to
sleep for about another 10 hours. However, today was Hell Day, and
good old Alaskan Airlines had me penciled in on their 6:10 flight from
Spokane to Seattle. Not wanting to let them down, I resisted the urge
to lay back down "for just another minute" (which might have lasted
until CAC '03 had I given in) and made my way down to the lobby. Flare
and Mike Overell remained behind. Mike had to drive his own car to
Vancouver and Flare, despite having plane tickets with us, decided to
drive with him and keep him company. Mike insisted he could make the
drive in 7 hours, and they were still both sacked out when I left.
I had dubbed this day Hell Day in our pre-trip plans, in tribute to
similar days on past trips that had been crammed with travel, usually
long drives before and after a day at a park. While they are
exhausting, they are sometimes necessary to get everything in, or to
insure a relaxing day the next day. This was the case today, as we
would be flying to Seattle, then driving to Vancouver, enjoying
Playland, and then driving <back> to Seattle for our hotel that night.
I somehow sleepily guided the SUV to the airport and then we all
boarded the plane after a short wait. The flight again provided
beautiful views of the Cascades and we were down in Seattle before we
knew it. We picked up our rental (no SUV this time, a crappy Taurus)
and sped off to meet Rob Leland (Nasai) from Coasterbuzz and Chris
Baran (fresh from his very own Hell Day the day before). They would be
our guides up to Vancouver and Playland.
We drove up the 5 until we were just shy of the Canadian border, and
then Rob led us off the highway to his super-secret border crossing. I
hadn't been out of the country since 1990, so I had no idea what to
expect. The line was short, which appeared to be good...unfortunately,
that meant La Migra had very little to do, so they decided to give us
the once-, twice-, and third-over. After tossing our car and full
cavity searches...OK, just kidding, but they did make us pull over and
walk in to see the Immigration Man. After some questions, we were free
to proceed to the Great White North, eh?
Canada was full of little subtle differences...street signs, stop
lights, stores, etc. As we proceeded north to Vancouver, the skies got
darker and darker, and it began to lightly drizzle. Uh-oh. I have only
had one rainy day on a coaster trip before (Kennywood last year) and I
knew my weather karma was going to come due sooner or later. By the
time we got to Playland it was a fairly constant drizzle, but it had
not blossomed into full rain...yet.
As we crossed the street and brought our tickets, my eyes were
magnetically drawn to Coaster (not unusual, since the rest of Playland
is kind of a dump, eh?). This beautiful, ancient creation has been on
my must ride list for years, and if circumstances dictated that I
would have to ride it in the rain, so be it. We made our way to the
platform and I boarded the last row. Just a minute to admire the
comfortable trains, and then I was off.
Coaster is an awesome slice of history, full of powerful, stand-up air
that repeatedly introduces your gut to your lap-bar. "Mr. Gut, Mr.
Lap-bar." "Mr. Lap-bar, Mr. Gut." Unfortunately, my gut already had a
grade A bruise on it from Tremors rise out of the first tunnels, so my
rides on Coaster were not as pleasant as I would have liked. A word of
advice: CAC and Coaster do not mix, unless you're going to give
yourself a day or two to heal in between.
I enojyed Coaster quite a bit, and it sits just shy of my Top 10...I
couldn't quite dethrone Phoenix for it. Maybe if it hadn't been
raining and I hadn't been bruised. I actually preferred the front as
the air was a little more controllable up there (controllable being a
VERY relative term where this ride is concerned). We grabbed a number
of rides and then went credit hunting.
Playland's Corkscrew is a bit different from any other Corkscrew I've
ever ridden because: 1. it has a different layout, with an extra drop,
a big helix, and a trip around the outside of the layout before
heading home and 2. it's actually smooth, fun, and re-rideable. It
also looks like a funky version of a Jet Star, leading to appelations
like "Jet Screw" and "Cork Star", both of which are vaguely dirty and
not suited for the family park that is Playland, eh?
The last credit at the park is the ungodly fun Wild Mouse. This ride
easily takes the award for the biggest surprise of the trip, in my
mind. FootageBoy and I waited nervously in the ever-increasing rain,
wondering how in the hell we were ever going to fit in those tiny
little cars, as the park had a strict two-riders only rule. Our turn
finally arrived, and it was a bit easier than we thought it would be.
I had thought I had been on good mice before this...Treetop Racers,
say, or Mulholland Madness without much braking. I knew nothing. This
was the real freaking deal! Full on slamming turns, great airtime
pops, and that unholy last turn, where you have tons of feet to build
up speed before that wicked last turn. This was an utter highlight of
the trip, and I'm really bummed I only got two rides on it, due to a
bit of a line and also due to the fact that it was now pissing down
rain and the ride queue is not covered at all.
Quite wet, we sought shelter at the burger joint. The chicken sandwich
was so-so, but the chocolate shake was delish! George, Jim and I sat
and stared out at the ever-increasing rain. Rumors were going around
that the park would close early due to inclement weather (the park had
this posted at ticket counter, kudos to them). And Mike O. and Flare
still had not arrived from their "7-hour" tour of Washington state and
points northward. I had horror show visions of them arriving just in
time for the park to close for the day, rendering their long drive in
vain. Just at that moment, however, they showed up! I waved them over
but Dave waved me off, heading with great purpose towards Coaster. He
knew as well as I that he had to work fast to get some rides in.
We went back to coaster and rode with Dave and Mike, as well as Rob
and Chris, who we had lost track of at the start of the day. George
and I then accompanied the two late arrivals on another sweep of the
park. By now we were all quite wet, and the agreement was made to ride
Coaster a few more times, then to head back to Seattle well ahead of
our planned 7 pm departure. These rides were another highlight of the
trip, bashing around in the rain and sharing rides with some dear
friends. Too bad the lap (gut) bar was killing me, eh?
The drive back to Seattle was nice and went quickly--our border stop
consisted of about 3 questions, and 2 minutes later we were back in
the U.S. of A. Checking into our airport Holiday Inn
($30/Priceline/love it/did I mention it?) we dried off, freshened up,
and went down to the bar for some popcorn and suds. On the advice of
the server we proceeded down the street to Roasters for dinner, and
had one of the most raucous, laugh-out-loud dinners I've ever had! We
all sang Happy Birthday to Mike Overell (it was nowhere near his
birthday) and a number of us nearly proposed marriage to our server
(Go Carissa!) who belonged in a big-screen comedy, not a Roasters in
Seattle. We didn't want to leave, but we eventually had to, and we
repaired back to our room for a good night's sleep, with no particular
sort of wake up call set for the AM.
Monday, September 9th - Come Together, Part Two
The original plans for Monday had been to spend all day at the
Puyallup Fair. However, after talking to a number of people at
Silverwood who had gone to the Fair on Monday, we decided a full day
wasn't necessary. Since Flare and George had to leave that night and
early the next morning respectively, we decided to squeeze in some
sightseeing on this day prior to making the run out to Puyallup. We
crowded all 5 of us in the Taurus and proceeded off to downtown
Seattle.
The Space Needle is pretty impossible to miss. The area around it was
pretty dead, due to the end of summer tourist season. We were able to
go right up without waiting in line, and were soon taking in the
incomparable views under a (thankfully) clear and warm Seattle sky.
The city is huge and very spread out; it kind of reminded me of Los
Angeles in that respect. The S-Needle gives great views of downtown
Seattle and the Puget Sound, as well as the numerous lakes and
mountains surrounding the area. Mt. Rainier was barely visible off in
the distance, almost indistinguishable from the low white haze
clinging to the foothills. We spent quite some time shooting
panoramas, and just contemplating the incredible view.
We next wandered over to the Experience Music Project. This is a very
funky building worth taking a look at (http://www.emplive.com/), but
the $20 admission was a little steep and we all passed.
Fun Forest stands in between the EMP and the S-Needle, but it was only
scheduled to be open weekends this time of year, and we had not been
able to fit it in on Sunday. We walked over to the Windstorm coaster
and shot a few photos. As we were heading back, I noticed three
workers coming over to the ride. Flare and I instantly marched over
and asked if there was any chance the ride might open today. The
workers indicated no, they were only opening it briefly so a group of
schoolkids could ride. We got to talking to them and they were amazed
to find out that most of the 5 of us had been on at least two of the
other Windstorms around the country, and at least two of us had been
on all of them, except this one. The lead worker finally looked
around, said "Ah hell, the damn kids are late anyways", and invited us
up to take a ride! Completely giddy with sudden count-luck, we all
hustled aboard and got a quick circuit, finishing just as the school
group arrived. This may not have been the best coaster I rode on the
trip, but it was certainly the giddiest!
We next took the very cool monorail into the downtown area. We
wandered down through the skyscrapers to the Pike St. Market, home of
the famous fish-tossers and a hell of a lot of ethnic foods and fresh
meat, fruit, and flowers. We spent some time walking around, did a
little crowd watching, had some snacks, and then headed back to the
car.
It took about an hour to get down to the Puyallup Fair from downtown.
Once you get off Interstate 5, the drive turns very green and lush,
and we passed Enchanted Village on the way there. The Village was
closed, but it looks like a decent little park, and the dense
vegetation surrounding it would make a hell of a locale for a woodie.
We eventually sighted the S & S Combo Tower that marked the Fair's
site, and soon found ourselves parking near the second classic woodie
of the trip, the 1935 Coaster Thrill Ride.
Fair admission had already been purchased offline by Flare, so after a
quick purchase of a Dizzy Pass ride wristband, we were off. CTR was
the obvious first choice. The trains looked almost identical to
Vancouver's Coaster, and the beginning of the ride was similar, but
after that the two were wildly divergent. Whereas Coaster is all about
violent air, CTR is a much more gentle ride, delivering only one good
pop in either the front or the back seats. However, CTR does have the
Fun Factor down cold; this is a coaster that is enjoyable to ride over
and over again, especially in the dark. A pleasant ride, with some
floater air and a few good lateral slams. Unfortunately, CTR was not
covered by the wristband deal, so each ride was about $3 in tickets.
Still worth it (I took 5 rides) but I would have dearly loved to have
taken a session on it with repeated rides.
The Schwartzkopf Wildcat was next, and this one really reminded me of
the old Mountain Express at SFMM, even making some of the same noises.
This thing is very dependable and offers some great air on numerous
drops. The next credit was a goofy little tire-driven kiddie coaster
named Tiger Express, similar to the Wisdom Orient Express Moosh and I
rode earlier this year at the Conejo Valley Days fair. Kersplash was
next, a VERY odd coaster of indeterminate origin that featured not one
but two drops into water. Kinda fun, and kinda wacky. The Mad Mouse
was the last coaster we were able to ride (there were two more
(identical) kiddies, with 150 lb. weight restrictions). Since the Wild
Mouse from yesterday had been the best mousie I had ever ridden, karma
stepped in and balanced things with this, the worst mouse I've ever
been on. Just a big bucket O' suck.
The fair also featured a fine flat ride selection. All the usual
suspects were there (Zipper, Tilt-A-Whirl, Ferris Wheel, Octopus,
etc.,), but the Fair distinguished itself with two portable models of
some of my favorite flat rides: a portable Frisbee, and a portable
Tampico Tumbler (!!). The Frisbee was massive, but unfortunately it
also was not covered by the wristband. It was also running kind of a
tame program, with only one brief moment of "spin cycle", one of my
favorite flat ride moments. I'm glad I rode it though, as it's been
ages since I've been on one. The portable Tumbler was a true
highlight; it seemed to run a bit faster than Knott's. I had no idea
they even made a portable Tumbler. This ride had German writing on it,
so I wonder if it's wintering in the states.
The Fair also had the predictable outstanding food (especially the BBQ
and the ice cream!), some good shopping, and the ever-popular pig
races, which Overell dragged us too in a fit of crazed enthusiasm.
Their S & S tower is situated away from the rides in the shopping
area, but the $10 (!) tab to ride sure scared me off quick...so I
still haven't done a combo tower.
We soon found darkness falling and the night drawing to a close. We
all had two rides left on CTR and we each took front and back seat
rides. I think I prefer the front, but it's a close thing. After a
brief stop to pick up some merchandise (the Fair's theme was "Come
Together", a great sentiment in these times and the inspiration for
the title of this trip report) we were off to the airport to drop
Flare off for his red-eye back to NYC. It's always such a joy to hang
out with him and I'm already looking forward to the next time! I ended
the night with a dip in the Holiday Inn's spa to relieve some of those
coaster riding aches and then it was off to bed.
Tuesday, September 10th - End of the Road (for a little while)
George was up and out early for his 8 am flight back to Florida; it
was good to travel with you George and I hope to do it again! Just
leave the Huckleberry beer alone next time, he he he! Jim and I
planned to get up early and fly standby back home early, as our
flights were not scheduled to return until much later that evening. So
we dropped off the rental car, proudly marched up to the ticket
counter, and were then told that we couldn't go standby with the Web
fares we had purchased. Ah, crushing defeat.
Staring 10 hours of airport waiting in the face, we called Mike
Overell, who had driven off to Bremerton for sightseeing that morning.
He took pity on us and came back on a ferry to the airport area, and
we soon found ourselves in downtown Seattle again. We walked all over
the pier area, Pioneer Square, and then down to the neighboring
football and baseball stadiums (Mike O. is a sports junkie, and he
looked about as happy outside of Safeco Field as I looked riding the
Mouse at Playland, LOL!). It was a hell of a walk, but it sure did
beat the crap out of 10 hours in the airport.
The time finally drew near for our scheduled flights and Mike dropped
us off, on his way down to Portland and the Oregon coast. I managed to
get FootageBoy and his 18 bags onto his flight to Oakland, and mine
left soon afterwards. I arrived back in LA just prior to midnight, and
was home by 1:30.
This was an outstanding trip (haven't had a bad one yet, knock on
wood). I was expecting it to be all about wood, and it mostly was, but
I was also not expecting to ride any good steel at all, and the
Vancouver Mouse fit into that category nicely. It's nice to be getting
this traveling thing down to a science; now all I need to do is get my
work to give me four weeks off a year and talk my wife into letting me
take three trips a year!
Special thanks to:
Kevin Coley, for putting on a hell of an event. I know it was
difficult at times, but all those difficulties looked pretty far away
when you were blissing out on those last few Tremors rides. Good job,
m'man!
Moosh, for help in planning this trip from the very beginning. It
really sucks you couldn't go (damn your work!) but you were missed and
thought of often over the course of the weekend. And, oh yeah, you
haven't been on Tremors yet, MUAHAHHAHA!
Silverwood, for letting us rent a little bit of your magic!
Mike Miller - On the gravy train to coaster nirvana
Keith Hopkins
news:941c2af3.0209...@posting.google.com...
> "Come Together: CAC 2002"
>
> Parks visited: Silverwood (9/7/02), Vancouver Playland (9/8/02), Fun
> Forest (9/9/02) and the Puyallup Fair (9/9/02)
> Weather: Absolutely gorgeous, except for rainy Vancouver.
> Crowds: Very low, almost J-Lo.
Okay, that's enough of THAT.
> The one downer of the day was unfortunately the luncheon at Lindy's.
> It seemed like it took forever to get seated, and then twice that to
> be served. By my count, it was over two hours spent that could have
> been put to better use, despite the food being pretty good. It was
> nice to see everyone, but I really wish we had just dropped in to say
> "hi" and then eaten elsewhere, so that I could have gotten in a train
> ride and maybe a trip on the Rapids.
Agreed. The service at Lindy's was just plain BAD. Friendly, but bad.
> I actually wanted to stop on the last few,
> as I was starting to feel both nauseous and hungry, but I didn't want
> to be the wimp that stopped the run, LOL! By the time the train
> stopped, I exited and went down to the benches between the two rides.
You looked fairly irritated when Fred and I stopped by. A shame, but you
seemed to have recovered eventually.
An excellent trip report. Thanks for writing it. Also, I'll echo your
respects to Kevin Coley. Thanks for all the hard work, Kevin. You gave us
all a very unique experience. Despite my shirt having no logo on the back.
:-)
--
Keith Hopkins
suss...@blockvisi.com (clear the block to reply)
Elements of Nazism:
3. TOP-DOWN STATE CONTROL OF THE ARTS.
Denying Karen Finley a government grant because
she wants to smear Spam on her hooties is not the
same thing. --James Lileks, August 23, 2002
Shawn Mamros
>"BaSSiStiSt" <bassi...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
>news:941c2af3.0209...@posting.google.com...
>
>> It seemed like it took forever to get seated, and then twice that to
>> be served. By my count, it was over two hours spent that could have
>> been put to better use, despite the food being pretty good. It was
>> nice to see everyone, but I really wish we had just dropped in to say
>> "hi" and then eaten elsewhere, so that I could have gotten in a train
>> ride and maybe a trip on the Rapids.
>
>Agreed. The service at Lindy's was just plain BAD. Friendly, but bad.
How big was your group? I vaguely remember things taking a long time
there last year, too, but I chalked it up to being part of a very large
group. Very few restaurants handle large groups well...
-Shawn Mamros
E-mail to: mamros -at- mit dot edu
Robb Alvey
>there last year, too, but I chalked it up to being part of a very large
>group. Very few restaurants handle large groups well...
I've been there twice before in a small group of 2 or 4 and the service was
terrible. So, giving them the benefit of the doubt, we went in on Saturday,
took in front of the host for about 10 minutes before she finally said:
"Oh, did you want to be seated?"
"Yes."
"How many in your party?"
"Three"
"We don't have any tables now, it will be about 30 min!"
Ugh...why didn't she tell us this when we first walked in the door! Needless
to say, we didn't eat there!
Having said that though, the rest of our day was awesome. Both coasters were
running really well, although we're part of the group who actually likes Timber
Terror more than Tremors. But IMO, both coasters are a better woodie combo
than both HW and Knoebels.
--Robb "Who has yet to see a crowd at Silverwood" Alvey
Robb Alvey's European Coaster Odyssey Videos are NOW AVAILABLE!
To order online, click here:
http://www.themeparkreview.com
mamoosh
AWESOME trip report, Bass! It sucked missing the opportunity to hang
out with you guys but I'm glad you got to experience those parks. Now
you can milk having Timber Terror, Tremors, and the Puyallup Fair
coasters on your track record while I do not for at least a year.
Looking forward to our trip to Bonfante soon...wish you were going to
PPP w/ me. Perhaps you're a mystery guest? ROFL!
Moosh
Mike Kallay
suss...@blockvisi.com says...
> An excellent trip report. Thanks for writing it.
I agree. Thanks, Mike, for taking the time and energy to write such a
detailed and humorous report.
--
Mike Kallay
inve...@ghostrider.org
www.ghostrider.org for all your fly-fishing needs
"A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men." --
Willy Wonka
Elissa White
>running really well, although we're part of the group who actually likes
>Timber
>Terror more than Tremors. But IMO, both coasters are a better woodie combo
>than both HW and Knoebels.
Yup...now if only we could get a park to build Raven and Phoenix in one area,
then Silverwood would get a run for its money. For now they're pretty safe
though.
Elissa "looking forward to the new waterpark!" White
CoasterEvents.Com
Check Out Park Opening Dates, Closing Dates, And Events Across The Country!
Tim Melago
"Keith Hopkins" <suss...@blockvisi.com> wrote in message
news:tqng9.10306$jX3.3...@ruti.visi.com...
> "BaSSiStiSt" <bassi...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
> news:941c2af3.0209...@posting.google.com...
> > It seemed like it took forever to get seated, and then twice that to
> > be served. By my count, it was over two hours spent that could have
> > been put to better use, despite the food being pretty good. It was
> > nice to see everyone, but I really wish we had just dropped in to say
> > "hi" and then eaten elsewhere, so that I could have gotten in a train
> > ride and maybe a trip on the Rapids.
>
> Agreed. The service at Lindy's was just plain BAD. Friendly, but bad.
Sorry to hear this. I had a good impression of the place when I went there
in 2000. We had a group of around 6-8 for lunch. Good food and nice
atmosphere. But I do remember it taking forever to pay for the meal at the
register.
--
Tim Melago - roll...@sgi.net
http://users.sgi.net/~rollocst/rc.html
Whoop-d-doo!
was my first ERT and man, what a time!
Note that my "FROM" name and reply EMAIL address are 100% faked to avoid the
spamming b*stards just waiting to rip my address...if you want to email me
the user name is dkadc and I am @attbi.spammersmustdie.com. Take out the
spammersmustdie and I think you can figure it out from there.
No way I can outdo the TR posted by BaSSiStiSt so I wont even try...
I have been to more than my share of theme parks over the years, at least
more than the normal human (read: not a coaster nut!) would ever attend. My
dad was in the Navy and I joined and retired from the Navy myself, giving me
ample opportunity to sample roller coasters all over the USA: D, DCA, DW,
CP, KBF, SFMM, BGW, PKD, Belmont Park (San Diego) and a few I have long
since forgot. So while I am a "newbie" to R.RC and ERT...I have been tossed
to the verge of blowing groceries on a few occasions.
DJ and I live in Beaverton, Oregon; a suburb of Portland. We left on Friday
at about 8:00am, deciding to drive to Seattle and then head east rather than
take the shorter route. I had a hidden agenda, wanting to stop at Fort
Lewis to look for a digital camera to replace my 1 megapixel model that died
the night before.
Driving my rig can be an interesting experience, its a 2000 Ford F-350 with
the 7.3 liter turbocharged diesel V-8. In the truck bed is a 17 foot long
camper. All the comfort of home (TV, VCR, freezer, refrigerator, stove,
oven, shower, flush toilet, CD stereo, blah blah blah) in a *very* compact
space. A fifth wheel or "toy hauler" certainly has more room but you ever
see anyone take a fifth wheel over a rutted snow covered logging road?)
This combination is an interesting beast in heavy traffic because its
W-I-D-E and even though the truck is 7200 pounds and the empty camper adds
another 2700 pounds, the camper is nothing but a big WIND SAIL and gusty
side winds require constant steering correction. We stopped off at Fort
Lewis and I picked up a 4 megapixel Kodak DX-4900, I took lots of pictures
at the park and as soon as I figure out a way to share them, Ill get them
online.
I had lots of fun driving over Snoqualmie Pass...that's where the diesel
engine and its huge turbo come in handy...I don't think people expect to see
something this big keeping up with traffic, and lots of folks don't seem to
like following pickup trucks with campers. Its as if they are afraid I will
go from 75 to 35 at the slightest incline. I have to get on my soapbox
here: if you don't like following an RV then *back off* a couple feet or
*pass* me, but if your going to pass PLEASE don't slow down.
We arrived at Silverwood at about 5:30pm Friday. We did not have
reservations but were able to find a spot without any problem. There were
perhaps a dozen spots left, next time I am going to make a reservation
rather than take a chance, another dozen people and we would have been out
of luck.
The campground is pretty nice, lots of trees and FULL HOOKUPS. To those of
you not into the RV lifestyle, FULL HOOKUPS are our version of paradise.
Everything in an RV runs on electricity from a battery. You charge your
battery by running your engine or running a generator. A single day of
moderate battery usage can easily draw 40 amp hours from your battery,
meaning you need to charge your battery for an hour or two to *almost* make
up the difference. Having full hookups means no worry about running lights,
TV and VCR (Robb Alvey tapes of course!) an endless supply of water for the
shower, dishwashing and toilet, not having to worry about full holding
tanks, you get the idea. Silverwood only wanted $21 and change a night,
which is a bargain! For those without fully self contained units, they also
have showers and bathrooms. The shower floors could use cleaning with a
Lysol firehose or a flamethrower, but you should be wearing flip-flops
anytime you use a campground shower. :-) Trash cans were nearby, each site
also had a nice picnic table.
It started to rain as we were setting up, DJ and I quickly put up our
Easy-Up over the picnic table and also got out the Keg-A-Que. Its a bar-b-q
that looks like a small beer keg. If you ever wanted to have a portable way
for outdoor cooking, THIS IS IT, because they do not flame up or flare up
with the lid on. Just amazing, a miracle of design. We put some steaks on,
made some corn on the cob and baked potatoes (why not?) and watched Robb
Alvey tapes on the VCR. Yeah, talk about roughing it.
In the morning I made us a huge breakfast of biscuits and sausage gravy
(calories in campgrounds do not count) and we then walked to the park where
we found our envelopes waiting. Wow, talk about the VIP treatment. I felt
special! There was no line to get in the park at all.
We headed to Timber Terror for our first ride. I have never been to the
park before, so although I could see the ride I did not know what to
expect.We waited maybe six minutes so we could ride in the back. The ride
ops did a good job of clearing people out and getting people in, and we were
on our way! The climb uphill is fast, unlike some woodies I have been on.
I could not hear the anti-rollback banging away, which was nice...how do
they do that? The climb is not in line with the rest of the coaster, when
you get to the top it makes maybe a 60 degree left turn, giving you a good
chance to look at the coaster and the park. Suddenly we were screaming
downhill! Talk about air time! What blew me away was the turn around,
rather than being a large oval like so many woodies, TT runs the out and
back sections close together. This means you make perhaps a 240 degree left
high speed banked turn with some pretty decent lateral g forces before you
make a smaller turn to the right and head back, the first hill after the
turn is great, it seemed to just drop out from under me. Right before you
return to the station you make a complete circle to the right and still
carry a good amount of speed. Wow! Yeah, I know I left out a lot, but it
is an impressive ride. Smooth yet powerful, with G forces that come on fast
without slamming you around.
The train is a big part of what makes this ride so good: Its very open! No
head rest, a perfect view in every direction. The seatbelts seemed a bit
much (on a woodie? COME ON!) but they don't "staple" you to the seat and a
couple times I was very glad it was there!
I enjoyed TREMORS even more than TT. Tremors in no way resembles what you
think of when you imagine a ride on a wooden coaster. It seemed like every
moment was climbing, diving, turning. The ride is taller than it seems
because you dive underground four times. The lift hill gives you great
views of the park and again makes a long left turn at the very top as it
lines you up for the first hill, dropping you into a tunnel that exits
through the gift shop. Tremors plays up the name of the ride in the
construction of the station and gift shop, the angles are all screwed up,
like an earthquake tore the buildings apart. This theme is carried to the
ride itself when you approach the "head chopper," there is a "low bridge"
sign and the track above looks like its broken and about to collapse. I
WATCHED SEASONED COASTER NUTS PULL THEIR HANDS IN, RIDE AFTER RIDE! In
other words, yeah, it looked like it was gonna hurt! This is also one of
the only parts of the track that does not twist and curve, making sure you
have time to see the "danger" to your noggin.
After a couple rides on Tremors, we headed to Corkscrew. I remember riding
Corkscrew at KBF when I was in high school and living outside of San Diego
(Navy brat, remember?) and what a thrill it seemed at the time. Compared to
TT or Tremors, getting rolled upside down seemed rather lame and the ride
was much rougher than I remember. We only rode it once, that was enough.
If for some reason you have never been on an inverting coaster, or if you
want to ride the first inverting coaster ever made, or if you are looking to
add a number to your coaster count, then by all means check it out.
Otherwise...ride TT or Tremors again and skip Corkscrew!
We road the log flume and river rapids. The log ride was very tame, the
river rapids was also tame but I did get my pants wet. It would have been
nice on a hot day. We tried to get on the bumper boats, they are gas
powered and look like a LOT of fun, but a large amount of the ride time is
spent loading and unloading. The line ended up taking too long and we had
to meet for lunch at Lindies.
Ahh....lunch. Good food in more than ample quantities at a reasonable
price! The cost for the two of us was only $24 and change, not bad for a
sit down meal anywhere...BUT...the advanced notice to Lindies about our
group did not seem to filter its way to the restaurant, they did not have an
area set up for us. We asked about sitting outside on the patio near the
train tracks, but that area was "closed" and they did not have the staffing
to open it for us. It almost sounded like they just wished we would go
away, it took an hour to get seated and about as long to get our food.
Because of that we did not ride the train and flat rides like we had
planned, but it was worth it as I got to meet Kevin Coley, Robb and his S/O
and all the R.RC people DJ is always talking about. What a fun, great bunch
of people you are!
On to the ERT...
We assembled for a group photo, which turned into an entertaining time
itself as cameras were passed to the front like so many hot potatoes. Then
we gathered at the picnic area while the rest of the park was cleared.
There we were given some information about the park and of course the
"Forbidden" Grizzly plastic mugs which I though was pretty cool of them. (I
like the name TIMBER TERROR much more than Grizzly btw, much more
descriptive!) The plan was to have food for sale the first hour of our
6pm-10pm ERT, but due to a communications SNAFU it took almost an hour for
us to begin our ERT and we missed out. They did have a big cooler of Pepsi
which was nice, if you have just ridden TT a dozen times and you think your
gonna hurl, holding a Pepsi gives you an excuse to watch for a while. There
we were told of the plans for a WATER PARK in 2003 and for a huge woodie
(get your mind out of the gutter). She was not specific on any plans for
the coaster, best guess is perhaps in 2004 . She did not go into many
details except to say it would probably cross the road (COOL!) and be a LONG
ride.
The ride ops:
If you are a manager or team leader at Silverwood, please stop reading RIGHT
NOW, I don't want to get anyone in trouble and your ride ops made a good
time GREAT!
Everyone ran up to the rides and of course the coveted first and last rows
fill up fast. The ride ops were running the coaster as normal, stopping
after each ride to let people get on and off, making sure everyone left the
station, etc. But after a few trips they realized that most of us were
"coaster professionals" and knew not to stand up, not to act stupid on the
platform, etc. THEN the fun began! When a train came in to the station,
unless someone wanted off or on, it would go again. When the train did
stop, people were allowed to go from one seat to another without leaving the
station. People were allowed to watch from both sides of the track. IT WAS
FANTASTIC! They made jokes, gave high fives in the station, just great!
There was...um...even some ride op participation onboard the coaster. I am
sure all of you know DJ worked at CP as a ride op and at one point that
night he was checking seatbelts and harnesses. It was certainly fun for his
dad to watch him give the "thumbs up" as the train departed the station as
his mom and I did not make it to CP this summer. (Some people aspire for
their kids to be Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers. Well, my kid is a ride op, so
there! lol! ) I have some GREAT PICTURES of the ride ops doing there
stuff, but I better make sure Silverwood is closed for the season before I
post them anywhere. Again, the ride ops made the night special so if you
are reading this THANK YOU!
I got some cool on-ride videotape. It was funny as hell, because I came
into the station with my Hi8 running and was asked to leave it...which I
did. Then we started again and I unzipped my pocket and took out the
digital camera for some on-ride pictures. When we came into the station,
she looked at me, looked at the video camera sitting in the station, looked
at me again..and just shook her head. Heh heh heh. My video camera is just
a tiny bit too big to hide easily, I got caught on both TT and Tremors, but
it was after I taped so it was ok. ;-)
If you think the rides are fun during the day, they are even better at
night! The weather was on the cool side, which I like, I find it easier on
the tummy to ride coasters when there is a cool breeze in my face. I lost
track of how many rides I took, it was cool how everyone waiting would wave
the train past the station. People were willing to give up the front and
back seats to make sure others had a chance to eat bugs and experience
negative G's to their hearts content.
Silverwood kept the ERT going until 10:30pm to make up for the late start.
I am ashamed to say that by 9:30pm I was getting more tired and hungry than
anything, so I called it a night and went back to the RV to have a cold one
and grill some burgers. Four hours? That's a long time for ERT, but it was
nice to know I could get off, go have a soda, let the insides settle down,
talk to people, watch others ride, use the boys room, etc and not feel like
"GET BACK ON! YOUR EATING UP YOUR ERT!"
I hope we do it again next year, if so then Ill be back! I may skip TT and
Tremors while the park is open, or perhaps ride them a time or two, but I
want to see the shows (gasp!) and ride the train (omg!) and hit the flat
rides (egad!) to experience the whole park.
We left Sunday morning at about 1100 for Portland. When I was 13 years old
my dad was stationed at Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound (that's Washington
state for the geographically challenged) and we visited Expo '74 in Spokane,
so of course I wanted to stop at the fairgrounds for a little while. A
short visit turned into...oh...3 1/2 hours or so. We caught a video in the
IMAX theatre about the International Space Station, rode the little
rubber-tired train along the paths (no g's except for the 1.0 from Earth)
and took the tram over the falls, plus we walked around a bit. I did visit
the site in 1999 for a short time while driving east to see family, but it
was great to have the time to remember where everything used to be: The USSR
pavilion, Germany, Australia, etc. Ahh, the memories. DJ was not as
impressed as I was (though he DID like the IMAX) but I had a good time.
Thanks again to Kevin Coley for organizing the event, you did a GREAT job!!!
Thanks to everyone I met, you were great!
BaSSiStiSt
wrote:
>Hi, my name is David, I am the father of "DJ" and I am new to this NG...CAC
>was my first ERT and man, what a time!
Hey David! It was nice to meet you and your son, you guys are a lot of
fun. Enjoyed your trip report, but I wish I would have known there
were burgers and brews available in the campground, LOL!
Thanks for posting and welcome to RRC.
NASHvlMIKE
Wish I could have made it, but hopefully you guys bought some good beer with
the money I didn't use :)
Anyway, a short point: my definition of when Tremors is running full out would
be that while the opening series always kicks ass (ask Jeff H at Holiday World
about the 1st drop issues on Tremors they had and you'll understand why the
opening hauls), it's the middle series, specifically, the leftward downward
travelling semi-helix that starts to cook. During the "legendary" ACE Summer
Con there in 2000, the later night rides we had were something else, even in
this section; at it's best, the train SCREAMS down through this section at
least as fast as Boulderdash makes its far turn, which is saying something.
That then feeds the next speed hill with more gusto and the right handed single
helix at the far end has a bit more punch. From then on home, I think, is where
Tremors loses some steam... it doesn't have the advantage of terrain where the
designer can sneakily put the ending parts on a lower plane to keep the speed
up, so it doesn't *quite* end as mean as I'd like, although it's certainly not
bad.
But since all of my top 3 have at least one glaring fault, I don't bitch much
when Tremors has, to me, the best beginning on all coasters, and I rate it very
high (either a tie for #1, tie for #2 or #3) because it does something truly
excellent, instead of just "very good", or even "great". I place a lot of
weight personally on rides that push the envelope, and Tremors opening run
certainly does. I'm of course jealous as hell I couldn't get out there this
year, but reading your TR was fun anyway!!
- mike
Locoboy
> But IMO, both coasters are a better woodie combo
> than both HW and Knoebels.
I haven't been to Knoebel's yet, but I agree that Silverwood's 1-2
combination
of Tremors and Timber Terror is better than Holiday World's 1-2
combination of
Legend and The Raven.
Locoboy
much wanted to be
there that weekend. I had planned to be there a year ago, but factors
beyond my wildest
imagination changed my plans for a return to Silverwood...and many
other coaster trips
this season. (Timbers Fest and the Phall Phun Phest both were/have
been scrapped as
well.) Outside of the local parks in California, I don't see myself
taking any visits
to any parks in the foreseeable future. :-(
Thanks again for sharing the report. Oh and by the way, Kersplash was
made by the Miler
Coaster Company.
I miss Silverwood so much.
Niomosy
Argh! Damn you, Mike! I was soooo looking forward to going too. Gina
wanted to do something crazy like save money or something :P
I'll be looking forward to seeing you guys at Bonfante, though. Don't want
to miss that!
-Matt
FRED of LA
thanks for writing the ultimate CAC trip report, Mike!
i haven't been back to Silverwood since the ACE Con......and i really,
really came to love these two woodies and the tremendous generosity of
the park's management toward coaster enthusiasts.
oh, and Coaster in Vancouver busted my gut, too!
glad your trip was good fun.
it sure was a fun read.....
cheers.
FRED of LA
Keith Hopkins
news:3d821fc8$0$3929$b45e...@senator-bedfellow.mit.edu...
> How big was your group? I vaguely remember things taking a long time
> there last year, too, but I chalked it up to being part of a very large
> group. Very few restaurants handle large groups well...
There were about twenty or so of us, spread among five tables. It's not
like they needed to serve all five tables in sync. Large group or not, the
service was just not good.
Joe Schwartz
> The fair also featured a fine flat ride selection. All the usual
> suspects were there (Zipper, Tilt-A-Whirl, Ferris Wheel, Octopus,
> etc.,), but the Fair distinguished itself with two portable models of
> some of my favorite flat rides: a portable Frisbee, and a portable
> Tampico Tumbler (!!). The Frisbee was massive, but unfortunately it
> also was not covered by the wristband. It was also running kind of a
> tame program, with only one brief moment of "spin cycle", one of my
> favorite flat ride moments. I'm glad I rode it though, as it's been
> ages since I've been on one. The portable Tumbler was a true
> highlight; it seemed to run a bit faster than Knott's. I had no idea
> they even made a portable Tumbler. This ride had German writing on it,
> so I wonder if it's wintering in the states.
That was the only place I've seen the Tampico Tumbler outside of KBF
(apparently there's another at MOA's Camp Snoopy). It did seem faster
than the one at Knott's, but unfortunately it had almost no airtime. A
small sign on the ride said "HEXEN TANZ", which means "witches' dance"
in German -- perhaps this is the generic name of the ride?
--
Come visit Joyrides -- www.joyrides.com -- a photo gallery celebrating
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KHColey
>fun. Enjoyed your trip report, but I wish I would have known there
>were burgers and brews available in the campground, LOL!
Hey, let's forget Lindy's! We'll just have David at the BBQ all day next year
cookin' up some burgers for us! :)
Oh, yeah, don't forget the brews, too!
Kevin
David H.--REMOVE STOPSPAM to reply
Well, Tremors is a completely different coaster in the front and back.
Actually seat #2 is my favorite because the beginning run, esp. the
spaghetti bowl after the first drop just completely kicks ass and gives me
a nice long introduction to the lapbar and either the seat divider and the
other rider when on the left, or the right side of the train when on the
right. Possibly my favorite series on any wood coaster.
And Tremors was certainly hauling ass throughout the ride, both in front
and back by the end of the night. Is it absolutely perfect, no? Is any
coaster? No. But I'd still be very happy to ride it on any night, the
later the better. It's certainly worth the cross-country flight and
weekend off from work. (Which would be a good thing, except that it means
that I lose 2/3 of my money for the week! Luckily, though, I picked up the
previous Monday and Tuesday, and with Monday being a busy holiday, I scored
some very good money that day.)
David Hamburger, davi...@bellatlantic.net, Boston, MA
PLEASE remove "STOPSPAM" from my address when replying via e-mail.
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Locoboy
> bassi...@mindspring.com (BaSSiStiSt) wrote:
>
> > The fair also featured a fine flat ride selection. All the usual
> > suspects were there (Zipper, Tilt-A-Whirl, Ferris Wheel, Octopus,
> > etc.,), but the Fair distinguished itself with two portable models of
> > some of my favorite flat rides: a portable Frisbee, and a portable
> > Tampico Tumbler (!!). The Frisbee was massive, but unfortunately it
> > also was not covered by the wristband. It was also running kind of a
> > tame program, with only one brief moment of "spin cycle", one of my
> > favorite flat ride moments. I'm glad I rode it though, as it's been
> > ages since I've been on one. The portable Tumbler was a true
> > highlight; it seemed to run a bit faster than Knott's. I had no idea
> > they even made a portable Tumbler. This ride had German writing on it,
> > so I wonder if it's wintering in the states.
>
> That was the only place I've seen the Tampico Tumbler outside of KBF
> (apparently there's another at MOA's Camp Snoopy). It did seem faster
> than the one at Knott's, but unfortunately it had almost no airtime. A
> small sign on the ride said "HEXEN TANZ", which means "witches' dance"
> in German -- perhaps this is the generic name of the ride?
There might also be one of those Tumbler rides (I don't know what the
generic industry name is for that flat ride) in Kobe, Japan at
Portopialand. You can see a drawing of one added in this photo of the
Bavarian Mountain Railway Schwarzkopf coaster:
http://schwarzkopf.coaster.net/ESBavarianMountainRailroad-KobeGF.htm
It looks to me like Zierer added that drawing to one of their catalog
photos. I don't know if the actual ride is located there or not. The
Tumbler does seem like a somewhat rare flat ride.
Joe Schwartz
> Joe Schwartz wrote:
>
> > That was the only place I've seen the Tampico Tumbler outside of KBF
> > (apparently there's another at MOA's Camp Snoopy). It did seem faster
> > than the one at Knott's, but unfortunately it had almost no airtime. A
> > small sign on the ride said "HEXEN TANZ", which means "witches' dance"
> > in German -- perhaps this is the generic name of the ride?
>
> There might also be one of those Tumbler rides (I don't know what the
> generic industry name is for that flat ride) in Kobe, Japan at
> Portopialand. You can see a drawing of one added in this photo of the
> Bavarian Mountain Railway Schwarzkopf coaster:
>
> http://schwarzkopf.coaster.net/ESBavarianMountainRailroad-KobeGF.htm
>
> It looks to me like Zierer added that drawing to one of their catalog
> photos. I don't know if the actual ride is located there or not. The
> Tumbler does seem like a somewhat rare flat ride.
For what it's worth, here's another site (in German) that refers to the
ride as "Hexentanz":
http://www.fahrenschon.com/hexentanz.php3
Steven Wilson
Joe Schwartz wrote:
>
> Locoboy <NOSPAMlo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Joe Schwartz wrote:
> >
> > > That was the only place I've seen the Tampico Tumbler outside of KBF
> > > (apparently there's another at MOA's Camp Snoopy). It did seem faster
> > > than the one at Knott's, but unfortunately it had almost no airtime. A
> > > small sign on the ride said "HEXEN TANZ", which means "witches' dance"
> > > in German -- perhaps this is the generic name of the ride?
> >
> > There might also be one of those Tumbler rides (I don't know what the
> > generic industry name is for that flat ride) in Kobe, Japan at
> > Portopialand. You can see a drawing of one added in this photo of the
> > Bavarian Mountain Railway Schwarzkopf coaster:
> >
> > http://schwarzkopf.coaster.net/ESBavarianMountainRailroad-KobeGF.htm
> >
> > It looks to me like Zierer added that drawing to one of their catalog
> > photos. I don't know if the actual ride is located there or not. The
> > Tumbler does seem like a somewhat rare flat ride.
>
> For what it's worth, here's another site (in German) that refers to the
> ride as "Hexentanz":
>
> http://www.fahrenschon.com/hexentanz.php3
Zierer's name for the ride, in English at least, was Fireball. I have
two pictures up of the one that used to be at West Edmonton Mall:
http://www.geocities.com/ezeiza/wem9801.html
http://www.geocities.com/ezeiza/wem9802.html
Steven It's a GREAT day.
eze...@yahoo.com http://www.geocities.com/ezeiza/greatday.html
Keith Hopkins
news:1a1fouo8mrk0u3ij6...@4ax.com...
> That was the only place I've seen the Tampico Tumbler outside of KBF
> (apparently there's another at MOA's Camp Snoopy). It did seem faster
> than the one at Knott's, but unfortunately it had almost no airtime. A
> small sign on the ride said "HEXEN TANZ", which means "witches' dance"
> in German -- perhaps this is the generic name of the ride?
I remember reading about it, and coming across the "Witches' Dance" name. I
think that was a themed name in Europe, but not the generic name.
Unfortunately, I can't remember where I read that.
Hurrah for misinformation!
Wolf
> > (apparently there's another at MOA's Camp Snoopy). It did seem faster
> > than the one at Knott's, but unfortunately it had almost no airtime. A
> > small sign on the ride said "HEXEN TANZ", which means "witches' dance"
> > in German -- perhaps this is the generic name of the ride?
>
> I remember reading about it, and coming across the "Witches' Dance" name.
I
> think that was a themed name in Europe, but not the generic name.
> Unfortunately, I can't remember where I read that.
>
> Hurrah for misinformation!
Anyone else think the Tumbler resembles the Double Whirl [6 small ferris
wheels that rotated around a central pillar, basically six ferris wheels
attached to a carousel.]?
--
|\-/|
<0 0>
=(o)=
-Wolf
Keith Hopkins
news:uoikv51...@corp.supernews.com...
> Anyone else think the Tumbler resembles the Double Whirl [6 small ferris
> wheels that rotated around a central pillar, basically six ferris wheels
> attached to a carousel.]?
Certainly seems similar from your description. Do the seats swing freely on
the Double Whirl, or are they driven? The similarity would definitely end
there, as there's no way free-swinging seats could move as quickly as the
Tumbler seats.
Wolf
> > wheels that rotated around a central pillar, basically six ferris wheels
> > attached to a carousel.]?
>
> Certainly seems similar from your description. Do the seats swing freely
on
> the Double Whirl, or are they driven? The similarity would definitely end
> there, as there's no way free-swinging seats could move as quickly as the
> Tumbler seats.
The seats themselves were basically Eli Wheel seats, so they free-swung. The
wheel holding them was driven, however. I'm gonna scan that picture
sometime.
The Tumbler also raises on its main pillar, right? It's been a while since I
rode one.
Keith Hopkins
> The seats themselves were basically Eli Wheel seats, so they free-swung.
The
> wheel holding them was driven, however. I'm gonna scan that picture
> sometime.
I would like to see it.
> The Tumbler also raises on its main pillar, right? It's been a while since
I
> rode one.
Yes. It looks strangely fragile when it does that.