Quick Report - Thursday, June 25

[cholderfield]

My girlfriend and I had a great day at the park, it was a pretty slow day and most lines were short (the longest we waited was 10-15 minutes). This was our first trip this season, so we processed our passes a little after 9am- no lines or waits for that. We waited outside the gates until about 9:20am at which time they opened the security gates and we walked through without incident (which was funny because when we came back through after lunch in the car, my girlfriend set the metal detector off, even though she was carrying the same things as before...). Stopped at the front bathrooms, then headed for Diamondback at around 9:30am. Lines were nonexistent; first we rode in the middle and waited I think two or three cars for our turn. This ride is amazing. I love the speed and the smoothness of it all - not forgetting the incredible airtime (love those hills!). After we rode it, we got right back on and rode in the front seat. Again, an amazing experience!

There were quite a few closures or at least delays today. Of course, Son of Beast was closed all day along with The Crypt. At park opening, Vortex, Flight of Fear, and Invertigo were all closed. Not sure when Flight of Fear opened. Invertigo didn't open until sometime after 12:30pm (not sure exactly). I noticed Vortex running after that, but again I'm not really sure of the time.

After our two rides on Diamondback, we headed to The Beast! I was somewhat disappointed with the ride however; I still like it, but to be honest it felt like a more leisurely than a ride on a "Beast". I agree with most people on the board; the braking this year is ridiculous and slows the ride down to a crawl. I'm sure it may be necessary, but it still sucks. I made a comment as we were going up the first lift hill, something along the lines of "this is probably going to feel rough as hell after riding Diamondback", but with all the braking it really wasn't. - Disappointing!

We then headed to Vortex (closed for maintanence), then to Firehawk. This was my third time on it, my girlfriend's first. She was loving it! I like it, but it always freaks me out. I'm okay with upper body restraints, but my legs are what bother me the most!

As I stated earlier, Flight of Fear was down, so we then headed to Adventure Express.

It was a very hot, humid day. When we left Columbus, it was already 74 degrees and muggy. By noon it had to have been in the upper 80s. Between the two of us, we shared six bottles of water (well, we brought a bottle from home and filled it up), along with stops at the water fountain and a couple of Gatorades.

We also rode Drop Tower, Flight Deck, Congo Falls, Invertigo, White Water Canyon, and Vortex. We were going to get in line for Flight of Fear, but it was the longest line we had seen (about 40 minutes) and by that time (somewhere around 4), with all the heat we were exhausted and ready to go home.

Again, a great time!...Although it may have helped that the only money I spent in the park was for an all-day locker ($8 + $5 deposit).