Entries this day: six_flags_astroworld

six flags astroworld

(written from notes in my little yellow diary that Bryn and Eryn gave me)

1 May 1999

Today Jen and I went to Astroworld!

She had never been to the park, and hasn't ridden any coasters in quite a while, so we were both happy to go. First stop was by the Serial Thriller, where we took lots of pics of the construction. The ride looks supa phat; I'm more excited about it opening than I am about Star Wars! Jen decided she'll just have to come back this summer to ride it!

Our first stop was Viper, the line for which was pretty much super long. The wait didn't seem so long as we just talk talk talked. Viper is super smooth and compact! Including a loop and three circuits around the 1 or 2 acre area, Viper is the coolest coaster I know that could fit in my dad's yard!

I remember when it was first built (1989) and I was there on opening day.. Amazing! I was so happy with the ride that I built a topologically accurate model of it out of posterboard. The model is not all that amazing, except that my dad still has it in my old room closet.

Then toward XLR8, but the line was too long for me to want to ride it. So to Greezed Lightnin' we walked. Soon as we got there, people were being turned back; ride was broke. Doh! So back to XLR8.

While we were in line for XLR8, the people who had been right in front of us on Viper exited XLR8. They hadn't made a dead-end trip to Greezed Lightnin'.

We rode in the front, which is pretty much the best seat on the train. XLR8 is a suspended coaster, the first(?) of its kind. Riders' feet do not dangle like the newest suspended coasters, but it's still pretty fun to have the cars swing way out above the tall reeds. I have heard rumors that XLR8 will be the next coaster to be replaced at Astroworld.

So anyway, we rode in front and then went to Greezed Lightnin' again, since we saw it was running while we were on XLR8.

Soon as we got there, people were being turned back; ride was broke. We decided to stay this time, waited for the crowd to disperse and walked up to nearly the front of the line for the back seats. Met two guys in line, Carl and Brady, who were here from New Orleans. Carl is a coaster enthusiast like me, but has ridden more rides than I, unlike me. We talked rides and what's cool and whatever, and he told us about a new park being opened in New Orleans in Spring 2000. Jazz Land should be a pretty cool park!

Oh, I should certainly mention by now that Jen used to be a ride operator at Canobie Lake Park up in New Hampshire. So she had some fun cool stories that neither Carl nor I had experienced.

Talking to the ride operator of Greezed Lightnin', turns out the brakes were not tight enough to stop the train properly, so they were tightening them. It only took like 20 minutes, which is easily way less time than we would have spent waiting otherwise, plus now Jen and I had new friends!

Carl and Brady rode in the back, then Jen and I rode in the back, and the lines hadn't formed yet, so we rode again a couple seats up. Yay! Greezed Lightnin' is a basic shuttle loop coaster, catapults out of station, loops, goes up a hill, then backwards through loop, back through station, up a hill, then back down again into station. 35 seconds at most.

Carl and Brady waited for us at the exit, and Jen saw that Texas Tornado was running!! With riders!! We had previously skipped this latest newest greatest ride because it wasn't open (though there was a significant line).

So at super high speed walk we zipped over to the ride and talk talk talked while waiting. Carl talked a lot about the cool rides at Six Flags Great America, and I was quite ecstatic to think I would be there next week! Amazing! We couldn't think of the name of the newest biggest ride there, but yeah, lots to talk about.

Waited for Texas Tornado (it used to be named after the Looney Toons character: Taz's Texas Tornado, and I inquired about the change. "Did you lose a license with Looney Toons to use the name?" "No, they decided not to use a name that would scare little kids," was the reply from a ride operator. "What????") and Jen took some primo pics of it while we were in line.

While in line, I showed them how at one point in the track, as the train is just finishing a loop, the track moves to accomodate the mass and literally shakes the ride operator booth! We loved watching the booth go shakeshakeshake as the train whoooshed by. Coincidentally, at that moment in the track, a camera takes pictures of everyone on the train. The pictures were offered for sale for like $7 as people left.

Finally it was our turn to ride. Jen and I rode the front seat of the last car. This seat is often one of my favorites; I get the thrill of being in the last car, but a get a good view by being in a front seat.

The ride is awesome. Up the curved incline to begin, then a false start then, zzzooooommmmm so incredibly steep curved down immediately through two loops. Then up through a braking section then zzzoooomm down again through a cork screw, then around and up and down and another cork screw right where our pictures are taken, I pointed at the ride op booth, screamed, "SHAKE BABY SHAKE!!" and then around one more shaky banked curve then slow then done.

WOW!!! I love that ride! Waved to the crowd in line, waved to the people in the station, the ride ops, everyone. I love it!

I checked out the picture for sale. I look possessed, pointing over at the booth, shouting something crazy. Bought it.

Waited for Brady and Carl to ride, then walked toward Batman The Ride. They had already ridden, so they went to eat and we parted ways. I got Carl's email address, so I'll write him when this entry is done.

The line for Batman was super long; we had to wait through almost the entire themed area, the Penguin's Arctic Park, then through construction and disarray of Gotham City, all privately funded by Mr Cobblepot.

Front car of Batman is an absolute must. I don't care in which seat I ride, but I have to ride in front after waiting all that time to ride. The train is about 7 cars long, 4 seats across per car. Hugely careening through the track this train sounds like a jet almost. It's amazing. Out of the station up the click click click, I pulled out my cell phone to call Wende. No answer. I tried both her numbers and pretty much used up about half the ride listening to the phone ring. That was cool. Worth the irony of having been able to shout, "GUESS WHAT??? WE'RE ON BATMAN!!!"

Too bad she didn't answer.

After Batman, we rode Ultra Twister. The line was super long, but I wanted to ride so Jen could experience it. Talking with Jen and taunting back and forth with two kids (they started it by tapping on my shoulder as they went by, then pretending not to have done it) helped the line waiting experience.

Got on, and the car began its ascent click click click click click click click CLUNk we stopped.

Jen and I were in the front seat, behind us were two adult types, behind them (last seat) were two kids affiliated in some manner with the two adults.

The kids asked worriedly, "why are we stopped?" "is there something wrong?" "when will we go again?"

None of these were questions that could be very well answered, so we made up delicously vague or teasingly scary answers. Eventually, it became apparent that "soon" was not the correct answer to any of these questions except maybe, "when will someone come see us?"

Jeremy came to see us. A ride op for Ultra Twister, he said basically, "the chain stopped, we'll get it going in a little bit. Hopefully."

Another ride op climbed the steps to tell the same thing to the people stopped at the top of the lift.

We joked back and forth and then I was all, "hey hey hey can you go get Jen's camera so we can take a picture of this?"

We told him where it was and he got it and Jen took a pic of the people above us.

Uh-oh. Wende! We were late to meet her! I pulled out my cell phone and called her. "Where are you?" I asked.

"Where are you??"

"We're on Ultra Twister. Stuck on Ultra Twister to be precise.." I told her how to come to the entrance of Batman where she would be able to see us. We waved back and forth once she got there and I called her again. "Hey, if we give you Jen's camera, will you take a picture of us?"

Negotiating how to get her the camera, then actually getting it to her, then having Wende get back to her spot, and teaching her how to use the camera (manual), took longer than it took for us to get unstuck. No picture.

Oh well.

The ride was great, with its ups and downs and twists, starts and stops, fowards and backwards, but no turns.

We were greeted by Wende at the end. Oh! and there's our friends who we were teasing with in line. "You got stuck on it??" they asked wide eyed.

"Yup," I said proudly. "Have a great day!"

Then we went to Looping Starship. This is a ride that gripped Wende's heart, mind, body with great fear. She had her reasons, and they were understandable, but I encouraged, taunted, begged, consoled, whatever it took to get her to ride it.

I love the ride. I let my leg dangle down while we were upside down, and a couple of people in line waved to me. Great fun.

Afterward Wende said, "it's something I would do again. I enjoyed it, and it was probably not worth all my boycotts for all those years. But it's scarier than a roller coaster to me."

Then, the ultimate. We debated for a while, "should we pay the extra money? well, we're already here. won't get many chances to do it. but it's $45. do we have enough?"

The Barnstormer is a ride where they wrap riders in big cloth tamales, tie them to a cable, pull them up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up, then the riders drop and SWWWWOOOSSHHHHH way down and SWIIINNNGGG way up and it's a thrill. I've never done it.

We did it. The line was short but took a long time. While Jen and Wen waited, I went and bought ice cream for me and Jen, a pretzel for Wende. I finished my ice cream before I had gotten Wende's pretzel so I bought an ice cream sandwich or something there.

"Hurry! Hurry!!" they were calling as I got back. We hogged down the food and got wrapped in tamales. Actually they were like big complicated smocks with leg straps and foot holders. We went down the walkway to wait a tad longer before our time to fly.

In front of us were a couple of high school-ish aged youth, including one named Marlin who was super duper nervous about the whole thing. Wende was totally sympathetic; they made nervous jokes and stuff while I just stood excitedly watching everything.

When it was their turn, we cheered them on as they were strapped to the cable in their tamales. Up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up they went higher higher higher with Marlin yelling gentle obscenities the whole way.

Once they reached the top, the ride op person spoke over the intercom, "fliers ready; 3 - 2 - 1 - fly..."

And one of them pulled the little cord and they dropped. Marlin yelled. They flew past us, flew up, flew back... the biggest coolest swing in the world and they were swinging big.

Marlin quit yelling frightenedly and yelled triumphantly! "YEEEAAAHHAHAHAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" We cheered him on.

They finished, got off the swing, we got on and exactly the same thing happened except it was Wende instead of Marlin.

Going up, I was being all teasing and Wende almost cried. I felt bad, but a bit gyped since she didn't let me put my arms out. I could have, but man when she cried I figured she was really scared.

We kept going up, and I got a tad nervous. Wow .. we're getting pretty high up here.. We stopped at the top. Now I know what 173 feet feels like.

"3 - 2 - 1 - fly" and we dropped.

Wow.

From 0 to 70 at 9.8 meters per second squared and we missed the ground by 10 feet as we flew up over the water and back down and up and down and wow. I yelled triumphantly, Jen did her Tarzan impression, and Wende enjoyed it after recognizing she was still alive.

Totally like flying we swung for as long as possible; I tried to hold the girls' hands back so we wouldn't catch the rope they used to slow us down. So much fun.

Then to the Texas Cyclone where the line was long but bearable after all the excitement, though my legs were pretty tired after standing up all day. I rode in the first seat in the back car and Wen and Jen rode together after that. It was fully dark outside, so a fun ride watching the lights. I honestly don't remember much about it, but I know I yelled happily and held my hands up high.

Waited for Wen and Jen and then we rode Dungeon Drop. This is a ride that simply takes riders straight up and drops them straight down for about 2.5 seconds of freefall. Maybe 2 seconds.

The park was closing so we were ushered toward the exit. What a super duper fabulous fun day! permalink