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Kemah Boardwalk At 215 Kipp Ave.

Fierce Pancake

By Fierce Pancake
in Coastal Prairie and Bay

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pupsdaddy

pupsdaddy

Posted
Posted

OK, full disclosure: I'm the guy in the Channel 13 story and also the guy in the Chronicle article.

I didn't get my 100 rides, but I did get 97. I forgot that they closed the coaster at 10pm instead of 11pm on weekdays, so I miscalculated my time.

Bottom line: the thing ROCKS. Yeah, it's just got the one big drop, but it's better than TxCyclone's. Yeah, it's mostly just turns, but you take them at blinding speed. It's relentless, intense, and FUN.

Is it a white-knuckler? Not to me, but I haven't been scared by a coaster in decades. I will tell you, though, that I rarely put my hands up on it. There is so much going on that it takes several rides just to figure it all out.

I recommend that you don't judge your enjoyment (or lack thereof) until at least 5 rides. Honestly, after my very first ride (in the front seat, no less!), I was pretty underwhelmed. The next couple of rides were a little better, but I attributed that to riding farther back in the train. The more I rode it, however, the more I liked it. It's now in my top 10 (out of nearly 500).

This is a singularly unique ride and an engineering marvel. I've never seen a coaster with banked turns right up against the building boundary. There are NO braces on the outside of some of these turns, all of the support structure is coming from inside the radius of the turn. There is significant flex in the structure, especially on the turns by the bay. When the train screams around the turn, the structure flexes about two feet(!) It's a blast to watch.

Oddly enough, waiting in line is almost as much fun as riding. The queue weaves in and out of the track layout, and trainloads of riders rumble around, over, and under you while you wait. Pay attention, because there are portions of the track that are nearly invisible from anywhere other than the queue... if you wait until you ride to discover these, they will kick your butt.

If you catch the Bullet on a sluggish day, it's a decent ride. If you catch it right after a good rain, it's world-class. "Dry" runs were going brake to brake at around 1:50. Rain rides were clocking a full 9 seconds faster at 1:41.

Word to the wise: if you simply HAVE to put up your arms on the first drop, bring them back down before you get to the bottom. The 15 or so seconds from the top of the first drop to the top of the next big hill is perhaps the most intense section of coaster track anywhere on earth. You'll want to hang on for that part.

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Vertigo58

Vertigo58

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OK, full disclosure: I'm the guy in the Channel 13 story and also the guy in the Chronicle article.

I didn't get my 100 rides, but I did get 97. I forgot that they closed the coaster at 10pm instead of 11pm on weekdays, so I miscalculated my time.

Bottom line: the thing ROCKS. Yeah, it's just got the one big drop, but it's better than TxCyclone's. Yeah, it's mostly just turns, but you take them at blinding speed. It's relentless, intense, and FUN.

Is it a white-knuckler? Not to me, but I haven't been scared by a coaster in decades. I will tell you, though, that I rarely put my hands up on it. There is so much going on that it takes several rides just to figure it all out.

I recommend that you don't judge your enjoyment (or lack thereof) until at least 5 rides. Honestly, after my very first ride (in the front seat, no less!), I was pretty underwhelmed. The next couple of rides were a little better, but I attributed that to riding farther back in the train. The more I rode it, however, the more I liked it. It's now in my top 10 (out of nearly 500).

This is a singularly unique ride and an engineering marvel. I've never seen a coaster with banked turns right up against the building boundary. There are NO braces on the outside of some of these turns, all of the support structure is coming from inside the radius of the turn. There is significant flex in the structure, especially on the turns by the bay. When the train screams around the turn, the structure flexes about two feet(!) It's a blast to watch.

Oddly enough, waiting in line is almost as much fun as riding. The queue weaves in and out of the track layout, and trainloads of riders rumble around, over, and under you while you wait. Pay attention, because there are portions of the track that are nearly invisible from anywhere other than the queue... if you wait until you ride to discover these, they will kick your butt.

If you catch the Bullet on a sluggish day, it's a decent ride. If you catch it right after a good rain, it's world-class. "Dry" runs were going brake to brake at around 1:50. Rain rides were clocking a full 9 seconds faster at 1:41.

Word to the wise: if you simply HAVE to put up your arms on the first drop, bring them back down before you get to the bottom. The 15 or so seconds from the top of the first drop to the top of the next big hill is perhaps the most intense section of coaster track anywhere on earth. You'll want to hang on for that part.

That's great! Nothing like a true testimonial!

Can't wait to ride. :lol:

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Pumapayam

Pumapayam

Posted
Posted
OK, full disclosure: I'm the guy in the Channel 13 story and also the guy in the Chronicle article.

I didn't get my 100 rides, but I did get 97. I forgot that they closed the coaster at 10pm instead of 11pm on weekdays, so I miscalculated my time.

Bottom line: the thing ROCKS. Yeah, it's just got the one big drop, but it's better than TxCyclone's. Yeah, it's mostly just turns, but you take them at blinding speed. It's relentless, intense, and FUN.

Is it a white-knuckler? Not to me, but I haven't been scared by a coaster in decades. I will tell you, though, that I rarely put my hands up on it. There is so much going on that it takes several rides just to figure it all out.

I recommend that you don't judge your enjoyment (or lack thereof) until at least 5 rides. Honestly, after my very first ride (in the front seat, no less!), I was pretty underwhelmed. The next couple of rides were a little better, but I attributed that to riding farther back in the train. The more I rode it, however, the more I liked it. It's now in my top 10 (out of nearly 500).

This is a singularly unique ride and an engineering marvel. I've never seen a coaster with banked turns right up against the building boundary. There are NO braces on the outside of some of these turns, all of the support structure is coming from inside the radius of the turn. There is significant flex in the structure, especially on the turns by the bay. When the train screams around the turn, the structure flexes about two feet(!) It's a blast to watch.

Oddly enough, waiting in line is almost as much fun as riding. The queue weaves in and out of the track layout, and trainloads of riders rumble around, over, and under you while you wait. Pay attention, because there are portions of the track that are nearly invisible from anywhere other than the queue... if you wait until you ride to discover these, they will kick your butt.

If you catch the Bullet on a sluggish day, it's a decent ride. If you catch it right after a good rain, it's world-class. "Dry" runs were going brake to brake at around 1:50. Rain rides were clocking a full 9 seconds faster at 1:41.

Word to the wise: if you simply HAVE to put up your arms on the first drop, bring them back down before you get to the bottom. The 15 or so seconds from the top of the first drop to the top of the next big hill is perhaps the most intense section of coaster track anywhere on earth. You'll want to hang on for that part.

Great review!

A two minute ride ain't bad, but does that include the climb up the hill?

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pupsdaddy

pupsdaddy

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re: two minute ride, include the lift hill?

It's only 60-70 seconds from the top of the lift to the brakes. I give it a big spread because it's a very temperamental coaster. I've actually seen it hit 75 seconds a time or two. The running speed that day will depend on the heat, humidity, how long the coaster has been running that day, whether it has rained recently, how much graphite they applied to the track that morning, etc etc etc. This coaster seems to be more susceptible to those factors than most, primarily because of the turn-intensive layout. There isn't any straight track after you clear the lift hill.

Oh, and I'm up to 233 rides now.

:D

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Vertigo58

Vertigo58

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re: two minute ride, include the lift hill?

It's only 60-70 seconds from the top of the lift to the brakes. I give it a big spread because it's a very temperamental coaster. I've actually seen it hit 75 seconds a time or two. The running speed that day will depend on the heat, humidity, how long the coaster has been running that day, whether it has rained recently, how much graphite they applied to the track that morning, etc etc etc. This coaster seems to be more susceptible to those factors than most, primarily because of the turn-intensive layout. There isn't any straight track after you clear the lift hill.

Oh, and I'm up to 233 rides now.

:D

Does it feel anything like the Texas Cyclone used to? I remember it would toss us around to where your bones or shoulders smacked the sides as we turned and junk.

What about the final spiral whip around? Does it do that like Texas Cylcone used to? If you sat in the last 3-4 seats you got the full impact of trauma and euphoria.

Silly question but can't help but wonder who was the 1st person to actually barf on The Bullet yet? :wacko:

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pupsdaddy

pupsdaddy

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How do you ride it that much, do you work for them?

Nope. There is rarely a line on weekdays. I will sometimes go there after work and catch the last two hours of operation (8-10pm). Normally, I don't even have to get out of the car, since there isn't anyone waiting for my seat.

I average 20-30 rides every time I go there.

...and I'm at 261 now. I've been slacking, since I'm in the middle of buying a house.

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HtownWxBoy

HtownWxBoy

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The roller coaster has been shut down for a long time due to "off season maintenance" (per their web site). Wonder what's going on? I'm sure they would like to have it up and running during the holiday season.

That sux. I drove all the way down from Houston several weeks back on my day off to ride it and it was closed! It was a weekday afternoon and noone was there... wasn't sure if that was why.

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Karick42

Karick42

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I will never forget seeing the destruction and flooding of the Boardwalk when they were showing it on KHOU. I was in complete shock. It's pretty surreal to see damage like that and think back to the times when you have visited those places, especially Galveston.

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CandW

CandW

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I was just down there yesterday...it still looks pretty bad...I didn't stop in, just went through the area with the in-laws to show them some of what happened. They are from Montana and wanted to do the tourist thing, lol...I can tell you this, Galveston is hot stepping their recovery effort...lots of bars/restaraunts already back in business...Strand looked sad with all the soot left over...but even that is moving forward pretty quickly.

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PapillionWyngs

PapillionWyngs

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I remember when they first built the boardwalk - before the Grand Opening, they had what we in the business call a "soft" opening, meaning they just opened everything and hope people would show up...

There was a storm later in the week, and the boardwalk flooded.

That was sad enough, now this!

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