tpau insisted we get front row seats, and considering that it was only 10:15, the wait for front row was nice and entertaining. So, we went on the world's #1 roller coaster. *Twice*. With the whooshing and the twisting and the rising and the falling and the Oh My God, we're totally falling upside down feeling.Next, we went on the Mind Eraser, which has always been one of my favourites. The line was short enough that we could have just walked across the landing and gotten back on the end of the line, but the line attendant wouldn't let us. Sadness.
We also went on Batman: The Dark Knight in White Satin, which would totally have been the best roller coaster *evar*, but it's too short. It's got some lovely sweeping barrel rolls and corkscrews and twists and turns, but it reminded me of the thing I hate about modern roller coasters - the way the come to a crashing halt at the end. I wish they had the space to allow the coaster to spend all of its energy on the rolling so that it could coast to a stop.
The rest of the day was filled with lots of other rides, roller coasters mostly, a few water rides, and we took a gander at both of the new rides. Catapult is nothing but a fancy version of the Pirate Ship that has 360 degrees of swing, but, from where we sat, its movement looked too controlled. The silly thing is that there is a similar ride, the Time Warp, that is *rhgt next to it* and Time Warp is obviously a better ride. Let's do the Time Warp again.
The new ride we actually tried was Splashwater Falls. It was a mildly entertaining family tube coaster, but no one actually got splashed at any point (I suppose some would call this a feature). The tube had some nice corkscrew turns and whatnot, and large patches of rough in the half-pipe which made the tube twist and turn all the way down. It was fun, but totally not worth much of a wait.
And in the middle of it all was the Sky Coaster. Last time I was here, the Sky Coaster had closed early. Previously to that, we had never gotten a good look at it, so all we knew was that it costs extra. But once seeing what it was, I knew I had to ride it. In essence, the Sky Coaster is a ginormous swingset. You get loaded up into a kevlar apron - note to those female types, naughtly pillows do not make this ride more comfortable - and hoisted 115 feet in the air. 115 feet is not the height of the top of the swingset, it is the height of you at the apex of your swing.
So, you're dangling 115 feet in the air, supported by nothing but a single cable and a kevlar apron, and then they tell you to pull the rip cord. That's the scary part. And, like a little kid who swung just a leetle too high, the ground comes rushing up to meet you, thinks better of it, and runs away. Well worth the extra money. Well worth the wait. Well worth the dorktastic aprons. Well worth the safety instructions in broken English.
We upgraded (with no middleman fee) our reg'lar tickets to Season Tickets, because we totally need to go again. It'll be 12 hours of Roller Coasters, Dippin' Dots, french fries, and soda pop. I can't wait.
