Lunch TR: 5/30/06

I'm working all of 12 minutes now from Geauga Lake, so I decided to take a lunch break there on the first weekday it was open to the public.

My intention was just to bang out rides on Villain and Batinator, but I added Wolf Kabobs when I realized it had more retracking work.

Batinator is such a cool ride in terms of layout and such. But why is it uncharacteristically rough for a B&M? I can't imagine it's just the track because, well, it all comes from the same place. On this particular case, it seemed to be only in the turns, which meant nasty guide wheels. There wasn't a lot of lateral shifting, so I assume the springs were in good shape. I could see the guide wheel on the car ahead, and it was pretty nasty, but obviously I couldn't see the one I was sitting on. Still, fun ride!

Unfortunately, I wasn't really impressed with the crew, stacking two trains. One guy was moving in slow motion, while his supervisor working the other side was quick. I hope that first kids wakes up before things get busy.

I still feel a little dirty riding a former Legend train on Wolf Kabobs. :) They've now retracked through most of the ride, save for the last two or three turns. While the trains still shuffle a bit through the turns, the track gauge is a lot less sloppy and, that makes the ride a lot faster. I actually felt significant air time on the ride's hops! The particularly painful turn closest to Batinator feels far more rigid, and you can see the handy work of the Canadians. More rigid and frequent supports under the track mean less washboarding and wear over time. Make no mistake, this ride is suddenly a great wood coaster again!

Encouraged by this, I was anxious to get on The Villain. My anxiety was made worse by the fact that there was a 20-minute wait with one train, the line down the stairs. I was not pleased about this (not that I was anxious to get back to work). I won't hold smaller crews against the park, but making you wait is bad. Why is it bad? Ask the vandals who were molesting the walls under the station.

So there's good news and bad news about The Villain. The good news is that the bottoms of the drop are very smooth. The bad news is that I think they stopped at the pull-outs, which hurt like hell. And there's one spot coming off the last turn that absolutely hurt my back. Grrrrr. I love this ride, but it's still not to its opening year glory. Crossing my fingers that next year will be the year!

I didn't get over to the water park, but overall, I'm still amazed every time I enter the park how, well, un-Six Flags it is. It's so clean and painted. It just "feels" like the Geauga Lake of the 80's again. My only issue, on a 90 degree day, is that I hope they'll consider replacing all of that black top with concrete going forward, they way they have at Cedar Point the last ten years or so. Not only is it super hot, but it stinks in the hot sun as well. Judging by an area by Texas Twister, and the water park, I suspect concrete will be the surface of choice going forward.

Can't wait to get over to the water park soon!

Sounds like a good time. My first trip to GL was last year and I am looking forward to going again. Wolf Kabobs is my favorite coaster there...especially where some of the turns get tighter as you go around them.

Speaking of lunch, did you eat there? If so, is it any better?

No, I didn't eat there, but as far as I could tell, the food stands that were open had the same old crap that I'm not that interested in eating. I guess that makes me exactly the kind of customer they don't want, someone who shows up, rides a little, and never spends any money. I hope when I have the time (and money) to spend for a longer visit, that they have some better stuff than last year. One can't live on burgers and pizza alone (especially since I don't eat beef).

Sounds like the fruit cart is not a company wide deal. I was sort of hoping it would be.

Jeff said:
One can't live on burgers and pizza alone (especially since I don't eat beef).

You know, those burgers probably don't have any real beef in them anyway.... ;)

One can't live on burgers and pizza alone (especially since I don't eat beef).

Oh, so you're one of those veterinarians? ;)

Hopefully, the food has improved since last year. I seem to remember getting a pretty decent hot dog.

Jeff said:

Batinator is such a cool ride in terms of layout and such. But why is it uncharacteristically rough for a B&M? I can't imagine it's just the track because, well, it all comes from the same place. On this particular case, it seemed to be only in the turns, which meant nasty guide wheels. There wasn't a lot of lateral shifting, so I assume the springs were in good shape. I could see the guide wheel on the car ahead, and it was pretty nasty, but obviously I couldn't see the one I was sitting on. Still, fun ride!

I am glad I'm not the only one to really notice this problem. I had never been to the park until last season, and I was really surprised by how rough Dominator was. It wasn't really headbanging rough, but a nasty vibration that left me with a major headache. I've heard that a lot of the newer B&M coasters have this problem, especially B:TDK, Patriot, and Hydra. This leads me to believe that the vibration I felt may not be the result of poor maintenance, but rather some sort of problem with the design. To make a long story short, Dominator's roughness was the primary reason I chose not to get a GL add-on to my CP pass this year. The only rides there I really enjoyed were X-Flight and RWB, but neither was enough to justify going there instead of CP, since GL is only about 30 minutes closer. It's too bad that it's rough like that, because otherwise it would be a really cool ride. *** Edited 5/31/2006 7:57:41 PM UTC by lettuce***

Ive noticed the roughness on Dominator reflects the weight inside the train. If the train is 1/2 empty it runs more rough then if the train was full. Was this the case with you Jeff, or was the train actually full? If so, I don't know!

I doubt Jeff is a vegetarian, it just sounds like he's not 'eating like a moron' anymore to put it in his words. ;)

Good TR though. If I went to an amusement park on my lunch break it'd further cement my spot as the 'company amusement park wacko' that I already have.

Yeah, no red meat for me. I still eat lots of chicken.

I keep it on the down low at work about what I do at lunch.

They figured it out by the wallpapers, stickers on my truck, my tshirts, and the fact I've been at the park a lot already. And possibly because I've asked for dates/hours off with the reasoning 'Media Day, Coastermania, Timbersfest'. That tends to give it away.

I'm still trying to cut out my fast food (which I've been pretty successful doing) and I've cut way down on the red meat. I can't say I've done away with it entirely yet. I still like a steak or burger once every week or two. Kudos to you and your will power.

Beef-free for 14 months.

Timbersfest won't have beer. You're going to the wrong event.

Sheesh, even when I try to stay away from the Beastbuzz threads, I'm still reminded about what I'm going to be missing. *POUT*

Ah well, the Dean Martin Festival is supposed to be really kick a$$ (and Steubensville is only an hour from Kennywood).