coasters!

FINALLY got out and about this past weekend and hit some big-time coasters. For now I'll hit a few highlights and maybe do a detailed wrap-up and analysis later. Busch Gardens Williamsburg rules, right up there in the best of the best parks I've been to, and Paramount's Kings Dominion surprised me with how good it was. (I had expected worse given my experience at the mismanaged PKI some years back.) Waits were never longer than an hour on anything that I can remember except when Hypersonic broke down twice in a row. But hey, there's Hypersonic for ya.

Starting off with BGW... Alpengeist blew me away--easily, easily the best inverted coaster I've ever been on and I can't imagine anything else getting close. Its speed is unbelieveable and adds a new dimension to the already intense inverted experience. It could actually be the best B&M I've ever been on and that obviously speaks volumes. Apollo's Chariot was awesome as well and near the top of my speed coaster ranks but not on Alpie's level. Reminded me of those blissful Raging Bull weekends back in the day in which the two-minute wild ride was easily worth the hour-plus wait over and over again, weekend after weekend. Apollo's Chariot is that kind of speed coaster. Big Bad Wolf was sweet and was even kinda in the same league as the other two, and had an impressive wildness to it for a suspended. Nessie was actually a slight disappointment not only because I expected more from an old-school Schwarzkopf looper but because it's the first coaster ever to make my neck snap painfully and audibly. Not cool. And it has a severe flat-ride vacuum too--it's hard to make teacups suck but BGW slowed the damn things down so much they managed to do it. But three power-packed coasters and excellent theming make BGW the closest thing to an enthusiasts' heaven in the northeastern U.S.

Then there was PKD...not on Busch's level but a good park in its own right. Volcano is easily the best coaster in the park methinks, not the most intense but the best. The vertical blast-off is freakin' awesome and it holds its speed and intensity very well. Hypersonic has the best launch of any coaster out there with that insane acceleration, but after that it's human vs. coaster in a struggle to survive the beating it dishes out. Not even SOB or the meanest Arrow loopers can match the shuffling and headbanging this thing puts you through. You know there's a problem when you can watch trains coming around to the station and see the front car doing the Dinn Shuffle on steroids back and forth on the track like it doesn't even have wheels. My first ride was probably my most painful on any coaster save my vertebrae-shattering experience on the Boss a couple years ago. The launch and climb were great and then my head got slammed back so hard I think I actually blacked out for maybe half a second or so, as the next thing I remember is starting the downhill with my glasses dangling from one side of my mouth. The splitting headache was barely bearable and almost put a damper on the rest of the day. I actually did go back to ride it again and it wasn't as bad the second time around, but like hell I'll ride in that front car again. Congrats Hypo, you are the first coaster to both black me out and knock my glasses off, on the same ride no less. As for other stuff, it was good but not tons better than similar rides at other parks. The theming on the gravitron was a nice twist though. Too bad that was the only cool flat ride in the park. Again, a good park, but if one were to spend a day in the area it would be best spent at BGW.

That covers it for now. Maybe more to come, if I'm not in too much pain tomorrow to do jack. But I'll at least add a picture on here...