Rode Cheetah at Wild Adventures this weekend

I had a chance to ride Cheetah at Wild Adventures on Saturday, April 2. The re-tracking is done on this woodie. How does it ride? Well, it's a lot better than what it had been. The last time I rode it, it felt like I was sitting on a jackhammer. It was definitely in the top 10 POC. Now, if you ride the front seat, the ride is pretty smooth, but not too intense. You get a few moments of OK airtime. The further back you go, it gets pretty rough. The back seat felt the fastest, but also the roughest. In any case, I rode Cheetah 5 times. It's not a bad coaster, but not top 10.

I also headed up to Carowinds on Sunday. The first two hours was just dead! I was able to do all the coasters except for Goldrusher (down until the afternoon) and the Super Saturator (down due to high winds). Speaking of winds, Carowinds really takes up its name. Boy, was it windy! I was seating lunch at the outdoor seating at the Happy Days Diner. My lunch was just about to blow away! The only indoor seating restaurant (the chicken place, I forget the name) was closed. I think the longest wait all day was 45 minutes for Stealth, er, Borg Assimilator. It broke down and went to a 1 train operation. Earlier in the day, the wait was 15 minutes.

Still, it was a fun weekend. Saturday had really terrible traffic. I wanted to head up to SFOG because I was done with WA by 2, but traffic was backed up on I-75 for miles. I headed to I-95 to hit Charlotte via I-26 and I-77, but I-95 was backed up for miles every 20 miles or so. Hotels were sold out left and right. I was able to find a roach motel about a mile off I-77 on some backroad. I wonder why traffic was so bad. I know it was Spring Break for many places in GA and SC, but what the heck was going on?

Glad you had fun despite the traffic...just think, in 4 weeks you'll have even worse traffic!!!

Elissa "I-95 always sucks!" Alvey

I'm so not looking forward to L.A. traffic! But hey, it can't be that bad. In "24," Jack drove from downtown L.A. to the suburbs in 3 minutes!

You're right...

If you see it in a movie or tv it's true!!!

Elissa "hates that show!!!" Alvey

Traffic is one of the reasons I would not follow my brother to Long Beach, L.A. traffic is THE WORST, we would get traffic in Santa Cruz, but it would slow, usually always move, even if its just 5 or 10 MPH, but L.A. is stop and go, and by the time I reach where I'm going, I'm ready for Blood

Albuquerque has very little traffic, unless one of the many crappy drivers crashes into someone, which happens way to much here, on very straight roads.

Cheetah is a CCI, and not very old, did they just not take care of it, or has it always been rough?, the Rattler is a little rough, but nothing thats not expected, actually I would describe it as intense, and the only time I notice a bit of accesive bumpyness is throught the tunnel, and its still not to bad, as it is VERY dry here

post deleted.........

Without any engineering expertise at all; let me go out on a limb with this one.

Most of the CCIs that are built on a steel structure get a bad rep. I think this has something to do with the force not being equally applied to all parts of the structure. Since the base is all built out of steel, it doesn't absorb the force, vibrations, etc as well and instead applies the abuse to the track itself. I would even lump Ghost Rider into this category because the support structure is nearly as "solid" as the steel based.

Less support movement = faster ride (one of the reasons Raven and Boulder Dash are so popular), but the trade off is the abuse the track takes.

I could be completely wrong, but it makes sense in my sick mind.

^^Sorry, I didn't see anyone with a TTD shirt on.

Upon further review, the Cheetah does NOT have PTC trains, it has Gerstlauer trains, from what I have heard (i'm no expert) these trains are not as good as PTC trains at all

How good would the SCBB Giants Dipper be with PTC trains?

I'm not sure it has much to do with the steel structure, as the Rattler, which is almost the same age, rides pretty smooth. I believe it really has to do with the trains, maybe someone with a bit more experience riding both stye of train could answer.

Or it could be how well they take care of the ride. Cliff's takes VERY good care of all thier rides, so that could be the diffrence. Thier Rocko-Plano almost looked new, and it is very old

here's a pic

Cliffs Rock-o Plane-o moved and looking like it was made yesterday

I'm all about Gerstlauer trains! Personally, I really dislike PTC's. I wish every woodie utilized G-Trains.

-kip-

I'm all about PTC trains! Personally, I really dislike G-trains. I wish every woodie utilized PTC trains.

But my real preference is GCII Millenium Flyers.

// Everyone's got their own opinions.

I also think that PTC's seem to track much better. I do, however, don't mind the Gerstlauer's as much since they've made some changes to the restraints so you don't kill your legs. When I coaster seems to be running decent with Gerstlauer's, it's just as good as any coaster running decent with PTC's. Villain, MegaZeph, and Legend in their first couple years of operation are good examples.

My last rides on Villain, though were VERY rough. I don't know if that was due to the trains, the lack of maintenance, or both.

I would prefer PTC's over Gerstlauer's, but if it's a ride that is in good condition, I'll take either!

On another note, oddly enough, I really liked the Vekoma trains that were on Robin Hood and Loup Garou more than I thought I would!

--Robb

^The trains didn't seem to track very well (kind of did the Leap the Dips Shuffle), but they were comfy as hell so I could overlook the shuffling!

Elissa "nothing beats the Roller Coaster trains!" Alvey

I prefer GCI Millennium Flyers or NAD trains over any, PTC's are my last choice, except some of the one like Cornball or Triple Hurricane have ... I don't feel so restricted in them.