Heartland Tour

Hey guys, first independent trip report here so feedback is much appreciated. Sorry for the lateness, this trip was back in August.

 

Day 1:

 

My first day consisted of getting up extremely early for one of the first flights out of Denver to Chicago. (Stayed in Denver overnight.) I could already tell the day was off to a interesting start when we had to change planes.

 

 

I showed up late and they were in the late B group. Just as I was stepping onto the plane, they told us to hang on.

 

"TCAS system test fail" ~Automated voice from cockpit

 

If you an aviation enthusiast, or like me and fly a lot in a sim 737, you know that isn't good. Basically the system that tells aircraft where other planes are isn't working. We were also told that the INT system (basically the system that tells the plane where it's at) wasn't booting up properly up either.

 

About 30-40 minutes late (lucky me I got my original boarding position back) we were on our way.

 

 

I would be driving to this city tomorrow.

 

Looks like a nice day.

 

Okay, so we land at Midway only 10 minutes behind schedule, but the biggest factor in my day was about to play out. The rental car I had booked for my was under a weekend rate (killer deal), but the hitch was that I couldn't technically pick it up until noon. (Well after Great America opened.) But you can always try and the day was not agreeing with me. They were not even able to modify the reservation. I ended up waiting back at the airport for about 90 minutes before finally driving out. Now for part three. If you know anything about rental cars, is that if you use toll roads, it cost, a lot. So I had to take the alternate route through downtown. That wouldn't of been bad, but construction slows everything.

 

Hey, at least I got to see the Sears Tower!

 

Fast forward nearly two more hours and I finally pull into Great America. My next set off was when I had to park on the outer ring of the lots. I've been here before and I knew that was not a good sign. The closer I got to the gate the worse the feeling got. The bombshell was when I heard the words after scanning my season pass, "Do you have a friend you wanted to bring in?" Yep, it was the most dreaded day, BAFF Day. It was the only thing wasn't posted on the site. Needless to say, after looking at a few of the lines, I would need a Flash Pass. Knowing to even get one ride on everything I wanted, I forked up the $110 for the Platinum. ($105 after the season pass discount. 0.0) Oh, and I waited in line 30 minutes for that.

 

The Flash Pass basically got me on to rides without waiting. (I think many of their times were under posted.) As soon as I got scanned into a ride, I would reserve the next one and off I would go. If I didn't get one, I would of gotten maybe 5 rides if lucky.

 

Demon:

One of the few coasters I hadn't ridden here. This coaster doesn't get much crap for good reason. The only part that wasn't smooth was the corkscrews. However it wasn't unbearable. It is one of those rides though when you get off you say, "That was it?"

4/5

 

Raging Bull:

Probably on of the most underrated hypers of all time and still my favorite here after all these years. The only thing that kills it (well part of it) is those often talked about trims on the first airtime hill. Other then that, the other trims are not terrible and airtime all around. The back of course is the best for that airtime off the first hill.

5/5

 

X-Flight:

After deciding to skip the first go around due to a breakdown, I headed back for my second wing coaster. (After X2) I'm not a fan of inverted coasters so this seemed like a good compromise. The first drop however the restraint locked down very hard. After that, it really is a unique little coaster per say. The foot choppers and low to the ground track has a unique feeling to it. As we came to a stop on the brake run, my left arm felt numb. Turned out the restraint had locked down so hard, it was cutting of most of the circulation to my left arm. 0.0

4/5

 

Goliath:

Hooray for my 4th RMC and first, in my book, hybrid. (Lets not go there though. ) Probably the biggest perk of Platinum is that you get two rides on this puppy. The grouper asked if I wanted front or back so I ended up second from back. By the way, the security on this thing is a big deal, just confirming there are security guards here constantly. The first drop of course like any RMC has insane air time. After that? I wasn't that impressed. The was some air after the turn around, but the stall didn't do much for me. Also, the back is rough, I'd probably rate it as a 2000 woodie rough. The front was much much better which I was able to manage front row.

4/5

 

Loggers Run:

The only other ride I used my re-ride on because why not? (Plus the op asked.) My first go around I felt a jerk at the bottom of the main drop. Okay, more like a slam into the right side of the log. On the second go around I noticed at the bottom that the track abruptly jerked left. No matter how hard I tried the same result. The airtime on the double down though is pretty good for a log flume.

3/5

 

The Dark Night:

I actually enjoyed this wild mouse, smooth with some pretty cool effects.

4/5

 

Superman:

First flying coaster after passing on Tatsu this past July. It short and sweet, but it pack a punch. There are some good g-forces in there. I can understand some of the hate for being short.

4/5

 

Whizzer:

Always a fun coaster. The low to the ground track only heightens what is a great family coaster. Seems sadly enough that this coaster only has two trains now?

5/5

 

By that time my uncle had arrived, he thought he wanted to do Whizzer until seeing the line. We decided to head back to the only coaster I hadn't done that I had some interest in, American Eagle.

 

American Eagle:

Okay, I didn't like this coaster last time I was here but hey, lets give her a second chance. The airtime hill between the lift hill and helix was so drawn out that there was nearly zero airtime. The trims before the helix killed the part up to the second helix, and the serious trims before that one killed the rest. Oh, but we did race, until the helix. Both sides would purposely wait for each other so racing almost always happened which I liked. The red side which was the double ride side was untrimmed.

2/5

 

He was done for the day after that so I marathoned the Bull 6 times in a row and we left.

 

The obligatory shot.

 

The terrible panorama from the lot.

 

Day 2:

Not much interesting stuff to report, basically drove from a point 30 minutes from Great America to just south of Alton, Illinois. Caught up with family along the way.

 

This is the railyard you saw from the picture above.

 

This random picture of a train.

 

Day 3:

Silver Dollar City - My final big day as I drove from Alton to Branson and back in a day. (Four and half hours each way, yawn.) It rained on and off on the way down there and while it wasn't raining down there in Branson, the lightning stuck around. I decided to head straight for the back of the park to Outlaw Run. The weather moved out but there we were waiting in line. Maintenance must of had to power back on the ride as every other ride in the park had opened up. This ended up being the longest wait of the whole trip at 90 minutes.

 

Outlaw Run:

This ride is just chocked full of airtime, some of it ejector. However, I just couldn't get over how rough it was. Much like Goliath it doesn't seem to be doing to well. In fact, at my end of the day marathon I was starting to get light headed. The front like Goliath was better, but not to much. Despite its short length, it felt more complete. 6th RMC

4/5

 

Powder Keg:

One of the funkier rides out there. The launch is forceful and the airtime hill is under down so there is a great pop right there.

4/5

 

After that I took the cave tour which was great besides the fact just about halfway through I made the mistake of staying behind a couple whose child demanded that she walk herself by way of throwing a tantrum every time she was picked up. Long story short I never got to hear the guide again as the girl when she did walk was never able to keep up. I took tons of pictures which I'll upload. However this shot is one of the best.

 

 

Thundernation:

Always love the forces of a Arrow mine train. The airtime off the lift hill is great.

4/5

 

I hadn't been to Silver Dollar City since 2007 and not much has changed since. I skipped Wildfire as the line was just that big. One of the big things that annoyed me was that on a day that was obviously busy from opening is one train ops. This especially kills Outlaw Run as their method is seatbelt check, then restraint check. Also, the no re-ride policy is on the edge of ridiculous, I mean the last train of the day was nearly empty but no was allowed back on. Final thought, if your like me and are a ride guy, one visit every 5 years (at a minimum) is fine. If you are a themeing person you could spend a long time here.

 

Climbing out of the cave.

 

No train this time.

 

The main reason I came.

 

 

I miss our swing. (Ours was still down at this time.)

 

 

 

Day 4:

My final day was with my dad before we flew back the next day at Six Flags St. Louis. We decided to hit up the water park which was dead. I mean seriously, besides the near empty wave pool, there was only and I kid you not, only 20 people or so. It wasn't hard to know why, the whole drive until we were just about to the park was rain and overcast. After getting tired out in the waterpark we headed to dryer land.

 

American Thunder:

What else to say but an exceptional woodie. Still smooth after all these years. One train ops but they were doing good.

5/5

 

Justice League:

With it's history we knew we had to get in line asap. The line was just beyond the facade. The AC was working wonders, and we were on in less then an hour. The line moved well in some places and not so well in others. The cyborg was top quality and you can tell Six Flags wanted a top hitter dark ride. Both times we went everything was working great. The fireball caught me off guard. My only complaint was that the guns were not completely accurate, but once I figured it out, it was a piece of cake.

5/5

 

Pandemonium:

Glad to see that Fiesta Texas wasn't the only one to switch to a continuously moving station. Keeps everything moving well. As always a fun spinning coaster.

4/5

 

The Boss

Okay, self admission, I have never done the back before. I decided to play a game and figure out where exactly RMC had worked some magic. All the way until the first turn after the double drop was decent, and the helix wasn't as bad as I remembered. The air time in the back is great of course as I was hoping. The only bad luck I had that day was when they decided to stop loading the second train and leaded it, which takes a lot of time.

4/5

 

Screamin Eagle

Air time heaven as usual. Hasn't roughened all the years (~10) I've ridden it. Maybe HWFan or TNT can clarify, but I'm pretty sure the lap bars have been changed. Last time I was there they clicked all they way to your lap. This time I was given a generous 6-8 inches of room. (I never found the next click.) Feeling that airtime is amazing.

5/5

 

We headed back the way we came after that. A screen at JLBFM was out so we ate at the smokehouse watching the Cardinals. Got it line for 20 minutes if that, log flume, and the last ride on Thunder and we headed out. (The ops on the flume asked us if we wanted to stay on. Yes, we could of gone under the bridge, but my dad was done.) People always complain about this park because it doesn't have this or that, but this is one park I truly enjoy.

 

Another angle of the facade.

 

 

Nice new painted car.

 

 

 

 

Thanks guys for checking out my trip report, if you want to see some more pictures, here are the rest: http://s908.photobucket.com/user/ACER1238/slideshow/Midwest%20Su2015