Jarrett
Most Obnoxious Member 2016
August 2015: I woke up one morning, looked at the clock, and hopped on my laptop. I knew what day it was. Today was the day Dollywood was to announce their new addition to the park, the infamous rumored Lightning Rod launched wooden coaster. I got onto the stream, waited impatiently as Dolly put on some ridiculous show, and finally, it was time. The Lightning Rod name, theme, and launched wooden coaster concept was unveiled. Finally, it was time. Through an off-color filmed image of a projector screen five hours away at Dollywood, a video featuring upbeat fifties music depicted vintage footage of classic cars. Finally, a CGI rendering flashed up over the screen showing an RMC with hot rod-themed trains doing some weird double hill thing before blitzing around a terrain layout. And as much as I hated the theme and knowing I'd be tormented with god-awful fifties music if I went, I knew I needed it. I needed it badly.
December 2015: My friend Ben and my new girlfriend Emily with whom he had set me up drive through the winding mountain roads of the Ozarks singing "Edge of Glory" as obnoxiously as possible. Finally, rounding the corner, a large, twisting red B&M emerged from the barren brown forest as all three of us absolutely lost it with excitement. We stepped out of the car into the frigid air. After a tram ride into the park, we made a bee-line back for Outlaw Run. My hands shaking, I crossed under the Wilson Farm sign to see a short but powerful wooden structure emerge from behind Fire in the Hole. I absolutely lost it, embraced Emily with excitement, and kissed her. I ran right to the queue line only to be told it was down for weather.
March 2015: Dollywood is putting up Lightning Rod board by board, sensor by sensor, beam by beam, and they're crunching it to get the world's first launched wooden coaster (and supposedly my first RMC) done for Coaster Crew's Lightning Rod Round Up on opening day. I'm pumped and nervous for it, I'm stalking employee Instagrams in class, and I'm working on my RCT3 project inspired by this new coaster. Then one fateful Tuesday, it's nice out, I go outside and stick the "Adrenaline Junkie" sticker my girlfriend got me for Christmas on my car and post a picture to Facebook calling it my "tricked out ride to the event." Then I go inside and mess around online for a bit. The next thing I know, there's a post on my wall about something from a CFer, Emily's sending me screenshots and sad faces, and Facebook is absolutely surging with activity over this little orange bar on Dollywood's website confirming our worst fears; Dollywood had postponed Lightning Rod's passholder night opening.
So I'm at home alone as my family enjoys a March Madness game and I'm being fat (now no longer needing to fit into an RMC) eating my weight in ranch stuffed crust meat lover's pizza and drinking away my misery talking to my girlfriend about how emo depressed we are and how I thought RMC was unbeatable when it came to opening rides (until Six Flags gets involved and messes it up) and how it sucks that RMC hates us and how I wish we could have gone to Silver Dollar City.
But wait! We could just go to SDC instead! A little electrical engineering fail wouldn't keep us away from an RMC any longer!
Day -1
After fun in diffeq, I came home and had a lunch of leftover pizza from my drunk night of trip booking. After I got home, my mom and I went to go get the car with my mom!
Our stagecoach to head west!
After waiting around, I drove up to Toledo to find that Emily was waiting for me there for ten minutes. Ashamed, I still hugged and kissed her and we got on the road to BGSU.
BGSU was absolutely dead due to the fact that it was St. Patty's Day and everybody was out drinking. We had a fun time being fat at the buffet and talking to Ben and getting a tour of BGSU...but everybody that wasn't Ben was drunk and some idiot knocked this over with their car. Evading sobriety checkpoints, we booked it out of BGSU and drove home under starry skies. I showed Emily that you can get Corona at gas stations in the US and that they have entire beer caves and she thought that was weird. Finally, we got home and had Corona together before getting to bed.
Day 0
So that morning I woke up by Emily's side, risked my life waking her up, and got her in the car to get on the road to Silver Dollar City! After a quick pit stop to get gas, we swung by Taco Bell in Terre Haute. After a no sweat, no flood, no entitled disrespectful jerks on Skype calls drive through Illinois, we got to St. Louis! We got lost in St. Louis again (and Em almost called Ben to scream at him for old time's sakes) and ended up having to turn around in a parking garage in a hotel after getting directions from the valet there. Once we were through there, it was smooth sailing down 44 (which ran right along the old Route 66, quite cool considering Route 66 was the theme of my Lightning Rod-inspired RMC) and right into Branson!
My lovely welcome to Missouri? Nearly stepped in a hillbilly's tobacco juice at a Phillips 66!
Branson itself was like Pigeon Forge Jr. If Pigeon Forge is hillbilly Vegas, Branson is hillbilly Atlantic City. Last time we went there we stayed almost adjacent to the park at Indian Point, this time we ended up staying in town. After settling in, we got on the road to go meet Rob and Angie (another enthusiast couple from Kentucky) at Olive Garden. So we sat there and laughed and talked smack about drama going on in the enthusiast community over breadsticks, soup, and pasta. After that, Em and I got going back to the hotel to rest up for an exciting day at Silver Dollar City the next day!
Day 1
Emily and I woke up that fateful morning and headed right to the park, stoked for Outlaw Run. Branson traffic was a tad annoying but we still got there just a little bit after opening and met Rob and Angie.
Here we go!
We headed in and firs tried to defy Angie's Powder Keg curse. The previous day they had been there and Powder Keg ended up breaking as soon as she said its name, we we were cautious about our luck there. We didn't even say "Powder Keg" and just called it "Dust Barrel." Well we get there...and it's too cold to open it yet! Ignoring that, we decided to wait and get Wildfire since we were right there. Aaaand Wildfire's line was out the plaza. So we went back to the main reason we took this trip, Outlaw Run!
I had seen this before but to see it again with a train clattering up the lift set me off a little less than it did in December.
To actually see the interior of the station for this coaster after staring in from behind a chain last time was absolutely surreal. They themed it out the nose, it looks exactly like you're about to travel into the Western frontier, and considering how this coaster was a frontier for me, it felt absolutely perfect. With just a station wait, I attempted to stand still, clapping and jumping up and down and fangirling as Rob and Angie laughed and Emily just looked on knowing she does the same thing. Finally, the time came for me to cram my fat arse into the front row of those RMC trains. The ride op checked my restraint, explained to a new guy how to tell if someone's too fat to ride, and told me I was good to go as I bounced up and down in my seat, ecstatic to finally be on one of these RMCs.
About to ride!
Oh my god it was so worth the return trip there alone! They dispatched the train as that lovely orchestral riff kicked off our journey west. "RMC!!!! RMC!!! RMC!!!!!" I chanted as the chain clattered, pulling us 107 feet above the Ozarks. Finally, we got a gorgeous view of the other coasters and Table Rock Lake before turning to the side. "HERE WE GO!!!!!" I screamed as the train plunged down the drop, kicking me with a bit of floater. At the bottom of the drop, those lovely wooden coaster clicks and rattles started to tick away at the trains. The train then snaps into the 153, leaving you with a good bit of floater and a nice disorienting snap. From there, the train flies through a zero-g transition that kicks you with a fair bit of ejector. From there, the train barrels through another turn and into the first of two insane ejector hills. After that thing blasts you with negative force, you enter an overbank under the lift that provides quite the headchopper. Coming out of that, you get a bit of floater followed by the wave turn. The wave turn provides both floater and lateral force in one of the freakiest elements I've ever experienced (I'm sure Lightning Rod's will be even better). Coming out of that, you turn into the second extremely powerful ejector hill. Coming out of that, you turn into the element I underestimated the most; the ride's signature double barrel roll. The combination of the climb and hangtime creates some powerful ejector hangtime (didn't even know that was a thing), the second not only does that but those slowly transfer to laterals as it curves out and into the brakes. It slowly eases into the brakes as the sound of a horse stopping plays over the speakers and the end-of-ride spiel plays. I felt beaten, frazzled, surprised, and completely exhilarated. The last looping wooden coaster I rode was Son of Beast (currently holds a lovely spot in my bottom 10) and this was day and night compared to that. The smooth, twisty layout was the perfect blend of ejector and aggressive twisting that didn't let up that's exactly what I look for in a coaster. This fantastic ride shot right to my number one wooden spot (number two combined), and Emily's number two wood spot behind El Toro.
However, we couldn't just ride an RMC and walk away like nothing happened! Going for rerides before the line got long, we sat down and pulled our restraints down only to see Angie couldn't get hers down. Some of the people were still stuck in from the last ride, the restraints were stuck closed! We were trapped in there for fifteen minutes as Angie got pictures of us and we laughed over it.
Still, a victory's a victory, especially after last time!
Wanting to push our luck, we headed over to the two hard to photograph rides, starting with Angie's coaster curse [strike]Powder Keg[/strike] Dust Barrel. We refused to call it by its actual name since Angie doing that is what broke this coaster the previous day, so called it Dust Barrel. After a horribly slow wait because it's a capacity nightmare, we finally it the station as Angie started to get really nervous she'd get spited. The ride ops in the station took a few digs at me for wearing shorts with so much wind chill as the line shrunk in front of us. I was also the only one not surprised at the transfer track onto the launch. Finally, after screaming "Powder Keg!" loudly just to spite Angie, we were up! We sat down in those vile S&S seats (seriously, guys, employ me and I'll redesign those so they don't crush your spine) and we were up to blast! I had to explain to Emily that the air launch mechanism was a bit different than other launch mechanisms. And how right I was! That launch kicks ****, there's nice airtime all over the ride, and its pretty intense too! Definitely my favorite steel coaster at the park, no questions asked! I loved this thing!
Up next was the last major cred Emily and I needed, Wildfire! Didn't get many pictures in the queue which made me sad (I was too busy gawking over the false engineering drawings on the wall) but I loved the theme of this ride. It really feels like an old school engineer's lab, god knows how many times Emily had to pull me away from something I was staring at. Finally, we got to the end of the line and buckled in as Emily explained to me that we couldn't date anymore if I thought RMC was better than Intamin. But after I got over the cool theme, the enginerd in me turned from cool 1880's drawings to 2000's steel adrenaline. Sadly, the ride didn't quite live up to the theming. Was it better than Kumba (the other B&M sitdown I've ridden)? Yes. But compared to most traditional non-inverted sitdown loopers, it wasn't anything standout. I hit my head way more than I would have liked, I found it really short, and nothing really took me by surprise. Just about the only standout thing it had going for it was the terrain which it didn't even use that well, it felt like it was more designed to deal with the terrain than work with it. Did I have fun? Yes. But is this Walter and Claude's finest work? No. As Emily would say, ew B&M.
With all the other major creds out of the way, the marathoner I happen to have fallen in love with decided to do her thing...on an RMC!
Queue line selfie! Waits were about 45 minutes per lap!
After about 7 laps we headed over to Grand Expo to credit whore their kiddie cred. Did it have an hour wait? Yes. Was it full of screaming kids? Yes. Does Emily hate screaming children? Enough to have dragged me away from the host's podium at Olive Garden the previous night because there was a screaming child. Was I more interested in the electrical box than the cred? Yes. But did we get the cred? Yes. And was it the best of the Zamperla death machines? Yes. But did I still almost crack my knee against the lap bar? Yes. And did we go right back for more on Outlaw after? You bet!
The theming on Outlaw Run is amazing and really conveys the pioneering attitude by which the ride was inspired.
I love how low key the entrance is too.
The stagecoach serves as one of a few focal points of the area. Emily and I decided that we want this in our front yard.
I liked this office too, they really went all out with the detail here.
The theming is practically all there is to look at as you wait, though. You can hardly see Outlaw Run and that's even with the trees barren in the spring.
Seriously, loving the theming in this office!
Someone puked in line, though. Puking during the ride? Get that. Puking after the ride? Okay. Puking before? We may never know...
Some RMC nerd shot porn for you.
However, nothing does this ride justice. Looking at it in person, watching a POV, nothing can fully prepare you for the shear insanity of Outlaw Run!
This drop in the back...OH MY GOD!!!!
Spending the day doing what Emily does best, we kept running back to the start of the line as the coaster warmed up more and more (and what a difference does it make as it warms up!) and the hours and coaster continued to munch on the line. Eventually, a full cattlepen went to a half cattlepen, which went to a ramp wait, which went to a station wait. By an hour before closing, it was a walk on.
Finally, less than sixty seconds before the queue closed, lap thirteen pulled into the station. Emily and I shoved those bars up, grabbed our stuff, and made a mad dash out through the gift shop and around the plaza. Just as the new guy on the crew was about to chain the queue up, from the sunset Emily and I came sprinting from behind the stagecoach. "Come on, just a little more, you can do it!" he yelled. Finally, we dashed into the stagecoach depot as he chained it off for the day. We headed down the ramp and onto the platform. "Last ride!" called the crew supervisor as Emily and I were the last to strap into the back car of Outlaw Run. With one more orchestral riff, the stagecoach departed on its journey west. And with one last powerful drop, floatery wave turn, powerful ejector hill, weird wave turn, second ejector hill, and powerful hangtime double barrel roll, Outlaw Run arrived to its depot safely for the night.
So afterwards, Emily and I headed back out of the park, caught the tram, and braved Branson Saturday night traffic and headed back to our hotel. I was a good boyfriend and heated up our Olive Garden leftovers in the breakfast microwave and brought it back up to our room for Emily and I. We went out to get Moe's later since we were still hungry, and went to bed after.
Day 2
Emily and I woke up and went to the park again, hoping for a few more rides on Outlaw with the $10 second day tickets I added on when I reserved the trip online.
Good morning, Silver Dollar City!
We made a bee-line for Outlaw Run...only to get back there and find it down due to cold. Again.
Knowing it would take them 30 minutes to do their morning checks and that it was still too cold to open, Emily and I said goodbye to Outlaw Run and left Silver Dollar City.
We were sad we didn't eat this the day before because it looked good.
Stopped by guest relations to get return tickets out of the cold, just because you never know. And cinnamon rolls. And finally nabbed a picture of Thunderation.
Silver Dollar City, now that I actually got to experience the good stuff in their ride lineup, has changed my mind. It's way better than Dollwood. Between how different it feels from other parks, how homey it is, the nice 1-2-3 punch that is Outlaw Run, [strike]Powder Keg[/strike] Dust Barrel, and Thunderation deliver, the amazing food (best park food I've had), and the general friendly atmosphere it has, this is easily one of the best parks I've been to. I also love how it's in a similar position to its sister park Dollywood near a "Hillbilly Vegas"-type tourist trap but without the **** awful hick clientele (though I could still do with less stupid accents there). But all in all, amazing park. I also loved how they did their park events and really went all out to make the park feel different for both Old Time Christmas and Celebration of Family. Not to mention that while operations were great, the place was rocking and seems to have a great future ahead of itself. Be it the rumored Mystery Mine 2.0 dive machine or rumored giga, I know they have something amazing up their sleeves in the future. For now I think they could do with another flat ride but in the future I would expect something nothing short of amazing from silver Dollar City. Fantastic park, it definitely has a great past ahead of itself.
After saying goodbye to SDC, Emily and I hit the road to get back home in possibly the most boring drive ever. We talked to Rob and Angie some on Facebook on the drive but ended up rolling in at 9. We planned to sit down, eat, change, and watch a movie before going to bed, but after dinner we both went upstairs and laid down to cuddle for a bit...so knackered from the weekend we both just passed out at 11 and woke up at 3.
I ran her back to Toledo the next day before going back to the grind dealing with schoolwork.
Got this cool Outlaw Run shirt!
Probably one of the coolest keychains in my collection.
Got a nice Outlaw Run stein!
And one of my signature goon hats!
How such a horrible bit of news can result in such an amazing start to 2016, I'll never know, but I got my season off to an amazing start (and finished the trip report) at an amazing park. Probably the furthest west I'll ever do just driving, but man is it worth the drive! Definitely come here if you ever get the chance, I loved it. I loved Outlaw Run, I loved the beautiful Ozark setting, but most of all, I loved going theme parking with my amazing girlfriend and I can't wait to go somewhere else with her!
December 2015: My friend Ben and my new girlfriend Emily with whom he had set me up drive through the winding mountain roads of the Ozarks singing "Edge of Glory" as obnoxiously as possible. Finally, rounding the corner, a large, twisting red B&M emerged from the barren brown forest as all three of us absolutely lost it with excitement. We stepped out of the car into the frigid air. After a tram ride into the park, we made a bee-line back for Outlaw Run. My hands shaking, I crossed under the Wilson Farm sign to see a short but powerful wooden structure emerge from behind Fire in the Hole. I absolutely lost it, embraced Emily with excitement, and kissed her. I ran right to the queue line only to be told it was down for weather.
March 2015: Dollywood is putting up Lightning Rod board by board, sensor by sensor, beam by beam, and they're crunching it to get the world's first launched wooden coaster (and supposedly my first RMC) done for Coaster Crew's Lightning Rod Round Up on opening day. I'm pumped and nervous for it, I'm stalking employee Instagrams in class, and I'm working on my RCT3 project inspired by this new coaster. Then one fateful Tuesday, it's nice out, I go outside and stick the "Adrenaline Junkie" sticker my girlfriend got me for Christmas on my car and post a picture to Facebook calling it my "tricked out ride to the event." Then I go inside and mess around online for a bit. The next thing I know, there's a post on my wall about something from a CFer, Emily's sending me screenshots and sad faces, and Facebook is absolutely surging with activity over this little orange bar on Dollywood's website confirming our worst fears; Dollywood had postponed Lightning Rod's passholder night opening.
So I'm at home alone as my family enjoys a March Madness game and I'm being fat (now no longer needing to fit into an RMC) eating my weight in ranch stuffed crust meat lover's pizza and drinking away my misery talking to my girlfriend about how emo depressed we are and how I thought RMC was unbeatable when it came to opening rides (until Six Flags gets involved and messes it up) and how it sucks that RMC hates us and how I wish we could have gone to Silver Dollar City.
But wait! We could just go to SDC instead! A little electrical engineering fail wouldn't keep us away from an RMC any longer!
Day -1
After fun in diffeq, I came home and had a lunch of leftover pizza from my drunk night of trip booking. After I got home, my mom and I went to go get the car with my mom!
Our stagecoach to head west!
After waiting around, I drove up to Toledo to find that Emily was waiting for me there for ten minutes. Ashamed, I still hugged and kissed her and we got on the road to BGSU.
BGSU was absolutely dead due to the fact that it was St. Patty's Day and everybody was out drinking. We had a fun time being fat at the buffet and talking to Ben and getting a tour of BGSU...but everybody that wasn't Ben was drunk and some idiot knocked this over with their car. Evading sobriety checkpoints, we booked it out of BGSU and drove home under starry skies. I showed Emily that you can get Corona at gas stations in the US and that they have entire beer caves and she thought that was weird. Finally, we got home and had Corona together before getting to bed.
Day 0
So that morning I woke up by Emily's side, risked my life waking her up, and got her in the car to get on the road to Silver Dollar City! After a quick pit stop to get gas, we swung by Taco Bell in Terre Haute. After a no sweat, no flood, no entitled disrespectful jerks on Skype calls drive through Illinois, we got to St. Louis! We got lost in St. Louis again (and Em almost called Ben to scream at him for old time's sakes) and ended up having to turn around in a parking garage in a hotel after getting directions from the valet there. Once we were through there, it was smooth sailing down 44 (which ran right along the old Route 66, quite cool considering Route 66 was the theme of my Lightning Rod-inspired RMC) and right into Branson!
My lovely welcome to Missouri? Nearly stepped in a hillbilly's tobacco juice at a Phillips 66!
Branson itself was like Pigeon Forge Jr. If Pigeon Forge is hillbilly Vegas, Branson is hillbilly Atlantic City. Last time we went there we stayed almost adjacent to the park at Indian Point, this time we ended up staying in town. After settling in, we got on the road to go meet Rob and Angie (another enthusiast couple from Kentucky) at Olive Garden. So we sat there and laughed and talked smack about drama going on in the enthusiast community over breadsticks, soup, and pasta. After that, Em and I got going back to the hotel to rest up for an exciting day at Silver Dollar City the next day!
Day 1
Emily and I woke up that fateful morning and headed right to the park, stoked for Outlaw Run. Branson traffic was a tad annoying but we still got there just a little bit after opening and met Rob and Angie.
Here we go!
We headed in and firs tried to defy Angie's Powder Keg curse. The previous day they had been there and Powder Keg ended up breaking as soon as she said its name, we we were cautious about our luck there. We didn't even say "Powder Keg" and just called it "Dust Barrel." Well we get there...and it's too cold to open it yet! Ignoring that, we decided to wait and get Wildfire since we were right there. Aaaand Wildfire's line was out the plaza. So we went back to the main reason we took this trip, Outlaw Run!
I had seen this before but to see it again with a train clattering up the lift set me off a little less than it did in December.
To actually see the interior of the station for this coaster after staring in from behind a chain last time was absolutely surreal. They themed it out the nose, it looks exactly like you're about to travel into the Western frontier, and considering how this coaster was a frontier for me, it felt absolutely perfect. With just a station wait, I attempted to stand still, clapping and jumping up and down and fangirling as Rob and Angie laughed and Emily just looked on knowing she does the same thing. Finally, the time came for me to cram my fat arse into the front row of those RMC trains. The ride op checked my restraint, explained to a new guy how to tell if someone's too fat to ride, and told me I was good to go as I bounced up and down in my seat, ecstatic to finally be on one of these RMCs.
About to ride!
Oh my god it was so worth the return trip there alone! They dispatched the train as that lovely orchestral riff kicked off our journey west. "RMC!!!! RMC!!! RMC!!!!!" I chanted as the chain clattered, pulling us 107 feet above the Ozarks. Finally, we got a gorgeous view of the other coasters and Table Rock Lake before turning to the side. "HERE WE GO!!!!!" I screamed as the train plunged down the drop, kicking me with a bit of floater. At the bottom of the drop, those lovely wooden coaster clicks and rattles started to tick away at the trains. The train then snaps into the 153, leaving you with a good bit of floater and a nice disorienting snap. From there, the train flies through a zero-g transition that kicks you with a fair bit of ejector. From there, the train barrels through another turn and into the first of two insane ejector hills. After that thing blasts you with negative force, you enter an overbank under the lift that provides quite the headchopper. Coming out of that, you get a bit of floater followed by the wave turn. The wave turn provides both floater and lateral force in one of the freakiest elements I've ever experienced (I'm sure Lightning Rod's will be even better). Coming out of that, you turn into the second extremely powerful ejector hill. Coming out of that, you turn into the element I underestimated the most; the ride's signature double barrel roll. The combination of the climb and hangtime creates some powerful ejector hangtime (didn't even know that was a thing), the second not only does that but those slowly transfer to laterals as it curves out and into the brakes. It slowly eases into the brakes as the sound of a horse stopping plays over the speakers and the end-of-ride spiel plays. I felt beaten, frazzled, surprised, and completely exhilarated. The last looping wooden coaster I rode was Son of Beast (currently holds a lovely spot in my bottom 10) and this was day and night compared to that. The smooth, twisty layout was the perfect blend of ejector and aggressive twisting that didn't let up that's exactly what I look for in a coaster. This fantastic ride shot right to my number one wooden spot (number two combined), and Emily's number two wood spot behind El Toro.
However, we couldn't just ride an RMC and walk away like nothing happened! Going for rerides before the line got long, we sat down and pulled our restraints down only to see Angie couldn't get hers down. Some of the people were still stuck in from the last ride, the restraints were stuck closed! We were trapped in there for fifteen minutes as Angie got pictures of us and we laughed over it.
Still, a victory's a victory, especially after last time!
Wanting to push our luck, we headed over to the two hard to photograph rides, starting with Angie's coaster curse [strike]Powder Keg[/strike] Dust Barrel. We refused to call it by its actual name since Angie doing that is what broke this coaster the previous day, so called it Dust Barrel. After a horribly slow wait because it's a capacity nightmare, we finally it the station as Angie started to get really nervous she'd get spited. The ride ops in the station took a few digs at me for wearing shorts with so much wind chill as the line shrunk in front of us. I was also the only one not surprised at the transfer track onto the launch. Finally, after screaming "Powder Keg!" loudly just to spite Angie, we were up! We sat down in those vile S&S seats (seriously, guys, employ me and I'll redesign those so they don't crush your spine) and we were up to blast! I had to explain to Emily that the air launch mechanism was a bit different than other launch mechanisms. And how right I was! That launch kicks ****, there's nice airtime all over the ride, and its pretty intense too! Definitely my favorite steel coaster at the park, no questions asked! I loved this thing!
Up next was the last major cred Emily and I needed, Wildfire! Didn't get many pictures in the queue which made me sad (I was too busy gawking over the false engineering drawings on the wall) but I loved the theme of this ride. It really feels like an old school engineer's lab, god knows how many times Emily had to pull me away from something I was staring at. Finally, we got to the end of the line and buckled in as Emily explained to me that we couldn't date anymore if I thought RMC was better than Intamin. But after I got over the cool theme, the enginerd in me turned from cool 1880's drawings to 2000's steel adrenaline. Sadly, the ride didn't quite live up to the theming. Was it better than Kumba (the other B&M sitdown I've ridden)? Yes. But compared to most traditional non-inverted sitdown loopers, it wasn't anything standout. I hit my head way more than I would have liked, I found it really short, and nothing really took me by surprise. Just about the only standout thing it had going for it was the terrain which it didn't even use that well, it felt like it was more designed to deal with the terrain than work with it. Did I have fun? Yes. But is this Walter and Claude's finest work? No. As Emily would say, ew B&M.
With all the other major creds out of the way, the marathoner I happen to have fallen in love with decided to do her thing...on an RMC!
Queue line selfie! Waits were about 45 minutes per lap!
After about 7 laps we headed over to Grand Expo to credit whore their kiddie cred. Did it have an hour wait? Yes. Was it full of screaming kids? Yes. Does Emily hate screaming children? Enough to have dragged me away from the host's podium at Olive Garden the previous night because there was a screaming child. Was I more interested in the electrical box than the cred? Yes. But did we get the cred? Yes. And was it the best of the Zamperla death machines? Yes. But did I still almost crack my knee against the lap bar? Yes. And did we go right back for more on Outlaw after? You bet!
The theming on Outlaw Run is amazing and really conveys the pioneering attitude by which the ride was inspired.
I love how low key the entrance is too.
The stagecoach serves as one of a few focal points of the area. Emily and I decided that we want this in our front yard.
I liked this office too, they really went all out with the detail here.
The theming is practically all there is to look at as you wait, though. You can hardly see Outlaw Run and that's even with the trees barren in the spring.
Seriously, loving the theming in this office!
Someone puked in line, though. Puking during the ride? Get that. Puking after the ride? Okay. Puking before? We may never know...
Some RMC nerd shot porn for you.
However, nothing does this ride justice. Looking at it in person, watching a POV, nothing can fully prepare you for the shear insanity of Outlaw Run!
This drop in the back...OH MY GOD!!!!
Spending the day doing what Emily does best, we kept running back to the start of the line as the coaster warmed up more and more (and what a difference does it make as it warms up!) and the hours and coaster continued to munch on the line. Eventually, a full cattlepen went to a half cattlepen, which went to a ramp wait, which went to a station wait. By an hour before closing, it was a walk on.
Finally, less than sixty seconds before the queue closed, lap thirteen pulled into the station. Emily and I shoved those bars up, grabbed our stuff, and made a mad dash out through the gift shop and around the plaza. Just as the new guy on the crew was about to chain the queue up, from the sunset Emily and I came sprinting from behind the stagecoach. "Come on, just a little more, you can do it!" he yelled. Finally, we dashed into the stagecoach depot as he chained it off for the day. We headed down the ramp and onto the platform. "Last ride!" called the crew supervisor as Emily and I were the last to strap into the back car of Outlaw Run. With one more orchestral riff, the stagecoach departed on its journey west. And with one last powerful drop, floatery wave turn, powerful ejector hill, weird wave turn, second ejector hill, and powerful hangtime double barrel roll, Outlaw Run arrived to its depot safely for the night.
So afterwards, Emily and I headed back out of the park, caught the tram, and braved Branson Saturday night traffic and headed back to our hotel. I was a good boyfriend and heated up our Olive Garden leftovers in the breakfast microwave and brought it back up to our room for Emily and I. We went out to get Moe's later since we were still hungry, and went to bed after.
Day 2
Emily and I woke up and went to the park again, hoping for a few more rides on Outlaw with the $10 second day tickets I added on when I reserved the trip online.
Good morning, Silver Dollar City!
We made a bee-line for Outlaw Run...only to get back there and find it down due to cold. Again.
Knowing it would take them 30 minutes to do their morning checks and that it was still too cold to open, Emily and I said goodbye to Outlaw Run and left Silver Dollar City.
We were sad we didn't eat this the day before because it looked good.
Stopped by guest relations to get return tickets out of the cold, just because you never know. And cinnamon rolls. And finally nabbed a picture of Thunderation.
Silver Dollar City, now that I actually got to experience the good stuff in their ride lineup, has changed my mind. It's way better than Dollwood. Between how different it feels from other parks, how homey it is, the nice 1-2-3 punch that is Outlaw Run, [strike]Powder Keg[/strike] Dust Barrel, and Thunderation deliver, the amazing food (best park food I've had), and the general friendly atmosphere it has, this is easily one of the best parks I've been to. I also love how it's in a similar position to its sister park Dollywood near a "Hillbilly Vegas"-type tourist trap but without the **** awful hick clientele (though I could still do with less stupid accents there). But all in all, amazing park. I also loved how they did their park events and really went all out to make the park feel different for both Old Time Christmas and Celebration of Family. Not to mention that while operations were great, the place was rocking and seems to have a great future ahead of itself. Be it the rumored Mystery Mine 2.0 dive machine or rumored giga, I know they have something amazing up their sleeves in the future. For now I think they could do with another flat ride but in the future I would expect something nothing short of amazing from silver Dollar City. Fantastic park, it definitely has a great past ahead of itself.
After saying goodbye to SDC, Emily and I hit the road to get back home in possibly the most boring drive ever. We talked to Rob and Angie some on Facebook on the drive but ended up rolling in at 9. We planned to sit down, eat, change, and watch a movie before going to bed, but after dinner we both went upstairs and laid down to cuddle for a bit...so knackered from the weekend we both just passed out at 11 and woke up at 3.
I ran her back to Toledo the next day before going back to the grind dealing with schoolwork.
Got this cool Outlaw Run shirt!
Probably one of the coolest keychains in my collection.
Got a nice Outlaw Run stein!
And one of my signature goon hats!
How such a horrible bit of news can result in such an amazing start to 2016, I'll never know, but I got my season off to an amazing start (and finished the trip report) at an amazing park. Probably the furthest west I'll ever do just driving, but man is it worth the drive! Definitely come here if you ever get the chance, I loved it. I loved Outlaw Run, I loved the beautiful Ozark setting, but most of all, I loved going theme parking with my amazing girlfriend and I can't wait to go somewhere else with her!
