Rumblafest

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Jonathan
Omnipresent Chicken
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Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2005 8:53 am
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Rumblafest

Post by Jonathan »

As with Holiwood Nights, I took way more photos than I can include here. To see all of them plus high-res versions, go HERE.

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After a long two days at Holiday World, we hit the road on our way to Bowling Green, Kentucky, a couple hours away from Santa Claus. After a few wrong turns and a scenic trip through the big city of Bowling Green, we found our destination.

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Fields.... fields... fields....

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Roller coaster?

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Over 400 people were signed up for the first ever Rumblefest.

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As you've probably been informed, the park has a new GCI twister known as the Kentucky Rumbler. How they were able to afford it I don't know, but I won't argue about it!

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The place really reminded me of Williams Grove but with a shiny new coaster installed.

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Beech Bend now has the distinction of being the first park where I have ever heard a ride operator say "Folks it is lightning out there but if anyone wants to go ahead and ride step on in."

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Unlike the station 'fly-through' on Thunderhead, Beech Bend's station 'fly-by' has airtime. :-)

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Here is the Looping Star, or as you will come to know it once you have ridden it, the Evil Torture Death Machine.

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Here are Phil and John caught in the rain on the Shock Drop. Once the rain slowed, the operator tested it four times and then yelled at her co-worker across the midway "I ran it four times is that enough?!" Like I said, the place reminded me of Williams Grove (and that's not a bad thing).

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The Dragon ride operator quickly discovered that the tire drive lift will not function properly when wet. It took about 5 tries before he got it to crest the hill.

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Any park with a big slide is okay in my book.

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POV!

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They had a pretzel style dark ride. I LOVE these things.

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If you haven't had enough after the Looping Star, here is Evil Torture Death Ride #2, or as they call it, 'Scat 2'.

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Alan hopes that the machine will lie.

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O RLY?

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This was probably the fastest scrambler I've ever seen.

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Back to the Rumbla.

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This coaster was fun in the daytime, but by the late hours of the night it was really running insane. I didn't like it near as much as Thunderhead (but that's a tough ride to live up to), but I liked it a little bit better than Ozark Wildcat, so it is my second favorite of the GCI coasters.

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John and Phil took a ride on White Water Express.

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This place had the most violent bumper cars I have seen outside of Knoebels. They ran really fast, and the metal paneled floor allowed for great sliding and fishtailing.

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Miniature golf is free with a wristband!

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They had a pretty neat little course.

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Here's the helix of doom on one of the Splash Lagoon slides.

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My first ever emo shot.

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John and Phil take a ride on the terrifying Dragon coaster.

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On the first drop the car leans so much that it feels like you are going to fall out.

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We took a spin on the antique cars, but Alan could not control the wheel at all.

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Time for dinner, which was catered by some local BBQ place. They ain't got nothin' on North Carolina BBQ.

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Watch that first step it's a real doozy.

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Off to ERT we go.

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The Wild Mouse was really fun.

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Unfortunately, the Dizzy Dragons were not open for ERT, but they were really awesomefied!

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The sun sets on the Kentucky Rumbler.

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Despite the large attendance, the lines were not bad at all over at the Rumbler, and by the end of the night it was a walk-on.

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I'm pretty sure everyone attending the event tried on these hats at least once during the night.

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Congratulations you now have the sweat of 400 ACEers in your hair.

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Jeff and Mike from GCI were on hand to operate their ride.

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Station fly-by!

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What a ride!

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"Sure I'll be in a video for Whootah dot com that sounds like a nice wholesome website!"

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Please be sure to wash your hands after the event thanks.

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Apparently I got to ride the Rumbler with Geordi.

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Before we left, Phil had to harrass the local wildlife.

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Gimme some food.

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Over at our hotel, a Comfort Inn, the door was locked and not a soul could be found at the front desk. Both Comfort Inn and AAA tried calling the desk repeatedly, but no one answered.

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We got to stay free at the much nicer Quality Inn up the street. Sounds good to me.

After a little bit of sleep, we hit the road, and made our way back to North Carolina. It was a fantastic trip, and two fantastic events. Beech Bend is a neat little park with an awesomefied coaster, and they really did a fantastic job putting on their first event. Thanks to everyone involved and everyone who attended for a great time! Remember to go HERE to see all of the photos!
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