Post by 65skylark on May 12, 2006 21:26:28 GMT -8
This was supposed to be a Photo TR. For the first time on a trip I actually took a ton of photos and had one heck of a report planned, however, we left our camera in the rental car on accident and by the time we realized what we did we were already at LAX. We called the rental car place and they said none of "the cleaners" saw a camera in the car. So in other words, some POS stole it. Oh well, easy come, easy go. So that's the bad news. Now on to the good news.
Wednesday the 10th we leave the house at 4:30 am and head to Portland International Airport to catch our flight to LAX. The plane left at 6:15 and we arrived in LA at 8:10. We make a quick stop to pick up the rental car, grab some breakfast, and we are at SFMM by 10:30. This was my second trip to SFMM this year and I was hoping to notice a few more improvements under the new Shapiro regime. Honestly they still have a long way to go, but I do think they are slowly getting better. One major change I did notice from my last visit was the huge coaster looming over Revolution and all of Samurai Summit. Tatsu, if nothing else, is one awesome looking monster. The park was very empty and every ride except for X (and the 4 or 5 rides not operating) were walk ons all day even with single train operation on every coaster. We spent the rest of the day enjoying the park, getting tons of video and pictures, and left for dinner at our favorite area restaurant, the Claim Jumper.
With dinner over it was time to head back to the park and check in with Robb and Elissa for the Theme Park Review camp-out. Even though we had media day access courtesy of Chris Godsey over at Rideworld, Sandi and I thought it would be fun to attend the camp-out and hang out with some of the TPR gang. Robb and Elissa went all out providing (at there own expense!) T-shirts, food, drinks, snacks, and entertainment. We had a blast meeting a lot of new people. By the time midnight came around we decided to try and get some sleep. At about 2:30 I woke up to this blinding light. Tatsu was lit up for the world to see. They had enough lighting on that thing for a football stadium. At 3:00 am, after taking a bunch of pictures and video, several employees showed up with a box full of wrist bands. By 4:00 am about 250 coaster freaks were making there way up the mountain to get some of the first rides on Tatsu!
As we approach the station, we see every local news channel is there and ready. We make our way through the queue, noticing the fresh smell of paint, and into the station. Sandi and I were on the second train out. We had to wait for them to find a few single riders so that every seat was full and we were ready to fly. Let me say first that I had never been on a B&M flyer before Tatsu, but, I had been on Stealth, the prototype Vekoma Flying Dutchman, so I at least kind of had an idea what to expect, but still was not even close to prepared for what was to come.
I had heard and read many times that the Superman flyers were fun, but, like many B&Ms, fairly force-less, so we chose to ride in the back row for our first flight. As we climb the lift hill the first thing I notice is that there is no metal screen type floor below you like the B&M inverts have so you get a great view as you ascend higher and higher. The second thing I notice is that this monster was built on a giant freaking hill! OK, I actually did notice that before but was not prepared for how much higher it made you feel you actually were. We crest the top and are pulled down the first drop. At the bottom of the first drop I have just enough time to think that maybe this thing was going to be a little more forceful than I thought before we fly by the Sky Tower and float throw the first inversion. We then make a sweeping left turn over the queue area and hit the next inversion that twists us the opposite direction as the first. Next is a slight dip over the midway and then into the egg turn and an amazing view of the entire back of the park. After the egg turn you head back towards Sky Tower and into the over-bank turn before heading into the highlight of the ride - The Pretzel Loop!
As you enter the pretzel loop you are facing the entrance plaza of the park. Just before diving towards the ground you really get the feeling that you are about 300 feet off the ground as you look down on Revolution's little tiny white loop. Your mind has just enough time to register what you are seeing before you dive straight for the ground. As we slam into the bottom of the pretzel loop I wonder for a seconds if my eyes are going to pop out of my head. My friends, forcless this coaster is not. Holy boogers and poop! Just as I think my head is going to explode, we are back at the top of the loop and looking down on the entry plaza again. With no time to even collect our thoughts we enter the last inversion - the zero-G roll. Before entering the brake run we get whipped around one more turn (you could almost call it a helix) and one more insanely high view over the entry plaza and it's over. Everyone on the train is impressed and we all head back for another flight.
Overall, Sandi and I rode Tatsu 6 times giving us a chance to ride in many different positions on the train. Tatsu, possibly more than any other coaster I've been on, gives you an entirely different ride from front to back. The front row is great with an amazing view throughout the ride, while the back provides a much more forceful ride.
We had a blast while we were there. We really enjoyed the opening ceremonies and got to talk with Mark Shapiro for a few minutes afterwords. I recommend heading over to Theme Park Review and checking out the Shapiro interview. Also Rideworld should have an interesting interview with one of B&M's top engineers on there site shortly.
If you get a chance I highly recommend getting over to SFMM for a ride on Tatsu. You won't regret it.
Click this link to see a some great video and a full unedited POV of Tatsu.
