Post by wolfblood on Sept 15, 2010 23:07:57 GMT -8
I just got back from the Puyallup Fair, so here's my TR of it.
This trip to the fair proved to be rather interesting in various ways, many of them I didn't expect.
Last year my Dad and I attended on a Wednesday, and we found it to be so much better then attending on a weekened. There were far less crowds, and I was able to get far more rides in due to the Dizzy Pass.
As for Today, even with the weather being mostly cloudy and raining for most of the time...it was a lot busier! (But thankfully, not at the insane levels we've experienced on the weekends.) When my Dad and I got in, there were huge lines just to get a Dizzy Pass at every ticket station...and I mean every ticket station!
That's when it hit both of us, the crowds are here mainly because it's a Dizzy Pass day. Not to mention this is the supposed last day of decent weather for the week, so everyone came in so they can try to avoid most of the bad weather.
On the midway, almost every ride had a huge line. So I mainly stuck with riding rides with large capacities or ones with short lines.
As for my ride reviews, I'll start off with that I didn't go on any coasters for two reasons. 1. The only person I was with was my Dad, and he wasn't up for riding anything...and considering most of the coasters have a no single rider rule, I was out of luck. 2. Also, due to the rain...most of the coasters were closed.
Once it started raining the WildCat, Monster Mouse and Kersplash shut down. Talk about irony with Kersplash shutting down, it's the water coaser. However I did see the crew dispatching a couple cars so it did look like they were trying to get it back up and running.
Coaster Thrillride was the only one I really saw running, and while it's refurbishment isn't compleate, the new track looks great!
***
Now for the rides,
Surprisingly I didn't ride Jumping this year, though from what I saw it's still running the program of gradually lifting the cars up and dropping them.
The brand spankin' new Discothek has returned, and it's running just as good as it did last year. The Discothek is also being the biggest attention grabber since it's blasting a whole lotta' techno and bass outside the ride, you'd think a big ride like Jumping would be blasting music...however Discothek is taking it's name to heart and letting the music play.
I also had two firsts on the ride, 1. I was able to do something new. Normally I just bring my legs up and plant both of my feet flat on the barrel. This time I also brought one of my legs up and rested it on top of the other leg like one would do while sitting in the chair. That impressed a lot of people in the barrel.
2. Nobody puked, seriously whenever I go on this ride at the fair (Back when it was the Rotor and how it is now as Discothek). Someone looses their lunch, I remember when one guy puked right in front of the only door to exit the barrel...and last year some kid lost it. Thankfully he had enough time to exit the barrel and bend over the railing to loose it in the grass. However today, the contents of one's stomach stayed inside.
I hit up Party Animals, which is my personal favorite funhouse of the fair. While one effect wasn't working, it was still a fun experience and those diabolical free-spinning disks in the darkened hallway got me once again.
I also hit up the Monster, which I probably set a record for most spins before the ride even started. Since I rode alone, I know how to get the car spinning pretty good. I spun over 50 times before the ride began, and I'm a total nutjob since I didn't feel sick one bit afterwards.
Other rides I hit were the SeaDragon which did produce some nice airtime, and the Matterhorn which once again delivered a nice long program and played good music. (Don't know how mant people remember "Twilight Zone", but I sure did and the two energetic ladies right behind me!)
***
Now for the biggest surprise, Ghost Pirates. Now why is a cheesy portable dark ride the biggest surprise for me? Simple, it was far better then the last time I rode it. My Dad and I rode it years ago, and not all the effects were working (This can kill any portable dark ride), and the audio was really poor.
This year, everything was working! All the props moved, lit up, and the audio cue's were very clear. I could also tell some effects were changed up, and they improved one scene that felt really out of place.
There used to be some kind of jail with a skeleton in it, but it was this blacklit color explosion of bright greens, oranges etc. Now it's a normal jail with a skeleton and pirate, and it looks far better.
It also looked like the final effect also spritzs you with water, though I couldn't tell since my jacket was already wet due to the weather.
Also, the ride now also has a airhorn that's set off inside the trailer when a car is dispatched into it, and the ride op had everything timed pretty well so the airhorn goes off when the cars inside are in total darkness.
Finally, the outside of the ride has plenty of pirate music playing to draw people in. Some of it is spooky, and ironically they play a couple pieces from Muppet Treasure Island. (The opening song which fits nicely and Sailing for Adventure.)
So that would be my reasons why Ghost Pirates is my biggest surprise. While yes it's still cheesy, however with the improvements it's now a good cheesy dark ride.
Now I also did go on the Haunted Mansion for the very first time, and that was more of a bad cheesy dark ride for me. While it did have a couple good effects, not all of them were working. Some gags were constantly lit up, but didn't do anything when their sound cue went off. The whole thing also started on a lukewarm note with a electric chair with a skeleton sitting in it, you here "Let's Fry Him"...but nothing happens.
The blah Haunted Mansion made Ghost Pirates stand out even more for me.
***
I finished the night with Starship 2000, I have to admit I've always liked this ride growing up and I still do. Probably because I never get sick on crazy spinning rides and I love finding odd ways to defy gravity.
I waited in another long line, and once I was near the ride I got a nice pelting of water as the Starship spun rain right off it. Though right as I'm at the stairs and waiting to get on the next ride, there were some odd sounds so it was temporarily shut down so a ride op could get under the ride and check things out.
During the breakdown a couple people and I were able to talk with the the ride op, and we found out today was pretty crazy considering yesderday was a walk on for just about everything.
Now oddly enough, even with the breakdown...nobody left the line. Even though we all had no idea when the ride would be back up, and it ws pouring rain at the time, everyone stayed in line. Talk about really patient Washingtonians!
Thankfully the ride was reopened after a crew member checked below and in the Starship, and what followed next was the craziest ride I've ever had on Starship 2000.
The whole thing was pretty much packed full of soaking wet people, and we were a very energetic bunch. The ride op called us "Super Troopers" for all waiting out in the pouring rain, and she gave us a LONG ride program.
With Paula Abdul's "Straight Up" blasting through the speakers and the lights flashing crazily with the whole Starship going dark a couple times, it was a flat out nutty ride with everybody trying to defy gravity in a odd way.
People were leaning forward, pushing themselves to the top of the panels you lean on, I was getting one heck of a workout by pedeling my feet. (Not easy when you're going against gravity!) It was a very memorable ride, I made sure to thank the ride op for that.
So that was pretty much it ride-wise, even with the long lines the ride ops were running the rides pretty well.
***
Food-wise, I didn't eat much. Though I had a nice BBQ Beef sandwhich at BBQ Pete's, and I finally tried Deep Fried Oreos. I have to admit the Deep Fried Oreos are actually pretty good, it's a bit odd with the Oreo being soft...but it tastes good and I felt it had a nice batter covering it.
Games-wise, since the Dizzy Pass does come with 4 game tickets I decided to play a game. Knowing my previous skill and luck with games, I stuck with the rolling ball derby and easily won on my first and only try. (My tip is never focus on the moving pigs, horses etc. up above after you roll the ball. Just focus on waiting for the ball to return to you and send it back up as fast as you can.) I won a little stuffed biker pig, yay. I have to admit it's a lot better then hefting around a giant stuffed animal.
Before we left, we made sure to stock up on the Fair's offical crack...aka the Scones.
So overall my Dad and I had a good time at the fair, even with the rain and the lines at the midway, we made the most out of it.
Now a couple random things to mention.
- Even though I didn't go on Jumping this year, I still say it needs to be replaced by something else. The best it's ever run was it's first year, but afterwards it's never launched the cars up and just isn't as intense as it can really be. Also, last year I mentioned the backdrop of the ride looked pretty worn. This year it looks even worse, most of it is faded and there are HUGE white sections of missing artwork. My Dad finally noticed the wear and tear as well.
I also found out why the backdrop is in bad shape, Jumping is one of the rides that stays on the fairground year round. So mother nature simply does her course on it, though oddly enough Inferno also stays on the fairgrounds year round...but it doesn't look bad at all!
- With it being a Dizzy Pass day, it looked like all the rides required tickets were jacked up. Most of the rides were 6 or five tickets, with many rides not having that high of a requirement before. Looks like they were really pushing the Dizzy Pass.
- Speaking of the Dizzy Pass, one feature I thought was nifty is all the ride ops scan it. I think the rides are using that data to see how many people ride it per day, also they loaded the 4 game tickets on the Dizzy Pass as well...so the games person just had to scan my wristband, which I thought was a nice easy way to manage things.
- Finally, one of the most interesting sights at the fair were two impersonaters...of Laurel and Hardy. I spotted them walking through the big showplex building, and my Dad and I literally did a double-take when we saw them.
Not surprisingly, any teen or kid that walked past them didn't even give a second look. However a whole lot of adults and seniors did, and absolutly loved them.
This trip to the fair proved to be rather interesting in various ways, many of them I didn't expect.
Last year my Dad and I attended on a Wednesday, and we found it to be so much better then attending on a weekened. There were far less crowds, and I was able to get far more rides in due to the Dizzy Pass.
As for Today, even with the weather being mostly cloudy and raining for most of the time...it was a lot busier! (But thankfully, not at the insane levels we've experienced on the weekends.) When my Dad and I got in, there were huge lines just to get a Dizzy Pass at every ticket station...and I mean every ticket station!
That's when it hit both of us, the crowds are here mainly because it's a Dizzy Pass day. Not to mention this is the supposed last day of decent weather for the week, so everyone came in so they can try to avoid most of the bad weather.
On the midway, almost every ride had a huge line. So I mainly stuck with riding rides with large capacities or ones with short lines.
As for my ride reviews, I'll start off with that I didn't go on any coasters for two reasons. 1. The only person I was with was my Dad, and he wasn't up for riding anything...and considering most of the coasters have a no single rider rule, I was out of luck. 2. Also, due to the rain...most of the coasters were closed.
Once it started raining the WildCat, Monster Mouse and Kersplash shut down. Talk about irony with Kersplash shutting down, it's the water coaser. However I did see the crew dispatching a couple cars so it did look like they were trying to get it back up and running.
Coaster Thrillride was the only one I really saw running, and while it's refurbishment isn't compleate, the new track looks great!
***
Now for the rides,
Surprisingly I didn't ride Jumping this year, though from what I saw it's still running the program of gradually lifting the cars up and dropping them.
The brand spankin' new Discothek has returned, and it's running just as good as it did last year. The Discothek is also being the biggest attention grabber since it's blasting a whole lotta' techno and bass outside the ride, you'd think a big ride like Jumping would be blasting music...however Discothek is taking it's name to heart and letting the music play.
I also had two firsts on the ride, 1. I was able to do something new. Normally I just bring my legs up and plant both of my feet flat on the barrel. This time I also brought one of my legs up and rested it on top of the other leg like one would do while sitting in the chair. That impressed a lot of people in the barrel.
2. Nobody puked, seriously whenever I go on this ride at the fair (Back when it was the Rotor and how it is now as Discothek). Someone looses their lunch, I remember when one guy puked right in front of the only door to exit the barrel...and last year some kid lost it. Thankfully he had enough time to exit the barrel and bend over the railing to loose it in the grass. However today, the contents of one's stomach stayed inside.
I hit up Party Animals, which is my personal favorite funhouse of the fair. While one effect wasn't working, it was still a fun experience and those diabolical free-spinning disks in the darkened hallway got me once again.
I also hit up the Monster, which I probably set a record for most spins before the ride even started. Since I rode alone, I know how to get the car spinning pretty good. I spun over 50 times before the ride began, and I'm a total nutjob since I didn't feel sick one bit afterwards.
Other rides I hit were the SeaDragon which did produce some nice airtime, and the Matterhorn which once again delivered a nice long program and played good music. (Don't know how mant people remember "Twilight Zone", but I sure did and the two energetic ladies right behind me!)
***
Now for the biggest surprise, Ghost Pirates. Now why is a cheesy portable dark ride the biggest surprise for me? Simple, it was far better then the last time I rode it. My Dad and I rode it years ago, and not all the effects were working (This can kill any portable dark ride), and the audio was really poor.
This year, everything was working! All the props moved, lit up, and the audio cue's were very clear. I could also tell some effects were changed up, and they improved one scene that felt really out of place.
There used to be some kind of jail with a skeleton in it, but it was this blacklit color explosion of bright greens, oranges etc. Now it's a normal jail with a skeleton and pirate, and it looks far better.
It also looked like the final effect also spritzs you with water, though I couldn't tell since my jacket was already wet due to the weather.
Also, the ride now also has a airhorn that's set off inside the trailer when a car is dispatched into it, and the ride op had everything timed pretty well so the airhorn goes off when the cars inside are in total darkness.
Finally, the outside of the ride has plenty of pirate music playing to draw people in. Some of it is spooky, and ironically they play a couple pieces from Muppet Treasure Island. (The opening song which fits nicely and Sailing for Adventure.)
So that would be my reasons why Ghost Pirates is my biggest surprise. While yes it's still cheesy, however with the improvements it's now a good cheesy dark ride.
Now I also did go on the Haunted Mansion for the very first time, and that was more of a bad cheesy dark ride for me. While it did have a couple good effects, not all of them were working. Some gags were constantly lit up, but didn't do anything when their sound cue went off. The whole thing also started on a lukewarm note with a electric chair with a skeleton sitting in it, you here "Let's Fry Him"...but nothing happens.
The blah Haunted Mansion made Ghost Pirates stand out even more for me.
***
I finished the night with Starship 2000, I have to admit I've always liked this ride growing up and I still do. Probably because I never get sick on crazy spinning rides and I love finding odd ways to defy gravity.
I waited in another long line, and once I was near the ride I got a nice pelting of water as the Starship spun rain right off it. Though right as I'm at the stairs and waiting to get on the next ride, there were some odd sounds so it was temporarily shut down so a ride op could get under the ride and check things out.
During the breakdown a couple people and I were able to talk with the the ride op, and we found out today was pretty crazy considering yesderday was a walk on for just about everything.
Now oddly enough, even with the breakdown...nobody left the line. Even though we all had no idea when the ride would be back up, and it ws pouring rain at the time, everyone stayed in line. Talk about really patient Washingtonians!
Thankfully the ride was reopened after a crew member checked below and in the Starship, and what followed next was the craziest ride I've ever had on Starship 2000.
The whole thing was pretty much packed full of soaking wet people, and we were a very energetic bunch. The ride op called us "Super Troopers" for all waiting out in the pouring rain, and she gave us a LONG ride program.
With Paula Abdul's "Straight Up" blasting through the speakers and the lights flashing crazily with the whole Starship going dark a couple times, it was a flat out nutty ride with everybody trying to defy gravity in a odd way.
People were leaning forward, pushing themselves to the top of the panels you lean on, I was getting one heck of a workout by pedeling my feet. (Not easy when you're going against gravity!) It was a very memorable ride, I made sure to thank the ride op for that.
So that was pretty much it ride-wise, even with the long lines the ride ops were running the rides pretty well.
***
Food-wise, I didn't eat much. Though I had a nice BBQ Beef sandwhich at BBQ Pete's, and I finally tried Deep Fried Oreos. I have to admit the Deep Fried Oreos are actually pretty good, it's a bit odd with the Oreo being soft...but it tastes good and I felt it had a nice batter covering it.
Games-wise, since the Dizzy Pass does come with 4 game tickets I decided to play a game. Knowing my previous skill and luck with games, I stuck with the rolling ball derby and easily won on my first and only try. (My tip is never focus on the moving pigs, horses etc. up above after you roll the ball. Just focus on waiting for the ball to return to you and send it back up as fast as you can.) I won a little stuffed biker pig, yay. I have to admit it's a lot better then hefting around a giant stuffed animal.
Before we left, we made sure to stock up on the Fair's offical crack...aka the Scones.
So overall my Dad and I had a good time at the fair, even with the rain and the lines at the midway, we made the most out of it.
Now a couple random things to mention.
- Even though I didn't go on Jumping this year, I still say it needs to be replaced by something else. The best it's ever run was it's first year, but afterwards it's never launched the cars up and just isn't as intense as it can really be. Also, last year I mentioned the backdrop of the ride looked pretty worn. This year it looks even worse, most of it is faded and there are HUGE white sections of missing artwork. My Dad finally noticed the wear and tear as well.
I also found out why the backdrop is in bad shape, Jumping is one of the rides that stays on the fairground year round. So mother nature simply does her course on it, though oddly enough Inferno also stays on the fairgrounds year round...but it doesn't look bad at all!
- With it being a Dizzy Pass day, it looked like all the rides required tickets were jacked up. Most of the rides were 6 or five tickets, with many rides not having that high of a requirement before. Looks like they were really pushing the Dizzy Pass.
- Speaking of the Dizzy Pass, one feature I thought was nifty is all the ride ops scan it. I think the rides are using that data to see how many people ride it per day, also they loaded the 4 game tickets on the Dizzy Pass as well...so the games person just had to scan my wristband, which I thought was a nice easy way to manage things.
- Finally, one of the most interesting sights at the fair were two impersonaters...of Laurel and Hardy. I spotted them walking through the big showplex building, and my Dad and I literally did a double-take when we saw them.
Not surprisingly, any teen or kid that walked past them didn't even give a second look. However a whole lot of adults and seniors did, and absolutly loved them.
