Of course, this park is a part of movie history. It was the setting for a major sequence of the 1970s thriller “Rollercoaster” (in “Sensurround,” no less). But being as this flick was about a psycho who got his kicks from planting bombs in theme parks, I’m not surprised that Paramount doesn’t play this up. (Plus, it was a Universal picture, anyway.)
Back to the loud movie and TV music—you just can’t escape it there, and it makes for some pretty surreal moments. Imagine walking through the woods to the loading station for the Grizzly wooden rollercoaster while the theme from the original “Bob Newhart Show” drifts over the queue. Or catching the tail end of “Leave It to Beaver” when the Hurler woodie screeches to a sudden halt. (“Ow, that hurt, Wally!” “Then don’t be a spaz, Beav!”) Watching a launch of the Hypersonic XLC while James Bond and Superman themes are blasting away sort of makes sense, at least.
Oh, well. I was there to do something I couldn’t do in Williamsburg—ride wooden rollercoasters.
The Grizzly is, indeed, an ornery ol’ b’ar, and the park’s best woodie—it truly rules the park’s Old Virginia section, Bob Newhart music or not. This bear treats you like a fresh caught salmon, tossing you around, batting you about, then slamming you back to earth before swallowing you whole. It’s all steep drops and sharp upward curves, with some nifty bunny hills through a shed. This is not to be confused with its much lamer namesake at Paramount’s Great America in Santa Clara, Calif. Virginia’s Grizzly has got some claws.
The park’s oldest coaster, the Rebel Hell, seems downright quaint. Up and down, up and down, up and down, turn it around, “go back, Jack, do it again.” There is a rather clever touch—after the first big drop, you’re tossed over a few bunny hills, then flung w-a-a-y back up for the turnaround. This old racer still has it, and for a truly terrifying ride, try the backwards-facing trains.
The Hurler, woodie number three, does just that—it hurls you from side to side, back and forth, up and down. This used to be part of the park’s Wayne’s World section, but almost all vestiges of Wayne and Garth have been stripped away, making the Hurler just another ride in PKD’s rather generic Grove, which seems to be themed as a tribute to Magic Mountain in the 1970s. (Rebel Yell is located here, too.)
One change from the last time I visited--all the woodies are now equipped with lap bars and seat belts. So much for airtime, I guess. Now if they'd just get rid of those vise-like seat dividers . . .
I might put together a few ramblings about PKD’s other attractions and themed areas later, if anybody’s interested. But, as Tor Johnson’s Lobo said in “The Unearthly,” “Time for go to bed.”
PKD really would have been better served somehow giving their three launch coasters (Volcano, Flight of Fear, and Hypersonic) better load capacity. I don't think any one of those rides ever runs more than 2 trains at a time, and their train passenger capacities range from 20 for FOF to a measly 8 for Hypersonic. Meanwhile, Rebel Yell can run 4 trains at once (2 on each track), each holding 30 people! That really shows up in the waiting time.
One other beef: Grizzly, Rebel Yell, and Hurler all have ridiculously convoluted queues that take a while to wind through, especially if you're stuck behind slowpokes, as I was repeatedly yesterday. Fortunately, I was able to re-ride without getting back in line on all three of those coasters several times since the lines were practically non-existent.
The ride opened later than expected with less capacity than expected. Thankfully, the following year they fixed their problems. And they can run 3 trains on Volcano.
I'm planning on submitting a second part to my trip report--then I'll take up the hideously long waits for Volcano and Hypersonic. Anaconda is usually a walk-on, for those of you in a hurry to take a beating.
