After wrapping up Opening Day for Cheetah Hunt at Busch Gardens in Tampa, it was off to Six Flags Over Georgia for the new Dare Devil Dive eurofighter. There's quite a bit to say & show about the day, but I'm totally beat & need to get a few winks before hitting the road again in the morning. So I'll say that although this is by no means a nicely themed eurofighter like so many others, it blows all that I've ridden away as far as the ride is concerned. It's just a joy to ride. So silky smooth, comfortable & the trains are a gift from the coaster gods. I thought it would be like Huracan at Belantis, which can cause a bit of pain, particularly in the nether regions. Well it isn't. In fact it's so re-rideable that I could probably ride it all day (I think we used to have a topic like that). The lapbars are snug, but not too tight & I wish they could be used on every eurofighter.
The ride itself isn't any more intense or better than the other ones out there, but it flows really well, without much letup & the little themeing they have (like the tower & tunnel) add a bit more to an already quality coaster. I'm still a bit bewildered about how good it is in spite of the minimal effort put into the theme.
Anyway, here's a POV to hold you over for now. I'll get a full report, more videos & photos posted on Tuesday night.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htJi1jwpH7s[/youtube]
Edit - it took a bit longer than Tuesday night, but here you go.
The opening day crowd for Dare Devil Dive didn't seem as bad as the one for Cheetah Hunt, but it was harder to judge due to the system the park had in place (more on that later), however I was once again at the front of the crowd & among the first to ride the coaster that day. The major thing I forgot to mention above is the hang time that you get at the top of the drop that I haven't felt on any other coaster other than Sky Rocket at Kennywood. Although the hang time isn't a long as on Sky Rocket, which has brakes on the top hat & this one doesn't, it's still quite noticable & I wish all future eurofighters could have it.
After my front seat ride I headed right back to the queue to take photos & film some off-ride footage
Just to make sure you know what coaster it is that you're queueing up for...
...there's this big sign...
...over the ride entrance.
The lift hill looks just as good...
...from the other side.
Heading down...
...through the flames.
The mist gives a nice smoke effect.
Here's most of the ride.
It has a couple of nice...
...inversions.
This one...
...is my...
...favorite.
I also like the vertical hang time here...
...and here.
I really don't get the theme though. With this watch tower...
..and these pilons....
...on each side of the ride.
And other than the mist, the tunnel isn't much either.
The station...
...is very sparse...
...and the loading leaves a bit to be desired for in terms of capicity....
...but the trains are awesome.
They're so small that all four fit in that tiny storage shed.
Time to check out the off-ride to see everything in action (including the automatic lapbars).
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWH2HEFg40M[/youtube]
Unlike Cheetah Hunt, the coaster only had two short interruptions while I was there when it stalled on the MCBR & at the bottom of the lift...
...but it was only down for about 10 minuts each time.
Coaster upskirt shot.
I noticed that the more photos I took the shorter the queue was getting.
Then I saw that they had blocked the ride entrance even thought the coaster was running fine.
So I took my backseat ride...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6EgVUhnJtw[/youtube]
...and went to the entrance where I saw they were giving out hand stamps.
By now it was noon & the stamps they were using were for 2pm-2:30pm ride times.
This looked like something out of RCT...
...with the ice cream stand built into it.
The trains aren't quite that small (would be cool if they were).
I'll end this report with my only two-coasters-in-one shot...
...and one of the back of the station taken from the Mind Bender queue line.
The ride itself isn't any more intense or better than the other ones out there, but it flows really well, without much letup & the little themeing they have (like the tower & tunnel) add a bit more to an already quality coaster. I'm still a bit bewildered about how good it is in spite of the minimal effort put into the theme.
Anyway, here's a POV to hold you over for now. I'll get a full report, more videos & photos posted on Tuesday night.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htJi1jwpH7s[/youtube]
Edit - it took a bit longer than Tuesday night, but here you go.
The opening day crowd for Dare Devil Dive didn't seem as bad as the one for Cheetah Hunt, but it was harder to judge due to the system the park had in place (more on that later), however I was once again at the front of the crowd & among the first to ride the coaster that day. The major thing I forgot to mention above is the hang time that you get at the top of the drop that I haven't felt on any other coaster other than Sky Rocket at Kennywood. Although the hang time isn't a long as on Sky Rocket, which has brakes on the top hat & this one doesn't, it's still quite noticable & I wish all future eurofighters could have it.
After my front seat ride I headed right back to the queue to take photos & film some off-ride footage
Just to make sure you know what coaster it is that you're queueing up for...
...there's this big sign...
...over the ride entrance.
The lift hill looks just as good...
...from the other side.
Heading down...
...through the flames.
The mist gives a nice smoke effect.
Here's most of the ride.
It has a couple of nice...
...inversions.
This one...
...is my...
...favorite.
I also like the vertical hang time here...
...and here.
I really don't get the theme though. With this watch tower...
..and these pilons....
...on each side of the ride.
And other than the mist, the tunnel isn't much either.
The station...
...is very sparse...
...and the loading leaves a bit to be desired for in terms of capicity....
...but the trains are awesome.
They're so small that all four fit in that tiny storage shed.
Time to check out the off-ride to see everything in action (including the automatic lapbars).
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWH2HEFg40M[/youtube]
Unlike Cheetah Hunt, the coaster only had two short interruptions while I was there when it stalled on the MCBR & at the bottom of the lift...
...but it was only down for about 10 minuts each time.
Coaster upskirt shot.
I noticed that the more photos I took the shorter the queue was getting.
Then I saw that they had blocked the ride entrance even thought the coaster was running fine.
So I took my backseat ride...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6EgVUhnJtw[/youtube]
...and went to the entrance where I saw they were giving out hand stamps.
By now it was noon & the stamps they were using were for 2pm-2:30pm ride times.
This looked like something out of RCT...
...with the ice cream stand built into it.
The trains aren't quite that small (would be cool if they were).
I'll end this report with my only two-coasters-in-one shot...
...and one of the back of the station taken from the Mind Bender queue line.
