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 Review of Voyage @ Holiday World
3 Rating Posted by: hrrytraver on 6/30/2007 12:53:00 PM
i cant accept "the voyage" as the title to this wild coaster. "voyage" may imply a tumultuous sea crossing on the mayflower to the owners of the park, but to me the word also conjures up something quite more drudging like an interstate station wagon passage to a family reunion. imo, "voyage" the noun does not insist absolutely on frantic turbulence enough to evoke the shocking final 45 seconds of this coaster, nor the angry gravities of the confusing far turnaround, nor the noisy suction of the many tunnels. this coaster may be the most intense, dense and seemingly endless roller coaster alive today. it needs an appropriate title that must also, unfortunately, fit the goofy theme of a british puritan colony. my two suggestions: first- "heathen attack", because as the PTC train races from the savage banking of the turnaround it yells and screams like a plummed and painted militia down to the station, which could be themed like a squalid colonial village, then surrounds it menacingly, carrying on like a pack of deft warriors. a less controversial title but imo a very satisfying name nonetheless would be the "rabid turkey" because the rides spastic, energetic downhill slalom after the mid-course reminds me of the time i stayed a weekend in the hills of rural massachusetts and saw huge gaggles of wild turkeys running and squawking downward through the forests like demonic poultries. i know that my own thyroid gland was oscillating madly along with the seriously stressed out track and wheels of this coaster much like the goiter of a psychotic dinner bird would while the creature is spinning itself into oblivion.but some questions have emerged in the year the rabid turkey has been open - "yes the rabid turkey is fast, intense and lengthy...but is it a great coaster ride? does it deliver on the hype? is it doomed by its very nature as a PTC train bearing wood tracked coaster to roughness and eventual obsolescense?" on the first i can say that it is easily a momentous coaster ride. the physical beauty of pushing three huge drops into a hillside and thereafter letting all of that momentum unravel back down in ground hugging quantas, one burst of ferocious energy after the next, is pure mathematic wonder. i dont think any coaster has optimized its environment and energy so impressively. gravity groups engineers and computer design software have both been clearly slipped insights from the secret masters of the universe. the appalling, cosmic jiggling my brain got on the curve just before diving under the station was probably not unlike what the space shuttle crew feels like re-entering earths atmosphere. the train is easily going 50mph at that point, and that is probably 4500 feet AFTER the first drop. preposterous! but what of the hype? is it the ultimate jammy jam of all jams? well.......yes and no. there for sure is no precedent for this ride. the rabid turkey can laugh off any steel coaster and 97.7% of wood coasters in the intensity department. but it was noticably missing one thing that really engages me on ANY coaster ride...good old threatening negative G goddamn ejector air. my adrenalin glands turn the pots to "11" when i experience a good ejector launch. even one or two violent pops on a coaster will send my neuroreceptors into the ninth dimension of the crystal cathedral. this IS NOT nit picking, ladies and germs. i simply cannot reach the ultimate nirvana state without ejector air. no sir, i will always sit a little shy of the rouge band on the voltometer no matter how virtuistically splendid the coaster. on the rabid turkey, after the midcourse there is plenty of potential energy to uncork at least one gut-dropping ejection. it would have been the straw to break the camels back and eject me into a unflinching 10. but alas... that said, there is no question that brilliance shines down on earthlings from the voy...er, rabid turkey. when pondering the future of the ride,<
 

Review Comments

BobFunland on 6/30/2007 5:32:03 PM said:
glad Im not the only one who thinks this lacks true ejector air
Timberman on 6/30/2007 6:44:33 PM said:
For true ejector air, the humble Skyliner beats both the Voyage and El Toro, hands down. Nevertheless, I still consider the Voyage the most audacious, epic ride Ive ever experienced. As compared to last year, I think its running even faster, with no appreciable accretion of roughness. Recent rides I took after dark and in a light rain repeatedly blew my mind. I actually think that experienced coaster enthusiasts will appreciate the bedlam that is Voyage even more than novices, as the former will understand that what happens on Voyage just isnt normal by modern roller coaster standards.


Also, while Voyage may lack any big moments of standing or ejector air, it hardly lacks airtime. I experienced true, out-of-the-seat floater air on every hill of the opening sequence, as well as the more forceful sensation of having the car dive down below me and then yank me after it on several spots later in the course. Im no physicist, but it may be that the speed and size of the ride simply negate the jump-off-the-garage-roof style of airtime found on smaller rides like the Cyclone, Cyclops, Jack Rabbit, and Skyliner. Some people, for example, find the ejector air of Phantoms Revenge or even Magnum XL-200 too forceful at the speed at which it occurs. In any event, while I would certainly love to see someone build a wooden coaster of Voyage proportions with ejector air, I hardly think Voyage needs this to deliver a complete ride, especially given the intensity it delivers as is.


I, too, wonder at Voyages long-term viability. Hopefully, the break-in period has been achieved, because I truly wonder how much faster this roller coaster could get and still be rideable. Although I have utmost faith in Holiday World to keep this ride running in top shape, I agree with hts advice to experience the Voyage ASAP, while it remains at the height of its prodigious form.

hrrytraver on 7/1/2007 9:55:49 AM said:
i guess that for me the rapid extreme negative G sensation, even on stapled coasters such as toro or SFAsupermanROS infamous launch, just creates an artificial 911 flight or flight response in my brain that speed or even wild, rickety direction changes dont. maybe its my hardwiring. thus, ejector is like an extra sprinkling of lighter fluid on the charcoal grill of my nervous system. for example, i find voyage to be the superior ride to el toro, yet at the same time i find the first drop on toro along with the RT catapult moment to both be more absurd and wonderful elements than anything found on the voyage. for my tastes, i can put aside complaints about the trains/restraints/track on el toro and say with certainty that the actual FEELING inside of my body/brain of the beautiful negative g-force at that steepness and speed is beyond words superb. im not even thinking about the restraints when those elements are doing their thing, im only feeling those neurochemicals pumpin godly ambrosia through my spinal column. BUTTTTTTTT.....................since were critics here we weigh it all out and try to be honest about what we feel. voyage beats el T, but by a margin. i find voyage to be a much more earnest project and a down to earth ride. but both are superlative coasters in my mind. and both rides just slightly lack that final kundlini gunpowder to get perfect 10 ultimate universal gold award from me.
PhantomNik on 7/6/2007 1:41:17 PM said:
That was a marvelous review, hrrytraver! Put me down for a vote for "rabid turkey" LOL In all honesty, I would say that El Toro edges out Voyage in the overall airtime department, theres no questioning that. But for me, when you take Voyages airtime (which I think is better than about 97% of coasters Ive ridden) and combine it with the blazing speed and unrivaled intensity, then thats what pushes it over the top. It is not leaps and bounds above Toro in my mind, but it does beat it out overall.
hrrytraver on 7/6/2007 3:51:17 PM said:
thanks nik, i agree that the overall ride on voyage is better than el toro.
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