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 Review of Time Machine @ Freestyle Music Park
1 Rating Posted by: CoastrGlxy on 6/9/2008 10:06:00 AM
Led Zeppelin: The Ride is the headliner in Hard Rock Parks ride lineup. Creating a great new rock-themed park is a draw, but nothing catches the eye of would-be visitors like a flashy new looping roller coaster. To that end, Led Zeppelin delivers a thrilling roller coaster that does an excellent job incorporating the music of a legendary rock band.
As you approach the ride, you notice the huge steel zeppelin-shaped station with the band members respective symbols on the side. In the queue, there are large mural sized representations of their album covers and flat panel T.V.s featuring concert footage.

According to the Chief Creative Officer, Jon Binkowski, it took years to convince Led Zeppelin to lend their name and music to the ride. A condition of the agreement was that their entire song had to be played from start to finish. So a pre-ride experience was created to solve the issue. In the station there are five small dark multimedia rooms like standing theaters. Inside, riders are treated to a video that includes a short interview and a live performance of the bands hit Whole Lotta Love. The performance pauses about midway through and the doors in front of you swing open. The station ride ops cheer as they direct you to the empty train thats waiting for your group. The enthusiastic ride ops do a great job of keeping the excitement going as you board.

The train dispatches from the station and immediately begins its ascent over the pond. Closer to the 15-story crest, Whole Lotta Love picks back up in via the onboard speakers. And then it really kicks in as the train plummets to the pond below. Next, the train travels directly into a large 120 tall vertical loop with some great g-forces. Then the train maneuvers through a cobra roll with two quick inversions. The rock really adds to the ride as the train traverses the highlight. The signature B&M zero-g roll over the pond is excellent.

Another smaller vertical loop follows and then the trains takes a large swooping turn and does a flyby near the station. Next, the train passes through a short brake run and then drops into a corkscrew. Your ride finishes strong with an upward helix and then the final station brakes.
The first five inversions are pretty much back-to-back. While the rapid fire layout keeps the thrills going, I would have preferred a more open layout. That said, Hard Rock Park really did the best with the space that they had. This is a rather large roller coaster and its location on the pond is picturesque. It was common to see crowds on the bridge between the British Rock Invasion and Rock and Roll Heaven areas stopping for photo ops. At times the ride was a bit shaky for a B&M, but It seemed smoother on later rides with a near full train. So the shakiness may have been a result of the lack of weight on the train.
As a total experience, Led Zepellin The Ride is a great attraction. The roller coaster truly delivers and Whole Lotta Love blasting away as you perform these acrobatic maneuvers is a pretty memorable experience. While the lengthy pre-ride experience may deter some coaster enthusiasts who are likely to want several re-rides, it does add authenticity and theming. Plus, as the C.C.O. shared with me, most guests will only ride Led Zepellin once. So, for the general public Led Zepellin will satisfy with a thrilling and somewhat unique experience. Final Rating - 8.5 (Great Approaching Excellent)
 
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