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Visionland Bessemer, Alabama Event: ACE Rip Roarin’ Rampage Weather: Sunny, Hot Crowds: Light Knowing Visionland is a small park, we weren’t in any rush to get there. Our 3 hours of ERT was at night, so we took our time getting over there. He headed out of Atlanta around 10:30, and with a long lunch stop and the Time Zone change, we arrived at 12:30 and checked in. Visionland is an unusual park, it’s a small park, but it tries to be so much more. The admission gates lead into Celebration Street, a sort of Disney Main Street Wannabe. There are shops, arcades, and a full-fledged sports bar. From there, you can head over to the water park (which we skipped), or enter the amusement park. We first opted for a few brews, as a $2 beer is a good deal anywhere, let alone at an amusement park. First off was Rampage, of course. I was anticipating this one very much, but I knew, since it was the middle of the afternoon, that it may be a bit sluggish. They were running one train (the second is in rehab, getting a new paint job, etc.) but with the small crowds, we didn’t mind much. We had about a 15 minute wait, and they ran the station empty, letting 24 people at a time queue up. I was happy to see that, since we were in a big group (6 of us). We timed it right, and sat in the last car for the first run. This coaster is impressive. I could tell, and return riders agreed, that it wasn’t quite running up to it’s potential. It was a great first ride, but we knew it would have better things in store later in the evening. I’ll give a detailed description then. The park has a very random and often confusing layout. I didn’t consult a park map, but there are a number of long dead-end paths that have just one flat ride. The Space Shot required a bit of a trek to get to, but was worth the trip. Standard S&S model, wait time was about 5 minutes, or two cycles. We spent pretty much the entire day alternating between a few rides, followed by a few drinks. The only other coaster is a Miler kiddie coaster, so we got our credit on that early on, and then spent most of the time hitting all of the carnival rides. Lines were minimal, always less then 10 minutes, and usually just a one cycle wait. The rides worth mentioning are their raft ride, a pretty decent 6-seater, with waterfalls, misters, and tunnel, and a trip around a cool looking whirlpool. Their Wave Swinger is awesome! It’s the fastest one I’ve been on, with seats becoming almost parallel to the ground. It was, however, very finicky, as it took us 11 tries to get a full cycle! By that time we were all reasonably soused, so we were a bit woozy afterwards. We also hit the Scrambler, Himalaya, Ferris Wheel (with spin-able cars) and Space Shot again, in no particular order. We took one last spin on Rampage before ERT. This time the line was even shorter, and we got the first car, second row. It was pretty obvious that the ride was picking up the pace as the day went on. The second ride was noticeably more intense, and we were in the front this time! Dinner was rather mediocre, and after numerous poorly made margaritas, I was content munching on a few hamburger buns. It was a small group of us ACEers, about 45, so we expected good things for ERT. We started at 9pm, watching the GP enjoy their double “last ride”. I loved the look on their faces when they thought they were closing down the ride for the night, and then we climb into the ride behind them. *THAT* right there is the reason I’m in ACE. :} ERT was freaking sensational. The ride was tearing it up, and here’s a summary of the course. Trains make a slight right turn dropping out of the station, and quickly catch the lift. The lift hill heads pretty much directly away from the center of the park, so turning around gave a great view of the darkness settling in. Coming off the lift, it’s a 180 degree U-turn to the left, giving the back seat some extra MPH as it whips off the top of the (STEEP) first drop. At the bottom, right as the track pulls up, it makes a slight left turn and heads over a speed hill. Back down the steep hill, and up into a classic CCI turnaround, dipping into the middle, and rising back up before straightening out, giving everyone airtime on the way. The next hill is a bit of a dead spot, as trains climb and drop with very little of anything. It’s not unwelcomed though, because the ride then kicks into high gear. The track threads through the lift hill and rises up unto what we were calling the “Excuse Me!” turn, a jarring right turn that’ll slam you pretty hard if you’re not expecting it. A dip into the rest of the turnaround leads to the last out-and-back segment, where you will find some of the most intense airtime on ANY coaster on the planet! Right after the far end of that turnaround, trains dive (and I do mean DIVE) down underneath you. I even had my hands clutching the trains, and my body went flying upwards. I was off the seat, with my knees above my hands! There is an awesome speed hill on the way back underneath the structure of the left, and then the Grand Finale. A quick left turn followed by a sudden dip, and then the “Shimmy”, a series of quick side-to-side dogleg movements (reminiscent of trick-track, but MUCH cooler), and then sharp left turn, into a quick drop, and back up into the break run. Awesome. The attendants are very friendly, but they will leave you very unattended. On Rampage this means one click lap bars they pull UP on to check. There is no stapling, and they don’t even look at your seat belt. I left things loose for a back seat ride, and I floated down the entire first drop! The lap bar tightened at the bottom, keeping me nice and safe for the rest of the ride. However, on the other rides, the attendant’s lack of attention can be a bit scary. For example, on the Scrambler, they let a man with a lit cigar on, and they also allowed those waiting in line INSIDE the ride area, while it was spinning within a foot or less of them. Also, the ride Op on the Wave Swinger let the ride break down 5+ times before even calling a Supervisor. But all considered, Rampage makes this park. It’s got a very unique layout, it looks like half twister, half double out-and-back. The funny thing is, it rides the exact same way! It has the airtime rivaling the best out and backers, and the INSANE laterals of the best Cyclone models. It runs relatively smoothly, and it’ll kick your ass at night. No question this park was worth the visit. We got about 20 or so rides in during ERT, and we were happy to get ourselves off the ride at the end of the night. We headed back to Atlanta, and got in around 4am, too cheap to spring for a motel room. I recommend this park to anyone. Just expect the park to be a glorified county fair (with fewer rides), and expect Rampage to break into your top ten! Back to Trip Reports
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