Trip Report for AstroWorld
6/28/04
Crowds/Weather: Light / Scattered Thunderstorms, Warm
Park Rating
Clarisse: 3.5 out of 5
Clarisse’s Park Comments: This park has a collection of esoteric and unique rides, some of which are fun some of which aren’t. There were also notably friendly ride ops. I found it amusing when 2 park employees were talking to each other, one with a pa address and one without. Naturally the one with the PA got to dominate the conversation. He (the one with the PA) was slightly geeky and slightly annoying, she (the one without) was slightly annoyed).
There were scattered thunderstorms all day which made most of the lines short (except for the low capacity rides). I don’t think I would have enjoyed the day as much as I did if the park was packed. Certainly some of the rides really weren’t worth the wait anyway.
Mike: 3.25 out of 5
Mike’s Park Comments: Sitting in the same part of the country as Six Flags Fiesta Texas, it’s easy to view Astroworld as Six Flags ugly little stepsister – never getting any attention or love from it’s corporate parent. And while the easy assumption is most times factually inaccurate, this one held up pretty well under closer inspection.
For example, Astroworld doesn’t even have it’s own pressed penny. We’ve been getting pennies from every park that offers one so we know that every Six Flags park so far has had a pressed penny available that represents their park. Astroworld gets generic Warner Brothers cartoon characters that don’t have it’s park name.
Then there’s the coasters. It looks like Astroworld’s biggest draw for the general public is a Vekoma SLC. A corporate parent giving it’s regional park a Vekoma SLC as it’s major coaster is like giving your kid a pair of tube socks for Christmas. See the analogy, now?
Astroworld did, however, have a claim to fame – 3 Schwarzkopf coasters. The park even has a plaque mentioning the 3 coasters and giving some brief info about Schwarzkopf. Here’s the catch – Six Flags took away one of the coasters and relocated it somewhere else. The plaque remains, but one of the coasters is gone.
Employees at Astroworld, despite reports I’ve read elsewhere, were very cool and very friendly. I can’t comment on how fast or efficient they were, however, as thunderstorms kept crowds to a bare minimum and created walk on conditions in the park for all coasters all day. Also, all rides were open all day and any closures due to rain immediately reopened on sunny skies – something I appreciate from parks that I normally associate with a well run park.
The above average (for enthusiasts, at least) but less then stellar ride lineup suggests I won’t return to Astroworld anytime soon. But if I ever plan a larger Texas trip I would absolutely return to Astroworld. Their Schwarztkopf is the best Schwarzkopf shuttle looper in the country and is the only one that is run, I think, the way the coaster is meant to. The other Schwarzkopf here, Viper, is a fantastic amount of fun as well. Oh, and the Texas Cyclone, too!
Texas Cyclone
Mike: 4.65 out of 5
Comments: Seemingly built to be bigger and badder then it’s New York inspiration, the Texas Cyclone succeeds in being bigger and, based solely on my rides this summer, better. I think the NYC Cyclone is superior in the end, but the fact is my rides today on the Texas Cyclone were better then my rides earlier this summer on the NY Cyclone. Still, I like to think the NY Cyclone was having a bad day, and the Texas Cyclone on this day was having a pretty good one. Wood coasters, unlike steel, can be like that.
Clarisse: 4.28 out of 5
Comments: Texas Cyclone is a good homage to Coney Island’s Cyclone. This ride is significantly smoother than the original & in some ways scarier. The main difference is that Texas Cyclone has a much larger footprint. I’m intimate with the layout of the Coney Island Cyclone but since I’m not familiar with the layout of the Texas Cyclone it had the element of surprise to add fear. Some of the clearances on the ride seem really tight, and aside from being successfully scary, they made the drops seem steeper.
No one below 5 feet is supposed to ride the back 4 rows. I really didn’t see the point of that rule. The back seat is fun with nice airtime but not so violent that I was afraid (being close to 5 feet). The back seat on the Texas Cyclone doesn’t hold a candle to the back seat on the Coney Island Cyclone (which is really painful). The front seat was good too with wicked lateral forces!
Viper
Mike: 4.7 out of 5
Comments: As much fun as Greazed Lightnin’ with a tunnel and longer ride time. Damn, I wish I had visited this park when it had three Schwarzkopfs!
Clarisse: 4.589 out of 5
Comments: This ride is a superb Schwarzkopf! Schwarzkopf coasters almost always provide really strong forces, and this one does not disappoint. The ride ops ask for the smaller person to load into the coaster first. They do this for good reason. I got thrown from side to side so hard my butt left the bucket seat I was sitting in and got pushed into Mike's seat. I also slammed into his body! In the front of the coaster, the laterals are even more intense!
This classic coaster has several loops and banked turns. I really appreciate the restraints on this and most other Schwarzkopfs. The restraints are just a lap bar! A looping coaster without over the shoulder restraints is ingenious.
No single riders are allowed. I can understand this rule due to the amount I was thrown around from side to side. If I was sitting in the coaster alone I would have been afraid of sliding out to the side! (though I think that the rule it only a precaution but people won't normally slop out).
The ride ops were slaphappy, friendly & efficient which made for an all around pleasant ride.
Ultratwister
Clarisse: 4.68 out of 5
Comments: This ride is unique, fun and mildly painful. The first drop is thrilling with an almost 90 degree drop. there’s a hump in the track that gave me air, and the twists give me air, I had room in my restraints which gave me air, then it does a bunch more backwards, and backwards is always fun. Its not a smooth ride but I had virtually no headbanging. The OTSRs are hard, and if you have really narrow shoulders they will not hold you in. The entire track is encased in a cage, in which the car rotates inside. I've read a little bit about the premise of the ride - they don’t want people to grey out so they make sure that all flips and such are rotated close to passengers hearts. I liked this ride and would appreciate riding more, but there aren’t many others like it.
Mike: 4 out of 5
Comments: The lift and first drop are great, as it’s 90 degrees and simply terrifying, but the rest of the ride is unexceptional if not painful. Still worth it, however, for that fabulous first drop.
Myan Mindbender
Clarisse: 2.5 out of 5
Comments: This is an indoor, twisty coaster that bends over and under itself several times. There are minimal forces on this coaster. It’s really unimpressive so I don’t quite understand why we waited for the front and back seats. The front is marginally better than the back for the lateral forces. Its totally dark inside which is really important in an indoor coaster.
Mike: 2.3 out of 5
Comments: An indoor coaster that’s well themed on the outside and pitch black during the uneventful ride. The sounds that play in the station, however, are really cool and set me up for a fantastic ride that never occurred. We both felt it was slightly better in the front then the back.
XLR8
Mike: 3.25 out of 5
Comments: Forgettable suspended coaster that should get extra points for having cars that face backwards, but looses them for having the last car (facing backwards) closed.
Clarisse: 2.7 out of 5
Comments: This suspended coaster doesn’t go very fast for a ride referencing the word "accelerate." The closed bottom suspended cars swing back and forth around the curves and hills, but they don’t swing enough. Half of the cars in a train go forward and the other half go backwards, we rode facing backwards. The ride was mildly dizzying and certainly not fun.
XLR8 is at that sucky level between kiddy coaster and thrill ride. If it was a kiddy coaster I would have accepted it the way it was and if they turned up the intensity it might have been more fun. But since it was the way it was, we weren’t compelled to ride again.
Swat
Mike: 2.75 out of 5
Comments: Swat is similar for me to Nightwing at SFNE. Cool and fun to watch and fairly uneventful to ride past the basic thrill of going upside down. I would prefer a longer ride time on this but judging by the “I feel sick” comments of the people around me it might be best that it was short.
Clarisse: NA out of 5
Comments: I’m still annoyed by my experience with this ride. I was nervous about this ride, cause it looks like the kind of ride that would make someone puke. I didn’t really want to go on but Mike did, so I reluctantly sat down next to him. Unfortunately, behind us were the worst kind of annoying frat boys; they didn’t make me nervous, but they definitely detracted from my comfort level. At the last minute before the ride cycle started, this middle-aged woman sat directly behind me and said with a sheepish smile “I’m still feeling kind of sick.” Stupid Bitch, why did she get on, you don’t get on if you’re feeling sick. I can almost understand if she was a teenager and the peer pressure made her get on the ride. But this lady was older than me. Again I reiterate, stupid bitch.
Mike said that not only was the ride not that much fun, but the frat boys kept making hurling noises. So I’m kind of glad I didn’t go on. I made 2 attempts later to ride, but I couldn’t get to ride because it was closed because of the rain. So I didn’t get to prove myself.
Greezed Lightnin’
Mike: 4.7 out of 5
Comments: So simple, yet so fucking good! I could ride this all day, and I’d like to return to Astroworld sometime to do just that!
Clarisse: 4.6 out of 5
Comments: Greezed Lightning is a launched coaster that goes through a tunnel which is themed as a barn, then it loops, goes up an incline and then the trains pass through everything backwards. After it passes through the station the train goes up another incline then returns to the station.
I really liked this coaster. The launch is great, and true to Schwarzkopf, the forces are high, even with the simple design of this coaster. The best seat is in the back, If you sit there, you get the treat of feeling like you’re gonna fly out on the last incline.
Batman The Escape
Clarisse: 4 out of 5
Comments: This stand up coaster gave me airtime! The OTSR’s give a headbangy ride but thankfully the OTSRs reached well over my hears. I liked the coaster enough to re-ride, but Nike got his ears boxed by the OTSRs. I felt bad that the ride gave him pain but glad that finally he experienced the headbanging that I do on many OTSR rides and he could commiserate. It's thrilling and fun, though. I was grumpy before both rides and got off with a huge smile!
Mike: 2.75 out of 5
Comments: One of the better themed of the Six Flags Batman rides, this standup beats the hell out of my head so badly it’s like an SLC’s brother. And that’s unfortunate, as this is one of the few standups I’ve ridden with airtime.
Diablo Falls
Clarisse: 3.4 out of 5
Comments: Riders sit in a red blue and yellow inflatable raft and slide down a curved slide of the same colors. The raft spins down the slide providing dizzying fun till the end. Once the slide ends, the raft splashes into a shallow pool of water. There are water cannons and fountains on this ride that are operated by non riders, this is what dampened us. Unfortunately it was already kind of wet out, and it wasn’t hot any more!
Ride ops on here were especially nice. They got out a broom when the ride was closed due to weather and started a limbo game. Later on they recognized me, as I was the only adult who played.
Mike: 2.75 out of 5
Comments: See whatever comments I wrote for the one at Six Flags America (Penguin's Blizzard River). This one got us a bit wetter.