Myrtle Beach
May 20, 2006
So, a few weeks ago I had made the decision that I was going to head down to Myrtle Beach this spring, do a quick run through and get all the coasters in, especially at the Pavilion. Myrtle Beach Pavilion is closing at the end of the season, and who knows what will happen to the rides there, so this may be my only chance to get here and see it. I figured I would do this before Memorial Day to avoid the crowds. That left me no choice but to go the weekend before, May 20 and 21. I planned to just stay on Saturday, get there in the afternoon, and head back out in the dark of the night.
It was an ambitious plan, made more so when I decided to tack on Busch Gardens on Sunday, and a stop at South of the Border before Myrtle Beach. Add on the unhappy coincidence that it was Bike Week in Myrtle Beach, and I knew I was in for a long weekend. Yes, I was nuts, I was told so, but I did it anyway.
I embarked on the voyage in the wee hours of the morning, and by noon I had made it to South of the Border.
South of the Border is the greatest of all tourist traps. It was overwhelmingly gaudy and goofy, and I loved it. I roomed around for a while, checking out the different shops, taking a look at the rides and tower, and filling up on fireworks.
I did not go up into the tower.
Pedroland was open, sort of.
OK, the Sombrero was closed,
And the train,
And the Wild Mouse, which has been closed,
I just don?t understand this. Why buy a coaster, run it for maybe a year, and then shut it down? Nobody knows why, and it is now just sitting there rotting away.
Oh well, the rest of SotB was pretty well kept and agreeable, and their motel actually looked pretty nice, a good place to stay on the way to Florida, were I headed there.
So, off to Myrtle Beach I went.
I got to Myrtle Beach at about 3PM, right when I expected to, and parked in the garage next to the Pavilion. I was surprised that parking was only $6, and even more surprised to find a spot on the lower level of the garage. I was greeted by the roar of thousands of Harleys rumbling through town.
After getting myself together, I headed across the street, got a wristband, and headed for the Hurricane.
I had heard much about the Hurricane, most not too good. I was told it was rough, and not really that good of a ride, but hey, you are talking to someone that likes coasters like the Cyclone and Tsunami (LONG LIVE the name Tsunami). It has G-Trains, in this case just one, which is never a good thing, but the train seemed to track fairly well. The ride itself was not bad at all. I liked the layout, basically two lateral filled helixes separated by some bunny hops that gave a little bit of air. The helixes ran in opposite directions, so you get thrown around a little. There were a few potholes in the track, but overall I didn?t find it bad at all. The real problem is in the restraints. You get thrown into these tight U-bars lapbars that squish you in, with no padding to speak of. I think if I were to ride the coaster more then I did, I would have had some nasty bruises. This would be a great ride if the train had seat dividers and buzz bars, it would be comfortable and fun. As a result, it was still fun, but I came off hurting a little.
After my beating, I roamed the park checking out the flats. They were all pretty good and well run. I would have liked a ride on the Top Spin, but it was closed, it looked like they were doing some work on it.
Even their bumper cars were pretty good for being plastic wannabes.
The rides were run pretty well, decent cycles and at good speed. Their brand new Tilt-a-Whirl was very good.
I loved the placement of the Scrambler, right in the middle of one of the Hurricane?s helixes.
Finally I made it to the Mad Mouse, and Arrow version of the ride. I really liked this ride, the visuals were great, and it had some nice drops towards the end. It was not braked at all as well, making for a pretty fast and furious ride, yet not too jarring or painful. I wish there were more of these around and less of the Mack versions, as this is a far better ride in my not so humble opinion.
I decided to do something I don?t normally do, the water rides. Their flume and rapids rides looks neat, they each had a tunnel and looked pretty elaborate. They were both very good, and I ended up very wet.
After getting changed I headed for the front of the park and took a ride on the Little Eagle, a family coaster with some nice themeing. I somehow forgot to photograph this ride. Then I took a look at, and ride on, the Carousel.
Their Herschell-Spillman Carousel is exquisite. It is perfectly maintained with fantastic animals and great paintings. The band organ (which was not running a the time, but would later in the evening) was a wonderful piece of art as well. I truly, sincerely wish that this ride is kept in one piece and saved after this season, that if it does not stay there, that some park that needs and would care for a machine like this (cough, Dollywood) would buy it.
At this point light was fading as some heavy cloud cover started to move in, so I decided to head down the street to Family Kingdom.
To be continued?
Oh, I did mention it was Bike Week, right?
Topic: Myrtle Beach Pavilion, Part 1 (Read 1878 times)