My Skycoaster Story
Shona, Me, and Sergio
Divebomber Alley, Six Flags Over Texas, Arlington
06-14-98
Click
here for pictures and a short video!
To skip right to the actual
experience...click here!
Summer, 1994.
I made my first trip to Six Flags Fiesta
Texas and saw a Skycoaster in person for the first time (Sceamin' Skycoaster).
I stood for several minutes watching it and remember my Dad asking if I
would ride it, I remember saying "no way, never." "I'll
ride any rollercoaster but nothing like that."
August, 1997
Went to Six Flags Astroworld with a friend
from work, Dana, who had not been to an amusement park in several years.
If I remember right, he offered to pay for me to ride the Skycoaster
(Barnstormer) with him. I refused.
April-May, 1998.
I have now been riding any and all
rollercoasters that I can get to for the last couple of years. I have
ridden Dungeon Drop at Six Flags Astroworld 16 times (Intamin Giant Drop).
Every trip to a park has resulted in me watching people ride the Skycoaster
thinking they are crazy and there is no way I could do that.....although it has
gotten to the point where I want something new to try....maybe I will, It
couldn't be that bad.....but strapped in a harness hanging from a steel cable
with nothing but the ground under me???.....no....forget it.
Sunday, May 31, 1998.
Sunday was a day of 6 hours worth of
"Thrills, Chills, and Spills" on the Discovery Channel. I spent
most of the day at home watching these shows on TV. The last episode was
"Extreme Rides". I saw they were going to show the Alpengeist
and called my friend Larry to tell him to watch it (we would both love to ride
it!). The first ride they showed was a "ejection seat".
The next ride was the Skycoaster. They showed video from several different
views and while I sitting there thinking "no way", the phone
rang. It was Larry.
This is the conversation as
best as I can remember:
Me--"Hello"
Larry--"You wanna do it"
Me--"Do what?"
Larry--"Well you're watching the
same thing we are. Shona want's to know if you want to ride the Skycoaster
Tuesday." (we were planning a trip to Six Flags Astroworld on Monday and
Tuesday.)
Me--"I don't know....."
Shona (Larry's wife) gets on the
phone:
I don't remember the exact
conversation here other than her asking me if I would ride it with her and me
for some unknown reason saying "okay"
For the rest of that night all I could
think of was riding the Skycoaster on Tuesday.
Monday, June 1, 1998.
Spent the morning and part of the
afternoon getting ready for my trip. I was planning on leaving at 4pm with
Jimmie, another friend from work. All day I still couldn't think of much
else other than riding the Skycoaster. Left for Astroworld after
meeting Jimmie at work at about 4:10. After sitting through some of the
wonderful Houston traffic we made it to the Motel 6 next to Astroworld at
7pm. We got our room, unloaded the car, and were off to Astroworld for a
couple hours....still thinking about what was going to happen the next
day. Must have been tired that night because I slept good...actually got
to sleep without thinking about what I was going to do the next day.
Tuesday, June 2, 1998.
Woke up to some bad news. Due to car
problems Larry and his family weren't going to make it. Or was it bad
news? Now I wouldn't have to ride the Skycoaster. I know Jimmie
wouldn't be the one to talk me into doing it since he had said before that he
wouldn't do it. We got to the park and I actually forgot about riding the
Skycoaster for the first time in the last 3 days....for most of the day.
By the end of the day...after walking by it several times..I actually wanted to
ride it! But there was no way I was doing it alone.
Sunday, June 7, 1998.
Went down to Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San
Antonio with Larry. Shona had gone to Missouri to visit her parents
so it was just me and Larry. We rode the new rides they had (Der Twister,
and ???(a Huss Frisbee). Then we started to make our way around to
the rollercoasters. When we got back to Joker's Revenge the Skycoaster was
in view (in fact it is right next to it). We stood and watched for a
while and I wanted to ride it right then. But I couldn't because I had
told Shona that I wouldn't ride it without her when they couldn't make it to
Astroworld the previous Tuesday.
Monday, June 8, 1998.
Went to Six Flags Astroworld in Houston
(again!) with Larry and Sergio. Seeing the one there didn't help either,
just made me want to get on it even more......but I would wait.
Friday, June 12, 1998.
Before the Astroworld trip on June
2nd. Plans were made to go to Six Flags Over Texas on June 13. Shona
would be coming back from her trip to Missouri and would be passing right
through the area so it was decided that Larry and I would meet her there and go
to Six Flags on the 14th. Since we were planning on leaving for Six Flags Over
Texas around 6 am on Saturday, I decided I needed to take Friday night off from
work (I work nights). I really didn't think about riding the Skycoaster
anymore....because I knew it was going to happen soon.
Saturday, June 13, 1998.
Saturday morning Larry, Sergio, Liz
(Sergio's girlfriend), and I all piled into my car and were off to
Arlington. Got to the park around 10am and it was already packed.
Rode all the rides we could that didn't have long lines. That afternoon I
remember looking at the Skycoaster and thinking.....I'll be doing that in less
than 24 hours. Around 1pm we went to our hotel room and stayed there to
cool off for a while. Shona the kids arrived around 2pm. Around 7pm
we decided to go to the park for a while again. We stayed until almost
closing. Afterwards we went back to the motel, had something to eat, and
went to bed. I did not sleep well that night. I don't know if it was
the bed or it was because I was thinking about what was going to happen tomorrow
morning.
Sunday,
June 14, 1998.
Didn't get out of bed until 8:30. We
had bought food for breakfast but I didn't feel like eating anything. We
got to the park about 15 minutes before they opened. When they opened the
gates we went straight for Mr. Freeze before the line got too long. I rode it
twice, once with Larry and Shona, and once with Sergio and Liz. A little
after 11am we headed over to the Skycoaster.
We went up and paid our money and got our
flight time. We waited about 20 minutes. Finally it was almost our
turn. They called us out and strapped us into our harnesses and we made
our way up the ramp to wait.........I don't remember thinking too much about the
ride. The only thing I remember thinking is..."Damn I'm hot" (It
was 11am and about 90 degrees without a cloud in the sky...and humid!).
But I must have been thinking about other things because I don't remember
talking much.....and I've been told by more than one person that I don't say
much when I'm afraid of something and I've noticed this also.
Finally it was time for us to fly.
They took us to the loading platform and took us up. They unhooked the
previous fliers and then told us to back up and stand next to each other.
Sergio was on my left and Shona was on my right (I am obviously in the
middle). They hooked us together and then hooked us to the cables.
They told us to put both our feet in the foot straps and then to lean forward
and do not grab on to anything. That was a weird feeling. One
second you're standing on your feet...you lean forward a little bit and with a
little push you are all of a sudden hanging about 3 feet above the floor. They
told us to hook our arms together and told us to hold hands(our own). I
remember Shona saying not to let go.....that was the last thing I was going to
do.
They lowered the platform and the previous
fliers and the ride operators got off. After a few seconds of hanging 6
feet off the ground we started to go up backwards. I know for a fact that
I only said one word (unless you count a scream as a word) from the time we got
on to the loading platform until the ride was almost or maybe even completely
over. The word was said about 3/4 of the way to the top. On the way up I
remember Shona talking most of the way but I couldn't tell you what she was
saying.
The next few seconds are kind of hazy....I
remember reaching the top and bouncing a little bit, I heard the words
"three, two, one, FLY!", I remember seeing Shona reach behind her to
pull the cord, I remember falling and screaming. I don't remember what it
looked like. I know I had my eyes open the whole time because I never
close my eyes on any ride. I don't remember the first swing back up.
It was on the second swing that I started to notice where I was and could see
Larry on the ground with the video camera. I don't remember Sergio letting
go of my arm, but after watching the video he had done so pretty early in the
ride. I knew I Shona and I were still holding on and it stayed that
way to almost the very end. After swinging back and forth for a while we
finally reached a height were we could grab the loop that would slow us
down. When we finally stopped swinging...we started to spin in circle
while we hung above the ground and waited to get down. I think this was
the worst part of the ride...we all started to feel dizzy.
After what seemed like forever spinning
above the ground we were down. We walked back down the ramp, had our
harnesses taken off, and walked in to the building to see our video(which I
bought). After buying the video we walked out and Larry interviewed each
one of us individually on camera which wrapped up his taping of our ride.
I think Larry got the feeling that I
didn't like the ride at first because when he asked me how I felt I said "I
don't want to ride anything else. I'm ready to go home." But it
wasn't because I didn't like the ride, it was because I knew nothing else that I
would ride could even come close to comparing to the experience I had just
had. Shona said the same thing. When he asked me if I would ride it again
and I said "Yes" I think he knew I liked it.(Now he wants to ride it).
Larry and Shona's kids were riding the
Mine Train which was opposite the Skycoaster so we had to wait for them. I
remember standing there waiting and shaking. I wasn't able to hold my hand
out without it shaking for at least 15 minutes.
I rode other rides that day, Mine Train,
Texas Giant, and Shockwave but they just didn't seem the same. My favorite
overall ride up to this point in time was Dungeon Drop at Six Flags Astroworld
and it has held that spot since I rode it in June of 1997. I was afraid
when I got on it but nothing like the fear I felt slowly rising 180 feet into
the air suspended from above by steel cables. It wasn't the height I
was afraid of and it wasn't the drop. My fear was entirely based on the
fact that I was strapped in a harness and suspended from above by steel
cables. I wasn't worried about anything happening to me, it was just that
feeling of hanging and flying through the air.
I wish this ride didn't cost extra to
ride, but that won't stop me from riding it again. I WILL pay money to
ride it again, and I WILL ride it again (more than once I am sure). The
Skycoaster in Arlington is the shortest one of all the Six Flags parks in
Texas. The tallest one is at Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio and
this is where most of my rides will probably take place. It is about
130 miles closer than Arlington and 90 miles closer than Houston.
The Skycoaster now has the title of my
favorite ride. The fear I felt before riding it and the feeling I had
afterwards(which, by the way, I am unable to describe) is not like anything I
have ever felt on any other ride. No ride has ever caused me to
think about it this much. This beats the feeling I had when I rode my
first rollercoaster by a long shot.
This particular ride was one I will never
forget. I may ride it again, but I will never forget this
time. I will never forget the people that rode it with me, Shona and
Sergio. I will never forget the people that I was there with that waited
while we rode it, Larry, Kyle, Clint, Ryan, and Liz.
Note: This was both
mine and Shona's first time on a skycoaster. This was Sergio's
second...although he did admit that he was still scared.
Jason Knutson
06-15-98 and 06-16-98 12:46AM
