Finally the day has come - the day has arrived to meet my nemisis face to face (face to face time 9 if you want to get technical), Hydra: The Revenge. I got to the park for opening day at around 9:45, and they had already opened the gates, so I was a little worried that there would be a decent sized line. There was a line. "Oh well I said." However, what seemed to be a decent sized line moved very quickly and I was to the station in no time. That is a good thing about this ride I found out throughout the course of the day: the line moves very quickly especially if you dont wait for the front. Over the past months, and especially the past week, excitment was mounting within me. That was only some of the time however. There was also that little bit of bias towards the ride, since it is in the space of the fallen Hercules. I was excited to get to my home park on opening day, but as I walked towards the right, that bias started to increase especially when I turned the corner and saw the ride dominating the midway. Yet, I pushed all of that aside and went on the ride with a very open mind. The excitment for the ride increased as I was in line and the bias died down to the point that I was completely impartial. I was going to go straight up with this ride. Now, back to the walking and seeing it from the midway. When I turned the corner, it just dominated everything in site. The biggest thing that caught my eye was the sign which was much bigger than what I thought it was from seeing it in pictures. The smoke effect coming out of the nose is very cool too. I got up to the station after a 10 minutes wait, which was about the average for the day. I got into one of the middle rows on the right side, got straped in and I was off. The ride ops were very good too, which heightened the anticipation for the ride itself. I was surprised since it was only the first day of the season. And dispatch. Into the Jojo roll. What a funky element. The feeling on it is indiscribable and can only be felt through the experience itself. It goes so slow through, it is awesome. Now the excitement is in full overload. We picked up speed coming around the turn to the lift hill, just like Hercules, just smoother and not as fast as what Hercules was. Up the 95 foot lift, and down 105 feet we go. The drop was short, but unexpectedly good. Then, this is where the ride kind of started to lack. The dive loop is considered an inversion, but I dont consider it one. It is just an overbanked turn to me in look and feel. Then into the other elements, the zero-G roll and the corkscrew. The were decent. Then there is the cobra roll. It is a weird looking one, but didnt do that much for me. The two "airtime" hills deserve the quotation marks around them because there is only some air. By some, I mean minimal. However, the ride slows down in that area and kills the need for mid-course brakes which I found to be a plus. No mid-course brakes is a good thing. Then came the last corkscrew and the "twisted track". Then, the break run and..... Well, this ride is certainly a fine piece of engineering glory and is absolutely beautiful. It is truely a piece of art. B&M and Cedar Fair really outdid themselves in the planning of this custom floorless coaster. They really used the terrain to their advantage and some of the elements make the ride very unique. The park did such a good job with the landscaping of the area and the all around making of the ride. However, after getting off the ride, I found myself saying "That is it?" I felt like I had tamed the beast. This is what took Hercules down... a fairly weak ride. It is nice to look at and is unique and all of that, but is just simply lacking. I got a lot of rides in during the few hours that I was at the park. I got 19 to be exact, and they were all rides that I was simply trying to just like the ride. It just wasnt there for me. It is like going out on a date with someone an
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