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For Flight of Fear PKD took a stab at theming for a change. A considerable amount of theming. The station and ride itself are all enclosed in a building designed to be some kind of facility for government testing of a UFO, basically a fancy warehouse. Along the inside portions of the queue line there used to be a movie playing that sets the premise of the storyline for the ride back when it was "Outer Limits - Flight of Fear". Im pretty sure they dont show the video anymore since the name change. The line always seems pretty short now that its an older attraction and its worth the wait if youve never been on FoF or one of its clones. The ride is propelled by a, at the time it was introduced, revolutionary LIM launch system. It might be safe to say this coaster started the launch coaster genre. Instead of the traditional lift hill, the ride uses Linear Induction Motors basically magnets that propel the train down the track. The result, a rocket-ship like launch that rivals the adrenaline felt at the crest of the initial drop of traditional coasters. Waiting for the ensuing launch and then accelerating may be the high point of the ride. The ride leaves the station and heads to a tall cylindrical building where riders find a literally "tangled knot" of track including 30 vertical curves, 25 horizontal curves, four inversions, and oh yeah semi-darkness. (To see what this tangled mess looks like check out pics of Jokers Jinx at SFA). It wouldve been better if it was darker or they used some other type of theming like stars or something. It kind of sucks seeing that youre in a tall dark building, but for PKD some theming is better than no theming. Out of the inversions, the corkscrew on the way out is my favorite. Head banging on the shoulder harnesses used to be pretty heavy and made Flight of Fear almost unrideable guaranteeing riders headaches. Fortunately, PKD replaced the stiff shoulder harnesses with lap bars remedying the head banging. Most of the points here go to the launch, the immediate cobra roll, and the weird "Area 51"-esque theming, the majority of the ride is just ok, but at least now its rideable. At PKD this is a must ride. Final Rating - 7.5 (Good-Approaching Great)
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