After riding Apollos Chariot for the first time in over five years on 6-13-2007, I finally am able to update my formery lame review! What a different experience this was, riding as an enthusiast compared to a little soon-to-be middle school graduate! Although I had lost my "big-coaster-phobia," by then, I had not lost my hyper coaster virginity. That ride back in 2002 really had me pissing myself (well, waiting there did anyway). It was my first of the day and I remember fearing the end seats and telling my friends I wanted to be in the middle! Well, those days are now long over, and I am now able to give an unqualified opinion (Im a geeky coaster-CPA wannabe ) on the coaster. No, I wasnt peeing myself one bit in line last Wednesday. Instead I was yacking to a few other enthusiasts and enjoying the great views that the big, purple, circus tent-queue line had to offer. I couldnt believe the trains when I got to the station. After all the buckles and bars I was strapped into on SROS last year, a comfy captains chair with a single lapbar made me feel like I was about to ride a log flume with a headrest. After a long lift hill, the pre-drop dip and following piece of strait track made it feel like we were 170 feet up in the Roman atmosphere forever. The drop was....well, fast I guess! It didnt quite have the "omg this thing lasts forever" appeal that Alpengeists drop had, but it certainly was faster and more fun. On the next hill, the train lost a lot of speed at the top, but screamed its way back down. The following twisted drop into the turn-around was pretty darn good, but it didnt have much airtime. I thought the first half was extremely fast and smooth, but didnt have many pops of air. The turn around was done at a fast speed, but it seemed a little lame compared to the rest of the ride. The helix was fast, but forceless, and the whole turnaround just seemed like a waste of time. So far, Apollo had been good, but the second half is really the part that made the ride. If you havent figured it out, I (like thousands of coaster enthusiasts before me) am an airtime-junkie, and Apollos Chariot has some of the best airtime Ive found on a steel coaster--and the second half is where its at! Starting with the drop out of the mid-course breaks, almost all of the small hops leading back to the big purple tent have great air. The drop out of the MCBR is the best or second best drop on the ride-the train just seems catapulted out of it, and there are ejectors the whole way down! Just completely heavenly. Some of the other hills I liked were a twisted hill, which had good air, but no where near as good as SROS (SFAs) twisted fourth hill. The other hill that is a tie for tops on the ride is the final one, which is kind of like a double down with the small hill before it. There is a camera moment somewhere on the last hill, but I was getting too much airtime to get on a pose! The only thing about Apollos that I really didnt like were the brakes. There was so much airtime in the second half, yet the speed seemed a little off. That was probably because of several trim brakes on some of the hills, and the fairly strong mid-course brakes. Judging from the amount of airtime the mid-course drop gives you, those brakes are probably needed, but I could only imagine how good the ride would have been if the trims were down just a tad. I rode twice in 2007: in row 8 and row 1. I, personally, enjoyed the 8th row more because of much more quality airime, even though the other enthusiasts I was with liked the front more. The front did feel faster, more windy, and had a better view. I really liked Aopollos Chariot, as it is great from begining to end (with a lame helix to catch your breath in the middle). However, I feel that SROSs (SFA) second-half airtime is just more enjoyable than Apollos, and so are SROSs highly banked helixes. Despite all the trim brakes, a less intense Apollos Chariot was pure
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