Faint Of Heart Need Not Apply

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By By KOMO Staff & News Services

Summary

The largest roller coaster in the state takes off on one wild ride.

Story Published: Jun 6, 2003 at 7:45 AM PDT

Story Updated: Aug 31, 2006 at 1:04 AM PDT

Faint Of Heart Need Not Apply
KING COUNTY - Get ready to screeeeeeeeam.

A giant wooden roller coaster called TimberHawk opens Saturday at Wild Waves and Enchanted Village amusement park between Seattle and Tacoma.

Coaster fans can hardly wait to board the biggest coaster in the state. Wild Waves owner Six Flags Inc. hopes to boost attendance locally and draw fans from afar.

"The wooden roller coaster is still the granddaddy of theme park rides," said Lenny Freund, the park's general manager.

Riders will zoom high above the first turn of the 75-foot-high ride at 50 mph. There are 20 crossovers, 12 curves, 12 drops and six reversals in the 90-second ride on a half-mile track.

"Look for me in the back seat," says Bob Verginia, a 48-year-old fan from Bellevue who says that's the best place to grab a few seconds of air time.

"Yeah, air time, when you go over a hill and are suspended in the air, that's a sensation that you just don't get anywhere," he said.

His daughter, Kellie Verginia, 21, likes coasters because "it's adrenalin and definitely makes the pit of your stomach feel kind of weird."

"I think it's good for Washington to have a roller coaster that's a little bit better. We don't have one that's good around here," she said.

TimberHawk marks Seattle on the map for the 8,000-member American Coaster Enthusiasts and many will travel to ride it, said Steve Gzesh, 44, of Kirkland, the group's regional representative.

"If you're a coaster die-hard, it's going to be a place that you're going to want to go," said Gzesh, who says he's ridden 429.

Riders must stand 48 inches tall and heed safety signs about medical conditions. No food, drinks or gum allowed. The price is included in the park's regular daily admission fee of $29.99, with season passes and discounts available.

Roller coasters of all kinds - wooden or the more common steel ones - are scarce in Washington.

TimberHawk is the first wooden coaster built in Washington in 68 years, and most of the others are history.

The 85-foot-tall Dipper thrilled riders at the 12-acre Playland amusement park in North Seattle for 30 years. The park closed in 1961.

Even earlier, Luna Park's ride on West Seattle's Alki Beach glittered briefly for five years until it burned down in 1913. The click and clatter could be heard across Elliott Bay on quiet nights.

Currently, the wooden 69-foot Giant Coaster with a 52-foot drop operates for the public at the Western Washington fairgrounds in Puyallup only during the fair's 17-day run in September and the four-day spring fair in April.

Why so few amusement parks and wooden coasters?

"Part of the reason is that there is competition from all of the natural recreation opportunities in the region - skiing, boating, mountain climbing," says Walt Crowley, director of History Link encyclopedia of Seattle and Washington history.

"And then weather is a factor," he noted. "The rain ... and the cold."

But with warm temperatures and sunlit evenings arriving, Freund expects to operate the coaster every day the park is open. The season that began May 17 runs through Labor Day plus weekends through October. Wild Waves, which includes other thrill rides and a large waterslide park, closes only for severe weather, he said.

The new coaster is made of treated Southern pine and will be able to withstand winter rains, he said, while the trains are removed and rebuilt.

Six Flags, the nation's No. 2 amusement park operator behind Walt Disney, would not reveal the cost of the project. It's part of $130 million in capital improvements for the Oklahoma City-based firm this year.

New coasters are being added to Six Flags parks in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Louisville, Ky., and Jackson, N.J., as the company works to boost attendance and revenues.

The company posted a net loss each of the past four years, with a loss of $105.7 million or $1.38 per share last year.

Six Flags bought Wild Waves and Enchanted Village in 2000. Last year it added 10 new rides, including bumper cars, a water tree house and an upside down thrill ride, along with two new sections called Great Northwest and Old West Territory.

Freund was giving employees a chance to ride before the public arrives. He's taken the plunge already himself several times.

"It's a great ride. Even though the thrill seekers will definitely like it, I think Mom and Dad will want to ride it too," he said.

"It's fast, it's thrilling, but it's also incredibly smooth."

For More Information:

www.sixflags.com/parks/enchantedvillage/