Hades was arguably the coaster I was looking forward most to riding this entire summer. I currently have 11 coasters which I have given a 10 ranking to and fully expected this Gravity Group creation to make it # 12 and mix up my top coasters. When we pulled into the parking lot, these feelings rose a couple of notches to near certainty.
The park was very crowded but most of the people seemed to be headed for the water park so we got in all the smaller woodies first and then doubled back to Hades hoping the line had shrunk a little. We were wrong as a 45 minute wait awaited us since one train operation is all the park offers on each of its coasters. We ended up getting a next to the back seat ride and off we went for what I hoped to be an unbelievable coaster ride.
I was wrong.
To begin with, the pre-lift hill section is very overrated. It is cool dropping out of the station, but there is not any airtime and the train just seems to meander along to the lift. The drop off the lift hill and through the tunnel is superb. The typical Gravity Group forces are present as you speed under the parking lot, out into the turn around, and back down through the return trip. However, I faced another issue here which totally destroyed the ride experience for me: the lights in the tunnel were on! I could not believe it. I had heard rave reviews about the total blackness and the out of control feelings one faced when navigating the 90 degree banks in pitch blackness. Alas, that was an experience I missed out on.
Finally, we crested the hill exiting the tunnel and dove into a very long curve in which the train jackhammered so violently that I took an instant headache. The jackhammering continued around the entire curve and up into the final section leading to the station. It was among the roughest sections of any coaster I have ever experienced.
Needless to say, I was disappointed. We left the area, finished the other coasters in the park, bought a few souvenirs, and then ambled back to Hades. I decided to wait through the hour long ride again and get another ride near the front of the train to see if the experience improved. I'm sorry to say that it did not.
Still, despite these negatives, Hades is a good coaster. It is by no means one of the top 10 coasters on the planet as it consistently ranks in the Golden Ticket Awards. I think the enthusiasts who continue to rank it so highly rode it many years ago and have not been back to see it in it's current state. It scores a solid 8 but is well below every GCI woodie I have ridden and it ranks at the bottom on the 4 Gravity Group coasters I have been on as well. The tunnel sections are great with that wonderful swooping motion that good woodies have. However, the addition of the lights, the weak pre-lift section, and the horrible curved section drop it a couple of notches in my book.
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