Leviathan Opens!

Well.. the day has come... Leviathan opened today!  And i was lucky enough to be there before the park opened, first as a guest during the First To Ride event, and then stayed through the Media Day event.

I arrived at 12:15 this afternoon and was greeted by an empty entry plaza.... and this sight (as always, click on the photo for a larger view) :

I had some time to kill, so I walked around and took a few shots.... the first one you can see a train with the water dummies on it, stopped on the lift hill.

 

This next shot shows my favourite element... the short high speed hill.  Absolutely awesome.

More shots from the walkaround:

Dragon Fire's loops look so tiny under Leviathan:

The tunnel is not in place at the bottom of the hill yet, but the footers for it are there:

Finally, it was time to go in.  First thing that greeted me was a dinosaur:

Then I heard the distinctive B&M roar and I turned to see Leviathan testing:

We were sequestered at the Marketplace restaurant for a while, then it was time to go to the ride.

 

 After some speeches, it was time to ride.  First To Ride bidders went first.  Here is my buddy Jordan before his first ride:

Here is the first train to go out......

And then the second one.....

 

 After First Rides were done, the guests were allowed to ride.  I got two rides in before our meal, and seven more after.  My verdict?  It is an awesome ride.  You get lifted out of your seat down the whole drop.  The overbanked turn is fun.  I LOVE the short speed hill.  Airtime on the larger hills too.  The front gate turnaround - magnificent!  The whole ride kicks ass.

Here is Jordan and Ken (who gave me his guest pass... thanks!)

When I was at lunch, I saw that even Charlie Brown was hungry......

After the lunch... which was REALLY good.. I joined the media and rode to my heart's content:

Here is Ruth and Mike, my ACE (American Coaster Enthusiasts) regional reps:

After the media event, we walked over to Behemoth to give it some love, but not before catching this view of Leviathan over the front gate :

The pathways were empty.....

Sledgehammer was partially disassembled.....

Behemoth did not dissapoint.....

 

We walked around the park after and rode everything in site.  No lines today.  Except for Leviathan, but even then it looked managable.... because it was cold today.   Took some more pictures.....

Then I decided it was time to go.  Not to worry... i will be back often to ride Leviathan!

As a treat... here is a video I shot before leaving..... enjoy!