July 17th, 2001 (11-1am)

At 10:45pm, my belief that there would be many more people at this party was confirmed. There were easily 2500 people waiting outside the employee entrance. My friend and I decided to get to the front before a line started to form. At 11:05pm, the gates were open and we made a mad dash for Great Bear. Even though we had already ridden this twice during normal park hours, we want to grab a front seat ride. While waiting in line, we met up with the same 2 people we had met at the last party.

There are 5 people in front of us. We get up to the station and line up for the front. All 50 people behind us do the exact same thing. The green tags working the ride said, "Don't any of you want to ride in another row". The first train went out with 4 people in the front - 0 anywhere else. By the time our train came up, a few people had decided to skip the front and take a seat in the middle. Haha, their loss!

The front seat of the 'Bear is really the ONLY place to ride. It gives a fantastic ride, albeit a bit short. There's the front seat and then there's every place else. The ride itself was super-smooth as always. It seemed to go a tad faster than during the day, but it was nothing really noticeable.

After a front seat ride on the Great Bear, we decided to grab some free food. Unfortunatly, all the food places had long lines! Ouch! One of my friends opted to wait, while the three of us headed down towards the Comet. Nobody was in line we walked right on the back seat.

I was in the very back, my two friends were in the row ahead of me. Going up the lift hill, you can literally feel the cars expand and condense as they pass over sections of warped track -- it feels really cool. Finally, we were at the top, just in time to get thrown out of seats as we're pulled down the first drop. The rest of the ride was great! Lots of air and even some nice laterals. This ride definitely delivers!

It was about 11:45pm by now and we were in the mood for some food. We waited in line for some soft ice cream (free, of course) and met up with the friends who had ended up only getting a soft pretzel. After I got my vanilla-chocolate twist, we headed up to the Sooperdooperlooper. We walked right on to the first two rows -- I got the front. As always, the 'looper delivered a solid ride, even if it seems a bit weak. The midcourse trims were much lighter than usual. As a result, the final helix was much faster and way more intense.

Now that we had ridden all the coasters, it was time to check out the arcade. Yes, the entire arcade was open and it was all for free! We played some old-school games (Super Mario, Outrunner) and then tried out all those games that "you've always wanted to play but never wanted to plunk down $1 in quarters to try". I hopped into the "Star Wars: Arcade" machine. This game is frickin' awesome! Blasting TIE fighters in the battle of endor and flying through the DeathStar's superstructure was all beautifully portrayed and loads of fun. I also watched one of my friends in a very nifty racing simulator. The whole game tilts/shakes/rumbles in response to your driving skills. Looked like fun, but there was a line to play it =P.

With only 30 minutes left, we decided to head back down to the Comet. Another back seat ride filled with airtime. Next we hopped back on into a middle seat. Yet another great ride. We pull back into the station -- nobody is in line -- yes..! I think it's time for a RE-RIDE! Yes, the rare re-ride on the Comet. Another simply outstanding ride. As we pull back into the station, we see people in line... but... <gasp> nobody in line for our rows! Yet again... we got a RE-RIDE! It was 1:00am when we started up the lift hill. This was the best ride of the night. The ride delivered some of the most intense air ever.

As we pulled into the station, our two-hour employee party came to an end. No more rides. I must say, I enjoyed this one much more than the previous. I only wish they would've had the Wildcat open. hhehehe....

Total Laps:

Comet: 5
Looper: 1
Bear: 1

Note that while all rides were walk-ons (except front of bear) we rode the Comet many more times than the Great Bear. I think this pretty much proves that a modern coaster isn't necessarily better, or even more fun, than an old coaster from the 40s.