Cred Hunting 07/20 – Hampshire

There’s no slowing me down now. A quick look at the Coaster Count nearest list highlighted that there was an opportunity for yet another +3 much closer to home. Finally something to do on a weekend.

South Parade Pier

Fortunately the beach at Southsea wasn’t full of half a million people desperate for a bit of sunlight.

Brand new for 2020, paint still gleaming, they’ve got a new Wacky Worm lads. Apparently the token man wanted to take cash rather than contactless, but he was denied – them’s the rules.
The ride was deceivingly violent, more so than the Barry Island Galaxi. With no braking at all in the station between laps, it just flew through and had me clear out of my seat on the little despatch dip. I can’t remember the last time I sat back row in one of these and the lateral whip into the drop ended up being rather painful, particularly with my reluctance to hold onto anything.

B. Cole & Sons Family Fairground

The other two creds were temporary pop-ups at a fair in neighbouring Southampton. A highly reliable temperature check was administered here before we were allowed to purchase tokens.

First up was ummm… <squints sideways> #2 Runaway Train. It began with calming Reggae music before the official Thomas the Tank engine sponsorship kicked in over the sound system. There wasn’t much airtime to be found and an inversion would have been nice, but there was still a surprising amount of fun laterals in the imaginative oval layout.

The #3 Crazy Dragon was an absolute beast. Couldn’t understand a word the operator was saying through his face shield, but once the ride was up and running it turned into a professional slew of alternating “yubbagonnagetyahandsupwannahearyagonnamakeyascreeeeeeeeeeeeam” and “noneahereyougonnawannagottaputyourhandsintheyubbaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiir” every time the station was navigated, complete with a bubble machine going off in riders’ faces.
I enjoyed the shuttle aspect of the ride, with a slight roll backwards out of the station before the intense tyre launch kicked into action. The larger and even more imaginative oval layout provided a great sensation of speed, with the wind in my face reminding me that I’m well overdue a haircut.

So there we have it, a successul run with no spites on some of the finest creds in the country. I’m inching ever closer to the big 1K and why would I need Voyage when I can make it one of these?