Buffalo Bill's Resort & Casino
August 18th, 1999
S T A T S
| Buffalo Bill's Resort & Casino August 18th, 1999 S T A T S |
Once situated in those familiar bullet-train styled cars, the attendant set us loose and we began to climb that massive 209 foot lift straight through the roof of the casino. We emerged, blinking, into the hot Vegas afternoon and surveyed the land around us. Pointing into the clear blue sky (the storm clouds had gone away), we looked around at the desert and the surrounding coils of yellow track. I mean, this course runs everywhere and we were about to be slammed through it all in a little under three minutes, breaking the California speed limit at a brisk 88 m.p.h. Aieeee! Too late to turn back now, here was the drop--and it wasn't playing around. With the entire train laughing and crying at the same time, we began an intense series of camelback humps, three of them--to be exact, each one delivering insane amounts of air-time, thighs pressing up against the lap bar. It's amazing to note that there are cars on the street off to the left and we're dusting them. Upon exiting the rock, we pick up speed again and hit one more stomach churning drop before tilting to the right and plowing into the station. Desperado eases back in and allows us our first real breath. There's no doubt of its supremacy--rougher than usual due to the lack of weight in the trains, we screamed and hollered as if death would take us next and then hopped back in line and did it again. A few times, the operators, not having any takers, allowed us to stay in our seats, which is why I felt like a walking train wreck the next morning. Yessir, there's just no other way to end our Vegas Sampler except this way, with a supreme bang. Having gotten our fill for the day, it was time to get a little sleep in our spacious accomodations (with a coaster view, natch!) because the next morning would find us driving five hours into Valencia, California to hit another World's Largest, and this one had more than a few tricks up its sleeve.
After all of our driving throughout America and all of our traipsing through Las Vegas, the huge Buffalo Bill's Resort and Casino beckoned like a glittering jewel and we were happy to see it. Driving down I-15 towards Primm, you can spot the twisting yellow track of Desperado long before you can get a good gander at the building itself. Billed as the countries fastest and tallest rollercoaster, the Arrow legend has some serious contenders coming into existence in the next couple of years, but it still holds its own as a world-class rollercoaster capable of making even the most stout-hearted thrillseekers ask themselves "oh my god, why am I doing this?" Its track snakes 5,843 feet around the casino and hotel buildings--and by this I mean, around. It's breathtaking just how much power this baby musters in order to spread itself all around the place like that. I stand by my original first impression, Desperado looks like a massive tangle of industrial piping that has chosen a small country town to invade. 
We settled into our rooms and got cleaned up, then headed down through the expansive casino area with its western theming. There are quite a few rides and adventures to experience here, like the Adventure Canyon Log Flume and the Ghost Town Motion Simulators which were playing that Showcscan stand-by "Devil's Mine Ride." Unfortunately, the Turbo Drop, another wild S&S Power creation, was down for repairs, but we didn't mourn too long. Once we reached the Desperado station, it was all we could do to keep from jumping for joy. This ride is a true jaw-dropper.
Slam, and I do mean the word to the utmost. Utilizing an excavated pit, the trains soar down 225 feet into a tunnel that really doesn't seem to have much clearance and then upwards, incurring the wrath of 4 G's upon our fragile little bodies--then, careening upwards at an obscene angle, we whipped around in a 155 foot spiral drop that gets the juices cooking and the tears streaming out of both eyes. 
Then, the mid-course brakes slow us down a tad, which is probably neccessary or we'd end up breaking something in a boney way. To the left and roaring down past the front of the casino--we pass through the porte cochere as arriving guests lift their heads and stare, mouths agape. Then, we're flying down again, still cooking with gas, buzzing the log ride and entering the rocky mountain canyon structure in a tightly spiraled turn.