Robb Alvey on The Season Pass Podcast!

http://seasonpasspodcast.libsyn.com/ind ... _id=532483

This week - Engineer & Partner of The Gravity Group Korey Kiepert joins Robb Alvey (www.themeparkreview.com) and Doug Barnes in the Season Pass Discussion Room. We discuss the origin, people, and passion behind this amazing roller coaster development group as well as receive a background story for each wooden monster the Gravity Group has designed within the last four years including the new Fireball Coaster now thrilling in Happy Valley Shanghai. If you’re a fan of wood coasters or want to know more about the persistence needed to become a roller coaster engineer – This is a must listen! Enjoy.

This was very different from In the Loop with you and coasterboy, in a good way. The podcast was really informative and it was funny when you said that Kidtums likes to play airplane.

That was the best interview with the best person possible. Korey is seriously one of my heroes, and a total class act. I sent out a bunch of letters to ride designers in 8th grade for a giant, year-long project on coasters that I had to do. Korey was the only one to reply, and he was extremely nice about everything! He answered all my questions with lengthy, and informative facts, plus when I emailed him to thank him for his help, he sent me construction pics of Ravine Flyer II (which was being built at the time).

The interview was amazingly informative, and you did a great job of co hosting Robb. Greatest 1:00hr+ of entertainment I've had in a while!

--Atem "TGG fanboy for life!"

Yep, well worth a listen.... even if Robb did sound like he was on a phone-line from the moon a lot of the time!

Very interesting to hear so much information from the people right behind the stuff we like (and to hear that once upon a time, they were just coaster-geeks too!)

Very good stuff, Robb. It sounds like Korey is particularly well suited towards his job. Must be very nice to actually like your job.

I found the discussion on the Timberliners very interesting, particularly how they apparently ran better on Raven than the existing PTC rolling stock does. There really is a huge need for better trains on many woodies. I remember how poorly the 3-bench Gerstlauer trains navigated the turns on Der Mammut. You could hear the trains bashing into the track at almost every turn on a BRAND NEW RIDE. Horrible.

Anyway, I look forward to more GG projects. Along with Intamin, they lead the way in thrilling woodies.

When the question was asked about why wooden coasters at many parks leave their prime quickly, i find it amusing that he blamed it all directly on the parks. If their previous company (CCI) messed up, which they did with some rides, I feel like they should admit it and go on to say that they have learned from their mistakes and have since resolved the issues they encountered. Why would a park want to do business with GG when their outlook is...it’s the customers fault?

When the question was asked about why wooden coasters at many parks leave their prime quickly, i find it amusing that he blamed it all directly on the parks. If their previous company (CCI) messed up, which they did with some rides, I feel like they should admit it and go on to say that they have learned from their mistakes and have since resolved the issues they encountered. Why would a park want to do business with GG when their outlook is...it’s the customers fault?

To be fair, why is it that the older CCI's at Holiday World, Silverwood, Indiana Beach, and Martin's Fantasy Island for example, still seem to run great, but the coasters at Knott's Berry Farm, Six Flags Mexico, PortAventura, and others run so poorly.

The answer very WELL may be the parks.

I guess my question to you, LcHg5265, would be "What professional background do you have in this field that would make you think his answer wasn't accurate?"

Korey has been making roller coasters for nine years. I've been making roller coasters for zero years. I really appreciate him answering my question to the best of his ability based on his professional background. Far better than what I could have done!

--Robb

Look at it this way. You buy a new car, drive it hard, but fail to perform any routine maintenance as required by the manufacturer, such as changing oil and filters. Your engine blows up at 20,000 miles, thanks to a lack of clean oil. Whose fault is that--the car manufacturer, or yours for failing to follow instructions?

I am not saying that there are not parks out there who should be performing better maintenance. What I am commenting on is the umbrella statement that was made.

For example, one of CCI's previous coasters needed extensive work (re-profiling) on the entire first drop after the first season due to the design. The same coaster also needed the entire turn-around re-profiled due to the excessive wear after just four years of operation. The park was working as fast as they could to keep up with the track work, but the design was not done with longevity in mind. One may blame it on the PTC trains, but CCI was designing the coaster to use these trains and should have incorporated that into the process.

Mistakes allow a company to learn and to build better rides, but to talk as if it is always the customer, and never them, is not good business.

^ First off, what coaster are you talking about? Secondly, I'm not sure you've ever been interviewed before, but it can be quite nervewrecking sometimes being "put on the spot" having to answer a question the moment it's asked. Maybe you took it a bit differently, but I did not take it as Korey saying that the parks are ALWAYS at fault and the designers are NEVER at fault.

I actually think Korey did a very good job of answering the question based on the limited amount of time he had to think about it and give his response.

Think about it that way.

--Robb

EDIT! Ahh, I just remembered what coaster you're talking about and who you are and where you work! In no one's real defense (neither the park or CCI) nothing like Boulder Dash had ever been done before. And I don't think Lake Compounce comes to mind when I think of a park that hasn't taken care of their CCI woodie. In fact, it's just the opposite.

That was one of the most interesting pod cast I have ever have listened to, very informative. It would be nice to hear more coaster-designers talk about what they do. But Robb you should have told him how you feel about Voyage ^^

^To what end, exactly? It's a massively successful project. The park loves the ride. It's very popular. They've won lots of awards. I'm sure that TGG is well aware that different people have different favorite rides.

What's nice about TGG is that they've managed to come out with enough variety in their projects to appeal to different tastes. If you're not into Voyage that much, maybe you like Hades or Ravine Flyer II.

But Robb you should have told him how you feel about Voyage ^^

You mean that I actually do respect the park and the ride designers to have been able to build something which constantly gets rated #1 in the world year after year...even though it's not my favorite ride?

Seriously, why would I have brought that up? The podcast wasn't about me or my thoughts on what The Gravity Group has done, it was about Korey and him talking about the company he works for.

--Robb

Hey everyone!

The most recent Season Pass Podcast features yours truly! Listen in here:

http://seasonpasspodcast.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=560944

Urso Chappell (Expo Museum) and Robb Alvey (Theme Park Review) return to the Season Pass Discussion Room to give an update on the 2010 Shanghai Expo, an IAAPA recap, National Roller Coaster Museum talk (and the live announcement audio), and discuss Universal changes. We also get all the new stories and events from www.themeparkreview.com and www.expomuseum.com. We go 'Old School' with #107! Enjoy.

Listening now. Thanks for the link Robb!

You are very welcome! We had a lot of fun doing this show.

--Robb

I didn't get to listen to the entire podcast, but I have to say I quote enjoyed what I heard, and found it to be more than informative. I love how they're using apps now for queues.

Thanks Again Robb! It's always fun to have you on the podcast.

Doug has just posted his "Year in Review" Podcast where myself and Lance from Screamscape were invited to talk about our favorites/least favorites/etc of 2011. Listen to the podcast here:

iTunes - http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/the-season-pass-the-essential/id268430539

The Blog - http://seasonpasspodcast.libsyn.com/webpage/tspp-189-2011-year-in-review-w-robb-lance-1-5-12

or Website - http://seasonpasspodcast.com/