Leaderboard

I think we all agree Magic Mountain needs another Coaster, actually maybe 3 more.

This is one of those things that I just ignore, not because it's necessarily wrong but it just strikes me as one of those things that someone said once and everyone just took it as gospel forever. None of us have any clue what the limitations are, and technology is always evolving. I'm sure it's possible if they want to do it. They can even put LIMs up a curved hill if they want to, Intamin does it all the time.

There are two big LSM providers in the industry. Indrivetec who is used by Intamin, and Intrasys who is used by the majority of the rest of the industry. Indrivetec did Red Force. Intrasys typically uses parallel rows of stators, for instance Thunderbird at Holiday World uses two rows of stators and that is a very heavy train. My understanding is that you can just keep adding rows of stators as long as you have the proper spacing between them and room under the train for the permanent magnets. I would bet Intrasys could build a launch with 3 rows of stators that could easily power even a 20 person train to 120 MPH, it might not be as short as the current TTD launch, but it does not need to be because there is a lot of space available. Intamin very recently removed Dragster from their website. I suspect whatever is being done, Cedar Fair hired someone else to do the work. I cannot help but wonder if they talked B&M into designing custom trains, maybe something like the trains on Steel Dragon 2000, just 5 cars long.

Here are the pictures: (Originally by @cltkendall05 on Twitter)

Wait for the RMC trucks to start rolling in. Their first steel refurb! Everyone else is spouting wild and crazy ideas, thought I'd put on my tinfoil (top) hat and watch too.

I thought LSMs would've been impossible on the amount of track they have before heading uphill, but eltororyan's video says I'm dead wrong. I didn't realize how little of the track the hydraulic launch actually uses.

^ This. My assumption is that they took this as an opportunity to evaluate everything about the ride even if it had nothing to do with the accident and weigh the costs / liabilities and headaches with ROI and guest satisfaction. I was dead wrong, I expected them to do the absolute bare minimum and keep on chugging along with an unreliable and expensive (but popular) ride. I'm impressed that they're (seemingly) going beyond that. I guess they don't want to throw a ton of money at fixing this issue just so they can wait for next year's unrelated customary breakdown that makes the news and takes a month to fix, only so it can go back to only being closed 25-50% of every other operating day once it reopens. It's also possible that they're doing something that they've wanted to do for years that may lead to long-term cost savings and more uptime but never did it before because it's a time consuming fix and they didn't want to take the ride down. Who knows?

Just... I can't. This is why I don't attend coaster events.

I was referencing the fact that they priced WT based on the track heigh ($215 / 215 feet tall), meaning that dragster will be $420

Theme parks are full of Sweat, snot, spit, and whatever bodily fluids you can think of. People don't wash their hands after using the bathroom. I once literally saw a young girl piss herself in the Boss station. No one else noticed as it ran down her leg and she stayed in line. That watch though... "ewww grosssss"

Well, I initially thought they would re-evaluate the ride and make serious changes to the launch.... knowing full-well that had nothing to do with the accident, but when I re-viewed the capacity and maintenance logs disclosed in the state investigation you could tell this ride was a maintenance HEADACHE with very, very low capacity. So, it makes complete sense to consider what to do with it. But then lots of people made valid comments about the expense of all that... and would it pay off? Then I saw what they are doing to Montezoomas revenge, and that, on the surface, seemed to have as little economic sense as TTD re-do. .... Now I'm just confused. but it's cools that CF leadership is interested in not just abandoning historic rides. The obvious thing is to (somehow) convert it to LSM launch -- I just forget the math on whether they can reliably get it up to speed with a Ferrari World-type launch on the TTD launch length (is length the sole limiting factor or does the technology somehow tap out at a given speed?)- there is a substantial amount of post-launch straight track at the end of the launch and one could put LSM partially up the hill. That seems to be quickest way to resolve the issue. The reverse spike/launch idea seems way to complicated - not only are you building the spike, installing the LSM system, but you also now need to slide the station over or otherwise reconfigure the connection from the reverse spike to the launch because of capacity problems - I don't think they could launch 24-person (or bigger capacity) trains and the tophat wasn't configured for a long train? For me, the true dream is that they will repurpose the enormous top hat for a full circuit conventional coaster - somehow get a near-vertical lift up there and then build off the break run out toward the lagoons or something (I know, will NOT happen....)

They'd charge $300 for a dragster slice today. In a few years with inflation, it'd only go up.

Busch Gardens Gives Us a Look at DarKoaster For years now, the building formerly known as DarKastle in Oktoberfest has politely housed some haunted houses and Santa's Workshop. But, at last, a ride is returning to the sinister home of Mad King Ludwig. In fact, the new ride, DarKoaster, looks like something that fits both Howl-o-Scream and Christmas Town: a crazy "snow mobile" ride in which you try to escape an evil blizzard! The ride has been a bit of an "open secret" for a while, but the park made a more formal announcement at a media event on Tuesday, September 6. After a brief presentation and video by Kevin Lembke, park president, they took us backstage to DarKastle to give us a look at the ride itself. But we had another visitor, too . . . Yes, Jack would like to remind us that while DarKoaster is a fine thing, indeed, don't forget that Howl-o-Scream starts on Friday, September 9! Here's the park's official press release for DarKoaster. Here's a look at the media day and DarKoaster. Welcome to the Abbeystone Theatre in Killarney. There will be no traditional Irish dancing today, but this makes up for it. I think the scary face in the storm might be old Ludwig. Park president Kevin Lembke tells us about DarKoaster. Remember--you have been warned! Here, we see coaster enthusiasts in their natural habitat. Be very quiet! We don't want to startle them. Suzy Cheely, vice president of design and engineering, was there to answer questions about the new ride. DarKoaster will feature projection-mapping effects and physical set pieces to tell its story. As I recall, we were standing in what used to be the maintenance bay for Curse of DarKastle. It was the entrance of the Distorted Dimensions HOS maze a few years ago, too. Lots of twisty track in here. It looks like they're repurposing some of the old ride's theming, too. You can see it a bit more clearly here. Here's a close up of one of the launch sections. A closer look at the twistiness of it all. Looks like it'll get pretty "stormy" in there. Gets pretty close to the ceiling there. One last look at the track. "COME BACK, YOU FOOLS! I was gonna make espresso." And that's a wrap from Busch Gardens--for now!

Smol update: My friend and I had a blast at Magic Mountain on Saturday - yes, it was unbelievably hot, but the crowds were minimal and every ride was a walk-on. In fact, the longest we waited was 15 minutes for X2 right at opening. (That was more due to slow operations, despite running two trains.) The best part of the day was getting my friend on X2 who was completely blind to the ride experience. We were assigned row 4 (no choice of row, kiddies) and received a surprisingly smooth ride. The first drop is incredible out of sheer virtue of its theatrics: it forces you to acknowledge your imminent doom in the most sadistic manner possible - an experience my friend learned for himself. We both loved it, and X2 remains our favorite ride in the park. My friend also ranked it above pretty much every ride he had ever ridden. See, my friend regarded Cedar Point the same way I regarded Six Flags Magic Mountain: a relic of childhood road trips past, with neither of us having visited the other's home park. (Perhaps next time I meet him at Cedar Point? ) Every ride was a new experience for him, and a few were completely new to me, as well. I last visited in 2012 and boy has the park changed. X2 and Tatsu were both lovely (the latter being far more graceful than the first) but that was only the beginning. I'll chalk it up to the 107 degree heat: everything was running super fast. West Coast Racers was a lovely 1st time experience: it was whippy, punchy, and offered a few great pops of air. I honestly felt undersold on the quality of this Premier coaster, and place it firmly in the #4 ranking of the day, with X2 at #1 and Tatsu at #5. Killer Gs in those helixes, by the way. Up next was Wonder Woman: Flight of Courage, a wicked single-rail coaster from Rocky Mountain Construction. I rode Railblazer (RIP) back in May and was thoroughly blown away by its intensity. Wonder Woman isn't quite that intense, but it came close. The back is obviously the best seat for airtime (the whip over the first drop is legendary) with its best moment being the hill immediately following the raven dive. Nothing puts a smile on your face quite like 4 seconds of sustained ejector airtime. #3 The greatest airtime of the day (and possibly the best we've ever experienced) arrived in the form of Twisted Colossus. I had the privilege of riding in both the front and back rows, and I'm honestly stumped on which I preferred. Yes, the airtime is world class in the back car, but the front offers a hell of a ride too. I think it ultimately comes down to what you want out of the first drop: do you want to dangle helplessly at 80 degrees for a few seconds, or do you want to get hulk-smashed to the ground? #2 We enjoyed a remarkably good run on Goliath next. The elongated bunny hill offered some gentle but pleasant floater air, and the helix is as grey-out inducing as ever. But damn, do those mid-course brakes suck. #7 Full Throttle exceeded my expectations as well, mainly due to the weird amount of flack it received at opening. Is it short? Yes. Is it still pretty freakin sweet? Yes. The launch rules, the hang time is other-worldly, and the bizarre reverse launch sequence is a lot of fun. #6 We ultimately left after marathoning those 7 rides for 5 hours in the park due to the unrelenting heat. (PSA: if you're going to Six Flags Magic Mountain at any time during the next week, it will be HOT. Remember your sunscreen and hydrate regularly - there were a few who experienced heat exhaustion, including my friend. He's totally okay, but remember that heat-related illness is no joke.) Final Rankings X2 Twisted Colossus Wonder Woman: Flight of Courage West Coast Racers Tatsu Full Throttle Goliath

Always go back to this song when I want to feel energy

This was Iron Gwazi's station at around 1:00 today. Yeah I know local schools are in session but it's still amazing to see the trains going out with so many empty rows on a new RMC. Also merchandise now has a 5% surcharge. A few months ago they added the surcharge to food and drinks.

I don't think that's going to qualify them for membership in the Mile High Club.

Yes, an actual fuck.

Inspired by multiple comments on the article being shared...

To clarify, The city is not in the position to have casual conversation about what plans they may or may not have come. to us its an awesome out of this world, boner inducing experience to see plans, to them it's just a job. . .

Construction walls now surround TTD's station and area around it.