jmicha
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Posts posted by jmicha
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It's a liability reason. If a ride op touches someone's personal belongings and something then happens to them, the park is potentially liable whereas if the person themselves is the only one to ever touch it the park has no liability. This one situation might have been stupid but overall the policy stops people from being able to put the blame for lost possessions on the park which would just be a massive hassle.
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If it was fully straightforward we wouldn't have had accidents like on NTAG last year (that was last year right?), the one the other day at Terra Matica, etc.
The vast majority of restraints don't have those sensors on them. Every single one of those requires ride operators to make a judgement call.
Test seats are good in theory except people who should use them still walk merrily by and wind up in the station and cause issues and then have to do the walk of shame regardless. It would be better if it wasn't so exposed in front of an entire station of people.
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^Why? People in the US should just be in better shape. We're an incredibly unhealthy society. Being severely overweight, you should realize that things aren't going to be designed around you since you aren't the size of a normal human being.
And yes, I do think we should have scales at the entrances. Severely overweight people slow the loading process and cause ride operators to have to make a judgement call which, as we've seen several times, can lead to accidents. If you're not in the range a restraint is designed for because you're unhealthy, that's nobody's problem but your own.
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I don't get this on roller coasters, but on any flat ride I do. Drop rides and swings are the worst for me. I get extremely uncomfortable and then realize that despite feeling super high up we're still well below surrounding coasters I have no problem on. I just rode Black Widow at Kennywood the other week and that was probably the worst case of it I've ever had. I've never been quite as scared as I was on that ride. It just felt so insanely high. And then I went and rode Phantom's Revenge 5 times in a row without feeling like I was anywhere near as high up despite the opposite being true.
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I've never actually gotten off a coaster and felt it was too rough and find myself enjoying a lot of coasters people find way too rough like Ninja at SFOG.
That being said I think the roughest coaster I've been on was the Coney Island Cyclone before it's recent retrackings. Actually, violent is more the correct word to describe it. But in an extremely comical, nonstop fun kind of way. The bottom of the third drop literally knocked the wind out of me and I had to recatch my breath on the second turnaround which thankfully is taken slowly. It was a little painful at certain moments but I laughed the entire way through and had actual bruises on my thighs afterwards to remind me how entertaining the ride was. Maybe I'm weird but sometimes roughness can be fun on an old ride.
Then I rode the Volare and actually really enjoyed it so I guess there really is something wrong with me.
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If you're driving from Cincinnati to Cedar Point, I'm not sure going through Columbus is actually the fastest way even though Google Maps will tell you it is. A good portion isn't highway that way and you'd be traveling through small towns with stoplights and such at various points. Just something to think about.
At Cedar Point, Magnum's best seat is car 1, row 3. Try Millennium Force in the front and back. Maverick's first drop is great in the back. Wicked Twister is a back seat ride in my opinion. The back spike is great twisting that high in reverse.
At Kings Island I'd say ride Diamondback in the front seat. The extra sensation of speed helps enhance the sustained floater airtime on the outbound hills.
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Seriously people, structures sway continuously whether you're noticing it or not. Some skyscrapers built before dampening techniques improved continuously sway several feet back and forth all day everyday. Toilets at the top of the Empire State Building slosh around from it. Steel bends a lot more than you'd expect it to and that's part of how it absorbs and disperses forces. There's a strong lateral load at this point in the ride which is placed in the short direction of the supports which are just vertically oriented cantilevers and that type of force on that type of structure results in a lot of deflection. It's fine.
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I rode Black Widow at Kennywood last weekend. Despite being more or less the same size, speed, angle of rotation, etc. as the Huss Giant Frisbees (of which I've ridden both Delirium and maXair with no problem) something about Black Widow scared the crap out of me. It felt significantly faster, higher, more primitive. I've never had such an urge for a ride to just be over. I had to sit down afterwards and take a breather.Once was enough I think haha.
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^It happens everywhere unfortunately. I remember watching a news report from NYC that was about how much the Williamsburg Bridge fluctuating when a subway train went over it and how "that can't be safe." Completely ridiculous. They had a camera angle that made the fluctuation most obvious and the news anchors were talking about how uncomfortable it made them, etc. etc. The only problem was that subway trains are insanely heavy and therefore serve as the largest single live load that can be placed on the bridge at any point in time and therefore creates the biggest fluctuation in order to absorb it. It's simple for anyone who knows what they're looking at but people love to freak out and make uninformed claims as if they were fact.
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As someone who works in a field that deals with structural engineering on a daily basis, it's fine. Every ride sways it's just that unless you have the right perspective it's often difficult to notice. Standing under Griffon you can see the whole drop track and supports fluctuate when a train descends. On Top Thrill Dragster the pull up and pull out both sway like crazy when a train passes. On The Bat the entire brake run sways when a train stops. On Diamondback the first drop fluctuates as a train drops. Obviously all of the impulse coasters sway quite visibly. It's normal for this type of structure. Literally every structure ever made moves and fluctuates when a large live load is placed on it. Parking garages, radio towers, bridges (especially suspension bridges), skyscrapers, your typical suburban house, everything.
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I'm really interested to see how this turns out. I liked Coney Island when I was there a couple summers ago but I haven't gotten back in any of my later trips to NYC. I'm going again in July so maybe I'll stop by and check this ride out then.
I'm really liking the look of the trains. They're super open. That in combination with the vertical lift should make for some good intimidation. And the overall layout is simple yet appears unique and effective. Plus the colors look great along the beach. If it rides well it'll be a winner.
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I can only speak of Millennium Force, but it was done to make the lift hill as quiet as possible. It helps add to the discomfort many normal people feel being up that high. Sound can be comforting in a way and being in a silent train quickly rising up the hill was designed to scare people.
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^That explains why they were only running one train last weekend. The line was around an hour or so long and it seemed un-Kennywood like to not run multiple trains when the line was building up. Everything else other than Thunderbolt (which didn't need multiple trains) ran multiple trains all day.
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^^Though I agree with everything you're saying, I don't think he meant roller coaster design companies. I believe he's specifically speaking of the companies being hired to build them, of which there are not a ton out there. And one of them is in Utah. I'm drawing a blank on their name but they do a lot of complicated steel fabricating on buildings as well.
This SEEMS like it's well on its way to becoming the real deal but we'll have to sit back and watch it happen. The Houston market is HUGE and can definitely support a park of this scale so hopefully it happens as planned.
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All these photos and videos are fantastic, thanks everyone. I'm excited to ride it sometime in the near future when I get the chance. The lighting looks awesome and the scream at the top of the lift is a nice touch.
It appears the trains enter the station quicker than on other inverts. It's this accurate or just my imagination? It looks like it'll help load as quickly as possible.
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King Kobra was visible from several rides at Kings Island for years after its removal so it definitely isn't it. Unless the information on when this mystery coaster opened is incorrect that is.
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That sidewinder...how does someone mess up the shaping that much? It looks like something that happens in NL1 when you accidentally pull one of the handles on a track node too far and it stretches the element out. It's so bad. Are there any videos of this adjustment out there? I've got to see how the train rides through that. It appears that while still basically upside down the train levels out then...rolls...or something. It's so awkward.
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That and it's not known in that video if the final wheel setup had been chosen, if the water dummies were on the train, if the weather was slowing the train down, etc. Chances are Banshee will run similarly to how most modern B&M coasters run, but it won't be known until people actually ride it.
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I love this! My grandparents are all terrified of roller coasters.
My dad's parents took their first coaster rides ever on the same coaster, the Revere Beach Lightning! Both vowed never to ride a coaster again. Probably not the best to start with a Traver Triplet haha. Oh well.
Her genuine laughter makes me so happy.
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Beast is fun in its own way and is a great night ride, but comparatively it's not that great. I love riding it, but having ridden some awesome wooden coasters like Raven, Voyage, Legend, Boulderdash, Thunderhead, Boardwalk Bullet etc. it doesn't really hold up in the thrills department. But keeping in mind its age it is still impressive. Though not a popular opinion in Kings Island circles I'd really love to see Beast redone by a modern wooden coaster company. If RMC or GCI came in and redid the ride and kept the essence but brought the thrills up to modern standards I think it could really move up in the ranks for a lot of people. A ride of that length with that setting would be a perfect contender for topper track.
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I'm excited to give this park a try for the first time this coming summer. I never got to it before it closed and now it's looking like they'll have a fantastic new coaster to tout. I'm loving the look of Lightning Run. I really hope this trend of small, high thrill, high intensity coasters continues because they're excellent. Thanks everyone for all the updates.
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Which, in addition to the experience of getting from the pathway to the stations, makes for a really solidly timed attraction. A 2-3 minute show on top of going through the stations at each end would make for a longer experience than a lot of rides and seems like it would be the perfect length for something like this.
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They didn't owe them a favor. And they can turn anything they want down. They turned down Cedar Point when they asked them about doing a giga for what would become Millennium Force. Turning down a park because a project is out of your comfort range is completely normal. It's normal in any design industry. You're covering your own butt by staying clear from projects you aren't comfortable with. If B&M wasn't completely ready in their own abilities to design a giga coaster they wouldn't have.
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Yeah, the new trains aren't specifically a product just for Kings Island and as such it is likely that B&M designed these new trains prior to Banshee and Banshee just happens to be the first inverted coaster they've sold since the new train design was finished.
I'd love to sit in on design meetings with amusement parks. I'm an architect and can imagine there are a lot of similarities depending on the client. Some clients have a list of things they want incorporated and you do your best to create a product that satisfies these wishes. Some clients come in knowing they want a house and how much money they have to spend but beyond that it is up to us completely. I'd imagine theme parks such as Disney and Universal obviously work extremely close with manufacturers since they have their own concepts they need to be implemented whereas a park like Kings Island might just know they want a big inverted coaster but don't have any specifics beyond that.
Holiday World (HW) Discussion Thread
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Posted · Edited by jmicha
The park hasn't said anything even remotely implying having a poor relationship with TGG. Didn't they say quite the opposite when the Timberliners didn't work out?
I'm not seeing this as a B&M product. I'm expecting some sort of dark ride/coaster combo which is where the additional expenditure will come from. Possibly something launched and with some terrain elements. I'm excited to see what it turns out to be.