chickenbowl

Are the rumors of a large coaster in the valley out of the question now?

Great video! Some of the taller elements look pretty laggy and slow. And that spinning is definitely mild (good news for spin-sensitive folks). At least the drop and twisted airtime hill look awesome! I really hope the vegetation fills in around the layout soon. I know it’s still early spring and leaves will fill in, but you can visibly tell how many trees were removed for this. Looking forward to rider reviews!

I really like the theming and lighting in the station! It’ll be so neat to just plunge right out of it!

I obviously agree with this. My point is that there's currently no trims on the ride and if they were expecting trims, they would've probably prepared a possible fixture spot for one beforehand. Again, I doubt they want to replace full track sections or cut into their current track sections to add them. There's easier and cheaper solutions to manage speed.

Aww so you mean MiceChat was full of shit and they're not changing the system to LSMs??? Just kidding, glad I could help confirm this. I saw the guys working there and thought "Hey, this seems important" and snapped a pic for you all. Once Knott's has HangTime, Xcelerator, Montezooma, and GhostRider all operating at the same time, it could easily be my favorite 4-coaster-line-up in California!

You might be right in the end, but you're definitely making some assumptions about the stress limitations of this track (You need to know material, dimensions, forces, etc.) I'd still say it would be a little more complicated than sending a dude with a cutting torch out there. This track has very different structural qualities than tubed Intamin track or the S&S 4D chassis. I can tell the raptor track uses pretty beefy plates (1/4" or so steel?), but they're sill not cutting holes without a few calculations or FEA simulations to ensure a modified design can handle the stress just as well. Not to mention that trim brakes are often designed into the layouts of modern coasters from the beginning. The flow and pacing of coaster layouts are determined with trims from an early stage (almost every new B&M, Skyrush, DC Rivals). Rarely do you see trims added after installation (I305s drop for a short while). Apologies for being so insistent about my doubt on this, I'm just skeptical of those who are sure trims will be added.

I would disagree with your assessment. From what we know of the braking assemblies, they look quite intrusive to the track and require holes on both the top and sides of the rail. It seems unlikely to me that you could just put these types of holes in any old place along the track. Maybe it's possible, but I really don't think it's that simple.

Perhaps it wouldn't be so hard to do cutting/welding/installing, but consider the stress limitations of the Raptor track. The tiny modified IBox design retains its structural strength through the carefully engineered, solid body of the track - Adding holes along high force areas may very well lower the limits of stress it can sustain. Watching that video, you can visibly see how much force the train exerts on that track. There would certainly need to be careful thought and planning if they were to modify a piece of track during a high stress area of the layout. I don't think it's as easy as it sounds. It's clear that they weren't prepared to add any trims or they would've include possible attachment locations in the layout (Think Silver Bullet after the cobra roll). I'm sure it's possible to add one now, but it would take a lot of time and money. We've never seen RMC go with a trim before, I doubt we will see it now. EDIT: But who knows, I'm just approaching this discussion through my engineering lens. For all we know this whole discussion is moot and the speed is right where they want it be for this phase of testing anyway?

You clearly didn't watch the first video in full quality. It's not a long coaster, it's easy to inspect that they didn't leave any space for trim brake installation. The cut-outs for the brakes are very clear (giant holes on the top of the track.) Well obviously, but I'm just pointing out that there's no easy way to add them right now without major modification. I doubt they want to replace full track sections or cut into their current track sections to add them. There's easier and cheaper solutions to manage speed.

^ wtf? Fixed that for you. There is a difference between confirming and assuming. You guys haven't confirmed anything. You can literally watch these videos that showing the whole layout in detail. There's clearly nowhere to even install trims https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDiv5nHDHj8 Maybe they'll want to control the speed some other way, but I doubt they want to replace full track sections or cut into their current track sections to add them

The same way the chain lift and final brake run exist on that thin track. Correct. All brakes and chain lift features are completely built into the track and not simply installed on top. Which is the reasoning we use to confirm there's no trims. To reiterate: After the tons of pictures and videos we've seen of these Raptors, we can essentially confirm there's no brakes/trims anywhere in the layout but the final brake run. Any brakes use a modified track style with cut-outs (pictured above) and it would be clear to us if this existed anywhere else on the layout.

Hahahahahaha ok

I took this today Also, Xcel got some parts and they had people installing stuff in the station all day.

Haha, ok cool, if you say so.

Kinda crazy how the track is suspended on that downward roll. It seems they're leaving the structure open until the crane drives out. It's just trippy to see such a long section of track without any ledgers or supporting structure.

So this is super cool! Above and beyond the typical Cedar Fair level theming

I think some of us are just a little worried at the possibility of losing the world's oldest operating roller coaster. It would be a significant blow to lose that piece of history

^^ There's no mystery though. The layout and supports in the blueprints are 100% identical to the Vekoma Suspended Family Coaster 453m model https://rcdb.com/r.htm?ot=2&mo=10901 A Mack inverted powered coaster is cool and all, but it's absolutely not what's presented in those drawings. Why speculate on things that are confirmed? Are you guys going to start questioning if they're not actually building the clearly shown swinging ship too?

That's not how this process works - This isn't concept art, it's a detailed engineering drawing. The station buildings and queue shown in the drawings are consistent among each other and are specifically tailored to that exact layout. You wouldn't bother designing all these outside buildings and supporting structures without a signed contract with Vekoma for the coaster.

What fans? I think you are mistaking the inverted coaster supports for fans somehow

Yep. And based on the scale of the coaster to the building just north of it, whatever's in the building is too small for a coaster or even a DW level darkride (Much smaller than Blazing Fury's show building).

In fact, you can tell by the blueprints that the ride will have a tunnel after the first drop and will go over a small pond. It doesn't seem that any of this coaster is enclosed except the station. Maybe one of the large buildings has a small coaster inside? I don't know.

LR was but they never called it a family coaster.. Fire Chaser is called a family coaster but doesn't look nearly as daunting to someone who is scared of coasters as the one you posted.. I'm not saying, I wouldn't consider it a family coaster but News 10 did say "enclosed family coaster".. So I'm just curious if Dollywood would consider that a family coaster or not. Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk The layout and supports in the blueprints are identical to the Vekoma Suspended Family Coaster 453m model https://rcdb.com/r.htm?ot=2&mo=10901 Also the blueprints include station and queue buildings which imply that it isn't indoor (unlike the other two large enclosed buildings included in the blueprints).

^ That is exactly correct.

Shut up. Going to a theme park is expensive to begin with. Who are you to decide that everyone should have to pay for freaking lokcers? Or you could just leave all your crap in the car so you never need a locker or cubbie at all.