UnderCoverDrummer1

So I've decided while I'm working on HYPOXIA that I'd fix up an old ride of mine called "Copperhead". It's an arrow multi looper built into a heavily wooded hillside, and is a mix between the classic multi looper style (Viper/GASM) and the newer style (Tennessee Tornado). Here is a teaser pick:

I seem to remember Intamin calling the element a "Cobra Loop". If you look at the element from the side it is initially shaped like half of a Cobra Roll, which then dives down completing the immelman.

^ I couldn't see it until I zoomed in, Sidewinder was blending in with the tree branches. You're right, 6 COASTERS!!!

Fixed! Don't forget about Sidewinder. I can't see Sidewinder in that picture...where is it hiding?

It's amazing to me that soon the view in that second picture^ will have 5 different coasters in it. 5!!!! I swear, this park has a special ability to bring out the child in me. And it does it more than any other park I've ever been to. I can't wait to see what starts to go up over the next couple of weeks.

Oh god here we go...it's going to be like the I305 restraint argument ALL over again.

I started flipping out...my girlfriend was rather confused...

It happened very quickly so I have no photographic proof, however, while heading home from work this afternoon, I was passed by a flatbed truck with Iron Wolf/Apocalypse track. I know that it may not be the most exciting coaster installation of 2012, but it was definitely exciting to see B&M track pass me on the road.

If they do put in place something like on Desert Race, I hope it's not nearly as detrimental to the ending of the ride. In POV's I've seen, it slows to a craw before the final turn.

Regardless of when the picture is from, it's still a YEAR after the coaster opened and the ground still looks barren in rather large areas.

^He was quoting me and somehow it said that I quoted you...not sure really what happened there.

Then explain to me how even now, a year after opening, there are still giant patches of what look to be either dirt or dead grass under the ride...

Call me crazy but I LOVE that quality of Hersheypark. I hate nothing more than having to walk what seem like miles to get from coaster to coaster. In HP it's impossible to stand anywhere and not see at least two coaters. At the same time the park is still beautiful and has an amazing amount of foliage. It's truly amazing how many rides they have crammed into that park while still maintaining the most amount of shade of any park I know of. I'm sure that Skyrush will fit in just fine. Especially since Hershey doesn't seem to be the kind of park to put in a coaster and then leave the land under said coaster looking like a giant pile of dirt while grass grows in over the next year. ::cough:: KD/I305 ::cough::

I already thought that B&M spines including the oversized track used on various hyper coasters was big. Seeing the lift track of Leviathan, with a spine the same width as the rails...absolutely awe inspiring! I might just have to make a trip to Canada to experience this coaster!

If the mid-course brake before the lift didn't exist and it was just a turn straight into the lift, the cars would most certainly swing going up a portion of it. You're right that they would eventually stop, but with no barrier the swinging cars are at the mercy of gravity. If you have more weight on one side of the car than the other, it's going to bank, and the barrier wouldn't be able to go up because the car wouldn't be exactly centered. I'm not saying that my idea is perfect. The point I'm trying to make is that the horrible braking prior to the second lift and then the lift itself make for a really boring middle section of the ride, and that it could have been designed better than it was.

Also it has not aged well what so ever. I rode it two summers ago and then again this summer and even in that short span I noticed that the coaster had gotten decently rougher. After the ride was over this past summer my immediate reaction was, "Dear god, never again." It takes a lot to get me to that point, and I was a huge fan of GASM.

One problem though - in order to get up the lift, the trains had to be centered on the swing (so the trains wouldn't swing around if they had to be evacuated from a lift). If you were swinging around while moving at high speed, it would have been extremely uncomfortable (painful even) to experience a sudden jolt where the rod on the bottom hits the barrier to center the trains. It does not take very long for the shocks on the cars to dampen and stop their swinging. At the end of the ride the rails that kept the cars stationary didn't begin until the train entered the station. The train stops swaying long before it reaches that point. If an emergency evacuation were needed on the second lift, the trains would definitely not be moving any longer by the time crews made it out to the lift and started evacuating people. At this point a retractable barrier could be raised to keep the cars locked in place for the evacuation.

Whether it was a family coaster or a thrill ride is irrelevant. Regardless of style there are certain things that take away from a coaster's overall experience. One of those is a giant dead spot right in the middle of the ride. Now I don't know if there was any difference from when the ride first opened to when I rode it, but I remember feeling like I had hit the final brakes halfway through the ride and in my book that means there is no way that this ride could be "great" as so many consider it to be. Great means nearly/completely flawless. The train nearly coming to a complete stop in the middle of the layout definitely is a pretty considerable flaw. Now I don't doubt that this coaster has a pretty considerable nostalgia factor, that being said, if these coasters weren't so rare these days, I seriously doubt that everyone would be giving this coaster such praise. Especially with the way in which it's big thrilling conclusion was neutered. Just my two cents, take them or leave them.

I know who she is, I wasn't aware of the fact that she doesn't like to spin. I'm right there with her though, I can't do spinning coasters at all, which makes me sad since I'm so intrigued by the style.

I may be alone in this, and I can't remember for certain since I've only ridden each coaster a few times (my one and only trip to BGE was back in 2004), but I don't recall thinking Loch Ness Monster was really any better than BBW. In fact I think I enjoyed BBW more than LNM. I especially hated the double up entrance to the second lift hill. As far as BBW is concerned, I think my biggest problem with it was how much the train was slowed down going into the second lift. If Arrow could have figured out a way to let the train turn into the lift with all the speed built up before hand, it would have greatly helped maintain the adrenaline factor as well as the pacing by eliminating the giant dead spot dividing the two halves (if you can even call the section after the second lift half) of the ride.

The Coney Island Cyclone is really the one true coaster I must ride before I die. Everything else would just be nice to have under my belt.

I wasn't thinking about the fact they are probably swapping out wheels pretty often to dial in the desired speed. That definitely makes the most sense.

Is anyone familiar with the protocol for testing B&M inverts? I'm curious as to why they still are testing the coaster without the rest of the wheel covers on?

I don't follow...

Sure about that? Even if it is safe, that would still mean you'd be re-riding a Vekoma looper. From the POV it looks like the track is pretty smooth. Definitely smoother than the mass produced Vekoma tracks.