EastCoastn07
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Posts posted by EastCoastn07
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Well, I'd hate to be the bearer of bad news, but track for for the first hill arrived in today and the only thing on on the track at the crest is sensor mounts like seen in the picture below. The next piece after that is the vertical drop, so like I said, this thing isn't going to have any sort of brake like many people thought.
http://kiextreme.com/gallery/albums/ijstgoldpass-29april2005/29april19.jpg
Also, they've had piece 29 in for awhile and its the piece directly following the MCBR and it also doesn't have any kind of bracket for brakes (or sensor mounts like the first hill). I've linked a picture of me next to this piece to show you what I mean.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2741/4425142157_41b5ea2d40.jpg
So as I said, I think Kennywood was exaggerating by saying this was going to stop the train on either of these drops. If anything, the train will crawl over the top of the first hill giving the sensation of hanging over the cliff, but it's not actually going to stop the train in any way. Which in my opinion is good news, I really think a brake would ruin the pace of the coaster.
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Thanks DE!
And @ East: It's in the press release at Kennywood.com
After the high-speed launch, riders will experiencea vertical ascent to 95ft before a brief cliffhanger pause at the top and a 90-degree drop into a
maximum G-force pullout.
But like I said, that doesn't mean its going to be a complete stop for a few seconds like on the dive machines. A brief pause could mean many things, and I don't think this is going to be anything like the dive machines.
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http://www.screamscape.com/html/busch_gardens_tampa.htmAn anonymous source sent in this small cell phone picture showing off what appears to be gold B&M track sitting in a field somewhere at BGT. Looks like those Intamin rumors were wrong after all…
Sorry to ruin anyone's fun, but that's just a poorly done photoshop.
a.) The colors are horribly edited, it just screams "Photoshop!"
b.) Wasn't taken with a cell phone, exif data says Canon Powershot.
c.) Photo was taken September 28th, 2008.
d.) This is the original photo:
Lol, gotcha...I bet that joke is going to make BGT fans cry themselves to sleep tonight.
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I think people are really over thinking this cliffhanger element a bit. It doesn't say anywhere that the train is going to be stopped like you would see on the B&M dive machines, it just says there will be a pause in the action. That could mean a variety of different things. Maybe the coaster is designed so it slowly creeps over the top of the first hill so it seems as if you are stopping? Both of the drops are vertical drops which in essence simulate a sort of a 'cliffhanger'. I'm skeptical that this thing is even going to have any kinda of braking devices to actually stop the train in these two elements, but if it does it'll probably only stop the train for a second or two and let release it. I really don't think this is going to be anything like a dive machine, I think its just Kennywood making something sound more exciting than it actually is.
In other news, Kennywood Connection has put up another update to their site:
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Supposedly the first pieces of track went up today...KWC should have an update up tomorrow showing the progress. They really have accomplished a lot in the last few days.
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Kennywood Connection has put up another update showing some major progress made since yesterday. Currently they have about 21 support columns up, so we should be seeing some track any day now.
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You can view a full update on today's progress over at Kennywood Connection...Check out the link below there's a small update with a number of pictures. Also, keep an eye out on the Construction Update page, they said we should see updates happening every couple of days or at least once a week.
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The monorails have special place in my heart being an ex-pilot and all, but I have to say those look absolutely TERRIBLE and heartbreaking at the same time. I was never a fan of the balloons, but this design is just silly.
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^ That's a valid point....I hadn't thought much about it, but they easily could have noticed it when they were riding through test runs of it prior to park opening. It's just funny how some people were pretty vehement about their dislike of the change, while others (myself included) thought it was perfectly fine. I always thought of it as a "bucking bull" sensation that was kind of cool. Even my wife, who usually is not one for any sort of "rougher" transition thought it was "pretty neat".
I wonder if they still would've went through with fixing it if the response from guests would have all been positive?
The main reason the change occurred was the mass amount of visitor complaints the park received about the roughness...I'm not sure if Parques Reunidos decided the park needed to get it fixed early in the season, but I do know that the park started weekly inspections of that section of track which I've never seen them do before. Obviously the section was a major concern for both the park and PR, so that's why the fix happened.
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Word on the street is that they have FINALLLY began pouring footers....at least for the time being. Granted they finish these within the next week or so, we might see some vertical construction with the first two weeks of March. Cross your fingers!
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I'll put it simply...this entire project has been a complete mess from start to...well not finish yet. I'm not at liberty to go into details, but trust me when I say that this entire project was just poorly planned.
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Kennywood hires people as young as 15 years old...so that shouldn't be a problem. But as far as "flexible scheduling," don't count on it. I've never worked in operations at the park, but I know a few people who do and I wouldn't say they have a very flexible schedule. In my opinion, anyone who works on the operations side of things is treated almost like a slave at Kennywood. You only get a few days out of the summer for vacation and normally get one day off a week. So if you want to have some free time this summer to actually enjoy it, a job at Kennywood probably isn't right for you, but when you're looking to work at anyone amusement park, this is usually the norm anywhere you go.
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You'd be surprised at how quickly some of these coasters can go up.
I agree, but like Chris said and I have previously stated, they haven't even finished digging holes for the footers, let alone pouring the cement. I agree vertical construction can go pretty fast for coasters, but we still have awhile before vertical construction will even start. It also doesn't help we've been having all this freezing weather lately either, because thats going to make the footer curing process longer than your typical coaster.
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I think the construction of the ride itself is going to be the least of our worries because I think this will get built very fast. The testing of it will probably take a good while before they get it operational. I just hope it opens with two train operation.
Can you seriously say that with a straight face? Construction the least of their worries. I think right now construction is their biggest worry. They don't even have all the footers drilled yet, and supposedly they just recently got all the rebar on site. Even if the park can get all the holes drilled and footers poured by the end of next week, you have to keep in mind it takes several weeks for footers to fully cure before they can even start vertical construction. And that is with normal weather conditions. Obviously the freezing weather we've been having lately is going to have an effect on the curing and I'll say we'll be lucky if vertical construction starts by the end of March.
So, that gives them one full month for vertical construction, station construction, installation of all the miscellaneous components of the coaster, and the long grueling process that is testing to get the ride certified. I say we'll be very lucky to see this open by June, but I think saying construction is the least of their worries is a very large understatement.
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And to think during training I was able to drive my train in reverse during switching procedures from the Epcot beam on Express...That was probably one of the most exciting parts of the job when going 40 mph from Base to Magic Kingdom in reverse during closing. It's too bad none of that is allowed anymore, but I guess its better now and much more safer.
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Do you for one minute think that the park would have replaced a family favorite like the Turnpike for a new coaster if there was another plot of land they could have utilized instead?
There actually was another spot, but Palace wanted the coaster closer to the entrance.
And what spot was this? I don't know who told you this, but Sky Rocket and the various other coasters that Kennywood was deciding on were all designed to take the place of the Turnpike.
This spot was considered before anything was designed. It also didn't require the removal of anything.
What was the spot then?
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^ Well actually they've definitely considered removing the Log Jammer because it has been losing water for some time now.
I'm sure they have considered it in the past, but considering they've done a major overhaul on all of the boats in the last year or two (completely new fiberglass bodies, paint, etc.), I wouldn't count on seeing it going anywhere anytime soon.
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I never said the park was completely out of space, but I did say that the park has very little OPEN room left. I could probably mention several open plots of land, such as the area between the Phantom's lift and first drop, but there really aren't that many left. Which is why I said it will be very hard for Kennywood to build new rides in the future without having to replace an older ride. Just think of all the parks newer rides, and which of those was built without having to replace another ride. I'm pretty sure you'd have to go all the way back to 1999 when the Exterminator was built since the park has built a ride that didn't replace another one.
Skyrocket is replacing Turnpike, Bayurn Kurve replaced Wipeout, Ghostwood Estate replaced Gold Rusher, Cosmic Chaos replaced Magic Carpet, SwingShot replaced Wipeout which replaced Bayurn Kurve, Garfield's Nightmare replaced Old Mill, Aero 360 replaced the Ferris Wheel, and even Pittfall replaced the park's flyers. I probably missed a few but whatever. The only ride I can think of in the last several years the park has gotten without having to take out an older ride was King Kahuna, which replaced a building that housed restrooms. So like I said, I never said the park was completely out of space, I simply said the park has a limited amount of space they can put rides in without having to replace an older ride. I also said its going to be a lot harder for the park to replace these older rides too because when it comes to rides like the Log Jammer, Turtle, Auto Race, etc. I honestly don't think the park would EVER consider taking those out to house a new ride.
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From the Post Gazzette...
In March 2006, the company bought 43 acres of adjacent land in Duquesne for $2.6 million.
Yes, I'm aware of the news articles. A friend of mine who works for the park said one of the things Palace proposed among other things when they took over the park was to finalize the purchase of that land behind the JR and Racer. I know they've owned the land that the old K-Mart used to occupy for several years now, but as for the land in question behind the Racer, they haven't owned that since 2006.
Notice how the only land they mentioned they purchased in any of the newer news articles is the land the current K-Mart sits on, not any of the land behind Racer.
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So I stand by my original statement. In terms of long term expansion, Kennywood's best bet is to finalize the purchase of the land behind the Racer.
Why does everyone keep saying this?!?! They've owned the land since 2006!
No, they haven't...they never finalized the sale. I've heard that Palace might have bought the land this offseason, but I'm not sure if thats 100% accurate or not.
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The fact that we haven't heard anything about it on the news in the last 2 years should give you an indication of whats going on with the project.
They have been working on the link to Uniontown for the past few years and are nearing completeion. I'm guessing after that section is finished they will focus more on the Pittsburgh metro area. Yes, work (and funding) has been slow, but it hasn't stopped.
Yes, that project has been under construction for several years now, but it was the only portion of the Mon Fayette Expressway that even began construction. The last news I heard in regards to the 51-I376 portion, was that it was in the final design phase back in 2004. However, I'm not sure if you knew about this, but their offices that were actually near Kennywood closed last year. Surely, that's not a good sign for the life of the 2 billion dollar project.
http://www.paturnpike.com/MonFaySB/pdf/Office%20Closing.PDF
And here's a map of the project that never started:
http://www.paturnpike.com/MonFaySB/51to376/images/projMapLG.gif
So as you can see, the Expressway was supposed to be very close to the park based on that map, and thats why it would have been such an economic benefit for them.
Lack of knowledge? No...Could the park take out Turtle, Auto Race...
So I stand by...
I think what Robb was trying to say was that you'd be surprised at how much parks can expand without needing to remove anything at all. Which is something a lot of people don't realize. They think all these parks are "running out of room," and insist that rides will need to be removed for their next big project, when that isn't the case at all.
Yes, I agree a lot of parks have that opportunity, but like I said before, Kennywood doesn't. Unlike other parks they don't own that much land outside the current limits of the park. The Kennyville area has long been a rumored area of future expansion, but many of those houses are still being used by people. Much like with the Dollar General by the K-Mart, I wouldn't expect to see the park just kick them out of their house just becuase they own the land it sits on. Other than that, the only other land they might own outside the parks limits is the land behind the Racer, but last I heard they don't own it just yet.
So yes, once again I agree most parks have the priviledge of expanding without removing a lot of rides but I don't agreee Kennywood is one of those parks. As of now, they don't have that much empty land to house one or two flats, let along a new coaster in the near future and that's why I think it would be important for them to expand behind the Racer and Log Jammer in the near future.
Do you for one minute think that the park would have replaced a family favorite like the Turnpike for a new coaster if there was another plot of land they could have utilized instead?
There actually was another spot, but Palace wanted the coaster closer to the entrance.
And what spot was this? I don't know who told you this, but Sky Rocket and the various other coasters that Kennywood was deciding on were all designed to take the place of the Turnpike. There were a few rumors here and there that the Log Jammer was going to be replaced instead, but even if that was true they still would have had to replace another ride to build the coaster.
Do you for one minute think that the park would have replaced a family favorite like the Turnpike for a new coaster if there was another plot of land they could have utilized instead?
Is the removal of Turnpike permanent? I was under the impression that Turmpike would be put back in after Sky Rocket is completed.
Well, considering they cut up all the steel and track of the ride and threw it away, I will say this. You're not going to see the Turnpike at Kennywood with the same look that it had previously. The biggest problem the park had with the ride was the cars, so if they decide to rebuild "Turnpike", I won't be surprised if the park goes to Chance Rides to build them an all new car ride and just rename it Turnpike. But like I said, if it returns its going to need all new track and cars which is pretty much a new ride in itself.
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Eventually there are going to run out of room on the current site and there's only so many old rides they are willing to take out.
Ugh. I hate it when people say this. It displays such a lack of knowledge of the amusement park business.
If I park wants to build something bad enough, they will find the room.
Blackpool is a perfect example of this. So is Knott's Berry Farm.
For YEARS people kept saying how "land locked" Knott's was and how they have NO ROOM at all to expand.
They've built 5 coasters in 11 years...and added an entire water park.
--Robb
Lack of knowledge? No, I'm just well aware of what land Kennywood does and doesn't own that surrounds the park. I'm also aware that Kennywood is not the type of park that takes out all of its older rides for the construction of new ones like all the big corporate parks. All the rides that they have removed in the past couple of years to replace with new rides, were ones that had mechanical problems or cost the park a lot of money to maintain. So yes, while I agree if the park really wanted to build a new attraction they could very well find the space to do it within the current limits of the park.
Could the park take out Turtle, Auto Race, Raging Rapids, Log Jammer, etc. to build new rides? Absolutely! But does that mean Kennywood would do it? In your dreams. Do you for one minute think that the park would have replaced a family favorite like the Turnpike for a new coaster if there was another plot of land they could have utilized instead? The fact is, the Turnpike had a reputation of being one of those rides that broke down on a daily basis and cost a lot maintain, so obviously it was the first ride to go for a new coaster. And don't even try to say that the park would replace one or several of the pavilions in exchange for a new ride. Picnics have and will always be the park's biggest source of income and doing that would be suicide for the park.
So I stand by my original statement. In terms of long term expansion, Kennywood's best bet is to finalize the purchase of the land behind the Racer. I just wish people would realize that Kennywood isn't like parks like Knott's Berry Farm and any other large amusement park like that. The park is known for all the traditional rides that it continues to maintain while other parks are tearing them out for new rides. Kennywood is proud of this and that is why when they take out rides, its normally for a good reason. So once again, I agree that if a park wanted a new ride so bad, they'd find room for it, but I don't agree thats the case with Kennywood.
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The land behind the racer is fairly steep hillside. Not even sure what they could do with it unless they were going to tear down that old factory building.
Yes, it's a fairly steep hill, but at the bottom of the hill there's a lot of flat land. I had the opportunity of seeing the area last season and they could definitely use the land to their benefit if they ended up expanding. It would give them the much needed land they need for the future if they continue with the trend of getting new rides/coasters every few years. Eventually there are going to run out of room on the current site and there's only so many old rides they are willing to take out.
About the highway too, never say never...Normally I would agree with you on the never say never thing, but in terms of the Mon Fayette Expressway, I will say that it will probably never be completed. The road was supposed to be complete in 2007 or 2008 I believe, but only half of it was started and finished. The other half that was going to benefit Kennywood wasn't even started, and this was several years ago. The fact that we haven't heard anything about it on the news in the last 2 years should give you an indication of whats going on with the project.
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All I know is that I won't be pouting when Kennywood finally doubles the size of the park when the new effing highway gets built.
LOL, you must be pretty behind on the times...that highway is never going to be finished. It never got the financing to continue construction and was only partially completed. The only way the expansion is ever going to happen is if Palace believes that its a good investment for the park. I'm not even sure if Kennywood finalized to purchase all that land behind the Racer, but maybe Palace has since taking over the park.
Kennywood (KW) Discussion Thread
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Posted
Well, you won't have to worry about the 2nd one having anything at all because there's no brackets at all to hold brakes so I'm going to say there's a 99.9% chance it's not going to have them. Secondly, unless they are planning on having the "cliffhanger element" on the vertical drop, the first hill too won't have a brake. To put it simply, there's 5 pieces that make up the first hill. The first piece (S9) is the ascent upwards, (S10) is the vertical pieces, and (S11) is the crest. (S12) is just like (S10) and is the vertical drop and (S13) is the bottom of the drop. The piece that I have seen pictures of is the crest of the hill (S11) and the only thing it has anywhere on the track is mounting brackets for the sensors. So unless this brake is gonna stop the train on the vertical drop (which would be very lame) I just don't see either drop having a brake. It's pretty much confirmed that the 2nd drop doesn't have anything, but I'm going to say I'm about 80% sure the first hill doesn't either. But I'm not ruling anything out on the first hill because like I said, the brake could be on the the first portion of piece (S12) which isn't in yet.