EastCoastn07
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Posts posted by EastCoastn07
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The website says to look for more information in March...just check the site every few days.
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^ That would be awesome if you could post some update photos from the progress of the ride.
I'm also happy to see the park is finally offering a season pass!
--Robb
Not everyone is so happy about the park offering season passes at all, especially people who work for the park. I'm just glad that they are only offering a limited about of passes. Like everyone else who loves this park, I just don't want these season passes turning the park into a place parents can drop their kids off every day. It's bad enough all the hoodlums show up after 4pm for Night Riders, now we have to worry about all the kids who are going to be buying season passes. Hopefully the park sticks with the limited number of passes every year if they plan on keeping the season passes, I'd hate to see the park turn into another Six Flags. Since Sandcastle waterpark started offering season passes, the place is continually packed and its impossible to have a nice time
there. Hopefully that doesn't happen to Kennywood too!
Not to be mean, but that's a pretty selfish way to think of it. I think it's more money for Kennywood because they make a ton of money off their vendors.
I'd rather them remain the way they have been for the past 100+ years then turn into another Six Flags...Season passes are just one more step to getting to that point. All I'm saying is, there's a reason why they are only offering a limited number of passes.
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^ That would be awesome if you could post some update photos from the progress of the ride.
I'm also happy to see the park is finally offering a season pass!
--Robb
Not everyone is so happy about the park offering season passes at all, especially people who work for the park. I'm just glad that they are only offering a limited about of passes. Like everyone else who loves this park, I just don't want these season passes turning the park into a place parents can drop their kids off every day. It's bad enough all the hoodlums show up after 4pm for Night Riders, now we have to worry about all the kids who are going to be buying season passes. Hopefully the park sticks with the limited number of passes every year if they plan on keeping the season passes, I'd hate to see the park turn into another Six Flags. Since Sandcastle waterpark started offering season passes, the place is continually packed and its impossible to have a nice time there. Hopefully that doesn't happen to Kennywood too!
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Well now that you put it that way, then yes you are right for the most part. There are some specifics you are missing, but for the most part you are correct. I initially thought you meant Kennywood had this coaster planned before Palace was in the picture, which obviously isn't true. There are even rumors that a wood coaster was going to be the park's next coaster, but Palace said they needed a steel looper instead. But the biggest issue Palace had was that the coaster wouldn't fit in the budget they set for the park, but eventually Palace did give in. There was even rumors they were going to have Premier to cut down on the layout some to save some money, but they ended up going with the original design.
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And besides, you seem to have missed what I said earlier. Kennywood was all set to go with this project way before Palace finally gave the OK. I have no idea how close we were to not getting a coaster, but the disagreement was series enough to make it a real possibility.
I'm going to have to call you out on this one...Before Kennywood decided on Sky Rocket there were numerous other routes Kennywood could have gone in terms of coaster companies. Did they have plans to build a coaster before Palace? I'm sure they've always had the idea in the back of their heads. But Premier WAS NOT the only option Kennywood was deciding on in the summer when they were making these plans. I know for a fact that there were other companies in the picture (unfortunately I am not able to say which ones), including wooden coaster designers. Ultimately they went with Premier because it fit their budget and Palace felt the park needed a new steel coaster more than a new wooden coaster. So saying these plans were set in stone before Palace is not true at all because the park was still finalizing certain things all the way up until Sky Rocket was announced in August.
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For anyone who says this thing is only 3 days behind is flat out lying. It's bad enough they don't even have footers poured yet, but they haven't even drilled for them either! Last I heard from several people was that the park is still doing surveying and plotting out all the footers. Why it's taken them so long to do this, I don't know. I do know that theres a ton of sewage lines and whatnot in that vicinity, so I would assume that's probably one of the biggest problems for them with trying to plot all the footers without hitting one of those lines. On top of that, there's not even track on site, so we can assume the surveying being done is holding back Premier from making the track and supports. Honestly, this whole project is a complete mess and they should have decided on the coaster much earlier than they did.
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Why is Sky Rocket so far behind? Is it because of the weather?
Even I can't give you that answer...I'm just as oblivious as everyone else. There's a bunch of factors that probably contributed it, but regardless its still several weeks behind schedule.
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^ Regardless, at least they are fixing it. Some parks would say screw it...
I didn't mean that has a negative statement...I personally know the people working on the repair job and I have all the faith in the world that they can do a good job.
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^ You should give the Kennywood workers more credit because they're used to modifying their own rides and I'm sure it will be fine. I'm pretty sure it's whoever they hired to install the track that screwed it up in the first place.
No, the project is completely in house...several people from the maintenance department are the ones working on the project.
And as for Sky Rocket, its several weeks behind, and I wouldn't look forward to it opening anytime before June.
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^I don't think those two things have any connection to each other. Power outages happen, not a big deal.
I don' think they are either I am just glad I don't have to deal with the monorails when I go to work there
I may be a bit biased since I worked in Monorails for 5 months this year, but Monorails could possibly be the best job to have at Walt Disney World. Yeah, occasionally issues happened like power outages, evacuations, etc., but it was part of the job. Most of these incidents occur over long periods of time and certainly weren't an everyday thing when I worked there. The hardest part of it all was dealing with the people, if a train breaks down in front of you and your stuck in the Contemporary for almost an hour with guests on board, it's rough...trust me I had to deal with that.
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...And a promo video!
Pretty sure that's the same video that has been on that site since the coaster was announced...
Anyways, it's good to see that some more has been announced on the coaster. It's definitely great to be able to see the layout in full and I don't care what other people said, I think this coaster is going to be awesome. Hopefully Kennywood updates that site and puts some new pictures up.
In other news, I've heard word that the park is still in the process of marking where all the footers are going to be placed...Hopefully they finish with this soon and digging and pouring of the footers begins before it gets too cold. I know from past experience that the park had trouble with both King Kahuna and Phantom's Revenge when dealing with footers and the cold, so hopefully they've learned their lesson and get these footers poured soon! I probably wouldn't expect to see any vertical construction before the New Year.
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Any Idea what the Budget for Skyrocket was? The Connections between Lagoon and Kennywood are existent, not supposed. The reason why the possibility of the Supports belonging to Kennywood is because Intermountain Lift, Inc. in Springville, Utah, is Premier Ride's Fabricator for Track and Support Columns. The Support Columns at Lagoon are Identical to those on Round About at Freestyle Music Park. Lagoon has also been looking at building another Large Coaster for 2011, and possibly a new small Family Coaster for 2010, however, the support columns seem to be a little large for a Family Coaster, and again, are Identical to those used on Round About.
Someone has already confirmed that those supports aren't from Premier.
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^Ok, let me rephrase that statement...
Shouldn't Kennywood have learned by now that Premier should be given more time to start their projects EARLIER?
Once again, blame Parques Reunidos for taking so long to make a decision. The budget restraints that they put on the park were one of the biggest issues with the project. It got so ridiculous that Premier actually gave the park a deadline, luckily they jumped the gun early enough and the project is being built.
On a side note, has anyone thought that maybe Lagoon is getting a new coaster for next year? Why do these supposed "connections" Kennywood has with Lagoon mean that the coaster parts found at Lagoon are Kennywood's? I highly doubt the park would store their parts at another park when they have their own parking lot.
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Wow...has Premier not learned by now that they should start their projects EARLIER?
Uh, it isn't Premier who is to blame for this coaster being built so late...Afterall, this project wasn't even finalized until early August. From what I heard, in July they were still deciding whether or not they were going with the Premier coaster or a Eurofighter. Ultimately they decided to go with Premier because it fit their budget more. One of the biggest reasons for this coaster taking so long to be announced was because Parques Reunidos was ultimately breathing down Kennywood's throat regarding the budge for next year. There was even rumors that the layout was going to be shortened to accomodate the budget, but I guess PR folded a bit and gave the park what they wanted.
Also, if you recall, Turnpike's last day wasn't until August 16th (which was decided by *gasp* Kennywood, not Premier) and it took two weeks to get most of the track and lamp posts pulled up. Some of the track (loading area and turn on the bridge) weren't pulled out until the dark week before Phantom Fright Nights. You also have to keep in mind the Engineering firm that Kennywood hired to do all the surveying and whatnot weren't able to do their job until AFTER the Turnpike was closed. And after all this was done, they still needed to rip up most of the trees, tear the garage down and level the land. ALL of this had absolutely NOTHING to do with Premier. The reason this coaster took so long to get going was because of delays by Parques Reunidos and all the pre-work that needs to be done on a coaster that has nothing to do with the manufacturer. So please, don't poing fingers when you don't have all the information.
They're 90% the same. There's definately a licensing/contract agreement between the two manufacturers. Just look in the past, Arrow/Vekoma shared many trade designs under license. I'm sure there's many more that I can think of on the top of my head.So, they're 90% the same because they both have a launch, vertical hill/drop and a zero-g/barrel roll? Not sure if you've even seen the layout of the new coaster, but it has 3 inversions, not one like Wicked (inverted top hat, zero-g, corkscrew). It also has two vertical drops, compared to Wicked's one. Wicked also doesn't have a brake on the top of the first hill and the MCBR's are nothing alike on the two coasters. So I really don't see how you can say the two coasters are 90% the same just because the share three things in common.
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I was at Kennywood again today. They really are moving along with construction, the turnpike has only been closed for two days and they already have most of the center rail disassembled.
In other news, Kennywood hired me!
Actually there's only been a little less than half of the track dissasembled...There' two large sections that still need ripping up (not including the loading area) but I'm gonna say it should all be taken apart by the end of the week. As for when all the signs and stuff are going to be taken down, I don't know but from what I've heard they want the entire rude clear by the start if Fright Nights.
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I think he means that quick jerk at the top. It's not THAT bad, but I still don't see why Morgan did that to begin with.
I rode Phantom's Revenge just a week ago. The only reason I even noticed the slight jerk was the trip report that was posted to the index soon after the park opened this year. Having never ridden the Phantom before the reprofiling, I really don't even find it worth draw attention to.
I find it funny that enthusiasts could care less about the terrible jerk on the second hill, but you'd be surprised how many guest complaints the park has gotten for that one area of track. Not to mention the park does routine checks on that track because of these complaints. Just don't be surprised if some of this track is redone this offseason. From what I've heard, as many as five sections of the track could be replaced after the park closes.
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If you guys haven't heard yet both the King Kahuna and Swing Around are up for sale on some website. There's links over at KP Connection.
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I wouldn't worry about that NL rendition, somebody at Kennywood probably downloaded it 2 days before the announcement, got a novice sense of the program and rushed a model of the ride to put out with the press release. Unfortunately I doubt they are going to put out a more accurate model, we're probably just gonna have to watch the construction progress to get a better sense of the layout.
No I'm pretty sure this renderings came from someone at Premier Rides or maybe even someone on the outside who was contacted to make a recreation. I really don't think some at Kennywood did this lol. But like I said, there are other images out there that depict this coaster more realistically and that's why I said the rendering is really bad.
Also, I was really surprised at the lack of images and renderings the park put out there. For being such a major announcement you'd think they have a little more than 2-3 photos spread between the different news stations and a video that doesn't even show the entire layout. I know how the coaster is going to be positioned as well as what the entire layout is going to look like since I've seen other images and renderings of the ride, but it's really hard to get a feel for it just based on the stuff they've posted on the news so far.
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Whoever made that recreation in No Limits should really be ashamed of themselves. Rest assured guys, the coaster isn't really going to look like that. It looks a lot different (and nicer!) in the images provided by Premier.
Can we see these images provided by Premier, or get a link to them?
No, what the park and the news released is all you get (or until more is released)...I was just fortunate to see some of the other stuff.
Honestly, the picture below is probably the most accurate, I just can't seem to find a larger image of it.
http://www.post-gazette.com/images4/20090812brk_kennywood_newride2_160_a.jpg
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Whoever made that recreation in No Limits should really be ashamed of themselves. Rest assured guys, the coaster isn't really going to look like that. It looks a lot different (and nicer!) in the images provided by Premier.
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For those so worried about capacity, you seem to forget about Phantom's Revenge's first season. They operated with one train all season long (28 riders) and it's a full minute and ten seconds longer than the new coaster. I really don't see the issue with the capacity. I just hope the park purchases another train down the line just in case one of the other trains acts up. It would be really bad if the coaster ever has to operate with only one train during its first season.
With a mid course break and a final break run, I don't see why they can't have three trains. I really hope the park has a plan to keep the line moving.You need one more block than you have trains in every coaster. This is a safety measure to ensure there is one empty block between each train to prevent crashes. Why don't people know this???
The same was said about Fahrenheit, and it seems to be doing just fine. Also, Back Lot Stunt Coasters (a Premier coaster) use 12 person trains and the line is constantly moving, even when only using 2 trains. There are 3 BLSCs, so this isn't Premier's "first rodeo," if you will.Also, Kennywood isn't a huge park. Some of you act like they are going to be dealing with Cedar Point-type crowds.
That might be true with two trains, but with one train its slow as molasses. I would know, this happened to me the last time I was at Kings Island and it wasn't even crowded.
And while Kennywood might not be a huge park, you're forgetting about the crowds Phantom's Revenge pulled its first year or so. I remember waiting 2-3 hours to get on it the first season maybe even more. While the one train op might have contributed to the long lines, the park definitely pulled big crowds that season.
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I'm looking forward to the inverted top hat! Sounds like a good coaster....
Don't say inverted tophat, because then it would be something like this:
and going by the above pic it's just an overbaked turn.
Its definitely an inverted top hat, it's just a lot smaller than the one you linked.
On a side note, I'm finally glad the announcement has happened and I can finally talk about the new coaster. That's the only bad thing about knowing about a new coaster before the public knows about it, you can't discuss it with anyone you know. The general consensus around the park is everyone seems to be happy with the ride for the most part. It's been a long time coming but the park finally got the deal done. The timing of the Turnpike's closure is perfect as well because it's been having a ton of problems lately. And for all the people who are disapponted that Premier is making it, what did you expect? The park is not going to dish out $25 million for a B&M or Intamin. The park was deciding between this coaster and a Eurofighter and they went with this probably because they got a better deal on it. It's being made in the US so you have to keep in mind how much money they saved on shipping. Seriously though, wait to ride it before you bash it. I for one can't wait to ride it nex season!
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As I understand it from a previous post, the MAPO overide has to be held in order to move. Perhaps the reason the guy didnt reverse is because he saw the other train comming late, and in his rush to react, forgot to hold down the overide.
That's not how the MAPO system works...You have two different MAPO indications, one in forward and one in reverse. You only need to use the override if you have a red MAPO and are trying to move in the direction of your red. It seems like Purple and Pink were the only trains still on the beam, so unless there was another train right behind purple, he wouldn't have had to use MAPO override to put his train in reverse to move. This is why it really doesn't make much sense that the train was parked in the station at the time of collision, but rather both trains were moving at each other.
I'm neither a monorail pilot nor am I a physics major, so this could be completely untrue, but I've heard that the cabs are meant to collapse like that in the event of a crash so as to protect the guests in the other cars. Anyone know if that sounds right? EastCoastn07 can probably either confirm that or completely rip that theory to shreds for us.I honestly don't know...I'm not even positive on what the framing is like on the front cab under the fiberglass. In my honest opinion, I think these trains were designed like this in belief that crashes would never happen.
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Yes, cameras are a possible solution...But when the shop tells Central the switches are in place and Central clears you somewhere, you take their word that you are definitely clear and another train is no where near you. There were several situations where I was cleared somewhere in reverse, and I never said to myself "Hey, what if there's a train behind me?". Central knows the order of the trains (whose in front and behind of every train) and they are trained not to clear another train anywhere unless they have verbally received notification that the next train in line is either off the system or far enough away for them to clear it to another station.
The thing about the monorail system is the ONLY WAY we know where each of the trains is at any given time, is via radio or visuals. There's no GPS system in the trains, so they don't have a little display showing them where each of the trains is. It's the responsibility of Central and the driver to make sure they either know or tell each other where the train is at. Afterall, the pylons aren't labeled numerically for no reason, its for the drivers reference when telling Central or another driver/coordinator where they are at.
The fact that they added sensors to the switch beams definitely tells you something went wrong with the switch beam or it just wanted put in place right when they told Pink he was clear to go over the spur.
I was just wondering, why Reversing on the system is allowed anyway, I could understand reversing from the parking area, but surely the track has been designed to allow forwards only driving all day right up until you drive forwards into the parking garage?I am not completely aware of the layout of the whole transit system, so if someone had a diagram or overhead shot which shows where various stations/parking garage is located, this would be appreciated for my understanding.
Thanks
The track is not designed for forwards only and there are many cases where you need to go in reverse. Keep in mind, there are two cabins one on each side of the train. On the Epcot and Express beams, pilots drive out of Cab 1 and on the Resort beam, pilots drive out of Cab 6. In cases like this, they'll send a train in reverse over the spur simply to save time. Then they'll either have them switch ends at the Base station, or reverse all the way to MK if they are the only train on the express beam. Granted purple was right behind it with guests on board, having the pilot turn off the train, switch ends, turn the train back on, test the radio device and then go in reverse to the holding spot to go over the spur in forward takes up quite a bit of time. Regardless on how you look at it, there's no way you can drive in forward all the time, especially during closing procedures. When trains come off Resort, they are generally sent in reverse onto the express beam so they can go into shop in forward. There are so many other situations like these that would just take too long for me to explain. Basically, it would be almost impossible to eliminate all the situations where a pilot would have to drive in reverse.
Kennywood (KW) Discussion Thread
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Posted
I would normally agree with you, but I just don't think season passes are a good fit for every park. Like I've already mentioned before, Sandcastle Waterpark introduced season passes a few years ago and honestly the place is a nightmare to go to anymore. I went there two times last year for free and the place just isn't the same anymore. The wavepool gets so packed that they don't even allow inner tubes in it anymore. Now, the Sandcastle season pass is significantly less than KW's, but I just don't want to see things change for the worse. There's even rumors that the park is looking forward to integrating Lo-Q into several of its rides and next thing you know free parking will be gone and people will no longer be able to bring food into the park.
Do I think having a season pass is going to kill the park? No...I think if the park continues to limit the number of passes they will be in good shape. And if they want to sell more in the future, they should implement ways of limiting the number of minors they sell season passes to. But as of right now, I think Kennywood has a lot bigger things on their plate that they could have concentrated on instead of implementing this system.