bill_s

The way I see it, I305 is a great coaster to ride but even more, it was a coaster that needed to be made: "biggest, baddest, meanest" ... they haven't used that slogan much since the ride was opened, mixed messages I guess ... a true intensity attack (though possibly outdone by Skyrush, but that's a diff. subject). Another term I find uniquely fitting was "gravity launched" -- for some reason I often find the drop underwhelming, but oh the result! I have mixed feelings about the pauseless lift->drop, don't want to see it on every new coaster, but again it is so fitting and time someone did it. Ideally that's true, but with the structure of most trains that requires perfect smoothness. Otherwise, even if the wheel seat were totally fine, the non-wheel seat would still be smoother. Practically, woodies, especially with traditional trains, are hard to keep smooth and few are going to be intense and yet completely comfortable in the wheel seats. This does reduce the coaster's "ranking", whether you would make a big effort to get to a particular ride, but if you're at a park already, the question is merely to ride or not to ride -- if a home park, I consider "learning to ride" all the coasters almost always worthwhile. In other words, bad rows may keep a woodie from being "great", but it's too common to keep them from being "good"; being too critical or not adapting would keep you from too many otherwise good coasters.

The yellow isn't bad in I305 because the supports are more sparse and the biggest are worth seeing. Otherwise, the red takes over. About the Shockwave area, I would sure prefer another coaster. It would need to be a family or still a novelty-ish coaster to fit, just a lot more modern. Maybe a flyer called the Red Baron? Plus it has a nice station building, might want to reuse. Elevated though. Might want to move entrance. Saturday and Sunday are a lot different! Sunday late especially can be one of the slackest times all week, unless the weather is bad Saturday, which otherwise should be avoided.

Speaking of BGW's rides, you could fit TWO, if not THREE Tempesto's in Shockwave's spot. As well as the four coasters I mentioned a few pages back. And as to why would you put in a small coaster with bigger ones in the park .... Tempesto/Superman UF 230' x 60' Shockwave 483' x 100' (widest) Fahrenheit 548' x 105' (mostly narrower) SLC 430' x 130' (best I can remember from last night) Boardwalk Bullet 330' x 250' (ditto) Measured in Google Maps, approx. and may not include supports.

Yeah Shockwave was overbuilt. I don't think the ride quality has really degraded, except by our expectations. Looking Google Maps, Fahrenheit is only 60' longer, about the same max. width, and narrower on average. Shockwave occupies just over 1 acre I estimate. Boardwalk Bullet, though differently shaped, is said to occupy one acre (the $3M price tag quoted there seems unbelievably cheap). SLCs are a bit wider but even smaller. Sky Rocket is about the same size. So other coasters definitely can fit. I could see some kind of modernized version of the same thing... or Hypersonic. I've ridden Flying Ace before, along with several other Planet Snoopy rides. They're fun.

Need to replace it with a launched RMC standup. It was also recently upgraded with SSS. I don't think they're going for any route that degrades the appearance of the park. The wooded areas do allow replacement attractions to not be shaped exactly the same, but they won't be clearing it all out.

Sob. And I overheard very positive things about it last few times I've ridden, which isn't usual.

The radius actually does increase (in the horizontal direction), but only long enough for the track to turn upwards (since turning upwards also generates force). Once the rise takes a constant slope the radius can return to its original. This is visible from the top of the drop. There could still be some tiny changes in radius since the coaster slows down later in the curve, where the turn could get a little tighter, but it's hard to say for sure. Total deviations from the original plan view are only a couple feet at their maximum. The second hill airtime starts just a little later, closer to a sudden drop than a hill with both a rising side and a dropping one. Before, the curve turned into a rise, continuing the g force even longer. Now you're almost already high enough before it really transitions into the hill.

Rode Fireball ... closest I've come to throwing up on a ride, ever. Pouring sweat. I've probably felt as bad but it's hard to imagine. I'm sure I was not ready, definite could have chosen a better time to ride. This was after 3 rides on Roar and 3 rounds with the Mind Eraser, for one thing. I don't think I'll be trying it again, though. Suffice to say exercise caution if you can't tolerate circles or have ever been a bit sick on Berserker, etc.... As to the ride itself, wonderful restraints compared to Berserker's death clamps or a county fair Ring of Fire, totally comfy, quality. It appears smaller than Berserker and definitely circles faster and a bit different. And it does sound a lot like a coaster. Enjoyed Roar again but the bottom of the 2nd decent is shocking. I found that rain cool the ears on Mind Eraser. Enjoyed Renegade Rapids, the real white water raft ride, not water roulette. Skipped Apocalypse (maybe that would have made me skip Fireball ) on to JJ and the big S. Still haven't ridden Ragin Cajun because I rode Fireball first this time. Did manage a few rides on Wild One.

Actually I think I305 has had a delayed effect. A lot of people were still intimidated by it through 2011. This year's been maybe a little more crowded than last, which is more than for a decade. I think more people are getting passes. The weirdest part was a surge of crowds immediately after the announcement in 2009, whereas the park was downright eerie back in June, I expected to see tumbleweeds blow through. Their reputation as the coaster capital of the region, even if nothing else, was slipping. They need merely to not let BGW outbuild them now and grow by growing in all areas. I think there is room for improvement, more in quality than quantity of course. I hate the idea of anything being taken down but replacing a ride of poor repute with a top notch one would make it simpler for the public to compare. That, practical considerations, and the unlikeliness of them interlacing rides or adding means to get around an even larger park makes me think they are only biding their time before this happens.

My first thought of that seat picture was he was saying "what the...?" but my second thought was video game controllers, with those green buttons on top of the handles. That video looked smoooth. If it is a big improvement, this is something that could affect a bunch more rides, although that idea's probably just a tease.

^^-- that's bad in that AC at night is one of the best things in the park, but maybe you can grab a twilight ride, but if you'd be leaving early anyway ... KD's good late too. The one thing is if going to BGW first might help get your wife into big coasters, or if that's just too much of a stretch to hope for.

^^-- that contrasts with every other coaster on this list in that it is brand new. They should get Millenium Flyer trains on it ASAP before the track is damaged by what appears to be PTC trains. Any shaking of the track you're seeing is normal, wood coasters flex so they don't break. I also see on Wikipedia this cost a mere $3M !?! at which price other parks ought to be adding them left and right, that's less the price of most flat rides, and a third to a fourth the cost of a full "RMC treament". Interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boardwalk_Bullet www.kemahboardwalk.com/boardwalk-bullet.asp

No. Maybe in the sense that those who tour the US on park-hopping trips would want to skip it, but as a local absolutely not, it was lots of fun in that "learn to ride it" way. Sans trim brake that is, since 2010 it has been running with a trim brake and is really sad, and still slightly rough. When last running correctly, it was a little rougher than KD's other 2 big woodies (although not nearly as bad as RY in 2008), which of course are brutal enough in the wheel seats, but no more so than most others with PTC trains, which meant that Hurler's wheel seats were traumatic. The problem was, this was with MORE maintenance than the other woodies. I really don't think the trim brake is considered a long-term solution, I think it's to avoid having to do major work right before replacing it, or close it prematurely. But maybe they just want to be able to run the ride. There are at least 2 possible routes to "RMC'ing" a Hurler. The point I have made is that the roughness was entirely in those first 2 curves. The rest of the coaster was, and is, perhaps smoother than average, and the final curve is wonderfully profiled. RMC shows on their site an on-ride video of a ride topper tracked in one curve only, and it is just what the doctor ordered! 2 turns Topper'd, and probably the bottom of the drop, remove trim brake, presto better than new, and cheap too. Might even need a tiny trim after the 2nd curve due to it going faster than ever. But not front page news. The other route would be extensive mods using the Iron Horse system. I haven't wrapped my head around how they re layout the track to add all these extra elements and bits, so I can't say if Hurler is really suitable, but I think what they could do would be limited. Grizzly, no idea. (Roar, seems impossible or redundant.) There was probably skepticism as to how well these modified rides could be promoted, but should be gone by now.

While Hurler displays lots of fresh wood this year, it all relates to steps and railings. I think maybe there was some crackdown from the county or OSHA, or just internal to meet standards. Check out Woodstock: new railings added to the drop on top of the originals with spacers, that raise the railing. I think Hurler's been kept "barely running" with the trim since 2010 -- without the trim it would have required more trackwork to still be running (to make it better without the trim in 2010, and again by now due to wear and tear). I don't think they've done anything to it that surely indicates it will stay around.

That's a close call. I used to ride with a friend about 270 lbs. and at least 6', could ride everything but Drop Tower (go figure), later approaching 300 lbs. couldn't ride much. Even wood coasters too uncomfortable. Did fit on Anaconda but he wouldn't have been able to handle I305, so never found out. We used to love SLCs, only recently I realized that's because the oscillation frequency of our car was different that everyone else's . Have you tried other parks? Shouldn't be that much different.

^^-- the throughput would be reduced by the actual ride time including the slow lift. Clearly, the second train doesn't double the capacity, like it would on many coasters, as it sits there on the brakes. I have seen, over 5 years ago, them only run one train due to rain. Since the rain also kept crowds away, it was a much better time to reride Shockwave (I suggest 3x).

It's becoming my view that ALL of that is part of the I305 plan. Surely they knew then that the 40th was coming up. They just chose to put in the coaster first rather than do minor improvements for 5 years first, or do the coaster someplace in the middle. It makes sense. Add a coaster every few years for 35 years. Take a break, then start replacing one every few years -- for up to another 35 years before the next break! Give people a chance to start speculating on replacement, then give them at least another couple years to ride the old ones so they don't complain about losing them before their time. KD reached the enviable position of being full of coasters, where at least for a while they could focus on other details.

Sitdown TOGO, possibly the inspiration for Rougerou: LoL ... Check out the forwards-facing cam at the end -- fast and smooth. TOGO's designs have become archaic but the construction quality still holds up. But no, not at all likely. A great replacement for Shockwave would be a small standup of comfortable design. Shockwave is the ideal length for a standup, and it is something different. I don't know who would make it, the existing B&M restraints are horrible and all of theirs have been too ambitious; most are too long. Frankly, most of Shockwave got it right. The Screamscape thing sounds like fantasy. But who knows, there is a lot of parking lot. I would like to see addition rather than replacement, but I really think replacement would be better for the park. Quality at the present quantity. It just looks better. And the need is coming. At 3 years a coaster, it will still take 'til 2022 to replace 3 aging beasts of dubious comfort. If you think they're bad now ... They don't have the weird floaty this-shouldn't-be-this-scary airtime of Apollo but in every other respect I305 and KD crushes BGW on total airtime. I agree that something like that would be a good addition, though.

^^-- yeah, only 3 rides a visit now An interesting line. It probably is about average for a B&M but what's not to like about that? I find the strong finish with the high-G final curve kind of bumps it above most. And floorless is way more than a gimmick. I also really enjoy Grizzly (some precautions required) and about the only thing I don't like about Shockwave is waiting to be let off. You didn't mention Flight of Fear.... I think as a local park, if you have a choice of where to live or how much you prize your local park, it also goes up a notch. In that case, a larger number of average quality rides helps sustain variety. You're not comparing rides to the rest of the world at that point, only against others in the park and vs. just not riding them, and can learn the tricks. Meanwhile BGW goes downa notch as a local park because of their quality vs. quantity approach. KD also tends to be considerably less crowded than the few parks with better coaster line ups, from what I know about them.

Roar has one of the most complex layouts out there so large modifications would be a waste. Topper track might be worthwhile (begs the question of new trains though), or just major retracking and MF trains all at once. Both it and Wildcat show their age and the use of PTC trains compared to Lightning Racer which is just amazing, newer and smoother than anything I can remember. Roar has some seats better than Wildcat and some a lot worse. I can enjoy Roar as it is, a lot. If they added a brand new RMC this would be a woodie park to contend with. A launch would knock it over the top.

The average speed of I305 is clearly above MF or probably any other non-launched coaster on the planet. Of course we don't really go by that. I would be curious to see the average speed of other coasters. I wouldn't be surprised if previous to I305 the highest average speed in the park was Hurler (airtime was fine thru 2009, you just had to pass through some rough spots to get there!). Probably not but a lot closer than you'd expect. As to this announcement, good move, 2 parks at this level 75 miles apart is hard to beat (although is that as the crow flies?). As to Saturday 7/25, that's basically 2 weeks past peak. I recommend never ever going on a Saturday. It could be done OK without flash pass if you're not greedy and are willing to be there before opening and past close etc., but would avoid a lot of annoyance probably.

I used to love Hurler. The trim brake they added for the 2010 season ruins the ride. They now bill it as a milder ride but it's not that comfortable. I think it's totally boring and it even loses so much momentum by the end I wonder for a moment if the train will complete the course. It may have hurt before, but it hurts me worse to see it like that. The wheel seats did cross the line, but then a lot of the best woodie experiences are with another row diverting the punishment away from yours. I presume by RMC the Grizzly you mean their full treatment. I think it may be a little too good now to justify that. However, adding partial Topper Track to the Hurler would be one of the most cost-effective upgrades imaginable. 2 big, smooth fast banked curves replacing the jackhammers. Maybe even faster and more ejector through the bunny hops. The third elevated turn was never a big problem, and the last was one of the best profiled turns I can think of. It wouldn't be the best coaster in the park, but it would do its own thing, as intended by the designers, for the first time in company of a great coaster lineup. (Yeah, I know I've said all that before.) P.S. Diamond Falls story, amazing. I rode it and liked it but it was kind of scary, think I was too young to realize it wasn't really supposed to be like that.

I'd love to see KD do some major (total) maintenance or ride improvements instead of replacement, but doesn't seem to be their style. I think I305 was a short and long-term strategy, get the coaster first so to have time to do other things. I also think it may be the last coaster they add without replacing one. They're probably bracing themselves for "end of service lifetime" for Shockwave and Anaconda, but don't want to hurry it.

I forgot to say -- want a spike, I don't even care if the coaster is launched, although spikes kind of need a short train (then launch gets better capacity). Yeah. Or take the brake off Hurler a while before they take it down, at least. Rope off the wheel seats Re: Grizzly plaza, no I don't remember, wow!

I thought they were pretty pictures and I think that was the main purpose except possibly advertising Larsen. It would have made more sense if they had excluded coasters. In one of the Larsen Loop pics, the wooden coaster in the background takes up more space in the picture, funny.