bill_s

A lot of those loops look like they're at the minimum radius limit of the train. That's why they're so similar. Drachen Fire could have definitely used some better padding (or no OTSR), in fact the OTSRs were the hardest, worst shaped I've ever seen, unless you were tall enough to completely clear them. I loved the ride and still once thought I'd permanently damaged my neck.

Any incredible coaster park + Moreys Piers. I started to say something about KD into BGW and then thought I hate BGWs spread-out layout, but nothing adding about 8 more coasters wouldn't fix. Or just replace Anaconda with Griffon and Hurler with Apollo, might even be possible. I like ride-dense parks, which KD is but a couple up-trades wouldn't hurt. While we're talking fantasy, so many parks could be improved if you could just sort of slide things around a bit to make room for new things, but it never works that way.

It was a random stranger that reported "technical difficulties" on Facebook, not the park. So I called them. And it's not my favorite coaster, it's my favorite coaster currently operating in this state, out of 1 choices. This is still progress but I was reminded how nonideal. I made a mistake to go there with any negative report, but I think they made too many. But I'm a technician so ought to know it could take a while to even know how long it will take. Yeah people do get too mad and let little things spoil their day. I tried but once I was done with the brownie cheesecake it was downhill.

I just really expected to get to guest relations and be told almost anything else. I thought guest relations was supposed to make it better. There was definitely some, um, disparity? between things I was told by the various people. It's their park to run but surely it should have been someone's concern there was well over an hour between problems and them finding out about it, rather than denial. Yeah I'm a roller coaster weirdo, but I wouldn't have gone there if I wasn't, and I'm sure there's some more here? The world spins on and this was exactly as important as it was: niether a disaster nor insignificant. In fact we don't really talk much about disasters here, we talk about things like how theme parks are operated.

Everytime I've been to a park and complained that some ride is not open, I was told I should have called. Well I did, and they had 1:52 between the opening of the park and when I called to know what was happening. I figured most likely the guy on Facebook was right, but it was just a temporary glitch and was back running. I tried to make use of my experience. The first person for inferring they knew, but especially the second for saying "I know for a fact". I would have been OK with "I don't know" or "we simply can't give refunds in any case" -- this crossed the line past not making me happy or telling me something other than what I wanted to hear. I didn't yell at anyone at Guest Relations, I actually gave up pretty quick, and I'm glad I didn't go on and post what I felt last night, and the main reason I made some text larger was to delineate the 2nd part of my post from the first. Yes I should have taken any warning more seriously ... maybe I should called again on the way or should get one of them wifi dealies so I can check Facebook someplace along the way ... I'm contributing a data point that others should temper their expectations (yeah so did the OP, but we already knew that). I agree your Abu Dhabi trip was a lot more to be let down on. But did you call ahead? I did try to have fun, but felt irritated. I am extra reluctant to try again, because if Verbolten isn't running next time, I've already tried to enjoy the rest once already.

A Saturday. Well I guess not everyone knows that parks are very crowded on Saturdays. Now you know.... I think the BGW version originally started at 6:30 now its 3:00, but they still often hit capacity of Saturdays. After seeing this Clue, there shouldn't have been an issue #2-4. GO HOME. And I wouldn't recommend getting there earlier either, it's still an overcrowded night. NOW, AS TO WHAT HAPPENED AT WILLIAMSBURG LAST NIGHT, I still wouldn't call a "disaster", that's something else and usually involves someone getting hurt, but I would call it a MAJOR FAIL. The one and only major thrill ride they were running (as a thrill ride), Verbolten, never ran. More substantially, I was lied to by 2 persons about it. I checked thier Facebook page before leaving and someone had said Verbolten was having technical difficulties. So I called the park. It wasn't clear in the phone tree if there was any options to get park information from a live person. I hit 5 and the person I talked to said she didn't know and put me on hold, came back and said Verbolten was running. This call was at 4:52 and the Facebook posting had said "37 minutes ago". It took over an hour and a half to get to the park, no mention of problems when I bought my ticket and I don''t think they have a regular place to post ride closings like KD. I had to enter the park and walk to the ride to find out it was closed. Two different line attendants there I spoke to said the ride never ran Sunday. About 8:30 they announced over the area PA that they were giving up. I stopped by Guest Services or whatever they call it on the way out and the guy claimed he "knew for a fact" the ride was operating until 4:40. He went on to state that by the time they had it ready to run, it was too cold for it to run -- IT WAS 55 DEGREES! Let me guess, 4:40 was after they got the first guest complaint and investigated the situation. Anyway, who am I to believe, people working at the ride or someone in guest relations on the other side of the park? Maybe he didn't know the ride was down until 4:40 but that's entirely different than knowing it was running. I didn't remember the Facebook posting was 37 minutes before I called when I was speaking to him. I should have gotten his name and demanded to speak to others (he was tall and thin). Being lied to really rubs me wrong but I can't really hold that against a whole park, although I expect some policies are in place that encourage it. Clearly the park is lacking communication, at least regarding negative news. They also don't seem to understand the priority of a ride when it is the only one in its category running. Perhaps thrill rides are not that important in their conception of the event, but it should be obvious it is to some guests; any interest in Christmas lights etc. on my part was to be AFTER I got my coaster itch scratched! I don't know if I'll be returning to BGW unless I recieve a material apology. My previous conditional recommendation of this event I can't stand by. A single coaster is not reliable enough to travel long distances and expect it to be running, there is no way to get official information on the status, and the park doesn't consider the customer to always be right.

This could be taken 2 ways, one that age has made a coaster worse, or that our standards have changed over time. It used to be accepted that you couldn't have intensity without some roughness, I think. In fact it was rare enough to get intense coasters that you maybe had to endorse some roughness -- there still was a difference between just rough, and rough and fun, but that was the limit. Then B&M came along and, certainly for me, there was a point I "got it" that being able to relax can allow you to enjoy the intensity that remains, and it can even be a better more artful and aerobatic ride at the same time. And now Intamin pushes even that technology to a limit.... This brings up one of my pet peeves with some coaster enthusiasts: "So-and-so is OK if you KNOW HOW to ride it." Show we a ride where specialized knowledge or techniques are required for survival, and I'll show you one lousy, wretched ride. Larry speaks the truth. 2 words aren't enough to describe the variations, for sure. As to "knowing how to ride it", there are definitely rides that the first ride is a little "expensive" in pain, but once you lick your wounds you can take that knowledge and go back and enjoy the ride again and again. And others that are just rough. Sometimes it's just a matter of knowing where to sit. It's not ideal, but I'm not going to refuse to ride a coaster I already know how to ride.

One quite compact coaster I don't think anyone's mentioned yet is Fahrenheit. I wasn't that impressed with the ride compared to anything else at Hershey, but wow is it crammed in there. It could be put many places where it would be impressive. Batman is kind of compact but has that part sticking out. May have worked as a space-saver in its first installation but not necessarily in general. SLCs seem more a true compact coaster, cramming as much as possible into a rectangular footprint. Batman I've only ridden twice, first I was inexperienced and was blown away, 2nd I had one of those center rear seats and thought it sucked, so no real opinion. SLCs I used to love and consider a classic design (sorry!). Of more truly compact coasters, Jet Star delivered the goods.

I don't think I've ridden a *roller coaster* that was greatly enhanced by theming. If they were, I might have voted different. The ones somewhat enhanced, such as Verbolten, can be good rides but still proves my point. I do like some theme-based rides, for example Curse of Darkastle, but there the theming is dominant. I also think coasters make for a more repeatable experience. It makes sense for Disney, as a tourist destination, to create experiences that are unforgettable but are not oriented towards great impact when repeated, but not so much for regional parks. Of coasters, my favorite "theme" is that of Dominator, which is themed as a huge roller coaster with a big loud sign and nice places to watch which results in people being there below the lift, making it all more apparent how high you are. I don't know if it's by design, but I also appreciate how when you come out of it on the elevated walkway a train is usually coming over the lift with perfect timing for you to watch it from that excellent vantage point. This and other factors make it clear that much attention was given to enhancing the ride in the same manner as "themes" without the theme being about something else. And yes you get a parking lot view but that's the price of making it so you can ride without walking your butt off, and I consider it worth the price. It does degrade the "experience of a lifetime" aspect but helps *my* kind of park experience. And as far as surroundings go, I don't see any chance that they can contrive something as cool as topping the lift of the Great Nor'easter at night, 100' above the beach and overlooking the ocean.

I'm not saying you're wrong, I saying I've seen too much criticism by enthusiasts that I do consider wrong to not be skeptical. Obviously, I won't be finding out in this case. And I see there's been another anti-Boomerang/SLC post just as I was writing this. Not the best rides in the absolute sense, but very ambitious and more than adequate along the seaside... and no way would they be replaced by B&Ms in those locations if this storm had knocked them down!!

I've seen how often coaster enthusiasts complain and talk about tearing down perfectly good and even excellent rides so I really can't trust in the view that the world is better without Star Jet. Look at some of the coasters people say they wish went down just in this thread. Plus it was an oceanside coaster, it doesn't have to be an Intimidator to be an enjoyable ride. It was a small coaster and I never rode it so have no fond memories of it, so I'm not upset, but you get the idea.

^^--Sometimes if there's few on the row and in the line, they might let that slip. You're not supposed to have to change seats, vs. it would make sense to just slip down to the end on that thing.

BTW, I TOTALLY agree with the no tax monies provision. The no ownership part is the killer. Give that up or sell off the rides, cheap. Soon.

When I think of rerides, I think Kings Dominion, but then I often think KD. There are exceptions and of course their official policy is that they can deny it. I've seen when Dominator (reride central) allowed no rerides and when it was crowded, makes sense. I305, never by manufacturer decree. Seperate unload and load stations, well actually 3 years ago actually got rerides on Volcano. That's basically like a flight from National (sorry, Reagan) airport to Portland via Dulles, just because the short hop is short you still have to buckle up and extinguish cigarettes (yeah it's been that long since I made that flight). Bush Gardens W isn't very good but the weird thing is you can if you happen to be on when it closes. Other parks never allow rerides after close, there it can be the only time! We even got a reride for the whole train by chanting "one more ride" on Apollo once when there wasn't the normal people waiting. Otherwise, typically they only allow it on Alps and Nessie, one time only, no changing seats, no one in line for your row. Sometimes Griffon, but no one in your row. Apollo would be the best, and I remember it being Ok at one time.

The state is insane on this thing. Even if it were possible to make money off getting the existing rides running, there would be no motivation to expand and improve it. Getting the rides running depends on many details regarding coaster trains, parts, motors even if tracks, etc. look OK. Wonder what the cost of demolishing it would be, taxpayers?

May as well close the whole site, based on that reasoning.

I think it's a good park, one thing against it are the number of very good parks somewhat near. The name makes it sound like a tourist destination, when it is more a local park. I'm glad someone bought it, that always leaves open the possibility of improvement. It is harder to start a new park than keep one going. I still would go occasionally if I had a bit more money or time, maybe next year. Not only do they get few rides, the tendency to economize with what they got has always worked against them while Superman, though not the best of the series, was more a long-term success. Mind Eraser was adequate, 2 Face is gone, Joker's Jinx again adequate, and Batwing while initially popular has poor capacity and even just another adequate coaster would have served them better in the long run. ROAR, I really liked but allegedly is now rough, wasn't running last time I went, and isn't a big draw.

All wooden coaster tracks are like that. Wooden coasters pretty much run on steel strips that are supported by wooden beams, so technically Topper track is a variation of that. Looks like to me, wood coasters have steel wheels. Steel coasters have rubber wheels. Odd, but simple.

I didn't address the subject of wood vs. steel in my prev. post... anyone ride a steel-supported wood coaster such as The Great White at Moreys? I've never heard much controversy if this qualifies as a steel coaster, possibly because woodie fans usually like it. I like it but it is a very hard ride. It's probably far better than a true woodie would be by now in that environment, but if that doesn't require the "hybrid" descriptor, surely the Rocky Mountains don't.

If a park has added brakes to keep a coaster from tearing itself apart or the riders, they've decided it needs Topper track or that they need to increase maintenance so they can eliminate the trims. Get on with already. I don't really know of any woodie so uninteresting (except for trims) that it wouldn't benefit if it needs it. If it were up to me I wouldn't choose based on "potential" as much as being local enough for me to actually ride it. There are plenty of woodies that seem to be doing Ok without it and most probably wouldn't be as good. Definitely Rebel Yell is better just maintained and I really think Grizzly doesn't either. Hurler, see first paragraph, and more than good enough to justify. Probably the larger coasters than around here the most though.

Yeah, but does that mean they're running Apollo for Christmas??? That and Verbolten or something and they've got themselves a fairly decent amusement park .. at least for the only game in town, and considering the rides usually aren't crowded. (Sorry, couldn't hit "quote" because of that ad running down the right hand side of the page.)(edit: actually its OK on IE 6.5, ad dissapears entirely. With Netscape 7.2 I have an ad over everything I can't get rid of. I wrapped quotes around the quote but it didn't say who wrote it like initiating the post with quote. These are the most recent browsers I can use with my oldOS/smallHD/RAM/P2powersupply.)

It's nice to be able to say you have a lot of coasters, although it could get established who has the most and the rest give up. But there are definitely more rides reaching the end of their lifecycles than ever before. So removal/replacement will be a big trend. I will be sorry to see most of them go, many are unique enough and are not without appeal, plus every park needs some short lines. If any NEED to go, it would be ones that are not merely uncomfortable but the ones that can really hurt you, which in my experience is not Vekoma or even Togo, it's Arrow.

Kings Dominion (58 visits) BGW (about 8 visits including 2 Xmas Town) Hoping to get some SFA/SFGAdv action next year. Not sure if I'll try to ride Verbolten earlier than August or Skyrush earlier than 2013.

^^-- my thoughts too. It may increase later on, it seemed to last year? First weekend -- or anytime it seems more like summer -- is kind of the "lite" version anyway. I like when the fog drifts to different places like Dominator. There has to be a lot for that to happen.

I'm wondering if this might have an initial section that is gravity powered from the station level, somewhat like the first section of BBW except without the lift, making use of the deep excavation. This would increase duration and allow more variety and interesting pacing. I suggested this somewhere in view of BBW and being opposite of I305. Launching (delayed, double, or both) allows layouts such as BBW's and Loch Ness without the second lift destroying the pacing of the ride. The 2 launches are very promising because Flight of Fear and others allow a few seconds of complete craziness off of 50-55 MPH launch or drop speeds, but inevitably most coasters have a tapering pacing over much of the ride. The 2nd launch can be after losing much of the energy of the 1st so is potentially twice the ride. However, in view of the length there is likely braking before the 2nd launch ala BLSR. Also the 2nd launch is probably concerned mainly with reaching the top of the final drop. I totally understand the need for this and look forward to riding it, but am not overwhelmed. 5 trains@16 seats ea., so it should be practical to get on it by late summer or a year from now.