ajfelice

I'm going to have to throw in another vote for Bizarro at Six Flags New England. It seemed like the music was complementing the layout of the ride very effectively. I also like how both Bizarro and the former Led Zeppelin-The Ride have the same Whole Lotta Love lyric going down the first drop as it was a nice personal memory jog of Led Zeppelin and Hard Rock Park. Overall, ride soundtracks usually don't make or break a coaster experience speaking from a perspective of the loosely themed coaster, but they serve as a nice frosting on the cake. For myself, I like it when a park will choose queue and station music that complements the type of coaster. Examples include when Cedar Point featured 80s music for Magnum, or Waldameer featuring classic rock and roll for Ravine Flyer II which fits the feeling of a wooden coaster ride. Basically, building the experience from the queue and the station means more to me than the soundtrack on the ride itself because after the lift I don't pay much attention to the soundtrack.

The amount of time a company can get back to a park inquiring for a new attraction can be very brief. For example, in speaking with a former engineer from GCI, he shared that Six Flags gave them only a few days to come up with a proposal for a coaster. Coincidentally, they went through their "stock" of randomly designed layouts and Evil Knievel/American Thunder was given the green light. So even if a former management group's project was scrapped, a new one can be developed fairly quickly.

If for some microscopic chance Cedar Fair were to buy Darien Lake, it would be a gift from god. Generic ride names are not even close to the list of problems at Darien Lake.

Every indication is that is upcoming weekend is going to be fairly slow, and this comes from park sources. Families will avoid Halloween so they can take their kids out, and cold temperatures that are exacerbated by close proximity to the lake will most likely cut crowds down. I actually find it pretty stunning that Cedar Point is even open this upcoming weekend as the weather around Lake Erie perennially sucks at this time. This Sunday (weather permitting) could be a golden opportunity for marathons as 'HalloWeekends" is over Saturday November 1st. Most of the current advertising says HalloWeekends is over this day, and really only the park calendar says the park is open but with no special events.

Great to hear all of the great news regarding Rampage as well as the turnaround of the entire facility. The Koch Family Magic is indeed working here as it did with Holiday World. I really hope that my career in this industry puts me in touch with this family sooner rather than later, as their dedication and passion is an inspiration to everyone within the Attractions Industry. Regarding the company behind Rampage's refurbishment: They are no slouches when it comes to wooden coaster maintenance and refurbishments. Waldameer Park has contracted them for the past three years to make annual adjustments and perform re-tracking on Ravine Flyer II with their most recent work completed a few weeks ago. I'm sure Rampage has its best years ahead of itself being in the right hands of this company. Alabama Splash Adventure is easily on my bucket list of small parks to visit someday.

SLCs are no doubt pretty uncomfortable in general, but I always find myself taking at least a ride if not two or three of them if the line is minimal when I visit a park with an SLC. Perhaps it's the, in my mind, intense layout fit into a compact space? I haven't ridden enough of these to really compile a formal list, but I have found that Canada's Wonderland's Flight Deck to be the worst. Mind Eraser at Darien Lake and Six Flags New England are uncomfortable, but not unbearably painful like CW's Flight Deck, so there is some enjoyment with the intensity. Thunderhawk when it was at Geauga Lake was actually a very good ride. It's fairly smooth ride really showcased how the layout of these coasters is actually pretty good for an off-the-shelf coaster. With the exception of Flight Deck, I have found that SLCs will vary in roughness based on sitting in the right or left seat. Especially in the front row, I have found the left side to be actually very decently smooth to the point I won't ride defensively. It's almost like a different coaster on the right side as the experience lives up to every part of the stereotype of hang-n-bang. As much as a front-left ride reduces headbanging, I have found that the further you go back the less the snapping/shuffling there is in the first inversion. I guess the one redeeming factor of these rough coasters is the fact they seem to be very reliable and relatively easy to maintain. I can't recall a time I have been at a park with an SLC and it was down for mechanical reasons.

^As I said in a thread about CNL, what has already been sunk into Darien Lake doesn't matter towards the future of the park. HFE will never get back however many millions they have sunk into the park. Just because they have pumped a lot of money into the park doesn't make HFE automatically obligated to keep on investing into it. The fact is, HFE would be nuts to overpay for Darien Lake based on the fact they already put money into the park. That money will never be returned back to HFE. This is basic finance. Unless HFE can realistically see a positive return on their investment based on what they want to pay for the park and what investment is required in the FUTURE to make the park viable, they are not going to bite on purchasing the property. HFE has no more leverage than any other potential buyer as their past investments mean nothing in the bidding and negotiation process of CNL liquidating assets. The company that sees the most potential return on investment and offers the right price will come out with Darien Lake. It could be HFE, Premier, Cedar Fair, Six Flags, Palace Entertainment, the homeless guy off the street, anyone.

First of all, Lake Monster was a part of a guest survey. Never an official concept released to the public or the industry. HFE never said they intend to convert Predator to Lake Monster. Everyone got ahead of themselves. Second of all, while Darien Lake has improved there is still a ton of work to be done. Look at the fact that many of their coasters are peeling paint and only operating one train. Look at the fact that rides have slowly went away with no replacement or indication of replacement. Look at how guest reviews continue to tank the park's public perception. I'm pretty sure any modest attendance expectations were not very close to meeting forecasts. With CNL being an investment portfolio, they are looking to get the best return on their investment. I am willing to bet that the price CNL wants is not even close to what HFE is willing to pay based on the condition of the park. There is a world of opportunity with the property as I have mentioned in my pipe dream, but in the end my pipe dream is in fact a pipe dream. While HFE may have had great intentions for Darien Lake, the price has to be right for a purchase to make business sense. Anything they have already put into the park is a "sunk cost," and basic finance education will tell you that sunk costs mean nothing when you evaluate future investment opportunities. It all comes down to the present asking price, not what you put into the park in the past.

A pipe dream of mine would be to purchase Darien Lake and invest into the untapped potential that property has. There aren't too many properties out there that have a decent-sized amusement park, fairly modern water park, secluded campground, decent hotel, and huge concert venue with extra land still available. Just imagine the possibilities with the resort that could be fully developed there. Unfortunately I believe that Herschend is becoming less and less of a possibility of a potential buyer which puts a damper on the ongoing improvement efforts. Like my beloved Cleveland Browns, Darien Lake has a problem with establishing continuity for any ownership or management group's plan to really take effect and be successful. There is no overnight solution to Darien Lake that can bring the park back to it's glory days of attracting around 1.5 million people a year. Hopefully whoever takes the reigns of Darien Lake outright owns the property, and is not as stingy as CNL was with allocating financial resources for improvements.

I do not think death will ever be an appropriate joke or reference on that coaster. To add to the discussion: As much as Kennywood irritates me in 95% of their operations, there was a hilarious moment on Black Widow this past fall. The controls operator asked one of the platform operators to do something, and in-between each word she she made a brief tongue blowing sound referencing a well-known Spongebob Squarepants episodes. Absolutely Hilarious.

When I get the rare chance to have some controls time at Ravine Flyer II, I make a point of saying this repeatedly to guests. I have never felt a first drop on a coaster that yanks you out of your seat so unexpectedly like Ravine Flyer II does. Combine that with some crazy, yet not uncomfortable lateral g's at the bottom of the drop, you have one sick twisted first drop. I can still recall the first time I took Ravine Flyer II on in the back seat in 2008, I thought I was dropping on an A.R.M. drop tower the way my stomach went up into my throat. Maverick has another pretty cool first drop on the shores of Lake Erie where you are popped out of your seat then slammed into a tight, ground-hugging turn.

A combination of both winds and staffing. I can confirm that Cedar Point eventually decided it was more worth their time and resources to send their staff to other locations that were in need of help instead of waiting on the winds to die down in hopes of only a few hours of Sky Ride operation. Before you jump on CP for something like this, I can tell you a bunch of parks do similar things. When staffing is short, you have to make the tough decisions. Your best hope for a Sky Ride experience is a calm start to the day with winds so that the staff isn't sent away to other rides.

Pretty much every coaster period. Heat, cold, winds, first cycle of the day, wheels, etc. can all have significant impact on how a coaster operates it terms of run time and comfort.

As you are someone who works in the industry, I wouldn't be sharing your rule breaking stories even if they are in another park. No wonder you felt unsafe, as you were not using the safety restraints properly.

^I'm sure it had something to do with age, wear, and better engineering for smoother, more comfortable, and less structurally stressful transitions on the high stress portions of the twisting first drop and up into the second hill. I think there was just a flaw in how they reprofiled the top of the second drop. It was fixed by 2010.

Anyone remember the odd transition at the top of Phantom's Revenge's second drop during the 2009 season when they replaced the Arrow track from the top of the lift through the second hill? I could imagine it threw a few unsuspecting riders for quite a jolt. I remember hearing about it before I rode, so I was ready. But it was a whole lot of awkward.

Things can go wrong with the ride during operation that require an operator to leave the station platform. For many coasters there are several switches, buttons, etc. that are outside of the station. Sometimes simply resetting something takes longer than anticipated. Operators are required not to share information about these issues because explaining the issue is more likely to cause unnecessary panic and anxiety. A coaster's controls do not reside only in a station. There is a multitude of things that can require an operator to leave the station. The problem park workers have with some enthusiasts is the fact they like to criticize operations in a very ignorant manner.

Visiting Cedar Point on a cold, windy Sunday during HalloWeekends is going to make most of their queues look like a joke. Use some context in your analysis as the real fact is that GateKeeper frequently uses more than half the queue on typical summer days, and it overflows on most good weather Saturdays. It's fun for enthusiasts to pick on GateKeeper, but the fact is that it's a very popular ride.

^More paint is applied each week. Looking really good so far. It's pretty neat how the teal color of the supports appears to change color based on your proximity to the ride. I must say, the coverage of this roller coaster repaint has to be the most in-depth I have ever seen. If I didn't know any better, I would think this is the first time a park ever decided to repaint a coaster based on all of the ridiculous amounts of painting analysis and speculation.

Cedar Point is the perfect example of hit or miss. Some rides it's absolutely fine, others it is not, and others maybe sometimes at the very end of the evening. All depends on who is in charge at the ride. Perhaps they want to keep their turnstile numbers as accurate as possible? Besides the fact those turnstiles are really just a ballpark number since many of them click twice as someone passes through or they don't account for alternative access or front of the line passes. Overall, I'm not sure why the reride policy is so wishy-washy.

From July through the rest of the season, each time I was at the controls or up in the crow's nest on Thunder River all I could hear in my head was "We are on a log flume! We are on a log flume!" Basically I felt like the time Peter Griffin wished for theme music to his everyday life.

I'm going to stop you right there. LEDs are cheap in the sense they save you a ton of money down the road on energy use and replacement frequency. However, the initial investment into LEDs is very expensive and in fact time consuming. You are looking at anywhere from $75,000 for a Scrambler-sized ride to over $300,000 for a chance 24-gondola Ferris wheel. Not a cheap investment on a very tight annual budget for most parks. Besides the fact they look nice, it is hard to always justify those kinds of investments as they don't have a direct return on investment. As for just buying the bulbs to put into former incandescent sockets. NOT CHEAP. Each bulb is close to a couple bucks, multiple that by few thousand for most flats, and again its not exactly pocket change when you factor in labor time and a tight maintenance budget. Personally, I have changed old bulbs and replaced with LEDs, its not a fast process as those standard light covers crack easily and usually are very tight. As for general lights upkeep, it is the last priority on the list of things to maintain because its not always important to safety. Also, controllers can cost you several hundred to over a thousand dollars to make the lights sparkle and run their programs, so again, not cheap to maintain when they blow. Parks don't have free money floating everywhere to perfectly maintain every light bulb or convert every ride and attraction to LEDs. I love LEDs and want every ride to have them someday, but I understand implementation is a costly, time-consuming process.

^Maybe you all are just reading too far into it? Cedar Point knows how to repaint a coaster, this isn't amateur hour.

All of these projects are researched exhaustively, and Cedar Point isn't oblivious to the fact that it's not as flashy of an addition as GateKeeper, Maverick, TTD, or Millennium Force. I'm sure Cedar Point isn't forecasting a huge step forward in attendance with Rougarou as it is not the most groundbreaking ride, but it should add more value to the overall park experience. Also remember, 2014 was not a good year for many parks in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions due to weather alone. Rougarou should produce some impressive ridership totals if the ride experience is in fact smoother and more comfortable than Mantis. The capacity 3 train operation will produce combined with a fun, re-rideable experience that is not too intense but offers some flashy inversions should make for a popular ride. People might comment (not necessarily on TPR) how Gatekeeper is not that popular based on the lines at the end of the day, but they aren't looking at the grand total ridership it produces which is very impressive. I see Rougarou having the similar popularity to GateKeeper which has been a great success for CP despite the opinions of some enthusiasts. Based on the effects and floorless trains, Rougarou should give CP's overall high quality collection of coasters a nice boost.

I like what I'm seeing. While focusing on the Breakers overhaul, a refreshed ride experience should help keep the thrill-seekers happy. The color scheme of Rougarou is also a unique fresh look. Orange is not a bad color when used properly, and the screaming 1990s flat primary colors will now be a distant memory. Hopefully, fingers crossed, three train operation can successfully set up for Rougarou. With the faster loading of floorless coasters compared to stand-ups, this should be more than doable as Mantis could theoretically run three back in the day. I would rather have Cedar Point focus on repainting Raptor and Top Thrill Dragster before touching Iron Dragon. Iron Dragon looks acceptable as it is as none of it is faded to the point an untrained eye would find it unappealing. Besides, most of the ride is back in the woods and not in plain view of most passerbys.