Lareson

Yep, that's quite the fake tweet you got there. Way over 140 characters, makes zero sense onto why Diamondback would be closed on opening day, and the last tweet they sent out was for season pass processing. Not to mention the scaling of the text on the tweet looks like it was done in MS Paint, which I know you very commonly post stuff from that on here. This is just me, but I think you're just trying to stir up a bunch of rumors.

Neither is Worlds of Fun and they got Patriot... Worlds of Fun is slightly ahead of Valleyfair in terms of revenue, and the market was a lot better back in 2006 when Patriot was built for what seems now a measly $14mil. We could see a B&M similar to Patriot built at Valleyfair, but with today's coaster prices, looking around anywhere from $16-18 million, that's a lot of capital for Valleyfair to support for being the 2nd smallest park in the chain. I got the $16-18 million by the way from the price of OzIris, which was €12 million for the ride alone, which is about equal to $16.4 million and OzIris is smaller than Patriot. I'd have to guess around $10-12 million for a brand new Vekoma SLC, which would fit a lot better in Valleyfair's capital range. Hard to know the price for a new SLC because the recent "new" ones have been relocated and the only new one built recently is the one going up in Iraq.

Even though it was an SLC, Thunderhawk was a huge hit for Michigan's Adventure. Since it was installed in 2008, the park has pretty much been having record attendance year after year. The general public loves Thunderhawk and was a very smart move for Cedar Fair to move Thunderhawk here (even if it had to come out of unfortunate events.) I've heard several GP that think Thunderhawk is better than Shivering Timbers. For those that have rode Thunderhawk, they can vouch for me saying that it's not the average SLC. Having rode it a grand total of 43 times last year for Coasting for Kids and visits to the park, it's much more of a comfortable ride than the Six Flags SLCs. Only issue I have with them, and I'm near 6' 4", is that it does come down on my shoulders a bit, but I didn't have any other issues with it. I actually would not be surprised if Valleyfair does get an SLC. Considering that they're fairly "cheap" and a huge hit for the GP, would be a very good investment since it would easily be marketed as "the first suspended looping roller coaster in the state of Minnesota," much like they did for Michigan's Adventure. Yes, Steel Venom is similar in style, but is a completely different ride experience. Not to mention, CF can purchase it with the new trains that will for sure make the coaster smoother than any other SLC because it'll be new track and new trains, versus sticking new trains on old track which is pretty much just a bandaid.

Actually, Timberliners bogies are more closer to a steel roller coaster bogie. Each set of wheels are able to articulate around turns. You can get a good look of the wheels here in this image. Being able to independently turn each bogie around a turn gives the Timberliners the ability to maneuver around tighter turns, much like we've seen for Twister at Grona Lund. Also this should theoretically cause less wear and tear on a track because the trains aren't banging around the corners, but because Hades 360 was already in rough shape to begin with and what little they did to re-track the coaster, I'm not surprised on how rough I've heard it is, even with the Timberliners. Over time though, as more and more sections of old PTC damaged track is replaced, it actually should result in a smoother ride because the track that already has been replaced should not wear as much. Here's another images showing how the Timberliners maneuver around corners versus a PTC. There is also a bunch of shock absorbents in various places on a Timberliner that should theoretically give a smoother ride, but those mainly help with the small vibrations to get rid of the "rattle" more than it does bumps. The Timberliners really wouldn't give Shivering Timbers an advantage over the PTC trains because there's only 2 turns and a helix. The rest is all hills in a straight line, which is really what the PTC cars are better designed to do. Timberliners are better suited for a coaster like Voyage, but since that was already in bad shape, it wouldn't of made a difference without the complete re-track.

It really makes me happy seeing parks being revived back to their original form. Guess Alabama Adventure was fortunate that the old owners decided to "cheap out" and not tear down Rampage and let it sit. Happy that Dan Koch decided to pick this park to bring back. Between this and the revival of Kentucky Kingdom, I'm happy that there are people out there that are seeing the potential that was lost when previous owners were "incompetent" to say the least. Now we just need the Jazzland proposal to pass for New Orleans and that'll be another great revival! It's probably one of those that I'll admire from a distance because I'm literally on the other side of the country from Alabama, so I'll probably never get a chance to visit there, but I'm looking forward to this park going back to being the state's largest amusement park!

I'd also have to agree, we won't be seeing a $20mil coaster, let alone a B&M, unless used, in the near future. There were plans before Cedar Fair bought the park for a Morgan hyper, but due to Morgan selling all of their assets to Chance the year Cedar Fair bought the park, the plans fell through. Issue I see about adding anything launched with LIMs is that they require a massive amount of power that I'm not sure the park has full access to. It's not located in a very well populated area. LSMs though could be a possibility, but that could also be a power issue. I'm looking to Zamperla or Larson for a few new flats in the coming years before there's any new coaster or water park addition. Here, Funnel of Fear was built in 2005 and after that Beach Party in 2011, so I have a feeling it'll be at least a couple more years before the next water park addition comes. Although Screamscape was pretty close when it was rumored a "water slide" was coming in 2011, which ended up being Beach Party, so we'll see. I really do hope that Cedar Fair will look to Chance and the Hyper-GX (Lightning Run) at Kentucky Kingdom and at least order one for here. Capacity-wise, it'll work perfect and will compliment the other coasters without being too "overpowering." Also on a related note, the turn-around is being completely re-tracked on Shivering Timbers this year, from exiting the double-up into the turn and from what I saw, goes down the drop out of the straight section. Was a quick glance driving by and noticed the workers and the new wood stand out against the structure. Here's a pic for reference where it's being worked on. Don't know who's working on it, but I'll bet it's mainly in-house. What's highlighted in yellow is being re-tracked.

With FLP, how far do i merge in with the line? Do i have to wait more than 10 minutes? Depends on the ride. Some merge pretty close to the station, some others like Millennium are a bit farther. All that FastLane Plus offers is that it adds Maverick and Top Thrill Dragster to the FastLane list. Does not offer any other difference in terms of "speed." For rides that have less than adequate capacity like Maverick, there's a chance to wait at least 20+ minutes, even longer on busy days. Some rides you won't have to wait very long. If you're going for a 1-day trip and want to ride as many coasters as possible, FastLane is definitely worth the extra cost.

There are enough blocks in the system for a 3-train operation. Lift, station, and I believe the brake run is split into 2, possibly 3. A mid-course brake run isn't always needed for a 3-train operation. When the first train is dispatched, the second train pulls into the station. From the time the first train has left the lift hill to when at the interval time, probably near the in-line roll, the second train would be dispatched to the lift, the the third pulls into the station. There's chance a train will be sitting on the brake run waiting for the station train to be dispatched, but it shouldn't be very long. As soon as the station train is ready to be dispatched at the interval time, it can head for the lift, but has to wait for the train that's currently on the course to clear the first brake run block before it can leave the lift. That can be done by the computer slowing down the lift if it's dispatched a bit too early. That could possibly be a bit confusing as I'm reading it myself, but I can visualize it pretty well in my head. Leviathan is a good example of a 3-train operation without a mid-course brake run. This still shouldn't bother capacity too much, still holds up to 96 riders at any given time.

Woah, seeing the steepness of the first drop, it's quite impressive in this small of scale. If Lightning Run become the hit of the industry, I would not be surprised if a few more popped up in the coming years at smaller parks that can't quite afford an expensive B&M or Intamin, but are looking to add a new, thrilling steel roller coaster to their lineup. While I don't think we'll be seeing too many of the taller Morgan-inherited coasters coming out of Chance yet, I do see a lot of these smaller ones popping up. Although if Chance does get the opportunity to build a new 200ft tall coaster, I hope it'll use the new trains seen on Lightning Run. They just look a lot better than the old Morgan trains. Is it just me, or does it look like the smaller support on the first drop is using an old Greezed Lightning footer?

That's a tough one. I don't know the Ohio school schedule, but I notice that the "pre-season" ends May 31st which is when they start doing their full 10a-10p schedule, so school groups shouldn't be too much of an issue since school should be out by then. If you're only going for a day or two, FastLane is recommended, but that could be crowd dependent on the weekdays. If you do plan on staying at Breakers, the early entry is a very nice perk, especially if you want to do a credit run, as Millennium, Maverick, and Top Thrill lines get longer as the day goes on and best to hit them early in the day. I know when we got FastLane Plus when I did a trip at the end of July, I rode more coasters that day than the past trips I've done at CP before. It was well worth the extra, at least for us. Now that I think about it, I think we did ride all 14 major coasters, some several times.

They said it's very family friendly, so wondering if they'll be bringing back a Flying Scooters or something else, possibly bringing back or building new Cadillac Cars. Was not expecting them to get another new possible ride this year, even though they're already spending a lot of money on Banshee and the whole Action Zone revitalization, but considering the massive budget Cedar Fair has for capital expenses this year, not surprised if there are still more announcements coming down the pipeline.

It might not be because of the whole g-force thing, just a theory of mine. It does make you think though. Could be various of factors, but B&M's coasters built the past couple years, something has changed in their design process so the g-force change has been made more subtle. I mean, it wasn't like a whole 1G difference, but there are certain number of their coasters in the 90's that certainly had some g-force issues, like Mantis and a trim brake being added to the 1st drop before the loop because it was slightly uncomfortable due to the forces. Also makes you wonder what Intamin has been using the past few years for designing and simulation. The two bigger flubs of recent times, Maverick's heartline roll and Intimidator 305's turn into the airtime hill, makes me wonder why they didn't see some of those issues ahead of time in the software. It seems they've got it right with Skyrush, but just gets me thinking.

Yep, we're far beyond now that track style doesn't really matter. Now that designers are able to calculate g-forces in real time for coaster track long before any steel is welded. There wasn't that luxury even a few years ago for coaster designers. Yes, there are programs like NoLimits that does such a thing, but that's mainly simulated and not even close to the accuracy that you can get with some of the CAD programs. Arrow during the 70's and up until the very early 90's, all used to build and assemble their coasters all on-site, the track itself was never made in a factory up until around the time Intamin with Giovanola realized that was the more accurate way to build and assemble a coaster. So all of the track was bent and shaped up on the support structure with assistance from surveyors on the ground directing them to where the track needed to go. Coasters were also designed and calculated on paper until CAD during the late 80's became feasible, hence why a lot of the early Arrow transitions are bad, but yet some of their later coasters are actually decent, like Tennessee Tornado and Big One. Still wasn't quite accurate enough until the 2000's came around as there were a few issues that never showed until the rides were actually built, like a few transitions here and there. Also why we consider a lot of the B&M coasters during the 90's their "golden years," because the g-forces were a bit higher or lower in real life than what they may have calculated on a computer. Now that they're able to get the g-forces almost exact to how it's going to be in real life, a lot of us consider their newer coasters more "tame." So because Chance is using a track design that dates to the 60's means that it's out of date and won't "age well?" Nope, like I said, we're way past the point where track design matters and if companies still decide to use an inside rail than an outside rail, go for it. You have the technology to make sure the coaster will last for a 100 years so there's no point on changing it because it's an older design.

I was wondering when the new map style was coming. It was rumored to happen last year, but still had the old design for 2013. Supposedly this is coming across the chain too. Also it's looking like the height requirements have been made more clearer and are being standardized in the chain and the food options being more clearer for gluten free and vegetarian. Also looks like the all-day meal deal will only work at a few locations. Happy that the maps are becoming more accurate and are not over exaggerated like some of them have became.

Mainly it has to do with the cash register system and getting an in-park network established. The upgrade has already happened at the other CF parks, just MiAd was the last one to be done because there was no infrastructure to build off of, it all has to be installed from scratch. It pretty much allows corporate to view in real-time all of the purchases and cash flow being done throughout the day and how they're able to do promotions like the all-day meal ticket. I believe Ouimet said that during one of the quarterly teleconferences why MiAd is the last park to get the upgrade. All I know is that a fiber line is being installed around the park and will finally automize the cash register system instead of the old punch-in registers and also get rid of the separate credit card readers. It'll just help speed up the process for guests and will be nice for the park to at least be current in technology.

Wow, seeing the actual figure of capital expenditures this year, it's amazing what they're doing across the chain, and that they're only building one coaster this year. $145 million is being put into good use, between Kings Dominion and all of the 40th Celebration additions, Guardian going in at Canada's Wonderland, Cedar Point with the Gemini Midway additions and the Hotel Breakers face lift, Knott's Camp Snoopy expansion and upgrades, Route 76 at Valleyfair, major water park additions at Carowinds and Dorney, SteelHawk at Worlds of Fun, the restaurants being added to a few parks, the cabins being installed at CP and KD, the coaster re-tracking and re-profiling with GCI going on at Carowinds and CA Great America, the major point-of-service and infrastructure install happening at Michigan's Adventure, the Cedar Fair in-park TV network going in at all of the park, and of course Banshee going in at Kings Island. Then I'm sure there's probably a major list of painting and other capital improvements going on across all parks. I really can't wait to see what they have planned next year. Carowinds is for sure going to be the highlight park next year with the major coaster installation and who knows what else they have planned across the chain. Until then, it's going to be a great 2014 season for the chain!

That is pretty odd, but since it's just the support style they inherited from Morgan, it's understandable. Probably is easier to install that way too then since it just has to sit on top of the support to be attached, versus being hoisted and held into place by a crane, then maneuvered into place if the support connection is at an angle. Interesting though looking at the track now that it's installed. The spine itself looks to be sections of straight pieces of pipe, cut and angled at every rail tie, instead of being bent out of a single piece for the spine. Quite ingenious, as it doesn't introduce the stresses caused by the heating and bending process done to a single piece spine. Wonder how the rails are bent though, whether heated and bent or mechanically bent using a rolling machine, like what B&M and I'm pretty sure Intamin also does, although neither have shown the process of how they bend their rails since it a "trade secret" according to B&M. This got pretty far today, so expecting it to be completed structurally by the end of the month. Wouldn't be surprised if IOE headed down there as soon as a majority of the structural stuff is done to start installing the control system.

Be patient for FastLane. The 2014 prices haven't been updated yet across the chain, so it's probably still the 2013 listings with Intimidator 305 being down for a good chunk of the season last year. Wouldn't be surprised if FastLane+ is reinstated now that there will be 2 attractions for it again.

There used to be picnic shelters and Joe Cool's Driving School, a 50's style Cadillac Cars, where Dinosaurs Alive is currently. I don't think Gr8 Sk8 will be coming back if they're indeed removing it. Looked to be a Chance Falling Star, and unfortunately those are disappearing one by one due to some mechanical issues that have popped up with them in the past couple years.

Wasn't that one of the rides that Six Flags stopped using after 2008 because they closed the Twisted Twins area, or was that in operation still? Looks good though! From what it used to look like, it need a new paint job.

That's true. All of the Intamin pre-fab coasters use poly wheels, but at least the track on those are still wood. The track is just super accurate compared to a traditional wooden track build, so it's able to use poly wheels without destroying them. That's why they're not used on traditional wooden coasters.

I'm impressed with how nice the pictures look! Looked on your Flickr and saw you shoot with a Canon 5D mark III and the 16-35mm F2.8 lens for this trip. Photography major myself so I like looking at all of the EXIF info, especially when I can tell someone knows how to use a camera! I've done that panorama before of CP and it's not an easy one to get a clear, sharp image. Cranking up the aperture and using a sturdy tripod helps tremendously. Even on a clear day, mine still didn't come out very sharp, mainly because I got "heat waves," similar effect to seeing the reflective mirage when driving down a road on a hot day. I do know a trick in Photoshop that'll help clear haze in a picture, dodging and burning, although it's a non-destructive one that doesn't use those tools. That's what I use when I do landscape shots during a humid day and you get a similar haze and it helps clear it up.

It's why I think that Goliath is actually a true hybrid coaster, combines both aspects that make it a wooden coaster and a steel coaster. Even though the park is marketing it as a wooden coaster, it really is closer to a steel coaster than a wooden coaster. Poly wheels, the rails actually being steel filled with a "design mix" as RMC is calling it, are what make it a steel coaster and the wood track structure and supports make it a wooden coaster. It's why I think starting with this, a hybrid classification should be made. I don't argue that Outlaw Run is a wooden coaster because it runs like a wooden coaster as the train has steel wheels, but now that Goliath's trains have poly coated wheels, it's certainly not going to run like a wooden coaster.

Woah, guess that would be why construction on the lift hasn't started as that's normally the first part of a coaster to go up. With that design, that could be the answer to making wooden coasters reach the 200 foot mark again and so we don't end up with another Son of Beast. Really liking that new design! And yes, the structure is steel. It should go up really quick once it gets started. Oh, looking at the IAAPA images, I see now the Goliath trains are using poly wheels. Well, guess that would be why they're able to paint the track steel and then they won't have to worry about that steel dust and applying graphite to the track. Oh well. Guess this is going to be the start of blurring the lines between a wooden and steel coaster.

And that'll be why I try to not get into the technical stuff anymore, but will anyways. I can give you examples too on the train's design and not the track design that can cause a ride to be "rough." I'll give you one that I know really well. A Vekoma SLC. They all have a bad reputations for being a rough ride, head banging and such. It has nothing to do with the gapping in between the wheels and track, as much as people think it is, as the train mainly stays on the road wheels and hardly ever goes on the unstop wheels, at least in the terms of the SLC. Vekoma in the standard SLC train design, the seats are supported by a single steel support with 2 dampening pistons attached to the support and chassis. That would be where the fault is in the old train design. If you've ever seen an SLC train run without people in it, you'd see that they have a tendency to shake quite a bit. Depending on the age, wear and pressure of those pistons, they can cause the seats to shake quite a bit, which causes the head banging and the general rough ride. Some of the later SLC trains of the old design had gone through several revisions and adjustments and have actually resulted in SLCs becoming quite a different ride. I'll give you Thunderhawk at Michigan's Adventure. Relocated from Geauga Lake, from people that rode the coaster when it was there, said it was the average SLC, head banging and not smooth. When it was relocated to Michigan's Adventure, the track stayed the same, but the trains were sent to Vekoma for refurbishing. The people that have rode it when it was at Geauga Lake and then rode it later at Michigan's Adventure has shown a completely different ride. I even heard people say that it was the smoothest SLC that they've ever rode. What had happened when Vekoma refurbished the trains, they put a bit more stiffer dampening pistons, resulting in the seats shaking less and resulting in a much smoother ride, even after 5 years from being built. Now I participated in Coasting for Kids on Thunderhawk last year for nearly 40+ rides and the only issue I had was getting dizzy for spinning around upside down over 200 times. I never in any way thought it was rough or had any head banging. Now there can also be an example of where the track is at fault, but that's because of the old manufacturing techniques, not because of the design. Now that everything is now calculated so precisely and the track is made in a factory in pieces versus being built on site with the track being bent on the structure, track design really doesn't matter that much anymore. I have a friend who is an engineer and has wrote a book all about the engineering that goes into a roller coaster, so most of what I stated is from him. In a majority of cases, the train is the reason why a steel coaster is rough, not the track. Iron Wolf/Apocalypse and Vortex, B&M's first coasters, these are known to be the roughest B&M coasters ever built, mainly the train design is at fault with those, since they used the old Giovanola stand-up train design with a bit of modification, but after those, they started designing their own trains and soon enough, B&M is now synonym for smooth. Alright, that's over now.