Lareson

Found out that if you bought the Steam version, it works across both platforms! I was browsing through my Library list the other day on my Mac Mini and noticed it listed RCT3 as a game to install! Think I may throw that on my MacBook for whenever I get bored at school or something.

If Arrow gave the park a recommended operation lifetime for Iron Dragon like they did Big Bad Wolf, then it is very well on the chopping block. The only thing that would save it is Vekoma coming out and doing a overhaul on it like they did with Vampire. It's more than likely the track joints and trains themselves that could be the end of the ride. That's why I see a lot of the more modern coasters lasting much longer because the track is bolted to the support structure. Replacing a couple worn bolts are easier than trying to re-weld a joint. Also computers have helped calculate support and track stress over long periods of time. Arrow didn't have that luxury during the 70's and 80's when a lot of their coasters were built, so if a park sees that a coaster's track, support, and trains are starting to become a maintenance worry during the annual inspections, it's more than likely going to be removed sooner. There are plenty of alternatives of family coasters than just Iron Dragon and Woodstock Express at Cedar Point. Corkscrew, Blue Streak, Gemini, Magnum, and Millennium Force are just a couple and have a pretty kid friendly height limit of 48", not to mention the range of kid rides CP has to offer, with Kiddy Kingdom, Gemini Children's Area, Camp Snoopy and Planet Snoopy, more kid-friendly areas than a few other parks I can think of. The onsite housing, being some of the oldest structures on the property, are starting to show their age, mainly Cedars, and are missing quite a bit of modern conveniences. I was not surprised when I heard Ouimet saying that new employee housing and removal of the old onsite housing was part of the 3-year hotel property improvements. I know a few that liked the onsite, not because of how it is, but it being onsite. Taking about 20 minutes from the time of getting up out of bed to getting out to your spot. Offsite, you have to plan about an extra hour between getting ready and heading up to the Point due to traffic or waiting for the bus.

This has been discussed several times over the years Cedar Point will run out of room. Put simply, they will not. Attractions come and go, something will be removed for a newer attraction. This has even been discussed going back to before Millennium was built. Do I see them using the parking lot space for future attractions. In 20 years, no, don't think even in 50. There are attractions that by that time will be beyond the manufacturer's recommended operation so will be removed and will open up new space. There's actually going to be spots opening up here by the end of this year with the removal of the onsite employee housing, mainly the Golds in the middle of the park next to Corkscrew. There are quite a few spots that can open up in the coming years. Cedar Creek Mine Ride, Iron Dragon, Cadillac, Turnpike, and Antique Cars, Corkscrew, and a few of the older rides could very well be on the chopping block in the coming years, some I think sooner that we're expecting. It's more because of maintenance and how old the structure of the rides are. Reason why wooden coasters, like Blue Streak, last much longer than a majority of modern rides is because the wood structure and track is cheap and easy to fix. Corkscrew's structure and track, not so much, would be quite expensive to try and do a track replacement. Gemini, that one is a weird one due to the fact of its hybrid design. Certainly the wooden support structure can last quite a long time, but the steel track cold become an issue in the future. A modern track replacement could do that ride some good and could make it last longer.

That I believe is the main train color, Sunset Gold, but each train will have different accent color: Zenith Gold, Meteor Gold or Orion Gold. The lighting in the shop is more than likely florescent so it's not going to look right, but it should look much better once its out in the sun.

Wondering if they're going to put a decent canopy over the seating area. I know when I visited the park this year, we had a rainstorm come rolling in and tried to stand over there, but there was no cover besides over the bar and over the fish feeding areas! That side of the park always looked a bit shabby and its nice to see that they're sprucing it up and bringing in the German flair.

I'm wondering that too. It would of been perfect if they would of revealed it at IAAPA, but this timing is rather weird as it's a little late for parks to add to their improvements for this year, especially a new coaster. Must be for next year then? Those are actually the original Arrow train chassis modified to have the OTSR removed. I believe Morgan added their lap bar system to it, but don't quote me on that.

Very nice little coaster here! Great to see Chance making the effort to try and push their roller coaster development after the Vekoma partnership ending. I think the animation is off a bit on the speed, doesn't feel like it should and what many people have mentioned, slow, but they can easily reconfigure quite a few things depending on what the park is looking for. There's quite a few parks that this size of a steel coaster would work. Shouldn't be too costly to build and doesn't take up a ton of space. Looking forward to see which park will pick up this design first!

Woah! Think if I were to ride that for the first time w/o seeing this video, I would think I'd be in for a bit of a shock as I'd expect the lift to travel the average 6-8mph, but that's crazy Intamin managed to do that with a chain lift.

That actually looks concept-ish, and I know the scale on it is absolutely terrible, but then again I've seen worse. Ever seen Curtis D. Summer's "concept art?" No dimension at all! I think the scribble on the right side is a signature, but can't read it at all due to the poor quality. As I never seen it before, I'm gonna say its fan made, and would have been quite impractical, mainly how much Top Thrill cost with what's just standing right now. But then again, there's no 270 degree twist on the way down, so this could very well be early concept art.

Location for Lakeside Gliders still hasn't been confirmed yet by the park, but what I've been hearing is that it may replace Go-Karts. Hasn't been removed from the site yet, but the location would really be the best place to put it as they don't have to fill in anymore spots on the lake and it's smack dab in the middle of the park too. I know that Cedar Fair has taken out a couple other kart attractions at other parks, but considering that we have other options around the area that offer a go-karts track, some indoors and out, that are much better and I know many locals don't really care for paying extra to ride them. http://www.miadventure.com/things-to-do/family-rides They did though update the thumbnail on the website with what the paint scheme on the cars are going to look like with it photoshopped on an existing model. It's also going to be part of FastLane as well.

Not a recent one, but was filed before Intamin started making roller coasters in 1976. http://www.google.com/patents/US4033602?pg=PA1&dq=intamin&hl=en&sa=X&ei=uSEgUbj5C4PAyAGNuIGgDw&ved=0CEoQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=intamin&f=false It's a patent for a very interesting ski brake. Glad Intamin didn't go in that direction! And looks like Mack has a patent on their track design, given to them in 2011. http://www.google.com/patents/EP2156870B1?cl=en&dq=roller+coaster&hl=en&sa=X&ei=HyMgUZDTHuSTyQGSxYGIDw&ved=0CEgQ6AEwBw And then Universal's dueling system that is in disuse on Dragon Challenge and includes the layout, given to them in 2001. http://www.google.com/patents/US6170402?dq=roller+coaster&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RSQgUeq_IuPhyQG26YCADw&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAzgU

That paint job... This wasn't Intamin's first wooden coaster. American Eagle was their first, then they went and got themselves in the mess that was Pegasus at Efteling. Jupiter was Curtis D. Summers' last coaster, partnered with Intamin, as Dinn Corp broke apart due to their Dutch disaster. Intamin only built 2 more after that, White Cyclone in 1994 and the now defunct Aska in 1998. Very sporadic after their steel coasters took off. It was then in 2001 Intamin built their last traditional wooden coaster, Elf, before Colossus opened the same year as their first coaster using the wood pre-fab track.

Yeah, they may not run out of FastLane, but I think they do stop selling them about 2/3rds of the way into the day. I know Kings Island did that when we went last year as I noticed around 4p, the booths were closed. I'd make up your mind whether or not you want to buy them before 1p if you decide not to buy them online beforehand.

Blocking would be fine, the blocks would be: 1st - Station 2nd - Lift 3rd - Brake Run Same way as many 2-train coasters operate. Adding a 2nd train wouldn't be an issue, and if there's no transfer track, it'd be easy for Gravity Group to install one as they managed to do it for Raven and that was a CCI. It'd be just a matter of changing the computer system to add the program for running a 2 train system. Its too bad if operations are truly that bad, but then again, I've heard worse about other parks. If they have wait times that are 2x longer than most coasters that have a 2-train operation, something needs to happen.

FastLane goes down $5 from the single pass price the more you buy. So if for one, its $65 but you buy 2, they're $60 each, 3 for $55 each, until 5 or more, then it's a flat rate of $45. At least that's how last years went. Cedar Point, I believe its 25 rides this year, including Gatekeeper. After buying it, you can use it as many times as you want on any of the FastLane rides for the whole day, no limits, no timed expiration. Prices should reflect on how successful it was last year, but also keep in mind, it could be $5 more on Saturdays if they do that again. These can be purchased ahead of time online, you'll just have to go to the main FastLane booth at the front of the park to redeem them. It's completely worth it from what friends said when they were using them last year. Think they said they waiting about 15 minutes for a majority of them, including Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster, think the longest they had was Maverick, but that's understandable cause of the way the ride is ran.

Alright, I can see that working, gives us a bit more leeway on Sunday on when to leave, meaning we don't have to leave at the crack of dawn! Thanks Elissa for the help!

So, after talking with a few of my friends, I'm starting to plan out a trip for CP, KD, and Hersheypark from us starting out in the West MI area. I do have a couple questions though and figured this would be the place to ask. The big one, is this feasible within a 4 day period, or is it more comfortable to do in a 5-day period to have a day of "relaxation," so to speak. We're probably only going to stay at Cedar Point for only part of the day, say hi to a few people, ride Gatekeeper and a couple others. Probably will leave the Point sometime in the evening and start heading east. Hotels and stuff we'd figure out when it gets closer to the dates. We'll head towards KD, stay there for a day, head up to Hershey, spend a day there, then head home the following day. We're thinking about doing this sometime in July, probably one of the last 2 weeks, would be a Sunday-Wednesday sort of thing cause of schedules. Any hints or tips you guys could give me, whether or not this is even feasible.

I don't think so. I haven't seen a Millennium Flyer built from the ground up, or have worked on one, but I believe they're more closer to the way PTC cars are built, but since they are smaller, trailered cars, they can maneuver the track much more easier than PTCs can due to only having 1 axel per car. The lap bars though are much more superior than PTCs, but not quite as form fitting as Timberliners. There are many factors on why buzz bars have fallen out of fashion, mainly the electrical side of it. If they're going to install a pneumatic system for the coaster, they might as well make it so the lap bars open mechanically via pneumatic pressure plates, than having to install all of the electrical components for electrical contact on the trains. I do agree thought that the PTC lap bar mechanisms are highly complex and have been known to jam or seize after a long period of operation.

According to PTC's specs, they're "2 Seat," meaning the standard 2x2 passenger cars. They call the single-row cars "1 Seat." Even though this looks like it's "polishing a turd," it should at least ride better than those crappy Morgan trains. Considering that PTC has pretty much built a set of new trains every year so far and refurbishing a lot of them for major parks, PTC certainly is getting back in better shape. Also the fact that Six Flags is ordering these new is another thing. They could of done a hack job of putting Rattler and Texas Giant's old trains together to make the 4 trains, but this is better and seems very un-Six Flags, if you know what I mean.

I don't know if this has been brought up yet or is mentioned by the park, looked back a few pages, but it looks like Monstre is going to receive a brand new set of PTC trains! http://philadelphiatoboggancoastersinc.com/projects.php Six Flags La Ronde - Le Monstre - Track 2 12 New 2 Seat Articulating Cars, 2 New Trains Six Flags La Ronde - Le Monstre - Track 1 12 New 2 Seat Articulating Cars, 2 New Trains So they're articulating cars. Has there been any made yet? Also, don't let the 2 seat confuse you with the PTC single row cars they've been trying to market. It's their standard 4-passenger cars.

I don't think the Timberliners on a riders perspective are nothing special, besides being more form fitting and no need for seat belts. It's more the way the chassis are and how it handles the track. On PTC trains, there's no suspension, no shock absorption between the seats and wheels. Basically what's doing the shock absorbing is the material the seat cushion is made out of. The wheels are in locked positions, meaning that they slide around turns, what some enthusiasts call the "PTC shuffle." They have a tendency to be rough on wooden track. Lap bars are alright on them, but they're not made for everybody's shape and form. They're meant to rest on the top of the thigh. Don't get me wrong, they're excellent trains as a majority of wooden coaster around the world use them, but since they're based off of designs that date back to when PTC was formed in 1904, they're not exactly state-of-the-art. On Timberliners, the seats have their own hinged suspension so the vibrations felt on many wooden coasters are brought down a lot. Also the way the chassis turn around the turns with the track, meaning its more closer to the way some steel coasters wheel system works. The lapbars are more like clamps that form to the body's midsection versus PTC's flat bars that don't exactly fit well for those that may have a wider midsection. Essentially, Timberliner trains should provide a much smoother, more comfortable ride and easier on the track and structure. We'll know how well they work when they're put on Hades 360 this year. Wooden Warrior or Twister didn't really show the true capabilities of the Timberliners besides the tighter turns as they're not very big coasters that travel at higher speeds. Here's a good example of what the wheel system looks like for Timberliners. As you can see, each wheel has much more movement and flexibility to navigate the changing wooden track. All of this track work being done on Voyage and Hades 360 makes me think that its needed after running PTCs for all those years. Looking back at some of those pictures from Holi-wood Nights 2010 and seeing Will Koch, kind of makes me sad that he's gone... By the way, noticed that Voyage trains aren't listed on PTC's website for the 2012-2013 offseason refurbs and that La Ronde is getting new trains for Le Monstre. Wait, what?

I think what you mentioned for Colossus is all for refurbishment, more closer to coming back from refurbishment. The black train could of just been painted for its refurbishment, hence why it didn't have a logo and it looks new. I think at this point, purchasing anything new would be for nothing if this coaster is indeed next on the list for the I-Box track replacement. This one train operations is sounding terrible... I understand that its the "off season" and that they think that not many people are going to the park, but man, they could at least start putting more trains in operation since its getting closer to March, especially if they're all ready to go.

I wouldn't mind if an observation tower of some sort was installed again, but with newer features. I don't know if they would though, because of Space Spiral's low ridership and I thought I heard that Windseeker was a suitable replacement, even though no cameras are permitted on it. Also why they didn't do anything to Space Spiral besides blow it up, is because the foundation goes ridiculously deep and the age of it. Was impractical to do anything besides what happened to it. It'll forever be there in a sense cause of the foundation. They only scraped about 6ft off of it when they were prepping it for Gatekeeper, but a majority of it is still in the ground. Intamin is still making them though, with the new 500ft tall one being installed at the Texas State Fair. Tallest ride again in the park is an observation tower, anyone?

Which one? Adventure Lake, the one around the train station, the one behind Grand Rapids, or the two in the back? Unfortunately, if something is to be built into the lake, it'll also have to have a spot for the water to take its place. That pond with the island in it is actually the spot where they had to get the fill for Thunderhawk. All the lake there is mainly for drainage and from keeping the place from flooding. Where I think a Mega-Lite would go is either behind Wolverine Wildcat or east of Grand Rapids (the Intamin rapids ride, not the city.) The park needs to move east as that's where the property is. Pretty much this whole shot here is what Cedar Fair owns, also own the lot across the street, not pictured.

Personally, I prefer classic layouts like the out and back. Something about hill after hill is what makes a roller coaster, well, look like a roller coaster. About 1/2 a mile one way, and about 1/2 a mile back! Timbers is by far my favorite, if you haven't noticed. Unfortunately when Michigan's Adventure was being developed during the 60's as Deer Park, they cleared all of the trees off of a majority of the property to make a deer preserve so Timbers is built into a middle of a field, but could you imagine if it was heavily forested like the surrounding area? Would have made quite an awesome ride! Although don't get me wrong, the layouts of GCI's coasters are a feat onto themselves! I don't think people 50 years ago could imagine wooden coasters bending and turning that way without it being a deathtrap!