Lareson

What are you talking about? Mgea-lites cost around 7 million euros, or around 8-9 million dollars. The whole point of them are to be affordable, and available for all parks. The price that's been released out of the 4 was Kawasemi at Tobu Zoo Park. That one was around $14mil in 2008 pricing. Now of course the price is going to be cheaper in Europe because, well, Intamin is located right in Switzerland, and can ship directly from the factory fairly cheap. More than likely the cost of it to be installed, shipped, and built over here in the US would be right around $12-$14mil depending on location, like Kawasemi. This is on the cheaper end of Intamin's larger coasters, but isn't nowhere near as affordable as $9mil for a steel coaster this size. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that Intamin built all of their coasters over in Europe then shipped them over here, hence why their coasters cost a bit more than B&M who built a majority of theirs here in Ohio.

And see, this is where my mind gets split. The enthusiast in me would love to have one built there, but yet the GP thoughts are "why so short?" The one thing though that gets me worried is the fact that Intamin mentions OTSR as an option. I guess I'm saying there's higher priorities, but as the closest Mega-Lite to me is 7 time zones away in Europe, the chance of me riding one is slim to none, so I have no idea how the ride is besides what's written down by the manufacturer and experiences by others. But at the end of it all, yes, I'll gladly have them install a Mega-Lite if the opportunity comes up!

Ah, this infamous Intamin model, only 4 of them in the world and none in the US. I don't think I'd want one at Michigan's Adventure and if one were to be installed, I'd be very grateful that it would be the first new coaster built for the park since 1999, but its not quite big enough. I mean if one of these were to be installed, Shivering Timbers would still be the largest coaster in the park. Not an issue, as of right now, but the tallest ride in the park needs to be something other than the Skycoaster there, which is 183ft tall. There have been plans drawn up for years for a 215ft tall hypercoaster to be installed, but its been put on the back burner since Cedar Fair took over and Morgan going into bankruptcy around that same time. I know that Chance has been itching to build another coaster under their name so this could be the opportunity for them to get started back up for parks that are looking for something that isn't going to cost major change compared to the other 2. Now there are a couple other parks I can see getting a Mega-Lite, like Holiday World, where they have yet to even receive a major steel coaster and this would be perfect for them.

Actuall the patent excludes the kind of "brakes" that are on those 2 coasters. What it's talking about are the ones seen on Diamondback. It's like driving a wedge in the water and its angled so that the water shoots up versus a nozzle directing it. (At least that's what I think are on there, no clear picture of it so hard to tell.) Diamondback's spashdown is more closer to a rooster tail. This is more of a canon.

Yep. I actually think the 6 that RCDB lists as "tire propelled launch" have some sort of cover, whether its themed in or just a simple canopy. Once those tires get wet, that train isn't going anywhere. That B&M loading style that they patented I think has 1 flaw: clearance. Notice how close the riders are in fig 4 and if they rotate to the ride position, if a person sticks their hand out while its doing that, they're going to be able to touch it. I see that its tilted outward in the overhead view, but I don't know if that's enough. It could be why we haven't ever seen it, even if it was filed back in 2001 and published in 2008. As I'm looking at the trains we have today and the patent, it's almost like they wanted to do this, as there are very similar features between the two, but well, ended up resorting to the folding seats and reconfiguring the restraints. This patented train design would of resulted in a lot less hardware though on train. I almost wished they went with this design. Side note: you'll see me a lot in this thread as dissecting the way coasters work and run is a little hobby of mine.

Isn't tire launched part of todays launch systems because i'm pretty sure galaxy express 999 has a curved launch using tires and hydraulics. Hm... I kind of forgot about tire launch systems. I did though noticed something about those systems. Seems like they have a limited speed threshold that seem to top out at around 50mph. Probably something that has to do with the friction of the rubber on the tires and whatever material that the wheels are against. The new Intamin coaster Juvelen at Djurs Sommerland seems to be the fastest at about 52mph. Yes, even faster than the Incredible Hulk which that launch is about 40mph. The major downside to these systems is that once there's any loss of friction (rain for instance) it basically becomes useless. One of the reasons why many coaters close in the rain cause the drive wheels that push trains forward can't cause of the tire slipping. I can see Vekoma's system being used in any condition, no matter the situation and at whatever speed they want as its pushing the train or car versus pulling it. Now that I think about it, a majority, if not all of the launch systems pull the trains. Whether or not this will see the light of day, will be up to Vekoma.

A curved launch, huh. That's what I kind of got out of it when I read it, but having an arm push the train seems very interesting and solves that problem since all of today's launch systems don't work on curved track. Just seems like a mechanical nightmare, but at least Vekoma has found a way to do a launched coasters in a smaller footprint.

While digging around the patent database, I stumbled across a couple by Vekoma, filed a few years ago, but just published last year. http://www.google.com/patents/EP2178610B1?cl=en&dq=vekoma&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RNURUcq1JOa3ywH--YHwCg&ved=0CE0Q6AEwBw Don't understand what's going on here... Track config Suppose to be the wheel system for the track? Also found this one, which looks like it combines 3 of their chassis: a Motobike, SLC, and Flying. http://www.google.com/patents/EP2175951B1?cl=en&dq=vekoma&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RNURUcq1JOa3ywH--YHwCg&ved=0CFMQ6AEwCQ Flying Motorbike? It's pretty much turning their motobike concept inverted. Brake assembly similar to their flying trains, and the inverted attachments similar to the SLC trains. Vekoma certainly has quite a few patents on coasters and rides that have yet to see the light of day. Like this one: http://www.google.com/patents?id=ZJrnAQAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4#v=onepage&q&f=false

Looking like it's the same Arrow boasts used on Snake River Falls. Cedar Point could buy the parts for it, considering I don't know how many of those Arrow shoot-the-chutes exist. I know that the remaining Arrow flumes could very well be on the way out in the coming years as we've seen a few removed just this past couple years due to the lack of parts, and well, after 30+ years, the fiberglass boats usually start failing and the ride becomes a maintenance nightmare. Oddly, the flumes that were built during the 70's are hold up much better than the ones built during the 80's.

As far as I'm aware, there are no trims on Renegade. Actually, now that I think about it, does any of GCI's coasters have trims? I always thought they designed them so well that there would never be a need for them. My underrated coaster would be Wolverine Wildcat. For the first custom coaster built under the Dinn-Summers partnership, it runs quite well and has held up the 25 years its been around. I don't know what changed the past couple years, but it was running faster than I've ever seen it. Only downside I see of it is that it only has 1 train so the line can get very long. Also one thing about it many people don't know, it's a manual stop, meaning that the operator has to stop the train via buttons on the control panel, no computer system stopping it here!

Knott's is kind of in line for 2015 with the current 5-year plan as I thought they said the major parks were going to rotate with what the headline attraction for the company is going to be for that year. What that could be is anyone's guess but it's going to be on the high-side of investment. Now a hyper coaster I can see happening. Something similar to Skyrush would be nice, small footprint but packs a big punch. Even if the park doesn't have a clearing for it, it can go over stuff. Hersheypark for example, they managed to fit Skyrush in right next to their oldest wooden coaster without taking that down. Google Maps actually has an updated view with Skyrush installed. Quite interesting how it's kind of wedged in there.

I believe there's a change to a 110 degree turn after the roll if I'm not mistaken. It's in the press release, but I don't know if that's actually part of the original coaster or not. The track is going to be built completely traditional, meaning the whole track is wood, minus the strips of track steel that the wheels ride along on. Difference with toppler track is that it replaces the top layers of wood with steel rail. I'm disappointed that this is still only going to run 1 train. Was hoping maybe a 2nd one would of been added with the change to Timberliners. Maybe I'll get a chance to head over there this year.

They're for sure not from ProSlide as they're not listed on the website's installation map. Believe that they're all custom made by WWW.

No, there hasn't been any decent renderings of what the Gatekeeper entrance and the surrounding area is going to look like. There hasn't even been a closer look at what the station is going to look like. What I've been hearing is that the whole concessions there will be receiving a face lift. If the front entrance is an indication, I think we may see something similar done over by Gatekeeper.

Much better layout with the ticket booths set off to the side. Prefer it that way than having it being a 2-layer thing like it was previously. The new rendering of the front entrance looks very modern, the CP sign matching the Causeway signs and making the entrance much more open than before. Excited to step through these gates this summer!

Mine might change now from Shivering Timbers to Outlaw Run's opening day. Hoping that I get to go!

That'll go in line with the resort upgrades as well. Heck gotta push that $60mil resort upgrades somewhere. Gives more reason for multi-night stays if the place you're staying is similar to what you're getting at a 5-star hotel. Very happy that they're actually becoming a full resort destination versus being an amusement park with generic hotels on site that may or may not have seen an update in the past 20 years.

Found out about this on Screamscape, but here's the original article: http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20130128/NEWS01/301280087/Ed-Hart-check-out-Kentucky-Kingdom?nclick_check=1 Nice to see Cedar Fair veteran John Shanrock join the Kentucky Kingdom group as the GM. Very excited that this park is getting very close to opening back up!

Considering that both parks operated for years without too much guest interference, I think it'll be fine when this opens up. I know a lot of the locals are looking forward to this park running once again. Depending on what Hart has in store for it, the park could become very successful once again.

I'm not seeing anything special with the section of The Smiler that has been blocked out. Or it's hidden behind the trees there in that structure, which it's hard to make out here. John Wardley, now that's a name I haven't heard of in a while, but dang, sad to hear that this will be his last project and is retiring.

Yeah, Colleen seems to be aiming to become the next Tony. I'm glad she's more outgoing and giving the little info like the temps on the concrete. Surprised no one said anything about that. It's these little weird touches that I miss from years ago.

You're not the only tall person that felt like that. I'm 6' 3" and when I got off of Mantis, my legs felt way weird. Had to sit down for a bit cause it felt like I was going to fall over. I haven't rode any other standup besides Iron Wolf (think my ears had a majority of the pain vs my legs) so I don't know if it's just the way Mantis is laid out, or all of the taller standups do that.

I noticed that the water cannons on the swan boat pond were actually working! I haven't seen those work very often since opening in 2007. Also seeing how much Millennium Force looks better this year with the paint job. Didn't realize how many rust spots there were looking at your pictures! Great pictures and trip report! A lot of your pictures are great even though some are overexposed. Overexposure at least you can mainly fix, it's the underexposure shots that you really can't do anything with. I'm hoping that I can go back down to Cedar Point sometime this year for Gatekeeper and testing out my new camera. I still haven't testing it at park yet as the times I was at one, I was working or the weather was crap.

I think of Windseeker as a nice break ride from coaster riding. Never had to wait any longer than 20 minutes to get on, plus it offers some great views of the parks they're at. Only been on the Kings Island and Cedar Point ones, but I like them. A StarFlyer on the other hand... If it goes any higher than 150ft, I'm not riding it! Those seats just kind of freak me out.

Was longer than 2 hours, it was more like 4. Something about the safety system triggering an e-stop at the top and it took them that long to get it back going and bring the gondola down. It made national news as this was the 2nd time it happened at Knott's. Also the gondola is being lowered from the top, it takes something like it take a 1/2 an hour to get it down. so I believe that was one issue they were going to fix as well. I've heard the Cedar Point WindSeeker was doing some tests not that long ago, but I'm assuming the Knott's one will be the 1st to be back up and running. Since Cedar Fair spent $30mil on all of them, I'm assuming that they'll get them up and running vs taking them out.