Lareson
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Posts posted by Lareson
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Yeah, was hoping they'd paint the 90's cream colored slides this year, but looks like that's not happening yet. Hopefully it's coming with the next water park expansion.
The training building has been a much needed addition for the park. There's never been a dedicated orientation/training spot for the park as they've been held them in the catering area or in Family Grill in either rain or shine. While I don't see the HR building or the maintenance shop moving anytime soon, I can see them expanding into the current employee lot for a future water park expansion in the next couple years. Beach Party was added in 2011 and the previous water park addition before that was Funnel of Fear in 2005, so there is potential for a water park expansion next year, but I'm not really counting on it considering everything has been pointing towards a new dry ride for 2016.
I've also heard rumblings that the second train for Timbertown Railway might finally be making its debut this year. Even though the park has owned it since 2011, there's been some issues with it that's been preventing it from being put into operation, but hopefully this is finally the year. Having the 2nd train added would reduce the wait time by half and double the capacity. I know it's been needed for busy days as it can be a 1 to 2 train wait and the train comes around every 10-15 minutes, so that's a long time to wait for a train ride.
The whole issue on why the path behind Wildcat hasn't been converted to a midway is because it would basically defeat the purpose of the train and it'd require a ton of work to make it safe for guests. There would be a lot of fencing and concrete work to be done and the garbage compactor behind Wildcat Grill would have to be moved as well. I know some people would say, "why don't they use blacktop instead of concrete to save money," but that's something the park hasn't used for their midways since the early 70's. Going back to Rodger Jourden and when he owned the park, they would of rather spent the extra cost to have concrete poured than to have hot blacktop on their midways to make it more comfortable for guests. Even to this day, there's not a single spot in the park where guests walk that it's blacktop, it's all concrete. I mean heck, blacktop has been used up until recently at a lot of major parks and some parks haven't even thought about replacing it until recently.
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Im heading down to Busch Gardens next weekend to surprise my Band Students on their trip. Sunday Im planing on being by myself on the drive home, so clearly that means I must stop at Kings Dominion and get my Cedar Fair Platinum Pass processed, and get some rides in!! I have never been to the park before, are there single rider lines?
Nope, there are no single rider lines anymore if KD had any rides that had them. The rides that used to have them in the chain were converted to FastLane.
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Yeah, I'm hoping there's a plan to add a 2nd train to Wildcat in the near future. The layout is long enough to run 2 trains, just the fact it doesn't have a transfer track or a modern control system, so it'll be a rather expensive install since a whole brand new system has to be installed to setup a true blocking system (IOE, are you up for it? ) some sort of transfer track made for it, and then a 2nd train can be purchased.
A little history on Wolverine Wildcat: Even though it was built in 1988, it was installed with a lever controlled skid brake system since it was built on a rather tight budget. The train was the same configuration: 4 - 3-row PTC cars, but had single-position buzz bars. There was also no queue gates, as much of the coasters until the mid 2000's didn't have them.
It wasn't up until the early 2000's when the park spent money on bringing some sort of electronic control system to the coaster. The skid brakes were replaced by safer fin brakes and the coaster received a brand new train with individual ratcheting lap bars. A primitive PLC was also installed, but the ride operators still had to manually stop the train, only basic switch sensors were installed when the secondary dispatch panel was installed sometime later.
Wasn't until a couple years ago when the variable frequency drive was installed for the lift chain that a modern PLC was installed and the coaster saw its first contactless proxies installed to know when the lift chain needs to go to full speed and when it needs to go back to a slower speed. It's still stopped manually by the operators.
Fun bit of trivia: Knoebels bought the first car of the old Wildcat train and installed it on top of a golf cart chassis so they can drive it around. You can see what it looks like in a picture here. Kind of funny when you think about it since Wolverine Wildcat was based on Phoenix.
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I'm surprised that they're planning on adding dark rides to all of the parks and with each their own theme to the ride. Means that they won't be cookie cutter across the chain. Now that we know there's not a dark ride planned for any of the parks in 2016, must mean there's some other big plans for that cost instead.
I'm not expecting a dark ride here until at least 2019 or 2020. I think starting in 2017 they might add 1 to 3 per year, but most parks (this one included) will have to build new structures. I think the reason why they're taking next year off is to start planning the theming and stories for the other 9 parks. Coming up with 9 original stories and themes can take a while, since they also have to try and match it to local lore or area theming. Guardian and Voyage were fairly easy since they had a mountain to start with for Guardian and Voyage was already in the Boardwalk section with a pre-existing building, but the other parks don't have something similar to those ready to throw in a dark ride without some sort of theme. Cedar Point might be one of the first, but even then, it's not 100% sure if they're going to use the old Pirate ride building or not.
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If it was taken at the beginning of this year, sure, but since those are from last year for the removal of Skyrider, I'd still have to say no since that was used to close off an area that was previously open. If there's a fence around Skyrider's former area with that sign when the park opens back up for the season, then I'd maybe say it's a possibility.
Not trying to be negative, but you guys are jumping the gun way too much. Yes, I know the chain is planning on spending around $120mil next year (and for years to come) but from what we've been hearing about other parks getting coasters with much more solid leads and nothing from Canada's Wonderland besides the removal of a coaster they ended up selling. It's not that that I don't believe there's a coaster coming, but the fact that you guys are wishing for this massive air-based coaster called "Ziz" is not lining up with the budget for next year. If anything, I don't see it arriving until at least 2017.
Gotta look at the bigger picture and realize Wonderland is only 1 out of the 11 parks in the chain. Gotta factor in the other 10.
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correction if you look closely you'll notice the bulldozed out to the Vortex island meaning they probably need some trucks to reach there. You'll also notice the construction trailer parked on the walkway and men in suits or jackets on the construction site. You also see a small cement mixer out towards the pond.
And in splash works you see a new entrance being constructed circled in blue.
Boy, you people are seeing things. I can easily explain all of those:
- What you're seeing as a cement mixer, is actually a backhoe, can see it move earlier in the video.
- That "new" path you think they bulldozed into the pond, has actually been there for a long time. The pond is partially drained right now because of the work removing the remaining Skyrider footers that were right on the edge of the pond. It just looks that way with the dead grass and low water.
- That so called "new entrance" that's leading into Splashworks is actually for the construction vehicles to bring in the slide pieces. That will more than likely be gone by opening day.
- Also the slide construction is the reason why that trailer is there.
- And the men in suits or jackets, not sure what you're seeing there since they do not move at all.
- That cement pad near the construction entrance is more than likely for a new food stand or something to that nature.
All I see on that clearing is a bulldozer, a backhoe working on the edge of the pond, and some concrete rubble from the footers. The construction trailer and that "entrance" is all for building the new slide complex. Nothing else is being done to that area and this coaster you guys think is going to go there next year is not happening from what I'm seeing.
Unless I see a sign like the one pictured below, then I'm gonna say, the former Skyrider site is going to be staying empty.
As of now, don't jump the gun and assume Wonderland is going to be receiving a major coaster next year and it's going to go in that exact spot. Anything that has been said about a coaster coming here has all been assumptions, not even rumors.
- What you're seeing as a cement mixer, is actually a backhoe, can see it move earlier in the video.
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How can anyone actually want to ride Shivering Timbers? It's one of the roughest, most uncomfortable coasters I have ever been on. Then again, pretty much every coaster at MiA causes substantial pain.
What era have you visited the park? GCI did an amazing job with Timbers last year and even before then, it was still running very well for being the largest coaster CCI ever created, since most of their coasters have not aged very well. And I used to ride it pretty much daily. I'm looking forward to riding it this year now since the helix is being re-tracked again. Wolverine Wildcat ran probably the best it did last year in a very long time, thanks to a massive overhaul on the train by PTCI. When that coaster gets hauling, there are some nice pops of airtime on that. And having rode Thunderhawk 40 some odd times for Coasting For Kids in 2013, I can say that it's certainly the smoothest SLC I've been on.
The park has taken excellent care of their coasters. For being the smallest park in the chain, their coasters and rides are kept up as much as the bigger parks and are really reliable.
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But yes to the person that was asking, you can probably do everything that you want to do in a few hours. I have no idea how this summer will be since last year was pretty quiet due to crappy weather, but in general, between 1p to 5p, everyone heads into the water park so the ride side can empty out. Head for Thunderhawk first as everyone rides the front 4 coasters (Mad Mouse, Wildcat, Timbers, and Corkscrew) first since Thunderhawk is way in the back, takes a while for people to trickle back there. You can then hop on the train to take you over to the Timbers area and then work your way back towards Corkscrew and Mad Mouse. Those two will have the longest line right at open, but within an hour, they usually trickle down to a smaller wait time.
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New Dodgem cars anyone?
They're finally replacing the old ones from Cedar Point! These new ones are from Preston & Barbieri and look very nice! They're the same company that provided Quantum of the Seas with their bumper cars and also the ones Liseberg bought in 2010. I'm not surprised at all that they have lap bars with the seat belt, but anything's an improvement over those old Soli cars. They were in rough shape. Do wonder if they're planning on lowering the height requirement from the 48" requirement it was for the old cars, or keeping it the same.
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Looks to be just general site clearing. Getting rid of the remaining footers and grading the ground after they took out Skyrider. Also looks like they're rebuilding the edge of the pond that Vortex goes over. Personally, just looks like nothing. Now if they were starting to take out trees near White Water Canyon or digging lots of holes in patterns, then MAYBE I'd say something could be coming, but as of now, just looks like they're prepping the ground for grass.
I see that the new slides are not even close to being constructed with very little fiber glass in place. I know that this was shot 2 weeks ago, but that's still very little vertical construction for being in April.
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Nope, won't ever happen. The B&M trains on Steel Dragon 2000 have a height limit cap of 6' 1" due to the higher seating those trains have compared to the previous Morgan trains, which at 6' 1" would pretty much prevent a large chunk of the US male population from riding it. Has to make the proper clearance, hence the rather low height limit. Those B&M trains were a one-off and we'll more than likely never see B&M do another retrofit like that again. The only reason why those Morgan trains were replaced is that they were mechanically insufficient to meet Japan's stricter rules on their coasters. This is after all one of the coasters that made Japan increase their mechanical requirements on their coasters.
The only time we'll ever see new trains ordered for any of Cedar Fair's coasters is if they plan on doing something like Rougarou and it'll drastically improve the comfort of the ride, or if something catastrophic were to happen, but because Chance is still providing parts for the Morgan rides and coasters, the chance of new trains getting installed "just because" is extremely low. It's the same thing with the Arrow coasters as well. As long as S&S is still making parts for them, they're also not going anywhere anytime soon, unless it can drastically improve the ride experience like what's happening with Rougarou.
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I'm glad to see they went with the face-to-face seating option!
The seats are back-to-back.
No... The seats on each car are facing each other. Its the opposite of Green Lantern.
Rendering from Waves Design and you can see, the seats face each other.
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Just curious, where did you hear that 2016 will be a major year for Michigan's Adventure?
The GM herself said at the end of last year that there was "major capital to be announced" but yet nothing was announced. The rumor Screamscape said about a Hyper-GTX coming (which I do have to say, some MiAd rumors on Screamscape have been correct before in the past) is an excellent lead and besides the rumors about Cedar Point's dive coaster, no other park in the chain has been hinting towards adding a coaster. Also the park's 60th anniversary is next year, which also has been hinting towards being a major capital year.
I'd also like to mention, the rumors about a coaster coming to Canada's Wonderland for 2016 has had zero leads so far, only speculation. By now we would of had some sort of lead if a major coaster would be coming. We've known about Banshee, Fury, and Gatekeeper months, even years, before the parks stated that a coaster was coming.
Gatekeeper's rumors going back to late 2011: http://web.archive.org/web/20120205173139/http://www.screamscape.com/html/cedar_point.htm
Banshee had rumblings going back to early 2013: http://web.archive.org/web/20130411010821/http://screamscape.com/html/kings_island.htm
Fury was all but confirmed back in late 2013: http://web.archive.org/web/20131016123438/http://screamscape.com/html/carowinds.htm
Leviathan was starting prep work around this time in 2011, so we'd have to see if this so called coaster is coming when the park opens.
http://web.archive.org/web/20110702003259/http://www.screamscape.com/html/canada_s_wonderland.htm
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I did get word that they are planning on adding something to the park this year, although it's more of a benefit to the people that work at the park than the public. Heard that they're planning on adding a new training facility on the new chunk of property they bought last year. Unsure how big it's going to be but considering that the chunk of property is about 10 acres, I'm sure it's not going to be a tiny building. Also heard that a new employee lot will also be part of it as well.
I think this is a huge expansion for the park as training and orientations were always being taught in one of the pavilions, either at Mary Lynn's or Family Grill. If a new employee lot is going to be part of it, then I can see them to start planning the next water park expansion as well to use up some of the lot.
Yeah, it's sounding like there are some big plans coming for the park in the next 5 years, starting next year with the park's 60th anniversary and the major investment they have attached to that.
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Timbers getting a MCBR would ruin that amazing ride
Anyways, I pasted Lighting Run into MIA
There won't ever be a MCBR there unless the park decides to add a 3rd train to Timbers. Then it'll have to be added to ensure there's enough safety blocks. CCI did this on several of their bigger coasters if the park requested it. Of course until the park doubles in size and Timbers has a constant 1-hour line, a 3rd train thus the MCBR won't be added.
That Lightning Run is definitely not to scale. If it was double the size, then sure it'll be that big, but that scale is way off. This is more how it'll look if they were to get a Lightning Run clone. (let's hope it's not a clone, more of an original layout.)
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Is Demon a coaster that's up for a replacement, or is it hear to stay. If not replaced, could they update the ride so it's more comfortable because I don't remember Viper's cars being as tight an cramped as Demon's.
It's one of the older Arrow coasters in the chain (and also is still running original trains, SF Great Amerca's Demon's trains are from Shockwave) but all of the Arrow loopers are under observation because they're getting up there in age and a lot of them are unsure how much much longer the tracks will still hold together and stay safe. I'm not saying they're going to get to the point where the track will break, but if it gets to the point where the non-destructive testing reveals that the track is in bad shape, the coaster may not last past another season.
But since there was track work on it in 1980 when it went from Turn of the Century to Demon, that could help it last longer. It's mainly the big Arrow loopers that they're really concerned about, but the smaller ones are also being kept an eye on as well.
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I think I've once been told in one station in Kings Dominion that I couldn't photograph how the operators do their jobs...
Yeah...I'm pretty sure that's not actually a thing.
In fact, I know it's not, because that's how Cedar Fair and IROC perform their audits.
Ha, yeah, can also say that's not true at all. Either that ride op didn't want to have their picture taken or took the "picture taking is prohibited while on the ride" to include standing on the platform as being "on the ride." I can imagine what would of happened to that op if that person were from iROC if they told them they couldn't film them doing their job.
You're pretty free to take pictures as much as you want at any of the Cedar Fair parks, as long as they're in terms of the rules, i.e. not on rides or in restricted areas.
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^^ GASM was getting old and slowly loading its popularity, not to mention that since arrow went out of business, they couldn't get replacement parts for it. As for why they replaced it with GL, I have no idea.
S&S and to a smaller extent Vekoma still make quite a few parts for the Arrow rides. We will see quite a few of their coasters still in operation for at least another decade, if not longer for some of the newer coasters. The 80's built log flumes on the other hand...
Gotta remember, majority of Arrow's coasters had their steel formed and built right at the site. They never had it built in a factory until the early 90's. There are quite a few hidden defects in the track that can severely impact the longevity of the track because of this process and why some of the larger Arrow coasters will not make it past the 40 year mark without some heavy track work. The ones that are making it past 40 years have had excellent care and the track taken care of. I'd like to mention that the old Knott's Corkscrew that's now at Silverwood does turn 40 years this year, which is rather impressive for being the first coaster to feature 2 modern inversions.
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(Make the parking lot gravel not cement) Wouldn't it be cheaper to use gravel instead of cement?
The parking lot is asphalt, not cement...
About the WindSeekers, majority of the problems that the 1st generation had are now gone. Mondial has worked with the chain on fixing quite a few of the major issues. I'd like to point out, not a single one of them has had to use the evac baskets since the parks received them. The one installed at Adventureland is essentially a 2nd generation and as far as I'm aware, has not produced a major issue. If Adventureland still doubted Mondial on whether or not another 4 hour stall at the top of the tower was going to happen again, they wouldn't of spent the money installing one.
If other parks in the chain installed one such as Vallyefair or Michigan's Adventure, I'd be alright with that. Sure some of you seem to think they're worthless rides, but they've worked out well at their parks and at least the 64-seat models are huge capacity eaters, which most flat rides can barely handle 1/2 of that number. I certainly enjoy them not only for the relaxing ride, but for the views as well. And some people do find it terrifying to be nearly 300ft up high in the air with your feet dangling and only a lap bar holding you in. And not to mention the lighting packages that have been installed on them, one of the best flat rides I've been on at night.
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Had a friend drive by the park today as he was heading to family's house for Easter and he told me that the skyline is unchanged, so no Slingshot or anything like that. Also the arcade building is still standing from what he could see and and really nothing else has changed visibly outside of the park.
He did say though that the helix on Shivering Timbers is being re-tracked again. It was re-tracked back in 2013, but I heard that it was done horribly. I do wonder if GCI will be working on Timbers again as they did an awesome job with the turnaround last year, even tweaking the exit banking coming out of the planned MCBR. I was kind of surprised that the helix was being re-tracked instead of something else on the course (that bump coming out of the trick track, oy...) but I'm also kind of not surprised since the helix was done poorly.
Also the lot next door that the park bought, nothing has been done there besides the old abandoned house being torn down last year. I do wonder what they're planning on doing there as it's a rather large chunk of land at 10 acres.
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Something doesn't add up here. I remember using FL to ride Flight of Fear back in 2012. Did they take it off and then add it again?
They basically change the rides a lot.
I'm not sure if they had FL+ in 2012. Around that time, everything was on fast lane. Then, they realized they could make more money if they added a second band. One that takes two away from the regular FL, and adds it to FL+. Up charging you $20, just for two more roller coasters. This is when Fastlane Plus was born.
FastLane Plus was added in 2013, not only to promote people to upgrade to the Plus for the new attractions, but also to add FastLane to rides that have poorer capacity where the lower daily count of FastLane Plus won't add too much of a burden to the normal lines.
Kings Island was the test park for FastLane in 2011 and the FL rides back then were ones where it was fairly easy to add FastLane to and FL also had a limited time period during the day. Of course when FastLane was rolled out to the parks in 2012, it became an all-day feature and several rides received newly built FL entrances. What other parks have started to do with FastLane Plus is to not only include one or two exclusive rides, but also to add several water park attractions as well.
FastLane is still one of my favorite "cut the line" systems. No time limits, no time or ride restrictions, no expensive device to carry around, no reservations, just buy the wrist bands and get into the FastLane line waiting only a fraction of the normal wait time to ride.
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Anyone think it's a good idea to relocate mad mouse some were else in the park to widen the walk ways to make more room for traffic in that corner I think that corner is just going to be to tight for crowds on a hot busy Saturday weekend crowd imagine single line traffic walking through that area of the park.
Sure sounds good in theory, but it's not happening anytime soon. Mad Mouse is getting a brand new control system with a new PLC this year from IOE, so if they were planning on moving it, it would of been done before they're installing a new system. No sense in spending all that money to install a brand new PLC with a lot of re-wiring, only to re-wire it again to move it.
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Does anyone know of a map or article that shows where all the FL lines enter or converge on the regular line?
For the rides that have different FastLane entrances than the main entrance, they do have signs pointing in the direction where they're located. The list above is pretty accurate, but yeah, there's signs at the entrance of the rides pointing where they're at.
The Google Maps Street View is actually a perfect way to learn where they're at. I have the link here starting right at the Firehawk entrance, which is where the FastLane Plus entrance is located. The Street View was taken in 2011, but it should at least give a general idea on where they're all at, since a majority of the FastLane rides are the same from then.
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Track and bolt inspection on Wild Thing more than likely. I see the man basket that's on the back of the truck in front of the crane, so that is the most probable answer.
And if Wild Thing were to get a lighting package, it'll be all installed on the ground, no need for a crane.
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I believe it has to do with the airspace and the proximity to Lake Michigan. I'm not 100% sure, but I think it has to do with the Coast Guard choppers. I usually seen them fly over the park a couple times a month. The park is only about 7 miles away from the Lake MI shoreline so that might have something to do with it. The park is too far away from the Muskegon County Airport so I don't think it has anything to do with that.
Or it might have something to do with ancient township rulings that probably have something to keep the "skyline of Lake Michigan pure." For instance, the huge 650ft tall stack at the B.C. Cobb Consumers Energy Plant in Muskegon, can be seen from all of the rides that go above the tree lines. It's the tallest structure in the area and can be seen for miles. That's more than likely the reason so that those "dirty plants" back then wouldn't be built in that area.
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^ Awesome picture, looks like they're just about set for opening!
Heh, yeah, those chassis will be ready as soon as they're shipped to the park. That's taken from PTC's workshop and you can see other trains they're working on this winter as well. Zippin Pippin right behind Legend's, Mean Streak's red and yellow cars in the background, and what I'm assuming are Raven's cars peeking out behind Zippin Pippin's.
Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
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The trains themselves, except for the lead cars (one went to the roller coaster museum, one CP will use for HalloWeekends, not sure about #3) were actually scrapped. Generic B&M parts were kept, but everything else metal was sent to the scrap yard. So if anything, there really isn't any spare parts that could be sent out to other parks/rides.