Snovi

The boat stuff and the #ItllNeverOpen crap that was in the Dollywood thread this past year were enough to make one want to delete their TPR account, set their computer ablaze, and run away to a mental institution.

And let's be honest... A lot of the clues they've been dropping have been pretty blatant. I think if anything it's helped fuel and focus the speculation leading up to the official announcement. By doing so, they're creating one narrative for people to engage with by following the (pretty obvious) clues. This allows them to control the dialogue and messaging that happens even when they have not made an official announcement. We all know Tony is a marketing genius, and this just feeds into that fact

You are correct.

In other words, if Cedar Point is to do anything with Mean Streak, would they rather have a mediocre wooden coaster with higher than normal maintenance costs, or a world class steel coaster with relatively minimal maintenance costs? I think we all know the answer to that question.

The wood shown in that photo is not of a high enough grade to be used for a wooden coaster.

I think that's the beauty of what ThrillCorp is on about. They're not trying to become an amusement destination that requires the time commitment of a full day (or even multiple days) to enjoy. They're trying to target retail developments in populated areas that can become a fun destination for locals to spend an afternoon or even just a few hours for some quick thrills while out and about around town. From their site:

To quote Robb from his comment on the TPR YouTube channel: Orlando Skyplex / SkyScraper is already fully funded. The investment in ThrillCorp is for other Polercoaster/SkySpire installations that they will own and operate. ThrillCorp are using the Orlando POV animation as an example.

You are correct.

Is anyone else familiar with the reliability of other dive coasters? It seems that Valravn has been having an inordinate amount of downtime for a B&M.

Very pretty, but kind of a bummer Upstop chose 4k over 60fps. Even with great internet, it's damn near impossible to watch any 4k content from start to finish without buffering. Very appreciative that we finally have a legit POV though

And to further that point, Cedar Point continues and will always be the top dog in Cedar Fair's portfolio... both from a capital expenditure and income standpoint. Yes, Kings Island might have the higher attendance, but the true metric Cedar Fair bases their investments on is per cap revenue; of which Cedar Point brings in substantially more revenue per guest compared to any other park in the chain. Of Cedar Fair's 11 parks, Cedar Point alone contributes to 25% of Cedar Fair's annual earnings.

Cedar Point is experienced enough to know that even with a comprehensive reprofiling of the ride, along with new track being laid, that this alone is not enough to cure the core issue with Mean Streak. With a GCI makeover you will get maybe one good season out of it, but in the end you still have a ride that will tear itself apart due to its size. It's simply the reality with large wooden coasters and their dynamics. Maintaining large, 150+ foot wooden coasters that provide a "positive" rider experience on a regular basis is extremely costly and labor intensive. If Mean Streak is in fact getting a "refurbishment" there are three primary goals Cedar Point is almost certainly looking to accomplish if they're going to be making this type of investment: 1) Drastically reduced annual maintenance costs 2) Increase overall attendance 3) Increased and sustained ridership. There are no viable options that will accomplish all three of those for a multiple seasons besides an RMC makeover.

While Cedar Point might be 3rd for attendance, the true metric of significance for Cedar Fair is a park's per capita revenue. With Cedar Point's onsite hotels, multi-day average visits, and the fact that they still garner a third highest attendance with the shortest season in the chain, I'd assume Cedar Point's per capita revenue is significantly higher than other parks in Cedar Fair's portfolio. This metric alone would justify giving Cedar Point top spot for any capital expenditure allocated by Cedar Fair.

If you do not redeem your Fast Lane passes they allow you to redeem them at another time in the season (if the price for the day is higher than you originally paid, you'll have to pay the difference), however I do not know if they will offer an outright refund.

There are two primary ways LSM stators can be cooled: convection (air) and water cooling. Convection cooling can either be natural convection (i.e. no fans, just natural ambient air... think of a fanless computer) or forced convection (i.e. a fan blowing air over the stator's heatsink, just like a fan in a computer). More often then not in launched amusement rides, the stators are cooled via convection. Obviously a fanless or natural convection setup is preferable due to fewer components (and no moving parts), but much greater operating temperature requirements are needed to maintain their efficiency. As for what type of setup Lightning Rod uses, I haven't seen a close enough photo of the launch to make an educated assessment.

Brian and the team at Irvine Ondrey Engineering (who did the controls) have already publicly stated that they have completed their commissioning of the ride, therefore their duties are complete. If there were ongoing issues with the control systems, they would not have been released from the job site (nor would they be publicly stating their job is finished). Considering the issues they had with the launch initially, the reduced "soft opening" ride capacity, and the single train operation, my educated guess is they're still having teething problems with the launch system in the form of overheating. LSM launch systems generate an enormous amount of heat and their power output + efficiency becomes drastically reduced when subject to excessive operating temperatures from insufficient cooling.

Usually a walk on or 1-2 train wait. When I was at the park Saturday and Sunday (had FL+ both days), the standby queue was on average 1.5hrs long and the longest wait we had using FL+ for Valravn was 5 minutes.

It'll be hit or miss in the morning, but as the day warms up you should be fine for most rides besides Dragster. Yesterday the forecast called for 15-20MPH winds and all the rides were operational (besides Maverick) by mid-afternoon (including even Dragster) despite the unusually cold temps.

I noticed that as well... seems that within the past hour or so the holding brake really isn't doing a whole lot of "holding".

Eh, I wouldn't say every year, there have been plenty of years (including last year) where some of their star attractions didn't even begin testing until a few days before opening (or after). On average it's a mixed bag, but the mild winter and the flurry of ride activity the past couple weeks has made it pretty apparent they got a head start on preseason testing this year. That said, I definitely agree that this weekend the weather/wind is going to be the driving factor in terms of "operational reliability". But, that should always be in the forefront of anyone visiting CP considering how temperamental the weather and rides are on the peninsula.

While opening weekend is usually a clusterf*ck, this year it appears that the park is well ahead of the game in terms of preseason testing. In years prior it'd sometimes be days before opening day that some rides even got their trains on the track, let alone began testing. Whereas this year the park has been a flurry of nonstop testing on all their major attractions the past 2+ weeks. Fingers crossed that this head start on shaking out any offseason mechanical gremlins, plus the "soft opening" this weekend followed by a week off, will put them in a great position for a relatively smooth and reliable opening weekend.

Oh If it was GK's finale hill, I'd be pretty disappointed, but GK's big hill is pretty damn good once things warm up in the summer. Regardless, the rest of Valravn still looks fantastic. Cannot wait to ride it opening weekend!

The Today Show did a pretty good segment on Valravn this morning: http://www.today.com/video/valravn-roller-coaster-join-lilliana-vazquez-on-the-world-s-tallest-fastest-678447171772

Love me some Triple XXX... The Duane Purvis (the name of their peanut butter burger) is absolutely delicious, although I have to admit it was usually after the bars closed at 4am when I had it, so I can't speak as to how delicious it is when sober

The delay has nothing to do with the fact that it's a wooden coaster. It has everything to do with the fact they used a prototype launch system from a manufacturer with minimal LSM development experience.