GayCoasterGuy

^At least from the picture, it looks like we are keeping our sky tower That's bad, I know.

We're getting Revolution and Tatsu!!!? Finally, 2 of Anton's crowning achievements in one park. I'm sure Great America will treat Revolution correctly

Yes! It was like being in a car crash. I remember seeing that last curve coming - "we aren't really going to take that curve at this speed, are we!??" (go to :40) The lift and drop were nice, though. Yes, I'm a lift hill enthusiast. Dragon at Adventureland in Iowa was very rough - and I rode it when it was brand new! Z-Force was horrible at Great America and SFOG - then I had a fluke *GREAT* ride on it at Magic Mountain. I dunno, stars must have been aligned...

I'm sure this has been answered a bunch of times... but what's up with Heide Park and the white track? It looks great, very classy.

Other than a kick in the gut back in 2011 (the pothole going up the 2nd hill) I would think the Voyage's overall aggressiveness - that was designed into the ride and there from the get get - is what many people don't like. Even in 2006, a double ride was almost too much for me. I need a rest after the ride. When I'm in better shape, I can handle the ride better.

Seems like you are picking out the big corporate parks (which are fun in their own right) and missing the "cream of the crop" parks. Hersheypark, Knoebels, Waldameer... Some folks don't care for the smaller "charm" parks, but just giving you heads-up. If you like mom&pop type stuff, don't miss these smaller parks. Especially Knoebels.

T-Rex: Tunnels, trenches, fog; crosses over and under other stuff... GREAT capacity (dual loading/unloading, 4 trains), LONG track. World Class ride "Dreaming is free!" Hope hope hope...

It would be nice to see a new coaster that goes under and over stuff... tunnels, trenches, and all that. I keep hoping we will get a true "world class" ride with those interesting features. You can have bridges, archways, etc. - anything you want, and have it still be a wooden coaster.

Sounds GREAT to me, I LOVE mine coasters! -> YOLO drop into brakes. 100' high brake run on Leviathan. 80' tall "ending on a high note" on Banshee. Super big, super good looking yet lame new coaster at Concrete Point. Meh, I'll take Knoebels anytime. Kudos to them, they rock.

Yup, those steel structured woodies redirect the roughness back into you. Note the Coney Island Cyclone has steel structure for the tall parts, but wood structure for the pull-outs: Not to say the CI Cyclone has been a model of smoothness (it's had ok to great years in my experience)... but those pull-outs would have more *shock* if they were all steel.

Nahh.. they are just fine. Seatbelts weren't standard PTC equipment until the last 20 years or so. They were very rare... I think Texas Cyclone had them - but only in the back car, and not until 1979. American Eagle may have had them put in after the first year or two... Colossus had them with the PTCs. The Kings Island/Dominion, Carowinds parks didn't have seatbelts until in the 90s I believe. They all had one buzz bar (or "drop bar" as we used to call them.) Seatbelts are only for kids on Kennywood's Exterminator. The last time I rode it, they were yelling "DON'T fasten the seat belts!" With the seatbelts on Blue Streak, the park settled on the rule "if the restraint is ON the ride, it MUST be used." We were trained to tell people they were optional as a means to get the trains out with out a shutdown - it was all manual, no luxury of letting a train pause in the brakes. You didn't need the seatbelts to hold you in, they were redundant. If we got a train out late, we risked a shutdown, and that was VERY looked down upon back then. Again, this is all past-operating procedures. I've heard they run things quick in Germany... specifically Olympia Looping. Another big difference between now and then is that we were trained well. Perhaps that wording isn't the best; the level of responsibility we had was much higher than crews are trained to have these days. It was a job where you had to know what was going on everywhere in the station at all times, and had to be able to communicate very clearly with the other 2 guys working the ride. All spiels were manual... we could do 1,250 pph no problem.

I think it will be very popular! A couple notches under Phoenix's "wildness" but a notch higher than Kozmo's Kurves.

I like how it's directly next to Timber Terror. Think about the Rollercoaster Tycoon rating on that thing! And all those lights...

Very good point More reason the few we have left are so special... and for those of us who like that old school type ride, to enjoy those rides whenever we can.

We can have buzz bars... they are just unfortunately rare now. I'd rather see news headlines "man arrested and facing charges for standing up on roller coaster" than "Kings Island Beast strands 30+ riders (during a random and typical lift shutdown.)" If parks cracked down on people misbehaving, that would be good. It's been a long time since I operated a coaster, but I'm going to assume it has to do with making sure the track is clear (and needing that "clear" ride op signal) for the train being allowed to come in. It's a back-up to an Emergency stop button. Imagine if the subways were run that way.

^I guess it was probably smoother when I rode it during HWN than it was a few weeks later. Yeah, "smooth as glass" is not a good way to describe most traditional (track-wise) woodies.

^Ahhh... gotcha. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I was going to say Cyclops, but even that ride has been neglected to the point of pothole city (on the big drop anyway.) ^^Newer woodies have really pushed things in terms of speed and intensity of forces. Why not stick with great old designs - Phoenix, Thunderbolt - heck, those rides are ancient, run GREAT and almost EVERYONE who goes to those parks LOVES those rides. Remember, coasters aren't always designed with coaster nerds preferences in mind... Personally, I love the old designs ... and you don't have to worry about the necessity to staple you in a seat. The forces are reasonable and you get TRUE air time (as opposed to "uplift forces" - see El Toro.)

Phoenix. With all the new hot coasters that have come and gone, Phoenix has never left the top 5 and pretty much any list. And I'll have to say the CP Blue Streak was close-perfection as well, up until 1995. To the point there was rarely even new wood needed. Look at all the wacked-out extra supports on it now.

I could be wrong, but would adding topper track create too stiff of a riding surface? Remember, Voyage is steel-structured. Those woodies sometimes seem to amplify the potholes, etc., because there is not as much give in the structure under the track. There are other traditional wood track solutions here. Voyage was glass-smooth the first year (most woodies are!), so there is the proof. There are also other trains for wood coasters out there... The PTCs on the ride are still semi-frankensteined designs (even thought they were originally built like they are) with the heavy ratchet lap bar mechanisms in them... very heavy cars.

^Similar to reading youtube comments! I'm very happy to see this new video. Knoebels is a true class-act of a park.

Iron Wolf 1990 It *was* really great when new, true story!

^It's a blessing AND a curse. A curse because it's very difficult to not get frustrated when you watch park operations (at many parks) now. All the empty seats, the stacking trains, the song and dance "take 5" before a train can go. The COMPLETE stop before a train can come down the final brakes... it all seems so ridiculous.

^I'll have to agree with that. It seems an extension of the "America is sue happy" and entitlement thing. I hope it's just a cycle; that we will get back to being able to pay attention and be aware of what's going on around us... people seem so dummed-down.

from user Lowkae. Somebody said (obviously sarcastically) that they can't wait that until this happens to Magnum. My response - that would make me a saaaaad panda. Ahhh... brings me back to the days I worked on a manual Blue Streak. The bell would ring and the train had to go, "one way or another." It was like a circus sometimes .... "MY SEAT BELT - MY SEAT BELT" some would yell as the train was rolling out of the station; sometimes with us riding the running boards to fasten seat belts (and then jump off at the base of the lift). People were "tougher" back then, and less complain-y about being rushed... there were no queue gates in the park, and people were generally better behaved, and took more responsibility for themselves. It was in the "transition years" where doing old school stuff (like riding the running boards to cram down bars or fasten seatbelts - AND - announcing "the seat belts are optional, you do not have to use them") was slowly becoming a no-no and stricter operational rules started applying. Operational "grey areas" eventually became black and white/yes and no. I'm grateful to have experienced that, good times. In the following years, people started complaining about seat belts and being rushed... goodbye manual operation

A PTC car/train in it's basic, old-school form (box, seats, buzz bar) gives an excellent ride. But when you start adding all that extra weight in different places (those headrests/hardbacks have a metal core in them - and are behind the axle; the ratchet bar mechanisms also add weight), the dynamic of the ride changes dramatically over time. I mean, a pot hole is still a pot hole, but those super-rigged-out PTCs don't provide good rides over time. Viper at Great America is special though. Built in-house with a super heavy duty structure and track... it's near perfect. But would still be better without all the extra PTC "gear." PLUS... the lap bars are rigged so they only go down the 'buzz bar' level, no further -> no stapling