GayCoasterGuy

I wonder if stacking with one train operations will cause any drama within the group? YOLO

The operations at Fuji-Q really bring down the ratings. (joking) Which made me think! Are the operations at Fuji-Q better, worse, or on par with Magic Mountain?

HW may build a super-intense, thrilling loop coaster... or a nice fun family ride. We should be finding out soon... either way, I'm sure it will have class and be unique. And trees. It will be close to trees. We all know that increases your excitement number

^I don't think they'd be shy to do that, but right now there is a need at the park for a middle of the road (at least intensity wise) roller coaster. Watch me be wrong Thanks to RCT (Roller Coaster Tycoon), I finally realized there is a big difference between a ride's intensity it's level of excitement. Go ahead and make fun of me... RCT made clear to me something that is now so obvious. Take for example something as awesome and breathtaking as Millennium Force. It's very exciting, but the intensity is very moderate.

Intimidator 305? Maybe 2 stars... Mind Bender? Now that's a 5 star coaster. I have a feeling that whatever the new attraction is, it will appeal to a very wide audience. The park would do gangbusters with a strong family coaster.

I wonder what the whole story is... on the speedo thing. Not saying he did anything stupid (or rude) but, you never know.

...30 second coaster dispatches

^Or Cedar Fair (I know, bad...)

^I think I saw Lust in the Dust before I even saw any of John Water's movies. Thanks, HBO

Yes please! Nooooo! The pacing of the original ride was perfect; you get a build up to the loop and increasing intensity (with laterals) throughout the ride. The pacing is like a work of art! By the last helix it's bonkers. Anton knew what he was doing. Of course they could. They could sell shirts like hot cakes.

Today's clue had the word fury So sly...

B&M will build a ride as cool or dull as the park wants. Compare the recent non-US B&M rides to something like Banshee.

^When I worked on the ride, we busted standing riders about once every 2 weeks. The bigger issue with Blue Streak was the unload/load dispatch situation. People would occasionally complain about being rushed into the train... with that old manual operation, you had to send trains out quickly or the ride would set up. If people needed help fastening their seatbelts (which were optional at the time, and we would announce that), it was preferable to shut the ride down with the train at the base of the lift, than to let the ride set up. So, the park changed the station to a modern/computerized system with clamp brakes... a couple years after that, the trains were butchered. A few years ago I asked my former rides manager from CP why the park did that. He gave me a vaque answer something like "at a certain point, all the equipment needs to be the same" (he was referring to the equipment on the wooden coasters at the park and in the chain). Another factor could have been that many of the old lap bars were still original (1964) and needed replacing. Instead of putting in new buzz bars, they went all-out with the then popular PTC overhaul which included ratcheting lap bars, seat dividers, high back headrests and seat belts (ratcheting/self-locking seat belts to boot, which is a Cedar Fair special).

^^You bet! The over the head lap bars lock in the same spot that over the shoulder bars lock. I hope B&M comes up with a lap bar looping train soon, one way or another... think of all the money they can make retrofitting old trains

I would vote for this as close to perfect: I haven't ridden the Mack trains yet... but the old Schwarzkopf style trains/restraints not only make inversion comfortable, but enable riders to enjoy lateral and air time

No head banging, but it's a trade off: you get held DOWN and BACK with those vests, just like the rotten new Vekoma restraints (and the backpack things on I-305). Lap bars are the way to go

^2 across seating, lap bars only (with inversions). B&M can do it if it must be a B&M...

There have been a few parks where it was common for people to go to one the first day, then the other the next day. Not sure if they were part of the same chain or not... details are fuzzy. But it could be an opportunity for people to go to both during a short vacation. I guess that may be a small percentage of visitors, but who knows.

^Buzz bars can be adjusted. They can hang down lower and also move closer to you. Maintenance (or PTC) has to take them apart, re-weld, etc.. You will notice some rides have their buzz bars in slightly different positions.

^At CP, we would occasionally have to shut down the ride b/c some idiot wouldn't sit down going up the lift (and it was always after 2 warnings while going up the lift). We'd have to shut it down, walk up there and give em a talking to. It was always very embarassing for the offender We never had to call security on that matter, but it was a pain and did cause shut downs once in a great while. It's debatable. I think ratchet bars suck on most every coaster. I've gotten into that heavy discussion/argument before, so I'll just take a big step back now The Viper at SF Great America had it's ratchet bars specially rigged by maintenance so they won't go down past a certain level... and that level is exactly the same as a buzz bar would. They knew exactly what they were doing. Love that ride!

^The solenoids that lock/unlock them burn out all the time. Tom Rebbie told me he purchased hundreds from the company that supplies the one they used, when that company stopped making them. Either way, I LOVE buzz bars. There are other ways they can be locked, hopefully PTC will come up with something new. As far as I can remember, the first coasters to have ratchet bars were Georgia Cyclone, Texas Giant, Thunder Run and Predator (the 1990 woodies). The new bars were pretty bad at first, falling down and stapling you during the ride. They later beefed up the return springs so they wouldn't come down so easily. And as far as ranting about those ratchet bars... I can tell you as a ride operator on the CP Blue Streak for 2 years with buzz bars, that the ratchet bars have changed the ride. The lap bars and assemblies are much heavier. The ride is still very well maintained and popular, but it rides completely different than it did with simple buzz bar trains. You can look at all the extra supports that had to be added to the ride after the conversion to compensate for all that extra force. (Adding the metal-core "high backs" and seat dividers probably add to the odd weight distribution as well.) As far as ratchet bars being safer, that's debatable. Also note, some PTC trains with buzz bars have locking mechanisms on BOTH sides of the lap bar. Take for example the Great American Scream Machine at SFOG: The GASMs trains came from Colossus, so it makes sense they wanted extra locking on those buzz bars. Rolling Thunder at Great Adventure also had double locking buzz bars. As did American Eagle, and maybe a couple others.

^I think they can co-exist happily. Just like a bunch of parks in PA

Maybe this little guy: Funny... we got Colossus in Great America's commercials in the 80s and 90s.

Don't count on it unless the park changes ownership. An RV company purchased the park from the Spackman family about 5 years ago. Before that, it was a consistently VERY clean and VERY well run park. All the nastiness has been documented all over the net, so I won't go into it. It's been very sad to see the park go downhill. It was always a sure bet for a great time. Now it's rundown and a very poorly run shadow of it's old self. I used to go 3 times a year. My last visit was 2012 and it had gotten really sad. My plan is to get out there this year just to get some rides on the great classic Schwarzkopf Tig'ger before it's gone, too. (BTW, the resorts were always a little "hick" looking, but very well maintained. Not everything can look like Cedar Fair or Disney. Some of the best stuff in the world is home made ).

Exactly! Gerstlauer is able to nearly reproduce the classic Schwarzkopf trains.