ZeroGravity55

Umm I posted this yesterday about the same blog and Paula said this today about the same blog... It is not the mile per minute seeing that was a repeat from the blog before. There is something else and nobody has caught it yet...

^ I suggested this yesterday based on the 66 days at sea campaign photo that the teal track sitting at the B&M plant is for HW, because teal is the main color in that photo. ^^ He seems to have presented a bit more evidence that this might be true. I'm guessing that the red track is for the other dive machine going to Europe

^ Well if you haven't noticed, HW will be announcing a new attraction on July 24th. It has just been the main point of discussion on about the last 120 pages on this thread. It's kind of a big deal. Anyways, the "one.big.thing." comes from this holiblog post, where the park basically said this expansion is one big ride, not multiple rides. If you're going to be getting a locker, then I would go get that first. After that, you'll probably have enough time for one ride before the waterpark opens, maybe two if you're lucky. I suggest hitting The Voyage first, as it typically runs better in the morning. As soon as the waterpark opens, get dressed and walk very fast to Wildebeest and and Mammoth. I suggest hitting Wildebeest first, given it has lower capacity than Mammoth. After that, hit all the slides you want in the waterpark. If you get done with the waterpark by 2 p.m., you can head back to the dry side and probably get multiple rides on whatever you want to ride, seeing the majority of the people will have filed into the waterpark by then. If you're staying for the announcement that night, I suggest getting night rides on The Raven and Voyage as both those rides are completely different beasts in the dark.

^^ They recoup that investment the same way they've recouped the money for almost every other major investment they've ever made. Every major ride they've built brings then tremendous exposure. If you can't tell from the 66 days PR campaign, their PR department is quite good at marketing things and bringing the park great exposure. The park must feel they're ready for an increase in attendance, and a investment this big would justify that. A single ride like a steel coaster would bring that attendance jump they are looking for.

New Holiblog post which uses the "mile per minute" phrase again. You have obviously never seen a lift hill for a hype or giga before. Does that line of footers on the construction site look like a lift hill for a giga or hyper? You're over thinking the wooden building being built. It doesn't need to be elaborate to house a computer room. Also, why does it need to be protected? Nobody in there right mind will venture out there and do anything to it. If gets destroyed in a storm, that's why they have insurance. It's looking out in the field behind Hyena Falls. That's a ton of $$ for one ride for that park, but, obviously, they have accountants that have figured out the ROI for that type of huge expenditure. Maybe they figure these types of rides can greatly expand the population of visitors (I hope so because it is an awesome park!). Sorry, but, can we please stay off the subject of "How is HW going to pay for something like this?" They've been around a while, if you're going to assume they can't pay for it then equally assume they can. This argument would make since pre-footers but HW has made the commitment to ONE BIG THING so lets say they know how to pay for it. Why is this off limits? Don't know about others, but I am not assuming that they can't pay for it. But I am noting that IF it is an $18M investment for a single ride, that would be an unusually high expenditure for one ride for a theme park with their attendance, and significantly different than the cost of every other single ride they have ever put in (none of which have apparently ever exceeded $9M). It's reasonable to wonder how they intend to get ROI IF the expenditure is anywhere near that for one ride. That would be an unusually high expenditure for a park that has drawn over a million in attendance for the last eight years? Just because they're not part of a big corporate chain, doesn't mean they don't have the money to make a 20+ million dollar investment. When they made that 13.5 million dollar investment back in 2006, they had yet to draw over a million in attendance, but they somehow could afford to make that investment. Just because they haven't made this type of investment since 2006, doesn't mean they weren't able to. Perhaps they've just been really smart in how they've managed their money? Perhaps they've been following a 10 years plan where they've been saving money every year for the last 10 years knowing 2015 was the year they were going to make this type of investment?

^ Ahh ok that makes sense.

^ Watching those trains in action, they don't seem quite as heavy as the wing rider trains. I don't know if it's just me, but that row of footers seems to be quite long for a launched section, if that's what it is. So maybe that is to accommodate the weight of the trains and allow them to have a gradual acceleration. I don't if it is due to the unusual rider position that the flyer trains provide and the unusual elements that those rides can perform, but aren't flyers usually more forceful than other B&M's? I've never personally rode a flyer, I've just read that they can have some intense moments.

^ I don't know how feasible your idea is, but it sounds cool! Now if that track does turn out to be HW's, it'll most likely be a flyer coaster, based on the references in the journal. Now if there is some sort of water section, I could see them utilizing something like this, with the train being themed to a ship. Now I'm still having a hard time picturing this whole construction site, as the site does not seem to make any sense right now. They started construction on some type of building next to the much talked about row of footers. Now it doesn't look big enough to be a station, but there are footers that sort of lead out from it. That seems to indicate that track may be coming out of that building. I don't know though. I think those footers are for another element. I think that building that is being built is for some type of computer room for LSM's or LIM's. I could be wrong though. Most of the stations for B&M coasters are built with metal frames (well at least the portion that supports the coaster obviously) and the support frame for the track is the first thing constructed, not the building itself. Not only have they started the outside frame on that building, but the frame is completely wooden. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, I'm referencing the building that is right in front of the construction cam.

I don't think the numbers really mean anything, but the color of this photo and this made me realize something. Notice how the color is teal in this campaign photo? Now there is a teal inverted/flyer track sitting at the B&M steel plant in Ohio, where the destination is completely unknown. You can find better pictures of the track and even more pieces of the teal track here.

Did anybody else catch where she has been given the authority to "give a few things away" over the next 12 days? So the "one big thing" isn't the only thing she will be dropping.

^ We can tell. Pictures of the footers showed the B&M almond cut out. They're the only coaster manufacturer who uses that design, from what I've found and believe me, I've looked at them all. The only reason everything from PP was still there and maintained, except the tower was because they just took the tower down 2 weeks before opening this year. They just made the decision to remove the ride earlier this year. That's why it is still on all the park maps they've printed. This new ride had probably been in the design phase for 6 months to a year prior to construction starting. This is why I have always thought it didn't made any sense for them to re-use the station, other than the fact that it would have to be completely redone. I actually expect the park to completely remove the ride and redo that whole area so there is a clear line that divides the water park from the dry park on that hill. With the station appearing to be on the hill behind Hyena Falls, if they don't redo it, it will just be confusing in my opinion.

^ Trust me, this isn't a wooden coaster, they don't pour footers like that for wooden coasters anymore. Even if they did, they're too spaced apart to be for any type of wooden coaster.

They're definitely pouring a lot of footers. In the 10 mins I watched the construction cam around 3 p.m today, I saw at least 4 concrete trucks pull up on sight. Two of them poured footers right in front of the camera, while the other two went to the opening between the valley of the 2nd and 3rd camel backs on The Voyage. I can't even begin to imagine how many concrete trucks they received today if that was only in a 10 min period.

Well my guess on this would be for them to do something like Dollywood did. Build a bigger coaster that's not as intense as some the other coasters out there, but it still satisfies those who are wanting a high thrills ride. Dollywood did this in 2012 with Wild Eagle. Then in a couple of years, they can build a "middle of the road" type of roller coaster. Dollywood did that this year with FireChaser Express. You don't just put together a campaign like the one HW has put together with the website and other stuff, then turn around and announce a smaller family coaster. That is just my opinion.

^^ KI announced Banshee last year and from what I've learned about this industry, plans can change at a moments notice. Based on the sheer size of this project, I think it's a lot bigger than some family coaster, but that is just my opinion. This hasn't been mentioned, but at some point this ride is going to have to make it's way up the hill. Just to give you an idea of the elevation difference in the land, from the mid-course break run to the bottom of the Voyage's station, there is a 100 foot elevation difference. Based on the clearings they've made by the Voyage, this ride is more than likely traveling up that hill at some point and will need a quite a bit of speed to do so. It won't need quite as much as the Voyage does (which is why it's so tall), but it will still need quite a bit of steam.

^ Good observations! Considering there appears to be a wall being built on that huge slab of concrete, that appears to be a station or some type of motor house.

^ I'm pretty sure the steel plant in Ohio is the only one manufacturing B&M's track right now. Both dive coasters going to Europe next year were manufactured in America.

^ Yes they are, but not enough where you would ever think about it if you were looking at it from a far. I don't think anybody is complaining, as the the little extra they're charging you is still a lot cheaper than almost every park out there. I believe HW has never charged for parking, so that isn't even on the admission. I don't even think they upped the price when they started giving out free-sunscreen, though I could be wrong. When it comes to the soft-drinks, you're really only paying for one drink, then you basically get free re-fills. They took a common food industry practice and applied it to their park and it has worked. They can advertise as free, because you never really physically pay for a drink in the park and they don't have to tell their guests it is included on their admission price.

The Gravity Group is a design firm that specializes in wooden coaster design. The don't manufacturer the rides they design, like GCI does. Alan Schilke designs the rides for RMC, then they construct the rides. TGG could have very well consulted the park on what needs to be replaced and what needs to be fixed, but as for the actual work, the park probably hired an outside crew. That is cheaper for the park to do.

Didn't both parks eventually go out of business? The problem here is when you think of HW, you think of it being family owned, and you think of all the free stuff they offer(free soft-drinks, free sunscreen,free parking, and free inner tubes). That is why people have a hard time understanding how they can have enough money to build a B&M. That is all part of a plan that is actually MAKING them money. Here's a great story of Will Koch explaining why offering free soft-drinks has been successful for the park.

^ Again, in HW's case, you really can't put a price on reliability?

Just to be factually correct, HW has been over 1 million visters for 7 years now. 8 if they do so again this year.

If you have evidence that could disprove that this is a B&M (other than the fact that is has not been announced), then what you've just said might have a little tread. Until someone can bring forth this evidence, I think we're safe at arguing which B&M model Holiday World is getting.

^ They looked like they were too close together for it to be a break-run. The way I looked at (and I'm no engineer) is the fact that no break-run would create enough force on the track that would justify that many footers in row and that close together. You should raise your percentage of certainty because I can assure you this is not a thing. I'm sad to say that 52 days of guessing, wondering, and trying to figure this out has brought me to this point. Congrats HW, you've successfully made me doubt something that appears to be the only 100% true fact that we have so far.

After trying to find pictures of footers that look similar to B&M's, I'm 90% sure HW is in fact getting a B&M, seeing I couldn't find any other manufacturer that designs their footers like that. I'm only 90% sure because I'm starting to think that this all might be HW's way of trolling us by having the manufacturer design their footers like B&M. My logic is telling me that is highly unlikely, but you never know with HW. Now the track that is showing up at the steel plant is becoming harder to figure out as it appears the red/orange track is for another dive coaster in Europe. Now the teal track appears to be for a inverted/flying coaster. There is still a bunch of unpainted track sitting around the plant. A bunch of dark blue supports have shown up and looks like they're for a transfer track. If I remember correctly, that was the first thing constructed on Banshee? That could be HW's first shipment on the 25th, but at this point, who really knows? The dark blue would go with ocean theme that has been presented throughout the journal.