ZeroGravity55

You know, I remember when everyone was calling BS on all the Banshee rumors. There are two coaster enthusiast up by Chicago who claim to know what the plans are for 2014. I'm going to assume it's one of them. I'm going to refrain from posting their facebook page, because I hate to ruin all their fun!

That sounds about right for the Voyage.I think the Voyage is just to intense for a lot people. There really isn't a spot for you to catch your breath except for the mid-course break run, which just goes by really fast since HW doesn't use it. I totally get why people don't like the Voyage, but the reasons they hate it, are the reasons I absolutely love it. In 2010, which was by far the Voyage's roughest season. Me and 2 my friends rode it 5 times in a row and absolutely loved it, while my other friend rode it once, and had to go sit down because the ride gave him a jarring headache.

I really have no idea why it was removed. It was removed in 1997, but Holidog Fun Town wasn't added until 1999. I'm assuming it had something to do with maintenance. The ride was nearly 20 years old when it was removed.

^ That's really just my own personal preference. I completely get that it was a nice addition to the park and that the GP goes crazy for anything that goes upside down.

^ Anything is better than a Boomerang! Heck, getting nothing is better than a Boomerang!

^ Lol I guess it's the first one I can remember! I never knew there was a kiddie coaster at Santa Claus Land. Looks like it had some airtime!

So I was rummaging through some old family photo books and came across some retro photos of Firecracker, Holiday World's *second steel coaster! I believe these photos were taken around 1994, which was the year I was born. I believe this coaster was replaced by Holidog Fun Town. Can anyone guess what sits behind this ride today?

^That's true. It comes down to this, I don't think Hades 360 is going to give TGG a bad name. Their designs hold half of the top 10 in the Mitch Hawker and Amusement Today polls and that should say more than one bad coaster. The Amusement Today poll is quite debatable though. Other than Hades 360 and Voyage, has anybody had a rough ride on any other TGG coaster? I know I read Boardwalk Bullet was rough early on, but I thought I saw where someone said that Kemah Boardwalk seemed to have worked out the kinks.

I think it's more compelling that TGG hasn't designed a roller coaster with a drop over 115 feet since The Voyage. To be fair to TGG, Holiday World really encouraged them to push the limits with The Voyage. When your a company that's in your second design, I don't think you tell the park no.

^ I don't think the PTC's damaged the ride beyond repair, especially since the ride utilizes a steel structure. If they ever do a full re-track, it would be wise for them to hire TGG to come in and do a ledger by ledger analysis. Ledgers are going to move, especially in places of high-g forces. If they move even a quarter of an inch, it will be enough to make difference in the smoothness of the ride. So simply going through and bumping the ledgers up where needed is going to make the ride significantly smoother. If they don't do that and just re-track the ride, I say it will be better, but will still have it's bumps. Btw, great point about every seat being a wheel seat and that could have been why it was so rough. If I had to guess, I'm assuming the trains are still wanting to bounce around the track. I think TGG should seriously look at RMC's trains and the suspension system it uses to keep the side wheels in contact with track at all times. Idk if it's possible to incorporate that suspension system in with the bogey steering system, but it's something they should look into.

You can do Holiday World and Splashin' Safari in one day if it's May or June. Not really the case in July or August, especially if you want to experience everything in both the parks.

^^ It's a shame that Scooby Doo has went out of style. Was one of my favorite shows when I was a kid. That being said, I say it's about time for a remodel or to replace the ride. I'm definitely more intrigued that people from RMC were supposedly at the park last week. Hopefully that means Iron Boss for 2015!

Fresh off of Screamscape Rumor - (8/14/13) Screamscape sources tell us that a more costly plan to replace the park’s Scooby Doo dark ride with a Justice League themed ride, possibly similar to the one that opened in Australia, was unfortunately put on the back burner for now. We can hope it may come back in 2015 or 2016. That said... there are still persisting rumors claiming that plans to revise The Boss as Iron Boss, courtesy of an IBox conversion from Rocky Mountain Coasters may be in development. One source last week claimed to have seen RMC staff talking with Six Flags staff actually standing in front of The Boss. I have doubts we’ll see this for 2014 either however, maybe in another year or two. In the meantime, the only attraction I’m hearing that SFSL will likely add in 2014 is an Aqua Twist wet flat ride. Stay tuned!

The Gravity Group signed off on it because Mt. Olympus gave them their first chance to design a wooden coaster and the chance to prove they could go upside down. They also probably needed the business since they only seem to be drawing interest from China. To be quite honest the only blame TGG should probably get is for designing such an aggressive layout, but I much rather have them design aggressive layouts than boring ones. Most of the blame should fall on the parks shoulder. They purchased what they wanted and it's their job to maintain it, not the designers. As for the Voyage, I hope it's at least slightly better than before. HW actually tries their best to maintain the Voyage. It's just hard for them to cover that much track with their maintenance budget and 2 other old aggressive coasters in the park. But as I said before, HW purchased what they wanted, so it's their job to keep it maintained.

^I remembered that photo as soon as Dan got fired and the whole story came out. I found it really ironic how a death and money can really change things in just a short couple of years.

Arrow- River King Mine Train, Six Flags St. Louis B&M- Batman The Ride, Six Flags St. Louis CCI- Raven, Holiday World Dinn- Mean Streak, Cedar Point GCI-American Thunder, Six Flags St. Louis Gerstlauer-Pandemonium, Six Flags St. Louis Gravity Group-The Voyage, Holiday World Intamin- Millennium Force, Cedar Point Morgan-Mamba, Worlds Of Fun Premier-Mr. Freeze, Six Flags St. Louis PTC-Screamin' Eagle, Six Flags St. Louis Vekoma- Ninja, Six Flags St. Louis

Unfortunately, that's what happens when a wooden roller coaster is neglected by the park. I also couldn't agree more about a full re-track opposed to adding the inversion. It seems that Mt. Olympus is more about trying to find ways to get people into the park and taking their money opposed to looking for ways to improve guest experience once they're in the park.

"I think that airtime hill just pinched my bladder." I think that just about sums up everybodys reaction to that part of the ride!

^ lol of course! The rain just makes it go even more balls out than it does in normal conditions. Ask some TPR members about the night rain rides they got in 2009 at HoliWood Nights. I've read it was quite the religious experience and I wished I could of experienced it. That's actually on my bucket list, ride the Voyage at night when it's raining!

Best endings: The Voyage, Maverick, Millennium Force, and Raven in that order. Worst endings: Mean Streak and that's it.

The Voyage and Raven at Holiday World! Airtime on the Voyage goes from this to this

Or maybe if more American parks would buy TGG designs... Other than these coasters, I would really like to go to China to experience the culture of the parks and see how they differ from the ones in America. I could say the same for Europe, Japan and ext.

Does attendance support it? I would think so. It doesn't make sense for a park to run their rides at full capacity if their projections in attendance don't call for it.

They said they were going to re-track 90% of the ride. IMO replacing just the top running board of the stack doesn't count as re-tracking the ride. Parks do that all the time when they detect failure in the top running board. Trust me when I say this, replacing the top running board does not help smooth the coaster out. HW does this a lot in the off-season with the Voyage. Law of the universe: things are going to move. The whole stack of wood needs to be replaced and the ledgers have to be re-adjusted. Maybe instead of adding the inversion, Mt. Olympus should of purchased the trains and used the money they spent on the inversion to re-track the whole ride top to bottom. But then again, whats gonna get more people into the park, re-tracking the ride or adding an inversion to a wooden roller coaster? I'll say the inversion.

I'm surprised that both sides aren't open more often, considering how hot it gets in the St. Louis region during the middle of the summer. I've only visited during the spring and Fright Fest. I just thought the other side was closed, because they simply didn't need it.