coasterkid124

Honestly, this might sound harsh, but I hope these headsets cost SF a lot of headaches so that they just scrap the idea quickly. I don't care about it being an upcharge, or putting them on boring coasters, but this is insane. Is there really a need to try giving Bizarro/Superman another gimmick when it's already one of the best coasters in the world? My biggest beef with this is the rumored assigned seating. The people with VR should be given the middle rows automatically because they won't get the visuals or forces of the ride anyways. I'm a huge back seat rider, and I don't want to be told whereto ride because I didn't want to wear a filthy headset. SF can advocate all they want that they will be cleaned, but I have a horrible feeling that like much else in the chain, they will stop all that after 2-3 weeks of hard work. This is a chain that cannot get fog machines to work, let alone high tech headsets.

I totally have to agree with most of the posts on this thread opposed to VR. I really can't say that this will benefit major coasters in any way. It honestly does not make a difference to me on coasters like Ninja or Screamin Demon, but it gets to be a problem when it goes onto major rides. Six Flags should be striving to hasten dispatch times, not the opposite. If there is one area that Cedar Fair blows SF away in by far, it's this, and quite frankly it's an easy fix. It really doesn't make much sense from a business standpoint to do this either. It's not upcharge, and I predict it will cost more to run than what the parks will get out of it. I don't care how safe and clean SF claims they are. How will they be able to keep these headsets running when they have trouble keeping fog machines running for more than a year? It's only a matter of time before an incident occurs. And I am totally against assigned seating anywhere. The people using VR should be automatically assigned to the middle rows, because they won't be "experiencing" the true ride anyways. Don't punish the people who like traditional rides by forcing them to sit in seats where they don't want to. I'm a huge back seat rider, and seating does make a huge difference to me on most coasters. I wouldn't be satisfied or maybe even return to some parks if they did this to me.

I know people will see me as the antichrist for this, but if any coaster is to get VR in the future, it's probably Skull Mountain. It would make the most sense since it is in the dark already and would boost ridership. I'm personally not a fan of VR, but I will give it a shot and am glad that it is totally optional.

It's sad to see that more and more parks are acquiring this gimmick. SF claims that it won't affect dispatch times, but I'll believe it when I see it. I'll give it a chance, but VR doesn't usually go well with me. I also find it interesting that all 3 Superman clones (one at DL included) are seeing forms of improvement this season.

It may not be a Skyrush, but it's still better than 85% of coasters out there. Looks like the ride still has good airtime, speed in sections, and a longer layout. I wish this coaster was closer to me!

I'm switching back to contacts soon mainly for comfort and performance. I'll be glad to go on coasters like TTD and Skyrush once again and be able to see clearly.

^My assumption was that the wing over drop would have been an inverting one like the ones found on Medusa or Storm Chaser. Some others thought that it could be something like Gatekeepers. No renderings or layouts were ever released so it's hard to tell what some of the elements are. Predator is actually a really good coaster, the roughness is the only reason why people hate it so much. The layout has so much potential, especially if RMC were to do something with it. Hopefully this management issue gets ironed out and one day Darien Lake might get a coaster to put it back on the map.

As many on this site know, a few years ago Darien Lake proposed an RMC version of Predator. It never came to fruition due to the joint management of CNL and Herschend, and sort of fell through the cracks due to another change in management. Nobody is really sure how close the project was to happening, but the park went as far as getting approval from the planning board to do so. There is still hope that something will happen to Predator, as it is getting worse by the year. Here is a picture of the guest survey that shown the proposal:

Like I said, seeing as there is no elevation change (i.e. highest velocity achieved at bottom of first drop) and there is no launch (i.e. no boost in velocity) and nobody is getting on mid-ride (i.e. mass stays constant), it is impossible for it to gain momentum as it runs through the course. Net momentum, at least, which is what the post seemed to imply. Obviously there are alternating gains and losses throughout, but it's a net loss beginning to end - it's not supposed to gain momentum through the course. Granted, dude was probably just talking about how it lags more and more as it goes on instead of having the hills and such be smaller to keep the pace going strong. I think I kind of like the pacing so far - this thing is just too long to have Skyrush intensity beginning to end, so something a little less aggressive but double the length seems awesome. Yeah, I''ve taken many physics courses over the years and just didn't want to make my post too complex. I used momentum because it was the only thing I could think of at the time. Pacing is a much better way to describe it. I was trying to say how it doesn't keep a lot of its velocity or rip through the elements like Skyrush. Of course it won't gain momentum overall, but the net momentum is changing as the ride changes elevation. The elements seem to have tighter radii than Skyrush, but are taller and don't gain as much velocity.

Facts and personal judgement vs a person with four posts claiming that they know a guy who knows a guy who thought he saw Lasso being removed. Yeah, it's not happening. Don't mean to alienate new members, but the vast majority of them who came to this thread saying something similar have been way off.

^I don't think it's complaining as much as it is an observation. Obviously nobody here has ridden it yet to judge for themselves. We all could be wrong and it might haul ass through the course. Hopefully it can live up to the standards that Skyrush set.

I know it was meant to be a joke but could this be some kind of subtle hint? I'm thinking the letters of "Toni Clak" may be scrambled and spell something if that's the case. I'm probably very wrong but it's just a thought.

It was flying over the lift hill, but didn't seem to gain much momentum through the course. I will give it the benefit of the doubt that it will speed up as it runs more cycles, but it scares me that it is running like this so close to opening with a full or near full train. I had higher expectations for this after Skyrush, but I hope it doesn't turn out to be a butchered version of it.

These are really cool! Please make more!

Huss doesn't supply parts for discontinued models. There would be a market for them, but Huss hopes that by doing this a park would decide to buy a brand new ride from them rather than just parts here and there. Some parts aren't even their own, a lot of ride manufacturers outsource for many parts. Plus, Canada's Wonderland has a much more extensive budget and rehab cycle for their rides, which is why they last longer and in better condition. As for the Heintz Fahtze rides, they are a lot smaller and simpler than the Huss rides at the park. It's a lot easier to find parts for them because most are interchangeable. Not all are, but most are. That's why those two rides see little downtime during the year and show no signs of being removed. For the parts that cannot be replaced, parks usually have to find one that will work, or have one custom made, which can be expensive. The rides they took out weren't as popular anymore. UFO and Ranger were always walk-ons or one cycle waits, even on busier days. Raging Seas was mostly the same, but even though Mack still makes Sea Storms, the ride had been gutted badly over the years. The roof was removed, the sails were taken off of the boats, and the paint and lighting of the ride were degrading. The ride was hampered by serious electrical problems near the end, which is why many boats were not operating some days. It wouldn't be worth it to totally fix everything. Blast Off and Rolling Thunder are much more popular now.

It all depends what parks/credits you really want to hit. A coaster like Switchback could be really cool, but you would save time, money, and likely miles by skipping ZDT's. Cutting out a few of the smaller parks could save a lot of money in the long run. The way I see it, Switchback might be good right now, but there's a good chance that other parks (and likely closer to you) will build one later. Basically, what parks are a MUST hit for you?

They haven't even scrapped or sold any of their old rides yet, so that's a good bet. From a business side of things, even if there's no chance that the rides will ever operate again, they're still considered "assets" to the park. There aren't even really any donors for parts. The only UFO left in North America is Nightmares at Wonderland, and Sea Storms and Rangers are mostly gone too.

A lot of people forget that Polercoasters aren't really meant to be built in theme parks. They're meant for tourist attractions and large cities. The estimated cost for the Orlando one is 50-60 million. That's a huge investment for one park, and isn't really wise either. A flyer is much more likely at this point, which I'm not a big fan of. I hope that CF goes elsewhere for their next big addition to the park. I really want to see something unique and different, not another cookie cutter. It's okay for a park to add one here and there, but CP has really been known for additions that set them aside from the rest.

They went that far by painting Maverick's old restraints for a joke? Lol that's great. They had me going for a second until I looked closer.

Of the ones I've been to: 1) Cedar Point- no contest here really. One of the closest CF parks to me, so I usually do 1-2 yearly visits. Best collection of coasters, most to do. Nice scenery (not theming, scenery) and atmosphere. But the coasters really put it into a league of its own. 2) Canada's Wonderland- The closest CF park to me, so I visit it the most. Decent, but not amazing, collection of coasters. A bunch of unique flats there and nice landscaping. 3) Kings Island- Slightly beats out KD. There isn't really an OMG WOW coaster here like i305, but they have a solid collection overall. Had some fun on Banshee, Beast, and Diamondback. Decent theming. 4) Kings Dominion- i305 is a kick ass ride, no doubt about it. But there aren't any other coasters that really jump out here as great. Volcano was good, but had a really long line, and Dominator was alright. The wooden coasters were all mediocre. Theming was a bit better than most parks though. 5) Knott's- Went here a few years back on a CA trip. I had big expectations, but was a bit underwhelmed. Silver Bullet and Ghost Rider were not quite what I expected. Plus, for a park this big, it's missing a true Hyper/Giga. It had a nice setting though, and if they can fix GR and get a big quality addition in the next few years, it could get a bump up on the list. 6) Carowinds- Pre-Fury obviously. Their coaster collection just wasn't that good. If Intimidator weren't trimmed to hell, it could have boosted the park's ranking. With the drastic changes that have occurred, I'll have to revisit and re-rank. 7) Dorney- Not a bad park, but far from good. Not a good coaster collection at all, and it had some potential. This park is definitely overshadowed by Hershey and SFGADv not surprisingly. Haven't visited MiA, WoF, VF, or CGA, but they'll be on my list if they receive a large investment. I want to go to these parks, but CF has to give me a reason to go.

Vekoma SLCs usually have a tough time in the cold or precipitation, but if they could make the B&M inverts work, maybe they have a plan for this. It's great to see the chain expanding this event. Especially after gypping SFA with the new addition this year.

On the glasses discussion, I had no problem wearing my glasses on any rides strap-free. As long as they are tight enough and you feel safe with them, I usually don't get any comments from any ops about them. I only got one comment on TTD to put them backwards clipped onto my sweatshirt, and they were fine the whole ride. I'm glad they didn't force me to keep them aside or put them in a locker. CP is a lot more relaxed than other parks about this. Last year at Hershey I was told 2-3 times that I had to keep them aside. Skyrush is understandable, but they would have been completely safe on Great Bear and Fahrenheit.

I honestly don't think that they would do this amount of teasing if it was only a spinning coaster, even if it is highly themed. People would be a little angry if the park got their hopes up and it was all over a family-thrill coaster. Plus, Tempesto was their last addition, and that was pretty low cost. I think they'll go with something bigger here. Cobra's Curse came out of nowhere IIRC. There were minimal/no teasers and it was just announced one day. Same with Tempesto, so this should be more sizable. I wouldn't be COMPLETELY shocked if it was similar to Cobra's Curse though. It's really too early to tell

^It looked a lot worse than that. The tarp in the center was removed, and the rusty arms were left showing. Most of the lights burned out on the boats and scenery pieces, and the queue railings and building were falling apart. It's a shame they let it go, because those Mack Sea Storms are beautiful rides, and I preferred it to the Mack Matterhorn that was saved. It's not the only thing DL has left to rot over the years. Only until recently have they begun replacing/refurbishing the flat rides under Herschend and Premier. I won't totally buy into their rehabs until Ride of Steel isn't pink anymore.

^This. I feel like every time I look at the thread, there's more discussion about them than the park.