coasterkid124

These things are really starting to get on my nerves. I never really knew what the big problem with them was, but now I have been seeing more and more of them and it is definitely a problem. At Darien Lake, someone thought it would be a brilliant idea to stick one out just inches from a zooming Boomerang train in the station. What did the ride ops do about it? Nothing. Nothing at all. Next thing you know somebody is going to get impaled by one of these and rides will be shut down for weeks under investigation. Sounds kind of extreme, but in NY it wouldn't surprise me.

Setting up trains isn't something that a park does for a week then puts them away. It takes hours and hours of labor. The cars need to be lifted on transfers via crane, then the cars need to be connected and everything needs alignment and tweaking. Then hours of testing and adjusting need to occur before passengers can board.

Good to see that maintenance is trying as hard as they can to push for two train ops. Less and wait times = Boosting guest satisfaction and more time to experience other things. Out of all the coasters, these two were the most likely to be ready this season. RoS is probably more of a target for next year, as the trains haven't seen refurbishment in a while. Hopefully during the offseason we will see them serviced. As for ME and Motocoaster, last I've heard was that they were in need of parts a few seasons ago. The park has decided to keep them off because the ride cycles are quick, and the wait times aren't too bad. But for now, to get two big coasters back up to full operation is a very big step forward.

The red things at the bottom look sort of like devil horns. And the little dots could be some sort of fire or embers. The new addition could be a devil themed Super Loop like at SFGAdv

Nice report. I never realized how beautiful of a park MiA is. Too bad it hasn't been as loved as other parks in the CF chain.

If you do go to a concert, make sure you get actual seats rather than the lawn tickets. Although cheaper, the lawn seats don't have a good view and that's typically where the most trouble occurs. Also, have something to drink before entering. The drinks in the concert are almost $10 and they don't let you bring anything in. For last year's Motley Crue concert, I had a full bottle of pop that I bought in the park, but I had to ditch it to get let in. I wouldn't say if I was trying to smuggle in drinks, but I did buy it in the park and even had a receipt to prove it.

Strange how things vary from park to park. After the rider (and there were 2) flew out of Ride of Steel at Darien Lake, we've had no changes in operations. I have no problems at all when I go to the park alone and sit in the last row.

Question for the creator. I noticed that after the MCBR there is another vertical drop. Is there already or have you considered putting another holding brake on the segment? Could be the world's first double holding brake dive machine.

The worst incident I have encountered so far with selfie sticks was at Darien Lake. Somebody decided to stick one out just inches from the train as our Boomerang zoomed past the station. The ops did nothing about it either.

I'm going be completely honest when I say when I first saw that render, I thought it was real. Nice job. I wish I had a computer that could handle NL2 better, the most I can get out of it is like 13 FPS. There have been some great creations produced from the simulator.

Giga: I305 Hyper: Skyrush Hybrid: iRat Invert: Raptor Woodies: Phoenix and El Toro Launched: Maverick Other 3: Ride of Steel, TTD, Predator

For the amount that can be done with NL2, the video was pretty bland. But the layout should impress the GP big time. This might be the most intense RMC yet. Not one design they have created so far have I heard anyone complain about. It is good to see that everything they have created is both unique with a lot of intensity.

That first drop looks like it could have been the "wing over" drop style that RMC proposed for Predator a few years back. This layout looks like it could be the most intense RMC we've seen yet. Those airtime hills may pull off -2 gs at the crests. I hope that I can get out to ride this next year, as Kentucky Kingdom really is becoming a big thing. Those off-axis airtime hills look extremely intense as well.

Edit: Doug beat me to the punch here. So just ignore my answers. I will still post this to bring light of the line jumping issues. I'll answer SbSteveZ's questions and then I would like to make a few comments of my own based on other people's observations. 1) The water bikes were added either this year or last I can't remember, but they are new. I have steered clear of the paddle boats for the last few years, as the lake has no fountains or circulation, and the water seemed semi-stagnant. 2) Don't expect two train ops at all this year. Those were probably just spare parts for ME's current train. There would be no reason to waste time and assemble second trains at this point, when there are other things to worry about mechanically. Also with Rolling Thunder, I have seen some problems as well with line jumping and rowdiness. People try avoiding the mandatory switchbacks but hopping or going under them, often cutting people in line. I've probably had 8-10 people skip me this year because they cannot follow the rules. The operators seem to be more worried about loose articles then anything for RT. I cannot blame them but I would like to see action taken on rowdy guests as well. Viper is another popular ride for line jumpers. They tend to run through restricted areas to avoid the long snaking queue. Operators even catch people doing this and all they say is "Don't do it again". Well there is a good chance that they will not ride the same thing over again anyways, at least not right away. The people will just keep doing it unless being punished.

Either nylon or polyurethane. I'm pretty sure RMC uses the latter.

There could be a simple solution to help with the valley problems. Colossus at Thorpe Park has heating lamps underneath the track in the station that is used to heat up the wheels and bearings when cold. This helps when testing on cool mornings and nights to help the trains go faster. While the logistics of Smiler are different, and this might not be a miracle solution, it would definitely help a lot. Considering Merlin is in charge of both parks, maybe they will adopt the idea and ring it to Alton.

What do you mean by "Cuda Valls". Dont think Ive heard that before. Here's the backstory. Cuda Falls was a very old water slide complex at Darien Lake. It was known for being a maintenance nightmare and the only water slides not in the actual water park. A couple of years ago, the park decided to scrap the slides as they were rarely open anymore, and they took up a lot of space that could be used for future expansion. The site they lied on took up about 3 acres in total. All of the Darien Lake fans were very excited as this could be the site for our next major attraction. Only one person was upset about this removal, and they are a user on his forum with the name "Darien Laker". Cuda Falls was to Darien Laker as 1001 Nachts is to Amy Weber. Although the slides were scrapped, Darien Laker hopes to this day that they will return from the dead and take up space elsewhere. Even if it is at another park. The name Cuda Falls is mentioned so many times that a drinking game would just be pure suicide.

^ It depends on how the PLC was programmed. The computer could have very well stopped the coaster is it did not detect a train in the brake run within a certain time frame. The panel is set to how many trains are being run at the time, and the computer has to detect where all three are in a time frame in a block. The best way to tell would be to see a picture of where on the lift the train stopped. The computer would have stopped it at a set point (middle or top), as an operator would likely stop it at a different point, or as soon as they noticed that the train did valley. Edit: Seeing that the train stopped on the lift at the top, in the position that it did, the computer could very well have shut down the ride.

I second Skyrush. That coaster was built for pure intensity at all aspects. I don't think it gets the amount of credit that it should. The whole course was fast and the ejector hills and turns caught me by surprise.

Meanwhile at Six Flags headquarters.... The marketing department has successfully proposed a Season Flash Pass to distract SFA fans that Roar West is getting an RMC treatment, and SFA is not this year.

So what you are saying is that theme parks should not invest to make their rides more modern and better? There will always be a small group of people wanting to protest the closing of attractions. Right now Roar is not a high ranking coaster, and I have not heard too many people heartbroken about this closing. RMC will make this a top ranking coaster, that is intense, smooth, and probably inverting to some extent. I was never a fan of GCI twister layouts, and would take an RMC over most any day.

Anything but a b&m and ill be happy. Mav or toro or skyrush type of ride or all 3 and kd would be perfection Dude, stop. The next coaster is going to be a B&M whether you like it or not. No 1 would like it. I expect great things from KD Because no one likes Fury 325, or Thunderbird, or Diamondback, or Leviathan, right? *facepalm I just hope kd pushes the envelope yet again and goes all out on their next coaster. None of the above scream unique B&M is not really a "push the envelope" company. They have been playing the safe route for years on all of their designs. That's why I have mixed feelings on their coasters. When I get off of a B&M I usually either think, "Wow that was a kick ass ride!" or "Meh, it was smooth and comfy but kind of bland". However on their newer designs, they have been going back to kick ass. Intamin has been the company to pull off the crazy, un-thought of designs, but until they can make them efficient, major park companies will steer clear of them. This is a shame, because all of my "top" coasters are still Intamins, and I would pick them over B&M any day. Nothing against B&M at all. I have enjoyed their more recent designs, and hope that they will keep going back to the old school intensity

I think the safest thing would be to add booster tires to the MCBR. Although a stop on the MCBR is uncommon, its better to have that backup so that situations like this do not become common. There is a good chance that there are a lot of tweaks being made to the wheels and trains still, as this is only the halfway point of its first season. The layout of the ride, or the new trains themselves may be putting a lot of stress on the wheels, and especially the bearings. Bearings reduce friction between the wheels and the axle (basically speaking). If they are starting to wear, the friction could be causing enough drag to slow the train down excessively. Cedar Fair and B&M are still probably working closely to ensure this conversion will work over a long range of time. For now I would expect a lot more tweaks made to the trains and wheels to reduce as much friction as possible.

It's going to be interesting to see what RMC does with the first drop for Roar. I don't think that they would just keep it the same simple curve. Hopefully they can round the ride out more as well. The GCI twisters are more of a "front seat" only ride when it comes to forces. You don't get much air in the back. Only a few that I have ridden give little floater pops. I would like to see something more rounded like NTAG or iRat.

On the flipside, it's been around 15 years since Hypersonic was developed, and it is a technology that has proven to be extremely reliable in other ride applications (such as S&S drop towers). With another 15 years of research and development, it wouldn't surprise me to see a company like RMC build a reliable air compressed launch. Still, I'm betting on LSM. Plus with compressed air, you get a lot quicker of an acceleration and that could affect the structure of the ride. Jolting the beams like that from a resting position would take its toll over time. I bet against it anyways. Look at what happened to Ring Racer. It never officially opened due to its issues, explosions, etc.