coasterkid124

I don't mean to pick apart this post, but from my past experience, there are some misleading facts in here that I would like to point out. This was a given. If DL ever invests in new lights they will have to be LEDs. Why spend thousands of dollars to strap the old, inefficient lights back up? It would be a matter of time before they started to blow out anyways. It's costly, but there are companies that specialize in updating lighting systems (see Cedar Point and Strates Show's wheels) Hopefully if this plan comes to fruition, its place won't sit vacant for years like many other removed rides. I don't mind seeing it stay or go, just as long as a working ride is there. I don't see that happening. The park recently spent a good chunk of money on fixing up their troughs, which included a resurfacing of fiberglass on Thunder Rapids, and repairs on Grizzly's concrete. They are two of the most popular rides on the dry side, and age doesn't necessarily mean that they are very costly to maintain. The park has an abundant supply of spare cars for TR, and Grizzly's setup is very simplistic, save for the occasional trough patch. I don't know where that number comes from, but that seems way out of proportion. Train maintenance is costly, but using that logic, you're in almost a million dollars just to have one train running on all coasters, and you haven't even spent a dime on rides, buildings, or utilities yet. Parks don't have to fully restock inventory yearly either. It's based on how much of a part was used. If there are leftovers, which there usually is with wheels, bolts, and small parts, they only order as many as they have used or project to use down the road. It's not uncommon to have over 10 wheels in stock for a single coaster. One RoS train has 108 wheels, I believe.

I could be wrong, but that number seems a little low given the technology that's used. Hydraulic launches alone cost big bucks. That's not a bad price at all if the park even puts that number (or close to it) for the coaster used. But there are hidden costs. A park has to pay to move it, possibly even overseas. There is likely train rehab and hydraulic maintenance to be done. A park could be close to $10 million into this coaster when all is said and done. I do hope a park picks it up though. This could be a big bargain for a smaller park in the US for an awesome ride.

Don't get your hopes up on improving operations. The park has been saying for years that they would work on it, and nothing changes. It's still up in the air whether or not another train will be purchased for RoS. Viper was supposed to run two trains again this year, and they never got to it. Predator's second train has already been beat to hell (only 6 years since purchase). They refuse to repair Motocoaster's second train for whatever reason. I remember Doug stating some time ago that two train ops would even "be expanded" for this season. Not blaming him because he was just relaying info for us, but someone in charge at the park just didn't seem too interested in keeping that promise. If they aren't going to spend improvements on important things like train maintenance, finishing paint jobs they started but didn't complete, or even just putting lights on the Giant Wheel, I would hope that they at least consider adding something to the dry side to give us some more variety, and something that will be reliable.

People flock to the water park because it's been receiving investments. Plus if you are going to wait around the same amount of time for a coaster as you would a slide, a lot of people would rather be rewarded with cooling off at the end of the ride. It's not just the water slides, but all three in-park water rides get packed as well. Put in a new ride or coaster on the dry side, and it will receive that popularity too. One of the first things that the GP asks regardless of park is "Where's the new ride?" People point to years ago when x coaster had a full queue, but remember that DL went through an aggressive expansion in the late 90s, and that there wasn't a really big water park back then like there is now. Crowds are probably the same, but they are more distributed through the property. With all of the rides taken out or down long term over the past few seasons, I don't think that the park can go another year without filling in one of those gaps on the dry side. There are many cheap options (even for a coaster) that wouldn't set the park back too much, but could bring a lot of people back through the gates. Give Six Flags a lot of credit in that department for trying out the Frisbee rides, RMC conversions, Free Spins, etc. Before their value went up, they bought them in bulk cheap, and were able to put in solid, high popularity additions.

Yeah, everyone's different. People like (or hate) rides for different reasons. Personally, I thought Valravn was a let down, although I got a middle row seat. I purposely kept my expectations low, and it is actually my least favorite B&M at Cedar Point (and least favorite dive coaster). That being said, I think if the park was to replace Viper, a Wing coaster would probably be better, but a Dive coaster is probably what they're going with for marketability and the price aspect of it.

I originally voted for don't use it, but changed it to the next option up after a little thought. Technically, I don't have a Twitter account, and quite honestly probably never will. I socialize with people through my phone, and choose not to follow or friend people online who I barely talk to. I used to find that social media was very cluttered with updates that I don't care about, and it opened up for drama with people for no reason. That is the reason mainly why I stay away from it. However, this is my perspective after years of using Facebook, not Twitter. Mainly, I indirectly use Twitter for news, updates, etc. While I don't have an account, I do search for TPR and some other sources to see some content (ex WCB and IAAPA updates). Also, I use Bleacher Report to keep up with sports teams, and they directly link a lot of posts to twitter, so that's another way that I keep informed. I guess that I can't say that I never use it, but when I do for the occasional update, I do not have an account.

Dodonpa is practically already the primitive version of Ibox track. I can totally see that happening now that it's been mentioned. Who's to say that the new trains for the T-Rex track cannot be modified to run on Dodonpa as well if this is really happens.

Hopefully by keeping Silver Bullet closed for this long means that they are just resting it until next season. I would hate to see another attraction go down long term without replacement. It's good to hear that the park was packed. Hopefully they consider trying a haunt event again in the future with these results. Even if it doesn't run all the way through October, I don't see how it can hurt. I was originally supposed to go for one last visit today, but unfortunately I was diagnosed with a concussion and decided to take it easy instead of risking going on coasters and aggravating it more. Was any more work done to Viper's station over the past few weeks? It would be a huge plus if so.

I remember reading a quote a few years back that said this year there would be a new owner in place. This was a while ago of course, and we've seen no signs that this is actually going to come true, at least in 2016. However, if such changes have been planned already, it may be announced in the offseason. CNL is looking to liquidate their amusement properties, as they have already sold Elitch Gardens last year. My guess is that Premier, and/or some smaller amusement company may be interested, with Herschend still possibly being a dark horse if the price is right.

Potato

I saw this a while back, and totally forgot about it. Great stuff!

It's pretty sad that people have nothing better to do all day that we've gotten to the level of faking crane pictures for a roller coaster company. While I'm on the side of RMC inevitably fixing Mean Streak anyways, I just don't know what to believe anymore. Hopefully someone a little more credible makes their way down to the Point so we can get to the bottom of this.

I want to know how many piles of garbage are in his room that it took him two years to find the shirt

I've also heard the rumblings a few years ago that GCI was in on the Predator fiasco. They've wanted to do an inversion for a while now, especially seeing that the other two big wooden companies have pulled it off. It would be hard to believe that RMC didn't make a pitch at all, especially seeing that Herschend just came off a blockbuster attraction from them with Outlaw Run. Whatever happens to the ride, I just don't want it to lose any intensity. For me, the airtime and laterals on that ride make it an awesome layout, the roughness kills it for most people. The silver lining right now is that it gets in worse shape every year, and something major is going to have to be done soon to fix it again.

They actually used to shut down the areas past Rolling Thunder down, so rides like Mind Eraser, Sleighride, and what is now Rowdy's Ridge were closed anyways. Viper's exit was re-routed to the front of Galaxy Theater. I believe that once Rowdy's Ridge opened, they chose to keep that side of the park open because the rides were new. None of the haunt attractions (Road Rage, Twister, and the Haunted Houses) opened until after 4:30 or so. At that point, they could close off rides like Lasso, Pirate, etc. and move those operators to the other rides. Once it gets dark out, they could probably do away with kiddie land as well. With all of the water rides being closed, that saves on many employees as well.

I think that they're playing the weather card because there is more to the story, they just don't feel like explaining the whole thing to all the "Wherez muh fright night????!?!?" commenters. Weather doesn't keep people from going out sledding, skiing, etc. in this area, so I can't imagine a cool day would cause too much of an issue. Something like the October Storm was a one time freak thing, just like how some parks have to deal with the occasional natural disaster. And if staffing is the issue, just rotate rides and keep some of the shops and games closed. No big deal. The haunted attractions didn't open until later in the day anyways. Fright Fest always seemed decently attended to me. The park had more visitors in it during Fright Fest than Dorney does on the average summer day. There is always the factor of change of management or ownership as well. IIRC, Fright Fest was cancelled the year that Six Flags sold the park (which coincidentally was also the year of the Oct Storm, though the announcement was made far in advance).

This x1000. Not only the mega loopers, but Steel Phantom and Drachen Fire as well. There were many issues with the mega loopers that included track fatigue, wheel wear, and general roughness. After Shockwave was installed in 1988 at SFGAm, the following season some elements of the track had to be replaced with sections that were stronger and had more cross ties. Viper, being the third generation model, was the "best" of the three speaking technically, but it also came with some reasons why. One: Trim Breaks Two: A supply of parts from the other two mega loopers. It may be the reason why Viper has even lasted this long. Arrow's looping coasters worked well at reasonable heights (Nessie is probably the max), but once they hit a height like they did with Vortex at KI, the trains and element designs couldn't handle it anymore.

For some reason I like the old Arrows. But even Viper for me was one of the "meh" ones. I think a dive coaster would already be a huge upgrade. As for number 20, I have no idea what to expect. I would love for them to put in a used Boomerang or a Free Spin for the fun of it to give everyone a stroke. And yes, I know that they already have Green Lantern lol.

I would hate to see Viper removed for a nostalgic factor, but I cannot say that I would be too excited to see a dive coaster be the park's big 20th addition. If Cedar Point didn't add Valravn this year, I think a dive coaster is much less likely. Six Flags is just riding off their coattails again. Granted that I was excited going into this season for Valravn, but wasn't too impressed when I got off of it. (Of course getting grouped in the middle row was a big reason for that too, but I'll give it another shot). I guess what I'm getting at is I'm okay with the park replacing Viper just to prevent a dive from becoming number 20. Even Six Flags could do better than that for a milestone coaster.

They did Fright Fest ever since the Six Flags era. At one point they even considered expanding it, and out of the blue a few years ago (either 2013 or 2014) they cut it and replaced it with this. My only guess can be the staffing or profit issues. I never took Fright Fest as an event that lost money though. They used to do some cool things for attractions as well. They had a field trip ride that used old school buses that would race through the campground, going though scenes near the trailers and had live actors. Another one that was proposed at one point was a boat ride over the lake called "Child of the Lake". Also, there was Road Rage (Dark Bumper Cars with Music), Twister Unleashed (Custom Cycles), and Carnevil (A walkthrough of old ride parts).

Best Food is always one of the tougher awards to pick. Out of the 3/5 parks there that I have visited, I really think they all have outstanding food. Knoebels should really get a lot of credit there, as they aren't a big chain park who can hire gourmet chefs like Disney or Dollywood. Plus, their prices are so reasonable. For me, that's a winner.

That's insane. Breakers is a nice hotel, and the renovations they have done over the years are beautiful. But I cannot see too many families staying there anymore if those are going to be the prices going forwards. Me personally, I would much rather go for the Platinum Pass and stay at Kalahari instead. Between the nice room, arcade, and water park, I find that I was most satisfied staying there this past May. This is coming from a person who has stayed at many of the hotels in the area over the years of visiting the park.

I still miss Fright Fest. As corny as some of the attractions were, and as small as it was, it was still better overall than any other Halloween event in the area. Unless it was not feasible to run the park into October anymore, it probably would not be impossible to do the Harvest Fest stuff during the day, and the haunts at night. Last season I did not go to the event, but I've heard some nice things about it. This year I think I will go, but more for the reason that I want to turn in my Fascination tickets before they expire. I could also use up the rest of my season pass coupons so they don't go to waste.

Any chance they deliver? That funnel cake looks delicious

Oops, must've grazed right over that post Anyways, they mistakenly miss one of the most intense rides on the planet, but remember to include rides like Whizzer and Euro-Mir? We miss you Mitch Hawker...