TCSCskater

Hey, Will be at the park around 3:30. Will be wearing a black baseball cap and a plain oversized gray shirt and jeans. Be nice to run into someone.

I really don't see Wild Thing getting new trains anytime soon. However, it would be an amazing hyper if it got the Steel Phantom treatment (Morgan track with Arrow Chassis's on the trains) or something similar. Does anyone know what the track-gauge is for Chance/Morgan's? I'm curious if Morgan and Arrow use the same track gauge width on their coasters, as Morgan is more or less an off shoot of Arrow.

I find my self spending much of my time spent in line wondering if I know anyone in the vicinity and un-intentionally eavesdropping on fellow riders, all the time wondering if I know them via their internet message-board persona.. As far as working at VF, I have heard very mixed accounts. A few people have told me that no matter how much you are into coasters or theme-parks in general, that working at VF can get very old very fast (as can anywhere). Others have expressed how awesome it is and never getting old. Hopefully I'll find out first-hand in the near-future.

^^ Mostly all of the Haunted-House type attractions I've been to abide by the "if you don't touch us, we won't touch you" policy. I would assume it's fairly universal, given our high propensity for lawsuits in America. Don't quote me on that though. As far as the quality of VF's haunted attractions, I haven't been there in a few years but the last time I was there, both the general theming throughout the park, and the mazes were top-notch. And, from what I've heard, it's gotten a lot better. The only minus for me, was the fact that only a couple of the rides were operating at the time I went, Wild thing, and High-roller (maybe Corkscrew), but that's probably subject to frequent change. If you're already in the area, and assuming you have extra cash to spend, "Spookyworld", which is about 5 miles away is an awesome haunt too, and it takes a good while to see everything. It's called something else now, have to look it up. It's on the Renaissance grounds.

I love Arrow's too! My biggest coaster-related regret is not being tall enough to ride Shockwave at SFGA back when it was still there (I think I was 6 ) Hopefully I can make it out to SFMM and get to ride Viper while it's still there. And yes, Arrow's chain-dogs are almost hypnotizing.

Superman: The Escape at SFMM. Like fifteen-twenty years ago, I was 5 or 6 and loved it

Assuming I could ride one of each, for an Invert, I'd definitely say Alpengeist, for a normal-steel coaster, I305 or Smiler. Wooden: The Beast (original) or Outlaw Run. This thread is such thought-candy

The first, and only Intamin coaster I've been on is Steel Venom at Valleyfair, (an "Impulse" coaster similar to Wicked Twister at CP.) I'm hoping to make Skyrush my first full-circuit Intamin next Summer

I'll be going to VF tomorrow to finally take advantage of my"one free-pass" that came with my 2015 SP. (or I guess it's today now,(Sunday ). I will definitely be doing some visual-surveying. I'll post anything that seems worth posting.

*Drool* This is awesome, feels like I'm trying to decipher clues for the STP Winter-carnival medallion, except oddly, the prospect of figuring this "puzzle" out is even more exciting, to me. Gary- I was actually going to ask if anyone here had been to the Wilderness in the last year or so, in my last post but I got the dreaded "blue screen of death" right before I could hit "submit". I was scanning the dells on Google Earth a few days ago and couldn't believe how massive that place has gotten. How were the other amenities there overall? Also, how many individual "water parks" did they have? From G.E the whole complex looks like an amazing twisted labyrinth of indoor/outdoor slides, snaking throughout the resort. I'm thinking I might stay there next time I'm in town.

I just got my 2015 season-pass a week ago. In fact, I plan on enjoying my complimentary "one free-admission" this weekend, assuming it doesn't storm on Sunday (Weather-channel keeps going back-and-forth). I'm hyped, I haven't been out to VF this year yet, and plan on doing some careful observation/surveying. And no, I haven't been to Mt. Olympus since "Family-land" WP was still next to it. I'm out there quite a bit, as my dad makes frequent business-trips to that area of WI. However, I spend most of my time at Timber-falls (freaking love their mini-golf course(s), best in the Dells IMO), and occasionally Noah's Ark, or Kalahari if it's winter. I checked out Mt. Olympus last year, and turned around at the admission-gate, after viewing what I thought to be ridiculous prices.

Lol, your browser-windows are almost identical to mine at the moment. As far as VF getting a giga, B@M or otherwise, doesn't VF have a 275' or so height restriction, owed to Flying Cloud being just a couple miles to the north? If so, I don't see a giga in VF's future ever. Nonetheless, I still like the layout you have outlined. I am actually in the middle of making a GE overlay with a similar layout, except mine involves the removal of The Wave. It's just a pipe dream though. However, I think taking out Excalibur and building something on that plot of land is a tad more realistic. That plot of land is definitely big enough for a nice, compact B&M like Batman or Afterburn. I think I'll try and lay something out there on GE after I'm done with this one (yes, I live an exiting life, i know)

I know that many here will disagree with me, as they were notorious for being painful, but I would love to ride any of the old 7-loop Arrows. Specifically "Shockwave" at SFGA. At the time I visited, I was an inch short of the 54" height requirement. By the time I made it back there, Shockwave was being demolished However, I was able to take about a dozen cycles on Vortex at PKI during that same road trip, so that was a good consolation. I know Viper at SFMM is still around, but don't expect to make it out there anytime soon. There's just something about those old sit-down, custom loopers that I love. Not to mention the nostalgia.

I don't know why I didn't think of this before.. I really hate the hold-brakes (the ones that engage for a half-sec at the peak of the rear-tower) on those iIntamin, "inverted impulse coaster's" IE.. Possessed at Dorney, Steel Venom at VF (in particular). Those are just painful, with the chest-restraint pushing up onto your chest. It's still worth it to me though. Those types of coaster are super fun, IMO.

The first one that comes to mind was on Wild Thing at Valleyfair. They were running all three trains and got into a screwy hold-pattern and the train I was on came to a sudden, and startling halt on the Mid-course brake-run, which usually slows the trains by maybe 10-15 MPH before descending into the tunnel and hitting a set of "bunny hills". Definitely caught me off guard and took the smile off my face.

American Eagle (Six Flags Great America) circa 1996.

"Wild Thing" at Valleyfair. It was my first ride on that coaster in about two years. It felt surprisingly rough, compared to the last time I was on it. It's a pleasurable roughness though, so to speak.

Cliche.

Hello all, I'm Ben. I'm 25, and live in St. Paul, Minnesota. The closest worth while park around me is probably Valleyfair (Smaller Cedar fair park). Although I've considered myself an "enthusiast" since I was 10, I've only been on probably 30-40 coasters, which is mostly owed to my not owning a car. I have visited a few other parks (SFMM, SFGA, and Kings Island) albeit before I met the 54" Height requirement for half the coasters. However, there's a 75% chance I'll be able to make it back to Six Flags Great America this summer I'm also into Urban-exploring, caving, photography, psychology, and I'm currently studying Forensic Science at STP college, plus a thousand more random interests/hobbies which I won't even go into right now, but needless to say, my interests are all over the spectrum. Anyways, I joined TCP a month or so back although I had been lurking about for some time longer. Thought I'd stop in and make a formal introduction. See you guys around-Ben

I know a mounting-bracket on the brake run was what the week or so long investigation claimed was the root-cause of the accident. However, they didn't know why the bracket was failed in the first place. The sum of the details which was released to the public seemed annoyingly vague, as they often do with theme-park accidents in general. The way that the train and detached rear-car came to sit on the track was odd to me. With the rear car coming to a halt about 15-20 feet behind the rest of the intact train, and the fifth cars rear axle (which they claimed is what came in contact with the loose, or somehow misaligned mounting bracket, causing the rear car to derail) laying on the tracks another 10 to 20 feet behind the rear-car.

Wow, thanks for the quick replies. All of your input and photos were quite helpful, and definitely helped me gain a better understanding, as well as helped me construct a much better mental-image of both type of trains stripped down, so to speak (hey, a good coaster is sexy thing to me 0 Helix123- Ironically, the non-trailered photo I posted (Wild Thing) was involved in an incident in 2006, which I witnessed from less the 50 feet away (We were next in line and would has waiting to get in front on that exact train). The 5th and 6th(back) cars decoupled, and the 6th derailed, before coming to a stop, and tilting at a 45 degree on its side (not sure which proceeded which, as it happened so fast that it appeared to be simultaneous). Luckily, there were somehow only minor injuries, but more than likely serious mental-scars. Point in case, I still have an aversion to the back car on that ride, and just waiting in line for it gives me an overall unsettled feeling (and I only witnessed it). Subsequent investigation revealed that a "faulty" mounting-bracket was to blame. I assume that the mounting bracket they were referring to was for a proxy-switch, or for part of the brake system, considering it occurred on the ending brake-run. Anyways, thought I would share that, as the manner in which the train derailed sounds similar to the Mindbender accident which you mentioned. I wonder how the incident on Wild Thing would have played out had it been a trailered-train. PS: In case anyone's curious, there's a bunch more info on the Wild Thing derailment in the official Valley-Fair theme park thread, mostly pages 1-15. Thanks again for your guys''s input.

Hello all, (I apologize in advance if this should be in another forum, this one seemed to fit the bill best IMO). I have a fairly simple mechanically-related question which pertains to roller coaster-train layouts. I was hoping someone here, either a mechanic, or just a coaster lover could explain, in detail, how "Trailered"-trains vary from non-trailered trains, as far as the chassis, wheel/axle assembly, layout, and any other significant differences. I have not been able to find anything on Google, or elsewhere which explains this in any detail. The best I could find was a super old, archived thread on "Coasterbuzz" where someone asked this exact question, however, none of the links posted still exist. All a got as far a a description is "It means that the front of each car has no wheels; rather, the front of each car rests on the (back end) wheel assembly of the car in front of it." So based on what I can gather from the above sentence, I'm guessing this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennywood#mediaviewer/File:KW-Phantom%27s_Revenge.jpg , would be trailered and this: http://www.coasterimage.com/valleyfair-pictures/ , would be a non-trailered train, right? If any of the awesome peeps on this forum can help me understand this better, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

For me, my "sneak-off-to-ride" ride, is Excalibur at VF, too. For one, it's the strangest "Mine-coaster" I've ever encountered, not to mention, it's also a very uncommon track-type (Steel-track with wooden-structure) to begin with, and if I'm not mistaken, only the 2nd coaster of that construction ever built. Lastly, it's rare to have to wait more than 5-15 minutes to get the front and back seats, even on busy days at the park. I usually devote a chunk of my trip to VF to this thing and will try and get in at least ten, back-to-back rides on it, mostly in the back row, partially because of how out-of-the way this coaster is, isolated in the far corner of the property. It was even better in it's earlier days, before they added a MCBR, and re-profiled the first 120 degree banked-turn (immediately following the first/lift hill) to make it more mellow

I don't think that the water park was that bad. I really enjoyed the fake river rapids ride and the two twin speed slides. But relative to the other Cedar Fair parks, yes, I do agree that it sucks.

No, no and more no. The only revamping of Excalibur should be demolition, don't waste anymore money on it. I realize that Excalibur is probably the least popular coaster at VF. You can usually can get the front, or back seat in less than 5 minutes (Was it even popular in the years following it's opening)? However, I personally would be quite sad to see them demolish Excalibur. It was either the first or second roller-coaster I was on (that and Corkscrew). I think I was 5 or 6 years old and just barely made the 48" Minimum height-requirement by a Millimeter, and I have rode it at least 150 times since then, so it's quite sentimental to me.. However, if they replaced it with a nice B&M Invert, or compact steel-twister like "Vortex" or "Ninja" at SF Georgia (not sure if that plot of land is big enough to accommodate something bigger) I would get over it Maybe I'll mess around with Google Earth and experiment with overlays of various RC's to see what would fit there.