WestCoasterKing

I don't buy this argument when Kings Island is closer to Cedar Point than Michigan's Adventure is and they regularly invest in that park. a) Kings Island has nothing to do with Michigan's population, which is the second largest draw for attendance at Cedar Point. and b) Comparing Kings Island to Michigan's Adventure is like comparing Apples to Oranges anyway... Believe me guys... I could write a Doctoral Dissertation on this subject, that is fact based, and VERY persuasive... You can choose not to buy it if you want, but that doesn't make it any less real of a situation... If MiA was such a threat then why didn't they buy it and then close it? Big companies do things like that all the time. Why keep it open? It makes no sense.

A kind of cool idea, but I dunno, I miss Beary Tales, but I have to admit, I'm an adult now...and me going through something like that...well, at this point....I've let it go lol. I'd rather they do a Soap Box remake. Ooo yeah. A new updated LSM slot car style versions. Using an old park map that showed WSBR and using the polygon measuring tool on Google Earth, I approximate they would need around 60,000 square feet for an exact replica layout. I wouldn't expect an exact replica of course. I'm just using that as a reference. That would make it a pretty big project, landwise. I can only see them doing if they ever expand into the south parking lot. On a separate note. Are the spinning swings, swinging ship and Hat Dance in still all that popular? I don't know if it's just the season I typically visit (December) but I don't see that many people ever riding. That corner of Fiesta Village is around 25,000 square feet. They could fit a nice little coaster in that spot. Lastly, if - and this is a big if let me tell you, Sol Spin doesn't make it, what else can they do with that spot?

No, argument there.

Oh, bummer. That's too bad because an open train would have been really cool what with it zipping through the trees. Maybe they can just take the shells off the current ones. No, that probably wouldn't work either.

This is a really good idea. And while they are at give Viper some MK1212 trains.

How did you do that? I haven't found that feature yet.

What I am most interested in is how you figured out the square footage of the coasters. Is this from a source you got somewhere on the internet, or is this something you've been able to figure out on your own? Simple arithmetic, my dear DoubleDown. Simple arthritic. My measurements are approximate of course, not exact, but still pretty close. Google Earth has a ruler feature. If you click on 'polygon' you can draw triangle shape around whatever you want and choose "square footage" and it will give you the square footage inside the triangle. Of course that only works on something roughly triangle shaped, such as Sierra Sidewinder or Coast Rider. I haven't yet figured out if there is 'rectangle' feature so instead I just use the ruler to measure the length and the width. For example Xcelerator sits completely within a rectangle shaped box so you measure the length and multiply that by by the width and you get approximately 82,000 square feet. A ride like Silver Bullet is much more difficult. You have to use a combination of rectangles and polygons and add them all together and I've just been too lazy to do that.

So this was just on my mind today. We all know that Knott's is a small park strapped for space. Unlike many parks they don't have "unlimited" room to expand. Occasionally they have to remove something in order to make way for something new and fresh. So my question is this, which attraction do you honestly think is the next to get the axe at some point down the line? I know it won't be anytime soon as they have a lot on their plate right now. But eventually they will do something. What do you think that will be? Or should be? For my pick I don't think it will be a ride at all. I believe the next attraction to go will be 'Mystery Lodge'. Granted it's not taking up a large space, only about 21,000 square feet (not counting the rocks, waterfall and lake area), but Knott's has been pretty creative in the past with utilizing small spaces for major new attractions. 'Seirra Sidewinder' is about 20,000 square feet and 'Coast Rider' is 14,000 square feet. Personally though I'd like to see them keep the building and use it for a dark ride. 'Iron Reef' is just about the exact same size. Just please don't do another 3-D interactive piece of crap. But even a small coaster would be great in that spot. I also think 'Iron Reef' should get a revamp to remove the 3-D aspect. That is the number one complaint I most hear about the ride. It just gives most people a headache. Also remove some of the screens and instead add in a few animatronics. Make it more like 'Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters' at Disneyland. But that's just me. What about you?

Considering I rarely think before I speak, I'm always prepared.

That's kind of what I was thinking.

The station design doesn't really fit the theme. Maybe I missed something. Is it supposed to be like an old barn "back in the day" that the inventor works out of?

Everyone says Disney as if that's a given. But while it's well done it's all fake. Manufactured. Universal too. Me, I love the gritty realism of Ghost Town at Knott's. Because, well it's real. Sure a lot has been replaced but it still has that weathered lived in vibe. And during Haunt it just becomes that much better. I loved that movie too. Kevin Costner was great. I loved how at the end he totally goes native.

el oh el... A dozen mangled brake fins =/= catastrophic breakage of launch mechanism. First, the fins are for the launch sled and not the train. And 2nd, the sled stops in such a short distance that even cutting and welding new steel to the track would cost a teeny-tiny fraction of replacing the entire launch motor and launch track. I could be wrong but that doesn't look like brake fins.

Oh, don't get me wrong. GR is one of my favorite woodies and I'm glad they kept it wooden. I was just saying that I was surprised, that's all. And yes it does run so much better now. Though in my opinion they supremely humped the bunk with regards to GR dispatching however. That final station approach has so many brakes it's ridiculous. I could be wrong but I don't remember it being that way before the refurb. After my first ride I went again and counted the brakes and timed it. There were TEN (10) hard complete brake stops during the station approach, including the initial brake and the final station stop. And from that first brake to the very last brake was one minute and sixteen seconds! 1:16! The entire ride from station depart to the first brake was only 2:21, and if you only count from the top of the lift hill to the first brake then it is 1:25! Seriously, 1:16 of approach braking is really truly unnecessary. Am I alone in thinking that is just bonkers? And is it still that way or have they figured out their error and fixed it?

I'm going with "no" and "no". Didn't Montazooma just get a brand new paint job less than a year ago? If it is down the closure isn't even listed on the website so it's unlikely to be a long closure. As for Xcelerator, if prolonged breakdowns caused parks to get rid of their rocket coasters they would all be gone by now. All of these recent breakdowns have occured since the paint job. It's clear CF and Knott's want to keep Monty as long as possible. If I'm not mistaken it just went through a major rehab of the launch system prior to said paint job. That said, all coasters do have an eventual expiration date. The stresses on the steel alone mean that track must eventually be replaced. It is inevitable that we will one day have to say good bye to Montazoomas Revenge. I just wonder if that will wind coming sooner rather later. As for Xcelerator and TTD, depending on what the problem is it may not be cost effective to fix them. I genuinely wonder if they are being honest with us about waiting for parts. From the pictures we saw of TTD it appears there was a catastrophic breakage of the actual launch mechanismn itself. We don't know what's wrong with Xcelerator, but I doubt it's just a cable snap. It shouldn't take four months to get a new cable, especially when they had one break in 2013 and had it back up and running within a few weeks. Personally I think they should install LSMs on Xcelerator and TTD and be done with it, but the cost is probably not worth it. Xcelerator is 15 years old and while it is popular (it's my favorite ride) it has been acting up more and more. I agree it's unlikely to get the axe. I just wonder that's all.

Does anyone know why they chose to retrack rather than convert GR?

Good question. Do they take the easy road and go with something small and narrow like a Sky Rocket II or S&S FreeSpin? Or do they think big and use that space just for the station for a much bigger ride? Maybe that ride could bridge over LaPalma and into the north parking lot. Or here's a crazy thought. Maybe Jaguar has run it's course as well and they remove both rides and run the new ride over FV. Time will tell. For now I'm sure they're focused fully on HangTime. Where are these "overseas" parts coming from? Yes I know Switzerland is "overseas" but I assume that's not what people mean. I heard that these parts are having to be made special by third party "aftermarket" manufacturers. Is this true? If so is this because of the rumored tiff between Intamin and CF? Is it really so bad that CF can't get parts straight from Intamin?

Any word on whether of not other Intamin acceleratirs have been having issues (outside of CF)?

End of the line for Montazooma's Revenge and/or Xcelerator? I'm really starting to wonder. Monty has been up and down all summer and now it's down again. As for Xcelerator, it has been down TBA for several months now. Word was that they were waiting for a part to be made overseas and that they hoped to have it reopened by next spring. Now there's a rumors that the park has confirmed it will indeed be down for a loooooong time. I guess we will see.

I don't do spinning rides because I get motionsick. But I went on one because of a girl and threw up in the trash can after getting off. Years later I went to a fair and rode the Graviton and got sick again. Oddly enough rides like Sierra Sidewinder don't bother me but Green Lantern ZacSpin almost got me.

Xcelerator up and running

Actually I am colour blind within certain colour palettes. I get mixed up when it comes to various shades of blue, green and grey, and sometimes red and brown. To me green traffic lights lights look blue for example, but since I can tell the difference between red, yellow and blue/green I can have a driver license. Also I think that my favorite navy blue shirt looks purple, and I once bought a suit at a second hand store that I thought was dark grey but was actually green. Fortunately it only cots me $5.

Can anybody tell us what HangTime's colour scheme will be? In the illustrations released by Knott's the supports look to be white or light grey and the track looks to be lavender or purple. Yet I read one news story that states it will have silver supports and a light blue track. In none of the official renderings I have seen do the supports look remotely silver.

Are we sure this isn't a new ride?

That would be awesome.