Shavethewhales

^Well, the pro would be stronger in strong-axis (vertical) bending and the con would be it's weaker in weak-axis (side to side) bending. So I'm guessing this coaster won't have a lot of turns? Is it more like one of those old dragster rides?

^Anything is possible at this point. I'm still guessing B&M wing coaster just based on what I see them trying to market, but no one knows anything yet. Track is usually staged in the employee parking lot. There is also a staging area being setup next to TNT's lift hill, but it won't hold everything at once. Here's another picture that I should have posted last week. This is looking down into the woods behind echo hollow from the bathrooms. This could be where the station will go.

It has certainly taken them a long time to finish the RV park, but it is almost done. Sounds like they want to start on the water park by next year, and maybe the theme park by 2020? Seems like they went into this with little capital and are basing it all on speculation regarding investors and selling some of the plots to other developers. However, they are slowly but surely pushing forward. Like pushing a boulder up a hill.

I mean, they literally say CL (centerline) COASTER, and the new markers say CL COLUMN. These markers are all over the place, so it would be a huge troll if they just wrote that to be funny. I wouldn't see it as odd for them to build over that section of TNT. They've already got Wildfire, Powderkeg, and OR smack next to each other on the other side of the park. I'll miss the swoop through the woods, but it's not exactly the main feature of TNT.

Here's a sketch of where I could see the track markings. Can't see much more due to all the trees. Apparently they have just added more markers for the column support locations. Isn't that weird? I can't recall seeing a coaster so clearly marked with track centerline and column markings before, complete with arrows on the ground showing the direction.

So the industry is really in a rising tide right now. Younger people seem to be much more inclined to go visit a theme park these days than people 10, 20 years ago. It used to be kind of a once or twice a year thing for most people to go visit their local park, but now I think more people are getting season passes to their locals and taking additional trips to see the big parks. Exciting times for our industry. A recession could knock a lot of this back, but I think there's still a ton of upside for the industry going forward into the next decade. Which is something I'm watching with interest. With so many parks expanding over time, when does it become viable for a smaller park such as ZDT or even Fun Spot to squeeze in nearby? Not everyone is willing to spend $150+ per person for a visit to some giant park all weekend. We lost a lot of small parks going into the new millennium, I'm hoping to see a resurgence. Maybe even be part of it someday...

Well, that's what it is. Heaven forbid a park try to be more than just cookie cutter rides plopped on a corn field and surrounded by asphalt. No really though, I get it. It's good to see a different perspective once in awhile, but as others have said, maybe you should just stick to Six Flags and Cedar Fair. I know I'd be just fine if DW got rid of all the coasters and went back to just shows, music and crafts. I'm a coaster nut myself, but for me the finer aspects of DW outweigh them. You'll notice DW gets a lot more guests per year than most parks with it's relative slate of rides, so obviously many agree. I'm actually surprised there aren't more parks that focus on more than just rides, given the success of most parks that tie into music and movies. But you didn't find Mystery Mine, Blazing Fury, and Tennessee Tornado worth re-rides? That just seems purposefully shallow to me. It would be hard to stay a coaster enthusiasts if I had such narrow tastes. I was underwhelmed by some of the coasters on my first visit, but I'd still probably ride them all day if given the chance.

Ugh, now I'm wanting to blow a bunch of dough on flying out to Knoxville this summer. I was going to hold off until next year, but two new kick-ass RMC's in the area? Should have done last year's trip this year. What's the thought on length? Does it feel short, or just right? I looks like it ends too soon since it has a big drop right into the brake run, but RMC never tries to let a coaster bleed out into the brakes.

But see, this was never a "plaza" like some amusement park, it's a peaceful dining area covered in trees. I hope they don't Cedar Fair this ride entrance with a big plaza and instead keep it in the woods as much as possible. I'm afraid it will feel like any other amusement park where the coasters are all that matters. There's actually a lot in this area with all the food, shops, and scenery, but to coaster enthusiasts it's just an alleyway to the next ride. They usually do a really nice blend of scenery, theming, and practical park design though, so I'm absolutely giving them the benefit of the doubt, but this is a tough location to throw a big coaster and not completely change the feel of this side of the park for the worse (IMO).

^They just replaced the big archway/truss signage thing for TNT, so it doesn't look like it's in danger at all. The experience will definitely change a bit with what we assume will be a big B&M something or other next to and over it. In fact, you'd have to assume they'll do some more refurbishing on it since it will be getting some more attention.

What a bizarre way to soft-open a coaster. I guess they don't want huge crowds to line up because they may need to close it for whatever reason and don't want to disappoint a three-hour line of people. Openly calling it a "technical rehearsal" seems so weird to me. I would think it might freak out some guests who would think the coaster might be dangerous or something. Can we stop the low-effort joke posts now?

Here are some of my photos from this weekend. There are a few more of the same here: http://sdcfans.com/2017-project-construction-update-52116/ So the track will go through (or above) the EH bathrooms somehow, but it's pretty tight so it must be an inversion or lift hill and drop from my estimation. The markings disappear down the hill from the bathrooms for both directions of the track, so it doesn't look like we'll be able to tell the rest of the layout until they start putting the footers in. It will cross over ThuNderaTion at least once though.

At the park now. Apparently the coaster will make a turn right next to thunderations station on the front side where it turns out of the station. There's also a marker within tnt's track in the "swoop" after the tunnel. Definitely got a big staging area setup next to tnt's lifthill. No doubt about it, this is definitely a coaster.

I'm just ready for some new photos. I'll be there this weekend to get some myself. This is definitely the time to start watching closely.

^They aren't going to come out and say exactly what's happening and what went wrong. It opens them up to too many questions and liabilities and would only hurt their image by calling their equipment into question. The only thing they need to tell their customers is that it is taking longer to commission than expected and isn't open yet - which is exactly what they are doing. As has been said before, if you travel to theme parks you should expect issues like this. Individual rides are never 100% in any case, even at destination parks. I'm still willing to bet money that it will be open for Memorial Day, but that's just me speaking out of my ass.

^That's why they have a massive indoor section at the front of the park. The outside portion really isn't that large - certainly not compared to the original proposition. They've selected a fairly small number of quality rides that should give a good all-around park experience, but it's definitely small enough that you can do everything in an evening, or in spurts during the day. I wonder if they'll come up with a virtual queue so people don't have to wait for hours in the heat?

What's this, a ranking system that actually makes sense? I won't allow it! But somewhat seriously though, I agree in principle, but maybe you guys just need to relax your standards a tad. I consider Freeze and American Thunder at least to be coasters I'd ride repeatedly, and Screamin' Eagle is close for me as well if it were a bit smoother. B:TR, despite being a clone, is also really good. What everyone is really yearning for is the fourth category: Those roller coasters so good that enthusiasts will travel to visit. IE: Fury, Outlaw Run (or most any RMC), Piraten, etc. It's a tough spot for followers of this park because the park is "big enough" for a ride like that in a linear-development sense, but in reality it seems that is not the business plan of the current management. I've not seen the numbers (are they posted somewhere specifically for this property?), but from my few visits the park is doing really well bringing in the locals. If they can carry a good profit through smaller capital investments that are enough to keep the locals coming back, then they've met their goals and don't need to risk some giant investment in a coaster that puts them into deeper competition with other regional parks. Perhaps their long-term strategy is have a lower average capital investment schedule so they can be able to push their entrance fees even lower, thus being able to undercut WOF and SDC from at least the STL market. Point is: as much as we feel that a park is "ready" for something on the next level, they might not actually be ready to commit to that much risk. More expenditure = more debt, more secondary expenses (marketing, staff, insurance, etc), and less flexibility in the short term.

Great photos. I always like it when people point out the details in these reports. They've actually had a dalmatian around FITH for years now, though it's not there every day. They've gone through a few of them actually. I think an employee simply owns it and brings it with them each day.

Lots of extrapolation based on vague rumors again. I'll believe there could be a kernel of truth that DW is still working on adjustments. I still feel like they could have a target of opening by Memorial Day if at all possible. If they can't open by then, the delay will really start to be a bit unfortunate for them.

What's amazing is that this doesn't happen more often. So many crappy east Asian companies are building stuff like this based off of pictures from western companies. It's all about making it look similar, not actually engineering it. The industry was really up in arms about it a few years ago, and I'm sure it will always be an issue.

I mean, what's holding them back at this point from opening? They've fixed the launch apparently since some people have been able to ride, and testing has reportedly been going on for ages now... If we're making bets, I'd go ahead and say the rumors of a soft opening this weekend will end up being true. If not this weekend, then the next. Maybe they'll do a true "grand opening" for Memorial Day weekend.

^This has been posted before, and like last time it needs to be pointed out that this guy did NOT have permission to do this, and he caused a big headache for the park even though it hadn't opened yet. They had to shut everything down during testing and it delayed things, but even worse is the obvious potential threat it creates for the park. Just imagine an unscrupulous or idiotic person flying a drone in the path of a coaster going 60+ MPH. In any case, no one has the right to fly drones in air space that doesn't belong to them. Doesn't matter if it's a "public" place, or if it's closed, or if it's the off-season or whatever.

I guess since SDC is supposedly locking all the B&M designs down, WOF should just go to Intamin and lock in all their designs. I guess that leaves SFStL with Mack and Chance.

The Herschends were very long-term thinking folks. They bought up as much land as they could both in Branson and Pigeon Forge. I know at SDC they bought up land along the road in both directions specifically so that they could fend off the crappy developments and keep the area "in the woods". A lot of it is hard to build on, but they've cut through a couple of hills just recently and they can always do it again. As far as coasters go, there's endless opportunities.

^DW has a ton of land. Much more than most parks. A giga may not be likely for various reasons, but it's not wholly out of the realm of possibility for them. In fact, I was expecting something much taller before LR was announced. I'll agree that they will probably focus on Splash Country in 2017, especially since it looks like SDC might be getting a coaster that year.