Shavethewhales

^It seems it will have it's own stub. Not quite a section, but not really a part of Wilson's Barnyard. The theme involves a wagon station for people traveling west. And yes, the hi-lo silos are exactly like the ones from DW. Just four more days till the announcement...

^There will be lots of new and interesting aspects of the coaster to show off on August 9, plus the area around the coaster that will apparently include a couple of vendors of some sort. The coaster will have it's own "stub" section of the park themed to a wagon station. There won't be any other attractions in the area unless we're in for a big surprise. You'll enter the area through Wilson's Barnyard where the Giant Swing is.

It's just a photo from the top guys, there's nothing hidden in it. The new sdctripplanning.com looks pretty sweet though.

Here are some new pics from Major Havoc on SDCFans (and maybe here as well?): http://twitpic.com/aenlgb This thing is still shaping up nicely. In the photo I linked to directly you can see how much difference there is between the first drop and that little hop, so the train will be flying through this section and probably giving a good amount of air. It truly is a double up and double down in this section because of the way it is going down one hillside into a valley and then up the other side. It's hard to see from the vantage point we have had to work with so far.

I'd like to remind everyone that there's still more to look forward to on August 9. The layout may have been spoiled for many, but the details really make the cake with SDC's rides, and boy are there still a lot of details to reveal. The concept art isn't even that good. You'll be blown away by the footage that will be brought back from when the media is allowed to go down in the valley and get some good shots at the drop and the entrance into that ridiculous over bank. We'll also get to look at the train designs and see what thematic details are in store. Also, even though less scrupulous sites are throwing the layout out there against the park's wishes, I want to discourage anyone from posting it anywhere. The park has put a lot of effort into making August 9 as special as they can, and this isn't really helping. I'm glad it's creating buzz, but this is a little too much buzz at the wrong time. This is a multimillion dollar undertaking by the park, and as fans we should be supportive any way we can.

^There's still going to be a bit of height. The concept artwork is pretty deceptive since it makes it appear as if it is on level ground. In reality this ride is actually somewhat fitted to the terrain. Some of those drops are going to be a little bigger than they look, I think. There should be a good bit of airtime on this, so I'm happy.

It's not that short for a coaster without an MCBR. It's probably longer than Wildfire. SDC just doesn't like MCBR's. Plus, this coaster only cost them about $10 million, so they're still trying to stay on the cheap side while building something groundbreaking.

Well, the layout has been leaked online now. No more "Christmas Morning" announcement for enthusiasts, but the GP should still be surprised. That is, if people would stop posting the layout on their FB page... It's a nice looking layout, though the graphic makes some of it look a lot bigger than it is in real life. There's some moments for some great air, and all the turns are taken at near or past 90 degrees. It's not real long, but every second of it is doing something pretty great.

I know of at least one POV video that will be shared. Again, that leak was almost definitely unintentional and the website was incomplete. Web developers often throw stuff up on a server for the client to monitor while in development, but most good developers use different servers with different urls, and when there is any sort of privacy involved they put a login on it like they have done now. This was just silly the way they had it out there like that. One good thing about this announcement is that we don't have to fret about the rumors of OSTR's anymore though. Sounds like the new RMC trains are pretty cool.

^^Considering this leak WAS of the announcement that will be made in ten days, I think you'll see a layout soon enough. Even I haven't seen the layout yet. Since I'll be there on the day of the announcement I am looking forward to the surprise. Well, a little less now...

On an upnote though, the layout sounds OK. It's about what I thought, short and sweet with another big element. It's kind of like Wildfire 2.0. In some ways I was hoping for something more focused on airtime and traditional thrills, but you can't complain with this thing. It's interesting though that the park chose this instead of something more family oriented. The busiest ride in the park is Powderkeg, and that is largely due to it's low 42 inch height restriction. TGS is also very popular, again largely because it is thrilling yet shorter people can ride. You'd have thought they would have gone with something for the youngerish crowd, but I'm sure this will actually draw more people just due to the effects of marketing. I just don't think it's a decision they would have made in the past... If they get a G-fighter on top of this as has been rumored, then the park will have three major thrill coasters, making it very competitive regionally with Six Flags and Worlds of Fun. In the past, I think they were actually competing nationally, even against Disney world when that was just getting started. Just something to think about when you look back at their history and the choices in attractions that they've made.

I really doubt this was intentional. SDC just doesn't operate that way. It looks every bit like a stupid goof from an inexperienced web dev who didn't realize how much interest was behind this. Please don't go and post the layout and ruin their efforts at a big reveal. Good to hear the layout is exciting though. I didn't see the layout, so I'm still in at least some suspense for the big announcement. Hopefully this will only kill some of the buzz for the enthusiasts and not the GP.

^A "roll", singular, is typically where the track goes from standard position to upside down while traveling in a fairly straight line. Barrel rolls are like this: http://rcdb.com/1412.htm?p=6546 and zero-g rolls are like this: http://rcdb.com/80.htm?p=1320 Cobra rolls kind of break the terminology there... but what are you going to do, we're bad at keeping standards It sounds like this supposed roll in the valley is a zero-g roll, but I'll hold my breath until the announcement or photos are posted. With all the surprises this coaster has thrown, who knows what's really been spotted or what the track is actually going to do.

I don't know what you guys are complaining about. DL has at least a couple of good coasters, some great flats, a great water park, and they've just received some great new investments. I'm sure Predator could use some work, but I'm sure that will come in time. I know they have made some attempts recently and when they brought the new trains over that helped a lot. HFEC is good about refurbishing woodies, such as with Cheetah at WA. Poor landscaping is never a good thing, but from the photos I've seen this year it hasn't gotten horrible yet and at this park it's just not a focus anyway. I'd say give them another year before getting too down on them, there's a lot of progress just around the corner.

Geez, we really are living in the future, but there isn't anything that points to a launch on this thing. The train will already be going at a good clip when it dives down into the valley, and it doesn't seem to go very far after that to get to the other side and back into the station, so there's no need or even room for a launch. I'm hoping for a helix of some sort or a fan turn up the side of the hill that we can't see. I've been told that there will in fact be a major media day spectacle on park on August 9. They probably won't have it set up for the GP, but the editor of Midwestinfoguide.com will be there to get photos and a report for enthusiasts. It sounds like they may get a chance to go down in the valley next to the track to get the first good angles of this ride. People's jaws are going to drop when they finally see just how crazy the drop is. None of the photos yet do it justice because they're all at odd angles from behind the lifthill.

Looks like I'll actually be going to the park on the day of the announcement. Wish I had a smart phone so that I could actually get to see the reveal online since I doubt they'll do anything big on-park, but we'll see. In other news, it sounds like that giant banner might have been erected in order to block the view of another surprise element that will soon take shape. Or they are just trying to hype the heck out of the website. The latter is probably more likely, but the banner is placed in a position to block the view of the final portion of the ride way down in the valley below the station. You can hardly see anything down there anyway because of all the trees, and I can't imagine what it could do besides swoop back up to the station going by the footers I've seen. It's also worth noting that unless there is something big going on down in the valley that we can't see, this ride will actually be pretty short. I expect that there is a lot more going on down there that we can't see because of that. Right now we know that there's an awesome drop, a crazy inverted element, then a few curves that ultimately lead to a cross over or under the lift and into the next valley. We don't see anything else until the curve up the hill back into the station. Here's one more thought: since there's so much of a grade between the bottom of the valley and the station, the train will still have to be pulling some serious ass at the end in order to make it back up to the station. That is further evidence that it may end up being a fairly short ride, but at the very least they will use that momentum to end with a big finish somehow. There have to be more big secrets behind this coaster that have yet to be revealed. You just don't start out with two jaw dropping elements and then do nothing but typical curves and bunny hills with the rest of the layout.

Some new photos from SDCFans user mammalone: Giant new banner, tracking all the way through the fakeout/cutback/whatever, all the bents are up for the curve just after that, there seems to be an airtime hop after the curve next to the base of the drop, and bents are starting to go up for the cross over/under the lift. Nothing terribly exciting after the crazy drop and fakeout element so far then, but those are some nice swooping curves, and it looks like there's going to be a bit of airtime on the apex going and coming, which I'm happy about. This photo of the fakeout is one of the best angles yet: It really shows that it's about as inverted as you can get.

Wow, that's a lot to do in six days. I can only really give advice about FC and SDC, and I know at SDC you'll wish you had a second day whereas at FC you can pretty much do everything you'll want to in about 3-4 hours. At SDC, definitely try to be there at park opening and hit up Powderkeg first thing, and then maybe the Giant Swing right after that. That's really my only big advice for the park since Powderkeg is really the only ride that gets big lines during the day. For food I recommend the burgers at the Wagonworks Grille or the Lumbercamp, and of course anything in either of the two bakeries. There is a pretty neat cave underneath the park that you can go on a tour of if it gets too hot. I also recommend the show in the Saloon, but I wouldn't waste time on Luma or the Bubble Show. One last thing - if you walk up to Wildfire and see a line stretching out the building, don't fret, for some reason they often don't have the queue open inside the station, so once you get through the doors you go straight to the loading area. I guess they're worried about vandalism or something. Not much to say about FC... the only line you will have any trouble with is for the Wildcat since it only runs one dinky little three-car train. There's really not much there to afford a visit other than to get the credits, unless you're a big Schwartzkopf fan. It's an OK little park and it's getting a lot better with the new management, but for enthusiasts it gets old pretty fast IMO.

Very cool, I love the detail they've put into this and I appreciate the fact that the ride will continue the tradition of having an immersive backstory. A user on SDCFans pulled some stills from a recent video and posted them here: http://sdcfans.com/forums/index.php?topic=1853.msg43283#msg43283 Not a whole lot to look at really, but there's track all the way through the cutback/fakeout/OMGWTF now, and there's a few new bits and pieces around the station. There's a glimpse of some new bents near the base of the drop. High speed turnaround maybe?

Wow, such an awesome update. Thanks again Chadster. So the Hangman is operating again, the Schooner was painted, there is actually good food in the park, they have an awesome big new water addition, there are actually people in the park, and to top it all off they're clearing away a crappy old ride for some prime space for the future. I guess ErUPtion wasn't actually that crappy of a ride, except for the fact that I never got to ride it because the only time it was open when I visited it had something like a 2-hour wait (when everything else in the park was walk-on). I'm so glad to see so much investment and attention to the park all the sudden. I kinda wish I had paid a visit this year, but I'm focusing on going to SDC again instead.

I've seen a lot of people comparing the OMGWTF element on this ride to the overbanked curve on NTAG and the strengel dive on Maverick, but IMO, it's worth noting that both of those elements don't hold a candle to what this coaster is doing. I used to think NTAG's overbank was impressive, but when you see the completely inverted track on Outlaw it's clear that they are birds of a different feather. I'd also like to point out again that SDC rarely takes risks on an attraction being a success. I'd bet the farm that this element will be comfortable enough, albeit forceful. I don't think we'll ever see another SOB at a US park, the manufacturers and parks are just plain smarter now.

^^Well, sort of. They want the image of the old Rattler to die so that after the rebuild it has the proper effect of being a new ride. This is all they've said officially: "Going away" doesn't mean they're tearing the entire thing down permanently.

In a rare move, SDC mentioned the construction on their Facebook page again today. That's only the second mention of the ride they've made to the general public outside of the occasional conductor talking about it on the train more than usual. I know earlier in the year I was understanding of them not making much of a fuss yet because the summer had only begun and they didn't want to confuse people about it opening this year, but now that it's so obvious and being talked about even outside of enthusiast circles I would have thought they would hype it a little more. The announcement is only a month away after all. Perhaps it's just a difference of culture between this park and DW, or perhaps they still trying to avoid the deluge of questioning about when it will open if they talk too much about it now.

So I guess it's not going to cross over the base of the first drop after all? I was hoping it would so that there would be space for a couple of airtime hills there. Perhaps this next section will be more like the second half of Voyage with lower, fast curves until it gets to the other side of the lift hill. I couldn't see much from the train, but it looks like the path of the footers after the lifthill is pretty straight and narrow, so that's probably where all the airtime will be... and maybe a loop as well.

As I understand it, NTAG is for New Tex-Ass Giant, which is how I like to pronounce it. It wasn't until the construction of this coaster that I realized how little steel is involved with the traditional woodies. It seems odd that steel plate connectors haven't been the norm already.