RailBlazer

I was simply trying to let someone know that ThunderHawk was finished at Worlds of Fun and had checked with park personnel to verify it. I added that I had heard that the ride had been removed from the website as well, which it had.

I had already been told it was taken off the website, so I didn't feel the need to check. But thanks for stating the obvious.

I asked a few people at the park who would know if ThunderHawk was done and they said yes. I have heard it has already been removed from the website as well.

The rumors have been that the addition(s) would be for Planet Snoopy for next season. I haven't heard anything about a coaster coming even in the 2017. The additions since Prowler have been pretty weak, other than maybe the water slide complex a few years ago and SteelHawk (I guess). I am certainly ready for something better. And Timber Wolf's re-tracking and neutering is scheduled to continue this off season as well.

I believe the Main Entrance to Worlds of Fun was removed after or around the 1997 season. The lower portion of the boat/ship was still visible until they covered it up with dirt and landscaping to spruce up the area for the opening of SteelHawk.

The schedule says morning ERT is on Mamba.

Timber Wolf's re-tracking so far is only the first drop through the first turnaround and some of the straight track following that turn. This section has also been re-profiled quite a bit and most of the airtime on that stretch has been eliminated and really most of the excitement as well. I expect the same thing will happen to much of the air-time/excitement on the rest of the track as they continue the overhaul ride. Timber Wolf's strongest points are it's airtime and out-of-control feeling, when it is allowed to run fast. Now that the airtime and thrill is being taken out, I don't see it being a great coaster any longer. The newly tracked and re-profiled section appears to be much less abusive to the track and probably the trains, so I expect maintenance costs and work will be greatly reduced. The train just glides through the first drop and climb out of it without any aggressiveness that it had before. The banking of the first turn has been lessened and the train takes that turn very well now too, but without any real action.

I'm not sure on your theory about TimberWolf since they just dropped a lot of time and money into it. Re profiling a ride and to cause less issues seems like long term thinking, not just short term patching by retracking. I think he meant that the makeover will be continuing the next two years. It's possible it may go on longer than that. They have only gotten through the first 180 degree turn, so they have a lot of work to do.

I took a few rides on Timber Wolf last night after it finally opened for the season. The track has been completely replaced from the first drop through the first turn/turnaround. The new track is very smooth, but unfortunately the drop and the rise into the turn have been re-profiled as well. The first drop still has some air, but it's not nearly as good as it was. The top of the second hill used to have crazy air and a slam into the turn, especially when the brakes were off. Now, there is just a hint of air and no action at all.

I think the Screamscape "rumor" was WOF had requested for bids from GCI and RMC. It doesn't appear that RMC will be doing a conversion of Timber Wolf (at least anytime soon), but it's possible the extensive retracking of the first drop and first turn are being done by GCI. They have done restoration work on woodies at other Cedar Fair parks recently.

Check out screamscape. I'm almost convinced that TW is just being patched up so they can squeeze another year out of it. Timber Wolf has had track removed on at least the first drop through the first turn-around. They are replacing all the ledgers, etc. as well as all layers of that track. This is no patch job just to squeeze another year out of it. They may be doing different sections of the ride over several seasons, as they were doing with Carowinds' woodie(s), Thunder Road recently. I think it's safe to say that an RMC conversion is not coming to Timber Wolf anytime soon.

*edited* Steel Force has that tunnel but otherwise is identical. To me, that's a clone, but obviously opinions vary. Steel Force and Mamba are similar rides with two big hills/drops followed by a helix, then mid-course brake, return hills and double-up near the end. They are also painted in a similar color scheme. Other than those similarities, they are two different coaster designs. The profiles of the rides are very different as both coasters are on completely different terrain, so both rides were designed for their specific terrain and park. Mamba has a much better second drop due to the ground dropping off and giving the ride a 184ft second drop. The ride then turns to the right and Steel Force continues in a straight line until it starts the helix. The helix on each ride is different (terrain again playing a role), as is the support structure for each. Mamba was designed with the track threading the supports and giving the illusion of headchoppers late in the helix. The return runs on both rides have hills, but again, the terrain is very different for each ride. Steel Force has large hills, but Mamba has to climb back up from a valley and besides the drop of the brake, the rest of the hills are very shallow. As stated previously, all the Cedar Fair Morgan coasters are custom designs. I am sure Steve Okamoto, the designer of the rides would tell you the same thing.

The land clearing is for a new haunt building that won't open until next year. As for Saturday's in October, if the weather is good, it will be packed, especially at night. Those Saturdays are usually the busiest of the season!

Does your guess come with an engineering degree? No, my guess doesn't come with an engineering degree and it doesn't need one. I have been riding roller coasters long enough to have seen plenty of structural modifications done to rides to have a good idea what works and what doesn't. I won't be surprised if something is added or changed with the supports for the hill in question. A piece of steel was added between the two supports in question, just under the hill that passes through them. You can see it in some photos of Lightning Run on the Photo TR: Tour of Kentucky Kingdom thread.

I have been looking at this photo and wondering why the park doesn't have fences up around the low sections of track to have another barrier between people and the track. I may be more aware of this than some due to my home park, Worlds of Fun, having an accident in the 70's where a child got in front of Screamroller and was hit by a train. Now, all the coasters have fences up around the low areas of track. This ride looks like it could use some of them as well.

Does your guess come with an engineering degree? No, my guess doesn't come with an engineering degree and it doesn't need one. I have been riding roller coasters long enough to have seen plenty of structural modifications done to rides to have a good idea what works and what doesn't. I won't be surprised if something is added or changed with the supports for the hill in question.

I agree rides sway, but count me on the side of that hill is swaying too much. Usually coaster structure will sway a bit and then stop, but this section continues to rock back and forth for about ten seconds (maybe more) and you can clearly see it in the video. My guess is this hill will need better support and/or bracing.

EXT only had the standup trains for 1983 and part of the 1984 season and was converted back to a sit down ride.

I got to see the models in person and I must say they were even more impressive in person, especially the Orient Express! The Orient Express model is big and it takes up a lot of space. I was in awe of it the whole time I was there. It was fun to hear the music from 1980 too! So glad I went and I will be going back!

Why do all the photos of Prowler have captions calling it Timber Wolf?

And now Texas Giant is even less a wooden coaster than El Toro.

I have been watching this thread from the beginning as The Texas Giant (at least in its original form/early life) was one of my favorite coasters ever. Many thoughts have crossed my mind seeing the old ride pretty much destroyed. The new profile of the ride looks like it might be very exciting and I would like to take a spin on it. That said, I have a few concerns; some of which have been brought up in this thread by others. No, I am no coaster expert, but I have watched coasters being built for many years and have seen lots of things not turn out as planned and many times some enthusiasts do see these things in advance. My first concern is how the sections of track are connected or in this case seem not to be connected very well. It appears that two flat ended sections of track meet and are bolted by four bolts on the bottom and then two plates hold the top together with six bolts. The more I look at this, the more I don't get it. Maybe there is something I missing? Why didn't they try to interlock these sections more? It seems that having ties on each end of track so that each section could be connected to the next would have made more sense, but that still doesn't lock the track rails completely. The "topper track" seems to be a better design than what is happening on Giant. Apparently they wanted to make the coaster be like a wooden coaster and avoid going the tubular steel route. I am not sure they thought all of this through enough before proceeding. It also would have made more sense to try this on a much smaller coaster to see how it worked instead of completely reworking a ride of this size and making it even more extreme with untested track. As for the bolts on the top of the track, it seems obvious that the wheels would clear them as long as everything is running properly. But what happens if a train derails and hits these bolts? If they are sheared off wouldn't the track separate? It appears that is possible. And the structure certainly looks questionable in spots, particularly on the high, over-banked turns. I know the ride isn't finished, but it appears in photos that they are just putting wood up in as they see fit and not by any plan. I would imagine that most coasters have their profiles designed first and the structure is designed to support the profile. Again, it doesn't seem that is happening here. I am really curious to see how this all turns out, but I won't be surprised if there are delays with this ride.

I was thinking about adding some similar thoughts in my last post, but you summed it up pretty well.

It wasn't the mid-course brake that took the thunder out of the second half of Giant, it was the brakes at the entrance to the helix that did that. I had one ride in the first season that the helix brake slowed the train so much, that the train barely cleared the second turn over the lift. Just when it appeared the train would stop, it crawled forward and continued on. A friend that visited the park very frequently that season saw the train stopped there on the anti-rollbacks on one visit. After the re-profiling of "Curt's Curve" in 1993, I hoped the brakes would be removed, but no such luck. While the new ride looks interesting/crazy and appears to have a much better drop (still unsure about the turn as it drops and how that will ride), a lot of what I enjoyed about Texas Giant has been removed from the new version.

The steel pieces that hold the catwalks and handrail go all the way down the first drop on the right side of the track (if you are on the ride) and then continue on the left side of track on the first part of the double up. My guess is they will be there for most, if not all of the ride, but only on one side of the track.