linearinduction

The layout looks more like an ESC, and with those force Trains closer to the ground, it looks awesome! Can't wait to see a POV!

The delay has nothing to do with the fact that it's a wooden coaster. It has everything to do with the fact they used a prototype launch system from a manufacturer with minimal LSM development experience. Two things. 1. I think the fact that it is a wooden coaster may have everything to do with because I can imagine the technology needs to be retrofitted to accommodate a wooden structure. For example: A steel LSM coster runs on a steel straight track where the manufacture has to make sure that every part lines up perfectly. With a wooden roller coaster where wood settle, shifts, sways etc that may be something that needs to be accounted for when adding a LSM system. Also remember this is not a straight horizontal launch like many launched rides. This is is essentially a launched lift hill which may also pose some problem on a wood structure. 2. The fact that it is a wooden coaster might explain why RMC had to resort to using a company whos experienced with LSM launches is limited. No one has experience with an LSM launch on a wooden coaster, and few manufactures have any roller coaster LSM experience; and of those that do some may have decided their tech could not work with this type of ride. Dal Freeman, Lagoon, ZIERER, Actemium Controlmatic GmbH, and InTraSys GmbH didn't have a problem with the First, Only, and Prototype Vertical LSM Launch on Wicked, still the Only ZIERER Launched Tower Coaster, and the Launch has never been a problem.

FYI, the Half Lager and Half Cider is known as a Snakebite, but I prefer a Snakebite and Black. It's quite interesting with Bushy's.

When a Company Owned Prototype on the East Coast has Class 5 Restraint Hydraulic Locks Fail and Open During a Ride Cycle, not to mention hoses that must be replaced every 2 weeks on said Hydraulic Locks, your conclusion may be accurate, depending on the diligence of a park's maintenance team.

great video! the drone shots are awesome. so, new wheel carriages and new seats, obviously. anyway, really enjoyed that video. great audio too, music and in the interviews. There was no mention of wheel carriages, wheel housings, or bogies. The quote was "we re-did the road wheels," which usually translates to New Wheels.

Those photo's certainly show the difference. Although, I'm wondering why KD went with a Mondial instead of a Huss. Perhaps it could be that Mondial has the Best Class 5 Restraints in the Industry and no problems with leaky hydraulic locks, leaky hydraulic hoses, and/or the electrical mess that Zamperla seems to have trouble with on their larger rides. Then there are the stress fractures, but that's another subject.

It's the little touches like that mini track that I love. Always nice to see a smaller park go the extra mile.

Same. This thread went from "coaster enthusiasts knowing anything and everything about Dollywood and RMC coasters." To: "Coaster enthusiasts knowing anything and everything about TV advertising, and how paying for commercials works." SMH. . . This thread makes me need a drink. What's really funny is when you know someone who has been a producer for multiple TV stations, even one owned directly by a network, and you hear how things really work. Not sure how big the Market is where these ads are airing, but in the Market I'm in, the specific ad and airtime can be pulled from the air. If the ad in question is Indeed specifying the Ride is Open, not just the Park, someone somewhere dropped the ball, and it would most likely be the ad agency. It would not be uncommon for an older and/or alternate ad to be shown in the airtime slot that has been purchased. It also sounds like the public in general may be foaming at the mouth over Lightning Rod like locals here in Utah did after Cannibal didn't open until July 2nd. Of course, after it opened, there were no more insane comments about a "class action lawsuit for false advertising" on Lagoon's Facebook Page and on Local Media comment sections. lol

I'm going through all my photos of Cannibal from last year to point out all of the new Stabilizing Columns. From memory, Lagoon did a LOT of work welding in new Columns and stuff. It appears they even welded in new connections into the Columns that go through the Waterfalls. I'll try to get a photo of the Trains and the new back panel with the Logo on Saturday, along with more pics. Don't forget the worksite for the new walk-in freezer! It's VERY compelling work. Absolutely! lol

I'm going through all my photos of Cannibal from last year to point out all of the new Stabilizing Columns. From memory, Lagoon did a LOT of work welding in new Columns and stuff. It appears they even welded in new connections into the Columns that go through the Waterfalls. I'll try to get a photo of the Trains and the new back panel with the Logo on Saturday, along with more pics.

I've never claimed to be nice, just honest!

And if anyone has the opportunity to meet Guy in person, do it!

For those who may not be aware, Lagoon Opened for it's 130th Season on Saturday. There are a couple of changes around the park and some new paint and upgrades to some Rides. Here's a Complete Run Down of what's New This Year: Cannibal - Additional theme elements have been added to the walls in the tunnel leading to the Elevator Shaft/Tower. It sort of gives off a Jumanji Hunters Lodge Vibe, at least to me. There is also a "mine cart" on the station platform. The additional bracing/stabilizing Columns in the Inverted Loop have been effective and has resulted in a smoother ride experience transversing the Element. Lagoon added a Large Panel to the back of the Trains that feature a Large Cannibal Logo and Lagoon Logo. Lagoon has added stone to cover the concrete ramps in the station and it all looks great! Many might have wondered why there are Proximity Switches mounted to the Rear Bumper of each Train, and the reason why they are there is going to be really cool, once installed. Spider - Lagoon disassembled Spider over the off Season and chose a new Charcoal and Red Colorway that looks great! Lagoon has relocated the bar that pulls the Locking Pin on the Trains to just before the First Drop. This means you are free to spin during the first drop and even go down it sideways. The ride now provides an entirely NEW Ride Experience. Most of the Trains, except one or two, now have the New Bogies from ART Engineering GmbH installed and they provide a much better ride experience. The ride sounds different and rides/tracks much better. The trains just feel and ride more solid. Fire Dragon - Lagoon has returned the "Colossus" sign to the top of the First Loop and it really stands out with it's new dark red color. Lagoon repainted the Chassis on the Green and Blue Trains and added the Lagoon Logo to the Rear Sides of them, similar to what they had from when the Ride was new. Wicked - The BIG Surprise of the Day came from Wicked, where Lagoon has replaced the Original Bogies with New Bogies from ART Engineering GmbH! Just as the case with Spider, the Ride Tracks much better and is more solid. Unfortunately, the bad Track Segment Joints, courtesy of ZIERER and Stakotra Manufacturing s.r.o., are still very noticeable and rough, even with the New Bogies. If ZIERER had permitted Intermountain Lift to Fabricate the Track, as Lagoon wanted, Wicked would be as smooth as Cannibal. I would really like to see entirely new trains from ART Engineering GmbH with the same lap trays as Cannibal or a replacement of the current lap trays to the Cannibal ones. Pit Row/Cannibal Gift Shop - Lagoon has done an amazing job re theming the exterior and interior of the old Pit Row Building! The new Cannibal Gift Shop just looks amazing! Lagoon has converted the old South Doors on the Building into a Ticket Window, where you can purchase tickets for Double Thunder Raceway, Catapult, and even Sky Coaster. The Pit Row Sign is now hung over this new ticket window. The Double Thunder Raceway Sign is now Hung on the Old Sky Scraper Arch and looks good. Samurai - Samurai has received new Restraints/Shoulder Bars. OdySea - Lagoon repainted the Gondolas on OdySea, and I prefer these repainted Goldolas to their Original Look. I would imagine the Octopus and Tentacles will be repainted next year. Turn of the Century - TOTC received a new Queue Line and Orientation is great. It should hold more people and hopefully prevent the line from traveling across the Train Crossing on busy days. Pioneer Village - It appears the PV Bakery is receiving some interior work, and the new paint on the south end of the Bakery looks good. The Barber Shop/Millinery Shop looks fantastic in it's new Dark Teal, but the Ice Cream Shop is just a little too Loud in all of it's Pink. It appeared the Music Hall and Print Shop received New Paint. I would like to personally thank the person who decided to paint my ancestor's home, the Gingerbread House, an appropriate and well suited color scheme of light blue and brown with white trim. It looks magnificent and I'm so happy too see that atrocious color scheme of dark metallic blue, dark metallic red, and metallic gold/green gone! Other Opening Day Notes - The Only Rides unavailable for Opening Day were Samurai, Air Race, and Moonraker. Anyone who plans on Visiting Lagoon this year, Costco has the best price for Single Day Passports at $45.99, which is 20% Off. Now, some photos:

I pray to god this is sarcasm, because this has to be the most hilarious comment I've ever read! In case it wasn't sarcasm, allow me to to explain that off season maintenance is ALL about time. Hiring a Bunch of Extra Bodies, who must be specially trained to complete the Necessary work, still won't make much of a difference when you don't just tear down the Train and put it back together and turn a ride on. There's non destructive testing that needs to be completed and parts that may have to be special ordered or parts sent off site for testing. On top of that, there's the entire structure and all mechanical systems that have to be checked. Once everything is done by maintenance personnel, the Ride gets turned over to a "Safety" Department and they have things they have to complete. Once their job is done, a ride can finally be turned over to Operations for their Duties, and finally, testing, training, and Operation. 10 Weeks to turn everything over in this particular park is literally InSAnE! It makes more sense financially, to have Rides operating at Capacity when it makes the most financial sense, like Halloween and Christmas Events. Pre season is the slowest time of year in terms of revenue and attendance. Whether you like it or not, the Park is first and foremost a Business, and adding a high amount of Labor for little benefit would be financially terrible.

Perhaps it has different ride programs like the Mondial Top Scans and Splashovers. Unfortunately, due to maintenance costs, Lagoon now only uses cycle #1 on Samurai. Cycle #6 was Awesome!

Lagoon's Mondial Top Scan and Splashover ran a little slow for a week or so to break them in, then ran at full speed. Sounds like this may be the case here, but just extending the Cycle.

You've never seen Xcelerator or Storm Runner (Hershey), eh? It all depends on if the movement is harmonic or not. Lagoon added an additional column to Cannibal's Inverted Loop to dampen the harmonic movement seen last summer. I believe Xcelerator received a stabilizing column after it had been operating for a while as well. If there is a problem here, like seen on Lightning Run, they will also stablize the movement.

Most parks have Projections of what guest numbers will be, and that's based on a wide range of Factors, including what attendance was on that date, day of the week, etc. going back 10 years or more. The only hard numbers are group sales for that day. A park never wants to be caught in a situation where they are off projection by 10,000 guests. It must have been a "perfect storm" that happened. Work in this industry long enough and you learn sometimes shit happens, and if you are caught it it, just roll with it.

There is only one Company that is responsible for every LSM/LIM Launch System on any Coaster, InTraSys GmbH. http://www.intrasys-gmbh.com/ I'm thinking they are going to have to go with the Prolim LSM Drives and perhaps set them up like Wicked or Blue Fire. The Velocity Magnetics LSM Drives looked a lot like the InTraSys GmbH Drives that are used by Intamin, so perhaps they will go that route. It really is too bad that Velocity Magnetics couldn't make it work, as it would have been nice to have seen some good quality American product taking on those from overseas.

http://mondialrides.com/rides/transportable/inferno ...and the Diablo is the Suspended Version of an Inferno. I've seen some of those before online, they look fun! Are there any known ones in the US? Pretty sure they are as rare as the Splashovers.

I haven't ridden it myself yet (still a few more weeks till that), but from what I've read on some Spanish fan pages, it's better than it was at the end of last season, but it's still really bad and people can see it getting back into that state in the next 2 or 3 months. All the seats are back open though (for now). If they had seats blocked off last fall, that are now open, perhaps explains why there were at least 2 Frames/Chassis back at the Stakotra.

Yes, I noticed that there's no zero car. So that confuses me to on the generation. But I'm happy they went with t-bars! Those are the same t-bars Dragster has! Is it possible DL sent a train back to Intamin/Stakotra for a Factory Rebuild?

http://mondialrides.com/rides/transportable/inferno ...and the Diablo is the Suspended Version of an Inferno.

I'm betting he may work for Stakotra Manufacturing, since that is a photo from the Factory.

Let's all hope Zamperla has fixed the problem with the Leaky Hydraulic Locks on all their Class 5 Restraints.