Rider117 0 Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 http://www.amusementtoday.com Kemah Boardwalk building wooden coaster (DEC 7, 2006) The much-anticipated news is finally official. Amusement Today has confirmed that The Landry's Restaurant's-owned Kemah (Texas) Boardwalk is building a wooden coaster for the 2007 season. The coaster will be located on a tight footprint next to the Saltgrass Steak House. Kemah plans for a late spring or early summer 2007 opening. The contractor overseeing the complete project is Martin & Vleminckx Rides, LLC based in Haines City, Fla. The design of the ride was completed by Cincinnati, Ohio based-The Gravity Group. The yet to be named coaster will feature two, six-car trains (800 pph capacity) from Philadelphia Toboggan Coaster Co. The ride's safety system will be provided by Orlando's Entech. Bullock Smith & Partners in Knoxville, Tenn. provided Kemah with conceptual and other thematic drawings for the ride. Concrete work for the ride's footings is underway and was contracted to Houston-based Bobcat Concrete. Erection of the ride's wooden structure by M&V is schedlued to begin next week. The western-themed coaster will stand 96 feet tall, feature a first drop of 92 feet, reach speeds of 51 miles per hour and travel a track layout of 3,236. But the most impressive fact the coaster has is a result of its less than one-acre footprint that results in the most number of track crossovers ever designed into a wooden coaster. It will also feature several themed tunneled sections. "The design team has developed a plan to give the Kemah Boardwalk a great wood coaster experience in a very tight footprint. The design incorporates countless crossovers, direction changes, and several tunnels. Tim Anderson, general manager at the Kemah Boardwalk told AT. "In addition, the coaster is being constructed within a few feet of Galveston Bay providing a great seaside view. I believe that this will be the coolest coaster on the coast and will be an exciting feature for our 3 million visitors per year.” See the complete story in the Jan. issue of AT. Link to post Share on other sites
coasterdude5 0 Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 Looks great, also a big change from Gravity Group's past coasters. Link to post Share on other sites
Rider117 0 Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 What makes this thing even crazier is that this thing is built on one acre! Link to post Share on other sites
masterofthematrix91 0 Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 Looks pretty cool Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 Looks AMAZING. I can't wait to see some video of it when it's done... Link to post Share on other sites
easytoremember 0 Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 There looks to be a 90 degree banked turn right after the first drop. That would be crazy. Link to post Share on other sites
jarmor 0 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 WOW that press release droped more companies/names than the invitations to star jones wedding! Link to post Share on other sites
CP_RULES 0 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 That is one sexy a$$ coaster! Resembles a GCI dontchya think? Link to post Share on other sites
coasterguy618 0 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Looks like a great coaster. I really want to ride this thing. Link to post Share on other sites
Airtime&Gravity 0 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 It is nice to see GG going with a traditional looking coaster instead of a record breaking modern wooden coaster. Link to post Share on other sites
TCKR 0 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Looks cool. Too bad there aren't any other parks in the Houston area ... Stupid Astroworld. Well, it also looks like a better ride than anything Astroworld had to offer. Let's hope that this may be the start of an ever-expanding Kemah Boardwalk! Link to post Share on other sites
DerekRx 0 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Wow, opening in 2007. That's a lot sooner than I expected. I have a feeling with Astroworld gone this will really help the place pick up the revenue. Link to post Share on other sites
Shavethewhales 0 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 1 acre.... Imagine what the Bell's woodie would/will be like... Wow, it looks so great when you look at it from more than one angle, I have a hard time figuring out exactly where the track goes. This looks like it could fill 3 or more acres, seeing it compacted into 1 will blow my mind. This is a winner. Link to post Share on other sites
kennywood!007 0 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Wow! This thing looks crazy, a big change for GG. Looks like it will be one of their best. Link to post Share on other sites
ScottBrown 0 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Well to me, that looks like a model of the old Rye Aeroplane coaster?? How sweet would that be to have that rebuilt!!!! Still pretty far from being the Rye Aeroplane but the good news is that they are getting closer and closer each year Link to post Share on other sites
apollo210 0 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 That's an insane ride layout! With a tight design and turns going everywhere, I have hihg hopes for this ride! This is also good for people that live in Houston because now they can ride a major roller coaster without traveling a far distance. Link to post Share on other sites
VegasCoaster 1 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 This looks like it is going to have a ton of laterals and not so much airtime, which is actually a pleasant change. I don't think the turn after the first drop can be 90* as it would just seem really unpleasant to do that, but its probably something close like 60-70*. Link to post Share on other sites
TexTitan01 0 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 SAWEEEEEET!!! GGwoodie for Texas? YES PLEASE! This is going to be great. I always love when big name ride companies build rides for smalltime parks that dont have much amusement publicity. Now that Kemah has announced its new woodie, it's going to get much more well known, especially if wins best new ride for 2007 (though it has tough competition with maverick), which would realy plunge Kemah into the spotlight Do you think Kemah boardwalk knows what theyre getting into as far as publicity and crowds? Link to post Share on other sites
TheGreatOne 0 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 It is nice to see GG going with a traditional looking coaster instead of a record breaking modern wooden coaster. To be fair to the Gravity Group, they build what kinds of coasters parks ask of them. So, Voyage and Hades were big rides because the parks wanted it that way, not because Gravity Group wants to build all record-breaking coasters. Link to post Share on other sites
Jam3s 0 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 This ride is within a simple hour and ten minute drive from where I live. I smell road trip! I am so excited about this. Tilman Fertita smartly filled the glaring gap of thrills in the Houston-area. This ride will definitely bring in traffic. Yesssss!!! Link to post Share on other sites
the sound 0 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Excuse me for being cynical... I think it looks... Boring! The layout is no more different then a normal layout on an average coaster on RCT. It is really short, and sure, there's a 90 degrees part, but that's it! It doesn't look to big either. I don't think it will be as good as everyone else is saying it will be. Besides, its good to have another side of a debate. Link to post Share on other sites
Guy T. Koepp 0 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 On the other hand, you don't have to be cynical just to be cynical. IMHO it seems that they are cramming a butt load of layout into a tight compact area. Where as I would definitely agree that that would tend to not boad well for it having huge floater air. (cough, El Toro, cough) It would seem to imply that the whole out of control, laterals and g's would be quite high. This tends to work well for woodies as well as other kinds of coasters. Specifically inverts. I think it looks pretty awesome. Not to mention head chopper central. Too bad it's in Texas. Cause' Texas sucks, and that would mean that the ride will inevitably suck. Just like the president! Link to post Share on other sites
the sound 0 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Where as I would definitely agree that that would tend to not boad well for it having huge floater air. (cough, El Toro, cough) It would seem to imply that the whole out of control, laterals and g's would be quite high. Yeah. I don't like the whole out of Control feeling. I prefer the more, how should i put this, superior sort of layout, with a lot of hills, etc. More like the Voyage, then this new coaster. Although, i am glad to see Gravity Group getting stuck in it. They have some awesome ideas, but are probably wasting it in Six Flags Territory (Texas). Link to post Share on other sites
Jakizle 7 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Wasting it? Cmon man. Ever since Astroworld closed last year, Houston enthusiasts have had nothing to really ride over there. I think it will bring in huge crowds, and not to mention the awesome site it's being built on. I respect your opinion, but for the park, and TGG, I think it's a fantastic move. Hopefully I'll be able to tell for sure come opening! As for the ride itself, WOW!. High speed turns, laterals, headchoppers, airtime....this thing has it all. Combined with the very tight layout and the crossover record, I think this ride could definetely be the best of 07. Also, notice that it has wooden supports! Link to post Share on other sites
BeemerBoy 0 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Do you think Kemah boardwalk knows what theyre getting into as far as publicity and crowds? Yes, I'm sure they did absolutely no research into what GG has done for Mt. Olympus and Holiday World, and what a world class coaster company like GCI did for a small forgetable park like Beech Bend. I'm sure they just flipped through the Yellow Pages to find the first coaster builder they could. As for the coaster, I'm impressed. Not sure what else to say beyond that. It's not exactly something I'm gonna rush out to Houston for, but it does look like a pretty fun ride. Oh, and no name announcement? That's a bid odd for a press release, unless I missed something. Eh, whatever. Link to post Share on other sites
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