SFOGdude25 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 ^I believe they were founded in 2002. Maybe he meant one of the engineers from what is now Gravity Group? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterkid124 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 They didn't start building coasters until the 2000's. Before that, they mainly helped in engineering the structures of wooden coasters. Their first official project listed was in 1982, helping engineer American Eagle's structure at Six Flags Great America. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tdsblo Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I used to be a big coaster nerd in my teens when darien lake added something big every year. All I've done lately is lurk on coaster buzz once in a blue moon. After so many years without a new big boy coaster (15!!), I lost hope darien lake would ever see a big addition. So this has peaked my interest enough to join a forum. A few thoughts: 1) I have a feeling that what was supposedly said by the park manager at the wnycc meeting is legit. It's kinda hard to believe with all the updates they've poured into predator lately, but people don't seem to care for the ride. I'd like to see predator stay, but if a new ride is coming finally, id light the match. 2) really hoping this is something insane like outlaw run. Something that makes people kiss the ground after they get off. Since sdc is a herscend park too, there's still a chance they will use the same nanufacturer if they are pleased with outlaw run. Either way, it's a new modern woodie. 3) hope this pays off handsomely for the park. Ros is still one of the greats, but the park really needs another great ride to keep people coming back. It is one of the most well rounded resorts (hotel, campground, PAC, water park and ride park), and has 3,000,000 people within an hours drive, but is lacking in serious coasters. This will help. Looking forward to watching this one rise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Gravity Group also had done previous work when the Predator originally opened. They did structure design work. Did Gravity Group even exist in 1990 and did they really helped build the Predator? Custom Coasters International existed in 1990. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterkid124 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 ^Predator was a Dinn coaster, Gravity Group was just a small engineering firm at the time. Gravity Group LLC was formed in 2002, and their first official coaster was Hades, built in 2005. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SbSteveZ Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 My favorite thing about this park's social media, is not only did they leak a new ride before making any sort of teaser at all, but now that people are publicly confronting them on the topic (via Facebook) they have nothing to say! Now this makes me wonder if when the time comes to make the big reveal, will they still do the notorious Cedar Point themed reveal in which we hear about something coming for the next season and we're given small misleading clues until the reveal date, or since so many people have already seen this new concept... Are they going to come out with it right away? Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterkid124 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 DL has given up on social media. If you look on their Facebook, 8/10 comments are complaints. People are just tired of one train operations, bad maintenance, etc. Realistically, the park is doing a wonderful job besides maintaining the rides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougMJr Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 DL has given up on social media. If you look on their Facebook, 8/10 comments are complaints. People are just tired of one train operations, bad maintenance, etc. Realistically, the park is doing a wonderful job besides maintaining the rides. Yeah, I'm not sure what the deal is with one train Operations this year. Really unacceptable IMO. They need to get someone on staff who can handle their social media (I'd take the job), as it really is lackluster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterkid124 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I know that Mind Eraser and Motocoaster's second trains were broken and needed parts. My guess that RoS and Viper's other trains are getting refurbed, and Predator is only running one because this is likely its last season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpengeist04 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 ^Really, refurbing Ride of Steel's train in the middle of the summer??? If that's even remotely true, it's really unacceptable for the crown jewel ride of the park. As far as ride maintenance goes, it should be the #1 priority to have their best ride running at full capacity as much as possible. ...Especially throughout the summer season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tysnave Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I know that Mind Eraser and Motocoaster's second trains were broken and needed parts. My guess that RoS and Viper's other trains are getting refurbed, and Predator is only running one because this is likely its last season. Mind eraser took so long to wit in line for. This is the downfall of Darien lake. The coasters are constantly down for maintenance and you have to walk by and check to see if its open a lot. I'll be very disappointed if predator goes away, but it would be cool to see the coaster go on the lake! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterkid124 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 ^^I noticed that a lot was done to the red train. New wheels, padding, and decals. So that may be what is happening to the blue train. Viper I could understand being out due to the full train decals and paint to the trains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildcatroc Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I agree with your comment on the one train operations completely. I don't visit Darien Lake often -- perhaps once per year, maybe twice -- but I haven't seen a second train on Mind Eraser or Motocoaster for at least a couple of seasons. This year I noticed there was no second train for Predator or Ride of Steel, either. Fortunately (for me) the park was not all that busy when I was there but it makes me wonder whether they are spending their time working on infrastructure projects that can be done during the summer or if there is something else to it. Predator and Ride of Steel seemed to have technical issues throughout the day, the Log Flume ran a total of four boats which made for a very slow moving line on a very warm day, and most of the cars on the Antique Car ride sat off the track. The list goes on and on. With that said, I'm very happy that Hershend seems to be investing time and money into some of the neglected aspects of the park and that they are continuing to add attractions. I noticed that there was new wood on the platforms and queues at the Giant Wheel, for instance, and it appears that they have been doing a lot of things here and there. If they are going to make this a major destination and draw huge crowds -- which I would assume is the idea behind Lake Monster -- they will need to majorly overhaul the operations of their rides. A new attraction such as the coaster has the potential to draw back thousands of guests who haven't been to Darien Lake in years. The worst thing that they could do is let these folks walk away with a bad taste in their mouth from standing in lines that simply don't move. I'm very excited about the upcoming coaster... it looks like a fantastic addition to Darien Lake and will give it a huge boost to put it back on the map for the first time in many years. DL has given up on social media. If you look on their Facebook, 8/10 comments are complaints. People are just tired of one train operations, bad maintenance, etc. Realistically, the park is doing a wonderful job besides maintaining the rides. Yeah, I'm not sure what the deal is with one train Operations this year. Really unacceptable IMO. They need to get someone on staff who can handle their social media (I'd take the job), as it really is lackluster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroGravity55 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Gravity Group also had done previous work when the Predator originally opened. They did structure design work. Did Gravity Group even exist in 1990 and did they really helped build the Predator? Custom Coasters International existed in 1990. Just a note: The Gravity Group doesn't manufacture rides nor do track work. They're either contracted out by the park or a company like Martin&Vleminckx to do the design work. If the park contracts them out to do the design work, they either have people to build the ride in house or find construction crews to do it. I think 100+ construction crews were used to build the Voyage. Since Darien Lake is a corporate manged park and TGG doesn't have a history of working with corporate parks in the US as their current company. I think it's safe to assume that Lake Monster will be a RMC design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastcoast Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Ugh, Predator front row after a rain = amazing. What is wrong with everyone? This is no Mean Streak. I feel like the ride has a ton of viable life still! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildcatroc Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 What are the qualities or parts of the ride that you most enjoy? I may not be a huge fan of the ride, but the one thing that I do love about Predator is its beauty. It's an incredibly beautiful ride to look at. Ugh, Predator front row after a rain = amazing. What is wrong with everyone? This is no Mean Streak. I feel like the ride has a ton of viable life still! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 ^^No matter how much 'life' Predator may have left in it, I don't see how anyone would choose Predator over a RMC makeover of the ride!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterkid124 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I will miss Predator because it has gotten better and is an airtime machine, but I am very excited to see the new transformation. This could put Darien Lake back on the map. If this coaster is successful, we may even see more in the near future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcdude Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 When I visited Darien Lake last year, I thought Predator was one of Darien Lake's better coasters but it was still nothing special. Even if it was a walk-on, I doubt I would have rode more than once. If the ride is demolished or significantly modified for Lake Monster, I wouldn't miss it one bit. Furthermore, I would be very likely to consider a return visit to Darien Lake as a result of a Rocky Mountain makeover, but even if Predator were to be completely retracked and ran like new it wouldn't be enough to convince me to return to Darien Lake unless I happened to be right near the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterkid124 Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Another thing that I just thought, was that if Predator is going to be demolished, DL should at least give warning on their FB page so that everyone can get their last rides in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SbSteveZ Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 ^^ Thats a good point. But as we all saw last year with Blast Off! the removal of Raging Seas was done quietly during the winter. Social Media for this park may not be the best but they have been working up on it in the past few months. Also, I saw earlier in this thread that someone said "Darien Lake doesn't even reply to emails anymore" and just today I found out that is not true. Sure it was a question about the laser show but they responded relatively quick compared to Cedar Point's email crew! (CP Took a Day, DL took an Hour) Back to Lake Monster, if they're going to deem it as a loch-ness themed creature, I'm hoping they do some EPIC theming on those trains, I'm talkin' Leviathan style, scales, big yellow eyes, maybe have some sort of tongue like GateKeeper has, you know, give it the Creature look. Maybe Viper was a preview of what could possibly come, sure it isn't "PHENOMENAL" when you look at it in the end, but it looks more like a snake than it ever did before... The biggest question I have now is when will it be revealed / what year will it open? Does anyone know when the Silver Dollar City survey of "the Bull" was given (or when the concept was released) and what the time difference was to Outlaw Run opening? Being that this is a sister park, I Don't see why they would treat these 2 situations differently. Lastly, Does anyone know more about said "Decals" on the ROS train? I haven't been to Darien Lake yet this season and as we all know, googling Ride Of Steel doesn't turn up with many pictures from recently. Thanks for the help in that guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougMJr Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 ^ In regards to what year it opens, this is what was written in the email sent to me with the original survey. We would appreciate your honest opinion on a concept we are considering for the 2014 season. This study should take you between 5 and 10 minutes to complete. The RoS decal is just on the front of the lead car and just says 'Ride of Steel". Nothing spectacular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SbSteveZ Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 ^ In regards to what year it opens, this is what was written in the email sent to me with the original survey.We would appreciate your honest opinion on a concept we are considering for the 2014 season. This study should take you between 5 and 10 minutes to complete. The RoS decal is just on the front of the lead car and just says 'Ride of Steel". Nothing spectacular. Thanks! I've been seeing a lot of people on this thread pessimistically (And in their defense seemingly realistically) pushing the ride towards 2015/16 which in all honesty would be too long for probably everybody on this thread. But for me, I would be just fine waiting as long as we would get TONS of information on it! Buuuut I'd rather see a 2014 coaster! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odene497 Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 A friend mentioned talk of a new coaster, but actually seeing the concept made my jaw drop. My home park, possibly getting a crazy RMC ride? This sounds amazing. And as bummed as I would be to see good ol' Predator go, an awesome custom coaster would make it worth it. I'm really looking forward to seeing more about this and I hope the park will go through with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastcoast Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 ^^No matter how much 'life' Predator may have left in it, I don't see how anyone would choose Predator over a RMC makeover of the ride!!!! Yes, I agree. I just wish it was in addition to Predator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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