Extreme coasters that have been redesigned or taken down?

[B.A.B]

The two Demons at California's Great America and Six Flags Great America open as Turn of the Century in 1976. With only two corkscrews and two airtime hills after the first drop. They redesigned both of them in 1980 and they took the two airtime hills out and replaced them with two loops.

[cal1br3tto]

^^Thanks for the insight. I don't think that's the one I'm looking for, though. I wish I could provide more details, but I'm just not sure what I've remembered accurately!

[mightbeawannabe]

^ This one?

 

One was set up at Playland once wasn't it? And then it never opened and was removed.

[Top Thrill Dragster]

I'm pretty sure Viper at Magic Mountain had the bottom of its drop re profiled shortly after it opened. GhostRider at Knotts had its helix re profiled after it opened.

[QueerRudie]

Wasn't there a compact steel coaster so intense, it was moved to at least three different parks, each one deeming it too dangerous to operate? I'm having trouble remembering any other details.

 

Bullet at Flamingoland had a history of being ferried around and not operating for very long at places because of the insane wear and tear on the launch mechanism (it had about 60 sets of drive tires), it ended up being partially rebuilt and totally overhauled simply because of the horrendous amount of noise it made, before it arrived at Flamingoland.

 

Actually, that's not entirely true...

 

The Wienerlooping (Schwarzkopf Shuttle loop Mk2a) worked fine- if you kept up with the motors. The biggest issues with the ride was noise- and quiet Wienerlooping most certainly was not. Weinerlooping has (had!) six pairs of drive tyres on each spike, and six sets in the station, making for 18 sets of rotary drive wheels that were used to push/pull the train out of the station. Most of the time these motors only gave some force to the train, as Schwarzkopf used gravity whenever possible on this, and for that matter all His designs.

 

Still, the ride gave good overall performance across the board, and was a good reliable ride. However, the ride itself wasn't modified- save the addition of Mk2C trains with OTSR restraints- during the course of it's operational history.

 

R.D.

"TPR's Schwarzkopf Priest"

[cal1br3tto]

^ This one?

 

One was set up at Playland once wasn't it? And then it never opened and was removed.

Yes, thanks! The elusive Interpark Wild Wind it is. I wonder if any of the three operating ones listed here were modified to reduce the forces, or if those little-known parks just don't have the same standards!

[A.J.]

I believe that there's one of those traveling the European funfair circuit as well.

 

EDIT: Here's one of those installed in the Philippines. One look at the train going through the pull-up into the sidewinder, and you'd probably understand why there are none of these operating in the US.

[robbalvey]

The two Demons at California's Great America and Six Flags Great America open as Turn of the Century in 1976. With only two corkscrews and two airtime hills after the first drop. They redesigned both of them in 1980 and they took the two airtime hills out and replaced them with two loops.

This is not an example of what the original poster is asking for. The conversion from Turn of the Century to Demon was done to improve the ride, not changed because the ride was too intense, or there were problems with it.

 

Guys, please. Don't "grasp at straws" just for the sake of responding. Coasters like Moonsault Scramble, SoB, Chiller, Maverick, Phantom's Revenge, Drachen Fire, The Bat, Rattler are all good examples.

 

Those are rides that had to be significantly changed, or eventually were closed due to design flaws, low ridership due to intensity (or roughness).

 

The rest of the examples that have been posted I think are just re-profiles or "test and adjust" that probably would have needed to been made anyway, but were not that significant.

 

You could also include some of those early woodies like the Flip Flap and Cyclone, but really, those rides were made without any modern engineering, so you almost can't blame them for not working. But they were intense, and ultimately closed nonetheless.

 

Hope this information helps!

 

--Robb

Edited January 27, 2012 by robbalvey

[OrientExpressForever]

Flashback at SFMM was an extremely forceful coaster which was rarely operated and left SBNO for several years until it was finally demolished. It had previously operated at SFGAm and SFoG as Z Force. Most people hated it, but I actually liked it for its white knuckle, terrifying experience. It is among the few coasters that was so uncomfortable I actually had to hang on to the restraints out of fear for my safety. That's what I liked most about it. I could be wrong, but I assume low ridership and complaints were the reasons for it's demise.

[ernierocker]

^That is a perfect example of "grasping at straws". The ride operated for several years over its lifetime and didn't close because of its intensity. Not a good example of what the original poster was asking for...

[coastercrazy 9]

I believe that there's one of those traveling the European funfair circuit as well.

 

EDIT: Here's one of those installed in the Philippines. One look at the train going through the pull-up into the sidewinder, and you'd probably understand why there are none of these operating in the US.

 

Isn't this the Pinfari Xenon model?

[A.J.]

It's an Intrapark Wild Wind. But, there is a roller coaster on the funfair circuit, and it's called XenoX. That name was on the tip of my tongue - I knew what it looked like, I knew it travelled, but I didn't know its name. Thanks for reminding me!

 

But, yes. Like I said, the Wild Wind rides were probably pulled from the United States for a good reason.

[Airtime&Gravity]

The Rye Playland Airplane Coaster is another example of coaster being demolished due to the intensity. I read in a book that the park switched insurance providers, and the new company would not cover the coaster due to the intensity. In addition to that, the book mentioned how neighbors upset with the park fostered a false rumor about a death on the ride.

[Bear92]

Wasn't there a compact steel coaster so intense, it was moved to at least three different parks, each one deeming it too dangerous to operate? I'm having trouble remembering any other details.

 

Bullet at Flamingoland had a history of being ferried around and not operating for very long at places because of the insane wear and tear on the launch mechanism (it had about 60 sets of drive tires), it ended up being partially rebuilt and totally overhauled simply because of the horrendous amount of noise it made, before it arrived at Flamingoland.

 

Actually, that's not entirely true...

 

The Wienerlooping (Schwarzkopf Shuttle loop Mk2a) worked fine- if you kept up with the motors. The biggest issues with the ride was noise- and quiet Wienerlooping most certainly was not. Weinerlooping has (had!) six pairs of drive tyres on each spike, and six sets in the station, making for 18 sets of rotary drive wheels that were used to push/pull the train out of the station. Most of the time these motors only gave some force to the train, as Schwarzkopf used gravity whenever possible on this, and for that matter all His designs.

 

Still, the ride gave good overall performance across the board, and was a good reliable ride. However, the ride itself wasn't modified- save the addition of Mk2C trains with OTSR restraints- during the course of it's operational history.

 

R.D.

"TPR's Schwarzkopf Priest"

 

Wow thanks for clearing that up dude, I am a huge follower of this ride's history and it's operation since my dad and one of my friends were fitters/ops on it. I'd love to talk about it with you if you'd PM me!

[WFChris]

I do believe Windjammer at KBF was a big pile of legal suck that was eventually decommissioned.

[chrisj0509]

Wow thanks guys for the amazing response! You've all been really helpful, I didn't realise so many examples existed. The style of the documentary is quite dramatic (you know the kind, Channel 5 style for those in the UK) so the more extreme examples the better.

 

Thanks again everyone! If I need some more help, I now know where to look!

[coasterbill]

I see that a few people have already posted a little about them but I immediately thought of Wild Wind.

 

I live near Playland Park in Rye, NY. And in 2000 they had this coaster fully constructed. Right when it was about to open, they tore it down. After searching it on RCDB, I found that it was moved to Keansburg Amusement Park and then to Motor World in Virginia Beach. It never opened in ANY of the 3 parks and was most likely scrapped. G forces found in testing were too extreme.

 

Apparently only four were ever built. One was the one I mentioned above, another went to a park in South Korea who also never opened it and then it was moved to Fill Land (also in South Korea) where it still operates today.

 

Another went to Tunisia where it still operates, and another is currently operating in Venezuela. I guess the standards are not as high in these countries as they are in the United States (although one South Korean park built it and never opened it).

 

The real kicker, is that they are still being sold by Interpark.

 

Here is a link to the brochure which is in Italian but has some great pictures of this sick looking death machine.

 

And here is the "Wild Wind Strengths" page.

 

The only operating model that has photos on RCDB is the one in Tunisia (The Middle East).

 

The Sidewinder is hidden in this shot so this doesn't look so bad.

 

Look at this death element. lol

 

Here are some photos from the manufacturers web site.

 

 

 

 

Because of the bad press this had at my home park, I've always been interested in the Wild Wind coasters. I can't think of any other model that found itself at 8 different parks and half of them never even saw one rider.

 

There were some traveling versions as well, but I can't find any information on them.

 

(Post partially copied from a post in a similar thread in early 2011)

[ernierocker]

Okay, that loop element just looks completely neck-breaking wrong! Ouch!

[Josh Linn]

Eagle Fortress would qualify, no?

[MayTheGForceBeWithYou]

SFNE reprofiled the first drop and turnaround of Cyclone after they bought out Riverside.

Old track is below the current track. Easy to see how much more forceful it used to be a that point.

 

 

Mod Edit: Corrected the name of the original park.

Edited November 12, 2012 by Moose

[VinTheAttendant]

Speaking of Six Flags New England, Flashback used to operate at Nanhu Amusement Park in the 1980s. However, the ride didn't get a lot of attention because I guess visitors were intimidated by it. I guess it's understandable when the concept of the ride is only a couple years old, but it just sounds silly nowadays. Source.

 

Just a sidenote to chrisj0509, Moonsault Scramble was the first coaster that came to mind based on your description. Best of luck with your research!

[RideofSteel]

I would like to try a wild wind just to see what that element feels like.

 

But, the one ride that comes to mind was Maverick with its corkscrew taken out. Also, Windjammer, with it's trains that stalled in the wind.

[ernierocker]

SFNE reprofiled the first drop and turnaround of Cyclone after they bought out Riverview.

Old track is below the current track. Easy to see how much more forceful it used to be a that point.

 

Already mentioned here:

 

 

Cyclone at Six Flags New England was had its first drop reprofiled and the last year had several segments of track re done with steel topper track.

 

 

 

Eagle Fortress would qualify, no?

 

It was definitely an extremely forceful ride but it operated for 18 years so it can hardly be argued that it was decommissioned strictly because of the forces. I think the reason for its closure can be more contributed to similar reasons as why Big Bad Wolf closed. Maintenance costs and the fact that replacement parts were expensive/hard to find.

Edited January 27, 2012 by ernierocker

[GeorgeT]

I believe that there's one of those traveling the European funfair circuit as well.

 

Jepp...I rode Xenox a few month ago here in Freiburg...but as far as I know it`s usually travelling in Switzerland.

 

And the "neck-breaking" inversion wasn`t bad at all. The ride was fun...but VERY short. That`s why the train always made two rounds over the track.

 

I guess I can say that it rides way better than it looks

[dippindotsguy8]

Excalibur at Valleyfair had several changes fairly soon after opening. An airtime hill was removed, the first turn was re-profiled, and trims were added to the first drop. The trains also originally carried upstop pads rather than upstop wheels. Now, unfortunately, the drop is slowed down quite a bit, and there is an awkwardly long straight stretch between the drop and the first turn. It's still a fun ride, but it's definitely not what it used to be.