Gyeongju World 2018 Attractions

TheoB · April 10, 2018

It's interesting to see them use the old school trains/restraints on a larger scale dive machine. I guess that just goes to show how it's a park's decision and not B&M's.

I would say it's definitely B&M's. They design the ride, after all.

Also, if this IS a straight clone of Griffon, then that layout would call for the old trains anyway, even though these are 8-across instead of 10-across.

The park definitely get some say in the restraints but honestly with the much slimmer and smaller Asian demographic, the big (and not very nice) vest restraints are pretty unnecessary. I don't know why more parks haven't got the restraints OzIris has which are 1.3m invert ones (or maybe Merlin just bumps up the Nemesis's height restrictions to be inline with everything else I don't know)

A.J. · April 10, 2018

Maybe it's just me, but do you honestly think a park goes straight to B&M or Intamin or whoever, and specifically says, "Hey, we want a new coaster with this specific type of restraint"? I would honestly like to learn if there's an example where that happened. I'm genuinely curious, actually. Anyone know?

SharkTums · April 10, 2018

^I could see a park like Gyeongju World asking for the same restraints as their other B&M for maintenance and safety reasons. Especially when they're so far away, it probably makes it easier for parts and maintenance to at least have two VERY similar coasters.

Invertalon · April 10, 2018

Or the park representatives discovered how crappy the vest restraints are and went with the best train for the style of ride... I really dislike them on Dive Coasters, they don't exactly compliment that style of ride experience IMO. They feel more open, sure, but are more restrictive at the same time in some ways. Banshee is fine with them, but B&M went weird with the transitions and such on that ride so it's hard to gauge how they would be on a normal ride. If I ever bought a Dive Coaster though, I would demand the classic OTSR's (or hell, even lapbars!).

A.J... the park has the choice unless the manufacturer has "obsoleted" the type of restraint. It is an option for the park if multiple variants are available. I know for a fact with one park they had tested a B&M clam-shell lapbar on a looping model but the park ultimately decided against it (due to management decision at said park). Not exactly the same, but goes to show the park can even "downgrade" what could be an epic change to improve the ride experience.

Edited April 10, 2018 by Invertalon

Garet · April 10, 2018

The other thing to bear in mind is how long this coaster was in the works and planning stage. This coaster went through some other themes and different opening dates. I don't know the industry at all but i'm curious, could it have been a case that when the park brought the ride agreed the layout etc. that the new vest style trains weren't available? I'd imagine trains size e.g. 8 vs 10 seats, restraints, look, and how many would be part of the signing on the dotted line.

I'm also still curious about that second drop. It looks like a steep drop compared to a vertical one. Is it the same on the other coasters?

11slataus · April 10, 2018

The other thing to bear in mind is how long this coaster was in the works and planning stage. This coaster went through some other themes and different opening dates. I don't know the industry at all but i'm curious, could it have been a case that when the park brought the ride agreed the layout etc. that the new vest style trains weren't available? I'd imagine trains size e.g. 8 vs 10 seats, restraints, look, and how many would be part of the signing on the dotted line.

I'm also still curious about that second drop. It looks like a steep drop compared to a vertical one. Is it the same on the other coasters?

I thought that Griffon and Sheikra’s second drops weren’t quite vertical. (Not sure about Valravn’s). But I do think that their second drops are steeper than this new one. Maybe a minor design change for some reason? Does that drop maybe not go as deep as Griffon’s?

rcjp · April 10, 2018

^It definitely does not look as steep as the usual second drops on big dive coasters.

I know for a fact with one park they had tested a B&M clam-shell lapbar on a looping model but the park ultimately decided against it (due to management decision at said park).

OMG that would've been amazing. I've wondered quite a few times why it still hasn't happened and I remember a few years ago when, before IAAPA, Robb allowed us to suggest questions for him to ask to the manufacturers and one of my suggestions (and maybe someone else's) was precisely that one (why they hadn't used lapbars on looping rides) to which Walter Bolliger answered "I do not want to answer that question." It made me even more curious