BeemerBoy Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 I'd hate to see a drop tower at either SDC or DW unless they were really creative with it. Talk about completely throwing away the traditions and values of the parks and ruining the ambiance that used to make them special. By putting in another thrill ride in their "thrill ride section" of the park? Yeah, they've never done anything like that before. Sorry, I just don't see what you're getting at there. I'm all for the drop tower idea.
Hilltopper39 Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 A drop Tower would be an easy replacement, but I'd love to see a giant Starflyer there. A 200-300 foot tall star flyer over the Smokey Mountains could be beautiful.
larrygator Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 (edited) My suggestion for a themed replacement and first of its kind in the USA. I don't think there was anyone on the TPR trip that was disappointed in this ride. Donnerbalken at Tripsdrill Edited February 13, 2012 by larrygator
Hilltopper39 Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 ^Yeah, those looks awesome, I'd love the see one in America finally and Dollywood seems like a perfect fit (they can put the starflyer somewhere else in the park ).
cfc Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 My suggestion for a themed replacement and first of its kind in the USA. Oh, hell yes! This would be an ideal ride for Dollywood.
COASTER FREAK 11 Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 That would far exceed the ride it replaces, and it fits perfectly! Its such a creative design, I'm surprised we haven't seen one in the US yet.
larrygator Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 (edited) That would far exceed the ride it replaces, and it fits perfectly! Its such a creative design, I'm surprised we haven't seen one in the US yet. I completely forget this type of ride even existed, until right before I posted in this thread. The only concern could be capacity, but surprised that a small US park never bought one. I'm not sure where else they exist outside of Bon Bon Land and Tripsdrill, but I think Scottish Steve is still looking for one elsewhere in Scandinavia. Edited February 13, 2012 by larrygator
ernierocker Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 ^Could you technically widen it to accommodate 8 across? With two rows and two towers, that would sit the same amount of people as Barnstormer with capacity depending on ride cycle lengths.
Shavethewhales Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 I'd hate to see a drop tower at either SDC or DW unless they were really creative with it. Talk about completely throwing away the traditions and values of the parks and ruining the ambiance that used to make them special. By putting in another thrill ride in their "thrill ride section" of the park? Yeah, they've never done anything like that before. Sorry, I just don't see what you're getting at there. I'm all for the drop tower idea. What I'm getting at is that even at this stage in the park's continual evolution, I'd be sorely disappointed if they just dropped an out-of-the-box drop tower model into the park that would be similar to what exists elsewhere. I've said it before and I'll say it again about the big HFEC parks: they should go back to competing with Disney more than they do with Cedar Fair/SF. Some of the ideas presented in this thread are good. I just don't want to see the exact same thing you can get at King's Island. They used to go to lengths to hide the obvious aspects of the rides so that you were immersed in the experience of the park itself rather than the park being a vector to provide single ride attractions. A drop tower would be pretty difficult to theme in the same quality as the rest of the park unless they made it smaller and more enclosed like Nemesis: subterra, or if they went all out and did something really unique akin to Tower of Terror on a smaller scale.
SoCalCoasters Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 ^Could you technically widen it to accommodate 8 across? With two rows and two towers, that would sit the same amount of people as Barnstormer with capacity depending on ride cycle lengths. If I recall correctly, the version at that European Park has two towers that face towards each other, already doubling the capacity, but if they did the two towers with 8 per row they could increase the throughput even more. I would definitely like to see something like that.
larrygator Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 ^Could you technically widen it to accommodate 8 across? With two rows and two towers, that would sit the same amount of people as Barnstormer with capacity depending on ride cycle lengths. If I recall correctly, the version at that European Park has two towers that face towards each other, already doubling the capacity, but if they did the two towers with 8 per row they could increase the throughput even more. I would definitely like to see something like that. True, both European parks have two towers. I don't think it would be a capacity issue at Dollywood, but I could see it being a problem at a large park with more avid ride goers. Only saying that to recognize that Dollywood has a lot of non-riding patrons.
thrillerman1 Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 I like this idea a lot, Larry. That ride was a great experience at Tripsdrill! If I recall correctly, there is also a newer drop tower model where the complete structure sways and leans too. I can't remember the manufacturer, but with the correct theming it would fit the Timber Tower theme as well.
Intimidator305 Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 (edited) Somebody call Dolly and tell her to buy one of these things! In all seriousness though, this would be great and I don't think it would be that bad with capacity. The longest waits in Dollywood are down in the Country Fair anyways! 24 riders would be managable. The ride duration/loading times of this thing can't be that long either, especially with the crews Dollywood has! Does anyone have a video of this thing in action? Edited February 13, 2012 by Intimidator305
Ace Of Spades Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 The only thing I'd have against the mini-tilting drop tower is that there are similar, human powered "drop towers" across the way, and they might be a bit too similar in the end. Not that they'd invalidate each other, just figured I'd mention that. Otherwise, definitely liking that suggestion!
COASTER FREAK 11 Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 ^ The hand powered ones are nothing like the one Larry posted.
ernierocker Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 Does anyone have a video of this thing in action? Here is just a random one pulled off of YouTube: ^Could you technically widen it to accommodate 8 across? With two rows and two towers, that would sit the same amount of people as Barnstormer with capacity depending on ride cycle lengths. If I recall correctly, the version at that European Park has two towers that face towards each other, already doubling the capacity, but if they did the two towers with 8 per row they could increase the throughput even more. I would definitely like to see something like that. That is what I meant. Two towers with two rows of 8 seats each would get you 32 passengers per cycle. Same as Barnstormer which more than likely has longer cycle times than this one would. Barnstormer takes quite awhile for the loading/unloading process.
Intimidator305 Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 Thanks for posting! That ride looks even better than I thought and it seems like everyone is having a blast! It would be a good family attraction to install after the thrilling Barnstormer and Wild Eagle.
Ace Of Spades Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 ^ The hand powered ones are nothing like the one Larry posted. I wasn't saying they were really close, just that they share a really basic similarity in what they do. Mostly just a nitpicking type comment, since every great idea on TPR needs one.
jarmor Posted February 14, 2012 Posted February 14, 2012 But...isn't there already a similar ride to this in the country fair section of the park? goes to dollywood.com Yep! Shooting star... but it looks like capacity isn't an issue because it just seats 12. I've never seen a long line for it when I waws at the park but the last time I was there was when mystery mine opened.
larrygator Posted February 15, 2012 Posted February 15, 2012 (edited) But...isn't there already a similar ride to this in the country fair section of the park? goes to dollywood.com Yep! Shooting star... but it looks like capacity isn't an issue because it just seats 12. I've never seen a long line for it when I waws at the park but the last time I was there was when mystery mine opened. The ride I posted a picture of is quite different from Shooting Star. Unless you want to say that Tennessee Tornado and Mystery Mine are similar. You don't see grown man making these type of faces on Shooting Star. Edited February 15, 2012 by larrygator
jarmor Posted February 15, 2012 Posted February 15, 2012 Lol I wouldnt say that. I came to thta conclusion from looking at the onride video. To me, it looked like a couple shooting stars back to back. I could be completely wrong since I couldnt see much in the video as far as how the ride operates.
SharkTums Posted February 15, 2012 Posted February 15, 2012 ^Trust him, the rides are very different. As for the topple tower, no big loss. I remember how all of us were so excited to ride one and then when we rode it was the most pointless slow ride in existence.
ginzo Posted February 15, 2012 Posted February 15, 2012 I can't think of any ride I tried to ride more than Timber Tower, but never actually made it onto the ride. It just kept breaking. Every time that I would see that it was running, I would get in line and it would break again. I probably spent 4 or 5 days at Dollywood when Timber Tower was supposed to be operating, but it just never stayed up long enough for me to get on it. Oh well. I don't think I missed anything. It was a running joke for me with trying to get on that ride.
cfc Posted February 15, 2012 Posted February 15, 2012 I would label Timber Tower as being "bizarre" and worth riding maybe once--that's about it. Nice theming, though.
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