Gordon Bombay
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Posts posted by Gordon Bombay
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Where's this info coming from?
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I've always been curious as to why this model always had so many lift hills.
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The original plans called for the Yell to be exactly like the KI Racer, but Jim Figley discovered there was no room for the “pigeon wing” shape of The Racer’s back curve without bringing in tons of fill, so a decision was made to re-profile the back curve to an oval return feature. It was a good move - Yell riders attest to the thrill of the sudden separation of the trains at the top of the back curve. Carowinds’ Thunder Road, which was constructed in 1975, was built on the same plans as the Yell but with minor variations, including a lift hill 8 feet taller and the total ride almost 500 feet longer.
Brumfield was a 20 year veteran of Kings Dominion's maintenance staff. Today he's an author and I highly, highly recommend his book and blog, both called "Theme Park Babylon."-
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Orion is great, but I feel like it was designed for a smaller American park and just copy/pasted here.
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7 minutes ago, gforce1994 said:
But why would they need to change tele-communication lines, conduct temporary survey and alter recently built runoff lines? If anything this would have been done before the dorms were finished.
Gotta keep that speculation and those clicks going, eh?
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3 minutes ago, BeastieFanatic said:
Also worth mentioning that 0.4% of the worlds population is a little over 3 million people. I know it seems like a small percentage but when its viral and you realize just how many people could die, it becomes obvious why we are taking so many precautions
Not to mention, even if you don't die—there's a myriad of other reasons that make this a serious issue whether it's long term effects or simply not spreading it to those who can't afford to be out of work or are the only ones providing for a family, etc.
Wash your hands. Wear a mask. And just give a darn about your fellow human.
The more we do all that, the sooner this is all over.
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2 hours ago, alsoran said:
We can all wish everyone thought the exact same way we all do, but that will never happen.
Yeah, the difference here is that we're not talking about matters of simple opinion. We're talking about the recommendations of educated doctors and scientists vs those informed by their (this is the kind of their you meant to use, by the way). Facebook feeds.
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On 8/17/2020 at 2:35 PM, SonofBaconator said:
The only park I could see both chains agreeing on would be Six Flags New England. The issue with acquiring any Six Flags property though would be the IPs. I'd argue any Six Flags park under Cedar Fair would look bad for the first few years because the transition from Warner Brothers to original IPs would take time; they'd pretty much have to start off with a blank slate and build off of the shell of an existing park.
I disagree wholeheartedly. Did you ever visit the magical, totally-immersive, one-of-a-kind themed experience that was "Power City" at Geauga Lake?
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On the subject of a floorless—one in Vortex's former spot wouldn't necessarily be a bad fit. You'd get a nice, smooth, reliable B&M ride that could feature multiple inversions (a marketable aspect). Could also be cool to see the return of the normal B&M sit-down model. A smooth-as-glass multi-inverter would "round out" the park's lineup so to speak, replacing something that's now gone.
In terms of a Dive Machine or Wing Coaster—that's a prominent spot of land and a large attraction there could really be a neat postcard spot/marquee ride for the park. A dive coaster would also seem to follow the "trends" if there's anything to read in those tea leaves. For the most part, Cedar Fair seems focused on high-capacity, thrilling, reliable attractions. Does that sound like Mack and Intamin?-
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6 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:
Yeah SFNE is a weird park. From what I hear Superman and Wicked Cyclone superb but after them its just a lineup that's reminiscent of SFA, maybe a little better.
I have no clue @Gordon Bombay, I'm not an expert on Six Flags
Did some digging (aka I looked on Wikipedia). This seems to be how it went...
2002: "Batman - The Dark Knight," a B&M Floorless roller coaster debuts.
2003: No significant wild mouse nonsense
2004: No significant wild mouse nonsense
2005: Six Flags New England gets "Mr. Six's Pandemonium," a spinning Wild Mouse coaster.
2006: Mr. Six's is simply renamed "Pandemonium" because, go figure, the "Mr. Six" character means nothing.
2007: SFNE announces "The Dark Knight," an indoor wild mouse roller coaster themed to the 2008 film of the same name.
2008: "Batman - The Dark Knight" (floorless coaster) is set to be renamed to "Batman: The Ride" so that "Dark Knight (indoor wild mouse) can debut. However, there's a permit issue with the local municipality and SFNE ships the ride off to Mexico instead.
2009: The B&M floorless reverts back to "Batman - The Dark Knight"
2010: Only one wild mouse exists.
2011: SFNE receives SFKK's relocated "Roadrunner Express" and despite having never learned anything about how terribly they name their rides and market their rides, they call this thing: "Gotham City Gauntlet Escape from Arkham Asylum."
Present Day: SFNE has two boomerangs and two wild mouse coasters. What a world.
On Topic: KI should install a mediocre stand-up coaster in Vortex's spot and then add floorless trains to it after a few years. Two new rides for the price of one.-
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Just now, coaster sally said:
It opened later thanks to kk.
I think that's a different coaster. It looks like SFNE was building the indoor Dark Knight coaster, stopped, and then that went to Six Flags Mexico. Later, they got the relocated Roadrunner wild mouse from SFKK (and named it after the Dark Knight as well, but not the same Dark Knight from the films/2008 movie that the indoor ones were themed after). All this on top of already having a spinning wild mouse coaster from 2005... and now two boomerangs.
@SonofBaconator am I getting that right?
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1 hour ago, SonofBaconator said:
That would be like New England getting a second boomerang annoying. At least send it to a more deserving park like Worlds of Fun, Valleyfair or someone
Just read your post and then had to look that up. Wow—they have both the sit down and giant inverted model. Give them the Invertigo from SFA and let them complete the trifecta!
Also, because I went down an SFNE rabbit hole—they started building a Dark Knight indoor coaster and then.... never opened it?
Edit: the rabbit hole continues, how many wild mouse coasters does this park need? The hell‽ -
2 hours ago, IndyGuy4KI said:
And enthusiasts wonder why tours, meetups, and special enthusiast events no longer happen.
Because they don't harp enough praise? Please.
Anyone who works with the public would know that the small complaints (no matter how valid) on an enthusiast forum pale in comparison to the general public enjoying an attraction, web feature, etc. To blame small comments on removing a perk (that could otherwise net tons of free promotion and goodwill) sounds like something else.
Maybe when those comments show up, someone from the park could pipe in with a positive spin—a fresh outlook, a chance to share something cool.
Has anyone ever heard Tony Clark speak?P.S. Is this all why (insert synonym for "budget") giga is censored?
EDIT: I'll throw this in too: I love the video of International Street and that it has the ambient sounds of the fountain/music. Nice touch.-
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1 minute ago, bjcolglazier said:
Or Asia generally.
Couldn't agree more. Just look at South Korea and how they've handled this pandemic. They regularly distribute N95 masks to their populace on a consistent basis. The real measure of a man is how he scrounges for basic supplies his wealthy nation can't provide.
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14 hours ago, RollerNut said:
One has to wonder if your opinion of the characters in the movie is part of why Disney won’t release the movie.
Uh, yeah, that's not the problem with that movie.
And if this film "highlighted Walt's genius," I don't think a corporation that values its reputation and business would be so quick to ensure that this film is not distributed or acknowledged.
Splash Mountain itself has a bit of peculiar situation tied to much large situations and conversations. Whether you agree with it or not, maybe a few folks here need to "read the room" (or, rather, look at what's going on across the nation and listen to voices they don't normally hear).
You might learn something.
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1 hour ago, bjcolglazier said:
I'm sorry, but it's not hard to see what's next up on their agenda. Mark Twain Riverboat---rethemed. Hall of Presidents...done. By the time this is over the entire Disney company will be re-named if the SJW's have their way.
He’s on to us. Guys, stop leaking the meeting notes.
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On 6/2/2020 at 2:55 PM, Shaggy said:
The bridge in question was there, and was originally part of the entrance/queue for the ride.
Hey @Shaggy, just clarifying—this is in reference to the bridge seen in my above photograph from 2018, correct?
So, even with...
I think the remains of GRR finally went kaput around 2010 when they expanded the Gaylord resort.
...that would mean the bridge is the last remaining structure from the ride?
Just want to make sure I'm understanding clearly. Thanks! -
6 minutes ago, IceePirate said:
Racer is one of the two rollercoasters (Invertigo is the other) that I refuse to ride at the park. Retracking and maybe replacing the trains would go a long way to making me want to ride it again.
So, the last few years, a couple of parks have touted their "re-tracking" of Vekoma and Arrow coasters, but what exactly does that mean if anything at all? I'm very familiar with how wooden coasters have been re-tracked, but not exactly sure how say a coaster like "Blue Hawk" at SFOG can really be "re-tracked?
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I think a renovated Racer with new trains, fresh re-tracking, new paint job, cleaned up station, etc. would be awesome.
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1 hour ago, IceePirate said:
Not sure about the capacity number, but I do know that both Kings Island and Kings Dominion only shipped with 3 trains each. The ride probably couldn't utilize 4 trains anyways without a train stopping on the midcourse frequently, which would detract from the ride. I doubt a 4th train would improve capacity all that much since capacity of FoF is limited by how often the cars can load/launch. I could see a 3rd train helping though since the station does sit empty a little bit of the time.
This is what I've heard from various folks over the years—not stating this is fact, just what I've heard from people with various levels of reliability—@KIghostguy, @Shaggy, @TombraiderTy probably know more.
My understanding is that both Flight of Fear's ride block systems were designed to accommodate four trains. Clearly it never did and would've been a challenge, but I think theoretically—you could have had one train in the load station, one train in the "tunnel" between the load and unload stations, one train in the unload station, and the fourth train sitting on the safety brakes just outside of the unload station. I don't think, in that ideal operation, that a train would've had to sit at the midcourse regularly, but that would've required—the unload station to disembark guests rapidly and then quickly move that train along. Ultimately, a lot of that comes down to the main station loading and launching quickly—which even in the best of conditions takes awhile. Guests would've likely been sitting on the safety brake run for awhile (and then if things didn't move quickly, the midcourse could've stacked). Four trains would be hard to do.In the end it didn't matter because they only put three trains on. And I believe after an incident with wooden coaster skid brakes in the early 00's, Paramount adopted a policy of trains needing to have an additional set of brakes between them. I.E. If you look at the train sitting at The Beast, waiting behind the station—there's an extra pinch brake between it and the station.
10 minutes ago, JCJTheHurricane said:Based on what I've heard, the third train isn't used because the LIM's wouldn't have enough time to cool down.
I'm not sure if this is correct. Dominion ran three trains for years while Kings Island ran two. Not sure if it's still that way now. I do know that for a time, a few of us had looked at KD's ridership data and advocated for KI getting a third train (especially after Fast Lane debuted and was a mess with the "fast lanes" only being slightly less longer waits than the main queue). I don't recall the LIM's being an issue, but I do know that maintenance did prefer having the third train at the ready and being serviced during the season. Ultimately, our FOF never got its third train back. Also, at peak operation—Backlot moves trains much quicker (thought not with as many people), I think the LIMS can handle it.
There were also operational changes over the years. If you remember the earliest days of FOF—the empty train entering the load station would come in with its restraints up and open. I believe at some point, that changed and if I recall correctly—the employee at unload needed to close the restraints and check them even if there weren't riders. The unload station train also can't depart until the station is totally void of guests, which originally I don't think was the case—guests just needed to be beyond a line.RANDOM, SLIGHTLY RELATED QUESTIONS:
@TombraiderTy, @Shaggy, @KIghostguy, do you all know about "The Bat Phone" from FoF's early days? Also, did any of you ever hear about SOB and Beast being designed for four trains? And in that vein: did SOB ever run three?
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6 minutes ago, Maverick44 said:
The inspectors are employed by the state of ohio!
Specifically within the Department of Agriculture.
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1 hour ago, Captain Nemo said:
In 2008 there was station music. It was a mixture of adventure / western style music. Most notably...
That musical experience was very short lived as I recall.
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Screenshot taken during an apposite line of dialogue: "...might as well, we've already broken the quarantine."
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2 minutes ago, gforce1994 said:
The company as a whole consisted of several departments each working towards their own goals. There is a well known example where Paramount wanted TG at Carowinds themed to Godzilla, but the cost for the rights from a sister department were so high that the Parks brand balked at using it.
Was it that the cost was high or the fact that the movie... you know... was pretty awful.
1981 Bat Original Layout
in Kings Island History
Posted
^ This.
There are two members here. One who likes to make wild claims (and hey, if they're right, many here love to read about it, just show some work) and another who has to come around after to say why they're done with this site (yet keeps showing back up) or hint that they have some exclusive information. We get it. Someone slid you some behind the scenes stuff.
I, for one, find this little tidbit about The Bat to be fascinating. However, in a day and age of misleading content all over the internet (especially on social media), I want to ensure that what I'm reading is true. It's great that it is, but maybe instead of the condescending attitude, certain members can use that effort to foster some good conversation here. Trust me, you two are far from the only ones to ever get a "peek behind the curtain."
Meanwhile, thanks to @TombraiderTy and @KIghostguy for promoting friendly context and thoughtful conversation regarding the park's history.