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fryler87

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Posts posted by fryler87

  1. Trimming the coaster pre-loop makes sense; reduce the speed, reduce the forces, produce a more comfortable ride. However, this does not necessitate the removal of the loop. The ride was designed in such a way that the train would be able to complete the course after having been stopped at the mid-course brake run. No matter how much the ride is trimmed pre-loop, it will finish the course.

    I thought about this a little while after I made the post, and realized how much of an idiot I probably made of myself. My main issue is with the first helix (and surprise, that's where a problem occurred) and its jackhammering. If trims were put on the hill and the velocity of the first half of the ride was decreased, it'd be MUCH more comfortable to ride. As for removal of the loop, that was more of an idiotic statement. If the block stopped the train, yeah, it would still clear the loop. Here's some wishful thinking: remove the block, reprofile that part, put a bunny dip in and remove the loop. Slow the ride down and it'd be a much more comfortable wooden hypercoaster.

    Violating more copyrights...

    IPB Image

    IPB Image

    If you compare the pictures, could that red ellipse be representative of the loop? There's a slight curve in the original picture that looks like it could be the top of the loop. It's just a shim lower than the blocks, so that may be it.

  2. If you look at Schman's picture from the corner of GWL St. and Columbia Rd., the top of the loop *should* be straight down from a little to the right of the top of Vortex's second hill. After looking at SEVERAL pictures of the ride, it appears that the loop is just a hair shorter than the block before it. (Does anyone have a really good comparison picture? One from the station would be fantastic.) From Schman's picture, the top of the loop either should have shown up in the picture just barely above the tree line, or it DID at one point and the loop is gone. Or maybe the loop is shorter than I think, it's still there, and the top is just below the tree line.

    Red circle is where the loop is or should be. The very center of the circle is where the top of the loop should be or exists just below that point. Sue me for infringing on the copyright of the picture.

    IPB Image

    It's just speculation. But of course, there are a few people here who are apparently allergic to it, so I won't ramble on for too long.

    I'm going back to school (UC) for the Xavier game Wednesday and will take a few peeks for myself on the way down.

  3. There are two main routes here:

    1) Keep the loop. Adjust the rolling stock (is this really possible?) and/or retrack the coaster-more. Is this a logical decision if it will need to be done year in and year out? It would cost less than removing the loop and retrofitting regular track in its place, but the cost of retracking would be expensive in the long run.

    2) Remove the loop. Put a magnetic trim or two on the 218 ft. main hill and get the train to just gracefully crest the pre-helix hill. Decrease the train's velocity, and you have a smaller force on the track on the bottom of the hill. Remember our favourite equations: PE=mgh, KE=1/2mv^2, F=ma and F=m*v^2/r. Removing some of that energy in the train means lower velocity through the rest of the ride (come now, we've all seen that snap-action deceleration during the brake run at the end of the ride) and lower forces on the track. Lower forces mean less wear and tear on the track, and a drastically reduced jackhammering effect (which is the only thing that keeps me from riding again and again and again). The only disadvantage here would be that removing the loop and rerouting the track (remember, the track into the loop doesn't line up with the track coming out of the loop) would cost a good sum of money and would likely take more than just a few weeks to complete. However, you end up retracking fewer times and have a greatly improved rider experience.

    I say take the loop out, reroute the track and get more comfortable trains. It won't be a slim check to write, but I think re-ridership will greatly increase and people will walk off the ride much happier. It would be worth the investment...and yes, it WOULD be an investment!!!

    Albeit, this all comes from a second-year Mechanical Engineering student...I don't know anything compared to the people who make the actual decisions.

  4. Not that relevant, but this would only further explain the rumored (or fact?) sighting of Kinzel & Co. visiting the park a while back. After all, purchasing an amusement park (especially one that pulls over three million guests a year) isn't an overnight decision...

  5. I may be crazy, but after a little creativity:

    user posted image

    user posted image

    user posted image

    Note the position of the machine in the second and third pictures in relation to the placement of piece 2 and the angles at which the pictures were taken. I should also note that a few people on the Point Xtreme forums feel that the silhouette of the piece in the third picture was Photoshopped in. The only argument I can refute that with is the wind blowing the tarp very tightly against the piece, and the angle of the sun which puts the silhouette against the tarp.

    Although I'm not a member at any other amusement park message board, if this was posted on PointBuzz, I know it'd get deleted.

    Thanks to the people who took the original pictures (Walt from PointBuzz and Point Xtreme).

  6. I didn't see this previously posted, and am not sure of the relevance of the issue, but I just took the online park survey that was e-mailed to me.

    It's official;

     

    Thank you for your patience with all of these wierd questions! Here's why we're asking. Viacom, the media conglomerate that owns (among other things) CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, Simon & Schuster, the Comedy Channel, Nick@Nite, etc will soon be splitting in half. One half will be called "Viacom" and the other half will be called "CBS."

    When this split happens more than likely Kings Island and all of the other Paramount parks will be joining the CBS side of the business. The purpose of this survey was to give us some sense of what you, our guests, will think of the shift.and how much you like or care about CBS, our new owners.

    Thoughts?

  7. Italian Job is a super fun ride, really, but honestly I don't find the theming to be all that detailed. Aside from the helicopter scene, a bunch of road signs placed along the tracks don't qualify as "detailed" theming to me. Sorry to burst your bubble or offend anyone, but it is what it is. If they want to be all about the theming and studio experience, I'm totally down with that. I enjoy those types of rides.

    As for the hyper, it'd be nice to have a large steel coaster at the Park. It most likely wouldn't be my cup of tea, cause I bet they'd go with B&M. The B&M Speed Coasters are pretty forceless (like most new B&Ms are) and really are very family friendly.

    You don't find the theming all that detailed? Are you blind? What IS theming to you, exactly? I think IJST is the best-themed ride in the park, even higher above any of the HB or NC rides. It IS what it is? Hell yeah, it is! After going on it with some of my non-coaster freak friends, I discovered that the park hit the right note with IJST, even if the line for the ride isn't four hours long like FOF was when it opened. IJST is a great family ride that the park was looking to install for a good while. Anyone can ride it and have a hell of a time.

    Now, about how you think that B&M speedsters are 'forceless.' Which B&M did you ride to make this comparison? I'll admit that I haven't been on many B&Ms, however, the few that I've been on have proven to me that B&M is a company that makes coasters that are smooth as glass, provide a LOT of easily-manageable punch and don't knock you up. I will agree with you somewhat that they are fairly 'family-friendly,' however dropping 220 feet at 78 miles an hour (like Son of Beast at least) doesn't seem all that family-friendly to me.

  8. It seemed as if the park was nearly empty today. Lines were short and moved fast. IJST had a temporary issue around 12:45 or so that kept us waiting for a short while. Awesome ride, nonetheless. Saw a few from the paint crew working on that building between Racer and AE. (and some of you complain that upkeep doesn't happen...) Needless to say, the park seems to be in its June full-bloom. Flowers are out, shrubbery looks great, not a piece of trash anywhere that I remember; Eco has got this park looking good. Unfortunately, the season is young and come August, things probably won't look as great (but hey, that's life). Speaking of paint, Face/Off almost blinded me. Schnazzy.

    Too bad Delirium was still down. Looks like nearly everything is back together, just that some minor work is in continuation. Some of the water cannons on WWC seem to be in disrepair (especially those just before the final turn in that wide area). Not to be retentive, things like that can make rides a little dissapointing until fixed. Flight of Fear pre-show was working quite nicely (like it should), just to all of those who claim it's never used anymore. AE is getting worse and worse. On the final lift, (I believe) only four of those stone arm pounding guys could be seen; lighting seems to have taken a southern turn.

    In a final note, I'd like to say that:

    1) If the park attempts to remove Congo Falls for (almost) ANY reason, I will personally sponsor a sit-in to prevent such an action from occuring.

    2) Riding in the very front seat of Son of Beast, I nearly forgot that this behemoth was constructed of wood. Felt like riding on butter; best ride I've had on it in five years.

    Above all the pessimism, a great day at Paramount's King's Island.

  9. I can't match that. I only went once; decided to stop by coming back from my UC placement tests.

    Let me say; wow. A short ride, but those are some of the craziest lateral and gravity forces. That first turn into the helix out of the launch hits to incredibly hard, but it's a good hard...

    Best part of the whole ride: after the helicopter scene in the pipeline. Complete darkness; and you don't know where you're going. That drop off in the tunnel comes out of nowhere! A great experience coaster - tons of special effect elements; not to mention that the doors on the trains actually open. (I'm easily amused.)

    Nice (Italian) Job, PKI...

  10. Beautiful day. It was the busiest I've ever seen the park. In six hours, we did four rides. We did a lot of walking around, but none the less; four rides.

    Son of Beast was the smoothest I've ever experienced it. Wonderful.

    Food prices suck; but there's almost no use complaining. My lunch of chicken fingers, curly fries and a drink was over 10 bucks at It's Fried. And three dollars for a 20 oz. bottle of fliud in the vending machines...THREE DOLLARS.

    IJST looked great; almost rolled back once. Talk about major G-forces.

    Walked past Craig Ross, Siebert and some others in Nick Central. Thought that was kinda funny.

    Bad day to go for the rides, but it's good to get the jitters out of my system to have at least gone to the park this season.

  11. OHHHHH BURN!!! SOMEONE GRAB THE GOLDBOND!!!

    To be serious, nobody who is talking has any idea what the park is planning. The park probably has a vague master guide (area expansions, referberation goals, etc) for the next 15 years, but only are the detailed plans for the next four or five in place. So what we need to do is comandeer the park for a day, raid administrative offices and SWIPE all the information we can.

    THIS WILL TAKE US TO SUCCESS!!!

    I don't see Winterfest coming back for a while. I see a real big flat for 2006/2007. I see a full-size (100+ ft. tall 3000+ ft. long) coaster for 2007. Next big thrill coaster may not come until 2007/2008 (this may or may not include the above full-size coaster).

    Only a few people know what's in store - probably Craig Ross, Don Miller and God.

    ...EDIT...

    holy ****! 500th post!

  12. PKI has assets worth no less than a quarter billion for sure; the value could be possibly upwards of $350 million. The liquid value of the park (nothing else; no customer base, guaranteed sales (season passes, food, tickets, etc.), etc.) could be no less than $200 $250 million. Extra stuff, mainly customer base (people with lots of monies spending wildly at the park) adds huge value to the park. Not only is King's Island Paramount's flagship park, the park property is roughly 600 acres. As people have said in the past, not all of this is developable, however land value is land value. Zoning restrictions change. The only way Paramount Parks would sell is if Cedar Fair offered at least 125% of the value, and that's still being unfair to Paramount.

    King's Island being purchased by Cedar Fair? I laugh at you, you crusty batch of nature, you foul-faced ape; I fart in your general direction!

  13. stupid.gif

    Sad but true. The Beast doesn't sparkle as brightly as some of these newer woodies do. The Beast was ground-breaking. People flocked from miles around. The Beast at King's Island set the standard. To me, parks from then on could only try to collaborate with designers to build something even more exciting. This past summer, I went to Hersheypark, and let me tell you, Lightning Racer became my new favorite. Nevermind the fact that each side isn't even half as long as The Beast. Nevermind the fact that Lightning Racer is shorter in height and drop. Nevermind the fact that Lightning Racer doesn't come close to The Beast's speed.

    It was something new. It was refreshing. The Beast never gets old, but each ride is pretty much a similiar pattern every time. Lightning Racer takes you through dips.

    If The Beast was a light bulb, It'd be a 40-watt incandescent from the 70's. Newer rides are like friggin HID lamps putting out light at 9500 Kelvin.

  14. There is absolutely no way in the bluest of hell that Cedar Fair would ever be able to have the chance to purchase King's Island - PKI is Paramount's nest egg. If Paramount had to sell off a park because of financial problems (which could happen, only if Viacom needed to liquidate assets to pay off debt), they would probably start with their less-producing parks.

    Does Cedar Fair WANT to buy PKI? I'm sure if the deal was offered to them, they'd jump on it like a nine year old on a trampoline.

    Can they? Ha.

  15. Such removals cause comotions amongst enthusiasts like us. Enthusiasts like us will always keep coming back no matter what. Like said above, it's the big, flashy stuff that brings people in from out of town. That is what makes a park famous around the world; such wonders as Vortex, Beast, Son of Beast, Delirium, Tomb Raider and the like. Just look at Cedar Point. When Dragster was built, Chaos was relocated to Schwabinchen's site, which was totally removed. What is going to cause a bigger impact on business; a new record-breaking coaster, or removing an extremely old flat?

    It all comes down to what makes the park more money.

  16. I've got accounts at both sites, but have posted on the PKIC boards a few times. I'd love to see the two combined; as said before, it does seem like PKIC has fewer nutcases than PKIU (not buy PKIU's fault). I do much prefer PKIU's layout to PKIC's, which would make no difference as to where the boards were moved to or merged to.

    By the way, if my account was to be moved over to PKIC, what would happen to my member number? That kind of proclaims one's stake in PKIU's history. Would admin have PKIU member number and PKIC member number?

  17. My first night ride I had on The Beast. It is a completely different ride.

    As was mine - we did it 4 times between 8:30 and 9:00 on the last Sunday before school started (August 29th). What a great way to end my coaster streak for this year.

    Since this post isn't technically grammatically inclusive to only PKI, I'll make a quick run through my 2004 highlights: First coaster of 2004: Storm Runner at Hersheypark, High Roller at the Stratosphere, Manhattan Express at New York, New York (ouch), and Beast 4 times at night.

  18. Vortex is fine. The track is fine. It won't be retracked or reprofiled unless a) someone magically figures out how to burn part of it down or cool.gif only PART of it mysteriously gets damaged in a tornado...

    Unless someone in upper-level management goes ape****, Vortex could be around until 2020. That's a long way off, but honestly; who knows how old Arrow coasters can get before they need to be sent to the chopping block? 30 years isn't that old. Hell, Cedar Creek Mine Ride was built in '69, meaning it's 35 years old.

    Top Gun (if real estate in that area grows in value) could be taken out within 15 years, but it's doubtful. I have an odd feeling that Arrow Suspended models will become a rare breed down the line.

    The park has space. If used wisely and planned for carefully, they could keep removals to a minimum.

  19. Beast has to be the answer for this. Sure Racer is there, but Beast put PKI on the map (not just USA, but the World). When people say PKI they don't say Racers, they say Beast. No doubt about that one.

    To add to that in slight modification, I'd say that Racer put coasters back into the main thrill in amusement parks, and yes, The Beast did put King's Island on the world map.

  20. I don't see why people are saying that "PKI can't re-enter the coaster race" or "PKI needs to stick to the family theme." Are thrill-seekers like us NOT part of the family? I believe we are. We probably won't see anything of the "large" sort until 2007, and that's being early about it. Nagashima Spa Land has Steel Dragon 2000 (SBNO, by the way) and doesn't have any other real record-breakers.

    Point being? There's no amusement park lawbook that says, "If a park (herein so that a park being any entity managing, operating and/or owning amusement rides, not limited to rollercoasters, flat rides, dark rides, 'kiddie rides,' water rides or entertainment) chooses to fund, construct and operate a large (large equating to a scale of (but not limited to) a height of 200 ft., length of 5000 ft., or ride capacity of (but not less than) 1200 persons per hour) coaster, the park must (re)enter its bid in line (such that a line of parks exists on a state/national/international list) of the other parks (parks fitting the above description) which are in constant addition (inthat construction, funding and operation of a 'large' ride occurs in a successive order with breaks in the process(es) occuring for no more than sixty (60) business days) of rides to the park."

    Decipher that, *****es!!!

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