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Decoding Episode II: Rivertown 2017 and the Falling Trees


jcgoble3

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Just for giggles.... It is funny to see a chunk of Diamondback riders crane their necks to the right at the bottom of the the first drop and to their left on the return trip back just to see what's going on in the woods.

Also, from the train it looks as is the blacktop leading back across the dam for Lake WWC has been removed to be replaced with concrete.

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Just out of personal instinct it seems alittle abrasive to put up a new wooden coaster after just tearing the one down that caused so many injuries.

By opening day 2017 it will have been 4 1/2 years since SOB was torn down, almost 8 years since it last ran, and almost 11 years since it's only major incident. How long do you think they should wait?

No one died on SOB (thank God); no one was paralyzed. People were admitted to the hospital mostly as a precaution. Many people, including me, rode SOB after that incident. I don't see the problem with a new wooden coaster.

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Just for giggles.... It is funny to see a chunk of Diamondback riders crane their necks to the right at the bottom of the the first drop and to their left on the return trip back just to see what's going on in the woods.

Also, from the train it looks as is the blacktop leading back across the dam for Lake WWC has been removed to be replaced with concrete.

I find myself doing this on the lift hill.

Sent from my SM-G925T using Tapatalk

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Just for giggles.... It is funny to see a chunk of Diamondback riders crane their necks to the right at the bottom of the the first drop and to their left on the return trip back just to see what's going on in the woods.

Also, from the train it looks as is the blacktop leading back across the dam for Lake WWC has been removed to be replaced with concrete.

I find myself doing this on the lift hill.

Sent from my SM-G925T using Tapatalk

 

i do this too! 

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Oki, so here are my new and updated thoughts on this whole matter. 

 

First, survey markers: what do they mean??

Pink: "Temporary survey marker" 

Orange: "Communication, alarm, or signal line" 

White: "Planned Excavation" 

 

Source: http://www.missutility.net/searchstatus/colorcodes.asp

 

EDIT: Accidentally posted before i finished writing, herers the rest of this post. 

 

Second: If most of the markers are pink and orange, with only a few white ones, i'd say they're just putting in wires and doing general surveying. Besides removing trees, has anyone seen any actual excavation? 

 

Third: With the sheer amount of survey markers, I would say its probably going to be a woodie. Unless they're putting in a giga and the break run / transfer table is going to be curved, and 3 feet from the train. 

 

Fourth: I dont know how true this is, but i've heard from fellow Kings Island employees that there is some land clearing going on in X-Base near Flight of Fear. If this is true, it could correspond with the land that was being cleared behind Banshee during the off season. Maybe they'll get a giga in 2018 or 19 in X-Base. While they're at it, they could get new bathrooms over there. :P

 

TL;DR, I think they'll get a wooden coaster in Rivertown this year, and a Giga in X-Base/behind Banshee in 2018/19. 

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Fourth: I dont know how true this is, but i've heard from fellow Kings Island employees that there is some land clearing going on in X-Base near Flight of Fear. If this is true, it could correspond with the land that was being cleared behind Banshee during the off season. Maybe they'll get a giga in 2018 or 19 in X-Base. While they're at it, they could get new bathrooms over there. :P

If you currently work at KI, you may want to be careful what you post on here, even if its just fellow employee rumors.

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TL;DR, I think they'll get a wooden coaster in Rivertown this year, and a Giga in X-Base/behind Banshee in 2018/19. 

 

I'd put the odds of them getting a coaster this year, and another next year or the year after very low on the list of possibilities. Somewhere behind KI getting a Cowboy Coaster with Intamin credits.

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I took two trips on the train over the weekend.  Everything I can see near White Water Canyon appears to be for the new entrance to the ride.  It looks like they are replacing the entire path with concrete.  If some of this work is not for White Water Canyon I cannot figure out where the line to separate the two is.

 

There are a lot more stakes near the train shed.  Something is going on back here, the question is how does this relate to the other work.  The stakes are in my view the most logical location for the first drop after the lift hill if the park were to be building a large coaster.  Does this mean Giga?  It makes the most sense for a new coaster but frankly the location bothers me.  Coasters are not typically built over other rides or buildings.  But this also does not appear to relate in anyway to White Water Canyon.

 

I did not see anything which I would identify as out of the ordinary or could link to any construction for most of the ride until the train was coming back and passing White Water Canyon again.  There are stakes in the woods near the wall next to RFYLCB and the old Funnel Cake stand.  I take this to be the logical entrance or exit or even both to a new attraction.  There is a lot of space between RFYLCB and the train.  If it is the entrance you can build a pretty good sized line next to RFYLCB before needing to pass over the train tracks to the actual attraction.  Pretty sure we will see a gift shop for the new attraction where the old funnel cake building used to be.  This work does not appear to rule anything out or point towards anything specific.

 

On the other side of the train tracks there is a LOT of work around the water's edge.  Many of the stakes have something written on them but I was never able to figure out what they say.  I tried taking pictures of them but at least with my cell phone it was always too blurry to read.  I will say if you look at a satellite view this work appears to line up directly with the stakes next to the train shed.  This is a very long straight line.  But I have no idea what that means if anything.

 

The problem is trying to put this all together.  What is going on?  I cannot rule out a coaster but I also cannot say it is a coaster.  One issue is that I can largely rule out most types and layouts of coasters.  The reason is that you have to take into consideration the normal coaster design constraints.  Rides need space around them for construction, maintenance, evacuation, etc.  To be a coaster it has to either be very small or very large.  On the small side a Mack spinning ride like Sierra Sidewinder at Knott's could fit and I think would fit the theme of the area.  But this does not explain the stakes near the train shed, That is too far away and too straight of a line to be part of this type of ride.  On the large side a giga can fit and the stakes would outline the lift hill and first drop of the ride.  Beyond that for safety and other reasons it makes the most sense to turn towards the back of the park and head towards Diamondback and The Beast.  Assuming this happens I am not certain where the return is.  I have had several ideas but I do not see any work which would point towards the path back or any path beyond lift hill and drop.  Unless the return is almost under the lift hill.  If it is a large coaster the prep work just needs to be done by the end of August so time should not be an issue.

 

It is also possible we are not looking at one large ride at all.  It feels like a fantastic place to put Camp Snoopy.  I am pretty convinced Dinosaurs Alive will fit here as well and I have several ideas on layout.  Flat rides make no sense in my opinion.  It could only fit two or three flat rides and there is just as much space between stunt coaster and Diamondback.  I also cannot see a dark ride being built here, there is enough room but suddenly most of the space is taken up by one large building.  The park seems to be spending too much time on appearance here to suddenly build a large ugly building.  But none of these possibilities explain the markings near the train shed.

 

It feels like we should start seeing more clearing soon.  I suspect the park is trying to get White Water Canyon done before they start the rest of this work.

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Rides need space around them for construction, maintenance, evacuation, etc. stakes would outline the lift hill and first drop of the ride.

Tell that to what lurks on the other side of DB.

 

 

It takes different forms on different attractions.  But wooden coasters traditionally have a walking path directly next to the track, and The Beast is no exception.  The majority of The Beast also has a maintenance road next to the ride, you just rarely see it unless you take a behind the scenes tour or look at a satellite view.

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Have you ever seen the construction photos? They removed very little as possible during construction.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I have but I still do not see the issue with what I stated.  Construction of one coaster is totally different from another.  The space required for construction is determined by the space required for the ride, equipment required to construct the ride, and ability to get parts to the location.  Since a wooden coaster like The Beast would not require a large crane you do not need the space for one.

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Every situation is different. Every coaster has it's own set of unique variables.

 

Past performance is not indicative of future events.

 

Those that speak do not know; those that know do not speak.

 

¯\_ツ_/¯

     shrug

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Hello! First time poster here, but I've been following this thread for a little while now (and I must say it's very confusing). My home park is up in Sandusky at the Point, but I go to Kings Island at least once a year.

Just to voice my personal opinion (which is the same as many others on here), the "falling trees" sign means nothing more than the park saying that they're clearing the area, I believe. I don't think it has anything to do with the theme of the ride. And I do believe that a giga is coming to Kings Island next year. It's very early in the year still, so they still have plenty of time to clear land and build it.

And just something that made me laugh, I've never heard of Maverick being called the "Cowboy Coaster''! We have never referred to it over on Pointbuzz (Cedar Point's forum site).

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FoF construction thread got an interesting bump

diversion or useful info...still unsure

Terp knows what he's doin.

Back to other news.....

 

 

I honestly think I know exactly who Terp is in real life, but for the sake of it, (and the chance of asking a random person a random question that is no) I'm going to decide not to figure it out. But I'm pretty sure I know who he is.

I'm talking about it, so I don't know. :D

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