Official looking men between The Racers

[trevRN 0]

Okay, so I couldn't come up with a proper title for this, but I was at Kings Island this past Saturday (June 2, 2018). Towards the middle of the afternoon, I was on WindSeeker, and I noticed that there was a group of people standing in the grass between The Racers where the two tracks split. One man was taking pictures toward The Racers facing in the direction of the station, another person looked like they was carrying one of those orange tripod things, people use when surveying land, and then another I'm assuming a park manager or something just standing there with papers. Did anyone else see these people? Speculations on what it could be? Possible RMC conversion of The Racers?

[Tera Ryzing 362]

Lord I hope so!

[evy0311 74]

I highly doubt they would do an RMC conversion of racer... But I do think they're going to be remodelling it and refreshing it. That thing is falling apart.

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[WWC2003Amy 313]

Either that or another ride that is going to interact in some way with The Racer


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[Tera Ryzing 362]

One historical wood coaster is enough IMO.

[gforce1994 1714]

1 hour ago, trevRN said:

Okay, so I couldn't come up with a proper title for this, but I was at Kings Island this past Saturday (June 2, 2018). Towards the middle of the afternoon, I was on WindSeeker, and I noticed that there was a group of people standing in the grass between The Racers where the two tracks split. One man was taking pictures toward The Racers facing in the direction of the station, another person looked like they was carrying one of those orange tripod things, people use when surveying land, and then another I'm assuming a park manager or something just standing there with papers. Did anyone else see these people? Speculations on what it could be? Possible RMC conversion of The Racers?

Yes, well, there’s a few things to note. When surveying it is always important to take photo of the sight lines just Incase there are any potential obstructions. Case in point, I had a two day experience where the first day the site was absolutely clear, second day the site was covered for College Game Day broadcast. However with any surveying project, you need some base point or reference point to refer elevations to. The base point is usually where someone sets up their tripod, focuses the laser on the base marker and starts surveying.

[Outdoor Man 2360]

parts of it look like they are using the oil/grease as a paint color.

Several of the coasters there could use a good bath and paint job.  Firehawk's mask is meticulously being pulled back to reveal X-Flight.

[BlondyRidesOn 1777]

I sure hope it's not an RMC conversion. That ride still gets good ridership. Would love to see a GCI retrack of it though, maybe reprofiling by Martin and Vleminckx and some Millennium Flyer trains like Wildcat at Lake Compounce or Ghostrider at Knotts. The ACE Landmark plaque is back outside the entrance to the ride, so hopefully it's not the end.

[SonofBaconator 9477]

Rmc can add topper track and I wouldn't care since it would still be considered wooden. What Racer really needs is a gci or a gravity group retrack which wouldn't be an issue considering how iconic the ride is to the industry. 

 

[Tera Ryzing 362]

What has gravity group done in the states the last decade besides a small woodie for fun spot.

[Kenban 1923]

Oscars Wacky Taxi, Switchback, Roar-O-Saurus, and Zippin Pippin are all recent builds by the Gravity Group in the US.  Ravine Flyer II is 10 years old this year.  There is a chance I missed something as well.

But I am not aware of any relationship between Gravity Group and Cedar Fair so I doubt we would see them working on The Racer.

I am leaning towards something interacting with The Racer, or maybe even just a lighting package, or painting the coaster.

[BlondyRidesOn 1777]

22 minutes ago, Tera Ryzing said:

What has gravity group done in the states the last decade besides a small woodie for fun spot.

Kings Dominion Rebel Yell retracking in 2016/2017.

[Shaggy 3407]

I'm pretty sure I know who they were.  If I am correct, then no, they had nothing to do with a new coaster.

They were taking pictures... that later got posted to FB and a website...

One was there for purposes related to another attraction at the park.

 

[SonofBaconator 9477]

16 minutes ago, Kenban said:

But I am not aware of any relationship between Gravity Group and Cedar Fair

As far as I know, the only CF coaster they've touched is the late Rebel Yell. I'd say Cedar Fair has a stronger relationship with GCI at the moment as they've been the go-to for wooden coasters for over a decade now

[gforce1994 1714]

18 minutes ago, Kenban said:

Oscars Wacky Taxi, Switchback, Roar-O-Saurus, and Zippin Pippin are all recent builds by the Gravity Group in the US.  Ravine Flyer II is 10 years old this year.  There is a chance I missed something as well.

But I am not aware of any relationship between Gravity Group and Cedar Fair so I doubt we would see them working on The Racer.

I am leaning towards something interacting with The Racer, or maybe even just a lighting package, or painting the coaster.

Gravity Group redid Thunderhawk at Dorney.

[OTTER9919 111]

Sweet,I was at the park on Saturday too,I finally rode Banshee and Vortex,I hope we get something great in that area of the park

[Maverick44 3081]

Pics or it didn't happen!

[Gannersdaddy 2731]

[TheRickster 448]

I'd say racer got a good amount of track work over the offseason and is running rather well.

They'd be pretty crazy to change it.

[BlondyRidesOn 1777]

What if Fred Grubb was here because Rocky Mountain Construction has been traditionally retracking The Racer? Either way, it wouldn't make much sense to close the ride shortly after it got a good amount of retracking. Still hoping for a Ghostrider style treatment if any changes are being made to the ride.

[That_B&M_Roar 9]

I’d be down for either Gravity Group Timberliners or GCI Millennium Flyers on The Racer. I’m sure this way to cart before the horse to be discussing. But that would be sweet!

[CoastersRZ 5174]

21 hours ago, BlondyRidesOn said:

What if Fred Grubb was here because Rocky Mountain Construction has been traditionally retracking The Racer? Either way, it wouldn't make much sense to close the ride shortly after it got a good amount of retracking. Still hoping for a Ghostrider style treatment if any changes are being made to the ride.

Carowinds had spent quite a bit of time, effort and money fixing up Thunder Road.  And then they tore it down to make room for their Carolina Harbor water park expansion.

[Oldschool75 6638]

As Mr. Dylan said “The Times they are a-changin” Question is, how?


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[BlondyRidesOn 1777]

1 hour ago, CoastersRZ said:

Carowinds had spent quite a bit of time, effort and money fixing up Thunder Road.  And then they tore it down to make room for their Carolina Harbor water park expansion.

Thunder Road had major structural problems due to the wood structure being unprotected and untreated for years. 

[MagnesiumPC 4]

On 6/4/2018 at 1:23 PM, Tera Ryzing said:

What has gravity group done in the states the last decade besides a small woodie for fun spot.

Wooden Warrior @ Quassy, Switchback @ ZDTs, Ravine Flyer II @ Waldameer, Roar-O-Saurus @ Story Land, Oscars Wacky Taxi @ Sesame Place, as well as various other retracks. They appear to be focusing on family & unique rides, rather than the massive rides. I almost wonder if the age of Mega Wooden Coasters is over.

[Shawn Meyer 949]

^ Well I noticed that one side of racer was smoother than the other side so maybe they're planning on closing one side and re-tracking that side for next year to make it smoother. It's still a fun ride to ride, but yes it needs a paint job badly. Someone also mentioned Firehawk needs some love as well, so I would love to see them repaint that as well. If Kings Island took care of those two roller-coasters in the off-season, I wouldn't care if we get something new or not for 2019. I know that sounds crazy, but anybody else agree?

[BlondyRidesOn 1777]

I watched the Coaster_Net video regarding this topic. They mentioned officials from a company the works on lighting packages walking around The Racer. I forget the company's name, but there may be a restoration effort in progress for the ride. It's worth noting that most RMC conversions have the footings on the old ride marked with spray paint to mark which supports to remove. None of that is seen on Racer.

[BlondyRidesOn 1777]

Sorry for two posts in a row, but doesn't Rocky Mountain Construction do traditional wooden coaster maintenance as well? In fact, their Topper Track technology, and eventually the I-box track, were developed because there were sections of roller coaster track that kept having to be replaced. I'm not saying The Racer is getting Topper Track,  I hope not at least, but with Fred Grubb possibly being here, could it be possible that he was looking at the ride to replace the old track with new wood for a 2019 restoration project?

[King Ding Dong 7998]

Yes RMC has done traditional track maintence in the past.   A few years ago they did some work on The Boss at SFSTL, not that it did much for the ride overall though.  

[IndyGuy4KI 10021]

I heard RMC did normal track maintenance on Hoosier Hurricane about 5 years ago at Indiana Beach.