CoastersRZ

It might be too windy to place any track today. I know that coming home from UC, my car was shaking from the wind when I went over the 471 bridge, and again when I went over the 275 bridge near Coney.

Still, a relative neophyte compared to some people on these boards. Heck, I`ll be graduating from Grad School in seven months, and I am still considered a youngin` by some who frequent these boards!

They had a live band in the Twistin` to the 60`s show last summer in the International Showplace.

Retention ponds retain water and have water in them normally. During rain storms, the water level rises from the runoff from the parking lots. This water is then fed into the sewer system or a stream after the rain event has occurred when there is more capacity available to handle all the water. Detention ponds serve a similar purpose, except for the fact that they are dry and do not retain water. They simply hold water until after the rain event has passed. Storm water run off of parking lots contains lots of nasty chemicals and oils from cars. Instead of dumping this polluted water directly into stream or river, this water can be treated by plants in areas called bioswales. These plants both slow down the rate of the moving water and remove the pollutants from the water. After being treated in bioswales, the water is significantly cleaner, has a lot less volume and can be safely discharged into creeks and streams. There is no need to dump the water into the sewage system to treat the water. This reduces the demand on the sewage treatment plants. When you think of the area of impermeable surfaces in parking lots (take Kings Island`s for example, which has more than 10,000 parking spaces) an inch rain fall can generate an immense amount of run off because the water cannot penetrate the impermeable surfaces. However, there are things called permeable concrete and asphalt. These two materials have special blends that allow water to pass directly through them, thus reducing the amount of storm water run off. However, these methods are more expensive and not ideal in all locals. For instance, around here the soil contains a lot of clay, which itself acts as an impermeable surface, preventing water from returning to the natural water table. So around here, in order for permeable pavements to be successful, often several feet of this clay has to be removed and replaced with well draining soils, such as sands, which adds to the cost. Furthermore, permeable pavements cannot accept all the same snow treatments like salt and snow plows that typical pavements can achieve. So there are some issues to be resolved still with this relatively new technology. The below image, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, shows an area of impermeable, typical asphalt during a rainstorm in the lower right side of the image. The upper portion of the image shows permeable asphalt. Notice the difference? Ask, and you shall receive! Is that enough information for you?

Not like this is a greenfield site or anything, but Big Box retail developments are some of the worst developments in terms of their impact on the local ecology, and typically do not add much, if anything to the architecture and context of the local community. Ie, one Kroger in the Cleveland area is bound to look eerily similar to a similar Kroger in the Cincinnati area. I spent a whole studio last year looking at the negative impacts that big box stores have on communities, and ways in which some retailers are trying to successfully integrate into the community and build green big box stores. Ok, I`ll get off of my architectural soap box now and return you to the regularly scheduled topic.

Well, I am a graduate assistant, so I am teaching a class of 17 freshman how to use Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign and Dreamweaver. So I guess some of my "teaching skills" came through. Sorry about that.

Keep in mind that often when using heavy equipment for construction, the equipment will often roll over the soil that is above the roots of said trees. This can lead to compaction of the soil, and ultimately the death of the tree, forcing the tree to have to be cut down anyway. And need I remind you, The Beast when it opened seemed a lot more open than it does today, as more trees have grown in over its lifetime.

No headache whatsoever. However, I did have some bruising on my thighs from the bare metal of the lap bar.

Not true on the first statement. 2009 will be Diamondback. And judging from past large installations at other Cedar Fair parks, we will be lucky if we see anything significant added in 2010. It certainly won`t be as substantial as what Diamondback is. And while Togo did go out of business, both Kings Dominion and Canda`s Wonderland still have their stand up coasters operating. Remember that King Cobra was the first stand up coaster that Togo made, which likely was part of the reason for its early demise compared to the other Togo stand ups in North America.

In this case, it is a drill. They are digging out the footings for that area so that they can place the rebar cage inside the hole and pour the concrete for the footing. And of course, that is not to be confused with a soil core machine that takes soil cores. Soil cores are used to determine the type of the soil and the bearing capacity of the soil. That is used by the structural engineer to design the foundations to adequately support the loads of the ride. Back in 2006, I actually spotted a soil core machine back behind Flight of Fear on the final weekend, which it turns out was for preliminary Firehawk work. Now, they did use piles for Drop Tower, but that is because it is a really tall tower, and needs lots of lateral support from its foundation (as it is essentially just a giant flagpole sticking out of the ground).

Not only are they drilling for the footings, they are also pouring the concrete for the footings, as evidence by the concrete truck.

Yep. It will be interesting to see what, if anything they add to the Diamondback train storage area. As a side note, the structural steel on the Coney Mall side of the station is mostly in place. Additionally, I spied a concrete truck where the grove of trees by The Beast entrance used to reside. Looks like they might be pouring some of the footings in that area.

And just because a ride receives a paint job does not guarantee the ride is safe for years to come. King Cobra received a paint job for the 1999 season. The ride only lasted three seasons with its paint job before being removed in the spring of 2002.

Are you referring to the observation tower? I believe I read somewhere that it was going to be sold for scrap metal, but I could be wrong on that account. It will be interesting to see if we ever find out who the real owner of the Big Dipper is, and what exactly they intend to do with it. Hopefully, it is eventually moved, and does not just sit there on property, battling the elements and rotting away like the Screachin` Eagle at LeSourdsville Lake.

Well, the walk through area under the station is long gone! Its been gone for at least ten years now, I believe. They used to have a ride op positioned under there checking heights, which if the line was long, that location was a little far into the line. Most of the theming just fell apart because of a lack of upkeep. And they still played the Top Gun soundtrack, including the Kenny Loggins song, up until last season. The theming on the ride did not make the ride that much better, and did not add as much to the experience as what the theming did for Tomb Raider. Flight Deck is still a great ride.

Well, once Diamondback opens I think that your opinion of the best steel coaster in the park might change. And secondly, The Vortex is the oldest steel coaster in the park.

Not really. The height of the rails are at about 12'-15' above grade in that area. The bottom of the actual track may be lower, but not much lower than 10'. The exit to the Crypt will still be able to be utilized next year, which means that the track is at least 8-9' above the pavement.

Nah. The bottom of that track is a good twelve to fifteen feet off the ground there. Parts of The Beast, especially the underground portions entering and existing the second tunnel come extremely close to the ground. In fact, I have seen deer before in the turns immediately after the second tunnel.

Yes. Do not take things so personally. While some of us here are expressing opinions that are contradictory to yours, we are not personally attacking you. And if it was an all out flame war, or personal attack, this topic would no longer be around on the boards. We run a fairly tight ship in that regard, after all this is a family site about a family amusement park.

Everyone else in this thread was rather calm and cool as well. We were just taking objection to your claim "most of us" when you mentioned the demise of Flight Deck. Remember what they say about the word assume !

Uh, where to begin. First of all, Arrow Dynamics is no longer around. However, S&S Power has the rights to all their old designs. They continue to supply the parks with Arrow related replacement parts. Secondly, I find your statement about going to the park 50 times and finding Flight Deck closed all but 11 of those likely untrue. The only times that it was NOT open for sure was Friday nights for Halloween Haunt. Otherwise, all the days I was at the park it was open this year. Granted, it may have temporarily closed for small amounts of time during the day for protein spills or small mechanical problems, but as far as I know, that ride did not have the significant amount of down time that you claim it did. Are you just looking to stir up trouble?

Well, that might be a slight exaggeration! I don`t know if I`ve ever used a park map to find directions at Kings Island. I`ve been visiting the park since I was but six months old! I do use the map to figure out the live show times though. And to plug the park that I work at, there are several large (even larger than the poster sized maps that used to reside in certain areas at Kings Island, which began reappearing last year) maps scattered about Coney Island. But since I am a worker who has worked there for seven seasons now, I do not need a park map and can direct guests to the appropriate venue. This usually entails the question "Where is the nearest restroom?"

For those of you who do not know, the exit to The Beast used to be along the path that had the fencing this past season. Right after you crossed under the the tracks for The Beast, you used to turn left instead of going right. The door that says "Authorized Personnel" now, is where the exit used to go. When at the top of the ramp up to the station, if you look out you can see an old bridge that connects with the path (the same one that was used for us to go on the behind the scenes tour of The Beast at KIC day). That was the old exit of the ride until the early to mid 90`s.

I`ll second the Interpreter`s comment. I certainly never said or agreed to the fact that Flight Deck won`t be around much longer. Flight Deck is not a bad ride, and when compared to Iron Dragon at Cedar Point, Flight Deck wins because it is faster, taller and more forceful. Not to mention it doesn`t have the "rattling" that Iron Dragon has. Only thing working against Flight Deck is the long walk to arrive at the station.

Those "white sheet" things would be corrugated steel decking. Once all the steel decking is in place, they will be able to pour the concrete floor. The steel decking acts as the bottom form work for the concrete. It is the same type of construction that was used on Firehawk`s station, and Son of Beasts station.