CoastersRZ

It is the "River Runner" at Coney, not the River Jammer. And have you ridden the River Runner at Coney? It goes just about as fast as Viking Fury, and can produce some wicked air in the extreme rows. I know that it certainly got plenty of people to have protein spills this year at Coney.

I believe that I have an answer to the "weird connector piece" on Diamondback`s track. That splice plate (the small rectangular piece of steel that joins the portion connected to the column with the actual track piece is not there for alignment purposes. All the holes in that steel are just big enough to allow the bolts to slide in. Remember, this is a B&M coaster and design tolerances are extremely limited (like down to several millimeters). That splice plate is actually a form of structural connection. I believe that it is a pin connection, which prevents the transfer of moment into the support. This also would explain why the flange from the track piece does not come into direct contact with the flange on the lower support piece. (Although, this may have nothing to do with a pinned connection, but rather a way to attempt to isolate vibrations in the track caused by the train from the support itself.) A moment is defined as a force times a distance and is typically measured in foot-pounds. Moment, or fixed, connections are extremely difficult and expensive to create, compared to pinned connections. Which for those wondering, fixed connections are almost impossible to achieve in wood construction. Almost all connections in wood are pinned connections. By contrast, most connections in concrete, inherently are fixed connections, although pinned connections are possible in concrete. Now, you probably learned way more about connections in that little structures lesson than you cared to know about. As I stated, I`m not entirely sure if my answer is completely accurate, as I am not a structural engineer or coaster designer (I`m not even an architect, at least not yet) but I have taken four classes in structures at UC.

Keep in mind that the ironworkers may only have a select number of crews working on Diamondback on any given day. There was obviously the crew working at the bottom of the first drop. But I`d venture to say that there was another crew working on unloading/loading the trucks with new track pieces and supports in the parking lot out by Boomerang Bay. Also, keep in mind that cranes are not the only pieces of equipment needed to put new pieces of steel in place. They need cherry pickers to be able to get the ironworkers up to the connections to bolt the new pieces into place.

I don`t have much respect for that last youtube video, simply because they cruised Google gathering images of Coney. They do not give proper credit to where they were pulling their images from. Speaking from past experience, it is not fun to realize that pictures you own appear on other websites without your permission. And professionally speaking, taking others work and claiming it as your own is plagiarizing. Plagiarism is a very serious ethical problem, and any work that is not your own which you do not site is considered plagiarism and failing work.

I would say that the overall construction phase is about half done. But the ride is certainly no where close to being "near completion." While most of the ground work is done, and a lot of the actual track manufacturing is done, there is still the task of putting the rest of the steel in place, doing all the electrical wiring on the ride, building the station, testing, etc.

I too have sent numerous requests to him via email inquiring if he would be willing to share the high res pictures with Coney Central. And I have not, as of yet, ever received a response back from him.

Well, it wasn`t so much that they hadn`t received any bids for Coney in 1975. It was the fact that they actually made money off of Coney again in 1975 for the first time since 1971 that they decided not to sell it.

The Zoom Flume at Coney Island is now officially history. The demolition crews have already moved in, and demolished the ride to make way for new exciting things at Coney Island in 2009. See the photos of the demolition here.

Well, Raptor already posted a link to that footage in this thread. And I have seen those historical photos before. That site has some nice and unique photos of Coney on it in its glory years.

Well, Coney Island is now officially closed for the season. Today was the last official day that Coney`s classic rides were in operation for the 2008 season. The rides will reopen in the spring of 2009. There is, however, one more event being held at Coney Island this year. Cincinnati Children`s Hospital Medical Center is holding the Cincinnati Walks for Kids event. This event will raise money for the not-for-profit Children`s Hospital. There will be a 3 mile and 1 mile non-competitive walk. Additionally, there will be other festivities at the event, including four of Coney`s classic rides which will be operating for this event. The event takes place 8am-2pm on October 11th. For more information, visit the Cincinnati Walks for Kids website here.

Yes, passes are not valid. Everyone must pay the admission fees to enter the Fall O Ween Festival. Additionally, unlike during the regular season when people can just walk the grounds at Coney for free (minus paying for parking), everyone who attends the special events must pay. You cannot just walk the grounds of Coney for "free" during special events such as the Fall-O-Ween Festival or Appalachian Festival in the spring. Season passes at Coney are only typically valid from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend.

Today is the last day for the Fall-O-Ween Festival at Coney Island. Today also marks the last day that Coney`s classic rides will be operating in 2008. (Which also means that it is my final day of work at Coney Island in my seventh season there!) If you haven`t had a chance to visit Coney yet this year, there are plenty of special entertainment events at the festival, and admission is reasonably priced at the gate with $9 for adults and $6 for kids 12 and under. (I may or may not be back in the rides department at Coney next year. I will be graduating in June with my Masters of Architecture and will be looking for a full time job. But, the last two summers I`ve worked at Coney on the weekends, while I had a 40 hour a week co-op job, so I could always wind up back at Coney for an eighth year! After all, 'Coney Has It!')

In all fairness to Ryan, I did think that Cemetery Drive was much better this year than last year. Massacre Manor was not that bad either. I was a little disappointed in the Worksite, as it seemed to be understaffed, and had a large lack of fog. Additionally, I was disappointed to see that the fog bridge in Tombstone Terror-tory has been removed from that haunt. That was always one of the best parts of that haunt, having the fog so thick that you couldn`t see a foot in front of you, only to have a scareacter waiting at the end of the bridge to bang stuff as you exited the bridge and could finally see through the fog! I did enjoy the show in the Festhaus, especially some of the sparkling effects.

Don`t look for many upgrades next year on the rides side. Round Up was painted about three years ago, and is not in need of a new paint job. The ride that could really use a fresh coat of paint is my favorite ride to run, the Ferris Wheel. It hasn`t been painted once since I`ve worked at Coney, while some rides, like the Helicopters, have been painted twice!

Where did you pull this 3 million number from in Coney`s "final" season in 1971? I think that number is grossly exaggerated. Especially considering the fact that Kings Island became the first seasonal amusement park besides Disney to break the 2 million visitor mark in its first year of operation. And secondly, how do you know there was a "no compete" clause in the 'buyer`s' agreement for Coney since there was never a sale by Taft Broadcasting? One of the reasons that Taft took the for sale sign off of Coney in 1975 was that year the pool attracted 420,000 visitors and made money for Taft for the first time since 1971. And keep in mind that Great American Financial Corp. did not just "buy" Coney. They bought out the entire Taft Broadcasting Company in 1987, and Coney Island was one of the properties that they acquired in the transaction.

Well, technically, the trains the ride is running now are the original trains. However, the trains have been heavily modified over the years, including the removal of the fourth row of seats per car. This was done to reduce wear and tear on the tracks caused by the trains. Which is the same reason why you now see two bench PTC trains on newer coasters like the Legend as opposed to three bench trains.

What? You didn`t like Redbeard`s Revenge? I thought it was decent, not the best. And you didn`t get a chance to see any of the live shows? Definitely worth a visit on your next visit. Especially the Ghouls Gone Wild show in the Festhaus.

There is nothing wrong with the brakes on the Rock O Plane cars. Every single one can be "locked" and go upside down. If you can`t get the car to flip upside down, you simply are not pulling back hard enough on the black circle. Just ask Gordon Bombay. I know how to get those tubs spinning like crazy! RoP is one of the only two rides I`ve had to clean up a protein spill on this year. (The other being River Runner). Don`t look for a remake of Famous Fairways Mini Golf. It just got new greens installed a couple years ago (actually it might have been last year). And, as of yesterday, the Zoom Flume demolition has been completed. There are no remaining traces of the Zoom Flume standing at Coney Island.

That mine activity thing over by the Carousel is not operated by the rides department. The ride department operates the Eurobungy Dome and Famous Fairways Mini Golf.

Yes, the pool, group sales and parking revenues from Riverbend are the big money makers at Coney Island. The rides are not. Not surprisingly, the pool does really well. Especially, the last couple of years.

Yep. The rides are an added benefit that helps sell the group sales business. Sunlite Pool is the main attraction that attracts people to Coney. The rides are an added benefit. Another very profitable source of income for Coney is parking revenue. Especially since Coney receives the revenue for parking for Riverbend (including the new National City Pavilion). As a result, the more concerts there are, usually the better Coney will do. And the last several years, the park has been making serious capital investments the last several years. Between this year and last year, the park installed all new midway lights, they repaves a large portion of midway this year, renovated the bath house, including an all new paint job, installed new lights on the Ferris Wheel this year, and added three new attractions, in addition to adding canoes to Lake Como. Next year, there will be many new adventures to wet the appetites of park patrons. Sure, Coney may not have the coaster that you as an enthusiast wants it to have. But they have a rather unique collection of flat rides. Where else can you ride a Grover Watkin`s Tempest, or a Eyerly Rock O Plane, or an Eli Bridge Ferris Wheel, all in the same park?

By definition, Invertigo and Runaway Reptar are in fact inverted coasters. So what, they are not B&M coasters (and yes Vekoma calls them SLC and family suspended coasters), but they still feature inverted trains. And Coney can not rebuild the Shooting Star in its original location, or elsewhere. Between the existing picnic grove shelters and the two Riverbend Pavilions, there is not enough room for the out and back portion of the Shooting Star. Granted, I think a ride the size of the Tornado at Stricker`s Grove could fit in behind Golf and the slide and would be an immense hit at Coney, while not costing an arm and a leg. (Seriously, if Stricker`s can afford to build the Tornado and they are only open to the public a couple of days a year, I`d imagine that Coney could certainly afford it.) Although getting insurance on said ride at Coney would be more difficult due to Coney`s inherent nature for annual flooding.

And yet, Coney continues to do well without a wooden coaster. So why bother to putting in a capital intensive ride, when the park has grown tremendously since it "closed" in 1971 without such an attraction? If smaller flat ride additions are able to bring in people, especially the group sales business, then why sink money into such an expensive ride when cheaper attractions will suffice? As a coaster enthusiast, I agree, a wooden coaster at Coney would be wonderful. But from a business point of view, why add an expensive attraction when a smaller cheaper attraction could generate the same amount of revenues with a higher return on investment?

Wow. Honestly, how many water parks can the city of Sandusky support? Kalahari is currently the largest indoor water park in the country. There is also the Great Wolf Lodge and Castaway Bay (owned by Cedar Fair), in addition to the Maui Sands. The market is definitely saturated with Sandusky`s limited population in the winter months. However, it seems as if Maui Sands hasn`t even had a fair chance to get off the ground because the owner did not secure the necessary financing to successfully complete the project. I mean, the building doesn`t even have a full occupancy permit yet, so it cannot be operating and generating optimum revenues yet. Shoddy construction work and trying to cut corners is not the way to try and lure in visitors to a resort hotel. They will notice and will most certainly take their money to the other indoor water park resorts in the area.

Yep, and I just happened to be the person who called you out on that factual misstep. And to be honest, I`ve slipped up sometimes when greeting guests getting on/off the rides. Sometimes, I will say "Enjoy your ride" when they are getting off the ride instead of "Have a nice day"