fryler87

I'm going to go with Delirium...what a sweet one. It truly never gives the same ride. It's always different no matter how many times you do it.

being a coaster designer is my dream...im currently a junior in high school and am looking seriously into engineering...probably computer, civil, mechanical or electrical. btw...UC is my top college pick so far behind OSU. as far as getting a job in that field, i know for sure that my chances are slim and none. anyone who has tried to get into that field within the last decade or two has already gotten the job or has been told "sorry, we don't need anymore help." there is always the option of becoming a contractor or working for a contracting company (probably not the largest salary), but it would probably be as good as if not better than designing coasters. another thing to note is that the only coaster companies left in the US are ones like RCCA (dying) and S&S Arrow (ditto) and also Chance-Morgan (could be going soon.) but it is fun to think about it, and if you work hard enough...anything is possible. YOU WILL MISS 100% OF THE SHOTS YOU DON'T TAKE.

ok, thanks to all who answered. i will sleep better tonight...

ok, this may be a little off-topic, but it is a question that has bothered me for a while. how do "they" measure the length of a coaster? good sites like www.rcdb.com have some measurements in feet AND inches. how could one find the length in feet AND INCHES? is the measurement taken from the middle of the track? both sides and averaged together? one side of the track? someone please clarify.

a bat-themed b&m invert...hmm...i seem to like this idea. however, like many have said before, the only group of people who would understand the whole "The Bat returns" idea are those in their 30s and coaster freaks (like us...not as an offensive label). i have to admit...it would be sweet. 230 ft tall...5000 ft long...a few inversions...use the forest terrain well; and now you have one of the world's best inverts. despite how cool it'd be...its not going to happen.

there's a reason new intamin gigas and hypers have the elevator lift...if you know anything about steel dragon 2000, you know it has two chains. thats right..two. one for the first half of the lift and another one for the second half of the lift. this just isn't practical. more and more coasters that are taller and taller will be recieving elevator lifts or something of the sort. they're fast, quiet and more reliable.

def. once a year. i do like the shows they have (for the most part). if they had one for two years in a row, i wouldn't "ride" the "ride" at action FX theater. i think they change them once a year; maybe once every two. changing them keeps people coming back to that "ride".

i will agree and say pki is one hell of a park and a tv show should be done on it. but im not sure if we all realize exactly how pki stacks up. in my OPINION, pki is one of the best parks in the country. dollywood is a doozie...pki IS better than that, no questions asked. pki has: world's tallest woodie world's fastest woodie world's only looping woodie world's longest woodie tallest gyro-drop in world (i think...) most wooden track at any park (22,612 ft - www.rcdb.com) first launched coaster The Racer (sparked the 2nd generation of coasters) and many other notables.. Cedar Point has many records also (wont get into all of them) and whenever they opened a coaster, it usually blew the hell out of some record - commonly at least one the "big three records" (speed, height and length). pki does deserve some type of tv program. maybe not an hour, but a 30 min. show would do justice. they could even do the history!

i agree...i do miss seeing amusement park shows on. usually they have them on both discovery and travel channel when they are on. is there a place that tells you when there are going to be amusement park shows on tv?

so where excactly are the KC trains at FoF? i know that the ride graveyard is behind SoB - you can see it very easily when the ride goes on the straight part from the helix to the loop. all i can see in the ride graveyard is KC and what looks like some sort of collection of cars for a tram or monorail or something.

i haven't used the waterpark in ages (literally, the last time i went there was back in '99 i think). but now that BB is going in, i'll definitely at least visit it in '04. as for whether or not we're getting a huss flat ride, too; it would be cool if we did, but i think a multimillion-dollard waterpark expansion/upgrade is enough filling for the pie. i think the important thing is that BB will bring more people to the park more often. they sure sold me the idea!

ill probably stand corrected, but you can see the cemetary not only from the Eiffel Tower but also from the back corner of the parking lot and the exit drive.

I keep hearing about black sunday. what is this? i assume it happened before i was born (1987). i have no idea what it is.

i still remember when they had that vine pathway thing...it went towards wings diner (cant remember exactly the other shops nearby. as for the footers left from The Bat...i noticed those one time after reading a website about the coaster. kinda cool in a way that history isn't always erased from the physical world and left for memory.

i dunno...i think it'd be a neat idea. the point wouldn't be to let someone from the public design the whole ride; just assist with the creativity aspect of the ride. when i say creativity i mean: 1) theming for the ride 2) design for the station 3) design for the queing area (yes, there is an art to this...if you have ever waited in line for tomb raider, that is a perfect example. 4) landscaping around the station and queing area. now that i think of this, it would be less of the design of the coaster. moreover the design of the visible part. (does this make sense?) if the park wished, they COULD let the winner of the above categories HELP design the ride...track elements and layout.

Wouldn't it be kinda cool if parks let their guests help design their new coasters? It'd be kinda like the whole thing with having people make submissions for the new World Trade Center buildings. I think this would bring a new level of design and creativity to the coaster business.

what can i say...dual tunnels at the bottom of the first helix would be AMAZING. tunnels at the end of the ride where the track kind of does a 270 degree turn out of the second helix would be nice too. its such a shame that the trees are going to take a while to grow back...plus, tree growth may not be allowed around the lift hill area. the landscaping on The Beast is what makes it such a classic

in the topic of safety and in addition to the seatbelts that parks install on some/most/all rides, there are two major seatbelt types i know of. there's the old-school car seat belt type which i think are ok, but they don't seem to be as safe as the new ones. the new ones are black, almost triangular shaped, buckles and have two latches on the sides of the buckle. these i find are much more difficult to unbuckle...which IS a good thing in most cases.

pkicoasterfreek, i'll agree with your first post about the high winds and how SOB was made to sway in the wind. i almost find it humorous to watch the trains go up the second hill (after the main drop) and see the whole support structure sway outwards. of course if this sway didn't occur, then the whole structure would be under sooo much stress, the wood would either shatter (yes shatter) or split and crack on the first run. not the second, not the third, the first. the sway is essential. when minoru yamasaki designed the twin towers in new york, he, along with the engineers he worked with, made sure the towers would sway in the wind. if they didn't the concrete facade and structure would crack and fall apart. this would leave the steel skeleton of the building standing. SOB swaying in the wind would make sense to me, at least. the other factor is the surface area that covers the structure. there is none. this also allows the wind to blow right through the support structure. one would need some good winds to blow the structure right over. the center of gravity is so low, it would fall apart rather than blowing over anyways.

i think i'll have to agree, top gun is the smoothest coaster in the park. as for the roughest...Son of Beast IS the tallest and fastest woodie in the world. all woodies are rough...the faster, the more turbulent...hey sonny? sorry, but you get the roughest vote.

pki won't be doing away with WWC for a long time...i went on it the first day of summer vacation with my friends, but the last time i went (several weeks ago) it was closed and drained.

sobrider, you said something about PKI being more of a "family" park earlier in the topic - it sounds like you're saying CP isn't. i'm not sure if i agree... PKI has recieved the golden ticket award for the best kiddie land of any park for a few years now and also has world class coasters (don't get me wrong), however you have to know more about CP that its record-breaking rides. CP is a great family park...if i could compare PKI and CP like this i would: i believe PKI is more of a 65/35 park - 65 for the "family" part and 35 for the "world-class ride" part. just look at hanna-barbara land (or whatever it's called now). it's AMAZING for an amusement park. PKI also has rides like The Beast and Son of Beast and drop zone which are world-class rides. i also believe CP is more of a 35/65 park - 35 for the "family" part and 65 for the "world-class ride" part. TTD, MF, M XL-200...enough said. its more world class. it's obvious that pki has a higher aim to be MORE of a family park than say a six flags installment, however in no way is CP not a family park.

out the cave? every time i go it's out the cave, i must have bad luck or something. otherwise, when i went once, the line seemed to be moving much more slowly than it usually did - i figgered out the cause when we loaded the ride...only the top and bottom rows we being used - the middle one was closed. other than that, i haven't seen it broken down/closed at all.

just this morning in the dayton daily news, pki announced the plans to build a new water park. many of the old rides will still be there but there are some sweet new slides, a new full-serve restaurant and other new shops and stalls. read more at Dayton Daily News: Boomerang Bay the page includes photos, too...this is going to be one hot waterpark for 2004. and surprise! that 500,000 gallon water shortage will NOT be a problem.

im just curious to know as to when we are going to find out what is going to happen. they said labor day weekend and i know announcements for some business industries don't get out promptly, however is this water problem something to blame for the delayed announcement? when are we going to hear what is going to happen to king's island's beloved water park?