silver2005

^First, the water coasters you see in water parks (not the ones made by Mack and Intamin that are actually roller coasters) are more akin to slides that just happen to have uphill sections. They're called coasters for advertising purposes. 2nd, if you're really getting pedantic about it being a coaster based on having to carry the vehicle up, most early coasters before chain lifts were common had to have the cars pushed up by hand or used pulleys.

There are 2 different ways water coasters work. The one KI is getting uses water jets and probably needs lighter loads to work. Then there are ones like Wildebeest and Mammoth which use magnets that are much heavier and require lifts. I was hoping for something slightly longer with 2-3 more uphill sections, but I'm pretty happy with it as is. Soak City was due for an update.

Those beating the dead horse of capacity worries should also know that the ride lasts only 80 seconds. Launch coasters can get away with smaller capacity trains as it balances it out with short ride durations.

^That has to have been started by TPR. When I think Aquatrax references, I think TPR (they used to be obsessed with the one Aquatrax coaster actually built- in 2003), and they haven't been relevant in years.

Now I'm curious if this was meant for KD before they decided to take down the volcano and they swapped it to CW and, maybe, the wing coaster KD is getting was maybe meant for CW?

Did I see that right in the CGI rendering that it'll have flames coming out of the mountain a la Volcano?!

They needed a launch coaster that isn't a Backlot clone as well, it was a glaring hole in their coaster line up.

Canada's Wonderland is getting a giant Premier multi-launch coaster that will cram one more ride that utilizes the iconic center mountain of the park. Alpen Fury stats- (I converted everything from metric off the park's website) Height- 164 ft (154 ft drop) Speed- 71 mph with 2 launches, one just out of the station and the main one being below the mountain 9 inversions- most for a launch coaster in North America Length- 3280 ft

This is a pretty hot take and one I imagine might be unpopular here, but I'd be for taking down the whole building and starting a new dark ride building from from the ground up despite how expensive it would be given the building's age and multiple repurposings through the years. Make something more aesthetically modern and less of an eyesore.

Carowinds finally has a water ride outside the water park!

One thing I hope happens with The Vortex replacement is using a similar path interaction that Vortex's batwing had with its proximity to the path. Put a giant dive loop, Immelman, or cobra roll there.

I have a single thing that applies to all areas- more trees and shade along the midways please.

I don't know if I want to go Mack spinner crazy, I would take something along the lines of Copperhead at Carowinds with maybe a bit more umph to the launches. A ground-up RMC I-box coaster would be welcome, I would settle for a floorless or wing coaster if they have to go with B&M again (no dive coaster please). If Vekoma could pull off a muti-inversion launch coaster that could handle 3 train operations, I'd be okay with that as well. An Infinity Coaster would be more in the spirit of Vortex if they go more inversion centric.

Teaser from Kings Island, announcement date 8/8. From Kings Island's Facebook.

I saw that Carowinds and Canada's Wonderland are announcing things on the 7th and 8th respectively, so maybe sometime around then?

I think wing coasters benefit a lot from having a less inversion centric layout. Put more 90 degree banked turns and s-curves to take advantage of the wide trains' natural lateral forces when you put them through pretty much any turn. Wing coasters are also limited by a lot of drag and weight of the trains dragging momentum a lot. The elements on all of them shrink pretty quick compared to, say, a more traditional B&M like a floorless or a stand up.

The ride will be called Rapterra. 65 mph, 3,086 ft long, 145 ft tall, 3 inversions (a dive loop, corkscrew and barrel roll). Similar sized trains as Thunderbird with 20 per train. Longest and tallest launched wing coaster. https://www.kingsdominion.com/new-in-2025 I hope they keep the queue somewhat similar to the concept art, looks pretty cool. Also, is that the former Volcano station as the queue entrance?

This first vertical turn looks like it's going to be pretty sick on a wing coaster, especially on whatever side is on the outer part of the curve. I imagine a combination of great laterals with some good floater air here. Picture courtesy of Kings Dominion Fanatics on Facebook.

One of the things I miss about Bat night rides was being able to see and smell the campfires going up the lift.

I would also suggest when doing park trips to also doing other things than parks. Life's too short to do such traveling and miss everything else around the parks. Diversify what you do on trips. On the trip I did last summer, I had a few other things including the best decisions I made in doing downtown Williamsburg and Virginia Beach first, squeezing in a brief visit to Gettysburg between VA and PA, and doing Longwood Gardens and their night fountain show near Philly for last.

^Yikes, I wonder what WWC is like.

@pianoman does this count as fountain ERT?

Anybody got any pictures from 2006/2007 with the sea of trash cans at KI?

^SFGAdv has a major pull from NYC (only an hour away which is nothing for the average commuter in that area). I saw TONS of NY plates and heard that accent everywhere when I last went. I also saw tons of the teen groups (line cutting was an issue) the chaperone policies are supposed to weed out as well. You also have SFMM which is less than 40 minutes from LA. SFoT is literally in the Dallas/FtW area, SFFT is very close to San Antonio, SFoG is a stones throw from Atlanta, SFGAm is less than an hour from Chicago, SFStL close to St Louis, Darien Lake close to Buffalo, La Ronde is in downtown Montreal, and Six Flags Mexico is 30 minutes from Mexico City. SFNE is a bit far from Boston or Hartford, but its still pretty densely populated in the area.

If anyone has been following the Flash construction at SFGAdv and the fact it hasn't opened yet, if KI is waiting for a part from Vekoma, this should surprise you none.