silver2005

Carowinds and Dollywood had some good ragtime music going on in their more fair-like sections. Might be a good way to go for Coney Mall. And get some genuine bluegrass for Rivertown.

Doing it the other way around would make more sense to me- KI is closer to a major city than CP, not to mention there's more land options to work with around Mason. I'll applaud CF for trying to pull more $$$ into Sandusky though.

Ahh....announcement season. I'm surprised this isn't using the natural cliffs. It should be very interesting this year. Also, is SIX abandoning the all-park announcements?

A HUGE problem with a front gate coaster is that it would be going into the maintenance area and I'm pretty sure the park is going to be very reluctant in moving all that to make it aesthetically pleasing for a coaster. That along with the proximity of the employee entrance and the handicapped parking to the front gate as well. There's also simply just too many buildings and important infrastructure cluttered around the front gate to remove which, IMO, would also lose the appeal of International Street. The gate, the buildings along side, the fountain, and the Eiffel Tower should remain the centerpieces of the entrance IMO.

IF I make it to next year's Coasterstock, I will definitely try to bring it. Need to find a way to protect and move it safely first.

^That's just the model (probably from that year's IAAPA), the actual track in the bowl is blackish. Also, they built the shell first.

A few notes- - How about the theoretical capacity of 2000/hr? - I wonder why it mentions why its the first to not rely on a lift hill? There were other launch coasters before this, they just didn't use magnets (somebody didn't do their research) - I'm curious on the cost now, especially if CP reps are acknowledging its more expensive than Mantis. - The concept model of the restraints are too accurate - I remember thinking holy **** when I saw the track model Unfortunately, I was too short in 1996, so I didn't get my first ride until 1997.

Here's the whole article. The article (Janurary 13, 1996), writer- Linda Fish-Oda- KINGS MILLS- Visitors to Paramount's Kings Island this year will get to test ride a new technology that someday may become standard on U.S. aircraft carriers. Outer Limits--Flight of Fear, the first hill-less coaster in the world, will be powered by a motor system that is turning heads at the Pentagon. The ride will propel visitors from 0 to 54 miles per hour in less than four seconds, said Jeff Gramke, manager of engineering and construction for Kings Island. Outer Limits is previewed today at the 160th annual Non Coaster-thon Coaster Con Conference in Chicago. The ride will open in late spring in the Warren County amusement park. Navy officials have previewed it and liked what they saw. The Navy wants to replace the steam catapult system used on aircraft carriers to launch planes with linear induction motors, similar to the ones used by the amusement ride. A linear motor system would reduce the weight of a carrier by more than 1,000 tons, said Paul Tolman, marketing manager of Kaman Electromagnetics Crop in Hudson, Mass. Kaman is the company working with the Navy on the new technology. "The Navy does have a need to reduce the weight of the ship" he said. The system would also increase the lifespan of an aircraft. The steam catapult system cannot be adjusted to match factors such as aircraft type, weapons payload, or wind conditions. As a result, all aircraft get the maximum thrust at all times. The linear motor system is controlled by computers and has the ability to adjust the power that launches an aircraft, Mr Tolman said. "That thrust puts stress on the frame of the aircraft. If you can vary the profile, you can extend the life of the aircraft, which would save big money for the Navy." At Kings Island, executives are simply looking for a "screaming meanie that will blast you out," said Ed Dangler, manager of rides, maintenance and technical service for the park. By that measure, Outer Limits has already won tow awards at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions' annual industry trade show in November. Premier Rides, the roller coaster's manufacturer, won in the Major Theme/Amusement Park Ride/Attraction category, as well as the Technology Applied to Amusements award. For park visitors who have experienced their fastest speed in a car, Outer Limits will push their limits. There are only one or two automobiles in the world with acceleration like Outer Limits, said Jim Seay, executive vice-president of Premier Rides in Millersville, Md. "We're talking really exotic cars, like maybe the most expensive Ferrari," he said. Carolyn Boos, marketing director for Kings Island, said Outer Limits will look like a giant ball of yarn after a cat finishes with it. "Or a bowl of spaghetti." Taking up an acre at the amusement park, the ride will propel riders through the linear induction motor system and into a maze of loops and turns-- including 30 vertical curves and more than 25 compound horizontal curves. the ride's special effects are patterned after the 1960s science fiction television series The Outer Limits. The coaster will keep riders in the dark, because Outer Limits will be completely enclosed, similar to the Space Mountain ride at Disney World. But there's one major difference, Mr. Dangler said. "This is a thrill ride, Space Mountain is a ho-hummer." The ride's cost may be its biggest secret. David G Focke, vice-president of park maintenance and construction at Kings Island, is the man with the most say about what rides are bought for Paramount's five parks. He would not release the cost. "Let's just say that it costs more than $10 million," Mr Focke said. "Its twice as expensive as the next most expensive coaster ever built." A spokeswoman for Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, said that park is building its largest coaster this year for $12 million. Outer Limits, she said, is "a really expensive roller coaster." The cost of the ride is the reason admission will increase this year at the park. Ms Boos said. However, the $2-per-ticket price increase, to $28.95, largely is due to paying the park's 5,000 seasonal employees a higher wage, she said. Kings Island attracted nearly 3 million visitors last year. Thanks to the hype the ride will receive today at the Chicago convention, there likely will be a crowd at the park when the ride is unveiled. But coaster fans won't be the only ones there. Premier Rides' Jim Seay says he expects the Navy to be present when Outer Limits takes off. Caption under the photo- This is a model of the world's first hill-less roller coaster, which will debut at Kings Island this year. The ride will be enclosed. Side caption- How It Works- Paramount's Kings Island's Outer Limits--Flight of Fear is the first roller coaster in the world that will not depend on the long climb of a first hill to propel it through loops and turns. Instead, it will gets its power electrically, through magnetic waves, said Jim Seay, executive vice president of Premier Rides in Millersville, Md. "The system essentially creates a travelling magnetic wave and it's the magnetic wave that pushes the vehicles from a stationary standpoint to the high speeds," Mr Seay said. The track leading to the ride is lines with 44 sets of grey boxes, each 3 to 4 feet long. Each box is a linear induction motor. A laser beam behind the coaster shoots down the track and relays to two computers with motors to turn on or off. The entire ride takes less than two minutes, and about 2,000 people can ride Outer Limits in an hour.

Found something cool while packing to move. Flight of Fear's announcement article in the Cincinnati Enquirer, January 13, 1996. I'll post the article in there at some.

My giga list (from my steel rankings)- 2. Fury 325, 7. Millennium Force, 8. Orion (out of 95).

^I think I was fortuitous in riding it on a really hot day (aka, steel coasters hauling a**) and the later part of Fury was still flying along for me.

I also also forgot to mention I did ride Mountain Gliders at Carowinds. Runs like it did at Kings Island, managed 5 snaps myself (which is my first attempt trying to snap on gliders ever, proud I pulled off 5).

The best amusement park train.

One other thing I want to mention about Carowinds- they miss Thunder Road a LOT. I heard it mentioned quite a bit, even the catch phrase. That park needs a good wooden coaster pronto.

With the incident that happened a month ago with the fights, I'm legit concerned about Haunt season this year.

Compared to CP where at least there's the semblance of the park being open or at least will do so practically during rain and will probably keep open during a drizzle, Kennywood seemingly goes into lockdown if they see a speck of H2O. Also, CP is simply a much better run park in other aspects than Kennywood IMO.

Kennywood- hold my beer.

For over an hour. This is the park's S&S tower complex. https://www.foxla.com/news/man-stood-on-top-of-tall-tower-at-knotts-berry-farm-for-hour-before-coming-down-safely

Finished up my trip just strolling through Gatlinburg today (probably got in another 4-5 miles walking). Got through the rest of my check list including checking out a few of the museums (movie cars and Ripley's), went up the Sky Ride (chickened out on the bridge, only got a third of the way across before actual vertigo took over). Had wonderful blackened rainbow trout for dinner (Trout House on US 321 between the strip and Hillbilly Golf). Got some good sunset photos of town on the bypass before turning in. Ready to get back to Cincy. Got 2 days to wind down before going back to work.

@Oldiesmann go dig through public domain for good shed music.

I feel like Dollywood has the history and equity built up to be able to avoid that. It was a huge ratio of families compared to other demographics. Not many groups of just teens. Remember PF and Gatlinburg are pretty isolated compared to most traditional parks.

No, no and no.

A Vekoma, Mack or Premier launch coaster (talking custom here, not Skyrocket) would fit in. CW could use a better launch coaster.

Dollywood TR July 15 Got in a pretty full day at Dollywood today, got their just after open till close. Overall spectacular day at my favorite park, and everything today pretty much solidified it as such (as much as I still love Hershey at #2, Dollywood is a mile above them if I could show margin for error between my park rankings). They mesh every single aspect so, so well. Great balanced ride line up, great food (had a great burger at Reds and FINALLY tried and loved the cinnamon bread), well performed shows, aesthetics and theming used in such a way that's engaging, detailed, and doesn't expose BTS areas too much (which takes meticulous planning, massive kudos), excellent staff, overall great atmosphere. Also helps they're in a great location up in the foothills of the Smokies. Rides like Wild Eagle and Barnstormer take advantage of that IMO. Adding Ms Parton's history to the whole shebang is the cherry on top. Much respect to her as a musician and overall. To me at this point, the only parks that have a shot of topping Dollywood are SDC, the 2 Busch Gardens parks, or if I ever get to one, a good European park like Alton Towers. I made several laps around the park, 2 counterclockwise and 2 clockwise. Routed so 2 coasters in, Wild Eagle lined up to be #130 for me (only got 3 new credits, LR, WE and FE). Saw a few music reviews which were pretty fun. Not much in the way of shows. The park still has some covid protocols in place like no use of indoor theaters, no drinking fountains, and more serious limit of customers via reservations. I also didn't get any of the REALLY good food as they were either closed to staffing, or because there were fewer, had long waits. Speaking of which, food prices are amazingly reasonable. More serious kudos for them sticking to that practice. Waits were all over the place. Lightning Rod was by far the longest at over an hour. Some other slower capacity rides like FireChaser were around 30, and higher capacity stuff, in particular Wild Eagle, Tornado, and Thunderhead, were walk-on to 10 minutes. Non-Coaster Reviews (disclaimer on everything, all the following have good theming with a few minor exceptions)- Barnstormer- As stated, the world needs more S&S Screaming Swings pronto. The added height being on the mountainside added some vertigo-esque views with it. Daredevil Falls- this is my favorite log flume. More original with the theming than stuff like Splash Mountain, though, the saw mill at the top of the lift didn't have a bit of its theming going. Still a nice course and good build up to the drop. Gets you decently wet for a flume. Smoky Mountain River Rampage- This on the other hand doesn't get you that wet. Only a few dips which don't do that much and some sprayers that are rarely used by guests. Kind of an uninspired and flat course, too. Dollywood Express- Best train ride at an amusement park. The crew manning the mics and the drivers have fun with it. Cool that you can hear the engine and whistle around the park (miss that with KIMVRR). Nice long course that's heaven for a good photographer, too. Lots of great history with the engines. Coaster Reviews (Alphabetical Order) Blazing Fury (2 laps)- I have a big soft spot for this. Between my 4 visits, I probably have 3 dozen rides logged on it. Such a cool dark coaster (yes, it has drops clearly powered by gravity), and the story line going through a burning town makes it gloriously unique. FireChaser Express (1 lap)- Pretty fun family coaster. Its pretty amazing how only a few tire motors get those trains up to speed so quick on the launches. Has a nice course along the hillside and has some decent forces for what it is. The way they use and incorporate the backwards stuff works pretty well, too. Lightning Rod (1 lap)- Short but sweet. Doesn't have the mind bending forces that other RMC's I've done have due to the work done on it, but its a pretty good coaster none-the-less. The last few hills down the hill have really good acceleration before curving off the top of the last hill. It along with Wild Eagle look MASSIVE from afar. Favorite RMC is still SteVe, but I like it better than Storm Chaser. Mystery Mine (1 lap)- Jerky for sure. I'm leaning to liking the new track work for a bit more comfort. I don't like that it requires 2 lifts as both sections are short. However, the 2nd lift and the finale through the heartline roll and dive loop works well, especially with the theming surrounding the lift, holding brake, and drop. Love how it looks at night. Tennessee Tornado (4 laps)- The best half of an Arrow looping coaster out there. Forceful akin to its older brothers with a bit more smoothing in the transitions being its not a Toomer creation. Very re-rideable. Insane in the back on the first drop a la Vortex (probably more since its underground). Super hard stop on the final brakes though. Also a little rough in spots, but not that detrimental. Also has the tornado sound effects in the train shed turned off which makes the brakes slowing it down pointless. Also, depending on where you sit (I think back), you get some weightlessness on the first loop. Thunderhead (6 laps)- Aged like fine wine. However, if you're not prepared for the intensity, it does have the potential to kick your butt. It has gotten a bit of roughness, but I'm still fine with it and its still my favorite GCI. I finally got the opportunity to ride it at night and it delivers in spades. Even has a subtle lighting package. Its OMG good in the back as well. Very good in the front. Still only one of three wooden coasters that have left me breathless (others being trimless Voyage at HWN and Knoebel's Twister). The aging is definitely a good sign for Mystic Timbers' future. Wild Eagle (5 laps)- While GateKeeper will remain my favorite wing coaster, Wild Eagle delivers a very graceful ride. The smoothness as well as incredible views of the area (you can see Gburg and PF from the top if you look way to the left, better if seating on the left) just makes a great combination. Gorgeous station as well. One of the most beautiful coasters I've ridden as a whole. Also managed to snag last train of the night. I actually could watch the course at night as during the day, its facing into the sun most of the first half up to the Immelman.