TombRaiderFTW
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Posts posted by TombRaiderFTW
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^ Errr... define "rather well". As I understand it, the ride went through quite a bit of downtime as TR:TR, especially during Haunt '06 or '07, when the ride never opened due to waiting to parts from HUSS in Germany. I'll give you that the ride experience went downhill after Tomb Raider, but the downtime seems to have been minimized with this two-flip cycle the ride currently does. I actually don't know that I've seen The Crypt down once this year, though I'm sure it has been.
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^ I rode The Crypt today and now know what you're talking about. The red, orange, and yellow lights that lava-fied the Tomb Raider lava pit now stay on the whole ride cycle, though there's no water. I'm INCREDIBLY pleased to see it make a return--the floor now seems much less boring to look at. The lights draw your attention while you're flipping, so you don't notice the concrete as much. Thank you, KI! <3
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Funny... Both my friend and I have found Beast to be consistently and unusually rough this year, compared to others. We almost always ride in wheel seats and have done so for years, but the ride's really been smacking us around this year, namely, at the turn into the "MCBR," the turn after the second lift, and right when you exit the tunnel the first time through the helix.
The second one seems especially bad--sitting towards the rear, you can watch as the train bucks and everyone's head jerks uncomfortably to the right once halfway into the turn, then once more as the turn ends and the trim begins. The ride's had a fun snap right around there for a couple years, but it's just uncomfortable now.
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^ I swear I'm not trying to come down on you, RaptorGuy, but how do you know the trains have sat out for two winters? It seems more logical to me that Cedar Fair would at least have the trains under some shelter in case they might be usable for another ride, should SoB be torn down or otherwise no longer in need of the trains. Same for if the track would need replaced... How do you know? I'm sincerely curious.
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In case anyone was interested, here's a video I took of KI's WindSeeker testing last night:
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P.S. According to a Maverick team member, the effect lights in the tunnel will never be on again, as they "interfered with the sensors" on the LSMs. As someone who is not intimately familiar with the ride or the mechanical workings of it, I can't say whether or not that is a realistic reason. I just know a lot of people here were questioning it earlier, and that is the answer I was given.
As I (vaguely) understand it, there are several sensors along the track that "count" the number of cars that pass alongside them using optical sensors. (On most wooden coasters, these are the green blocks you see in the middle of the track .) Fins beneath the car--I presume they're the brake fins--break the light beam between both sides of the sensor, allowing the ride's computers to tell when a full train has passed. In Maverick's case, the sensors would presumably count to three to make sure that other trains weren't being launched into an occupied block. I'd believe it when they say those lights messed with the sensor--as I remember, there were also some strobes, so I'd bet they caused some miscounting now and again.
But, it also begs the question: can't they just move the lights or something? They were bright, but it seems like something could be done so they don't interfere with the sensor(s), even if it means putting a physical barrier between the lights and the sensor(s). But this is Cedar Fair we're talking about, so just shutting them off is the best solution we'll probably get.
This is all based off guesstimations I've made combined with an experience while waiting in line for Raven last year, so I may be wrong. As the ride op explained, the sensors were miscounting the cars, so the computer only read that there were five cars on the train. The computer would then assume that the sixth car was still waiting in the station and send the ride into a two-train mode, in which it would slow the lift chain considerably and then bring the train to a complete stop on the brake run as it waited for that last, nonexistent car to leave the station. Maintenance had to repeatedly come out and reset the computer system... Turns out even computers have trouble counting to six. It turned a 15 minute wait into a 45 minute one, but it was educational, so I guess that evens it out?
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I'm glad to see WindSeekers finally start opening. Can't wait for KI's to finally get there, too!
I've got to wonder, though, what the deal is with the chairs getting as close as they do in the CP video. I kind of assumed from the renderings that they'd be constrained to only swing towards and away from the center of the tower... I thought it'd be more like the swinging motion of Arrow suspendeds crossed with the spinning of Zephyr. Maybe the WindSeekers are a little more like Zephyr than we originally assumed?
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I've heard that both Cornball and LoCoSuMo are back up. Do be sure to ask around anyway, though. And if they are indeed up, be sure to ride LoCoSuMo backwards for me!
As I recall, IB's food prices aren't too different from the usual fare at Holiday World--reasonable, and you get a decent amount for the price.
I visited in the middle of July last year, and the longest line I waited in was a one-train wait for Hoosier Hurricane. I want to say that was on a Wednesday, though, and it was approximately several thousand degrees outside. Can't say much for how the weekend shapes up, so sorry!
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I personally voted more for what I think could round out the park's lineup. It would be awesome to have a Dive Machine this close to home, but I'd rather see the park try to bridge the gaps in intensity between their rides. For instance, there's a pretty glaring gap, in my opinion, between Howler and Raven. There's not much of a stepping stone between the two, whereas at KI the kids can start in Planet Snoopy, then build their confidence with Adventure Express, Backlot Stunt Coaster, etc.
Because of that, I voted for something along the lines of one of Vekoma's floorless suspended coasters, e.g. Dream Catcher at Bobbejaanland. Can you imagine one of those starting in the Thanksgiving section, climbing back into the trees and hills parallel to Voyage (though not visible from Voyage, because its foresty settings is part of why I like it) and swooping through all the terrain? It works for HW, in my mind. I have no idea what they'd theme it to, though.
A second, more enthusiasty idea I had was a ride to bridge the smaller intensity gap between Legend and Voyage... I'm thinking something like Maverick, Fahrenheit, or Storm Runner. But now I'm just hyping myself up.
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^Do bear in mind that the video doesn't show that you're being held into an essentially sideless seat by a simple lapbar. I think that's where a lot of the thrill comes in--it's psychological.
And as far as this gyro drop controversy goes... Who really cares? They're still both the scariest things I've ever done in an amusement park!
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^ And yet no one was injured, and no one who's talking can say that guest safety was in question. I guess I don't really see your point.
P.S. There are in fact coasters with inversions that have only lapbars. See also Greezed Lightnin' at the former Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, Dare Devil Dive at Six Flags Over Georgia, or even Son of Beast before its loop, due to unrelated circumstances, was removed.
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^ If we're basing longevity on part availability, then KI's Arrows will be around for quite a while. S&S Power, who bought Arrow's assets* after they went bankrupt, continues to make parts for Arrow coasters.
*I don't know if "assets" is technically the right word... I don't speak Corporate Takeover. Basically, most everything that used to be Arrow's became S&S's, as I understand it.
EDIT: Delirium13 beat me to it! Meh, I tried.
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Haha, I like your enthusiasm, McSalsa! Great trip report. I also liked your pros/cons list there at the end--creative!
Glad you had a nice time! But the lines you describe make me glad that I avoid Saturdays like the plague!!!!!
So far, just about every day the park's been open has been jam-packed. I'm willing to guess it's because the park is having various events involving school choirs until this week--I know opening day was full of kids in shirts representing various choirs. In the past few years, Saturdays haven't seemed to be too bad until schools let out for summer/the park hosts events like this. But since the park opened unusually late, we haven't gotten the good old little-to-no wait weekends that the early part of the season usually provides. *insert wistful sigh*
Windseeker closed yesterday due to....wind
in Kings Island
^ This is also true. I know my last few rides on Tomb Raider definitely reflected that. Still, you have to admit that there was still a significant downgrade between Tomb Raider '07 and Crypt '08...