TombRaiderFTW

The following post in no way states any specific inside information on the maintenance and/or design of any ride at any park. Hopefully this doesn't come across as confusing as I fear it could be in my head: In essence, homestar92 is pretty close. The main difference between Premier launches like Backlot and Flight of Fear and launches like Maverick are that BLSC/FOF use linear induction motors (LIMs), whereas Maverick uses linear synchronous motors (LSMs). First, think of a normal electric motor, similar to one you might have in your Lionel train engine set (the kind that you have to plug into the wall.) There are two general parts to that motor: a rotor (which rotates--that's your shaft and all the stuff attached to it) and a stator (the part that doesn't move--that's everything else.) The stator has what's called inductors in it. Without getting into the details, an inductor creates a magnetic field when you put an alternating current through it. (I never understood what an alternating current was until I got to college, so for the folks who don't know: the electricity that comes out of your wall has an alternating current. A AA battery doesn't have an alternating current. That's the easiest way to remember it. An alternating current just has features that change with time.) When those features change, it changes the poles of your inductor. Basically, if you held a magnet near an inductor, it would be pulled toward it, then pushed away from it, then pulled toward it, then pushed away, etc. In an induction motor (not a linear induction motor, just an induction motor--we'll get to that in a bit) your stator--the part that doesn't move, remember?--will include multiple inductors in a circle. Remember how I said your magnet would keep changing its mind about its attraction to an inductor? If you put your magnet in the middle of the circle of inductors, it will actually spin in a circle. The reason for this is because the inductors can be adjusted so that, just as one inductor starts to switch over to repelling your magnet, the one beside it will switch over to attracting it. When THAT inductor starts to switch over to repelling your magnet, the inductor beside THAT will switch over to attracting it. It's kind of like a game of Hot Potato--the guy in the middle wants to catch the potato, but the people on the outside keep passing it in a circle around him, so he keeps turning around to try to get it. (...Maybe that's not actually how to play Hot Potato. You get the point.) And actually, that's exactly how an induction motor works--there's a regular old magnet (rotor) in the middle of a circle of inductors (stator), and they've got the rotor spinning like crazy. Attach something to that rotor, and you've got a motor doing work for you. It's also important to note that how "strong" your electricity is (i.e., how strong your current is) will determine how strong your motor is. If your power fluctuates at all, your motor strength and speed will change accordingly. A synchronous motor works exactly the same way, except the guy in the middle of the (super lame) Hot Potato game isn't a magnet. He's an inductor, too. So why does that matter? An induction motor can very rarely, if ever, line itself up perfectly so that it won't spin. A synchronous motor's inductor rotor can self-adjust and correct itself, and you won't have to bump/turn it to get the rotor going. It also can be advantageous to use synchronous motors where the power fluctuates; its speed is based on how quickly your alternating current features change, not how strong your electrical power is. (There are more reasons than those, and I've forgotten them. I'm not an electrical engineer! Sue me! If someone else can jump in, feel free to list more advantages to synchronous motors.) Now, for that "linear" bit from earlier. The difference between a regular motor (like we've been discussing) and a linear motor is that the inductors in the stator are in a straight line instead of in a circle. Going back to the sad, sad Hot Potato game from earlier: In a linear induction motor (similar to Flight of Fear), the inductors in the stator stand in a straight line. Instead of rotating, your rotor--the magnet--will move in a straight line. Mr. Magnet, the sorry sucker who's trying to catch the potato, starts at a full run to try to get the potato as it goes down the line. The potato stops at the last inductor, but the magnet is moving too quickly and speeds off into the sunset. (Good for him. The game stinks.) How quickly the potato gets passed down the line (i.e., the "strength" of the electricity) will decide how fast the magnet runs. Again, if your power fluctuates, your potato won't move as quickly as it needs to, and your magnet won't move as quickly. And then your Flight of Fear car rolls back, as it were. (Those fins on the side of the car are the rotor, and the gray boxes on either side of the track are the stator. Same for BLSC.) In a linear synchronous motor, your stator inductors also stand in a straight line. Your rotor is again an inductor. I'm assuming you get the same benefits that you get with a regular synchronous motor, but I'm not that familiar with LSMs. Presumably, there would be a power source on Maverick's train that powers the inductor(s) on the bottom of the train, but I don't know if there is or not. If there is a power source, it would be recharged every time a train is in the station, and I honestly don't know if there is some kind of rechargeable battery out there that provides an alternating current. (Any knowledge I have here came from a class on generators, which are very similar to motors. Outside of that, I'm a mechanical engineer, so I do zilch with battery design or use.) Hopefully that made sense and/or helps? It's been a few years since I did anything with induction/synchronous motor info, so this may not be perfect. If anyone notices anything that's off, please feel free to speak up. EDIT: To add to the above posts, there also are the flywheel and gravity drop launches seen on Schwarzkopf coasters. I don't know the fine details of either.

Where do I even start?! Villain - Geauga Lake Hypersonic XLC - Kings Dominion Thunderbolt - Coney Island NYC King Cobra - Kings Island Son of Beast with loop - Kings Island (an only marginally improved experience, I'm sure, but it would be nice to ride it in the original form) Thunderbolt Express - Camden Park Big Bad Wolf - Busch Gardens Williamsburg Either Californian Giant Dipper, when equipped with original trains To name a few. I missed out on one side of Rolling Thunder when I visited Great Adventure in 2012. Looks like I'm not getting around to it now.

^ Apart from the Cedar Fair officials that have already ridden it, probably. I believe it was posted on here before that employees were able to ride Diamondback prior to its opening, so maybe they'll do that again.

I like Linda.

^ Coincidentally, I recently filled out an online survey for Universal. They asked a lot of questions about whether or not I knew Universal isn't part of Disney. Apparently that's a common misconception?

You know, I hear jcgoble3 knows of this one great website that accurately predicts the weather a month and a half in advance. You should ask him about it.

On that note: during my visit in 2010, Michigan's Adventure did NOT allow you to scan your Platinum Pass at the front gate. You had to visit Guest Relations, who would scan your pass, then issue you a special one-day admission ticket to use that day. I have heard something about MA possibly having fixed this, but I don't know it for a fact.

Just you. It's been there since at least 2012.

^ Yeah, you're right. It does. I was actually thinking mainly of the American CCI/TGG installations when typing that, but I realize I was speaking somewhat broadly. It just seems like it's been long enough that it isn't just a fluke that a Six Flags, Cedar Fair, or Herschend park hasn't bought one yet. If I were actually right, it does indeed beg the question of why The Gravity Group seems to be the top pick for wooden coasters in China. Obviously, they make great rides, but if maintenance is as prohibitive a cost as I guessed it is, then it seems like they wouldn't be doing as well as they are. (Not that I'm complaining--more Gravity Group rides in the world is never a bad thing.) For how many rides they're doing in China, I still do wonder about why Timberliners haven't taken off there, though. Again, maybe that will change when Hades 360 is running better this year? I realize Wisconsin is a long way from Asia, but the amusement industry seems big enough for positive news to travel that distance fairly easily. EDIT: Wait... Where was I wrong? Literally the only thing I assumed is that Gravity Group rides have high maintenance costs. Everything else there was speculation. I'd really like for this to be a conversation, if you'd be so kind as to oblige.

See, I love The Gravity Group rides. I really do. The ones I've been on (Voyage, Ravine Flyer II, Boardwalk Bullet) are all fantastic rides in their own way. (Boardwalk Bullet was also evil in its own way, but that's another topic for another time, after I've recovered from the traumatic brain damage.) Each of those rides has its own personality; there really is no common factor amongst any of those three rides similar to the way that B&Ms, Arrows, or even Intamins can have. The thing with Gravity Group rides, though, is that they've all only been installed at smaller parks. And I feel like the (assumed) fairly high maintenance cost has a lot to do with that. Beast and Racer both have their off years, and, dynamically, neither of those rides are too intense for the full duration of the ride. Can you imagine a large-scale corporate park trying to keep a ride like Voyage running well while balancing a maintenance budget for all the rest of the rides in the park? Holiday World seems to balance it well enough, but they're probably the biggest park out there that has a reputation for maintaining CCI/Gravity Group wooden coasters well, and that's with just three "grown-up" coasters. (I know Mt. Olympus has more than that, but I've yet to hear rave reviews for anything that park does for its coasters besides purchase them and pay once to have the biggest one retracked and get a new train.) Gravity Group rides have made this niche for themselves in the U.S. for being these showstopper rides that make small parks a big deal. I think the potentially high ongoing costs of them have kept them from becoming relevant to big parks, whereas a small park is willing to pay a lot more to maintain a ride that's going to keep them relevant versus big corporate parks. Heck, look at CCI's track record--I think the biggest parks with CCI installations are Knott's and Michigan's Adventure. That says a lot, especially when you consider when the parks added them. I know there are Timberliners to consider, but I start to wonder how Holiday World's decision to not use them and the mixed reviews of Hades 360 affected parks' perception of them. They really don't seem to be gaining traction, apart from places like Quassy and the park in New Hampshire. Then again, Mike Graham said at the ACE event at KI in December that what rough track remained on Hades 360 would be retracked this year, so who knows?

The control system slows the lift down so the other train will be completely off the final brakes before the train on the lift crests the lift. It's a safety feature.For further evidence, you will notice that the lift does not slow down when there's only one train running.

^ I used to be that way. I've finally got it controlled enough (read: make enough posts about Kings Island on Tumblr) that I can more or less hold it in for several months. The gloves are off when pass processing starts, though.

It's almost that time of the year, everyone... I always get pretty pumped about the upcoming season when they post the pass processing hours. Unfortunately, the excitement won't tone itself down to manageable levels until opening day. Pity for my coworkers and family.

Welcome to the site! That's actually a really good question. I do wonder if they're hesitating to make Fast Lane purchasable online to avoid selling out too far in advance of opening day, what with Banshee opening and all. I don't know if that actually is the case or not. I guess your safest best would be to keep in contact with the park as opening day gets closer to see if any information becomes available. I'm actually somewhat in the same boat with you, as a matter of fact. Carowinds hasn't made any Fast Lane information available for a future visit I'll be taking, and their opening day is a week from Saturday. Hm...

"I'm going to FUN TV you in the face!"

^^/^ Wasn't it a Schwarzkopf? And wasn't Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens supposed to be a Schwarzkopf, too?

If you look at the wheel assemblies/bogies on Diamondback during the rattlier parts, the wheel assembly vibrates. It's especially obvious when the wheels themselves get older and get that worn oval-like area in the polyurethane. I didn't notice that sort of thing on Nitro, Raging Bull, or SFOG's Goliath (or any other B&M I've ridden), so I wonder if it's something to do with the staggered B&M hyper seat design. Has anyone here read/heard a complaint about rattling on Behemoth, Shambhala, or Steel Dragon 2000? Where I politely differ from TheCrypt's and YoungStud's rattling complaint is that I've never found it strong enough to be unpleasant, apart from hot days where I haven't had enough water and any sort of vibration would cause a headache. But I'm probably not the best judge; I tend to love wooden coasters that most consider unpleasantly rough. Also, if I heard the noise you were hearing, TheCrypt, then I think that's just the anti-rollbacks clicking like on Diamondback's first drop. Shouldn't be a big deal, I think.

A few examples: -Grandparents/parents who are visiting with grandkids and can't/don't want to ride those rides -Anyone of any age who doesn't like the rides (yes, those people exist) and finds him- or herself at the park -People who go to amusement parks like Kings Island for more than just the rides (some of whom post here) -People who are physically unable to ride the rides -People who like the shows at the park enough to make a fansite for them

^^ No, the announcement was not a ripoff. They did not promise anyone anything that they didn't deliver. The show is an attraction for all ages, and it appeals to more audiences than the typical Cedar Fair musical revue. As with any other short-notice online announcement of an announcement from Cedar Fair, people blew it way out of proportion.

I'm not one for shows at parks, but this I am decently interested in. Ed Alonso was a great addition last year, and, though he didn't do too much for me personally, I really liked the deviation from musical revues and ice-skating Snoopys. (I was born after those 70's and 80's shows, so I can't exactly compare this to them, but this is a welcomed change from what I can remember growing up with at the park.) Thanks to everyone at KI who decided to try something new and different--I know I'll be at a showing of this as soon as I can.

Okay... so now there's some random circle off to the left inside the original circle. The only thing I can conclude is that we're getting a Death Star mosaic.

Well, this whole thing just took a REALLY weird turn. Why on earth is Pat joining Dan in anything, apart from the fact that he's her son? Why is this venture one she's joining in, but she didn't have anything to do with Kentucky Kingdom? EDIT: Now that I'm able to check the website: I don't see Pat's name or face anywhere. The front banner shows Dan and Natalie Koch; the FAQ lists the owners as Dan and "Koch Family Parks".

Now that I think about it, they never actually announced the Grand Carousel organ renovation. It was just a Twitter video that someone (Greg?) posted without explaining what it was. I'm going to guess it's that.

Already being discussed here: http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php/topic/29085-something-new-besides-Banshee-for-2014/

^ Nah, the part where I was only a queue rail away from very easily seeing the inner workings of Gerstlauer wooden coaster trains. A couple of the cars were in pieces, so it was really easy to see chassis, etc. while waiting in line.