Kenban

Roller coasters are inspected regularly, and the inspections are used not only to find existing problems which need corrected but also potential issues, parts which are still in spec but not by much. Basiclly it is safe to operate for right now but will need replaced or refurbished in the near future. When the track reaches that point, it is rarely worth the expense to fix. Which is what has happened to several Arrow coasters. From what I remember sections of the rails on Vortex have been cut off the ride and had replacements welded in place.

First a parking garage is just not happening. Last I heard costs start around $10,000 per a parking space. Outside of Disney/Universal amusement parks rarely can afford parking garages. Spending $50 million on a 5,000 space parking garage, or two new coasters, and frankly management is going to build the new coasters until parking becomes a problem more then 4 or 5 times a year. The causeway is not the problem, when traffic is backed up its an issue at either the park, or the surface streets in the city, but its a lack of ability for the cars in front of you to go not the width of the causeway. I am not sure how easy it would be to work with the EPA to get permission to expand the road, and due to the costs involved I just cannot see it happening. A new parking plaza is possible, and I could see it being more automated like the one at Kings Island, not sure how much help it will be though. If anything I could see a new off site parking lot with a bus transportation system. But I think that management is going to need to see a greater need then just a handful of days a year, maybe if they plan to expand onto portions of the lot, or build a new hotel, etc. Likely there will always be parking out at the park, it just might end up being premium, handicap, resort, etc parking with the main lot off site.

The way magnetic brakes work is they oppose movement based on speed, the faster you are going the more noticeable they are. The slower you are going the less they do, which is why you never see them used to stop a train because they cannot. To my knowledge all of the magnetic brakes on The Beast are a kind that cannot be turned on or off, maintenance has to go out and physically remove the brakes, you can sometimes just see them sitting off to the side of the track, typically in the spring and fall when it is cooler. Likely you were just unable to feel the brakes because the train was not moving fast enough for them to grab hard enough for you to notice. There is no such thing as a trim less ride on The Beast for any members of the public.

The rumor was that there were major issues with the rides supports. I have heard everything from having to completely remake the supports to it being redesigned at the last minute before fabrication. Not exactly sure but everything I have heard suggests support problems, which with the first pieces not showing up until February there was likely an issue with fabrication. I remember joking a few months ago that Six Flags would announce the 2020 attractions before it opened, which did turn out to be true. At this point I believe it will be 2020 before it opens, and if the claim by Kings Island that they will have the track done in January, and will try to cycle Orion by February holds, there is a decent chance construction will be done before it opens.

I have to point out there is a $79.95 pass called the Splash Pass, it includes parking, admission, and all of the important parts if all you want to do is go to the water park. The pass everyone keeps complaining about just adds the ability to bring a cooler, a free game of skill every week, paddleboats, mini golf, and extra bring a friend tickets. If these items do not matter then there is no need to pay the extra $50 dollars. Without the rides the Adventure pass really does not make much sense for most guests.

Cedar Fair was unhappy about a football stadium which was being built next to the park, which would have a serious affect on the parks parking, and the ability to operate the park between construction and then games and events which would occur, my understanding is that the park is not very profitable so that likely factored into the decision but I do not remember this being announced as a reason. So they agreed to sell the park to a local company, the sale ended up falling apart and an agreement was reached with the 49ers to limit impacts to the park. This was long ago enough that it was when Dick Kinzel was CEO. To the best of my knowledge Cedar Fair has not indicated any willingness to sell any parks recently, and has stated in several interviews they wish to acquire more parks. They have been trying to buy the land for years so that they could stop leasing it and actually own the land under the park. The city was going to sell the land to a developer but the park had a lease which gave them right of first refusal. Which means in the event the city plans to sell the land the park can refuse to allow the sale and purchase it for the same price as the original buyer. Cedar Fair executed this provision and purchased the land. If they had not done so the park would have had to close at some point in the future. The purchase had nothing to do with a future sale of the park, and had more to do with preserving the ability for it to be a park.

I remember when this happened and thought nothing of it at the time, but does anyone have a link to the thread, I am having trouble finding it.

The Bat, and Screaming Demon are before my time, but at the same time all of those coasters were removed before sites like this existed, so getting a real feel for how fans of the park felt would be difficult. I am really not sure that there is that much outrage over this decision, the 14 page thread about the removal seems to have more opinions on what should replace it then people really complaining. Last year when Firehawk was announced, most people seemed to be expecting Vortex, I know there are people who really are mad, but at the same time I believe it to be overall a minority of enthusiasts. From what I can tell not many in the general public are that bothered by this decision. The only ride on your list that I do remember was King Cobra, and frankly, no one that I knew at the time seemed to be that bothered. I am sure it had its fans, but mostly people seemed to be fine with its removal. As I remember the log flume was originally supposed to be removed but outrage caused the park to overhaul the ride instead. There are a LOT of people who are angry about the eagles and many still are.

Neither, the pumps are there to remove the water after the splash. The track is below the water line of the surrounding pool, it is filled by opening gates and just letting the water rush in. Six Flags over Texas is getting one for next year, I have heard Six Flags went cheap and is not getting the rotating load platform so it will operate with only a single boat.

All I want to know is why this was not announced several weeks ago. It seems very strange to suddenly close for maintenance like this.

My guess is Sticker's will not pickup any rides. Since it is a private park expansion is very difficult to justify, and would have to happen very slowly. It would be easy to expand straight out of business. Cedar Fair might be interested in some of the rides, they have picked up used rides in the past, but so many used rides are put on the market every year and they have been very selective about the rides they purchase. The flying bobs for instance is the mobile version and is still mounted on a trailer. I doubt they would be interested in rides not designed to be permanently installed unless it is easy to convert.

Stricker's Gove has small business days for companies which are not large enough to rent the entire park. ACE had an event at the park last year during one of the small business days and it was a fantastic experience. The meal was really good, and the snack and drink stands are open and free, just walk up and grab what you want. They make popcorn, snow cones, and cotton candy in a variety of flavors through the day. I wish they had another event this year, would have liked to do it again.

I hate to lose the park, but I cannot claim I will miss it. I have heard a rumor that they make more money on parking then actually operating the park, much of that being people going to Riverbend. I suspect the corporate outings will move on to other local parks, but that could be good news for Strickers Grove.

This park is a Six Flags park in name only. The park will be built, owned, and operated by a subsidiary of the Saudi government. The funds are coming from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. There are no investors, or banks which anyone has to justify the expense of an attraction. It feels like the park will likely be built. This specific coaster I have my doubts about. Not that building a coaster which goes this fast or is this long is impossible, but more that I have my doubts that what we are seeing is a finished design. But the mentioned speed while not impossible without a launch. it is just not happening without assistance. Assuming a vacuum and no friction, you need something around 800 ft of free fall just to hit 156 MPH/250 KPH. Only one company is likely to build this coaster, Intamin. I cannot imagine another manufacturer who would be willing to even attempt something like this.

I am of the opinion almost every park has something special about it. That is a VERY long trip you are planning, are you really sure you want to do both Canada and Florida in the same trip? It just screams split me into two trips to me. I am assuming home is somewhere within driving distance of Cincinnati based on the site you are asking. For instance do Cincinnati > Kennywood > Conneaut Lake Park > Waldameer > Darien Lake > Canada's Wonderland > La Ronde > SF Great Escape > SF New England > Luna Park > Morey's Pier > Dorney Park > Knoebels > Hershey > SF America > Kings Dominion > Busch Gardens Williamsburg which after that I would head home through West Virginia and hit Camden park on the way. I skipped a bunch of smaller parks, including a bunch of New Jersey shore parks. You are already looking at a 2 week trip from just that and frankly you would be missing a LOT of other sight seeing opportunities, I would not spend every single available second at theme parks do at least spend a few days do other activities. The reason I split the trip here is that a second trip which starts by going straight to Carowinds (or just hit Camden park here on the way to the Carolina's) and then go south following the coast makes the most sense to me. Disney has 4 parks, Universal has 2, plus Fun Spot, and Sea World, and that is just Orlando, add in stops at Busch Gardens Tampa, SF Over Georgia, Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Again if your doing everything that is likely another 2 week or longer trip, and if you are driving that far I would not skip that many parks. I use Coast 2 Coaster when I am planning trips to make sure I do not miss a park. Its a nice site to just scroll around and find coasters and parks you have never heard of before.

First aid likely had no idea what was going on. This is the first case of this occurring on a coaster I have ever heard of. This injury sounds similar to what can occur during diving if you hold your breath. Basically the air expands in the lungs and has to go somewhere, the expanding air can cause a hole to form in the lung and force air out into the surrounding tissue. My guess is he inhaled and held his breath, it may not have even been a conscious decision, and I doubt he even realized it occurred. The change in elevation while sudden is minor so I doubt that is the cause. So my thinking is it occurred when the train braked at the end the sudden jolt increased the air pressure enough to make a small hole in the lung and force air out into the surrounding tissue.

I think it would be a good ride, but I have to point out that this is an attraction in the planning stages which is going to be nothing more than just rumors for at least another year. Its still very possible it will be completely changed or cancelled, or we are completely off on our guesses and it could turn out it was a Starflyer the entire time. BGW does have an announcement coming later this year, which does appear to have an Intamin coaster. I think it would be better to focus on the what is about to be announced and not worry about what might never happen.

Not a chance, BGW just got clearance from some local government for an attraction more than 300 feet tall but that is for a ride in 2021 or later. The 315' request which was for 2020 was totally cancelled. There is still a chance of a giga, but I suspect if that future ride does turn out to be a coaster it will be similar to Red Force, LSM launch with a huge tower.

Eye witness accounts are rarely accurate, and it’s very difficult to guess how fast something is traveling. I do not believe it’s possible the train was even close to 40 MPH when the crash occurred. Valravn has a very steep drop into the station, at the top of the slope it has a set of magnetic brakes, this is followed by a series of mechanical brakes. Once a train is off the slope and on the track leading into the station everything is handled by drive tires, as far as I know there are no brakes inside the station. Valravn is extremely automated there is no way for a ride op to active the drive tires on their own. Doing this requires the ride be placed in manual mode, which can only be done by maintenance. My guess is something in the rides electronics either malfunctioned or just failed. Unless there were serious injuries I do not believe the state will investigate, so it’s possible we will be left with speculation and rumors. I can see at least two people in the drive box. So it’s possible the computer was not in control.

When they purchased the Paramount Parks, then it was removed the following year.

Anniversary coasters make no sense from a business perspective. 2022 is going to be about the 50th anniversary, same as 2020 at Cedar Point is about the 150th. The anniversary and celebrations surrounding it will draw in large crowds and is likely to break attendance records on its own. I would also not be surprised to see construction next year at CP for a 2021 coaster. People will come for the 150th, then when they see the construction they will return for the new attraction the following year. The same is likely to occur at Kings Island, we will have the 50th in 2022, with construction on an attraction opening in 2023. This is pretty standard around the theme park industry, the one that comes to mind is Dollywood with the 30th in 2015, and Lightning Rod in 2016. I cannot think of a single park which installed a major attraction in a major anniversary year. B&M has plenty of models we do not have but I doubt most of them are very likely. I suspect a dive coaster is in our future, maybe not 2023, but I expect to see one at some point. Although I would not be surprised to see a Gerstlauer infinity coaster instead of a B&M.

I have them scan the code from my watch all the time, I use an Apple watch and an iPhone and just added it to my wallet from the official app and it syncs over to your watch automatically. The scanners have a hard time scanning the watch face, and about 25% of the time I have to pull out my cell phone or the plastic card. If you can bring up the QR code I am confident that the employees will scan it. I would worry that if you use an image which might have some scaling issues that the scanners might not be able to handle it, because they seem to hate the small screens on watches. If you are going to use a watch as your pass I always recommend having a backup for when you find one of the scanners which refuse to read the code.

I had a conversation with an employee who works on Banshee about two weeks ago and we discussed fanny packs. According to them the policy officially changed earlier this year, you can now take them on Banshee but you are required to still wear it while you ride, so you have to move it off to your side and the restraint must still close. The problem is the policy changed and there has not been good communication with the ride ops to make sure every is aware of the change. I have no idea how enforcement is right now. The other problem is that with rules like this which are not public and not posted anywhere, how are guests supposed to know if there has been a change?

It’s a launch coaster, all the rumors point at premier. There is no other plant for the track, all B&M coasters are produced at CSF. It makes no difference where in the world the ride will be located.

I have to give credit where and when it is due. I was at Holiday World for Holiwood Nights over the weekend and Voyage is running better then I can ever remember. In the past Voyage typically was a one and done experience for me and I rode close to a dozen times and I never would have done so on previous trips. The ride is very smooth and I hope to continues into the future. Every single coaster in the park is one that I am currently willing to jump right back in line and ride again. Plus their reride policy is simple and enthusiast friendly, if there is no one waiting you can stay on, if there is someone just grab an empty seat if one is available.