jsus

TTD is awesome, for a lack of a better term. The only time you're given to feel scared is from the time you sit down to the time you pull up to the launch. This is the most difficult part of the ride to overcome, by far, especially if you pick the back train in the station. You'll be sitting out there for what feels like for forever before the launch. Once it launches you, though, you're accelerating/moving too fast to know what hit you. You're just taking in the awesome ride. As for the height, you're up there for such a short amount of time that you don't have time to freak out and realize you're 420' in the air. This is way different from, say, Millennium Force where you have the entire 310' tall lift hill to think about what you've gotten yourself into at those heights. Graying out? Never heard of it on TTD and I've experienced nothing of the sort in dozens of rides. It's a very smooth and very fast ride. A lot of fun but over way too soon.

This thread took an interesting turn. I was driving with intense Focus so I'm not really sure what we're talking about anymore.

Woops, left out the part about how that's never gonna happen. That was kinda important and got lost between chair and keyboard. I'd love it if it did happen, but there's really no way. The best we can hope for is really new/modified trains and mag brakes. I also left out of this post how it's my 1000th post. 1000 already? Guess I need to find a new hobby.

But what's the source of the simulation? I could make one up with whatever data I wanted; that doesn't make it factually accurate.

Couple things.. The Rougarou project was a smaller project (roughly $5-7m if I had to guess). It wasn't a new coaster, just an enhancement of an existing one. It likely took the place of smaller projects like midway renovations and/or a few flats, rather than a new coaster. I'd love a new invert that was more like Banshee - trains, mag brakes, no pre-drop, relentless from lift to brakes, oh and make it a terra coaster with elevation drop-offs. Naturally, that's got about a 0.0000001% chance of happening. 2016 will be three years since the newest coaster; again, Rougarou doesn't really count. Major coasters since 1990 previously came in '91, '94, '96, '00, '02, '03, '07, '13. Mind you, new management has new philosophies so trends only go so far. That said, it's generally been every 2-4 years with the exception of Gatekeeper. They've already got the entire site leveled. Utilities are likely available nearby off of Perimeter Road. Also, their off-season is a few weeks longer. CoasterMania! 2012 was held on Fri, July 13, and that's the day they announced the impending demolition of Space Spiral and Disaster Transport. It's only the 18th. They didn't announce Gatekeeper until several weeks later. We already know they're going to announce the new project in August, so the timing is really similar. They've got plenty of time to build the ride. The two-tone track paint jobs are awesome. Just the way Fury 325's spine glistens in the sunlight is amazing.

The coordinates show approximately nine feet lower after the second hill. And what's the source of said coordinates?

That's hardly "The Beast", definitely not "The Beast". It may be, however, "a beast" or "this beast". Edit: There goes the auto-capitalizer. The first quote was supposed to be "the" + " " + "beast" (lowercase).

Ironically Diamondback is probably your best best. Or The Bat. Lastly maybe Back Lot Stun Coaster. "I don't always quote myself, but when I do, I say the same thing twice."

Hmm... Thanks to Wikipedia, I just now discovered that Kewpee spawned Halo Burger, a Flint, MI-based chain that's expanded into the Metro Detroit area in the past few years. That's something I've been meaning to try; I wonder how similar the fare is. Maybe I'll finally try it today as I haven't been to one in about a decade. Edit: I've also discovered that a lot of the Metro Detroit stores closed within the first couple years. This sounds like yet another case of biting off more of the burger than you can chew. At least there are still a couple left to try.

I highly doubt that. Cedar Fair is not going to be amenable to that. And government run parks have done SO well. See Visionland, Rye Playland... See also: Waterford Oaks, Redford Oaks waterparks in Oakland County, MI. Small scale operations? Sure, but they've been county-run for some time now. That said, I also don't see the city/township/wherever it falls wanting to purchase WWK. Nor can I really see Cedar Fair wanting to sell. The government would rather have the waterpark razed and continue receiving property taxes, it seems..

Actually, the "free money" is the money that Meijer is offering.

Of note, Meijer wants to buy approximately 41 acres. The store itself would be ~200,000 sqft, or ~4.6 acres. Even with a parking lot, perhaps a road/driveway setup, some green space, and a little nature preserve, there's surely 5-10 acres left that they don't need. I strongly believe that they are buying enough to sell off outlots. This would contribute toward what I mentioned earlier, that they would help spur development. Meijer would have a vested interest in getting merchants onto those lots to recoup the investment. Those merchants would be drawn in by the promise of an available customer base thanks to Meijer, and act as additional tax generators for the municipalities. The result would, hopefully, be a domino effect that sells out the outlots as well as the remaining parcels owned by Cedar Fair. Outlots are also a common occurrence with big box stores moving into town. Example? Ford's Wixom Assembly Plant is in the process of conversion to a retail development known as Assembly Park. Menards bought more land than it needed and worked with the City of Wixom to permit certain potential uses for outlots that weren't part of the city's master plan, such as a restaurant with drive-thru, even before finding a buyer. Lots of this stuff happens behind the scenes in business. A city/township/state that wishes to bring in jobs and tax revenue will make concessions and work with businesses.

That's my understanding.. That the city and/or the township fought infrastructure upgrades that would have helped support (and build) the park. Now, it seems they are fighting tooth and nail against redeveloping the property for more mundane usages. I don't get it.

Where will the food truck festival be held - out in the parking lot or in the park? That may well be what this is for.

This isn't Meijer's first rodeo. They've got over 200 stores (source) in 6 midwestern states, having just expanded into Wisconsin earlier this year. I get the feeling this isn't the first time they've made such exclusivity requests; things like that tend not to come out of nowhere. This makes me buy into Terpy's statements that there's nothing particularly unusual about the request.

Regardless of whether or not you think that Meijer's* requests are reasonable, this is a company with a proven track record that has stepped up and wants to build in your community. Superstores like Meijer tend to spur further development in the area, both on outlots that Meijer likes to sell through its real estate arm and on neighboring parcels. The city and township have had no serious offers in eight years. Eight years. No tax revenue (other than that of barren land). Meijer brings with it the opportunity to start redevelopment. From the tone presented in this article, it sounds as if they are completely unwilling to consider Meijer's terms or negotiate. They might even be able to knock some of those restrictions off the list, reduce the boundary zone, or even do a more custom list where gas stations can't be within 500' but theaters only have to be 200' away, for instance. In business, there is very often room for negotiation. It's the same type of thing with lawsuits. Aim for the stars, lay down everything you could possibly want, and narrow that list down to something that is mutually agreeable. They don't seem to even want to work with Meijer at all. *sigh* Tire stores, though? Never seen a Meijer that sold tires. Hmm.. *The company should be referred to as "Meijer", but in this case the requests belong to Meijer

Tron coaster? Sign me up. Wait, it's in China? Drats, that's a bit far. California next?

If a powered ride abruptly because an unpowered ride, it will valley. If a launch hill (e.g. LSM launch/"lift" hill on Maverick) abruptly stops the launch, a train will roll back. In both examples, a ride vehicle is normally moved via continuously applied motors. In both examples, it is possible for said motors to abruptly stop providing forward motion to the ride vehicle, causing it to roll back or valley. Powered ride != ride that's incapable of valleying

^^^ Social media friend requests should come after you've befriended one another. After all, it's supposed to mean that you already are friends and want to connect on the platform.

Cedar Fair used to market almost that exist thing. A previous ad campaign served to convince potential guests to put down the video game controller, get off the couch, and come out to the park to have fun and enjoy atmosphere. Now? They'll gladly take money from Gamefly to tell you to go home, pick up that video game controller, and sit your butt back down on the couch and stay a while. Progress? Methinks not. *sigh* Also, malem, you might want to add a colon [:] to your link.

^^ Many would rightfully state that skimping on manufacturer-recommended maintenance to save a relatively small amount of money*, be it an automobile or an amusement ride, is a telltale sign of negligence, stupidity, and not caring on behalf of ownership/management. * Relative is referring to the cost to compensate injured riders, repair the ride later, and comply with government inspections and modification requests, as well as the cost to the owner's reputation, the latter capable of drastically reducing income and other key metrics as a result.

Having no personal experience with this park, I'll say that management's tendency to rush to judgment with regards to removing rides after accidents says a lot. What that says is up for your interpretation.

^ It sounds like this will be part of the morning news broadcast. That *should* be included in the online news live-stream available here. It also should work out of market.

^ Good point.. Drop Towers do tend to benefit from OTSRs.

YouTube comments, Facebook comments.. It's really pretty much everywhere that the masses discuss roller coasters. Even for Fury 325, there are those who claim they won't ride it because it "only" has a lap bar. The only time I personally feel any benefit from an OTSR is on a ride with inversions, and even then only when they're the more modern style like Banshee's.