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WindSeeker Construction is underway


Colonel_SoB_fan
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Don`t forget that trailer that they sometimes sell stuff out of by the Zephyr and Racer, right before crossing under the X-Base sign.

CedarPointer, I love your signature. Unfortunately, at Coney when there are big concerts, its not uncommon for people that are a little inebriated to try and go to the bathroom behind trees and shrubs on their way from the parking lots to Riverbend Music Center for concerts. I`ve witnessed this numerous times, and seen people caught by security numerous times. Is it really that hard to find a restroom?

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If you think about it, WS is not a huge ride like DB was. The hype is no where near the same. I cant see people wanting a WS t-shirt or something along those lines.

You'd be surprised. I'd think people would mostly want a shirt, glass/mug, a key chain, and maybe a picture frame. Even though you can buy most of those in the Emporium or at Thrill Seekers.

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If you think about it, WS is not a huge ride like DB was. The hype is no where near the same. I cant see people wanting a WS t-shirt or something along those lines.

You'd be surprised. I'd think people would mostly want a shirt, glass/mug, a key chain, and maybe a picture frame. Even though you can buy most of those in the Emporium or at Thrill Seekers.

i know i woulda loved a flying eagles shirt.

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You'd be surprised. I'd think people would mostly want a shirt, glass/mug, a key chain, and maybe a picture frame. Even though you can buy most of those in the Emporium or at Thrill Seekers.

I mean, maybe but i cant see the demand to be high enough to have a separte store like Maverick, DB, etc... I definetly think that there will be merchandise in Thrillseekers and such.

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Well, to be honest the current all time high for gas prices was set in the summer of 2008. So prices have moderated a little bit from their high that summer of $4.11 a gallon. Still, I much preferred when I was paying $2.50 a gallon as opposed to nearly $3 a gallon!

i still think $1.50 is too much; but i know we'll never see it again.

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Yet:

U.S. gasoline prices have jumped to the highest levels ever for the middle of February. The national average hit $3.127 per gallon on Friday, about 50 cents above a year ago.

The price is about 6 percent higher than on this date in 2008. The next day, pump prices began a string of 32 gains over 34 days. They rose 39 percent over five months, eventually hitting an all-time high of $4.11 per gallon in July.

Although gas prices are expected to rise, most experts aren't expecting a reprise of 2008, when the price spike forced many drivers to join car pools and trade in gas-guzzling SUVs for fuel-efficient cars....

http://www.courierpr...ever-time-year/

And yes, gas prices could drastically affect how WindSeeker goes over, but how?

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This is a little math nerd post about WindSeeker's foundation.

I got to thinking about WindSeeker's (and Drop Tower's for that matter) structure, and how important I would think it would be that the foundation would have to be extremely level. According to my calculations, for every .01" of slope on the foundation, the "tower" part of the ride would lean 3" (assuming the tower is perfectly straight). It seems like for something as tall and skinny as the towers on these rides, any lean would be disastrous.

Of course, none of this says anything about when the wind blows on a perfectly straight structure. A 300 foot tower would seem to have a mind boggling amount of leverage.

To sum up, that foundation is one piece of awesome engineering!

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Concrete pouring is not a very exacting science in terms of tolerances. That is why you see all those bolts on the foundation to connect to the tower. The tower will not directly rest on the concrete when they first put it up. Instead, they will use those bolts to ensure that the tower is plum (straight up and down). Once construction is complete, they`ll come back in and fill in the gap between the bottom of the tower and the top of the concrete with exapansive grout (a liquid concrete), to make a solid concrete connection between the already poured concrete and the base of the tower.

And yes, the tower will be able to sway a little bit. If I recall from my structures classes, a general rule of thumb for how much buildings can sway is 1/8" from true vertical in any direction per 10' of building. So for WindSeeker, at 301' tall, that would be nearly 4" of sway at the top of the tower from true vertical. (And if it was oscillating back and forth, it could then be swaying 8", 4" from vertical in both the positive and negative directions). And that is a perfectly normal amount of sway. Remember the old saying, if it doesn`t shake, it will break.

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I'm even amazed at how well they align them, especially track, in the rigging before they lift it into place.

Thanks again... dude who has a name starting w/ R:P fora concise, specific and understandable response. I learned about the grout from you when discussing DB last year and I had always wondered how the connection between the supports and footings :) held without shattering. I always assumed there was a gap.

A 4" sway is a lot though. Obviously they account for that in the ride design. Just like TTD, I like to watch it sway in the wind and vibrate after a train.

Edit: ' to " for feet to inches. Gotta watch that shift. Good thing I wasn't writing design plans:)

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I'm even more impressed with grand old rides like the Coney Island Cyclone or even Beast, designed without computers, by hand, modified in the field, and operational even today. It was a totally different way of doing things, and it is amazing it worked as often as it did...(some things didn't...see Harry Traver's Crystal Beach Cyclone, for just one example...)

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It sounds a lot like the difference between a record and a CD (or digital file).

And, you know, records are still really popular with some people, and a lot of people still prefer their sound! I'm sure some enthusiasts in both areas feel like something is lost in the digital transformation.

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Well, it is technology. And things can and do go wrong with technology. Trust me, I know. I`m now an assistant IT guy at the architecture firm I`m working at.

And since it is the weekend, its not like there is someone working at KI on the weekend that could fix it. It is the offseason after all, and most of the office workers there are working M-F right now since the park is closed.

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Yeah. I got a "new" computer at work this past week. It is essentially a computer that has been pieced together from other computers and is supposed to be faster because it has more RAM. The only issue is any CD drive I put into it doesn`t seem to work. It always crashes the computer when I try to load something from the CD or even see the contents of the disc...

And it was really windy today. But I got a lot of exercise in. I went to the park and ended up walking 7.2 miles! Bring on spring already!

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Yeah. I got a "new" computer at work this past week. It is essentially a computer that has been pieced together from other computers and is supposed to be faster because it has more RAM. The only issue is any CD drive I put into it doesn`t seem to work. It always crashes the computer when I try to load something from the CD or even see the contents of the disc...

And it was really windy today. But I got a lot of exercise in. I went to the park and ended up walking 7.2 miles! Bring on spring already!

It's been getting warmer, so hopefully Spring will come earlier this year. I can't wait to hand my pass to the lady at the turn style and get some of those funnel cakes! And take a couple rides on WindSeeker.

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