TombRaiderFTW Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Since I know Holiday World has a few fellow fans here (and no fansite of its own), I thought I'd share this video I just found. I know I've certainly never seen it before--it's of The Raven in its first few seasons at the park, back when it was the only wooden coaster to be found in Santa Claus. A couple things I noticed: Will Koch looks really young. I didn't know video of the ride's grand opening existed. The most I'd seen were a few photos of Will and Denise Dinn-Larrick in the front seat, with Bill Koch clipping the banner. The Raven had buzz bars?! Ordinarily I wouldn't get this excited/jealous about such a thing, but after riding Kennywood's coasters this summer, I can't even imagine how crazy a fairly new Raven with buzz bars would have ridden. When did the change from buzz bars to individual restraints happen? I want a ride with Santa! Hope you guys enjoy this as much as I did. Finding stuff like this (and standbyme's historic photos, and TombraiderTy's occasional compilations) usually helps the off-season go by quickly. (Note: the reason I put "historic" in quotes in the title is because I frankly don't find the 90's to be too long ago. I'm not that old! ) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdawg1998 Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 That was so cool to see that! Thanks for posting! The Raven is my #2 coaster at HW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thekidd33 Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Awesome video, thanks for posting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Yes, when the individual, ratcheting lapbars were installled, the park referred to them as "stupid orange restraints" in the Stark Raven Mad flyer. They were later replaced with non-orange--black or red. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
74Gibson Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 LOVE the video. Raven is my #1,#2,or#3 coaster at HW (but never #4!)... depending on my mood and how they're running. Safety standards, manufacturers recommendations and parks fear of litigation have gotten... crazy?! It's odd to think that they must consider how to avoid someone being able to willfully hurt themselves or someone else. Have you seen the video of the guy crossing a chute the chutes track to get his hat. How many fences were installed because someone got hit by a B&M invert. I'm sorry but, how do you let yourself get in the way of a train that freaking huge and loud. I feel horrible for the kid but... OFF SOAPBOX 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotag Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 raven will always be "MY" #1 @ HW. if it wasnt for enjoying the park as a whole, i could spend all day just riding that specific coaster. thanks for the find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunderbeast1968 Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Does anyone have any information on this? I recall a friend telling that the designer (I guess, lead designer?) was the daughter of the, man who designed and created The Beast at KI? Maybe, some other family member, or relative, to someone who had a big part of The Beast?? Not even sure where I read, or heard this? When designing The Raven, they wanted a (smaller) and similar ride experience to Kings Island's coaster? They way it runs thru the trees, and what not. Please message me, if anyone knows, or has heard a story like this. P.S. I could be really just misinformed (LOL) Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TombRaiderFTW Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 ^ From what I understand, you're right on the first part and partially right on the second. One of the (owners?) of Custom Coasters International, Denise Dinn-Larrick, was the daughter of Charles Dinn. Charles Dinn was one part of the group who designed The Beast, as well as one of the primary designers in Dinn Corp., manufacturers of such rides as Cedar Point's Mean Streak, Worlds of Fun's Timber Wolf, Six Flags over Georgia's Georgia Cyclone, etc. I don't know how much the park wanted to copy The Beast while designing The Raven, but I have heard before that Will Koch really wanted a double helix on one of his rides to rival our Beast's famous finale. Supposedly, adding one to the ride wouldn't work (and I've never heard a reason why), but the idea lingered and later manifested on The Legend. (Personally, I'm kinda glad for this... The only place I could see a helix even fitting on The Raven would be around the ride's final right turn, and a helix--unless taken at really high speeds--would mess up the pacing of the ride, in my opinion.) On the rumor note, I've heard Will took out a second mortgage on his house to help pay for The Raven. Anyone know how true that is? Anyway, glad to hear you guys are enjoying it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunderbeast1968 Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 ^ From what I understand, you're right on the first part and partially right on the second. One of the (owners?) of Custom Coasters International, Denise Dinn-Larrick, was the daughter of Charles Dinn. Charles Dinn was one part of the group who designed The Beast, as well as one of the primary designers in Dinn Corp., manufacturers of such rides as Cedar Point's Mean Streak, Worlds of Fun's Timber Wolf, Six Flags over Georgia's Georgia Cyclone, etc. I don't know how much the park wanted to copy The Beast while designing The Raven, but I have heard before that Will Koch really wanted a double helix on one of his rides to rival our Beast's famous finale. Supposedly, adding one to the ride wouldn't work (and I've never heard a reason why), but the idea lingered and later manifested on The Legend. (Personally, I'm kinda glad for this... The only place I could see a helix even fitting on The Raven would be around the ride's final right turn, and a helix--unless taken at really high speeds--would mess up the pacing of the ride, in my opinion.) On the rumor note, I've heard Will took out a second mortgage on his house to help pay for The Raven. Anyone know how true that is? Anyway, glad to hear you guys are enjoying it. Thanks for the information. I knew I heard something like that somewhere. I know HW, didn't want a copy of The Beast, but just it running thru the wood with a fast pace (something like The Beast). I also think I remember that this was one of her first projects. If it was, nice job done!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TombRaiderFTW Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 According to RCDB, The Raven was actually CCI's seventh project. Having ridden a few of their earlier rides (Hoosier Hurricane and Zach's Zoomer), you can definitely tell CCI was hitting its stride around the time of The Raven. Those rides have larger transitions and somewhat slower pacing, both of which started to change with Cyclops, Raven, and Great White. HH and ZZ are both still enjoyable rides, though; I love me some CCI. (For some reason, I seem to miss their rides the most this off-season... Wonder why.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monroe Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 (edited) Larry Bill did most of the design work for The Raven I think with McNulty, neither one had any thing to do with The Beast. The only thing that strings them together is one of the designers of The Beast started a company that the two worked for. One last thing, Dinn was in charge of construction of The Beast not the design. The credit for designing The Beast goes to Collins and Gramke. Edited December 20, 2011 by Monroe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TombRaiderFTW Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 ^ I stand corrected! For some reason, I was mixing up the story about John Allen being contacted to see if he'd help design the ride with Dinn... Don't know where that came from. Thanks for setting it straight, Monroe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flightoffear1996 Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I think the Raven is a pretty good ride but I felt it was way too short. This ride woudl be in my top 5 for sure with another 500-800 feet more of track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XGatorHead 8904 Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Raven is my #1,#2,or#3 coaster at HW (but never #4!)... depending on my mood and how they're running. I have trouble setting a firm place for HW's three woodies on my rankings too! Voyage was always #1, and Raven & Legend always swapped places. This year, with the way Voyage was running all three have at some point been #1, #2 & #3! raven will always be "MY" #1 @ HW. if it wasnt for enjoying the park as a whole, i could spend all day just riding that specific coaster. thanks for the find. I became well acquainted with your Raven love in June. What was it, 12 or 16 Raven rides for us without leaving our seats to close out Holliwood Nights? (let's do this cycle looking left... let's do this one looking right... let's do this one looking up... let's do this one with our eyes closed...) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcgoble3 Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I had 24 in a row on Raven to close out Holiwood Nights this year. Yes, Raven is my #1 at HW. Voyage is #2, Legend is #3. Of course that's all based solely on Holiwood Nights 2011, which is the only time I've ever been to HW. Holiwood Nights 2012 may change that, particularly with the possibility of Timberliners on the Voyage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monroe Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 ^ I stand corrected! For some reason, I was mixing up the story about John Allen being contacted to see if he'd help design the ride with Dinn... Don't know where that came from. Thanks for setting it straight, Monroe. Wasn't trying to correct you, just throwing some info out to help every one with the info they are looking for. Besides you got it part right, Allen did have a hand in the design of The Beast, but it was with Collins and Gramke (mostly Collins). Allen was approached to design the ride but declined, so Collins asked for some design help and wrote it down on some napkins, menus, legal pads, and probably some toilet tissue (though I have not seen the toilet tissue). Keep in mind that this kind of situation went on, and still goes on today. A specific designer gets credit for designing a specific ride, but in reality the actual design came from many ideas from many designers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotag Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 raven will always be "MY" #1 @ HW. if it wasnt for enjoying the park as a whole, i could spend all day just riding that specific coaster. thanks for the find. I became well acquainted with your Raven love in June. What was it, 12 or 16 Raven rides for us without leaving our seats to close out Holliwood Nights? (let's do this cycle looking left... let's do this one looking right... let's do this one looking up... let's do this one with our eyes closed...) i can ride that ride in my memory thanks to that night. if only it woulda lasted longer so i coulda got you, fester, & brians view of the heat lightning back in voyages spaghetti bowl. or that whole entire weekend to relive it for that matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
74Gibson Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 I purposefully waited to ride Voyage for the first time after dark. I mostly played around on Raven all day and ws left wanting for NOTHING. Truly an amazing ride! Then, I had a Holiwood nights worth of amazingness before I ever saw anything after the 3rd drop on Voyage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XGatorHead 8904 Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 i can ride that ride in my memory thanks to that night. if only it woulda lasted longer so i coulda got you, fester, & brians view of the heat lightning back in voyages spaghetti bowl. or that whole entire weekend to relive it for that matter. I'd take everything except for the extreme heat that got to me on the Voyage walkback and forced me to take a nap in Plymouth Rock Cafe. Heck, I'd even take the alien mutant crickets that provided us entertainment in the cabin! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotag Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 i can ride that ride in my memory thanks to that night. if only it woulda lasted longer so i coulda got you, fester, & brians view of the heat lightning back in voyages spaghetti bowl. or that whole entire weekend to relive it for that matter. I'd take everything except for the extreme heat that got to me on the Voyage walkback and forced me to take a nap in Plymouth Rock Cafe. Heck, I'd even take the alien mutant crickets that provided us entertainment in the cabin! well, i try to not smash bugs anymore. but the flies deserve it. who knows, maybe i can create a zombie army of flies. & the longest ride ever on scarecrow scrambler. ...bobble pat... also, 74Gibson, you think that was great; try riding it @ night during holiwood nights with prescription aviators on. sorry ya'll to the hi-jacking of this thread. i now bring you back to its regularly scheduled discussion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 It's okay. Some of us enjoy listening to y'alls' raven about your voyages on Holiday World's most legendary coaster. Terp, who will now stand pat, and let y'all koch up where this thread coasts to next! Dispatch! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcgoble3 Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 It's okay. Some of us enjoy listening to y'alls' raven about your voyages on Holiday World's most legendary coaster. Terp, who will now stand pat, and let y'all koch up where this thread coasts to next! Dispatch! LOL! I wish I could "like" that post, but unfortunately, I'm out of likes for the day. So this post will have to represent a "like". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hendrick Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Does anyone have another link to this video? The uploaded has removed t from YouTube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TombRaiderFTW Posted April 3, 2012 Author Share Posted April 3, 2012 The uploader removed the video, then reuploaded it. Here's a (as well as an embed, in case any forum users here still want to see it):<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ovtqvptM3J4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> On that note, only 4 weeks and 4 days until Holiday World opens! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hendrick Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Thanks for reporting it! And only 8 weeks until Holiwood Nights (my first trip ever to Holiday World). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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