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Big Coasters In Future?


Banshee Back VII
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If we're talking about taking Carowinds' coasters (which I figure they've pretty much got coming to them since they stole our Eagles ;) ), I'll have Hurler, please. Or Carolina Goldrusher. Or Vortex. Thanks.

You can have Hurler and Vortex! I'm keeping the Goldrusher, however.

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Actually- and kind of ironically- looking at both Kings Island and Carowinds ride lineups, there are a LOT of similar rides...I'll leave out the teeny-weeny kiddie coasters for this comparison, but will include the larger kids coasters:

Diamondback vs. Intimidator- Both B&M Hypers

Banshee vs. Afterburn- Both B&M Inverts

Firehawk vs. Nighthawk- Both Vekoma Flying Coasters, with "Hawk" in the name of each to boot!

Racer vs. Thunder Road- Both PTC Wooden Racing Coasters

Vortex vs. Carolina Cyclone- Both Arrow Custom Looping Coasters

Adventure Express vs. Carolina Goldrusher- Both Arrow Mine Train Coasters

Invertigo vs. Carolina Cobra- Both are Vekoma Boomerangs, though Invertigo is an Inverted model

Flying Ace Aerial Chase- Same ride at both parks

Woodstock Express- Same ride at both parks
Kings Island "Exclusives" (Not at Carowinds): The Beast, The Bat, Backlot Stunt Coaster, Flight of Fear

Carowinds "Exclusives" (Not at KI): Vortex, Hurler, Ricochet

The amount of similar coasters in these 2 parks coaster lineups is staggering...granted, there are differences in the layouts and all that for some of them, and the differences do likely add up but still...

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Yet- strangely- Paramount, who you'd expect to be a HUGE reason for this, really didn't add too many similar rides under their watch. Most of the similar rides are KECO and Cedar Fair's faults, ironically... (Cedar Fair did add a few rides to each park after they took over that made them for similar- Firehawk and Banshee at Kings Island, for example, are ride styles that under Paramount WERE "unique" to Carowinds)...

Matt Ouimet did say he wanted each park to have more "unique" rides than in the past. Well, Kings Island and Carowinds had better ask each other what the other is getting for at least a few years...ie, if Carowinds gets a B&M Giga for their rumored 2015 coaster, Kings Island may want to look at something else for its next big ride, for example...

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I know- Firehawk's true 100% twin is Batwing, which resides at Six Flags America. Nighthawk (aka Borg/Stealth), while being similar, is the Prototype- the main difference between the two is that where Firehawk and Batwing have Barrel Rolls and a Helix Finale, Nighthawk has Corkscrews and no helix...they are still all Vekoma Flying Coasters, though.

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So, Nighthawk IS unique. That part of your argument doesn't hold water.

To much of the public, a coaster is a coaster. And very few customers at either Kings Island or Carowinds will ever go to the other park.

I've never understood why enthusiasts go bonkers over "clones." If a park near me wants to build an excellent ride, I couldn't care less whether it's also in another park.

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True- a great ride is a great ride, even if it is cloned a million times. In fact, that would kind of indicate the original was successful because other parks are copying it. I also don't really care myself, I was just looking at how many rides at KI/Carowinds have very similar connections and thought "Huh...that's kinda odd.".

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I don't know but thrice it's there.

Goliath? Six Flags says it is steel. Kings Island says Racer is one coaster. Or Surf Dog is a coaster.

A thing is what it is. Calling it something else doesn't make it so.

Six Flags considers Goliath wood.

http://content.sixflags.com/comingin2014/greatamerica/goliath/

Coming soon, Six Flags Great America will introduce a brand new triple-record-breaking wooden coaster that will be the new staple of the park’s skyline.

I consider it wood as well. The Topper Track system uses a similar system to wood coasters, only replacing the top two wood layers with steel. Wood still has an affect on the ride experience. The ride's structure doesn't play a factor into the type it is. For example, Gemini has a wood structure, but it a steel coaster due to the actual track being steel. Voyage is a wood coaster despite having a steel structure.

Here is Goliath's track.

8897742_orig.jpg

Yeah, I see a few layers of wood there.

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^^ Gemini rides on tubular steel track and delivers a ride experience of a tubular steel roller coaster. Outlaw Run runs on a quasi-wooden track with a structurally significant top two layers of steel. It is almost a steel track bolted to wood. Does Outlaw Run deliver the experience of a wooden coaster? I've never heard anyone say that. It is more marketable, as Terp alluded to, to sell them as wooden. El Toro is also a little disingenuous. It is wooden but c'mon it's not REALLY wooden.

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The El toro is a pure wooden roller-coaster. The way it was manufactured tho is different. the track itself was prefabricated, by taking wood thin wood layers and tightly comdensing them together making it very strong and being molded into whatever shape needed, making very smooth transitions. it uses the same steel strips mounts that the trains wheels ride along like any other true wooden coaster. ie The Beast, The Racer, ect.. This isn't the case for RMC type coasters., they use steel as the primary track with wood supporting it.

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Yes, I know that. That was a sort of an aside from the rest of my post. The same concept applies though. Yeah, it is wooden, just as ham and Spam are both meat, (Not a knock against "The Bull"). In my eyes a "pure" wooden coaster must feel wooden. Very few riders would care or know how the ride was made, but still.

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Thank you Mer for your generosity.

Oh, sorry, I forgot to mention that in trade for Hurler and Vortex, we get Flight of Fear and Bat.

And might as well throw in the Eiffel Tower as a spare for if and when the Skytower ever needs to be replaced.

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