I almost forgot to do it. The most anticipated coasters being built for this year.

Evil Knievel - Six Flags St. Louis - St. Louis, MO



Great Coasters International, probably the best wooden coaster builder around today, is putting this one up. The layout is similar to one of their rides in Europe that is rated among the best wooden coasters in the world.

Fahrenheit - Hersheypark - Hershey, PA



Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST87Exi0hCk

Somewhat similar to Cedar Point's Maverick that opened this year, this will have a vertical lift, a 97 degree beyond vertical drop, and six inversions.

Flying Turns - Knoebels - Elysburg, PA



I actually posted this in the 2007 thread, but the ride was never finished. It should be finished for this year, and is to me the most interesting ride that has been built in the last couple of years. This is the first time a ride like this has been built since I believe the late 1920's, so there is a lot of tweaking and experimentation to get it right. Plus, it is all being done by hand.

Led Zeppelin - The Ride - Hard Rock Park - Myrtle Beach, SC



This is one of 5 new coasters being built at the new Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach. It will go 65 MPH and have 6 inversions, and speakers in the seats will play "Whole Lotta Love" during the ride.

Maximum RPM - Hard Rock Park - Myrtle Beach, SC



This is a first of its kind ride as you can see in that it uses a ferris wheel life system to bring cars to the top of a hill.

Ravine Flyer II - Waldameer - Eerie, PA



One of my most anticipated rides. This one has been in the works for many years as the park was fighting zoning issues and what to do about the road that they wanted the coaster to cross over. The coaster will cross the road using a bridge. It's being built by The Gravity Group, a company that has really pushed the boundaries of wooden coasters (The Voyage at Holiday World is IMO the best coaster in the world).

Steel Hawg - Indiana Beach - Monticello, IN



This is a really weird looking new type of coaster with beyond vertical drops in a very compact space. Indiana Beach is one of my favorite parks in the country, and the entire park is squeezed into a very tiny space, with many rides built on top of each other on a boardwalk, so this fits in perfectly.

SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge - Nickelodeon Universe (in the Mall of America) - Bloomington, MN



So, the Mall of America is renovating their indoor amusement park as part of a billion dollar expansion to the mall and retheming it to Nickelodeon. That is kind of lame, but what isn't lame is that they are putting in 2 new coasters. This is the big one; it has a beyond vertical drop (that seems to be the latest trend) and two inversions.

That's all I can think of for now. The Red Devil at Ghost Town in the Sky will be reopening this year as Cliff Hanger, and Cedar Fair is moving coasters from their former Geaugua Lake park in Ohio to their other parks: Thunderhawk to Michigan's Adventure, Voodoo to Dorney Park, and most importantly to people on here, Dominator, a floorless looping coaster, has been moved to Kings Dominion where it will reopen this year. All of the Paramount related names and theming is being removed from the former Paramount Parks. At Carowinds Top Gun is being renamed Afterburner and Borg Assimilator is being renamed Nighthawk. Don't know about anything else.

1/28/2008 3:57:11 PM

what the hell is hard rock doing?

ahaha

1/28/2008 3:59:00 PM

Man you're really into this stuff, I've only bee on one roller coaster in my life.

1/28/2008 4:02:03 PM

Fahrenheit looks pretty sweet. But if I go anywhere this summer I am going to Cedar Point... you just can't beat that place.

1/28/2008 4:10:48 PM

Amen to that

1/28/2008 4:42:26 PM

I disagree, but I'm not getting into that argument again. It is a great park, though.

1/28/2008 5:00:58 PM

what exactly is going on with the flying turns?

1/28/2008 5:08:13 PM

That Hard Rock park looks like it'll be a lot of fun, I can't wait to go

1/28/2008 5:32:04 PM

Fahrenheit looks pretty fun, and I'm sure the Evel Knievel ride will be awesome. GCI makes some awesome coasters.

I actually sent them my resume when I graduated - to no avail. hah.

1/28/2008 5:34:33 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Turns_(roller_coaster)

Looks like the last flying turns ride was built in Denmark in 1951. Basically, the cars ride freely in a wooden trough (no track), so in the turns the cars careen up the walls.





There have been several modern steel versions. If you have been to Kings Dominion they have Avalanche.



Avalanche and the other steel ones are more mild family rides, and have some big disadvantages to the wooden ones. The Knoebels ride is extremely compact, which means you are always going through the wooden structure of the ride, and the wooden track doesn't vibrate and rattle like the grated steel you see in the Avalanche picture. Also, it is going to be much faster and more out of control, continuously building speed throughout the ride. Everything has been done from scratch, including the trains, and all of the wood for the trough was bent by hand. Here is a good page: http://www.storytellersmediagroup.com/Flying%20Turns/FlyingTurns.htm

1/28/2008 5:35:23 PM

Avalanche is a great ride for what it is. It's super smooth and really a pretty fun, family ride. It's by no means extreme or super fast, but you can't beat a ride like a caddy on sideways-banked turns.

1/28/2008 5:37:45 PM

Quote :

"I actually sent them my resume when I graduated - to no avail. hah."

Check out these lucky bastards http://www.greatcoastersinterns.com/

The GCI guys (not the interns) really love coasters too. I rode Thunderhead at Dollywood with one of them and I think he was having more fun than anyone else on the ride. Then they came down to a riding event on their new Kentucky Rumbler coaster at Beech Bend and operated the ride for everyone, pledging to keep going into the night until everyone stopped riding or their coffee supply dried up.

1/28/2008 5:39:21 PM

Lucky bastards!

That looks like a ton of fun. I'd even sacrifice moving to Cincy to help engineer their shit!

1/28/2008 5:44:08 PM

Well the reason I love Cedar Point is because they have so many (and thats why I go, not for the mini-games or shows)... and many of them were record setters when they were built so they're quality. I mean they have like 15 now or something?

What other park would you recommend? I'd like to know not for argument's sake but as an idea to go there sometime.

1/29/2008 9:32:47 AM

Just because I'm a nerd. You probably shouldn't really listen to me. But seriously, I really do like Cedar Point. I've been to a lot of parks, and it is one of my favorites, but I'll usually bash it on here or somewhere because I do find it very overrated, and I know a lot of people who agree. Parks that I've been to that I personally enjoyed a lot more are (in some sort of order starting with my favorite) Knoebels in Elysburg, PA, Indiana Beach in Monticello, IN, Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN, Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO, Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, TN, Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, and HersheyPark in Hershey, PA.

It all comes down to personal preferences really. One thing all of those parks above have in common is that they don't have near the sheer amount of rides that Cedar Point has. I don't ever do any of the games or shows or anything at parks either, so I'm mainly judging them based off of their coasters, flat rides, and general atmosphere and theming or whatnot. These parks are really more quality to Cedar Point's quantity. A huge misconception is that bigger is better when it comes to rides; sometimes that is true, but usually not. Cedar Point's approach has always been (at least until Maverick last year) not "how can we make this an overall great ride" but "what gimmicks can we do or records can we break for marketing purposes". They've got a ton of coasters, but very few of them are really that great in my book. And probably most importantly, I love wooden coasters. If there weren't any wooden coasters I probably wouldn't even have any interest in this "hobby"; I'll take a good wooden coaster over any steel any day. Cedar Point has only two wooden coasters, one of which (Blue Streak) is nothing remotely special and the other (Mean Streak) is widely considered one of the worst wooden coasters in the world. In fact, Mean Streak is exactly what I meant about going for the records; they built that ride to be the tallest wooden coaster in the world but it was just too rough and tearing itself apart, so now there are trim brakes all over the ride making it a complete bore. All of the parks I listed above have at least one great wooden coaster in them except for Silver Dollar City and HersheyPark.

Holy shit I am a nerd.

1/29/2008 10:42:22 AM

thank you for this vulcan

I am a big fan of Hershey Park as well. They have some of the best rides. I didn't know about this Hard Rock Park I'm going to have to look in to it.

I love the Avalanche. It's a very smooth, not-so-thrilling ride though. IS the wooden version as safe?

1/29/2008 11:14:44 AM

I'd imagine there will be more precautions they will have to take with the wooden one, especially since it is faster and more out of control with tighter clearances, but with safety regulations these days it will be perfectly safe. The small number of ride accidents that there are these days are pretty much always either from rider stupidity or just an incredibly freak accident.

1/29/2008 12:48:40 PM

The reason i always like the Avalanche was that feeling of freedom on the track. Uncertainty.

For these same reasons, I like wooden coasters better. They just feel less safe, therefore more thrilling. They also seem to be longer tracks, last longer so they are more enjoyment per wait-in-line.

1/29/2008 12:52:42 PM

The Ravine Flyer II looks overly tame. I know it's wooden, but it seems like the whole novelty is that it goes over the road.

Any tips on getting a first-timer to try out a coaster?

1/29/2008 12:56:24 PM

i know its the most "insane" woody around but The Beast is probaly the best damn woody in the world its overt a mile long and in a ride like that it can feel like it's going for ever it has 2 lift hills and 3 majors drops (its built into a hill so drop do some stuff drop again lift hill more stuff done)

1/29/2008 2:52:08 PM

I've been on something like 75 wooden coasters, and The Beast is probably next to last on my list (the only one worse being the abomination of Wildcat at Lake Compounce). That ride may have been amazing back in its day, but now it is unrideable to me. Beats the living fuck out of you, has no real forces due to magnetic trim brakes being placed all over the track, and the maintenance at that park clearly has no clue how to take care of a wooden coaster.

Rest assured, Ravine Flyer II will be anything but tame. Should have some crazy airtime and a ton of speed through the second have of the course. But that's the thing about wooden coasters. You can look at the layout and it doesn't look that interesting, but then you get on the thing and it is completely insane. Or, sometimes the other way around... See The Beast...

Oh, and getting someone who is scared of coasters to ride them... I really have no idea. It just seems in my experience that if someone really doesn't want to do it, they aren't going to, and if you somehow force them to do it it's probably just going to turn them off to rides for a while.

[Edited on January 29, 2008 at 3:41 PM. Reason : .]

1/29/2008 3:39:55 PM

Euclid Beach Flying Turns - opening day 1929 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CBXJEMydQU

2/1/2008 4:20:43 PM

Mean Streak sucks!

Vulcan, don't forget to fill out Mitch's poll.

If Farenheit is anything like Maverick it will be quality. Vulcan, have you been on Maverick?

Is Knoebels the open midway, pay per ride park or is that some other park?

2/1/2008 6:13:54 PM

Too lazy to do the poll, especially the steel one. Not been on Maverick, and yes, Knoebels is open midways (pay per ride or get a wristband). Free parking, free admission, cheap (and good) food, maybe the best set of flyers in the world, the best carousel, the best dark ride, the best most violent bumper cars, and a couple awesome wooden coasters. My kind of place.

2/1/2008 6:38:28 PM

hey vulcan



what would your opinion of the closest/best park

I really want to go to cedar point but cant get friends that want to go that far out of the way for rollercoasters like I do.

I have been to many of the closer ones around here (carrowinds, six flags GA, busch gardens, etc) and they are fun but none of them really scare me like the ones at cedar point would.

[Edited on February 1, 2008 at 6:51 PM. Reason : ']

2/1/2008 6:48:37 PM

If it's pure thrills you are looking for, Six Flags America is about 5 hours away I guess just outside of D.C. It's kind of ghetto and I don't care for it that much myself (generally don't care for most Six Flags parks), but it has one of my favorite steel coasters which is pretty extreme.



Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey is about 8 hours away I would say, and has maybe the most extreme coaster collection in the country, even above Cedar Point. Amazing collection of coasters there, but again it is a Six Flags park, so you get huge crowds, shitty employees, and little to no atmosphere. Six Flags Over Georgia is probably my favorite park in the Six Flags chain; it's about 6-7 hours away.

I'm a huge Busch Gardens fan. Dollywood is about 6 hours away and is one of my favorite parks in the country, but not necessarily the place for big thrills. They only have 4 coasters (one of which has been rated #1 wooden coaster in the world in the past), but it's similar to Busch Gardens in that it's more of a complete experience. I think Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach will be the same way.

Carowinds, Kings Dominion, and Busch Gardens are really the only parks that you can do as day trips from Raleigh, although I did an all day (at the park from 9 to 9) trip to Six Flags America with someone once and it was the longest night of my life.

2/8/2008 3:06:51 PM

^ I really enjoy Busch Gardens. I first rode coasters there in 3rd or 4th grade (whenver I was tall enough), when they still had Drachen Fire. After I rode that, I wanted to ride every roller coaster in the park.

2/8/2008 3:46:32 PM

never thought i'd see "knoebels" on the wolf web, but here it is

i grew up not far from there, closer to hersheypark but i was never impressed by hershey as it was so close to my home

knoebels is my spot, skeeball + birch beer + wooden coasters = awesome

plus camping across the street

man now i wanna go back up there

2/10/2008 10:41:54 PM

I grew up about 15 mins from knoebels, whet to high school with owners daughter, they have some sweet wooden coasters there.

2/10/2008 10:58:33 PM

Let me know next time you make it to Six Flags over Georgia!

I'm hoping to take my Season Pass to the NJ park this year.
Is Hard Rock a new park in Myrtle Beach? In place of the Pavilion?

2/10/2008 11:04:00 PM

DZ, if you do that, lemme know

that yoint is like 30 minutes from my house

2/10/2008 11:05:01 PM

Yeah? I didn't know that! I'll try to set up a day when I'm in NYC in the spring/summer!

2/10/2008 11:05:57 PM

Any word on the new coaster at Kings Dominion? Saw on their screen on I-95 it said 'New Coaster 2008'

2/10/2008 11:07:21 PM

Quote :

"Is Hard Rock a new park in Myrtle Beach? In place of the Pavilion?"

It is new, but not in place of the Pavilion. It isn't on the beach, but over in Fantasy Harbour beside Highway 501 where the Waccamaw Factory Shoppes used to be.

Quote :

"Any word on the new coaster at Kings Dominion? Saw on their screen on I-95 it said 'New Coaster 2008'"

It is "new" to Kings Dominion. Basically, Cedar Fair didn't like any competition in Ohio, so in addition to Kings Island which they acquired with the former Paramount chain, they bought Geauga Lake. They operated it for a year or two then without any warning at the end of the season people went to their website and it basically said "OH HAI WE ARE CLOSING THE PARK SRY". So now they are relocating the coasters to their other parks, and boom, now all of those parks have "new" coasters.

Here are some pics of the new Kings Dominion coaster when it was at Geauga Lake:





The gimmick is that there is no floor, which to me has no effect whatsoever unless you are sitting in the very front row. Also, they are removing Hypersonic XLC.

[Edited on February 10, 2008 at 11:40 PM. Reason : .]

2/10/2008 11:39:21 PM

Roller coaster tycoon 2 was awesome.

2/10/2008 11:40:18 PM

Damn, I liked HyperSonic but it was always broke

2/11/2008 11:52:33 AM

Save the Big Dipper!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNMH9Z8NMFc

2/11/2008 6:37:00 PM

man i rode the big dipper this past summer a few times in a row

basically turned me into troy aikman for 2 hours

2/11/2008 6:51:38 PM

How did it feel to be a 3-time Superbowl Champion?

2/12/2008 10:09:01 PM

removing hypersonic at kings dominion? why? maintenance issues?

2/12/2008 10:16:42 PM

Maintenance, capacity, operating costs

2/12/2008 10:33:03 PM

yeah, sounds about right.

the few times i've been to kings dominion since hypersonic opened it was either closed for repairs or had really long lines. i only rode it once.

2/12/2008 10:35:46 PM

BTTT for Fahrenheit construction



[Edited on March 1, 2008 at 9:55 AM. Reason : .]

3/1/2008 9:55:03 AM

holy shit, is that a 90 degree turn right there in the middle?

3/1/2008 10:10:35 AM

Another delay for the Flying Turns

3/1/2008 3:32:09 PM

Where did you hear that? I heard that they won't have a second train until the end of the season, but are still working to get the ride running this Spring. My fear from the beginning has been that this project is going to be such a huge failure that it will bankrupt the park.

3/1/2008 3:34:57 PM

Quote :

"2008 - Flying Turns - (2/26/08) Screamscape sources tell us that Knoebels may have had another setback with the Flying Turns coaster. Seems more problems with the trains have come up and we shouldn’t expect to see it open until maybe the end of the summer."

I don't know where he's hearing that from, but that's what he posted.

3/1/2008 3:58:18 PM

Quote :

""Any word on the new coaster at Kings Dominion? Saw on their screen on I-95 it said 'New Coaster 2008'""

I fly over there every once in a while and remembered seeing a new coaster. I think taking down the XLC is a good idea, since every time they send 3 cars up it's down for an hour. I'll try to get some pictures of the new coaster next time I'm over there.

3/1/2008 5:46:00 PM

Holy crap.

I have a grand total of ZERO interest in roller coasters, but this Flying Turns deal sounds great.

I'm gonna ride it and listen to Chinese Democracy.

(I really am interested in it, though.)

3/1/2008 5:51:26 PM

Here's a pic I took of the "new" coaster at Kings Dominion. By the looks of the site, it doesn't look like it will be ready for opening day in two weeks.

3/5/2008 5:17:25 PM