 Dear Coaster Friends,
Enjoy this lockscreen\wallpaper sized for your phone. I305 is one of the wildest rides I have ever been on, it is hands down one of my favorites. However it is so wild when people ask me if they would like it I often reply it is wild! You may hate it, you may love it, but it will definately be one of those. If you make this your phone's background it will definitely speed it up. Author Jeff Goodman  Dear Coaster Friends,
Six Flags and Cedar Fair have fully announced their 2020 plans, but SeaWorld has been slowly wetting out appetites with drips of information. Three of their five parks have signaled that next week they will be presenting more information. All five of the parks have shared some info, so we know that they are all building roller coasters. We know that some are aimed to be record holders of their type or region. We know some names, we know partial layouts. However this campaign of releases of information in bits has been building towards the simple revelation that SeaWorld parks, the smallest of the big chains, is gearing up for an epic year. Next week SeaWorld Orlando will tell us about their 2020 project, so far only a teaser with no images of the ride was released. Busch Gardens Tampa will also be sharing the day with hopefully a name and more layout revealed. Most recently SeaWorld San Diego announced they will also be sharing the day to share more info on their unnamed wooden coaster. Could the remaining two parks hop into the mix for a chain wide reveal? While 2020 will obviously be the year to visit your Busch Gardens and SeaWorld parks I wanted to look further into their future. The parks have committed to ending their Orca breeding program so basically in about 20-30 years it is safe to say they will be losing those animal shows and exhibits that helped define their brand. It is also plausible that in the future other animal exhibits could be phased out as well. The general public is less enthusiastic about these types of attractions in theme parks and eventually like it or not they will become a thing of the past. Ultimately I think they will hit a tipping point where the resources needed to properly care for these animals and the space they take up inside the park will become a loss compared to thrill rides. While SeaWorld in their public statements push against this idea, everything we see them do on the business side of things points towards a future of investing in thrill attractions. So at what point will it become silly to have Shamu as the company mascot or even the SeaWorld name over the gate? I think the best strategy for the brand is to pivot the three SeaWorld branded parks to Busch Gardens. From this point forward I'd like for you to think of me as Neptune proposing a dramatic shift for these three parks. That way they could retain some of their animals and as areas become vacant they can be replaced with rides. My suggestion is to change SeaWorld Orlando into Busch Gardens Southern Oceans. The focus on this year-round hotspot could be staying cool. The continent could be Antarctica, but the park could also feature rocky islands, icebergs and other natural looks instead of the typical architecture of specific regions. This would leave room for the penguins and other sea life to stick around. SeaWorld San Antonio could become Busch Gardens Australia. They could lean on their climate and create a collection of land animals like kangaroos, while retaining sea life in a Great Barrier Reef themed area. Finally I would theme SeaWorld San Diego to Busch Gardens Asia. This park gets the most local resistance for animal exhibits and the San Diego Zoo is considered to be at the top of their field. This park could focus on regional architecture to give different areas a distinct feel. However since the sea is an important part of life in many Asian cultures it could still accommodate sea life exhibits. All of these changes, no matter what cosmetic overlay I suggested, the focus moves away from the animal exhibits and shows. The focus moves towards cultures and natural uniqueness. This is why the two Busch Gardens parks have escaped the same level of public scrutiny that plagued the three SeaWorld parks. They are theme parks full of thrilling attractions that have animals, while SeaWorld was viewed as profit driven aquariums with rides. You may say I am erasing the soul or identity of the brand, but I am not. I am trying to hide it in plain sight while preserving and enhancing what I like about theme parks, the rides. I know my proposal is drastic and many will not like this suggestion, and to you I say don’t worry. I am not in charge of SeaWorld nor am I qualified for such a position, however these tough choices will be in the company’s future. As in nature you need to evolve to survive, so embrace the change or go extinct. Author Jeff Goodman  Happy Labor Day from your coaster friends at COASTER-net! As our hot days at the parks come to an end, don't worry because they are going to be replaced by cool autumn nights. Enjoy this wallpaper of the carousel at Six Flags Great America.
Author Jeff Goodman  In the spring of 2019 Six Flags published a press release about their new venture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Like it's other projects outside of North America Six Flags is licensing their name, brand as well as their consultation to another investment group. They have a deal in China, a recently dissolved project in Dubai, and now in Saudi Arabia. Just to be clear, because I have seen people rage about low cost attractions at their local parks, the money paying for these overseas parks is not from the Six Flags corporation. They are offering license and consultant services it is a local group who is investing in these proposed projects. Your membership will most likely not be accepted in any of these yet to be built parks, yes even for diamond elite. This new project in Saudi Arabia, just revealed detailed descriptions of the park and attractions and takes ambitious to a new level.
The proposed property is only 79 acres, and from the sounds of the description will be jam packed with mind blowing attractions. Some claims are interactive mechanical horse rides controlled by the guest, sounds plausible. A multi launch roller coaster and a ground up hybrid, a bit more based in reality. A combination dark ride and mine train sounds interesting, along with a twist on the traditional log flume. The attractions listed seem to combine many leading edge technologies combined to offer something different. However they are also boasting plans to build the tallest drop tower in the world, a significant claim. The signature attraction is the most ambitious roller coaster the world has ever been introduced to, Falcon's Flight. Falcon's Flight is planned to be the tallest, fastest, and longest steel coaster in the world. I know if you are reading this you already know how off the wall these claims sound but let's review anyway. The tallest roller coaster in the world is Kingda Ka at 456 feet tall. The fastest roller coaster in the world is Formula Rossa at 149.1 MPH. The longest roller coaster is Steel Dragon 2000 at 8,133.2 feet long. Those three are all impressive records, however it is notable that these records are held by three different rides, and Falcon's Flight is aiming to eclipse all three. The notion of actually topping these three records is exciting, however there is a but… The animation that showed off the concept is totally nuts and looks to be made by someone who just drank a case of Mountain Dew, stayed awake until they couldn't think, and was completely unconstrained by reality. I mean this on all levels. The ride has a massive lift hill, but the layout also leads up a mountain and dives through a crazy disco tunnel. There appears to be LSMs along the circuit to provide the boost to defeat gravity as the layout appears to reach its max height and speed in the middle of the ride. The cost of construction would be unfathomable and it is designed in a vacuum where money is no object and a return on investment is second to bragging rights. The final bizarre twist to this coaster rendering is that it seems to be detached from reality? The transitions between the sections seem to be spliced together at odd angles without smoothing out the track. It is tough to imagine anything about this rendering is based on reality. The cost cutting in creating the rendering that displays what would be the world's most expensive roller coaster is bizarre. I thought it was made by a kid using NL2 and not an official rendering from the park when I first saw it. Well they were thoughtful enough to add windshields to each car to protect the riders from sand or debris that would be encountered at at least 150 mph, nah nevermind it is still crazy. Author Jeff Goodman  Everyone I know seems to be taking out the old tape measure to see what measures up. Today I present Top Thrill Dragster, almost the tallest, almost the fastest, but just as much fun as when it was. Records don't create fun, and they are made to be broken. Marketing doesn't make our favorite ride our favorite. As soon as TTD gets its fix you can hop on and get blasted into space, if there is a clear sky you might just see Orion before twisting back down to Earth. If you can't wait that long just hop on Kingda Ka!
Author Jeff Goodman  EDITOR'S NOTE: The author of this article is a community member and not a member of the site staff. We encourage all members of our community to submit similar op-ed pieces by e-mailing them to blogs@coaster-net.com for review by our editorial staff.
August 15, 2019 at 10:00 PM Kings Island announced what we have all known was coming for months. The attraction had been teased, and leaked to death, it had been analyzed and over-analyzed. We now know this coaster will be called Orion and according to the park, this new attraction will be the 10th fastest coaster in the world. The park proudly presented the second “Giga” coaster in the state of Ohio. This all sounds great. After all who can be unhappy with another Giga coaster? However, the statistics paint another picture of this coaster all together. Orion has a length of 5,321 feet, a height of 287 feet, a drop of 300 feet and a speed of 91 MPH. The definition of a Giga coaster appears to be somewhat of a moving target. Like many of the “records and statistics” parks have claimed in recent years, it seems the parks can and do modify definitions at will. Wikipedia (incidentally the park uses this also) defines a Giga coaster as any full circuit coaster with a 300 plus foot height or drop. Many other coaster sites and enthusiast define a Giga coaster as any full circuit coaster that is between 300 and 399 feet tall. For a reason that will become clear shortly I tend to dismiss the Wikipedia definition and subscribe more to the coaster site definitions. I do this for many reasons, but the biggest reason is simple. It makes sense to me that if you want to obtain good information about roller coasters, you would ask the people that know about coasters. I know you are all starting to see where this is going, but before you lose your minds hear me out. Let’s compare Orion to Millennium Force. Orion has a 287-foot height with a drop of 300 feet. Millennium Force has a height of 310 feet and a drop of 300 feet. To me the drop does not a Giga make. This is my rationale. If we look at the 6 other Giga coasters on the planet, my argument begins to take shape. Let’s look at all 6 strictly from the perspective of height.
You now have my permission to lose your mind. Are you ready? The Kings Island Giga is no such thing. It is a Hyper!!! It falls significantly below the height of other Gigas, and if the coaster settles at all it won’t even make the cut based on height of drop. But what about the drop you ask? I would contend that the drop is irrelevant when classing a coaster as a giga. If you look at Millennium Force, What made it special? It was the first complete circuit coaster with a height greater than 300 feet. Using this logic all other coasters should be judged against the same criteria. With this said, Orion looks like it has the potential to be a great ride. I am sure the Kings Island faithful will get years of enjoyment out of riding it. We will have to wait and see if it becomes the headliner that Kings Island hopes it will, or if it will be the second-best Hyper coaster in the park. Will it make me beat feet across the country to ride it? NO. Then again, Steel Vengeance didn’t make me do that. I will get there when I get there. After all there are plenty of ACTUAL Giga’s that I still need to ride. Author Brad Crowe  I visited Kennywood for the first time this past Monday August 12th. Phantom's Revenge had already been on my radar, but the addition of the Steel Curtain put this park on my short list to visit this year. We arrived before the park opened so we could get an early start. My expectations were low since this isn't a typical corporate park and I have heard from friends that this park is somewhat inconsistent with customer service and ride ops. I would have to say that was my observation as well, however I found many friendly employees who went out of their way to engage with myself or my wife. They were juxtaposed by many disinterested employees and ride ops. Some were very friendly and helpful and others were so disengaged I felt like I was being ignored, this was a recurring theme during our visit. I did have a great time at Kennywood, but as someone who breaks the door down when the park opens I will warn you they did start letting people in at opening, however they essentially didn't open the park for another 30 minutes. A few stands and services were open by the gate, but other sections of the park were closed entirely and shuttered. They allowed people to line up outside the queue for Steel Curtain, but did not open the queue and the ride for about 30 minutes. Annoying but not the end of the world. Another thing to note is that Steel Curtain and the gift shop are essentially the only part of Steelers Country that are done and open. The rest of the area is under construction.
The ride collection at this park is varied and make this park feel unique. The roller coaster collection is what I was interested in but they had a good mix of kiddie, family, and high thrill attractions. They also had a good mix of classic and modern attractions. We spent all of our time on the roller coasters, though we did not ride Exterminator or Lil Phantom. Steel Curtain is a great ride for the park and is a really fun ride experience for guests. The trains and restraints are really great and are super comfortable. I hope to see S&S use this chassis in the future since I felt both Maxx Force and Steel Curtain rode well. The lift is very steep and brings you up to the top for a pre-drop curve before the fake out barrel roll drop. I like the drop and it felt unique compared to other inverting drops I have tried before. The ride may be the inversion record holder in North America, but the ride isn't only about inversions. The sensation of speed is great through the entire layout, and there are even a few airtime hills that delivered great negative G's. The inversions are obviously the highlight of the ride and a cool variety are offered. The two sets of double inversions are fun and offer a twisted experience that really caught me off guard my first few laps. The dive loop and corkscrew provided nice whips, and the stalls gave good hang time. Steel Curtain was very re-rideable, and both my wife and I found it more enjoyable with each lap. The stand out at this park for both of us was Phantom's Revenge. I love how the ride interacts with the Thunderbolt and the ravine. It gives it a special feel like it could not exist anywhere else. I was a little nervous the ride would be too rough to enjoy. While it was wild and out of control feeling in all the best ways I didn't feel it was rough at all. There was a jarring moment on the ride but after the first lap I knew it was coming and braced myself for it and the rest of my laps were awesome. I never experienced the original Steel Phantom, but I have to imagine the work that went into changing it over into the Phantom's Revenge was worth the effort. The ride feels modern and smooth, while at the same time holding onto some sort of DIY nostalgia fitting it into the landscape. The ride delivers heights, speed, intensity, with a generous helping of both positive and negative G's. I hate to call the rest of the coasters the rest of them because they all are fun and have something cool about each of them. Skyrocket has a good launch and tons of airtime on the tophat. Jack Rabbit might have delivered the most surprising airtime of the day on the unique double down drop. The Racer was a fun layout with the cool racing interaction you would expect. Finally the Thunderbolt was the most complete and thrilling of the three classic woodies. Also as a whole group none of the wooden coasters have ratcheting lap bars. Thunderbolt and Racer have buzz bars, while Jack Rabbit has a single position lap bar. The steel coasters give riders freedom too with only lap bars and no over the shoulder restraints to be found. Kennywood offers an experience that feels nostalgic and unique at the same time. My wife and I truly enjoyed our visit and I can't stop thinking about Phantom's Revenge. Author Jeff Goodman  I took the photo that inspired this image on the media day that I attended with Coaster-net. The event was a blast and I wanted to share this image with the community, and also my ride description from my experience at Kings Dominion from the media event, passholder event, and the opening day.
The ride begins with a gentle right hand turn out of the station to line the train up with the 111 foot tall lift hill. The lift chain grabs the train and the loud clang of the chain and the anti roll back give this the familiar feel of a traditional wooden coaster. At the top of the hill, there is a quick dip and banked turnaround to gain a bit of momentum, followed by the barrel roll drop. At this moment, it is clear there is nothing traditional about this ride. The barrel roll drop is a great way to kick off the action; you hang out of your seat and then drop straight down to the ground. At the bottom there is a small bunny hill that jolts you up before soaring past the station in a high banked turn at 54 MPH. At the exit of the turn there is another small hop that jolts you up again. The next section is all about airtime, and this ride delivers. They built up three camelback airtime hills that offer a traditional sequence you would get on a wooden coaster, but then you get flipped upside down in a cutback turnaround, and you are back into RMC country. This is where the ride becomes unhinged and twisted. The next series of airtime hills are twisted to give you lateral airtime back and forth, then a trick track pitching the train first to the right and then to the left. Then, without warning, the track suddenly drops out from under you all the way to the ground. It jumps back up into an airtime hill thought the lift structure providing a great head chopper. The track rises through the structure and pitches left, but makes a sudden right hand turn and drops. The train bounds over another bunny hop to get you out of your seat and then into the final inversion, a zero-G roll. As you exit you hit an over banked turn that puts you on your side, and one more to turn you back towards the station. There are two more pops of airtime, and you are up on the brake run. After riding the ride many time and in different seats, I will say there is no bad seat on these trains. I enjoyed my front seat and back seat rides more than the middle but you would expect that. I was also surprised to find I did have a left vs right preference. This ride only makes right hand turns since it follows Hurlers triple out and back footprint, so I found the left seat more enjoyable as you get a bit of extra whip around some elements. Because both rides have a barrel roll drop there is a desire by many to compare the ride to Storm Chaser, but they have different profile and feel. According to ride designer Alan Schilke, the barrel roll drop is steeper on Twisted Timber than on Storm Chaser. Twisted Timbers is more focused on straight airtime than turning and laterals, as he intended for Storm Chaser. Twisted Timbers is very well planned to have the sensation of speed and to maintain excitement throughout. All of the instances where the ride cuts though supports or structure are towards the end of the ride when it is carrying less energy, but these near misses enhance that feeling of speed and keep riders on their toes. The two overbanked turns at the end to me are not the finale. To me, the zero-G roll is the finale; you storm into the first over bank, and it controls a lot of the leftover speed and inertia. I see this final sequence as part of the brakes, a way to control the ride and get it under control in a fun way. It still hits the brakes with some speed and feels fast throughout the whole ride. Author Jeff Goodman  EDITOR'S NOTE: The author of this article is a community member and not a member of the site staff. We encourage all members of our community to submit similar op-ed pieces by e-mailing them to blogs@coaster-net.com for review by our editorial staff.
On May 6, 1989 Cedar Point opened the first ever hyper coaster. The ride stats shocked the world, standing at 205 feet tall it was the tallest complete circuit coaster in the world. On opening day the lines for the ride reached 6 hours long. When the Golden Ticket Awards first came out in 1998 Magnum was 1st, and would hold the top spot for 3 years. Magnum would stay in the top ten until 2013. Though as of last year it was 14th, many people would say it's not a top 15 steel coaster. This drop in public support caused it to drop out of the Coaster-net Thrilling 32. You may ask well what coasters should it best? I'd say it's better than both B&M hyper coasters at Wonderland. It has way more airtime than Behemoth and i think it is a better ride than Leviathan. Today in 2019 however is Magnum still one of the best? Most will say no. I think if the ride opened today it would still be the talk of the industry. The ride is filled with air time, almost all of its 10 hills deliver. The ejector airtime is still among the best around. Many will say, the ride is too rough. A great ride is still able to deliver a great experience even if it is rough, just ask Voyage. Therefore, to say Magnum is not one of the best, because some say it is rough is unfair. Besides that, what people call rough is just the extreme ejector air time it has. I am not saying this ride is better than: Steel Vengeance, Fury 325, Expedition G-Force, or whatever ride you say is the best. I do think this coaster should still be in the top 100 in the world. I feel many people have forgotten it or have ridden it many times and just have taken it for granted. Maybe those reading this will have better reasons for why it is not elite but, for me, as it celebrates its 30th year, it should still be one of the best coasters. Maybe next year it will make the Thrilling 32 though sadly it probably will not. Author Brian Welch  Dear Coaster Friends,
Is there anything left to be excited for in 2020? Are we taking all the fun out this season's reveal for next year by looking at some of these projects with such a long lead time? Some say yes, and some are impatient. I'm impatient and had the thought the other day that this has to be it right? If not who is left to build it, because many companies have been booked, some even beyond 2021 already. So let's take a look at what we believe is yet to be announced, if anything, and who could be building it. Let's start with the old guard, B&M. They have typically taken on many projects for a single season, and they appear to be busy right now. We know they are building Mako a dive coaster at SeaWorld San Diego. Hersheypark recently revealed Candymonium their front gate hyper coaster, and we believe that B&M is building the unannounced Kings Island giga. They are also building a wing coaster in China and are booked for two 2021 projects. I think it is safe to say they are booked for 2020 and they aren't looking for more work. We recently got a peak at Pantheon, Busch Gardens Williamsburg's multi launch coaster being built by Intamin. This is the only project Intamin has scheduled in North America for 2020, but they also have one in China and another in Europe. Additionally they have two projects in Europe for 2021 and 2022 already announced. Intamin is used to doing multiple projects at the same time however with 5 projects in progress they may be booked as well. We do have an idea that all of the SeaWorld owned parks will be getting a new roller coaster in 2020 so there is a possibility that the rumored launch coaster for SeaWorld Orlando could be an Intamin. I am going to put that one on Premier Rides dance card until I know otherwise. There are two other SeaWorld parks SeaWorld San Antonio and Busch Gardens Tampa. SeaWorld San Antonio has not announced their ride but it is already visible and it appears to be a wooden coaster by Gravity Group. This is the only project Gravity Group is working on in North America, but they are doing another wooden roller coaster for SeaWorld in Australia. But they have opposite peak seasons so they can do one project at a time as this project has a projected opening date in December. The other park is BGT and they are working with Rocky Mountain Construction to turn Gwazi into a hybrid roller coaster. With no other announced or anticipated plans RMC could be a builder of an unannounced project. This is typically the time when last ride notices are out out there for potential candidates for the iron horse, but at this time none have been revealed. So if RMC has other 2020 plans it will be ground up. I know Holiday World is teasing a 2020 addition, but with all of the animal clues I am going to assume it is for the water park until I know for sure. I think the best possibility would be a single rail. The real question is where and which style? With only one Cedar Fair coaster in the works another raptor track could be possible. If they have the larger T-Rex model ready then Six Flags Great Adventure could be the park to see the first one. They did recently tease that Great Adventure would get a new world record breaking project. There is also one wildcard in the mix and that is Lagoon, they have begun building a ride called Primordial. Not much is known about this project other than it will open in 2020 or 2021, park officials are very vague with the details so anything is possible. We also speculate that Mack has an unannounced project at Six Flags Over Texas. This rumor was stated when shipping records were uncovered and point to the possibility that they may have purchased a PowerSplash. Mack has two other projects in Europe for 2020 and a whopping five more in 2021. It is safe to assume that their dance card is pretty full. So who still needs a date in 2020? S&S has one project in Asia, so they could be a possible manufacturer for an unknown attraction. GCI has nothing announced at this time so they could be a possibility too. Gerstlauer has had a very busy 2019 and only one project for 2020 overseas so it is hard to say if they are looking likely for next season. Premier Rides is the last likely player who also has nothing announced for 2020, but it isn't unusual for them to do one project at a time and I believe they will have work in Orlando. While we did know that several large projects were in the works for 2020 for a while now I see the potential for a few surprises that could present themselves especially with the Cedar Fair and Six Flags announcements. I would guess each brand will have at least two projects each and we only know about one. If that isn't enough Universal Island of Adventure has a velociraptor themed coaster in the works as well. So who is getting what? Author Jeff Goodman |
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