Messages

1

Dollywood Discussion / Re: Dollywood 2018

« on: August 18, 2017, 09:43:20 AM »

Don't forget Dolly has bigger markets regionally that it is pulling from.  It kind of makes sense for HFE to spend a little more money at that park considering it has the potential to draw bigger attendances. 

Just think about the major markets within a days drive...

SDC: most of MO, AR, OK, KS (Springfield/Joplin, NWA, KC, Stl, LR, Columbia, Ft. Smith, Tulsa, Wichita, St. Joe, Topeka/Lawrence, OKC, Omaha?, Memphis?, Dallas?) with a lot of farmlands and Ozark forests in between.
Dolly: Most of TN, NC, KY, GA, SC AL, VA (Knoxville, Nashville, Ashville, Charlotte, Greensboro, Atlanta, Durhum/Raleigh, Huntsville, Lexington/Louisville, Greenville, Birmingham, Charleston,Columbia, Cincinnati?) plus the regions simply have more population per square mile in these regions than most of the SDC areas.

I even know multiple families in Mobile Al that say they make trips to Pigeon Forge every few years.  Both parks have competition from other parks in nearby big cities....but Dolly just has a larger population reach and base than SDC.

2

Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2018 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: August 17, 2017, 10:48:06 AM »

Great photos Swoosh and sdcfan88!

A lot of people are still asking questions about things like keeping one car locked down to not spin. This would not only be a terrible logistical challenge for the line, but also a horrible PR move. The spinning is the whole point. You don't tout the world's wildest spinning coaster, then slap a non-spinning car on the back because that is basically just admitting that the whole spinning thing was some kind of a mistake. Some GP would even take it as evidence that the spinning cars are too intense or even dangerous. Before long you'd have GP calling for all the cars to be locked in place and the whole point of the coaster would be lost.

I get that some people don't like rides that spin, but at this point I'd say let it go and either choose not to ride or at the very least give it a try before you whine about it being too wild for you.


I'm still digesting my total reaction to the announcement. As a coaster enthusiast, I am excited for the ride and think it will be tons of fun on it's own. As an SDC fanatic, I'm uneasy about the almost complete lack of theming shown anywhere. Unless it comes as a surprise down the road, there will be no theming or tunnels along the track like the stuff that was hinted at in the concept pitch. I'm sure the station will have lots of stuff in it, but little mention was made of anything during the announcement, and no concept art exists of the inside. They did have a little screen printed banner that looked nice, but that was the only hint so far. The back story is interesting, but completely shoots over the tongue-in-cheek nature of the rest of the park. Is this supposed to be themed to actual time travel, or just an attempt by an SDC citizen and his daughter? I suppose we'll see more as time progresses. I have faith that it will look good when completed, but you know I like to push them for good theming.

I respectfully disagree with the thoughts on the no-spin car.  At some point the line going to have to split in 4 and you just need to label (hanging sign?) on it as the no spin line (political joke here).  The biggest logistical problem with that would be if everyone wanted to spin and the no-spin car rides empty....or vise versa.  They could even change the car daily or have multiple no-spin cars.  That being said....I completely don't expect that they will start with a no-spin car based on what they have released.  They will probably open with them all spinning.  If no spinning where to happen then that either confirms that spinners aren't popular (especially if it happens the first year) or they are trying to find a way to make the ride "fresh" again (aka...backward TnT trains).

We are going to read a lot of posts in the future about how good/bad the spinning is.

I too was extremely disappointed in the lack of theme and backstory details.  The videos don't show any at all.  Why call it time traveler if your just taking a ride through the Ozark forest.  A launch through a tunnel and a few 'historical' themes around the track would really make the ride even more unique.  Seems like a wasted opportunity.  Still hoping more details are to come about the back story....maybe just maybe they will add some last minute surprises.

It's looking like SDC is has gotten attention from the coaster fandom community....going to get some extra visitors next year....but I'm still really curious if it is going to create a big spike in season tickets from the locals/regional area?  I'm just not really convinced that the GP sees this as as big of deals as the coaster fans do.

Lastly (on this rant)....I'm the first one to call out others on how ridicules it is to be mad about how others decide to spend there money.  But....it is hard not to think about what other multiple attractions this money could have gotten....probably could have done some amazing things to fix up and improve all the classics.  But it is easy to spend others peoples money.

3

Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2018 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: August 16, 2017, 04:43:44 PM »

I seen the video all over my facebook feed.  They are getting alot of push/plays today.

Reading through the comments its hard to tell how the general public is reacting.  Seems to be 1/2 the comments are said "no way" and talk about the spinning.  The other half are tagging friends.  Just I few "I can't wait to ride" comments.  But I'd expect that type of reaction to almost any new coaster.

4

Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2018 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: August 16, 2017, 03:44:44 PM »

Since I cannot do tight circles like tea cups and the such...

I wonder if it will be less of an issue since you will be facing out from the center of the spinning on Time Traveler instead of facing in on something like tea cups.

That is a great observation...I hadn't even thought about that.  Aren't most other coaster inward facing?

I'd will be interesting to see if those ' spinning controls' will give uniform spins on each train/car.  I'm envisioning a TT board that will be filled with opinions on which one spins the most/least.  Or what time of day is 'best'....or strategies to make it spin more/less....etc.

5

Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2018 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: August 16, 2017, 01:20:59 PM »

Classic SDC backstory....

Life is changing in the 1880s, with one of history’s greatest inventions, a grand symbol of industry and progress coming to Missouri: the railroad and its mighty steam engines. Signifying the vast possibilities of further exploration into the unknown, these man-made wonders seem to leap off the pages of the treasured storybooks homesteaders read to their children. Stories that seem to be pure fantasy suddenly feel possible. One of the most popular authors is Jules Verne, who stirs many young dreamers of the era to push beyond the boundaries of their reality.

This is A story of one of those dreamers.
Meet Charles Henry, the 29-year-old owner of his recently inherited clock-making factory family business. For months now there have been whisperings behind the fences of Silver Dollar City of strange goings-on down at old Henry clockmaking factory. Townsfolk assumed he would carry on the tradition of crafting chiming clocks and more, but something bigger is happening.

6

Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2018 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: August 16, 2017, 11:32:39 AM »

Thought is was funny and almost awkward the way he was trying to get the Mack guy to proclaim it was the most important Mack coaster ever.

7

Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2018 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: August 16, 2017, 11:29:34 AM »

Will be very interesting to see how ridership looks given its sure to appeal to a more limited audience. Man, what a bummer. I would think they would at least give the rider the choice of whether or not to spin.

Maybe the magnets could hold the seats in place on request?  I was bummed too that it didn't have at least one car that doesn't spin.

At least it will be controlled....sounds like they picked up on peoples concerns about that.  It's an interesting marketing issue to explain to the public that it's not the tea cups on rails.

8

Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2018 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: August 16, 2017, 10:14:40 AM »

See if this site breaks some traffic records today

9

Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2018 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: August 13, 2017, 12:30:38 PM »

Wow, this looks incredible. I don't know why it just occurred to me but does anyone think there is any chance SDC avoids having to do a ton of theming by going the route of virtual reality? A lot of coasters are doing that these days.

It would allow them to blast us to whatever time period they wanted and there could be multiple variations of the ride. However, if this thing does spin and have virtual reality then that could make a lot of people very nauseous.

v
Are you kidding me?  Why would you cover the natural scenery of this ride up with some VR glasses? 

10

Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2018 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: August 09, 2017, 02:18:44 PM »

1.21 gigawatts

I think everyone is hoping for a launch through a time portal.

So I guess the launch will get you back up to the station?  Still don't understand how the train gets back to the station.

11

Other Parks / Re: Worlds of Fun Developments.

« on: August 08, 2017, 02:17:20 PM »

Is Cedar looking to dump Worlds of Fun in a sale?

WoF has never exactly been a focus park for the company....its' not regionally associated with any other CF parks.....has strong regional competition to deal with.  I would assume it would be on the list of available parks if CF is looking to unload.

It's not a knock on the park....it just is what it is.

12

Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2018 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: August 06, 2017, 02:42:29 PM »

I know a couple have made mention of this but here is an enlarged picture of it. Anyone wanna take additional guesses as to what the heck this might be? It's not present on any of the other track segnents from what I can tell.

It's teeth for the train to hold still before the 90 degree dive.

I know that it doesn't look like it will be the Mack that is kinda of a wing coasters like SkyRush at Hershey's. We almost had a winged dive coaster, two B&Ms in one basically

Not only does it hold ya....it spins ya like a fidget spinner before it releases

I'm having a hard time picturing what kind of train this is build for.  Will it be a 'traditional' 5-7 car Mack Coaster?  Euro fighter like trains?  Individual Mouse Spinners?  B@M Dive coaster like?

13

Other Parks / Re: Ohio State Fair Ride Accident

« on: August 06, 2017, 02:31:40 PM »

Seen a few pics of the arm of the ride.  Looks like it just broke off.  Probably metal fatigue.  Just plain horrifically scare stuff that might not have a clear root cause for why it happened:(  Curious to see the final investigations.  I've always been more fearful of crazy flat rides like that than any stationary build roller coaster.

14

Other Parks / Re: Worlds of Fun Developments.

« on: August 06, 2017, 02:26:19 PM »

The park will announce its new for 2018 additions on August 16th with the rest of the parks in the Cedar Fair chain.  The rumor is that the park will announce 1-2 additional flat rides.  It is also rumored that the park will be removing the classic Huss Rotor ride (Finnish Fling) at the conclusion of the 2017 season due to a "lack of available parts"

That is a terrible rumor.....Finnish Fling is such a unique ride....it's a real 'memory maker' type of ride that families can do together.  I've always wondered why there are not more of them at more parks?  It also seems like a fairly safe ride too.  Maybe they can find some type of modernized version.

15

Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2018 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: August 04, 2017, 08:39:06 AM »

Every Jules Verne design had some sort of wings.

Maybe SDC could get a RedBull sponsorship out of this

For the record....the timeline fits....Jules Verne books would/could have been well known during our fozen in the late 1800s city timeframe.