Assuming we have more than three months before any official announcement and nearly a year prior to this new ride being open for the 2018 season, what I'm most curious about is whether or not what we see thus far is indicative of 100% of the ride's footprint. Clearly, just the excavating work and footer placement is accounting for the lion's share of the construction given the issue with little to no bedrock. But erecting the track and finish work shouldn't take that long. We've already been told this will be SDC's largest project to date..."by far". We've already discussed how this could be interpreted in various ways. I'm just wondering how much of the full picture is already in front of us.
Comparatively speaking, if you look at the satellite image of SDC, based on current footer placement, the physical footprint of this pending coaster looks like it would make it the smallest in terms of square footage, or acreage. Despite the fact that there's still an pretty sizable amount of land extending toward GE, I would assume all of the tree removal and major excavating work has been done in preparation for footer work and track. Or is it? Regardless, I realize the footprint isn't necessarily a perfect indicator of physical size given the fact that this ride could pack a lot of twisting and turning into a more confined layout. I will say, regardless of how this ride plays out, I am also worried as others have noted that it may take on a similar feel to that of WF with it being in a very bland and open surrounding environment. For me, that is the only thing that kept WF from being a special ride. The fact that they simply cleared a path and plopped a coaster in the empty space leaves much to be desired for me. With all of the tree removal that's already taken place at the new site, I just hope they don't wind up doing something similar.
I've always been hopeful that SDC would bring a hyper coaster to the park at some point, but based on what I'm seeing right now, I'm too confident that's even possible with what we're seeing thus far with this new ride. I'm excited nonetheless, but it's somewhat tempered given the current unknowns.