Creation of the JoJo Roll

I was just watching the video of Hydra from Dorney's website and I noticed that the turn (avoiding the station) coming out of the Cobra Roll goes right over the JoJo Roll.

http://www.dorneypark.com/public/inside_park/rides/thrill/hydra/galleries/ (4th row, middle column)

Do you think that the JoJo Roll was created for practical means (so that way the turn after the Cobra Roll could be executed while still maintaining clearance over the track coming out of the station), or for marketing or overall design?

It's there only to get me to visit Dorney again this year. Without that extra inversion, Dorney knew that it would be at least another year before I came back. As it turns out, I'm coming. Cedar Fair is a shrewd company, indeed.

It's just a gimmick, nothing more. I'm sure that Walter & Claude are smart enough guys that they could work out clearance issues on $15 million rides.

I agree with Jeff, they would ahve been able to get clearance if they wanted to. They just made the ride as one giant gimmic. First Floorless without a vertical loop, A BM pre drop, inline twist ,umm... I mean a JoJo roll. I think JoJo should sue for using her name, after all it worked for Twisted Sister. *** Edited 12/26/2004 8:48:24 PM UTC by coasterkid16***

How is the entire ride a gimmick?

According to an article in the Morning Call (local newspaper) the JoJo roll was created because Joe Greene, the head of construction (or some head-of- title in maintenance) asked if it could be done, and John Albino (GM at the time) liked the idea. That's also why it's called the 'JoJo Roll' - named after Joe Greene.

Whether or not that's completely true or just a story for the media I don't know, but that's what I read in the papers. :)

Jeff: Aren't all rides, in a way, just a gimmic? Does the legnth of the ride or element really make it

They aren't gimmics. Sometimes, they're gimmicks, though. ;)

LOL Wtg Nasai...i was just thinking that myself, why is everyone calling it a "gimmic"? Damn "english major syndrome", gotta correct everyones' spelling! ;)

Yeah... I tend to suffer from that terrible affliction myself.

On topic, I look forward to riding said attraction, but I could care less about the jojo roll. Honestly, it's a STUPID ass name, but far be it for me to judge that. I just want the lame-o credit, and a trip back to Pennsylvania.

I have yet to hit Hershey, all well as Kennywood for that matter, so perhaps this coming summer will be a fine time to remedy that? Not that anyone asked. ;)

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UBRhino said:
I bet the park will put a net or something under that inversion. My thought is that the park put the inversion there to make money. Do you realize how much change Dorney is going to collect due to this "JoJo" roll?!

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How much change will the collect? Quite a bit..

How much money will they make? exactly $0.00.

I know for a fact that Dorney Park does NOT keep any of the money that falls out of people's pockets (on any ride). It all gets collected and then at the end of the year it gets donated to charities. I heard from a friend that last year's amount was somewhere around $5,500!

So next time you're watching Hang Time and you see the change dropping in the fountain, feel free to yell "Thank you for your donation to charity!" :)

Isn't this element basically a Zero-G roll without the speed?

Basically an element that has riders kind of like "whoa" before they even hit the lifthill?

I'm really looking forward to it. It should be quite odd going through an inversion of that type at such a slow speed since I'm so used to Raptor cracking the whip on my butt. I'm sure it will be quite awkward and I mean that as a compliment. I get confused with some of the names of inversions. Are there other names for the Zero-G roll?

Yes, the whiptydoodle is a fan favorite of mine. :)

dannerman,

Dorney Park donates to charity the money collected by staff that is TURNED OVER to the park. But, if you think all the loose change is turned over to the park then I have some land here in the Florida Everglades I'd like to sell you.

I don't think clearance would ever be an issue right there.

If you look at that picture and imagine that the track just goes straight, instead of the jojo roll, then it's pretty clear that there would have been plenty of clearance.

Its a trick of perspective. If you look at pictures of the same portion of track taken at different angles you'd see there is much more room between it and the jojo roll than it appears to be in the pic linked in the first post.

B&M DID mess up the messurements for the roll. People would have hit their heads every time going through the roll if it wasn't for the people on this site pointing out the clearence issue. Rest assured that B&M has fixed the problem.

^Don't worry....I believe you, dude.

Yeah, thank god for coaster enthusiasts to point out a flaw to an experienced coaster engineering company. "rolls eyes"