The End of the Big Woodie?

Will the problems with SOB at PKI end other park's plans to build great big woodies?

Will the lessons learned from building Mean Streak and SOB combine with the success of CCI coasters put a hold on big record breaking woodies?

I say yes. What park wants to spend a ton of money and land for one of these monsters and have all this trouble?





*** This post was edited by Jim B. on 6/20/2000. ***

Not only SOB and Mean Streak, but also Rattler and Hercules, all problem plagued giant woodies. I agree, with this track record, I don't see how any other park would even consider building another SOB or anything even close.

But, maybe the technology to build huge reliable woodies just hasn't been developed yet. Maybe the geniuses at CCI will find a way someday to do so.

As long as people are keeping records, you know others will want to break them, despite the possible (or perhaps definate) problems that do arise. Most of the GP knows very little about the problems of SOB, Herc, Rattler and others. (unless you live in the surriunding area near the park where the ride in question is located) Out here on the West Coast, nobody I talk to has even heard of SOB, much less the problems it is having. After I tell them about SOB's stats, the average response is simply one of disbelief of the sheer size. "I would really love to ride that!" or "I'll never get on that!" are common responses, not "I've heard that it closed the weekend that it opened." All are impressed by numbers and records.

*Note to woody designers*
If you want a record, go for longest track length, longest ride time, or most airtime. Include 2 or 3 lift hills if you must, but don't exceed 140 feet in height!!

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Gotta ride 'em all!

I think we have reached the limits for speed and height for a wooden coaster. The big problem with building a wood coaster is that the parts can not be pre-fabricated like with a steel coaster. A steel coaster can have most of its part created with exactly the right size and shape in a controlled environment. But with a woody, you have to build it on-site. This leads to imperfect construction and the bigger the coaster, the greater those imperfections are felt by the riders. Until someone can figure out how to pre-fabricate a wood coaster, they will always be difficult to build correctly.

I don't think a good woodie has to be 150+ feet to be good. Look at GCI for example none of their coasters are over 100 feet. They rely on sudden turns and drops to add to the excitement of the ride.
Also look at the Phoenix at Knoebels it's drop is 72 feet. I think this is one of the best if not the best out and back I've ridden.
I think the tallest a wood coaster needs to be is about 130 ft.

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Parks hit for 2000!
PKD,BGW,Knoebels,DP,HP,PKI,HW,SFKK,SFA, Camden, SFO,CP,WL,IW,KW,BP

When WILL the problems end with SOB?

If there were no more woodies built i would no longer be a coaster enthusiast. Woodies are my favorite kind of ride and they are not going anywhere anytime soon.

As long as people are patient with the 'growing pains' of getting big new wooden coasters up and running, they'll continue. SOB has only been 'open' for about two months and seems to get a lot of criticism because everyone wants to ride it 'now, now now.' If the biggest coasters take two seasons to get the kinks worked out, I'll be patient; I just don't want them to stop building them. After next year, when SOB is running trouble-free with all three trains, these initial problems will be forgotten and everyone can rejoice in the existence of a fantastic coaster that will satisfy for years to come. It took three years for the Beast to be constructed and it still satisfies over twenty years later. What's one season of troubles compared to the potential life-span of SOB?

I agree however that new wooden coasters don't need to be huge to satisfy. I love SOB, but I also love Viper at SFGrAm and Timberwolf at WOF.
In some respects, a top speed of 55mph can be better than 75mph, because then the ride lasts longer!!!

The big questions is will SOB really be a good coaster 2, 10, or 20 years from now? Look at Mean Streak, Rattler, and Hercules. They have all been around for a while and have not gotten better. If a design is flawed from the start, it is just going to get worse. I hope that is not the case with SOB, but it is not looking good.

Exactly. Look at what happened to the Rattler. I rode it the first year it openend and it's first drop was the most amazing and intense drop I've ever experienced. Haven't been back since, but from what I've heard and pix I've seen, it is nothing like what it was originally intended to be. Plus they raised the bottom out of the drop so high up, now it's just like a regular drop on any woodie. I have a bad feeling SOB will have to be modified like Rattler, probably even more so, if they can't get all the kinks worked out. Ride it this season if you can, I'll bet good money with all the problems they are having, it most certainly will have to be modified and "defanged" like Rattler by next season.

Hersheypark and Holiday World both have been building giant woodies without problems! I haven't heard anything about Boulder Dash malfunctioning either. It's only huge theme parks that seem to have trouble!

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Nothing beats the 'bolt

The biggest coaster at Hershey only has a 90 foot drop and the biggest at Holiday is 116. These are not giant woodies when compared with 155 for Mean Streak and 214 for SOB. Boulder Dash also does not have a big drop. Medium sized wood coasters certainly have done better then the larger ones.

Umm...saying that Boulder Dash has a medium sized first drop is a bit of an understatement. The first drop of Boulder Dash is 140 feet making it the East Coast's fastest wooden coaster (I'm not making this up, it's true). The reason I'm bringing this up is that this is how parks should be building their record-setting wooden coasters. While Boulder Dash drops riders 140 feet after climbing a lift hill of 115 feet, the coaster's track is only a maximum of ten feet above the ground.

The Rattler tried to do this back in '92, but I believe that in this current point in time, the wooden coaster technology is available that enormous wooden rides can be built with minimal problems. I, too am also puzzled as to why GCI or CCI hasn't tried tackling such a monsterous project. If a coaster is built hugging the ground like Boulder Dash, The Raven, or The Legend, I believe that this might be a solution to SOME (not all) problems.

CCI's founder's father did Mean Streak... enough said!

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

I think MS is plenty big for a woodie. I love MS's drop. I think it's enough to get your heart going for a great ride. I don't know how SOB can take a 200 ft drop.

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aIrtIme'S ovErRaTed..

Larger woodies will be built. In less than ten years, some suit will decide that having the biggest woodie will bring in the public and that now is the time to do it right. The mistakes of the past will be ignored, and before the coaster is finished many modifications will be made to it. In the end, it will not be what it was originally designed to be.

At what height and speed do we consider the "Big Woodie"? American Eagle at SFGAm was a great woodie up until they installed the trim brakes. Just curious at what height and speed the woodies should be maxed out at. Is SOB really that bad and is it not worth visiting? Since I think woodies are a great addition to the coaster arsenal, what is the perfect element overall to a wood coaster?