Big Bad Wolf

Mamoosh said:
New trains wouldn't solve the maintenance issues with the ride.

I'm sure it would help, don't you think? I'd like to know what the Moosh thinks ;)

New brake system maybe... mag brakes..

If only it were that simple.

I believe that busch would have thought all of this out before they closed this ride.New trains, brakes...ect....ect.

I am sure the issues are more along the lines of structural, foundations, etc. besides just the trains and systems. Still sad no matter and hard to believe 1984 was so long ago now.

For anyone who operated coasters back in the days of Arrow's dominance, like BBW or Corkscrew, and then have had the opportunity to operate coasters today the experience is like night-and-day. I miss the "control" factor that the main operator/controls has/had. Now with everything totally automated it does make for a boring experience.

I suspect controls will be the next position to be eliminated as technology advances/evolves leaving only attendents to check seat belts/lap bars and deal with height restrictions/carry-ons.

No. An operator will have a choice of two buttons: a green one for starting the ride and a huge red one for an e-stop.

Heck, why not just imagine robots checking your lap bars while you're dreaming. ;)

It seems like there are several CoasterBuzzers here who are insinuating that they know why the ride has been closed. Please fill the rest of us in.

Yes.. I want to read too..

Well, I went down there this past weekend to get my last rides and I did. The ride was incredible, but I see what Moosh was saying about the violent transitions and the way the cars were taking the turns, it is no surprise to me that wear and tear with age has been a factor for this ride.

Still, sad to see something like this go.

Let me say this to all of you coaster lovers: These rides we all hold near and dear to our hearts only have a certain life span, one day many of the rides that we treasure today will be retired (parks, too), so my best advice is to go enjoy them while you can, if that's your passion.

There have been several parks I made it to when they announced they would close (The MB Pavilion, Miracle Strip, Geauga Lake (rumored in Aug 07), Astroworld) and have been glad I did, so I am happy I made the road trip to say goodbye to BBW.

The day will come when they tear down MF & Magnum, and even the humongo TTD.

^Not unless CP closes, I fully expect the first 2 to be at that park until then.

Jeff said:
I thought BBW was fun back in the day (it's been like six years), but I don't think it's that enormous of a loss. Obviously I don't have a long history with the park as some locals might, but it seems to me that the only "essential" ride in the park, in terms of its character, is Loch Ness Monster.

This point came up during my visit last weekend. BBW, which was the best ride at BGW IMHO, really wasn't an icon of the park. Nessie on the other hand is practically the icon for the park. Those interlocking loops are what put the park on the map...that and beer :)

I think everyone's forgetting how great Nessie "used to be". The tunnel, now, is lackluster and a mid-ride snore..."pacing"? But back in the day, Nessie's tunnel was a lair of epic proportions...

Please please please, BGW...bring back the effects - make Nessie truly shine again! Thanks... :)

I dunno. When I rode Nessie in July "something" hit my face while I was in the tunnel. You mean that wasn't an effect? I chose to believe it was. :)

Carrie M. said:
I dunno. When I rode Nessie in July "something" hit my face while I was in the tunnel. You mean that wasn't an effect? I chose to believe it was. :)

Just pray that the people in front of you weren't canoodling their way through that tunnel. ;)

Blech....yack....ptooey....eeewwww.....

It was an effect! It was just an effect!!

*goes back to daydreaming about the awesome side of canoodling*

Okay, which coasters would be best to canodle on? :)

Sadly, there will eventually come a day when LNM will have to be removed.

Hopman said:
Okay, which coasters would be best to canodle on? :)

Not a coaster per se, but Spaceship Earth.... so I hear anyways.

There used to be "monster spit" in the tunnel on Loch Ness Monster, and "wolf spit" on the Big Bad Wolf. I noticed that neither ride was "spitting" when I rode them last weekend.

I did notice that on Ninja at Magic Mountain, Six Flags has added a shock absorber between the axle and the chassis on each car, similar to the shock that Morgan has put on their Runaway Train-style cars. I couldn't really tell as I have only ridden Ninja a couple of times, but I wonder if that improved the car tracking to allow that ride to give a more Top Gun-like ride. I also wonder why it is that Kings Island's suspended runs so much better than any of the others, and whether whatever they did different on that ride could have been adapted to rides like Big Bad Wolf...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

If this hasn't already ben said, I'm gonna say it:

"Nah nah nah, nah nah nah, HEY HEY, GOOD BYE!!!

bunky666 said:
Jeff, that's what I heard about B&M versus Arrow as well for the contracted Drachen Fire...pretty much. My understanding was that B&M was a fairly new company at the time, and while they originally contracted for both Kumba and DF, they decided that two simultaneous projects were too much to guarantee quality work, so they stuck with Kumba and Arrow stepped in to design DF.

I likely would hate Drachenfire now, but Danny, I'm with you in missing that coaster. I was sad to hear they had taken out the corkscrews at the end (which was how I rode it), and even more saddened to hear it was scrapped and melted down. I have only been to Busch Gardens Williamsburg once, but I rode DF 7 times in a row. It had, for a while, been my favorite "upside down" coaster. Plans to to ride BBW before it goes are underway...was going to go this weekend but got sick. Hopefully soon!!!

That would make no sense since DF opened the year before Kumba did,besides the only other coasters B&M were working on at the time of DF's opening were Vortex & the B:TR prototype.