B&M track arrives at SeaWorld Orlando, park pretends to not notice on Twitter
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Last week, SeaWorld tweeted a photo of two new, large pieces of teal blue roller coaster track strapped to the back of a flatbed parked behind two skinny palm trees, noting only the existence of the palm trees.
Read more from WFTV/Orlando.
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My favorite thing about the evolution of Twitter is how businesses have gotten creative with stuff like this. My favorite tweets/posts are when these places (parks, restaurants, stores, anything) break the fourth wall and let us know they are in on it too.
I was driving my Mom up from her snowbird condo on 75 last week and caught sight of this track headed south. I wondered who was getting a new B&M. Now we know…
Do we have any idea what distinguishes a “Surf Coaster”? I’m stumped.
I’m even more confused by the “hypothetical” rendering as it looks very similar to Icebreaker.
what’s SEAS thought here?
B&M filed a number of patents that indicated that it may be a resurrection of their stand-up models. However, that does not mean that's what this coaster will be.
I'm thinking it's more this than a stand-up train (which was also done, but from my quick look was just B&M updating the model to offer vest restraints).
From the patent:
Sit-down train with overhead, class-5 restraints (allowing inversions) with a mechanism to be 'floaty'.
https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?FT=D&date...KC=A1&ND=4
"The balancing device (15) can advantageously be configured to provide a vertical displacement of the seat column (20) during roller coaster rides according to the vertical acceleration exerted on the passenger (P)."
Thanks for the pic, Steve. I'm having a hard time envisioning how this would affect the ride experience, though going over airtime hills and having the seat raise up a bit could be interesting. At the very least it could lead to a much smoother ride given that you basically have an entire suspension between your body and the wheels.
It would have to be controlled and/or have dampers. A freely moving seat would just produce a rough ride IMO. I know it’s a different concept than the Mack Emotion, (side to side movement) but word is the moving chassis on that ride rode jerky.
B&M coasters are known to be smooth when new, so they will probably get it right. Their coasters don’t become rough until about 15 years.
super7* said:
It would have to be controlled and/or have dampers. A freely moving seat would just produce a rough ride IMO.
The patent clearly shows what appears to be a shock absorber. Although since you mentioned it, I kinda want to see a completely free-moving, undampened seat on this thing now. B&M Floppy Seat®?
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