Crystal Beach Cyclone

The Crystal Beach Cyclone is undoubtably one of the most famous roller coasters in the world, if not the most famous, but what do enthusiasts think of it and if it was so great why hasn't it been copied or rebuilt. I know it had a violent past, often bruising riders, sometimes breaking bones also, but the layout and elements that it had, such as the incredibly tight first drop and mental helix are also supposed to be reasons why it is so well known and dearly missed nowadays.

How would it rate among top coasters in 2003 and would you ride it? The fact that it is said to have had a full time nurse in the station would have surpassed the fear factor of any inversion or huge drop in my book. What do you think?

For more information on the Crystal Beach Cyclone check out http://www.coasterglobe.com/features/lostlegends-crystalbeachcyclone/index.cfm.

Infamous maybe.......the most famous is the Coney Island Cyclone.

Honestly, if the thing were still around today people would be complaining about its roughness and bad transitions. I think it was shaggy who said this in a previous thread...people give acclaim to defunct rides only because they are defunct. We will probably be singing praises to Drachen Fire in a couple years.

I love the Crystal beach Cyclone though. It would be nice if GCI or S&S did a recreation. I did one in RCT....check it out

http://games.coasterbuzz.com/filedetail.aspx?GameFileID=2755"
*** This post was edited by Antuan 5/24/2003 12:27:30 PM ***

I have Danimations rendered picture of it on my wall at work. People are always asking me about it. I tell them a brief history, and they are really impressed. I would love to be able to ride it or a clone, after seeing his video and the version that is included in NoLimits 1.3.

1ej

*** This post was edited by 1EyedJack 5/24/2003 12:25:08 PM ***

We already sing the praises of Drachen Fire....

Go ride Great Escape's Comet....it does still have Cyclone's lift.

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God bless Intamin, Company that I love. Stand beside her, and ride her, from the opening to the closing of the day.

here's a shot i took last sunday of the comet's drop.

http://home.nycap.rr.com/greese1/cometdrop.jpg

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John
Albany Entertainment
http://albany.n3.net
Great Escape Online Guide Coming Soon!
*** This post was edited by CalvinJ23 5/24/2003 1:30:23 PM ***

the comet is a good ride.......about the best at the great escape. totally different than the original cyclone but it still packs a punch

If the Crystal Beach Cyclone was to be recreated, keeping roughly the same design, although understandably being slightly modified to provide a smoothish ride, how popular would it be. Its legendry history would be a useful marketing tool and a unique selling point but would it be able to compete with the hi-tech thrills of such rides as Intamins rocket and impulse coasters and B&M's inverted model. How far would you be prepared to travel to go on it and would it surpass the excitement of say having the chance to ride the tallest or fastest coaster.

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Damandan said:
Its legendry history would be a useful marketing tool and a unique selling point but would it be able to compete with the hi-tech thrills of such rides as Intamins rocket and impulse coasters and B&M's inverted model.

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How would a recreation of an old wooden roller coaster be any different than a brand spankin' new one? They would both still be wooden coasters.

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Am I really that shy?
*** This post was edited by The Shy One 5/24/2003 11:38:33 PM ***

I think that if the Crystal Beach Cyclone was to ever be re-created... it would have to be modified in a few ways to make the transitions much more smooth. The overall track length would probably have to be longer, and the lift would have to be taller to accomidate any changes.
This was a relatively short ride. To make the transitions smooth, you'd really have to find the right trains, the right track length, and the right manufacture to come up with the re-creation.

Problem is this: Who would be insane enough to want to re-create the CB Cyclone?
Would any park outside of the Eastern US want to re-create it? Probably not. Most people either haven't heard of it at all, or only heard about it, but not much more... so it'd be a bad marketing tool to anybody in the West or South of Ontario, Canada (where Crystal Beach was located).

I think only parks in the Northeastern United States could benefit from this... and even there, what parks could use a wooden twister, and what manufacture would consider building it (not to mention what park would fork over the cash to re-create it)?

correct me if im wrong but, isn't the comet which is now at the great escape, formally the crystal beach cyclone?

The Comet at Great Escape was actually The Comet at Crystal Beach (despite a lot of pieces replaced brand new). The Comet at Crystal Beach used some of the structure and parts from the old Cyclone at Crystal Beach. So in theory, there may be a nail or support that's from the old Cyclone, but not much is honestly left.

I can't use this damn quote button so this will have to do:

The shy one said: 'How would a recreation of an old wooden roller coaster be any different than a brand spankin' new one? They would both still be wooden coasters'.

Correct, but if you tell the general public and alot of coaster enthusiasts that a legendry, infamous coaster from the past is being reborn, using the correct type of marketing (e.g. hidding all the stuff about injuries) it could bring it alot of attention, whereas new woodies have to make there own reputation. I know this has been done in the past such as at Canada's Wonderland which built the two good coasters that once existed at Coney Island Ohio, however I don't know how they were sold to the public. If I had been responsible for trying to sell the two rides I would have given a brief history lesson to make people feel as though they were lucky in getting a chance to enjoy previous classics, despite the two rides only being replicas.

I know this post might be a little confusing, and may not make sense in places, but I hope you can get my general point of view.

If Crystal Beach Cyclone doesn't float your boat, another awesome coaster that unbelievably hasn't been recreated is the formidable Cyclone Racer. This thing is truely amazing and would probably steal Grand Nationals crown of 'best racer', especially due to its truely unique placement on a pier over the sea.

Bring more attention to it? Yeah, that's what parks generally like to do. So what's wrong with that?

Your argument doesn't hold a drop. Knobel's Twister is a spin off of Mr. Twister. Wow! It's doing great. But then again, that may not be what you meant in your post. You got it right when you said it was confusing.

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Am I really that shy?
*** This post was edited by The Shy One 5/25/2003 3:48:08 PM ***

Shy One you certainly aren't shy are you, which is cool, you have your say and I'll have mine.

'Bring more attention to it? Yeah, that's what parks generally like to do. So what's wrong with that?'

I didn't say anything was wrong with it did I? I just pointed out the fact that copying a design and style of a coaster with an illustrious past that no longer exists such as The Crystal Beach Cyclone, and then informing the puplic about this to possibly create a bit of excitement could be a useful USP (unique selling point) in bringing more attention to it, which might help give it a competitive edge over rides from other parks.

One other thing: 'Knobel's Twister is a spin off of Mr. Twister. Wow! It's doing great.'

I detect a hint of sarcasm here! Firstly, Knoebels Twister is a good ride and nicely compliments the park, offering a good alternative experience from the parks other smart woodie Phoenix. The original Mr. Twister operated from '65' to '94' whereas the last ride on The Crystal Beach Cyclone was in '46' - a considerably longer absence. This would therefore make it more of an exciting possibility to ride a Crystal Beach Cyclone copy than any other.

What ride would people say is most like the Crystal Beach Cyclone nowadays?

The Cyclone, formally Riverside Cyclone, gets my vote. Don't know how it rides now with the modified first drop/turn but before it looked to be wild, too wild.

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Damandan said:
would it be able to compete with the hi-tech thrills of such rides as Intamins rocket and impulse coasters and B&M's inverted model.

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If this were an actual argument, you could use it on any new wooden coaster. Look @ Legend and Raven, 2 very popular coasters in a small park, but they are classic wood. I prefer wooden coasters, and if the CBC was rebuilt, I'd only really ride it if I were close to it. I'm not one to just go to visit a park for one coaster, I'm not even planning a trip to CP this year "just because of TTD", but because I've never been, and I'll be living a bit closer to it. I'd love to have seen this coaster, but look up the topic on the bat, and why it's never been redone, and you'll get most of the answers you're looking for...

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Yeah, if coasters WEREN'T men we'd have Raging Cow instead!;)

Harry Traver built extreme rides, even by todays standards.They pushed the technology of the era to the limits. They were a result of the time in which they were built, throwing caution to the wind. For the most part, they were short lived. People will only pay to get beat up so many times.(Kennywood found that out with the Steel Phantom.) Not only were they rough on the riders, they literally beat themselves to pieces.Between rapidly declining ridership and steadily increasing maintenance costs Traver's creations were doomed. Most of the Cyclones had very short life spans (with the exception of the Palisades Park ride, and the Cyclone Racer in Long Beach) for the above reasons. In today's litigious society such a ride could never be built.

It sounds like the Crystal Beach Cyclone was notorious mostly for its brutality, rather than for its freakish layout. I'm not knocking the layout, but the modifications necessary to make it profitable today might make it a disappointment to people who expecting it to live up the hype.

Case in point: Psyclone at SFMM follows the general layout of Coney Island's Cyclone, but the changes deemed necessary for safety have made it arguably the most maligned wooden coaster built since 1990. The Georgia Cyclone probably has the best reputation of all the Cyclone reproductions, but its reputation still doesn't come close to the original's.

How about two recreations, one wood and one steel? GCI would probably be the best company to recreate a wooden version, seeing as they specialize in curves. Sure, it might be smoothed out to the point of forcelessness, but at least it would make it over the hilltops. 8-)

If you wanted it to follow more closely the plans of the original, steel might be the way to go. This would allow for stronger forces and affordable maintenance.

Actually, the CBC had a steel stucture, and that was the downfall of the ride. The structure had no give, so the force of the train going over at such speed and in such tight turns and angles ended up tearing it apart. Were it built again, it would have to be all wood to give it the give it needs. I think GCI could do it, but I don't think a buyer could ever be found for such an extreme ride in the age we now live in.

I also would love to see the Cyclone Racer rebuilt. It looks like it was an awesome ride, and it could easily compete with todays rides, after all, the CI Cyclone does.

Also, while at it, what about the Riverview Bobs?

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"If you make it too smooth, it'll be like sitting in your living room."
-Bill Cobb - Designer, Texas Cyclone

GCI best not do it. I do not have one GCI coaster in my top 10, becasue they are so tame lateral and air wise. We need GG to step in. But I think it would most likely be recreated at a larger park, and the thing about the deaths would be used as a marketing tool.

Well, thats just my 2 cents.

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I hate it when "cooaster enthusiasts" put down coasters. Why can't we just have fun on all of them?