Defunct Coasters

Like Gonch, I like Arrow coasters as well, and although I never had the chance to ride Phantom (pre-Revenge), I adored Drachen Fire and was sad (and quite surprised, at the time) to see it go. I currently have it ranked as my #14 steel coaster. Still never understood why there were so many complaints about roughness and headbanging. Might have something to do with possessing the very rare Togo (Arrow?) gene.
*** Edited 4/16/2007 11:57:59 PM UTC by Vater***

While I did enjoy Steel Phantom (its in my upper third and I give it a 4 out of 5 star rating) and agree that Phantom's Revenge is a great improvement (top ten) I did not enjoy Drachen Fire. The inversions had no kick to them (I swear I was slammed against my restraint on every inversion because we were going so slow) and it gave me a wicked back and neck ache. I just wish they would either put something out on that field or reverse time so that BBW could have its forest back.

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MagnunBarrel said:
Chuck when i was at DL, Predator did look pretty cool, with all the close hills and things, but that ride looked like it needed alot of tlc. I wish i could have got on it, but it was being worked on. And also do you think that g-trains would help, i mean isnt raging wolf bobs a dinn too. They did an excellent job retracking that ride, but the second half lacks alot of punch. But i cant say anything for predator, hopefully ill be able to ride it this year though.

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Predator is the only trailered train coaster still running Trailers. Anything would help.

Chuck

LOL Chuck: didn't you mean "Predator is the only wooden coaster still running PTC trailered trains"?

Yeah, what he said :)

Im serious, G trains on Preditor would be cool. Except for the second turn around, It's not a big latteral machine. I liked it very much, The 9 of 15 rides it didn't rearange my spine and thats after it had aparently had a ton of trackwork. 2004?

Hercules was the only coaster that ever made me physically sick; it gave me that bad of a headache. After getting sick I swore I would never go on it again...little did I know that it was its last season anyway. I actually didn't know it was closed until after it happened.

I don't remember it being that bad when I was younger, but maybe I could take more of a beating back then. Dorney's best coaster is still Thunderhawk, anyway.

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marvina1216 said:

Dorney's best coaster is still Thunderhawk, anyway.

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That's what I concluded when I visited Dorney in 1997. Hercules had that one Bog Drop but everything else about it was just So-So. Even with the Addition of other new Coasters IMO Thunderhawk still "Rules The Roost" at Dorney. You cant keep a good woodie down!

:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

BTW Three of those Smileys are for Dorney!;)

ThunderHawk, left to its own nefarious devices (as God and Schmeck intended), is one heckuva ride. Unfortunately for me, the needless and excessive braking has become one of the main *features* of the ride.

Still, even on its worst day, it's better than Herc. That is one defunct coaster I won't miss too much, LOL. Along with Psyclone and HC5, I'd call that trio my "least-missed" wooden coasters.

Was Dorney under the umbrella of Cedar Fair when Hercules was torn down?

The reason I ask is that this thread makes me think of Mean Streak's future. If Cedar Fair has a history of removing poor woodies, perhaps it's possible that sooner than later they will just bite the bullet and get it out of there.

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OhioStater said:
If Cedar Fair has a history of removing poor woodies, perhaps it's possible that sooner than later they will just bite the bullet and get it out of there.

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The big difference I see is that MS still gets a line (and will probably get even more riders with Maverick next door).

Hercules was never more than a few train wait on even the busiest days at Dorney.

Plus, I think Herc's removal had more to do with the sheer amount of money they were being forced to throw at it than anything else.

And lastly, Mean Streak may not be much to write home about, but a ride on Hercules made you long for the greatness of Mean Streak. ;)

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a ride on Hercules made you long for the greatness of Mean Streak

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Well I think that reflection pretty much sums up what Herc was like without having ridden it.

And I would agree...the MS crew this year will not know what hit them this season. Perhaps CF will show it some more TLC this seasonb/c of that.

See, Gonch's point is where it gets dicey with Sonny. There's usually a decent wait for it from my experience, but the *maintenance cost/rider ratio* is more in line with Mean Squeak than with Herc. Meaning that, for now, Sonny gets "new" trains. Eventually, CF will decide that dwindling ridership isn't enough to warrant the constant retracking, etc., and Sonny will go sleep wit' da fishes....er, with Herc.

I know it's been brought up before... but what are the reasons they can't replace parts of a big woodie (Giant, Eagle, Mean Streak, etc.) with the Intamin plug n play track? Expensive, yes, but in the long run probably better. On the big woodies anyway...

Heck, American Eagle, Colossus, Screamin' Eagle and Texas Giant already have portions of high speed track that have been replaced with steel I-beams.

American Eagle at SFGAm does not have Steel I-Beams at least not like they did with Coloussus or Psyclone. I do know that they did do some major retracking of the upper bowl of the turnaround helix...but that was with tradition wood tracking. I am not aware of any I-Beam tracking on the American Eagle anywhere on it's course.

Back to defunct coasters....I hope Blue Streak at Conneaut Lake doesnt become one of them.

American Eagle has metal I-beam track from midway down the first drop all the way to the top of the helix. It was the early 90's when they were put in. There was even a picture in ACE news of the drops track lopped off right at the point the I-beams begin.

A good way to notice the I-beams is that the track ties are all blue (white on wooden track) on the I-beam track, and you can hear the metallic vibrating sound.

The Eagle has the longest strech of I-beams of all the wooden coasters.

The American Eagle, in it's totally wooden days, got extrememly rough on that first run. Anyone who rode it then would rememeber. Pot hole city on the run out.

I also think the Texas Giant may have been built with them, not added later. Track ties were unpainted, metal color, if I remember correctly. *** Edited 4/17/2007 9:12:58 PM UTC by J7G3***

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Lord Gonchar said:

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OhioStater said:
If Cedar Fair has a history of removing poor woodies, perhaps it's possible that sooner than later they will just bite the bullet and get it out of there.

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The big difference I see is that MS still gets a line (and will probably get even more riders with Maverick next door).

Hercules was never more than a few train wait on even the busiest days at Dorney.

Plus, I think Herc's removal had more to do with the sheer amount of money they were being forced to throw at it than anything else.

And lastly, Mean Streak may not be much to write home about, but a ride on Hercules made you long for the greatness of Mean Streak.

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Not only that, but don't forget that CF didn't install Herc, either. It was installed under Bob Ott's tenure (and ironically is what is believed to be "what put Dorney on the map" that CF looked to purchase it 3 years later). With that said, to me it leaves Sonny's fate up in the air until they wipe their hands of it.

Mean Streak, on the other hand, besides getting lines, was a CF original, so I think they'll be a little slower to tear it out than something they inherited from previous owners of another park.

The Eagle has the longest strech of I-beams of all the wooden coasters.

Are you sure of that? SFMM's Colossus is almost all I-beam now.

I think I am digging the I beams on Colossus because it was my 4th favorite woodie all time after my ride last summer(I know not a big woodie rider after TG).

Trust me, it was better before it was castrated.

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Mamoosh said:
The Eagle has the longest strech of I-beams of all the wooden coasters.

Are you sure of that? SFMM's Colossus is almost all I-beam now.

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I haven't ridden Colossus for about 8 years or so, so it may well have longer stretches of I-beams than the Eagle.