Diamond Falls & Shockwave at PKD

The Mole said:
But for an update, Diamond Falls was removed just in the past 3 weeks. Only the ride system was removed. The pool and show building is still there.
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And oddly enough, that is exactly how it is shown on the current park map..They still show the pool and the ride buildings, but not the actual ride...It's looks pretty comical if you ask me.

You can add me to the list of people who could care less to see SW leave. The ride is uncomfortable and just doesn't provide any thrills for me. I would really enjoy seeing another coaster (particularly a B&M invert or hyper) in the DF/SW area, but I won't be selfish...because I understand that what this park needs is more flat rides. I agree with jeremy that a Huss Delirium would be a great addition.

Sean

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"Ever hear of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates...Morons!"

Did DF have a double dip?

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Ah what the hell.....Magnum What?

S:ROS blew me away

Yes it did, Brent. That was the best part about it (besides the observation deck that was in the perfect location to get absolutely drenched on...at least until they boarded up the railings).

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-Vater
Have you ridden a Toboggan?

Yes, Diamond falls had a huge bump before it went down, then it was a double dip.

When I stood on the Observation Deck, beleive it or not, I got more soaked on that then the actual ride.
*** This post was edited by Anaconda 5/2/2003 4:25:13 PM ***

Crazy Horse- I found what you are looking for!

A picture of Diamond Falls!!

http://www.coastertown.com/Paramount/PKD/Congo/DiamondFalls03.htm

And here's another. If you browse around to some of my pics of Anaconda from the Eiffel Tower you can make out Diamond Falls in the corner.

sanybrany - That's a pretty bold statement saying that "..Kings Dominion is definately the best paramount park" which is obviously your opinion, but how many of the 5 Paramount Parks have you been to?

Just some thoughts...

I can see a Super Saturator type coaster going in where Diamond Falls used to be, it would integrate nicely with Waterworks behind it, as well as provide Waterworks with a second entrance and perhaps clear up some congestion in the dead-end of Congo. And for the Shockwave area nothing larger than a Huss Giant ride, nothing else would really fit, but of course I may be way under-estimating Shockwave's area, and the ability of coaster designers.

*** This post was edited by JamminJ 5/2/2003 4:53:28 PM ***

Aaaahhh, so thats what it looks(ed) like. Thanks Anaconda.

I wouldn't consider Diamond Falls old. Sure, it's got some years on it, but there are still some great Rides from the Mid-Eighties. I don't think a Park has gotten It's Moneys-Worth out of an Attraction if it doesn't last at least 15 years.

Shockwave is rough, and has nothing Astonishing about it, but I still Ride it every Now an then for fun. I would miss it if it was gone, but I think they should Put Something more exciting in it's Place.

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"Grit Your Teeth, Bare The Load, Enjoy your ride, on Thunder Road"

GREAT PICS JAMMINJ! I'm going next week and I'll post a link to some pics of what it looks like now...

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Love,
The Mole

On one of the coaster gallery sites I saw something about a TOGO stand-up being offered for by some ride broker, and SW being the only that fit the description. Won't miss it personally; hope they replace it woth something fun with high capacity. Shockwave and King Cobra at PKI looked like rollercoasters but felt kinda like torture devices.

I am the Ticktockman

Pkd is my home park (sadly) i don't really appreciate it that much. im not surprised by diamond falls removal b-cause it was a very unpopular ride... you could ride it all day without getting off. and for shockwave....if it gets removed dont expect to see any huge awesome coaster---thats a very small plot of land it sits on. i hope it doesn't go- that was my first stander, but if it does i wouldn't mind too much

josh

why did u say that "PKD is my home park" (Sadly)?

*** This post was edited by sanybrany 5/4/2003 5:14:03 PM ***

Well don't worry J Bird, Busch Gardens is around the corner.

The actual reason for Diamond Falls removal was because finding spare parts to fix maintenence problems was costing them way too much money than it was worth. That is also the reason that it was closed down all of last season, mainly.

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PKD 2003 - Drop Zone Falls!

Actually according to the park, Diamond Falls (which was one of the earliest versions of the modern-day "Shoot-the-Chutes") was poorly designed in the fact that it required a rather large crew to operate it. It also had high maintenance issues, but finding spare parts was not difficult as you said. It was built by Intamin. Intamin is still in business and built countless versions of the ride across the world. Thus they continually provide replacement parts as parks need them. Also, Hopkins is a popular Spillwater ride manufacturer and can provide replacement parts for any modern Shoot-the-Chutes rides. It is hardly difficult.

Rides are like cars. What I mean is, when a park purchases them, the manufacturer often agrees to provide parts and/or maintain them for a certain period of time. In addition to that, the ride is given a tentative longevity rate. In other words, when Intamin sells the ride to a park, they more than likely sell it with the understanding that the ride's life is around "X" amount of years... and that their warranty lasts for "Y" amount of years of that operational period.

More than anything, DF's extremely low ridership basically sealed it's doom. It was a ride that was no longer viewed favorably by guests or the park.

I personally never understood why it was built facing away from the midway. It was easily forgotten and passed up even when the ride was brand new.

Parks consider land on which unpopular rides sit "valuable real estate" and so they give the unpopular ride the heave-ho for a new, much improved experience.

Trust me when I say that Diamond Falls was definitely given the heave-ho for a much improved experience arriving in 2004.

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Shaggy

Proud A-lister!
*** This post was edited by Shaggy 5/5/2003 12:58:51 PM ***

Shockwave is on a very small site, but DF almost across the road from it, and the space on SW's side is empty up to DF's site, so I don't see why something like a larger steelie couldn't be constructed in both the sites, bridging the walkway. Or, the walkway only has shops and games on it, so the walkway could be moved. But probably not, so I just hope for a coaster period.

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Save LeSourdesville Lake!!! It was the best park ever!!!