Dorney Park Floorless Coaster

Actually (sorry to be such a pedant) killing the Lernaean Hydra was one of the twelve labors of Heracles (or Hercules for those of you who are used to the Roman spelling). The beast was a great reptile (something like a dragon so i'll let that pass) with NINE heads, at least to start. One head could not die, and if one of the other eight were severed, two heads appeared in its place. Heracles killed (more or less) the Lernaean Hydra by setting fire to the swamp in which it lived. The fire cauterized the necks, preventing new heard from growing in. Then he buried the remaining head under a great rock that inly he could lift. (and Heracles was strong enough that ot one point he relieved Atlas at his task of holdong up the world, but that's another story)

Actually in light of that, Hydra's Revenge makes sense for a coaster that is replacing Hercules, doesn't it? I can taste the irony from here...

Hydra's Revenge sounds MUCH nicer than Hydra: The Revenge....but that's just me I suppose...

A nine-inversion coaster would at least take the US record from the Vekoma flyers (HOW they claim *EIGHT* is beyond me, but hey)...

But when I think of a floorless design with trenches, the thought that seems MOST appealing to me, and make the best use of the terrain, etc....would be something along the lines of the ENDING of Alpengeist, with the "swooshing" ;) of the *skiing motions* coming back into the chalet, er, station...

Then again, if it were MY park....I'd have FIXED Herc...darned preservationist...;)

There needs to be some written rule prohibiting colons from appearing in roller coaster names.

Anyone else think thats an awsome looking logo!

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Chernabog said:
There needs to be some written rule prohibiting colons from appearing in roller coaster names.

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I think your eyes are playing tricks on you. I don't see no colon on that poster dorney has up on the fence ;)Dante, who likes Hydra's Revenge or simply just Hydra much better than Hydra the Revenge. Also, I hope they arent planning on using a green and purple color scheme ala the poster. Laser has the same color scheme, something original would be better. Edit: In agreeance with coasterpunk, very cool logo! I think the name is not only appropriate (fits the hercules story) but original too. *** Edited 5/9/2004 7:48:18 PM UTC by DorneyDante***

I kinda feel silly, since the story of the Lernaean Hydra was mentioned in another thread. All i can say in my own defense is that i hadn't read it yet...

Just glad they didn't use that Hurricane name or whatever people had thought it was gonna be.

I love the Hydra name on two levels -- the Hercules connection, and I also read it as a subtle jab at another nearby floorless coaster named after a mythological monster...

I dunno... does anyone see the Medusa parallel here?

Hydra... water... snakes... Medusa...

Purple and lime green logo... Medusa's color scheme...

Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but it hit me right away when I saw it.

Excited about the coaster, just not the name!

Edit: Didn't realize that Greg also noticed that!

*** Edited 5/10/2004 1:50:46 PM UTC by Rob Ascough***

I love the mythological irony in it's name, although agree that Hydra's Revenge would be a better name. I hope they can do more with theming than the implied duel with not-so-distant Medusa. *Anything* has to be better than "Medusa Mining Company". That has got to be one of the lamest attempts I've ever seen!

Kitty

The number nine, as it relates to the number of heads Hydra had, has nothing to do with the number of inversions on the coaster. There will be six inversions, in an order no one has seen yet.

Moosh, I hope it is an order that will be creative for B&M, similar to how Arrow went crazy with Drachen Fire... *** Edited 5/10/2004 3:52:12 PM UTC by mike.s.***

Arrow went crazy with Drachen Fire because B&M originally designed the layout, but then Ron Toomer's Ninja Squad stole the plans from Area 51 in the middle of the night. ;)

LOL

Creativity along the lines of Arrow's Drachen Fire? If that happens with Hydra, then expect another coaster to reside in that spot in another decade or so ;)

Moosh, I have seen it. ;)

Not to unearth a tired topic, but Rob, your trying to tell me the problem with Drachen Fire was the chronological order of inversions (as is most appropriate to relate to this topic) or the technicality of DF in general? I think you have misunderstood what I was referring to, in that with Hydra, hopefully B&M have designed a bizarre array of inversions LIKE that of Drachen Fire. Also, when DF first open, your trying to tell me that was not a creative design? LOL, there was nothing built like it before (as far as order in elements)...

I was referring to the technical aspect of Drachen Fire. I happened to like the ride, even with that second corkscrew element that was later removed. Then again, I hadn't ridden a B&M coaster when Drachen Fire was built!

I would love to see B&M come forth with a new array of inversions... all I was saying that Arrow tried to be different with Drachen Fire and look what happened! I guess there is something to be said for playing it safe- look at the success of the B&M inverted coaster, despite the fact that they are all more or less the same when it comes to inversions.

Joe - I'm not sure what it is you've seen but what I know about Hydra came from a trusted source who is right about 90% of the time. I guess we'll know for sure once Dorney make the official announcement. But its not anything I obsess over.

mOOSH

I've heard the same thing that Moosh has. Six inversions in a new and unique layout. Combine that with some trenching and some possible theming to go with the name, and we could be looking at a floorless coaster on the same level as Nemesis.:)

There is a huge trench dug right now behind the restrooms that are tucked away behind White Water Landing, although I think that is where Herc's lift hill footers were. The strange thing is, I believe the lake was drained over the winter around the footers from the lake turn in order to remove them, but it is now filled back up and the footers are still in place.