Goodbye Kingda Ka?

Coasterhound36:

Parks do and have been announcing closures temporarily and permanently it seems for a while.

Yes, and I'm sure there have been more than even the few examples you mentioned, but that doesn't mean it's the norm. I never said parks don't do it, I said it's rare and above and beyond what we should expect.

Coasterhound36:
So rather than assert people are being "entitled", maybe TRY(if you can) to empathize and see the situation from their perspective.

My parents took me to Kings Dominion one particular time in late summer. We drove nearly 2 hours to an empty parking lot and several large "CLOSED" signs. It was gutting. This was eons before the internet, and I guess my folks just assumed it was open weekdays still since grade school hadn't started yet (college had, which my parents hadn't paid attention to, which is why they were closed, considering most of their seasonal help was no longer available). I don't blame the park, it was my folks' blunder.

My point is, **** happens. And ironically, it was one of the most memorable visits to Kings Dominion ever.

If I bought a season pass for next year solely for one single roller coaster, I guess I'd be trying to get my money back, or maybe just go anyway and try my best to have fun on all the other rides there.

Or, if you were only interested in the pass for one ride, about which rumors had been circulating for months, maybe wait til there was some confirmation before buying?

Chris R:

The speed maybe still in the same ball park, but the forces of acceleration from old dragster to new dragster are quite different. He wasn't talking about the speed of the ride, but the acceleration or time duration that it takes the train to get to those speeds.

I’m aware of what he said. Seriously, what’s the acceleration difference between the two? A few seconds? Most people don’t know there’s a difference and anyone that cares is probably someone I’m not joining for a day at a park.

Hydraulic launches are substantially punchier than LSM ones. I’m not sure why it’s insulting to point that out.

It isn’t. What is ridiculous is suggesting that it isn’t “amazing” or that it’s “neutered” as someone here suggested when TT2 was announced.

Its an opinion expressed on something subjective. Not sure why contrary opinions bother some people around here. Why does anyone care if someone else says the TT2 launch isn't amazing (or great, fantastic or whatever)?

Jeez, I don’t understand what is so controversial about this. The launch isn’t the same anymore. That’s why I loved that ride, the new ride is cool and has its own merits, but the sheer launch isn’t one of those anymore. Sure, now I get rollbacks which are cool, but I still miss the launch which was one of a few that existed of that intensity.

GoBucks89:

Its an opinion expressed on something subjective. Not sure why contrary opinions bother some people around here.

I'm fine with differing opinions, but it should at least be authentic. I recognize the use of hyperbolic contrarianism as a means of appearing more cultured and discerning when I see it.

GoBucks89:

Why does anyone care if someone else says the TT2 launch isn't amazing (or great, fantastic or whatever)?

Everyone is welcome to think it is not-amazing. They are fully entitled to that opinion.

In the same vein, I am entitled to have the opinion that such people are bad at having fun. If I ever met one of them in the wild and they started explaining to me why it was not-amazing, I would nod, smile, and back away slowly, muttering about how I had to meet someone on the other side of the park

I also believe that "that ride is neutered" statements are performative, and mostly a way for the opinion-haver to demonstrate how vastly superior they are at roller coasters. And again, those people are not fun for me to be around.

TL;DR: You can have any opinion you want, but don't expect everyone to just agree with it.

Vater:

Thinking a park owes it to you to announce a ride closure is entitlement.

I do agree mostly. But it is a nice gesture to announce in advance that something is closing. It goes a long way towards customer relations. Especially to paying guests who support the business over years and years.

The_Orient_of_Express:

But it is a nice gesture

Never said it wasn't. In fact, I said (twice) that it "goes above and beyond what I consider normal or expected for enthusiasts OR the general public."

You can have any opinion you want, but don't expect everyone to just agree with it.

I agree with that. Actually never suggested anything otherwise. But is it the case that failure to respond when someone expresses an opinion on an online message board means I am agreeing with that opinion? If so, my post count here should be 5x higher than it is.

The intensity of TTD launch (particularly compared to TT2) has been discussed multiple times in multiple threads on this board. There are varying opinions on that issue. I have not been on TT2 (other than sitting in a TT2 car on the winter chill out but that doesn't count). I wasn't responding to the opinion itself but common reactions to various opinions on this board. Ride looks fun to me, and I am looking forward to riding it next season. Maybe there is a need for some people to renew their respective view on that issue (and others previously discussed) if someone else brings it up?

Someone else trying to show how vastly superior they are at roller coasters can be problematic for some who view themselves that way (to be clear, not saying that applies to you). Maybe they are the ones determining the authenticity of any given opinion.

The death :

The funeral :

... if it is done, I hope they confirm it soon - drama everywhere.

GoBucks89:

Someone else trying to show how vastly superior they are at roller coasters can be problematic for some who view themselves that way (to be clear, not saying that applies to you). Maybe they are the ones determining the authenticity of any given opinion.

"That's worth being curious about" as my therapist might have said.

I think where this is coming from for me is a set of different overlapping perspectives. The first is that I don't think it is necessary to rank and compare everything in the world. Roller coasters are fun. Different coasters are fun for different reasons. The second is that coasters that run are fun in a way that coasters that don't run are not. Granted, that isn't a big distinction between TTD and TT2, but TT2 might run again, and TTD wasn't going to. The third reflects much of the personal work I've been doing over the past year about accepting things I can't do anything about, even though I really (REALLY) don't like them.

And, the fact that this conversation annoys me as much as it does says more about my degree of (not) accepting those things. Which is neither here nor there in the context of CBuzz, but nevertheless it is what it is.

coasters that don't run > RRR

Ka was a one and done for me (full of vibration and those awful shoulder bars, uck), while I loooved Top Thrill Dragster (High Heel Dragqueen). I wonder if Cedar Flags is waiting to see how/if Top Thrill 2 works out… then do the same with Ka?

Either way I’m glad Great America is my home park - Great Adventure makes more grateful for it. Whizzer is better than those coasters too :) Also MaxxForce, with its super comfy seats and restraints.

If it weren't for the parking lot coaster, Ka could be extended and they could do a straight up, single direction launch.

Every coaster death deserves an Amazing Grace on bagpipes farewell…..