Gravity Group pushes limits with Mine Blower at Fun Spot Kissimmee
Posted
new heart-pounding feature has been revealed for Mine Blower, the under-construction wooden roller coaster at the Fun Spot location in Kissimmee. Previously, the park mostly had been touting the ride’s wooden construction and an unusual corkscrew maneuver that will twist over the loading station. It’s a lot to pack into a small space, but that’s the task of Korey Kiepart, design engineer and partner at Cincinnati-based Gravity Group.
Read more from The Orlando Sentinel.
Related parks
I can't wait for this to open. White Lightning is such a fun (and intense) little ride, I can only imagine this will be on par with it. Between rides like this and Mystic Timbers, I am so glad the industry has moved away from the "biggest and fastest" mentality when it comes to wooden coasters. That era of thinking produced literally the worst wooden coasters ever created.
I am quite surprised that the "bigger is better" concept with wooden coasters took so long to go away...
That being said, I think Sonny was the ultimate "proof of (bad) concept"... ;~)
You still have Zoidberg.... You ALL have Zoidberg! (V) (;,,;) (V)
Isn't Dollywood's new for last year wooden coaster being marketed as "bigger is better?" I bet we'll see the same kind of thing at Cedar Point next year.
I mean, yes there have been a lot of mid-sized woodies lately, but the "bigger is better" woodies are still being built.
(That's what she said?)
-Travis
www.youtube.com/TSVisits
I don't think Dollywood said anything but "world's fastest". (Well, in addition to "y'all come back later, please.")
But each of the rides you've referenced are RMC rides, one wood and one steel. They've proven to be developers of a much different style (read: rideable, comfortable, thrilling fun) than we found in the Summers/Dinn monsters of the past or dreadful in-house projects like SOB. And we've yet to see what Cedar Point plans to say about their new ride, but I also feel confident that record breaking statistics will be in the mix there somewhere.
Having said that, I'm a fan of the smaller, closer to ground woodies that have emerged lately and it's not a bad trend. From a park's point of view, I'd imagine advantages to smaller rides would be cost, maintenance, and the real estate involved. Fun Spot parks are a great example of places that have thoughtfully packed thrills into small spaces.
I think if done right, there's room for both to exist. In other words, size itself is maybe not the issue, but construction and design are everything.
You must be logged in to post
