Hercules being torn down

Hi Everyone,

I tried to find the Hercules love thread but I couldn't. I am sorry Jeff is this is a stupid post but I have a question. I thought that they were taking Hercules down section by section and carefully. Possible so it could be reused somewhere else. However, I looked at pics this morning and it looks like a big heap of tooth picks. Whats going on it with?

It's in that big amusement park in the sky, and that's where it will be staying.

Crash - I don't recall any official word from the park that the wood would be used elsewhere. If you saw that posted somewhere it was most likely a bad rumor or wishful thinking.

mOOSH

The park said the ride would be "removed", if I remember correctly. I think that wording caused people to believe that the ride would be taken down carefully so that it could be rebuilt somewhere else. The park should have said "destroyed", but that wording doesn't sound too nice in a PR statement.

I know some people liked it, but it was probably one of the worst coaster designs and worst performing coasters in history. Each time I had ridden it, it was either rough, jerky, slow, boring, or a combination of those. Pre-lift it was pretty decent, but the brakes on the lift were on so hard this year that I got deja vu of being on SUE for a second. It's neat to look at it and the "idea" of Hercules is much better than the real thing.

-Danny

Also, Herc was not sitting on all flat land. Removing and rebuilding a coaster requires it to have been built on flat, or very near to flat land. Not that it couldn't have been done, but it would have added to an already pricey proposition. That and it would have needed to be a really good coaster to begin with, ala Rocket/Phoenix.

Speaking of Hercules, has anyone been by the park lately to see if it's all gone? There were pictures of the progress fairly often, but I haven't seen anything past 11/21.

Surf over to screamscape.com they have a link to new pics. The bottom of the lift hill was up and the turn around over the lake was still up as of this weekend.

I think we all though it was going somewhere else or to be taken down carefully cause the new coaster isn't coming till 2005. I wonder why that is since Hercules came down so fast.

They may be removing the concrete footers and that can take some time. Also other land preparations may occur in the meantime. There really was no reason to let it stay open if it was that much of a headache to the park. While it is a shame it being torn down, at least something better might take its place. Also the new coaster will have some underground features if I remember correctly from the press release. That also could take some time to do. My honest thinking is that they are giving themselves ample ammount of time to get the new ride in place and tested. Being the park is in Allentown, PA the weather can get quite nasty in the winter, especially if a Nor' Easter' hits.

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Crashmando said:

I think we all though it was going somewhere else or to be taken down carefully cause the new coaster isn't coming till 2005. I wonder why that is since Hercules came down so fast.

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Yeah, I'm not sure who started that rumor but it's quite a bad one. Why would anyone have actually believed it anyways? You can't relocate a terrain woodie. Way too unpractical. Theres just no way it could have been done, not like anyone would have wanted it anyway. If you really think about it there is just no way it could have been relocated because its design was built around Dorney's terrain, you'd almost need the exact landscape in order to build it somewhere else. *** Edited 12/4/2003 7:57:00 PM UTC by DorneyDante***

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beast7369 said:
Also the new coaster will have some underground features if I remember correctly from the press release.

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That may not be entirely true. It said that "the ride will go below ground level 5 times".

If you are familiar with the area that Hec sat, this could simply be creative promotional wording meaning "dipping below the hill" - which is what I suspect.

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in Allentown, PA the weather can get quite nasty in the winter

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I still look at the pics of the 27 inches of snow we had on our patio last winter and laugh. That was one insane snow storm. Digging the car out was a real treat.

I hate the fact that Hercules is now a pile of useless rubble that will eventually be burned. But that would be awesome if the new coaster was built this year and ready for next year, and that Dorney lied about 2005. Because I have no reason in going next year since Hercules is gone, believe it or not, you miss things when they go.

Long Live the Hercules god 1989-2003.

Herc won't be burned....he's toxic! :)

You have no reason to go without Hercules? Not for Thunderhawk or Talon? Not even for Steel Force or Skyscraper?

Oh well, one less person in front of me.

Will the layout of the new coaster be like Hercules and go over the lake? I always thought it had a nice design but was just too rough.

The new ride will be nothing like Herc's layout and will go nowhere near the lake. The terrain won't be used to attain any substantial height like Herc did. If it did, that would mean that the drop would have to go out towards the lake and if you read Atown's MCall paper they specifically stated that Herc went outside park boundries and the new coaster will be more contained within the park, thus the reasoning behind my opinion. I also agre with L Gonchar in that I believe the "underground" speal that was given doesn't mean underground tunnels, but rather dipping up and down the hillside between ground level (where herc's station used to sit) and steel force's helix. The new ride I have also heard is gonna be 95ft tall. Permits at S whitehall township's website have cited this information. http://southwhitehall.pa.net/?show=article&id=200*Psst* Also, for anyone who doesn't know, Dorney's getting a Claw for 2004.

"Below ground level" could also mean some trenching, like on Talon. I think that would make an interesting effect on a floorless.

DorneyDante, where on that website do you see anything about 95feet? I went up and down that page at least five times and didnt even see anything about Dorney.

No I would go for Talon, Dominator and Thunderhawk, it just wont be the same without Herc. I enjoyed my ride on it last year so screw you kpjb.

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Koaster King said:
I know some people liked it, but it was probably one of the worst coaster designs and worst performing coasters in history. Each time I had ridden it, it was either rough, jerky, slow, boring, or a combination of those. Pre-lift it was pretty decent, but the brakes on the lift were on so hard this year that I got deja vu of being on SUE for a second. It's neat to look at it and the "idea" of Hercules is much better than the real thing.

-Danny

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Those are thoughtful words coming from someone who actually likes Son of Beast. ;)