Hercules Remembered
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Does the World need another vanilla cola?
If it's gone, at least we can have a nice bon fire with it.
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If I was part of a coaster, I would be an upstop pad on an Arrow Mine Train.
MAGNUM HAD MY BABY!
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Does the World need another vanilla cola?
Now let's get to the why. Before the addition of Hercules, Dorney Park was hardley a tiny 'blip' on the radar screen of amusement park afficionados. Hercules put Dorney on the map... literally. But coaster gurus weren't the only ones watching DP. Shortly thereafter, Dorney Park was purchassed by Cedar Fair. Under the ownership and management of a [MUCH] bigger company that could afford to listen to customer qualms, Hercules went under the knife....
Unfortunately, Dorney Park/ Cedar Fair was never able to tame the beast -the end result was a coaster w/ ridership so low that the park was forced to close it, as it was a financial black hole. I find it rather ironic that the same roller coaster that attracted Cedar Fair to Dorney Park in the first place is now being torn down by that same company... for financial reasons!!
Just think, if it weren't for Hercules, Cedar Fair would have never bought the park... and if CF hadn't bought the park, Hercules would probably never have been 'hacked up' as it was (as the PO's didn't have the budget to do so)... and if it was never modified as it was, maybe it wouldn't've had such a low ridership these past few years. THAT's irony in my book.
Just my $.02
-Travis
Hercules wasn't "dumbed-down," it was modified and tamed to keep it from tearing itself apart. Sound like any other Summers/Dinn rides we know? All of them?
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
What time does the water show start?
bill, wondering if CF is done in the South with the whole V-Land deal...or is it *ordeal*...
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We're whalers on the moon, we carry a harpoon, but there ain't no whales so we tell tall tales and sing a whaling tune...
Second, anyone who says that Hercules didn't put Dorney on the map as a major east coast thrill park obvioulsy didn't live in this area of Pennsylvania when the ride debuted. I remember a marketing campaign so huge that it put Talon's and Steel Force's to shame. Billboards everywhere, commercials on T.V., newspaper ads, news stories, and lots more. Anyone else who lived in this area in the late eighties early nineties can vouche for me on this. Hercules did put Dorney on the map, I have said it hundreds of times. It really made Dorney a must-visit park. I agree that this is about the time that CF looked at Dorney. They envied the popularity of Hercules so much that it inspired them to build their own megawoodie. I often wonder what Hercules would be like today if CF never came along, or what the whole park would be like for that matter. From what I understand, Weinstein was financially forced to to sell the park to CF. I don't think they had many options left in order to keep the park successfully operating as a major east coast thrill park. But that is a totally different topic and we won't go there. Hercules played a major contribution to Dorney's development and history, it will be sad to see it go. If you to www.dorneyparkonline.com you can see pics of Hercules sitting in a dormant state waiting to be demolished. They also have pics of survey markings around the area, kinda interesting.
youthinnasia said:
The first drop was entirely re-worked. The transition b/w the drop and the banked turn was re-built
The first drop was never modified, other than the trim breaks. I don't know who started that rumor, but it isn't true. The lake turn after was never modified either other than them adding a structure around the top of the perimeter to decrease the "shakiness" of the ride. Some engineering firm in the area worked on that project, I don't think it was rather successful though.
3 cheers for Hercules the first of the megawoodies.
I wonder if we'll see any of the other infamous problem-plagued megawoodies following the same fate as Hercules?
Bill, its all about the border war, I am very sure of it. Screw those nasty neighbors behind the lake.
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This space will forever be dedicated to Hercules-R.I.P. 1989-2003
*** This post was edited by DorneyDante 10/7/2003 1:35:57 PM ***
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Lyrically, I'm supposed to represent
I'm not only a client, I'm the playa president!
('Applause' lights flash as kids whipped up on sugary cereals and soda shriek like...well, themselves)
Are ya ready for 'Ironic Post of The Week?' Are ya ready ready? Well, here goes!
DorneyDante said:
...this is about the time that CF looked at Dorney. They envied the popularity of Hercules so much that it inspired them to build their own megawoodie.
As if an 7400 foot long woodie four hours away from them wasn't 'inspiring' enough. Ooh, look--that one's about 10 feet taller. NOW we're jealous!
But wait kids, there's more!
I often wonder what Hercules would be like today if CF never came along, or what the whole park would be like for that matter.
Uhhhhh, about to be dismantled anyway...but for condos! But hey, why burden yourself with reality when you could just bellyache and whine, right?
Hey, stop that you little...huh? We haven't cleared for commercials yet?
-CO
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The CPlaya 100--6 days, 9 parks, 47 coasters, 2037 miles and a winner.....LoCoSuMo.
*** This post was edited by CoastaPlaya 10/7/2003 2:00:36 PM ***
BTW, taking up half a topic with posts like "Amen" and "*laughing" is not useful and just wastes bandwidth.
On to the topic:
Regardless of the historical significance of the ride, or who made who look at whose woodie and buy whatever, the fact of the matter is that it sucks. You may not think so, but I bet the turnstiles on that ride show less than much cheaper and more easily maintained rides. I don't think anybody getting off the floorless in '05 will be wishing that they had just gotten of Herc.
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Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
"It's not a Toomer" - Arnold Schwartzenkoph
"Those who know don't talk and those who talk don't know." -Jeff
youthinnasia said:
Before the addition of Hercules, Dorney Park was hardley a tiny 'blip' on the radar screen of amusement park afficionados. Hercules put Dorney on the map... literally.
I believe that a little coaster called Thunderhawk (then called simply the Coaster) had Dorney on the map for years and years, as far as coaster enthusiasts are concerned. Before the trim brakes neutered the ride's finale, the ride was very highly regarded... it was one of the Top 10 coasters in the country, according to Cartmell's list at the Smithsonian (or whatever list it was that put Kennywood's T-Bolt in the spotlight).
I'm not disagreeing with you for the sake of doing so, as I do agree that Hercules did put Dorney in the "big leagues" for awhile... I'm just trying to point out that Dorney wasn't some little "no name", "who cares?" park before Hercules entered the picture. For many years before that thing came to be, Dorney still had a lot to offer. Perhaps even more than it does right now when you take atmosphere and charm into account.
*** This post was edited by Rob Ascough 10/7/2003 3:03:21 PM ***
ApolloAndy said:
BTW, taking up half a topic with posts like "Amen" and "*laughing" is not useful and just wastes bandwidth.
Yeah, as if you're not wasting bandwidth with a remark like that. I can post whatever I want as this is a public messageboard. If I think something is funny I can *laugh* all I want. Sometimes there is nothing more to say other than "thats funny" and *laugh* at it. Other people on this board have their trademarks, let me have mine. If it bothers you THAT much I will add a reply after I *laugh*. You are certainly no moderator and can't tell me what I can and cannot post.
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This space will forever be dedicated to Hercules-R.I.P. 1989-2003
*** This post was edited by DorneyDante 10/7/2003 3:10:37 PM ***
*** This post was edited by DorneyDante 10/7/2003 3:13:26 PM ***
Now *cut* that *out*. I mean *this* out. *Whatever.*
-CO
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The CPlaya 100--6 days, 9 parks, 47 coasters, 2037 miles and a winner.....LoCoSuMo.
*** This post was edited by CoastaPlaya 10/7/2003 3:23:37 PM ***
But, in recent years, everyone has been riding Talon, and none of my friends rode Hercules, and probrably didn't even know it was there. So, this is why I think they decided to remove it.
If anything was a selling point for the park, it wasn't a wooden maintenance headache, it was a popular, state-of-the-art waterpark (Wildwater Kingdom).
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-Rob
A.C.E. member since 1990
Posting @ Coasterbuzz since 2000
E.C.C. member since 2002
In my opinion, I'm just thankfull that Dorney was for sale when CF was in the market... a) Dorney survived and exists today (the comment above about dismantling Hercules for condos would have been a likely scenario I believe it CF or any other chain would not have bought the struggling park) and b) CF didn't turn their attention to two near by parks in Hershey and Elysburg.
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Half of the people surveyed agree, half disagree and another half are unsure.
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-Rob
A.C.E. member since 1990
Posting @ Coasterbuzz since 2000
E.C.C. member since 2002
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