Hercules to be replaced by B&M floorless at Dorney

I seriously do not understand you people.

I will agree, the announcement is kinda late, would have been nicer if said in mid-season or so. So some people can get some last rides. But if they are tearing down a coaster. It is for a good reason not because they ran out of room or something and that was the best thing to let go.

Wooden coasters are high maintenance and maybe Dorney didnt feel like having another wooden coaster installed. And obviously the floorless coasters bring in the crowds at parks, so it is easily the best move they could make.

Woodfan said:
"I jsut feel like there is now too much steel coasters at dorney and not enough wood,..." What about parks like Cedar Point and Six Flags Magic Mountain and Six Flags Great Adventure only to name a few. I'm sure majority of you praise these parks for their coasters and look each park has what 2 or 3 wooden coasters out of 14 or 16. Now I would call that too many steel coasters at a park. When more than 75% of the park's coasters are steel.

Jamin Bohl said:
"Wow, this is not a surprising move to me but adding a floorless B&M to a park that already has a B&M Inverted....to me seems well, a little redundant." What about parks such as Six Flags Great Adventure and Six Flags Great America. They each have 4 B&M coasters and if I remember correctly many many people were praying for a 5th coaster by B&M so they could have the whole collection.

Anyways, with Hercules, I wonder if they are gonna have it a SBNO coaster for 2004 or tear it down this winter. The ride must have been pretty bad this year if they were pretty much forced to tear it down this year instead of at the end of next season, considering the new B&M is coming in 2005. And I highly doubt that the ride can be relocated. It is already in the design process, if not already designed. It is unlikely they will change its location in order to save the coaster especially if it has 5 underground tunnels, which need the correct type of land. I am glad for Dorney Park & Cedar Fair to make this move, I have heard some bad things about Hercules, as it not being that good, and replacing it with something that will easily bring in a big crowd and keep that attendance flowin.*** This post was edited by sros208 9/4/2003 10:47:18 AM ***

Kind of glad I visited Dorney this past weekend. While I did not hate Hercules, it was not one of my favorites. When it was running smoothly (by Hercules standards... still rough by others) it was simply a mediocre coaster. Truthfully, the part I liked best was the run from the station to the bottom of the lift hill. That was fun. The rest was painfull at worst, "ho-hum" dull at best.

Odd thing is... when I was there on Sunday and waiting in line for Hercules, I looked up at the structure and thought "This would be a reall bugger to remove..."

While I love B&M coasters, there is just something about replacing a wooden coaster (even one like Hercules) with a steel coaster that doesn't seem right. As someone stated... a nice GCI would have been a great replacement. Oh well, if you go steel... can't beat B&M in my book.

Question is: Why am I suddenly more "excited" about a B&M Floorless at Dorney in 2005 than I am about the new Intamin Rocket at Hershey (my "home park") next year?

Second Question: 2005? Not 2004? Why the wait? Simply not installing a new coater but removing an old one (like I said... will be "a real bugger" to remove)? I guess this is the reason... I mean why would Dorney go a year with one less coaster if they could help it.

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Half of the people surveyed agree, half disagree and another half are unsure.

TAER IT DOWN! ;) Sorry couldn't resist the urge. Interesting that a second tier CF:LP park would get a floorless before the Point.

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SWOOSH
MidwestInfoGuide.COM

"Worlds of Fun 2004 - Prepare to SQUEAK with Delight!"

Hey, Im all for getting rid of Herc, It only had two good points to it's rough and boring layout.

Thing is, here we go with steel to replace wood.
Chuck, who would much rather have a GG, Intamin, Vekoma or GCI hillside woodie to replace Herc.
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Charles Nungester.
It's official Lesourdsville Lake is closed for 2003

SLFLAKE:

"2005? Not 2004? Why the wait?"

Sounds like the new floorless will involve some pretty extensive excavation (apparently it goes underground five times). Perhaps this might account for some of the delay?

Regards

Anyone think it may have been a misprint in the newspaper, and it might actually be for the 2004 season?

But then again, to remove Hercules plus the nature of the terrain on that site would make construction take longer. After all, Talon was built on a pretty much flat section of land and construction began in August the year before, I think.

I wonder if this means construction all throughout next season.
*** This post was edited by scraperguy99 9/4/2003 11:24:22 AM ***

Well, the article says that it goes below ground level five times, not that it goes under ground. Hercules sits on a mighty big hillside, so it could just mean that the coaster dives down the hill a few times.

Hercules was a waste of a great location, I think. That hillside demands an interesting layout and I hope that they can finally deliver with this floorless coaster. If I'm this coast in 2005, this just brought my back to Dorney Park, a place I really have had no interest in returning to.

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--Maddie--
What do I Listen-To?
May the Schwarz be with you.

It was NOT a misprint in the newspaper!

What????? A possible misprint in a newspaper? No... couldn't be.

Truely though... considering what is involved... dismantling Hercules (a BIG coaster) and having to be careful about it (it comes close to some other rides if I am not mistaken... including Thunder Creek Log Flume)... excavating the land for the new coaster... installing a custom designed coaster on a piece of ground that is far from level... I can see where it may take that long.

Considering I get to Dorney every other year and I was just there... 2005 works fine for me.

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Half of the people surveyed agree, half disagree and another half are unsure.*** This post was edited by SLFAKE 9/4/2003 11:28:29 AM ***

Swoosh said:

"Interesting that a second tier CF:LP park would get a floorless before the Point."

my immediate thought was the Xcelerator installation at Knott's followed by TTD at CP. i'm sure everyone else has thought of this two...but there definitely seems to be a correlation with cedar fair adding a ride at a smaller park, watching the progress, then building a bigger and faster one at one of the premier parks. sometimes though it's the other way around....like with cp's impulse then valleyfair's impulse. do you guys think there is any correlation here?

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seek first to understand
then to be understood

It's too bad I never got to ride it. Ever since it was built I thought it'd be a great ride. I too wonder why they're taking so long to change over to the B&M. Wooden coasters can be destroyed quickly with a wrecking ball. Unless, they are taking it apart systematically for relocation, which concerning the coaster's unique layout, I doubt.

I thought "millrace" posed a good question in "Is this the first 'modern' wood coaster removed?" I've often wondered if anyone has a list compiled of wooden coaster demolition. I can't remember the last time one was removed.

Finally, what's the deal with "TAER IT DOWN?" I've only been here for a year and so maybe it's an inside joke I'm not getting. Explanation...

Well that was an announcement I wasn't expecting on a random Thursday morning. Thoughts:

1. I agree with Alex on the defunct coaster nostalgia phenomenon. It's not like Herc was one of the Riverview coasters.

2. The first of the late 80's/early 90's megawoodies bites the dust. I sure hope [cough]Mean Streak[cough] that doesn't happen to any other [cough]Rattler[cough] megawoodies.

3. The last decade spoiled us all... ride removal and ride rotation used to be more common.

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Ask about my references

Never been to Dorney Park myself, but are they pressed for space to add new coasters? As far as replacing a wooden coaster with another wooden coaster, wouldn't that kinda be lost on the general public?

I know it's not a misprint, it's on Dorney's site too. Just thought of that at first. But, the timeline does make sense.

Read the article folks... it sure sounds like the GM got tired of blowing half of his maintenance budget on a ride that wasn't very popular. Kudos for having the courgage to do it.

I agree that the terrain could offer some pretty unique opportunities, and I can't wait to see what they come up with.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
DELETED! What time does the water show start?

At first I thought this was going to be a story from Absolutely Reliable News & Rumors!

Maybe all the wood will go toward building another woodie someplace! After all Herbert Schmeck redid an entire ride back in the 40's. That was an all steel structure wood coaster though. Either that or Dorney could build one hell of a station with all that wood.

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Signature will be closed today. Sorry for the inconveinance.

To quote sros208:

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Woodfan said:
"I jsut feel like there is now too much steel coasters at dorney and not enough wood,..." What about parks like Cedar Point and Six Flags Magic Mountain and Six Flags Great Adventure only to name a few. I'm sure majority of you praise these parks for their coasters and look each park has what 2 or 3 wooden coasters out of 14 or 16. Now I would call that too many steel coasters at a park. When more than 75% of the park's coasters are steel.

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Huh? Are you agreeing or disagreeing with Woodfan? And speaking for Great Adventure (since I haven't been to MM or GAm), it only has one wooden coaster, and it's right near the bottom of my wooden coaster list. I'd say that's a park that needs more wood.

On an unrelated note, I find it humorous (and quite strange) that Carl Hittner would register specifically to say, and quite adamantly so: 'It was NOT a misprint in the newspaper!'

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-Mike Buscema

'No matter how skilled the designer is, every time we push the envelope we learn new things about coaster design.' --Dana Morgan
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Hercules did have a great beginning from coming out of the station to the lift hill and that first drop is/was impressive.
A floorless will be good, but too bad they couldn't re-profile Hercules. We need more wood.

"What about parks like Cedar Point and Six Flags Magic Mountain and Six Flags Great Adventure only to name a few. I'm sure majority of you praise these parks for their coasters and look each park has what 2 or 3 wooden coasters out of 14 or 16. Now I would call that too many steel coasters at a park. When more than 75% of the park's coasters are steel."

Psst. With this change, more than 75% of Dorney's coasters will be steel ;).

I didn't see anyone *exclude* those parks from having too much steel, just mentioning that Dorney will now have too much steel of its own.

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--Maddie--
What do I Listen-To?
May the Schwarz be with you.

I commend Cedar Fair for listening to the public (Although they had their pocketbooks in mind too). Not many people liked the ride that much, myself included. It probably was a great ride in its time but spending precious maintainance money on a ride that people don't care for is a little ridiculous. It's a shame to see a wooden coaster go, but I think that it's time.

As for Dorney's new floorless, I am very excited. I think that Talon did wonders for the park and proves that you can pack a punch in a little space, I'm looking forward to seeing what this new floorless can do. I personally think that it will serve to strengthen Dorney's already great lineup.

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Gene Simmons on the Kiss Kasket, "I love livin', but this makes the alternative look pretty **** good."