Indiana Beach for 2021!

I can't believe I haven't seen any mention of this here yet...

On Tuesday, Indiana Beach announced two new attractions for 2021.

The first is the Polyp ride which once operated at Kiddieland in Chicago and was most recently at Lake Winnepesaukah. This was perhaps the worst-kept secret in the industry as photos of the ride center sitting at Indiana Beach have been circulating on the Internet since before they got the Flying Bobs operating.

The second is the bombshell announcement that they are installing a 3-loop Schwarzkopf steel coaster, apparently the famous Dreier Looping which was recently dismantled in Mexico City. It's the first example I can think of where an old ride comes out of retirement from somewhere South of the border!

I don't have a permalink but for the moment at least the press release is on the front page of the Indiana Beach website.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I don't know much about the ride itself other than it was down to just one train running and it was by all accounts a "FrankenTrain" before its incident in Mexico.

My question is... what are they going to run on this roller coaster?

Something that doesn’t kill guests would be my hope.
I mean it managed to take down La Feria so imagine what it could do to little ole Indiana Beach.

Maybe new Gerstlauers? Did they do the new rolling stock for Revolution as well as SDL?

This is a pretty cool save. Last time I was at this park was 2003. Would definitely incentivise me to return (if IB gets it safely running).

There's hope for the Kangaroo yet.

Gerstlauer have built replacement rolling stock for Schwarzkopf machinery in the past.

I'd hazard a guess that Indiana Beach paid very little for this ride. It wasn't in great shape even before the accident. The budget will go on restoring it.

...as a matter of fact, isn't, or wasn't at one time, Gerstlauer housed in the old Schwarzkopf factory?

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Yes it was, and it assumed a lot if not all of the orders in progress when Schwarzkopf folded as I recall

Both models of this coaster had two of the most gruesome coaster accidents in history. Both were blamed on maintenance.

I know that Indiana beach was under new ownership, but it wasn’t exactly a shining beacon of good maintenance in the past. Also these parks are cash strapped right now.

As much as I adore in amazing Schwartzkopf coaster, I would be a little leery of riding this unless it receives completely new trains with more solid wheel assemblies. Those open wheel assemblies that Schwartzkopf change to in the later years Seem to be more prone to failure.

it’s a shame they did not get Thriller instead. I believe it’s sitting disassembled in South America right now. That coaster doesn’t have the dark history and there’s a better layout.

I wonder if this bodes well for the Jet Star. It was running well enough this season, but they seem to be down to two working cars for it. Apparently Maurer Rides now provides parts and services for Schwarzkopf rides, meaning it is still possible to restore both the Dreier Looping and the Tig'rrr to top form.

I think we will get a better idea of Indiana Beach's commitment to ride maintenance in the next couple of years, particularly if we see the Scrambler get the new pins and unit pole bearings it appears to desperately need.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Dorney’s Laser, a double loop, went back to Europe and went thru an extensive refurb including new trains. I don’t remember who’s trains they were though, and RCDB is no help.
I’m not sure how successful it was, though. It traveled to different fun fairs, then spent the 2019 season at Prater. I believe it’s been SBNO since then.

A lot depends on what the trains looked like. I remember an IAAPA show where Wieland Schearzkopf was showing off an interesting looking flat ride and a lead car intended for a Doppel Looping that looked like it would be painful to ride in. Put those trains on the thing and it would turn that ride into a "oncer".

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

https://rcdb.com/17158.htm#p=99670

Here they are, from RCDB, maybe a little hard to make out.
I have a friend over there I can ask tomorrow.

Definitely NOT the train W.Schwarzkopf was trying to sell. This actually looks like it would be fine!

—Dave Althoff, Jr.

The Teststrecke trains were manufactured by Sunkid Heege. They're horrid.

The ride was last seen at Riyadh Winter Wonderland in Saudi Arabia:

https://twitter.com/germanyinksa/status/1188453304545796097

Thanks for that, Richard. I got busy today and totally forgot to check it.
I thought I heard somewhere that the ride turned out to be a dog. Which is a shame, because it looks beautiful and I’m certain those of us who rode it at Dorney firmly believe it deserves better.
But maybe the writing was on the wall- European showmen are fond of keeping their rides, especially nicely refurbished rides, around for a while. Teststrecke lasted what seemed like a hot minute.

Interesting news. I watched a video essay on this coaster a while back that detailed the factors leading up to the 2019 accident. Not only was the coaster running a "Frankentrain" that was patched together from the components of the other trains, the ride was being operated at speeds much higher than what the manufacturer intended. Apparently the trim brake section was non-functional, either intentionally or because of shoddy maintenance. This resulted in a SUPER intense ride that quickly wore down the track, the supports, and the trains. You can see footage on youtube of the ride operating and when the train travels through those loops the loop structures are visibly swaying back and forth.

Hopefully Indiana Beach will be able to breathe new life into it. It sounds like the ride probably needs a full re-tracking.

^All Schwarzkopf loops shake back n forth, watch em! Get a nice side view, and watch em wabble. They're supposed to; that's another reason they ride so smoothly. Simple yet genius.

Indiana Beach has their work cut out for them. I haven’t figured out how to overlay an arbitrary scaled box over a satellite map, but a Galaxi is about 120’ x 60’. According to Schwarzkopf-coaster.net, the footprint of Dreier Looping is about 250’ x 112’. For comparison the Tig’rr is 88’ x 144’. This thing has a footprint comparable to Cornball Express and is twice as tall. There aren’t many places where the thing would fit. The only holes I can find that are that big are the two parking lots near Steel Hawg, and the splash pad area near the Double Shot. Even erecting the ride is going to be a challenge.

—Dave Althoff, Jr.

I'd be surprised if it wasn't installed in the car park beside the El Crappo.

It's a really big machine – while it'd be awesome visually to have it beside the Double Shot, I don't think there's room.

It wouldn't fit next to the Double Shot; they would have to do away with the current beach and splash pad a little further South towards the giant in-lake swimming pool (I never quiet understood that; is the water in that lake quite foul or something?).

The most obvious place to put it would be in the parking lot there between the "boardwalk" and Steel Hawg, more or less where the Falling Star is now. That would go a long way towards making Steel Hawg feel more like it's actually in the park. The trouble is, it would take up so much of that parking lot that it would curtail the amount of parking available near the beach resort (motels) and that could be a serious problem. The other spot where it would definitely fit is on the other parking lot 'behind' Steek Hawg. But if Steel hawg is donnikered away from the midway, that spot is even worse. Granted, it's the biggest, tallest, noisiest coaster in the park, and with the gate back there anybody who comes in from that end will have to walk by it. But that would be a terrible location.

Of course the other option is a new pier perhaps there where the Skycoaster is, between the Yo-Yo and the Paratrooper. But that's a pretty enormous undertaking. Or, elevate it ten feet or so and put it over the existing parking lot, Tig'rr style. But again, building that structure is a pretty massive job.Again, this is over and above the necessary mechanical renovation to the ride.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.