Info on coasters at the upcoming Wild West World!

Hey guys!
I e-mailed Thomas Etheridge(sp?) to get some info on Wild West World set to be built in Park City, Kansas.(Close to Wichita) He's the guy in charge of building it, and he told me some very interesting stuff! Heres the e-mail...
{Begin E-mail}
Dear Physix,
We have not made a final selection on our roller coasters as of yet. But we "think" we know the following. There will be 3 roller coasters at Wild West World. The tallest would possibly be near 100' in height. The other two would be less. We are looking at new roller coaster technology that would be one of the first of its kind in the U.S. Instead of sitting in a car as you normally would do, one coaster we are looking at would have you sitting on a horse, not enclosed as would be typical. You would be strapped on this horse and go through the normal loops and turns like with other roller coasters. It gives an all new thrill to the roller coaster experience, since you are not enclosed in a normal roller coaster car.
We are looking at a number of state of the art rides and everything will be "cowboy".
Happy Trails,
Thomas Etheredge
Wild West World
{End E-mail}

This new type of coaster with the horse would be awesome! What do you guys think?

I think if he doesn't open the park with a wooden coaster he's an idiot ;)

Sounds like a Booster Bike with a horse instead of a bike.

^True, but he did say something about "loops".

Right...I'm sure a Vekoma Booster can be designed with loops. I still think a wood coaster fits the western theme better.

A coaster that's themed to be like you're on a horse, yet it goes through loops... anyone else see this just sounding weird? If anything you would make it like the old Steeple Chase coasters where it is just like jumping hurdles and such. Maybe when he says "loops" he means helixes as opposed to inversions.

But I agree about the wooden coaster. It's surely a must.. hopefully by GCII.

Vekoma Booster? With a horse? And loops? I only have one question. . .

to protect your head, do they give you a cowboy hat helmet? :)

A wooden coaster is a definite for a Wild West setting. Maybe even a mine train?

If there's three, certainly sounds like a "horse-themed Booster", a mine ride, and a woodie...

I didn't think those Boosters went upside-down though....the restraints on the *regular Steeplechase" rides sure don't look like they allow for that, LOL...

edit: I've got the name of the horsey ride...;)

"Cowboy Up!"

Of course, there won't be a contest for the ride names when I have something good, LOL...;)

*** Edited 4/20/2005 10:35:03 PM UTC by rollergator***

Sounds good a wooden coaster would fit in nice with the old west. Wonder if the horse coaster is going to be a Si-Fi Wild West theme.

Sci-Fi = Science Fiction. WTF is "Si-Fi"? ;)

Has anyone stopped and thought that it might not be a vekoma booster? I can see a ride that just has a shoulder harness type restraint that is somehow rigged on the back of the horse. I wonder if it'll be two horses accross or just one.

Is it just me or didn't Vekoma Boosters have OTSR. I could have sworn they did. Unless I'm thinking of another type of rollercoaster that launches and has bike trains.... but I don't think so. :)

Corkscrewy, the booster bike has leg bars and I guess what you would call a backbar that sits against the small of your back. No OSTR's in the traditional sense, but going through an inversion in something like that looks like it would be pretty painful if you ask me. ;)

I agree a wooden coaster would fit in nicely with the Wild West theme, but I think anything could potentially fit in nicely if done right. Look at how well SDC has themed their steel coasters.

Justin

I'm with Coaster Lover on this one. I just can't see a horse themed booster bike type coaster with inversions. Me thinks he's referring to helices.

If Insanity can be a coaster, helices can be loops.

Loop: Something having a shape, order, or path of motion that is circular or curved over on itself.

Sounds like a helix would fit the definition. I know my mother calls a helix a "loop". An inversion is a "loop-the-loop" in her lexicon. Of course, when she was riding coasters on a regular basis I imagine that there weren't too many (or any) inversion elements.

Yeah, they could call it "Escape from The Black Pearl". Oh wait, wrong era. :)

You can always change restraints and such to make it possible to do loops safely and be painless. ;)

could it be...cantilevered!?! ;)

^I knew it was just a matter of time before those took off.... Wait, thats not true. Disregard. ;)

I guess the "loop" he referred to could be a helix. But it would be an awesome feeling if it were an actual inversion. And a barrel roll would feel a whole lot different too!

I found a bunch of more info about the park at the following pdf address...

http://www.parkcityks.com/documents%5CAdministration/Cover.pdf