Intamin, the king of the wood helix.

What is needed in the US is some of Intamin's fabulous wood coasters. American Eagle started it all, with its beautiful and huge helix. Almost all the Intamin wood i have seen pictures of feature wonderful helixes, and White Cyclone in Japan may be in the most barren setting i have seen, but the coaster itself ranks as one of the most stunning on earth! This new coaster at Liseberg looks like it features a triple wood helix. I say more Intamin wood over here please :)

I'll take CCI woodies thank you and all the Intamin Steel Monsters I can Handle.
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Does CCI know how to make a bad coaster?

I'd like to give an Intamin wood helix a try. For now though, I'll make do with the MB Hurricane, and it's CCI wood helices. The helix, helices, whatever you call it, is my favorite part of the rides that have them. On wood, I like it better. I keep wishing to see an announcement from somewhere about a new US Intamin wooden, it's like a dream.

...and by barren and WC, what do you mean by barren?

Really, I can't judge Intamin woodies. I've only been on AE, and as you probably know, it's not the most maintained coaster around... If I would have ridden it when it opened, I might be different, but for me, I'll take CCI and SF in-house woodies.

Sure sure, Collossus (sp?) looks cool, but the way it's designed, just isn't woodie. It's designed like a steel. That turns me off.

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Hi! I'm Hungry, whats your name?

Having ridden White Cyclone, I can attest to Intamin's abilities on wood. They aren't really known for their wood, but WC was and is amazing. It doesn't pack the lateral slamfest of a CCI (ala Ghostrider), but it does hold an intensity straight through the turn. The thing I can say about WC over any other coaster, including Tremors, is the unbelievable closeness of the headchoppers. Holy cow..... danger! Do not put your hands up, or you will be waving with stumps.......:) Right Peabody, and Cmiesen???
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Wasn't WC a Summers design built by RCCA? (RCCA's website says so, anyway.) I'm not sure what Intamin's role was exactly...?

AHHHHHHHHH, the American Eagle is one of my favorite coasters of all time. Yeah the brake's slow it down before the helix but that doesn't mean it sucks! You realize how slow you've gotten and then you think there is no way you are going to pick up much speed but somehow you do. And the ecape is fantastic! How much does an Intamin Wooden coaster cost?

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There isn't a problem that can't be solved.

Suicide is NOT a solution!

Peabody, you know the cost of White Cyclone don't you? Isn't it like 15 million??? Something outrageous.....
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nasai said:
Peabody, you know the cost of White Cyclone don't you? Isn't it like 15 million??? Something outrageous.....
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Don't forget that wood is a rarity in Japan. Main reason is safety. They don't want them catching on fire or falling over, so they a.) have to include a lot more safety precautions against fire and b.) include more wood for structural stability in the event of say, an earthquake or something. I don't know how often Japan gets earthquakes, But I remember reading somewhere that there's more than 1 reason Japan lacks wooden coasters. Something to do with (Translated) Massive structures made of wood being considered a hazard and not being allowed. I would Imagine it's hard to get a permit for such a thing :)

-Josh

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I'm greedy, so give me both! Eagle is one of my favorites, so I can imagine White Cyclone is fabulous! And it's beautiful. The pics on the rcdb are amazing.

may The Force be with you,
Liz

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"The only real limit to height is what people are willing to get on." - Ron Toomer

If it is a helix you want to go to Knoebles...the Twister has the best double helix around...not to mention crazy laterals and LOTS of speed!

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Phly the Pheonix

Oh man, I gotta get to Japan... That thing looks awesome...

nasai said:
The thing I can say about WC over any other coaster, including Tremors, is the unbelievable closeness of the headchoppers. Holy cow..... danger! Do not put your hands up, or you will be waving with stumps....... Right Peabody, and Cmiesen???

Damn straight, nasai. I had them up (my arms) until the first head-chopper. I couldn't believe how low it was. I thought it must have been an illusion, but I still couldn't get enough nerve to leave them up for the next ones. Also, how about the final brake into the station-- what a serious head-banger. I wasn't ready for it the first ride, and nearly got whiplash, not to mention nearly planting my face into the front of the car. Gotta' love a coaster that kicks your a**, and keeps ya' comin' back for more.

JoNoJ27 said:
Oh man, I gotta get to Japan... That thing looks awesome...

That was the coaster there that wowed me the most. I was very excited about SD2K, but only rode it 5 or 6 times, and rode WC a good dozen times. Intamin sure knows how to build one hell of a wooden coaster with some of the best airtime ever on a woodie, and I'm DYING to try one of their new breed of woodies.
Nasai....I don't know how much it cost, but that could be close. Just like with Ghostrider, there is a LOT of extra wood to comply with earthquake safety standards. Also, they must spend a lot of time and money taking care of WC. There was not a flake of paint missing or faded on that beautiful structure..... http://www.coastergallery.com/japan/N29.html

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- Peabody

If their's anyone out there hoping that a new Intamin woodie will be built in the U.S....just wait...it's coming....and it's going to be in California.

Any hints? I'm thinking the park where you would least expect it. ;)
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cmiesen said:
Damn straight, nasai. I had them up (my arms) until the first head-chopper. I couldn't believe how low it was. I thought it must have been an illusion, but I still couldn't get enough nerve to leave them up for the next ones. Also, how about the final brake into the station-- what a serious head-banger. I wasn't ready for it the first ride, and nearly got whiplash, not to mention nearly planting my face into the front of the car. Gotta' love a coaster that kicks your a**, and keeps ya' comin' back for more.

Chris, I was soooo afraid after the first 'close' one took me aback. Man, it was so tight! WC was hot and heavy top to bottom, and kept getting more aggressive as the day went on. It is a very tempermental coaster too.. I rode it on a very rainy (make that torrential downpour) day, and I was surprised how different she was by the end of the night. I rode it in July, you in April right? Jeff, didn't you ride it in August? I am wondering how different a ride it is during different seasons and climate changes.

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Raven-Phile said:
Don't forget that wood is a rarity in Japan.

You've got that right! Last summer we took my friend's exchange student from Japan to MIA and, of course, hopped in ST's queue right away. The exchange student just looked and looked with a puzzled look on his face. He finally asked if Timbers was made out of wood! I was really surprised to hear this; it never occured to me that they don't have many at all in Japan.

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Kara
403 Laps

*** This post was edited by ST chick on 11/17/2001. ***

Yeah, Japan doesn't cut down their trees, mostly because of their religious beliefs. Living in Washington State, I see half of our resources going abroad. I live with clearcuts everywhere, and when I take trains through Japan, there aren't any.... amazing. You have to hand it to them. They smartly take advantage of whoever will give them what they need. I admire their chutzpah :)
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