Is it a Coaster??? Haunted House at Camden Park

Saturday night we made the trip south to visit Camden Park. While I was not impressed with the park overall (filthy) I did fall in love with their Haunted House.

My question, is it a coaster? It has a lift chain, is gravity powered, it rolls & it coasts. The wheels are more like casters but it still rides an a "track" and has a guide in the middle.

If it isn't a coaster, why?

Who determines what is and what isn't?

Here is a shot that Jason Hammond took last month
http://coasterbuzz.com/Forums/Thread/57696.aspx?id=814454

DaveStroem said:
Who determines what is and what isn't?

You do.

Do you think it's a coaster?

Wrong, Gonch. I determine what is or isn't. And because he called Camden filthy, I say it isn't, and he can't add it to his count. Nya!

;)

Yes I do consider it a coaster, but it is not listed as one here or anywhere else that I can find. For the most part it seems like monkey see monkey do with RCDB being the 800 pound gorilla.

Tek, I was hoping for a quaint small park with some charm like what I saw in Jason's photos. Camden on Saturday night had trash everywhere almost like then have never heard of a broom. Most of the ride ops looked like it had been a few days since their shirts had been washed. Even the rides seemed grungy.

When they shut down the park because of a massive storm coming through, I was pleased that we got to go home early.

Again this is the way it was Saturday Night, maybe it was a fluke and isn't normally this run down, but I doubt it.

No, I'm just kidding. Granted, on my last visit there wasn't any trash around, but some of the ops are definitely grungy. Park was clean, but some of the workers, while not really unfriendly, definitely lacked people skills and weren't that clean.

Not sure if Marshall and the other schools are back in session or getting ready yet, so they may have lost a lot of their seasonal workforce, who were all neat and well arranged when I was there. In fact, it was nicer than I'd expected after not having been in many years. Pix are Here.

As for the mousecoasterhouse, or Haunted Mouse as I called it, it definitely is coaster-esq. I don't personally count it, but know some that do. I remember as a kid when it had more effects working and it was a little more fun.

The Pleasure Beach ghost train has a similar ride system. I've never thought of it as a roller coaster, always a ghost train with a chain lift and a drop.

As said further up, rightly or wrongly I take RCDB's decision as final.

Uh oh. The inevitable "Is it a coaster?" debate. Here's my preemptive strike:
If S:TE why not first gen free fall?
If half pipe, why not disko?

Also, Millennium Force has 3 inversions.

DaveStroem said:
When they shut down the park because of a massive storm coming through, I was pleased that we got to go home early.

If it's really that miserable, why even wait for a storm to make you leave? (serious question, I've never been to Camden.)
How far did you travel to get there?

Reminds me of one of our first discussions in Philosophy 101 regarding when a dog is no longer a dog (start removing parts until a magical line is crossed)...fun discussion, but demonstrated how pointless it is.

In my own accounting, I actually divide tracked gravity powered rides into five categories--

a) Wood roller coasters
b) Steel roller coasters
c) Plastic roller coaster*
d) Carnival roller coaster
e) "not" a roller coaster

(a), (b) and (c) are pretty obvious. (d) is really a subset of (b) but by keeping them grouped separately I can try to avoid the problems of having to rearrange my count because show Q sold their coaster to show Y which repainted it, and does it count as a new ride just because it got modifications...

Category (e) is where I put the dark rides at Camden and Conneaut. The rides are gravity powered but the ride system doesn't quite look like a coaster to me. By comparison, I listed the Underground at Adventureland as a wood coaster.

If you really want an answer I think I have to fall back on the use of casters on a car that is steered by a guide rail instead of by the track (but what does that mean for an old-style Wild Mouse?). Ultimately though, Gonch is right: it's my list, I'll count any way I want.

In the past I've fallen back on the "pornography" definition: I may not be able to explain to you exactly what makes it a coaster, but I know it when I see it. :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

*Pipeline Express, Putt 'N Pond. http://www.rcdb.com/2304.htm . Every time I mention this I get questions...

--DCAjr

Re: Plastic Coasters, Gonch has pix and I believe video of one of those! I didn't realize there was ever one in Myrtle Beach until after it was gone, which sucks, because I'd been going there the whole time they had one.

I use pretty much the same criteria as Dave. I've only been on 2 flitzers, a dragon wagon, and a wild mouse at fairs, so it's not hard to count those for me.

But, then, I count different sides of a non-mobious coaster as seperate tracks, so...

I don't count coasters when they've been relocated and thanks to Geauga Lake, there are a few of those out there and I've ridden at least 2 in both locations. I only count them as one.

Because of the way I count, Matterhorn was both my 99th and 100th caoster :). But even if I didn't count both sides, it'd only affect my count by about 6, maybe?

To each their own. I've heard people that count the same coaster at each location, after every reprofile, and even after painting.

Heck I know one webmaster that counts credits of coasters that are SBNO when they visit the park, even if they don't ride.

Regardless, I don't care if you've ridden 1 or 1000, they're meant to be enjoyed and I only care about my own track record, no one else's matters :).

Tekwardo said:
Re: Plastic Coasters, Gonch has pix and I believe video of one of those! I didn't realize there was ever one in Myrtle Beach until after it was gone, which sucks, because I'd been going there the whole time they had one.

Except the one I hit wasn't plastic.

http://www.rcdb.com/2709.htm

I guess I didn't realize that they weren't all plastic. Weird.

If it's really that miserable, why even wait for a storm to make you leave? (serious question, I've never been to Camden.)
How far did you travel to get there?

Miserable is a bit to strong. We drove close to 3 hours after work on Saturday. The park was open till 10 PM so that would have given us 3 hours to play. We rode all but 2 of the adult flats and both coasters in the first 2 hours. So when they did close it was not far from the time we would have been leaving anyway.

Its a gravity powered ride. Kinetic energy released by a attained height COASTING, I Rolls on Casters. Rollers.

AKA, You call it what you want, I consider it a coaster darkride. Same as Conneaut Lakes Devils Den

I never thought of Camden's Haunted house as a coaster. It's really fun though. I wish it were as cool as it were in the old day, when I was a whippersnapper.

You must have visited Camden on a bad day. I have never seen it too dirty. It does seem like a lot of the park is old though, and cheaply made. ...You know, not very modern.

As far as the staff at the park, I have only had between average to very good interactions with them, except for the guy who worked at the Skyride a few months ago. He was a dick. :)

I do see your point about not being able to spend a lot of time there. When I was a kid, I would go all day, into the night, until the rides closed. Now, a few hours after I get there, I have done everything a few times, and I get really board.

It's a nice park though, for what it is, but I usually only go because of the Haunted House, and the rest is a bonus.

What about the "authentic" log flume? I love that one! ;)

RideMan said:
a) Wood roller coasters
b) Steel roller coasters
c) Plastic roller coaster*
d) Carnival roller coaster
e) "not" a roller coaster

Though there's only one that I'm aware of, you can't forget the concrete coaster. :)

For those that have not been to Camden I found a POV.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe_oJyDeRa4

Jason: Where? Not in my track record. Not yet, anyway!

My POV is of the Big Dipper.
(shameless plug)

I went to Camden Park on July 6 and did a little video about it.

(/plug)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

DaveStroem said:

Miserable is a bit to strong. We drove close to 3 hours after work on Saturday. The park was open till 10 PM so that would have given us 3 hours to play. We rode all but 2 of the adult flats and both coasters in the first 2 hours. So when they did close it was not far from the time we would have been leaving anyway.

I guess that makes sense. Part of the reason I've never been there is that it's far enough away that if it sucked, I'm out a 4+ hour drive, and I'd be in the same situation.