Jack Rabbit 2 at Clementon

According to RCDB, Clementon has changed the name of their new woodie from Tsunami to J2 for Jack Rabbit 2. http://www.rcdb.com/id2586.htm There is nothing on the park's website, although it looks like it hasn't been updated for the 2005 season yet. It looks like perhaps yet another park wants to seperate itself from the name.

I keep hearing that there are good reports of this ride, but I never read them. Has anyone here ridden this ride and Avalanche?...and if so, what did you think?

This just in:
Timber Falls has changed to the name of their new woodie to A1 (Avalanche One), so as not to offend anyone who has lost friends or relatives to an avalanche.

Wait.

So as to not offend anyone who has lost friends or relatives to someone who choked to death on a steak, the ride will now be called Lightning Strike.

Wait...

Amazing isn't it. Was a tsunami NOT an act of nature and potential natural disaster a year and a half ago when they named the ride? I could see this coming with this name though. Unbelievable, tornados and hurricanes, volcanos kill hundreds of people a year in the U.S. but we still have tons of rides named after these weather events.

Tsunami is a kick tail end coaster... I got off it the first time i rode it saying what just happened to me in less than a minute..from first drop to end bunny hops it doesn't let up. the second hill has nice air and the helix that goes both up and down is unable to match words.

If i was gonna rename it to Jack Rabbit 2 though i would have used JR2 *** Edited 3/9/2005 5:24:50 PM UTC by dragonoffrost***

YAY...now that its renamed I get to count it twice!

mOOSH - yes, that was sarcasm.

Jack Rabbits can carry Tularemia, which if left untreated has a 30-35% death rate in humans.

http://www.scav.org/Tularemia%20Fact%20Sheet.htm

:)

*** Edited 3/9/2005 5:42:12 PM UTC by BullGuy***

lol bullguy ....

I've had it with the Political Correctness of the World. I am goiong to wear my Tsunami shirt proudly :-P

In a related news, Hersheypark has announced that all of its coasters will be renamed to simply Coaster ?#1, Coaster #2, Coaster #3, etc.

The reasons are as follows:

1) Great Bear: Bears can maul and kill people

2) Storm Runner: Best to take shelter, not run form a storm, lest you be killed by lightning or wind or flood waters

3) Lightning Racer: As with Storm Runner, take cover, don't try to race lightning... It's faster than you are and you could wind up dead.

4) Wildcat: As with Great Bears, wildcats can kill people

5) Wild Mouse: Mice carry desease, and are close relative to rats which cary Plague

6) Sidewinder: Poinsionous snake...

7) Trailblazer: Dual meaning: SUV by Chevy and according to the PC Police, SUV's kill people. Second meaning... westward expansion... two words... Donner Party.

8) Comet: It is well believed that a comet colision with the earth could cause a mass extinction event (remember the dinosaurs)... and the thought of mass extinction events are just too traumatic for most park goers to tolerate

9) Roller Soaker: Check the OSHA records. People are getting run over by steam rollers every day on construction sights

10) sooperdooperlooper: Well... no real bad connotation, but it is a silly word to say and having to say it in public could damage the self esteem of some more sensitive park goers. *** Edited 3/9/2005 5:56:04 PM UTC by SLFAKE***

I understand the concern CL has with the Tsunami name recognition. It
was a huge disaster and took an unheard of human toll. I guess in this
age of being "politically correct", they probably did what they thought
was best. I wonder if they would've changed the name had the death toll
not been so high??

Didn't I read yesterday that a MASSIVE Cyclone was getting ready to hit
the Great Neck of Australia?

I think it's stupid they changed the name. The Tsunami back in December was a huge tragedy and everything but I don't see the need for them to change the name. It's not like they named the coaster after the actual event. I know parks need to be somewhat on the conservative with names but I just don't see the name Tsunami being a big deal.

I could see if it was opening this year with the name. Then again it did open super late in the season so maybe they are thinking most people will think it's a new ride for 2005.

The name J2 or Jack Rabbit 2 is just a super lame name. They should have called it Son Of Jack Rabbit :)

Ok here's something that may have made them change the name.... They are now calling last year's opening a soft opening with the grand opening to be this season(information i got from the latest issue of Rollercoaster from ACE.)

Um, we already had a monster thread on this, and 175 people were injured or killed. Do we really need to do it again?

What's PC is very of-the-moment. The tsunami has been one of the biggest moments that has impacted world culture in this decade. To think that this wouldn't bug or offend some people is to not think like a marketer. It's not necessarily a bad thing if you don't, but amusement parks need to be sensitive to such things since they can affect the bottom line.

---

Mamoosh said:
YAY...now that its renamed I get to count it twice!

---

Amen to that!

Count it twice... absolutely!

See... when I rode it back in September, it was ony a "soft credit" to go along with the "soft opening" When it officially opens, we all get to count it again!

(Still trying to figure out how I can count Hersheypark's ill-fated, defunct-before-it-was-built Turbulence)

I think the issue has to do with the fact that the coaster is named after the IDEA of a Tsunami, not the actual Tsunami. Coasters like Hurricane, Cyclone, Tornado and Earthquake are named after the idea of those natural disasters and not specific instances. If some park were to name a coaster Hurricane Frances, I could see people getting upset, but the generic name of Hurricane seems fine to me. Let's not forget that the recent tsunami is not the only recorded tsunami in history.

But the opening of Tsunami was fairly close in date to the actual Tsunami and both the ride and the tragedy are still pretty fresh in people's minds. It isn't too far fetched to link the two. Especially since Clementon is touting the 2005 season as the official grand opening of the coaster - the same year as the Tsunamis. It could be unnerving for some people.

BTW: Isn't Triple Hurricane named for actual hurricanes? I guess that is somewhat different because Cypress *was* affected by the hurricanes and the coaster was a "hurricane survivor" of sorts.

I'm with C-Punk, here. It was a horrible tragedy, but does that mean that all coasters named Cyclone and Tornado should be changed, too? Especially in the plains? Names for coasters are created to employ scare tactics, that's the ideology behind the 'cool names.'

Well, dang it, if Clementon thinks it important....then, I do, too! I will ride soon, no matter what the name.

Yeah, the opening of Tsunami more or less coincided with the actual event but I still don't see that as reason to change the coaster's name. This is like changing the name of all coasters with the word "Jet" in the title (Jet Star, Jumbo Jet, etc.) because of the events of 9/11.

I feel for everyone affected by the recent tsunami but I think anyone drawing a line between the disaster and the coaster and getting offended by the connection needs to get a grip.