Knoebels Flying Turns faces more issues, Black Diamond delayed

RGB, mid summer last year, there was talk at the park that the coaster portion might be ready to open for PPP, but obviously not the theming. Then at PPP Dick seemed to indicate they were on track for opening day. I guess I misunderstood his comments at the post event gathering.

And then at Eastcoaster, I didn't catch any details that it would or wouldn't be ready for opening day. I was really surprised by this announcement. Oh well not like I need any more reason to go there. 16.5 hours 'til my first Cheese On a Stick of the season!

It was said at EastCoaster that it probably wouldn't be ready for opening day. I'm sure the fact that they made a late decision to enclose the last of the track had a little to do with it. The flooding couldn't have helped either.

Acoustic Viscosity said:
RGB, mid summer last year, there was talk at the park that the coaster portion might be ready to open for PPP, but obviously not the theming. Then at PPP Dick seemed to indicate they were on track for opening day. I guess I misunderstood his comments at the post event gathering.

And then at Eastcoaster, I didn't catch any details that it would or wouldn't be ready for opening day. I was really surprised by this announcement. Oh well not like I need any more reason to go there. 16.5 hours 'til my first Cheese On a Stick of the season!

Do the sticks come from Knoebels Lumber too?

I doubt it. But whomever makes all those sticks for all the "food on a stick" in the world is making a killing!

Jason Hammond said:
It was said at EastCoaster that it probably wouldn't be ready for opening day.

I was there and somehow I missed that statement. Oh well.

Or maybe it was CoasterBash. The off season events all seem to blend together. :-)

So, although I'm disapointed Black Diamond wasn't open this weekend, it did allow for DAFE and ACE to have a construction tour for the Opening Day event. I just uploaded some photos.

http://coasterbuzz.com/Forums/Thread/58740.aspx

I've heard that Knoebels has put a lot of money into Flying Turns- more than they expected- so it makes sense they keep pushing forward. At this point it's probably better to keep investing so the ride can eventually open and accept paying customers, rather than writing off a huge investment... even if, at times, it seems like throwing good money after bad. I am perplexed by why a bunch of "experts" can't figure it out- maybe the mistake was building something exactly like the originals? After all, there's probably a very good reason why only a few Flying Turns were built and hardly any of them lasted a significant amount of time. Did the rides not run correctly from the very beginning and basically destroyed themselves over time? If so, Knoebels is probably trying to engineer their version so that doesn't end up being the case,

I can only speak about the Euclid Beach flying turns, which was the largest one built. It lasted until the park closed in 1969 and was always running smoothly when I went to the park. I was 11 during the final year of Euclid Beach so I was big enough to ride the ride often. Let me tell you, it was an awesome ride, much more intense and fun then the Intamin or Mack bobsleds. There were no issues with the ride tearing itself apart or anything like that.

The Flying Turns concept came to fruition at the eve of the Great Depression of the 1930's. Few parks had the financial resources to build what was a cutting edge ride at that time. My understanding is that most of the nine original rides were built as concessions in conjunction with PTC, which later sold their interest in the rides. By the time the business began picking up again, there was little interest in a high ride that required more upkeep than a standard coaster. I believe that out of the nine only four survived into the "Disney era", Euclid Beach (1930-1969), Forest Park (1934-1963), Riverview Park (1935-1967), and an independent operation on Coney Island (1940-early 1970's, from 1939 NY Worlds Fair) The remaining five had succumbed to high maintenance costs or fires.

RatherGoodBear said:
Are you sure, Matt? I thought they had just decided on or had approved the theming around the time of PPP. I remember Dick making some kind of comment about the proposals being nice, but that Knoebels wasn't Disney.

One of the guys who storyboarded the BD told me that. That the storyboard was way too expensive, but turns out he got the job. The successor of Bill Tracy (the guy who themed the original Golden Nugget) is doing the work now.

It sounds like it's going to be pretty cool

http://www.dafe.org/articles/insideIndustry/jimMelonicBlackDiamond.html