Offseason Visit to MIA...Corkscrew is ORANGE!!

I've said it once, and I'll say it again, the paint on Corkscrew and Gemini's station is most likely left over from Talon.
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"It's always great for us to put the newest and the best rides into the roller coaster capitol of the world" Sandor Kernacs 11/20/01

Did you see anything new when you went to your friends house, Kara?

Ok, you have my permission to go punch Brad now;)(just kidding Brad!)...I told him to tell you I'll have pics up this weekend:). It was really bad conditions to take pics last weekend. Hang in there, two more days! Thanks for having such a great interest in my park!

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Kara
403 Laps

John, you fall if someone LOOKS at you.

How could all these enthusiasts NOT have an interest in the home of CCI's most beloved airtime machine (next to Raven, that is)?
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Moxie: Not quite Cola, not quite Root Beer, not quite Asphalt!
Model coasters and rides: www.angelfire.com/oh4/tk173

Kara, when you go can you see the corkscrew station?  Thats the part that really is gonna have changes done to it if they paint the track.  I felt like I was in a damp basement the last time I was in the corkscrew station.  What a weird but also kinda cool station.

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Mike
Favorite Wood: Viper at SFGAM, Shivering Timbers
Favorie Steel: Magnum and Raging Bull

Thanks Kara, I really appreciate your helpfulness. When your over there again, check to see if they moved the Thunderbolt yet. I think its gonna be relocated, from what your photos show.

I finally got up to ol' MIA back in 2000, and I had wanted to go since like 1988 or so, so yes Kara, I really take interest in that park!

Well, let me start this entry off with how much I hate @home stockholders right now…
Ok, now that that is established let me tell you about yesterday’s visit to MIA;). My park is changing…a lot. Everything is moved around and there is some really weird stuff going on. John, the Tbolt has officially been moved. Its parts are smack dab in the middle of the midway by Timbers. I have my money on it going where Trabant was. Music blasting over by Timbers, now that will be something to get used to. Where Tbolt used to be are piles of dirt, I am also guessing this is where the bumper cars will go. What caught my eye right away is the presence of two cranes and lots of trucks by Timbers. I looked closer and there were two men on the second hill, placing new boards underneath the track. The first hill had already been outfitted with these new boards. Maybe you guys can help me out…is this normal for a coaster of this age? The trucks seemed to be hauling stuff back and forth…this could be for the addition of the train in this area. The Corkscrew is done being painted; it has teal supports with the orange track, except the inversions were left kind of a yellow color. The station has been left white. The entire thing looks kind of like the Dolphins football team. I’ll reiterate myself in saying that I really like the new looks of this, and I cannot wait to take that first drop rust-free. There was also a man in Corkscrew’s structure for a brief time. This is the first weekend visit that I have actually seen work going on, go CF! In the parking lot by Mad Mouse there were piles of rusted steel beams…I have no idea what these are for. Also, the tubs are off the ferris wheel now. On a whole, the park is a major construction area at present. We left in the glow of the holiday lights on ST…truly breathtaking.
This visit really made me think of how changed my park will be when it reopens in May. Everything will be moved around, Corkscrew will be different, new things will be in place, Snoopy characters will be walking around…it’s crazy, but part of me doesn’t recognize this as good change. I know and love Cedar Fair, but it is just hard to see my park in complete disarray right now. The other part of me knows to trust CF and trust that this will improve MIA greatly. In any case, I am definitely looking forward to seeing it all come together for the park opening next season. I took lots of pics for you guys, but they are in the process of being developed right now. It was pretty dark again; cloud cover in Muskegon has been a constant for a while now, so I hope they turn out for all of you to see. And with me only being able to get on internet at friends’ houses, you will have to be patient;).

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Kara
403 Laps

I don't know what to think about old Timbers. Not sure what they are doing there....
As for piles of dirt and torn up areas, Cedar Fair are ruthless in putting in taller fences and concrete, and making long wide pathways (which is of course a good thing), I think that they are going to fill in some of those watery areas near Falling Star or refurbish them so they look better. They will also be planting more trees and shrubs and installing new benches. By the end of the year next year, you will see footers for lights.... and probally a new coaster.

Don't worry about losing the Trabant. Cedar Far rarely take out a carnival ride, though I still wonder why Choas is off the Website ride list...... I think the area where T-Bolt was, and the two kiddie rides, there will be midway. T-Bolt will probally move over near Timbers and Wildcat. Wildcat "may" get a second train.....not sure on that one yet, and Trabant will probally get refurbished. The two kiddie rides will probally get moved back in the kiddie area, and have new fences like the ones at camp Snoopy at CP.

Nooooooooooooooo!!!!!! Not the 'Corkscrew' sign!!! Anything but that!

While it certainly was kinda chintzy, I started to like its rough-cut, homespun look.  To me, it procliamed:  This is a family park, built with my own two hands, sweat and tears.  I'll miss it.

Can you see any work in the waterpark at all?  (i.e. repairs on rusting stairs)  Let me know.

As for the work on ST...CF coasters get a lot of off-season TLC.  I live about 20 minutes from VF and get to see a fair amount of it.  In the 6 years WT (our local hyper) has been up, 70% of it has been completely retracked and repainted. Excalilbur (our mine train) has had 1/2 to 2/3 of the ride completely rebuilt--track, supports and all--in the last 2-3 seasons.  I'd like to see what they could do for Wolverine Wildcat with a decent maintenance budget.

Thanks Kara for your pics and observations.  I truly appreciate them.  Hope to meet you sometime this summer when I bring CoastaBaby and Da Midget.

-CPlaya

Just adding some to what Kara was saying.  I went by saturday and spent about 45 minutes milling about and watching the construction workers.  Timbers is merely getting some tlc...replacement of cracked boards yadda yadda.  When I was there, T-Bolt was in the parking lot over in the shop area, so maybe it was moved into the midway saturday afternoon or something, I'm not sure.  Kinda curious about Corkscrew....the paint job looks to be the first coat only.  Yes the track is orange and gold in the inversion with teal supports, but it is a dull color, not glossy.  I'm thinking this is merely the initial coat with a finish coat coming after winter leaves us.  Then again, Mantis and ID are both pretty dull at CP, so who knows.  YES I did see work happening in the waterpark.  There was a crew working in a cherry picker underneath some stairs.  Some kind of repairs were definately happening on the stairs. 

From what I understand and what I have been told, Chaos is "supposed" to be removed and will not operate in the park.  That was in October and I haven't heard anything different on that one, what about you Kara?  I thought I saw you post something to the contrary earlier about that.  If this is the case, I wouldn't be surprised to see T-Bolt sitting over the hole that once was Chaos next season.  BTW, I believe those rails were the supports for T-Bolt's previous location.  I believe T-Bolt was sitting on concrete pads and those beams spanned the pads connecting to each support footer on the ground.  We may see Trabant positioned between ST and WW in the new expansion area.  The park is going to start moving in that direction, so that just may be a possible site for it.  Haven't seen any work yet on the "Ripcord" yet...no footers from my vantage points.  I'm off tomorrow, so I may swing by and go talk with Steve Mark and see what he might be able to shed some light on.  Till the morrow folks, I hope I have some more info for ya's.

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If you show up then you're there....

Interesting.......

So Kara..where are my picts? :)

OK...to make a long story short, the pics I took the other night didn't turn out. So, I borrowed a digital camera from my school(mine is STILL getting fixed thanks to a certain roller coaster, or maybe it was a cbuzz member;)...), and got some really sweet pics yesterday. The problem is, it uses the small cds to store the pics and they won't load on the cdrom drive on any of our computers. I hooked it up with the USB port, but it needs a program to run it on which the school won't give to me. I think the program is CDdirect which I have on my computer...but my computer is currently being redone, anyone know where I can download it? It's a bad week. My internet still isn't working and Timbers lost by one vote in the poll. Feel my pain, people.
Anyway, those steel rods were from TBolt(I noticed those signature light bulbs this time;)). I was actually thinking Tbolt could possibly go between the Timbers queue and Chaos, in that corner. Otherwise, I am afraid it could go where Trabant is/was. I highly doubt it will go between ST and WW because of where the Tbolt parts are and because there is a lot of stuff already going in the areas over there. Last I heard from the park people Chaos is staying, which makes sense because they had the restraints and stuff back on shortly after the incident. Fences in parts of the park have been outfitted with the little green and white blinders, I assume this will spread to all the fencing eventually. I don't know about another train on WW, but they'd better get a new one on Corky...if not than that would be a really bad fashion statement with the new paint job;). Hope to get the pics up soon...sorry guys! 168 more days, I don’t know if I will make it.

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Kara
403 Laps

Choas is an interesting issue that the park has to deal with. I am really anxious to see what Cedar Fair are going to do. It was one of their first accidents in the chain and I really don't see the point of keepng it there. They should just refurbish it and send it out to Knotts or Dorney. Any clue on how the people are doing that were injured?

It would not surprise me if the T-Bolt does get moved over the Choas hole. Its probally their best option. Next year I am guessing those pathways will really be widened and there would be more rash cans and a ton of benches.

It will be all good. I am glad I got to visit the park in 2000, it will be neat to see the changes

I'm really happy to hear the pathways might be widened. My first trip to MIA was this past season and the path to Timbers was jammed with people waiting for the log ride. That was one of this first things I felt should be rectified. I also hope they keep Chaos.

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead

This happened to me once, I drove by SFEG and all of a sudden the Sidewinder was green,  it looked really weird and come to think of it, it still does. 

What is be Bop Blvd?

Be Bop is a Morgan Electric Car ride. The ride is supposed to play music while the fiberglass cars scoot along the track. Not a mega thrill ride, but enjoyable just the same

Hey KARA, anything else new? How is my Timbers? Hope you had a good Christmas!

Your Timbers? I think you're mistaken :). ST is just fine...looking good with the snow! There's something about the snow that just adds to the entire thing. I know I have yet to get you the Corky pics, but hopefully I can round some up real soon. Maybe even some winter shots :). Oh yea..and just for all of you who know the "I almost got arrested at SFWOA" thread...I've been there and almost had that happen to me! I guess the honking and yelling at my guys working up on Timbers made the cop driving by suspicious, so he came and parked there...never said a word to me though! See what I go through for you guys? Had an awesome Christmas, hope yours was just as great. My baby debuts in 147 days, with TFest being in 170 days. Will I make it? I don't know...

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Kara
403 Laps

Nope.... still my Timbers, even though I have only been there once...... :)

It's good to see they are pounding away at making that park even better for 02!

Any new news on Corkscrew?

Going to slide by in about an hour and get y'all an update.  Sorry for the delay...
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If you show up then you're there....