Rampage at Alabama Splash Adventure re-opens to ACE members

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20141022/NEWS/141029885/1291?...ster&tc=ar

I was wondering if anyone on here was able to check the ride out and see how its running? Never made it out there in the past myself but hope to in the near future.

That's completely odd timing. "Hey, we fixed it! Now it will be closed for six months."

Agree with you there, definitely interesting they didn't just wait until next season to make for more of a traditional grand opening. The only advantage I can see is it might help put the ride back on the radar for enthusiasts as something to make travel plans around going into next year if the reviews from those who got to ride were positive; but I doubt that would really make a substantial difference.

This Coaster was number five on mt top ten wooden coasters list (I hadn't separated the out-and-backs from the twisters when I rode it in 1999), It was "sandwiched" between the original SFOT Texas Giant and Blackpool's Grand National.

Whenever a coaster get's "reprofiled" or altered in some way I "bump" its original position to number ten on its list. (Since Texas Giant and Hades have been converted from wood to steel they will have to be ridden again before I can place them on my Steel List). Rampage will return to my list as my number 10 wood twister, as such it will be what I call "The Spoiler" (If a coaster wants to get on my list they have to get past this ride in order to get position, and with 480 rides on my list I have to say "Many have tried, and many have died, trying to get on that list. :)

I think the buzz around re-opening this ride now is perfect timing to remind people to get their 2015 season pass now.

I had a BUNCH of friends at the re-opening, and they said it was running *great*.

I think it was the orioginal plan to have it open by next season, but since their dry-rides park was closed, the refurb was able to get started earlier than any of the other parks needing rehab on their woodies - this way, whoever did the rehab on Rampage could be finished and move on to their other projects for the 2015 season. Seems likely/possible they got finished with Rampage earlier than they even anticipated, so they went ahead and had an enthusiast event to start getting the word out that AA is once again open for business as of 2015.

The first two "Rip Roarin' Rampage" events provided some amazing rides. Easily top 10 at the time. Glad that they were able to get the ride reopened. That park is still a tough sell, as the dry side will need some significant help. However, given the experience learned at Holiday World, I'm sure they'll do fine.

I just hope the politics of Bessemer and Birmingham don't conspire against them.

I just hope the box of ridiculousness that is Dan Koch doesn't conspire against them.

I'd say it is too.

And with Rampage's recent re-do are you sure it deserves a place on your list at all?

I swear, some of these convoluted ranking systems are enough to give me a headache. I couldn't begin (or want) to go back through my record and attempt to put them in order. Besides, some of these rides should be considered on a day-to-day basis...

I could never order them either. That's why it's only for amusement on the CB track record. It seems that giving people a choice of five ratings works pretty well when averaged.

I used to have a convoluted ranking system, with points assigned for ride experience, environment, theming, name and more. But, yeah, one through five is as much ranking as I need to do.

Rampage is awesome again, night rides will rank high, lots of lateral forces. Centi-Speed was running great as well but it was kinda predictable.

Somewhere in the Bat Cave, I have a piece of track from Rampage v1.0. And yes, it came from one of the RRR events. The lead ride mechanic was an older gentleman named Ed, and the ride was CRAZY.

Near the end of the night, we recruited some of the ops to fill in empty seats. They had never ridden it in those coniditions, apparently - their reactions were priceless.

Hi Jeff. Thanks for the comments. When we commenced work on the Rampage in April 2014, we were planning on having the new chain here by August 1 and the new train here by August 1. The chain did not arrive until October 14 due to customs issues and manufacturer delays at John King in the UK. Being friends with ACE, we thought it would be nice to have a fall affair which was organized by our team and Josh Herrington from ACE Southeast. It was a wonderful event. I wish you could have attended. We will have a spring grand opening for the Rampage with an invitation to all the media to attend. This fall event was done on the quiet to our friends from ACE Southeast and ACE members across the nation especially our good friend Josh Herrrington. If the chain supplier had delivered on time we would have had a grand opening for the general public in August and a special ACE event around that time. I wish we could have gotten the ride open during our 2014 season but it just didn't happen due to issues beyond our control. I would invite you and all on this forum to our event in 2015! We had a blast last Saturday. Thank you all. Dan Koch.

I probably could have attended if I was invited, but I didn't know anything about it.

It's all Josh Herrington's fault! LOL I left it up Josh to promote it only in the ACE community. It was a blast. Coaster is a champ. We couldn't perform track work all summer on the ride and not let somebody have some fun before the 2015 season. That seems very scrooge like. Woo hoo! We had pretty good attendance actually. Everyone who registered for the event showed up. 100 %. I think it was a blast but I will leave it to others to judge the coaster. It's going to get a little more tweaking in the off season but it is in great shape as it is now. We are real proud of it. You know what, I'll take a break and go ride it just for giggles this afternoon! Woo hoo!!! Hey and a great big thank you to Josh for his work promoting the event and helping it run so smoothly. Thank you to all those who attended. Dan Koch.

My FB feed was filled with info about the event. Sorry I couldn't make it...pretty sure 2015 will be a go.

Yeah, Josh promoted the hell out of it. I saw him talking about it non-stop, but it just wan't in the cards.

We had the track work done by August 1. It was a shame that the chain took so long. The good news is we did dynamic testing on the Wednesday before the event, so we can make some small track improvements and we listened to enthusiasts who attended the event as well so that when we reopen it for good in May 2015, the Rampage will be in the best riding condition it has ever been in. It was a $1,000,000 restoration including chain, train, sprockets, number 1 lumber, labor, steel, systems, etc. I believe it was money well spent. I hope people on this forum can enjoy this ride in 2015. Dan Koch.

Looks like a good ride. Hope you can make the place work.