Stratosphere removing High Roller

Gator, did you ride before or after they dropped a kid to the ground?

I rode it before they even put in X-Scream and Insanity.

I wish I could have rode one of those more recent rides.

Definitelt "selective preservation", as in, I don't care at all about the coaster being removed. It's not old enough to be historical (unless you count a dull coaster built on top of a tall tower being worthy of the history books) and it's not enjoyable enough to fight for. If it was a 50 year old wood coaster that gave a thrill or two I'd be complaining, but it's a lousy steel coaster that does nothing but go in circles. Let them remove it- I want to see what they can do with that space!

Thats a coaster I tried twice to ride, Both times out at Vegas, once Oct 2000 and then November 2004.

Oh well, I guess it just wasen't ment for me to ride.

No love loss here, especially if they decide to up the ante and get something more terrifying than X-Scream up on top there...now THAT'S the scariest ride I've ever done!

Joe "And I'm going to be jumping out of a plane from 15,000ft in one week now!" C.

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Definitely "selective preservation", as in, I don't care at all about the coaster being removed.

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I think we had this same conversation before, but...

Then I would hope you understand how someone could not care about an old rotting woodie in the same way.

In either case I say, "TAER IT DOWN!!!1!!1!1!" :)

Sorry Rob but I can't put High Roller in the same class as say a Williams Grove Cyclone or Texas Cyclone on the preservation aspect. One, It's not really a rollercoaster IMHO but a powered ride. Two, It was built for the view and not thrills.

I say good riddence. Replace it with a flying scooter and a couple other rides.

Chuck

Uh, Charles, High Roller is not a powered coaster. It has a tire lift after the station, then runs through the rest of the course via gravity.

Rihard asked: "Gator, did you ride before or after they dropped a kid to the ground?"

I rode a couple days BEOFRE the incident, then returned on *that* day (hoping to try it again), only to show up about an hour or two after the accident. It was eerie in that no one was *around* the tower, and finding out exactly WHAT happened took considerable effort. I fonally got the full story when I got home. Honestly, what resulted in the accident, IMO, was that they took out the *routine* light-signal when the net is in the UP position under the idea that with such a SHORT fall that a visual inspection would be effective....

Back to HR, I have gotten more *intense* rides on powered coasters, esp. PCW's....but anything you do at THAT height is at least going to be exciting, if you have any reasonable fear of heights...

Joe C, have you tried Insanity, I *think* that would have been equally terrifying (similar to X-Scream)...I will get to ride that thing yet! :)

Well, I'm gonna go ahead and share this experience again... just cause it's on topic. I have only ever been truly scared on a roller coaster a couple of times. One of them was on the High Roller... Because:

1) It's a mild ride that goes around in circles above the ground....

... 900 FEET above the ground!!! :-)

It just... I mean, that was it was just... really high. O.o

-Escher

I will be extremely angry UNLESS they put in some sweet rideS. So that brings up the question of what is next.

I would love it if they kept the footers and added a new coaster with some sweet barrol rolls.

Chuck- Read again... I'm not saying that High Roller deserves to be in a category with the Williams Grove Cyclone or Texas Cyclone, I'm saying that it isn't, IMO ;)

You're right Gonch, we have had this conversation before...

I'm not saying that everyone on this site should care about every endangered coaster. I don't care too much about the fate of the High Roller and I don't expect everyone to care about the fate of Libertyland's Zippin Pippin... one man's junk is another man's treasure and vice-versa. What bothers me is when people get all bent out of shape when someone suggests preserving a ride. I can't get behind some kind of effort to save High Roller (if there was one) but I would respect those that wanted to (if they were out there). Consequently, I don't expect anyone to berate me or insult my desire to see Clementon's Jack Rabbit preserved.

Since coaster enthusiasm doesn't seem to be about coasters anyone, I guess it's now about tolerance...

Wooden coasters just have that certain something that makes them *timeless*...maybe it has to do with the idea of "continuos rebuilding", that a wooden coaster is ALWAYS...a work in progress.

If I were to ride, say, CI Cyclone, with someone who'd ridden it in its inagural season, I'd treasure that experience always.

Steel coasters ARE worth preserving, IMO, but the nostalgia factor is NEVER going to equal that of a woodie...IMO.

Part of the reason there's not much incentive to 'preserve' steel coasters is that so few of them are unique. All the steel coasters being sold from SFAW have exact duplicates at other SF parks (and probably some others, too) - moving them or even demolishing them doesn't eliminate their existence. On the other hand, every woodie is one of a kind.

Getting back to High Roller, I suspect part of the reason there's no great cry over its demise is that everything in Vegas is temporary - the Stratosphere itself will probably be gone in another 20 years, so saving the rides would be a brief victory in any case.

GWH

*** This post was edited by GWHayduke 12/27/2005 11:04:27 PM ***

Not to say that one's preference is more important than another, but I don't think it can be argued that saving a 7-Eleven built in 1980 is just as important as saving a historic farmhouse from 1880. Maybe that is why people want to see Americana's Screechin' Eagle saved but really don't care about Stratosphere's High Roller.

But if the year were 2105, would that 7-11 now be worth saving?

Or if it were 1905 would the farmhouse be worth saving?

My mother and father in law are in Vegas, I had my wife relay the message to pick up any cheap souveniors.

Score, oh and I finally got my credit back in October.

Maybe not, but it's not 1905 or 2105, it's 2005 and old farmhouses are scarce while 7-Elevens are everywhere, just like there are countless steel coasters but only a handful of John Miller, John Allen and Herb Schmeck coasters around. Honestly, when have you ever seen a group of people lobby for the preservation of a 7-Eleven or a Sheetz? Probably never, but I'm sure you have heard of people trying to save historic buildings and landmarks. There is a reason for that.

Ok, just establishing the age thing. (as you mentioned it in passing earlier as well)

So if we had torn down all the Miller, Allen and Schmeck coasters before they turned 20 or 30 years old, then it would've been ok?

Just for example, according to RCDB there are currently 13 John Allen designed coasters operating. In comparison there are only 15 Curtis Summers designed coasters operating. So why no rally cry to preserve the rare when Hercules was torn down? This is all I can come up with:

-Age? The worst argument of all because we could just remove these rides on a whim as long as it was within a certain time never giving them the chance to achieve this status in the first place.
-Quality? Seems awfully subjective. I mean obviously you care about these coasters, but I could care less if I ever ride another Herbert Schmeck creation again. More than likely the same could be reproduced with superior results or something superior altogether created. So who wins? Me in the name of progress or you in the name of preservation?
-Rarity? Can't be given the Allen/Summers example. Or High Roller.
-A combo of all three? Makes no sense to me as I can't figure out how to make three flawed criteria into one solid one.

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...there are countless steel coasters but only a handful of John Miller, John Allen and Herb Schmeck coasters around.

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I'd be inclined to say there are countless wooden coasters, but only one roller coaster that circles the top of a hotel/tower 900+ feet in the air.

And there problably never will be again. Seems to me to be more worth saving than something that's a dime a dozen (wooden coasters) or even relatively rare (a Miller, Allen or Schmeck woodie).

Then again, I'm arguing that side just for the sake of debate. I think it's great that progress is being made, advancements are embraced and the future is allowed to happen. Screw High Roller - show me what's next!

And assuming all things being equal and being forced to make the choice of removing wither that 7-11 or the farmhouse in favor of something new, I'd drop the farmhouse in a second. The 7-11 would continue to be a viable business and if it didn't the structure would be much more suitable for future use than an old farmhouse of questionable build and limited use.

I guess in the end, I'm taken aback a bit by (what I get the impression of, at least) is you're general devaluation of the current. What is the current but tomorrow's past? The same past you seem to think is so important when it comes to coasters.

I'd argue in favor of preserving the LAST remaining 7-11, but at the same time I'd be glad there was only one left. I worked for the corporation many years ago, and I can tell you they're really only a viable business if your name is Apu and you're a cartoon character. It was all pretty much a scam to sell franchises, leaving the franchisee making just enough money to keep them from quitting, at least for a while.

More to the point of steel coasters vs woodies, 7-11's are all alike - there are something like 6 or 7 possible floor plans. Same with steel coasters - I've ridden the exact same coaster, painted different colors and with a different name, in a dozen different amusement parks. There should always be one operating Boomerang (or Cobra, or whatever else your local park calls it), but I'd hardly get upset if my local park took out theirs, because there are more and I can still go ride it somewhere if I get the yen.

The classic woodies were all individually designed. The vast majority of modern steel coasters are out-of-the-catalog purchases from one of several manufacturers. Whatever your favorite steel coaster is, if you have the money and the space you could have one identical to it operating in your back yard 90 days from now. Because they're both so plentiful and so easily duplicatable, there's no urgency involved in their preservation. To use your simile, if woodies are a dime a dozen, then steel coasters are a nickel a hundred.

GWH