The real "What is Holiday World up to?" thread
Beast Fan said:That is why I sometimes don't like coaster enthusiast. They think they know everything about coasters and don't appreciate what the engineers, maintance workers, ride operators or others for all their hard work that lets you and others enjoy them. I personally feel that PKI wood coaster maintance does a great job. I guess you don't but I have first hand experience on how hard they work.Your opinion might be more valid if you had other experts in the industry that agree with you. I am waiting for someone that is in the industry to back what I am saying. Correct me if I am wrong but I don't think you have an engineering degree, worked on maintance at any park, or likely worked as anything at an amusemement park. You don't seem like much of an expert on this topic, and I don't care how many coasters you have ridden.
Woah there big boy. All I said was that I was hurt pretty severely by Beast and SOB when I rode the two on June 1st. It has nothing to do with the maintenance team or their ethics. Also I don't see why my opinion is void when so many people are complaining to guest services about their roughness. It might be true that they are the best people in the world and it could be true that they are doing their best...however in this case, their best is not good enough. Beast and SOB are very unrideable anymore. I was truely disappointed with my visit to PKI. Beast used to be my #2 woodie, but there is no way I could even consider it in my top 20 let alone the top 5. Also I don't remember seeing anywhere where I flaunted how many coasters I had ridden. Nothing says that I have to enjoy the same coasters that you do, that's the interesting part about our hobby. But there is no way that you cannot come to the conclusion that both of those woodies are rough.
With that being said, we enjoyed our ride on Beastie - that coaster is BY FAR the best woodie in the park.
Beast Fan, I wish you could have taken some of the coaster rides I have taken in the past two weekends. Visiting Conneaut Lake, Kennywood, Cedar Point and Geauga Lake, I have taken some rides on insanely great wood coasters, most of which are far better than anything that Kings Island is offering these days. A lot of it has to do with the trains. Why Kings Island, the #1 seasonal amusement park in the USA, is the ONLY Paramount park that runs butchered up PTC trains that run poorly, have no padding in them, and have their lap bars configured so far out of spec that they are darned near impossible to ride, is something I'll never understand. But that's the situation today, and it does nothing but make the maintenance crew's job that much harder. The Conneaut Lake Blue Streak runs like crap, but the train is cushioned like a rolling sofa, and that covers up for an awful lot of sins. On the other hand, The Beast runs fairly well by comparison, but I end up so tightly wedged into the seat that by the time the train gets to the second lift I'm beat up and ready to get off. Then on a hot day when the track starts bouncing...well, is it any wonder that on my last two visits to PKI I didn't even bother with The Beast, and last time I skipped the Racer as well? It's because those rides simply aren't any fun anymore. I'd much rather go to ride Cedar Point's Blue Streak (even with its butchered-up train...at least its lap bars are adjusted right...) or better still , the Kennywood Jack Rabbit, which is more than 80 years old and still runs like it is brand new.
Do us, and ultimately yourself, a favor, Beast Fan. Get past your emotional connection to The Beast long enough to actually examine it critically, and go ride some other rides out there that are truly great rides. Broaden your experience and see what it is we're talking about.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
As for PKIs marvelous wood coaster maintenance, only one wood coaster I rode there on Wednesday was smooth (Racer forwards). Beast (to me) was OK, it was rough, but not unbearably so. (Racer backwards was closed and I already had the credit for Beastie, so I didn't ride those.) And, yes, I did try (yet so foolishly again) SoB - hellish pain incarnate.
--George H
Katie
Kiddie wood coaster - fits their demographics perfectly
If we're lucky it'll be duo'd with an adult wood coaster and add a few rides, maybe a carousel.
Btw, anyone else know of a park with 2 wave pools?
Back to topic:
All I know is that I love Holiday World so much I dont care if they ever add another rollercoaster or not...I will still go there at least every couple of years or so. But adding another coaster will definitely draw for them. I do agree a kiddie woodie would be a great idea for them. I just dont think that this is the year for the kiddie woodie.
Have Fun
Paul Drabek
Negative-G Amusement Parks and Rollercoasters: www.Negative-G.com
"the skid brakes were not that reliable way of stopping a train. They did not work well in rain and a train colided back in 2001, because of the rain and skid brakes. The ride needed an update braking system..."
WRONG! The brakes "jammed". It was one of those freak accidents... but enough for them to consider alternative methods.
john: It doesn't matter. The fact remains that skid brakes are not as reliable as fin brakes, because under certain conditions it is possible for a skid brake to fail even though fully applied. Many of us have seen it happen...all it takes is a lot of water, a lot of speed, and a fully-loaded train. Magnetic brakes are easily the best technological innovation to hit roller coasters in decades, and Jeff, the reason The Beast gets criticized for it and Jack Rabbit does not is because of the way they were applied. Jack Rabbit doesn't have any mid-course trim brakes; The Beast does, and on The Beast the brakes are in some very odd locations. Such as at the top of every major drop on that ride.
Pink Floyd Fanatic: How can you be sure that the structural steel we've been shown so far isn't for a Shoot-The-Chutes ride? They could do it Worlds of Fun style, so the ride can be accessed from either the main park or from the waterpark, depending on your mood...
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
Closed topic.
