"The Villan"-Demolition or Relocation

I know Ghostrider. Ghostrider is a friend of mine. Villian is no Ghostrider!

There are way too many CCI coasters that were "great the first year." Most of those rides are rough now, few parks can maintain them properly.

Now, back to Big Dipper. Cept for a few rough spots (or seats) that ride has run great, since what, 1921 or something?

I loved Villain too, even when it was rough I still managed to enjoy it., its really out of control, and probably too out of control for those trains to be able to track very well. In the last few years it has felt like it the wheels never really rolled.

1925 or 1926, depending on who you believe. But I'll admit the Dipper has had its ups and downs. The thing was so bad it had to be rebuilt in the early 80s and in 2003 I recall it being very uncomfortable. A lot of work was done soon after to make it very enjoyable.

I rode Villian once in 2005. The ride made Mean Streak feel smooth!

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Mamoosh said:
I know Ghostrider. Ghostrider is a friend of mine. Villian is no Ghostrider!

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I wholeheartedly agree with that statement. I rode GhostRider before The Villain -- having heard the comparisons, and believe me, I got off thinking The Villain is miles and miles from being anything close to the ride GhostRider is. Gerstlauer trains or not, GhostRider has a much more dynamic layout than The Villain and overall a much, much better coaster.

I remember thinking after The Villain..."people have this in their top 10?"

And I know people who state the exact oposite :)

Fact is, It's a good coaster, can be and should be and is a prime candidate for relocation and getting rid of that POS maintainence nightmare Mean Streak. Simply putting it's trains on Villain will be a big difference.

Chuck

Villain was a REALLY good ride in its infancy. Intensity-wise, it was on the level of GhostRider when I first got there. But any comparisons end there. GhostRider's *layout* is interesting, neither twister nor O-n-B, but incorporates some of the best of both. A park that has something like GR can operate a "true" twister or O-n-B without creating too much competition for wooden-coastering guests. One of the reasons there's no chance of CP getting Villain (IMO, as always) is that Blue Streak would be in direct competition with it...and right now, BS would kick Villain's butt, LOL.

Dave said: "Villian would run *great* with a set of 2-bench PTC trains."

Thanks Dave. :)

LOL, seriously, it is powerful, but the trains are nothing short of devastating to the riders AND the ride. Increase the banking on the turns during the relocation (a la Fetterman) drop in a set of short-base PTCs...maybe even the new single-row version, and you'd have a seriously good ride. One that CF would be well-served to move to...? Have to admit, I kinda think ThunderHawk at Dorney has that *creative layout*, and that Villain might work there. WoF's Timber Wolf, OTOH, is too much of an O-n-B to be a serious candidate for Villain, as is the case with PGA's Grizzly. Those parks might both be considered candidates for RWB....if CF was going to keep it running - not esp. likely, eh? ;)

Maybe RWB could move to CP and replace MS? :)

The Villan appearing at Cedar Point, yeah right, especially since they loveeee having Mean Streak around...............LOL!

I bet CP would consider Villain a B&M compared to Mean Streak's maintenance needs. :)

Who ever said that a park could only have one of any type of coaster at any given time?

If that's the case, then why was Cedar Point able to have High Frolics and Leap the Dips side by side along what is now the main midway? For that matter, why do they have both Blue Streak and Magnum XL-200 today? How can Holiday World justify having both the Raven and the Legend? Kennywood with both Racer and Jack Rabbit built on the same ravine? For years, the Double Loop and Corkscrew co-existed at Geauga Lake. Why?

The point is, just because a park has a ride that has something in common with another ride doesn't necessarily tell you whether that new ride is a good fit for the park in question. The question is, is the ride a good fit for the park?

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

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WoF's Timber Wolf, OTOH, is too much of an O-n-B to be a serious candidate for Villain, as is the case with PGA's Grizzly. Those parks might both be considered candidates for RWB

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RWB resembles Timber Wolf more than Villan. When I first rode the Raging Wolf Bobs it was obvious that it came from the same designer, the flat banked turns being the dead giveaway. I actually considered Raging Wolf Bobs a "mini Timber Wolf" and I really don't think it would help diversify WOF's coaster offerings.

Even though I prefered RWB to Villan, Villan would be a better addition to WOF (but not as good as Big Dipper). *** Edited 9/27/2007 11:58:38 PM UTC by WOF Guy***

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RideMan said:Who ever said that a park could only have one of any type of coaster at any given time?

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That's taking it a bit far, LOL. More to where I was going is that there's a *tendency* to want to diversify your offerings. You can certainly have whatever you want to have, but for the most part, a park would like to appeal to as broad an audience as possible. That's just good business sense.

Wooden coasters have a bad rep among the GP for being "too rough". Villain certainly could meet that definition in the eyes of most, so if it's going anywhere, hopefully it'll get some much needed "smoothening". hopefully without losing too much of the intensity... ;)
*** Edited 9/28/2007 2:54:26 AM UTC by rollergator***