Timberland Twister & Spinning Dragons

I'm sure that not very many people have had the chance to ride both of the new "spinning coasters" yet, but for those who have not ridden either - they need to be on your "to do" list this summer.

So is one better than the other? Well since SD has only been open one weekend, it is hard to tell. From my personal experiences, TT seems to spin a lot more, however TT has also been open for a month - which might be the reason. SD lacks the "headchopper" that Ripsaw creates for TT, but SD feels more "open" and to me that is a plus. I'm kind of claustrophobic, and some of the "tight squeezes" that TT produces are not of my liking. Atmosphere of the two rides is a toss up, as I really like the themeing that WOF created for SD, but the "woodsy" feeling of TT is really cool too.

Oh what the heck, they are S.H.O.T.S. and you need to ride them. To check out the differences that I am talking about see here.

Timberland Twister
http://midwestinfoguide.com/moa/new.html

Spinning Dragons
http://midwestinfoguide.com/worlds/new.html

It really looks nice. Did you think that the general public was satisfied with SD? I like to see WoF do well, and I hope that this can keep them interested for one year.

I have to say from the pictures that TT still looks much better, but I haven't seen either of them in person.

Zero-G: yes

*** Edited 4/20/2004 3:23:06 AM UTC by Word***

Although SD looks great, it just looks... bare... all by itselft. Timberland Twister seems to fit the park it's in better than SD. Did they take out a lot of trees? Wasn't Express pretty surrounded in trees?

*** Edited 4/20/2004 3:24:01 AM UTC by GoliathKills***

Would it KILL Cedar Fair to use some greenery? Why didn't they plant any grass or shrubbery? There's simply too many wood-chips!

Yuck.

The setting has a lot to do with the overall aesthetics of the ride. I agree that the trees around TT, and the fact that it interacts with the other rides of the park (come on - they had to shoehorn the thing in there) makes all the difference. They are both neat rides to look at no matter the location. The rides are very re-rideable and the response from those getting off the ride, seemed very positive. Phil Bender and Dick Kenzel spent a good portion of the morning watching the guest's reactions to the ride. This is definitely a S>H>O>T>S> ride and I think that WOF will do very well this season with this "small cap" expenditure. Next year it seems that we'll see something even bigger go right behind SD.

Yes, Zero-G SD is a clone of TT.

VolcanoTBC, there are some shrubs and "oriental plants" planted around the plaza. Close ups of those will be in the next update, I was more concerned with getting pictures of the ride up.

They did have to take out a lot of the grown up trees of the Orient section when they put in this ride. They had to do this because they removed a hill. They have planted new saplings, and when they have time to mature they will be more evident. They have also planted grass up on the hill between the queue and Skyliner. Also they planted grass between the SD station and the old Orient station.

Which one is better? Ask again in December!

But there's no shrubbery inside the ride area. That fountain would look GREAT surrounded by grass and shrubs. I would hate to wait in that queue line without any shade, too.

In any case it looks like a great ride. Too bad Cedar Fair really lacks in the landscaping department.

S>H>O>T>S>
Sleeper Hits of The Summer™ - Moosh

That is one thing that I'm worried about. SD is will be subjected to the elements and TT won't, which makes me wonder if SD will age quicker. CP, you better believe that I'll make the voyage up to MOA during the winter, but then again ask me in December which state is better MN or MO, we can ride a B&M you can't. :)

-SS™

(Edited to comment on Volcano's post.)
There is landscaping, you just can't tell from the pictures - check back Thursday when I have the "park update" photos up.

*** Edited 4/20/2004 3:42:56 AM UTC by Swoosh***

Isn't it snowing in Minnesota right now? You might as well live in Canada! ;)

Glad to hear these things are fun!

I'll check back, but it's already evident from the pictures you have posted that there's no landscaping inside the ride area. Look at the picture with the fountain-- it's just surrounded by wood-chips.

It looks good without trees IMO. Also, they were trying as hard as they could to get it open as soon as they could. With that in mind, they could be planning on adding some trees and such during the weekdays when the park is closed.

If TT spins more the SD, which seems to be the concensus, then I am glad I have only ridden SD so far. I was ok on SD until sitting on the brake run while the car was spinning and spinning and spinning before the damper system stopped it. Got me a little urpsey.
Was impressed with the end run bunny hills and their airtime. Very fun family coaster.

JW

Yeah, they had a little problem with stacking on Saturday. Granted the ride is designed to stack some, but not THAT MUCH. Hopefully they'll get better as the season progresses.

I agree it's a very fun family coaster.

-SS

I have been on TT several times but I still need to get to WoF. Can anyone tell me if they keep all the trims open on SD? I was concered about them on TT during construction, but I have been on it 8 times now and they have been open everytime.

The only time I have ever seen one of the cars stop on one of the block brakes is when there was some severe stacking occuring in the station because of a disabled guest not helping the attendants trying to get her out - oh and the break down in the after noon last Saturday. Other than that, the brakes are open.

-SS

These both look really great, even tho they are clones. Was it designed for MOA and then just placed in WOF?

I hope that if these do well CF will install one at GL. Ive been craving a spinning coaster since I rode Exterminator at Kennywood. *** Edited 4/20/2004 6:56:40 PM UTC by XFlight***

If it was not designed for Camp Snoopy in the Mall of America then the layout is one of the most amazing coincidences I have ever seen.

Good Point lol.

According to the company's homepage TT was custom designed for MOA and then a clone was ordered for WOF.