Valleyfair adding Disk'O with new classic midway
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Valleyfair is excited to announce the addition of a new family coaster, Northern Lights, and the development of Route 76, an all-new area geared towards families.
Flying up to 42 feet above Route 76, Northern Lights will have everyone clinging to the handrails for the ultimate family coaster experience. Guests 42” or taller, will rock and roll on over 300 feet of track at speeds of up to 43 mph. At night, Northern Lights’ dancing lights of blues, greens and purples will match the same colorful display of light that illuminate the horizon during this natural phenomenon.
The new Route 76 area will take guests back into amusement park Americana with the return of three Valleyfair classic rides that made their debut in 1976 when the Park opened. Antique Autos, a treasured favorite, returns with a new roadway in Route 76 featuring brand new Cadillac styled cars. Tilt-a-Whirl and Scrambler will also be relocated to the new area and will receive new theming and LED light packages, bringing guests a perfect mix of classic and new to ensure they get their kicks on Route 76.
Read more from Valleyfair.
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So, Valleyfair is calling their new Disk'O a coaster, while Cedar Point is noncommittal on theirs.
jameswhitmore.net
A Disk-O goes 43 mph? Huh.
The amusement park rises bold and stark..kids are huddled on the beach in a mist
http://support.gktw.org/site/TR/CoastingForKids/General?px=1248054&...fr_id=1372
Are they adding forward motion with the forward rotation? I think they do that with MaxAir.
jameswhitmore.net
Maybe. Zamperla posts the speed at 70 km and that translates to 43 mph, so there's the source I'm sure. And it might reach that at the very, very fastest point if the boat drops from full height. Claims like that aren't exactly a lie, but perhaps misleading when that top speed is reached for a nano second out of the entire ride. I have the same argument when a ride is listed at a certain height but the vehicle doesn't really go there. I'm looking at you, Wicked Twister... And drop rides everywhere... And Windseeker...
This little midway is ok, maybe it'll bring less of a parking lot feel to that corner of the park. CF's trend these days seems to be using an "off" year for refreshing an area with a new look and family rides, or relocated rides, and aint nothin wrong with that. It's a relatively inexpensive way to bring something "new" to the park. I bet KI does something similar for 2015. There's been a rumored return of of the Taxis and they may as well go ahead and give us back one of those knock off Flying Scooters, right?
Looks cool but what of the holes in the ground that Tilt-A-Whirl, Antique Cars, and Scrambler's old locations will leave?
I've never been to this park, but I am reading this correctly that they are bring back the Cadillac cars (that is, they are not running currently)? If so, that is pretty cool, because I can't imagine a Cedar Fair park doing something like that in the past.
Gives me hope that the CP Pirate Ride might make it back some day (I know, probably won't happen, but I can dream).
bjames said:
Looks cool but what of the holes in the ground that Tilt-A-Whirl, Antique Cars, and Scrambler's old locations will leave?
They're all still there in the artist's rendition.
James Whitmore said:
Are they adding forward motion with the forward rotation? I think they do that with MaxAir.
I would be surprised if they didn't. By adding rotational speed with directional speed, you get a bigger number. Bigger numbers mean more fun...
The original Cadillacs were replaced by Dinosaurs Alive, so it hasn't been that long.
Does anyone remember that odd Tilt a Whirl that Valleyfair had back in the day? It was the only Tilt that was double, with 2 rows of cars, alternating inside and outside rows, if you will. It wasn't very successful and was the only one Sellner ever built. The two rows didn't help, as there wasn't a lot of spinning action. The inside row wasn't hilly enough and the outside row was too slow.
I'll try to find a picture.
^I do know what you're referring to. I believe it was called the Super Tilt, and if I remember right they were fairly close together. (Tilt-a-whirl's original location was nearby where Lucy's Tugboat now stands.
The bit of land that Tilter now sits on could be reworked a couple of different ways to free up a bunch of room (it currently resides in front of Wild Thing's queue.) if the park decided to, they could reasonably run a pathway using the Wild Thing's fast lane currently resides and they'd have a bit of room to put something in utilizing the current walkway and the area that Tilter now sits on.
As for Scrambler, it's currently in a prime real estate spot so I'm also really interested to see what will take its spot. I could see for the time being the park simply laying down sod and landscaping both areas but there's a little bit of room if they wanted to get creative behind that area as well.
As far as referencing it as a coaster, I'm in agreement that they're probably just going off what the manufacturer is saying, or do to the fact that they have a U shaped coaster that shuttles forward and backward that they market as a roller coaster so they don't want to sound contradictory ;). Just a thought
If I'm reading this right, it says the Antique Autos is getting new cars and a new track, and of course it will be in a new location. I'm starting to wonder how this is really "bringing back" the original car ride as opposed to building a new one and pretending they moved the old one.
^Because it's the GP and a double edged sword. If you advertised it as a new ride (which you're right, it is) then you'd have the contingent of people complaining it's the same thing that they had before and are passing it off as new.
Also, consider the market segment they're going after when installing a new/old car ride. The nostalgists, grandma and grandpa, the kind of people who prefer to think of it as "the way things used to be." Don't be at all surprised when the "new cars" look like antiques...
They're saying the ride is "returning" with a new roadway and vehicles. The name, Antique Autos, remains the same as a reminder. I doubt anyone will blame them for doing or saying the "wrong" thing.
James Whitmore said:
Are they adding forward motion with the forward rotation? I think they do that with MaxAir.
I'm confused by this statement. You sit facing outward on MaxAir, so I'm unclear on what "forward rotation" means. No matter which way the ring rotates, some passengers are spinning and swinging in the same direction on each pass. Same situation for the Disk'O Coaster.
-Nate
Right, but if you add the speed of rotation to the speed of the swing the rider is frequently but not always traveling faster than the swing. It's kind of like the fly in your car. If you're driving 70 mph the fly heading toward the inside of your windshield is actually flying 71 mph.
I've had people ask me, while we're standing in line, why maXair's wheel seems to speed up and slow down while it swings. Sometimes it's hard to get through to them that it's constant, but the swing either contributes or takes away from that speed of rotation, depending on what side of the swing you face, and that's especially evident from the ground.
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