What are they (HW/SS) up to now? (Timberliners on Voyage)

Hahahaha, WOF Guy!

RCMAC said:
As I understand it, that little uphill "bump" (for lack of a better term) before the outward banked turn will be smoothed out/removed.

That "bump" provides some airtime. If the bump were to be completely removed, I don't see how they could get that extra 0.1s of airtime. If that bump were smoothed out, then that could potentially lead to the extra 0.1s.

I suppose. If I'm not mistaken it looks like that section of track is what they're standing near, and it appears to be a rebuild from the ground up. I always thought the forces in that section were a little jarring so I'd be grateful if the transition into the outward banked turn was a tish smoother.

New trains on the way may have everything to do with it as well, hard to say at this point.

At any rate, I agree that it's refreshingly awesome to see a park commited to continuous maintenance, and then not performing that maintenance on the cheap. Thankfully, Holiday World realizes the commitment involved in owning wooden coasters, and try ther hardest to delight the general public while keeping an eye on the enthusiast community as well. No doubt, a legacy left behind by Will Koch.

Honestly it's the last few turns that I always found kicking my ass, but that might have been partly because of the asskickery earlier in the ride. If the new trains track it better, that will make a difference.

kpjb said:

Jeff said:
I can't think of another park that would endeavor into the wholesale replacement of a section of a ride. That's dedication.

You mean a section like from the second hill the whole way back to the station? I can think of another... :)

Gee what could you possibly be talking about? ;) Actually I can think of another example at that park as well.

Actually several parks have done this. You just don't hear about it much. For example Boulder Dash had some major changes from the ground up, as has The Beast.

Just to make sure we're all looking at the same section of The Voyage....we're referring to the weirdly-banked section of track where the banking makes your brain think you're turning left but the trackage actually runs straight and features that smallish (8-10') airtime hill? That's the one mine-train moment on the ride...not my personal favorite, but I've heard many other rave about that...

rollergator,
In the spaghetti bowl, there is a large left turn that is banked left. While remaining banked left, there is a small hill, followed by the larger right hand turn. What we are talking about is the small hill between the large left turn, and the reverse banked right turn.

The 'reversed banked bunny hop' in the bisgetti bowl is going away. As cool as I think it is, the extra bit of breather we may (or may not) get there will be welcome. It will be a split second less of "oh my god, you are kidding."

We treat all our rides to tender loving care during the season and in in the offseason. The Voyage needed to spend this winter at the spa. That doesn't mean we are going to take any thrills away from this engineering marvel- it just means we can all ride this coming year "terrified in luxurious comfort" as Chad Miller said. I can't wait to ride in 2012! Here's to being terrified in luxurious comfort in 2012! You gotta love this industry, it's a whole lot of fun and a whole lot of crazy!

Good heavens, how did I miss out that Boss Man Dan had decided to join in the conversation? Yeah, I don't care how many years you've been reading; your profile says you got here last week. :)

Welcome aboard! I, for one, am very much looking forward to the improved Voyage, particularly the ledger fixes on the first and second drops. The turnaround is such a wild bit of the ride that I think I'm going to be too busy looking for a hand-hold to worry about whatever minute changes have been put into place there.

And I'm really looking forward to those new trains. I like the old ones, but I understand what the new cars are doing, and why that should make a huge difference in the way the ride works. Here's hoping everything goes well with TüV Bayern!

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I've only been reading posts for the last several years. I never posted while Will was at the helm. It was his show. I was always behind the scenes. Would Spock have ever posted while Captain Kirk was in charge? I shudder the thought. And don't interpret that to mean that I am prejudiced against Vulcans! LOL!

To me, this is great news. That span of track with the two "weird hops" between the long left-hand turn and the first 90* turn has always been my least favorite part of The Voyage.

Here's to an even better Voyage experience in 2012!

Aw ... Does that mean I have to be Uhura? I wanna be Scotty!

While I'm undecided how I feel about the "bump," I must say that the reverse banked curve is one of the best parts of the ride. Re-tracking the ride, like is being done on the first two valleys, is routine maintenance for a wood roller coaster. But It's a real testament to how dedicated the management is to the park, when they consider redoing part of the ride's layout routine maintenance.

Meanwhile, it was always one of my favorite parts. Oh well. Still the greatest wooden coaster ever built... by a long shot.

Never even seen this bump... Always been too dark. I ride voyage at night and ONLY at night.

OK Corey Hart. Do you wear your sunglasses then, too?

+1 for Josh.

Scarily, I've actually heard that three times in recent weeks.

I wear my sunglasses at night when riding coasters. I look so cool!

Sunglasses make the night rides even darker. And everyone looks cooler in sunglasses. :)