Sudden Death Experience

Charles Manson writes "I'm sure you and your readers have already heard about this evil monster, but I just stumbled upon a fantastic review of it. Cedar Point has always been an innovator, but god damn, this thing is just sick. I'm glad I only live a hundred miles away becuase I'll be practically living there this summer. My favorite quote of the article is 'If Hell has thrill rides, this brilliantly evil machine should be one of them.'" We mentioned the Cedar Point coaster earlier. The best parts of roller coaster riding are the little surreal notes, i.e. looking over the side and seeing 500 hats on the ground below.

Comments

Slow Friday?

[InfinityWpi]

I mean, this just got posted, no replies to it yet, and the damn thing's already slashdotted. Ye gods... is it a slow Friday and everyone's got nothing better to do than wait for a new link to pounce on?

Re:Slow Friday?

[Pingular]

I was going to, then I relised how sad it would be to say "F1R57 P057 0|\/|G!" or words to that effect, so I just read the article

Re:Slow Friday?

[leinerj]

Never mind the fact you posted this 2 minutes after the story was posted :p

Re:Slow Friday?

[Xzzy]

This movie doesn't do the article justice (it's mostly an ad for the website), but towards the bottom of the article they have a 15 second or so clip (wmv format) showing the ride in action.

I dunno.. record breaking is nice and all, but seems to me a longer slower ride, with more loops and swoops, would be much more fun overall.

Re:Slow Friday?

[Pingular]

Well as I live in England... the best rollercoaster here is the traumatizer probably... it's not bad.

Re:Slow Friday?

[slyckshoes]

>I mean, this just got posted, no replies to it yet, and the damn thing's already slashdotted.

Wow, you mean people are actually reading the article before posting replies? Dang, that's amazing.

While the coaster does seem pretty amazing, I would love to read about the technical hurdles that had to be overcome in creating it. How do you achieve that kind of acceleration? What are the safety measures (I'm sure there are a ton)? How many computers control it? Etc, etc, etc.

Re:Slow Friday?

[irc.goatse.cx troll]

"Wow, you mean people are actually reading the article before posting replies? Dang, that's amazing."

Reading? We just click through and hope they have pretty pictures/video.

Re:Slow Friday?

[Anonymous Coward]

How do you achieve that kind of acceleration?

Electromagnetism, my friend.

What are the safety measures (I'm sure there are a ton)?

They have computers controlling the "blocks," or sections of track that a single train can safely travel without crashing. For example, many coasters have "block brakes" which, if a coaster fails to reach the end of the course but goes after the block brakes, and if another train has already dispatched, the incoming train would just stop at the block brakes. This point has to be engineered to be high enough to provide enough potential energy to complete the course as the other train is back safely.

How many computers control it? Etc, etc, etc.

Ask Intamin, Ltd., who is a roller coaster engineering firm, and Top Thrill Dragster is their latest roller coaster for Cedar Point (last three for Cedar Point has been Intamins, starting with Millennium Force in 2000). I know that Bolliger & Mabillard (another roller coaster engineering firm) hires a company to do the electronics.

Re:Slow Friday?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think people just click through to try and slashdot the site...

Re:Slow Friday?

[budgenator]

I remember see a coaster that i think was in austrailia or maybe austria that the track extended over the edge of a 1500 foot cliff, which should easily give it the highest above the ground title instead of the hisghest above the start point.

The coolest thing about this one will be that its the one drawing the 2-3 hr waits so I can get on the millenium force with only a half hour wait.

For the rest of the /.ers cedar point is on an island so they have very real limits on what they can physicaly fit in; I hope they didn't take out one of the classic wooden coasters to fit this monster in!

Re:Slow Friday?

[TomServo]

Augh, lost my whole post! Time to try again...

Unlike one of Intamin AG's older creations, Superman: The Escape at Six Flags Magic Mountain in CA (0-100mph in 7 seconds, though it's realistically only making about 88mph with a full car these days to conserve some electricity and keep the motors cool), this one does *not* use electromagnetic LSM/LIM motors to launch. This one is basically Xcelerator at Knott's Berry Farm's (0-82mph in 2.3 seconds) big brother, both using a hydraulic launch
motor.

I remember a quote from someone at CP saying that if they were trying to use LSM's to launch a train at 0-120mph in 4 seconds, like TTD needs, they might well brown out all of Sandusky given all the power that a launch like that would consume. As is, I know that California Screamin' at Disney's California Adventure (sorta unrelated, so too lazy to link) actually has to spray water on their LSMs to avoid overheating them from all the launches.

On these, there's a cable that runs from the motor, back to the station, around a wheel, then back across the top of the box track. It connects to the back of a launch sled, then more cable runs from the front of the sled back to the motor. When the motor fires, it yanks the sled down a channel in the top of the track (you can barely see Xcelerator's in this shot, look at the center of the track immediately behind the train, you can see the sled as an object in the center of the track, then the channel running along behind it).

It does, however, use electromagnetics for the braking systems, on both the launch run and the final brake run. After launch, fins pop up into place to stop the train from rolling back if it fails to clear the tower (in the pic above, you can see that some of the fins have raised while the ones immediately behind the train have not). I would imagine that for brake fin systems that their default state, without power, is to have the fins up, and that it takes power to lower them. Not sure how that works, but generally that's the failsafe for a braking system like that. There aren't really any block brakes for the ride, other than through the entire unload -> load area, so the computer systems won't allow one train to launch until another train has completely cleared the brake run.

I'm not sure about the PLC for the ride, but I remember reading that Xcelerator's checks and adjusts the launch about 400 times in the 2.3 seconds it takes it. I would imagine they've got some relatively beefy hardware running this one as well...

Re:Slow Friday?

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks! I knew electromagnetics played a role in TTD/Xcelerator. Had assumed it was the launch. Though my info holds true for Volcano, Intamin impulses, Superman, etc.

BTW, you know anything about Hulk? I know it's tire launch, but how is it powered?

Doesn't technology just get better and better so we don't have to black out Sandusky. :)

I was actually generalizing block brakes for most coasters these days, since I didn't know anything about how exactly Intamin does it. But thanks for the info! One learns something new everyday!

Re:Slow Friday?

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks a lot for the links!

Thanks for nothing for being a nay-saying idiot.

Uh, huh. Going 120 mph in 4 seconds would get so old so fast . . .

Idiot.

Re:Slow Friday?

[Anonymous Coward]

Reading? We just click through and hope they have pretty pictures/video.
--
-semi -irc.goatse.cx #goatsecx
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>&g t;

Having that .sig with that post is just WRONG.

Re:Slow Friday?

[TomServo]

Yep, almost all the launched coasters are using LIM/LSM motors, I believe the only others are Xcelerator and TTD using hydraulics and Hypersonic XLC & Dodonpa using pnuematic launches. Their launches are a heck of a lot fiercer too, I believe it's 1.8 seconds to 80mph for XLC and 1.8 seconds to 107mph for Dodonpa. Yowch!

I don't know much about Hulk actually. RCDB says it's a 40mph in 2 seconds launch, which doesn't have nearly the kick of these other four. Quick post about it here, but that's one that I've not had the time to really research much. I would, however, LOVE to ride it.

I think Intamin usually does use normal style block brakes on rides like Millennium Force & Superman: Ride of Steel, but the cycle on Xcelerator and TTD is so quick that they didn't really need it. Anyway, people would lose their minds of either of them had a brake system at the top of the tower ;)

500 Hats?

[Anonymous Coward]

Bartholomew Cubbins rides Roller Coasters?

Re:500 Hats?

[Anonymous Coward]

That was my thought, too...

15seconds for 60 $?

[Anonymous Coward]

Glad its not longer at those prices

Re:15seconds for 60 $?

[Jason1729]

You're not factoring in the 4 hours waiting in line. That brings it down to 25 cents/minute.

Jason
ProfQuotes

I do miss Cedar Point

[Flounder]

I used to live in Ohio and would go to the park at least 10 times during the summer. Last time I was there was right after Millenium Force opened up. At the top of the first drop, you're looking almost straight down into Lake Erie. Best damn coaster park in the country.

Re:I do miss Cedar Point

[Anonymous Coward]

I do live in Ohio and flew over this in a Cessna 172. Didn't look that big to me.

Re:I do miss Cedar Point

[Deagol]

My last Point excursion was to ride the Magnum. I remember looking down at the Gemini and thinking, "Shit, I'm toast."

Kinda dates me, though. I used to think the Demon Drop was pretty scary. My 30-year-old heart would probably bust a valve if I tried one of these new-fangled coasters!

Re:I do miss Cedar Point

[Saint Mitchell]

Millenium Force is such a bad ass. It's the only time in my life I've wondered why I got on as I went up the hill. TFD is supposed to be like 120ish feet over that hill. Thankfully it shoots you up it rather than drag you up like on Millenium Force. Go up quick, go down quick, done. I know somone is going to die this summer, there is no avoiding it. It won't be the rides fault either, i'm sure they will have it posted that you shouldn't ride with a bad heart. Yet someone will do it and keel over. It's supposed to be low g-force though, so who knows maybe it will be ok for all after all.

Re:I do miss Cedar Point

[FireballFreddy]

Remember kids, it's all fun and games until somebody's uncle pops a ventricle.

Then it's just fun.

Re:I do miss Cedar Point

[Carnivorous Carrot]

I've been on the Magnum there, at 200 feet, when it was the big thing. Actually got there early in the morning, and we ran straight to it and got 3-4 rides with little wait before the line got too long.

Went two summers ago, and did NOT go on Millenium, the 300-footer. It looks like a cartoon when you're standing there, like some goofy ride from a Bugs Bunny episode, with this curved drop.

This new one is totally BS.

Re:I do miss Cedar Point

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh I rememebr when that came out. That's also, unfortunately, the last time I went to Cedar Point. I was there the first day the ride opened and waited for about 2 1/2 hours to get on it. Apparently I turned white, then green, back to white, green again, and then we got on the ride. LOL!!! That thing actually helped to start getting over my fear of heights. Coasters can do good things. :) Now, once I get back in country, I'm taking my wife to Cedar Point and taking her on that thing. Shouldn't be too much of a change, I drive like a bat out of hell over here. She should be used to it. :)

Cedar Point

[zzxc]

The roller coaster exerts a maximum force of approx. 1.4 G's on the rider. Also considering the ride is 400 feet from the lowest point of the track to the highest, there's no way I want to go on it.

Cedar Point seems to have fewer and fewer sane-yet-not-kiddie rides. I was there last year and the only thing I rode was the "mine ride."

Re:Cedar Point

[Flounder]

Cedar Point seems to have fewer and fewer sane-yet-not-kiddie rides.

That's like saying there's fewer and fewer sane-yet-not-kiddie movies. There's no money in mild anymore. Over the top, push the envelope, burst a blood vessel and spray your fellow patrons. That's what sells. Not that I don't agree with you, I'm just stating facts. It's either an $84Mil opening for X-Men2 or $22.8Mil total box office for Being John Malkovich. Bigger, louder, faster, not necessarily better.

Kennywood in Pittsburgh is a great old-style park. Lots of older "sane" coasters, lots of rides for the kids, and pretty decently priced admission too. My kids loved it.

Re:Cedar Point

[powerlinekid]

Agreed, I personally find Kennywood to better than the 6 flags parks. However don't forget about the Steel Phantom which at the time it was built in Kennywood was the fastest roller coaster in the world and had the steepest fall.

But if you like old style wooden coasters try the Thunderbolt whose path crosses right over the Phantom's while doing 50 mph on an old rickety wooden track.

Is the Phantom still there for anyone thats been there recently? I haven't been back there for a couple of years and I think I remember somebody saying that they took it down.

Re:Cedar Point

[generic-man]

Last October at Kennywood, I rode the "Phantom's Revenge." I hadn't ridden the original, but Revenge was pretty damn cool.

Kennywood also has a homepage about the Phantom's Revenge.

Re:Cedar Point

[Anonymous Coward]

There's no money in mild anymore.

Really? Then why are the vast majority of movies rated PG-13 instead of Rated R? Because it's easier to crap down a good horror movie and sell it to teens and it is to produce a quality horror movie and sell it to adults.

Re:Cedar Point

[FroMan]

Gack! My mom was screaming her head off on the mine ride like 10 years ago. That was really not a lot of fun. The magnum was pretty new then (I think its gone now though) and was a blast, went on that with my uncle. We both enjoyed that. Then we did the mean streak, which sucked! Its like a rollercoaster during an earthquake, but wooden coasters usually suck like that.

Re:Cedar Point

[ziggles]

What do you mean they have fewer and fewer? Compared to what? It's not like they tore down all their mild rides.

I do think you have a point though. There's a lot of enjoyment to be had in the less extreme rides. But really those are just filler, for me anyway. The reason I ride rollercoasters is to get the pants scared off of me. Just thinking about waiting in the queue line as I get closer and closer to getting on the ride.. your heart pounding like crazy before you even step into the coaster car.. damn. Now that's entertainment. With the mild rides, yeah they're fun too, but the fear factor isn't there and that's the main reason I ride coasters.

Re:Cedar Point

[Anonymous Coward]

Also considering the ride is 400 feet from the lowest point of the track to the highest, there's no way I want to go on it.

considering that your ass is 400 pounds from its narrowest point to its widest, Cedar Point doesn't want you on it anyways.

PE = mgh

Re:Cedar Point

[Have Blue]

True, but BJM probably cost a tenth of what X2 did, and I don't think amusement park ride costs vary that much.

Re:Cedar Point

[Anonymous Coward]

Honeymoon Options:

Tahiti

Bahamas

Europe

Vail, CO

Ohio

Seems like a great start to their marriage, Let me guess who picked the site.

Re:Cedar Point

[Anonymous Coward]

do you honestly thing that all those teens out there aren't out seeing R rated movies as well as pg13?

Re:Cedar Point

[afidel]

You complain about the modern, safe, and exhilirating metal coasters and then say you road the mine ride which is the most poorly maintained ride in the park with the highest shutdown % by a longshot. You have to be like 10X more likely to get whiplash on that old thing then you do riding a modern ride like the raptor which has head pads. I would bet the pulse G forces from the bumps on the mine ride are several times higher then the nice smooth G's produced by Mellenium Force and Top Thrills Dragster.

Re:Cedar Point

[Schezar]

My mother, actually. And they were only at Cedar Point for the first three days or so. Then they went to Barbados ;^)
By the way, the Hotel Breakers at Cedar Point has been a resort since the late 1800s.

Re:Cedar Point

[Saige]

Then we did the mean streak, which sucked! Its like a rollercoaster during an earthquake, but wooden coasters usually suck like that.

The Mean Streak is a good demonstration why wooden coasters have been left behind. It set all sorts of records when it was built as the largest and fastest wooden coaster. And once upon a time, it was fun. I was there in May of the year it opened, and it was relatively smooth, and a lot of fun. I rode it a couple times that day.

The problem is that the speeds, coupled with the nature of the materials used, cause the structure of the ride to suffer. I've heard - though I am not certain - that they have like 6 full-time carpenders employed just for that ride alone, checking it every night for loose bolts and breaking wood. It is very high maintenance, and that still doesn't keep it in the shape they'd want it to be.

It's been said the ride is destroying itself due to the speeds and stresses on the material, and I don't expect it to last that long. They already have to change the rails every three years, as they degrade over time and make the ride just too rough. I've heard that riding it on that third year is pretty much a guaranteed method of getting a really bad headache. And given the fact that the ride gets rougher as the year goes on, riding in, say, October of that third year before they replace the rails is probably one of the roughest beatings you can take in a rollercoaster.

Though if you get on at the beginning of the year after a replacement, I'm sure it's still pretty damn fun.

Re:Cedar Point

[Saige]

Anyone else remember the potato-sack slide?

Of course... about 3/4ths the way down the Midway, right across from the smorgasborg restaurant they had (still do?), and near the old log ride. That was a lot of fun when I was a kid, I was on the slide a few times every year.

The one ride I will be most disappointed to see go is the Wave Swinger. It's been a tradition to ride it at least once every time I've been to the park, and when I'm forced to stop, I will be quite disappointed.

I do wonder how long until they move the parking lot to the other side of the causeway, so that they can use that space for more rides and stuff, since they're seriously running out of space on the penninsula.

Agreed about the crowds thing - the park's rides and reputation seem to attract more people each and every year, and the lines and crowds get worse - and the food from all the little stalls seems to also get worse. Though, to their credit, there is that air conditioned restaurant on the midway with salad/pasta bars and all that with food that is of rather good quality for an amusement park.

Re:Cedar Point

[scrawny]

1.4 G's? you get more G's than that accelerating from a red light in a poorly-running car, seriously.

from the post-gazette:

Under the proposed standards, front-to-back G-forces cannot exceed 5.6 for more than one second; and side-to-side G-forces cannot exceed 2.5 for more than a minute, although the figures can change, depending on the kinds of restraints.

The G-forces on Kennywood's 85 mph Phantom Revenge range from -1 to 5, said spokeswoman Mary Lou Rosemeyer. Even though this ride goes faster than the Steel Phantom [the former coaster that had a top speed of 82 mph] it's so smooth. The technology is so much more advanced.

Cedar Point spokeswoman Janice Witherow would not release G-forces for individual rides, but said all of the park's 15 coasters, including the nation's fastest and tallest coaster, the 93 mph Millennium Force, have G-forces below 5.

lots of interesting info when you google.

Re:Cedar Point

[spooje]

Hell yeah I remember the potato sack ride!!! I loved that when I was a kid. I always got my dad to give me an extra (he chucked me) push so I could win. I can't say as I have been back in hte last 3 or so years, but it really sounds like it's going down hill big time in terms of friendliness. I remember food was always a little pricey, but $3 for a drink?? That's just ridiculous especially considering the extreamly high ticket price. They're going to price themselves out of the average family's price range soon. Although I'll buy an elephant ear next time I go there.

Re:Cedar Point

[Anonymous Coward]

oh yeah -- Kangaroo Jack was way XTREME!!

Re:Cedar Point

[B3ryllium]

The Matrix Reloaded is rated "R"

Re:Cedar Point

[bjd145]

Yeah the Phantom is still there, except that it has been redone. It is now called the Phaontom's Revenge. They took a lot of the loops out to make the ride smoother, but I think it is even better than the original.

Re:Cedar Point

[Anonymous Coward]

You can literally stand in line for the mean streak and watch the track move/flex...as in feet not inches, when the cart goes up the second hill.
Its pretty wild...

Re:Cedar Point

[Chris Carollo]

Anyone else remember the potato-sack slide?

Hell yeah, and I've got the friction burns to prove it. I swear, every year I managed to leave more and more skin on that ride...

Re:Cedar Point

[Glonoinha]

Actually 1.4G's is the equiv of a car that can accelerate from 0 to 150mph in 5 seconds.

That would be a pretty good running car.

Re:Cedar Point

[AttillaTheNun]

I haven't been to Cedar Point in years (the year the Magnum opened, but broke that morning before I got a chance to try it out). However, my favourite ride at Canada's Wonderland (where I live) is STILL the Great Canadian Minebuster - the old wooden one that's been there since 1981 or whenever that place opened. I still love the old wooden, shaky rides over most of the trendy stuff they build today (standup, backwards, underwater, etc). I hope that coaster still has lots of life in it. Mind you they've tamed it down since I was a scared shitless 10 year old who was convinced I was lifting right of the seat since the handle bars were so far away at the time. Now they've got more secure restraints (probably because some poor kid DID fall out, which proves my original fears correct) - kind of takes away from the "Near Death Experience". Still, this 400+ft beast scares the living shit out of me. I'd better get on it before I'm too old (at 32, it may already be too late) :)

Re:Cedar Point

[TaliesinWI]

1.4 G's? you get more G's than that accelerating from a red light in a poorly-running car, seriously.

Bzzt. The 2003 Chevy Corvette Z06, one of the fastest production cars currently available, can do 0-to-60 MPH in 3.9 seconds, and that's _only_ 1 G lateral acceleration.

Re:Cedar Point

[nuintari]

I happen to love the mean streak, the rickety nature of it is what makes it fun, a lot of coaster nuts love that, which si why you still hear about a new wooden ride once every blue moon. They do have a certain appeal.

The biggest problem with The Mean Streak, is that its built on a sandy area at the far end of the peninsula. It sits right on the edge of the point, right on the lake, and the ground is too soft. Yes folks, the Mean Streak is sinking, slowly.

Re:Cedar Point

[GooseKirk]

Oh, man, they must never get rid of the Wave Swinger. I already miss the old fun house, the earthquake ride, and my favorite ever, that one spinner contraption over by the aquarium where the floor drops out and you stick to the walls. Now that was a cool ride.

Those are gone but the Disaster Transport remained. Go figure.

I used to go there every summer, but since I moved to Washington it's not quite as convenient. I think the last time I was there the ride that year was the Raptor, which is amazing.

Just tell me - the arcade is still there, right? With all the classic games? That's the real important nerdy part of Cedar Point.

Re:Cedar Point

[Yunzil]

Is the Phantom still there for anyone thats been there recently? I haven't been back there for a couple of years and I think I remember somebody saying that they took it down.

They took out the loops, extended the big drop slightly, and added some wide, sweeping turns and a few little hills. It's now called the Phantom's Revenge. Oh, and they got rid of the crummy Arrow trains with the over-the-shoulder horse collars and replaced them with trains that only have a lap bar. I think it's actually a much better ride now. :)

Re:Cedar Point

[Saige]

Last I knew, the large midway arcade, the one with all of the classic games (or in many cases, the old ones they just never got rid of) is still there, though most of the others seem to have disappeared.

I never did get to go on the spinning ride you mention, though I did hear about it.

The Disaster Transport... I never did understand that one. After all, all they did was take Avalanche Run and build a building around it, re-theming it. And theming is NOT something Cedar Point does well - especially since they don't bother to keep it in good shape. Most of the theming stuff is off and/or broken. About the only value Disaster Transport has is that the building is usually at least somewhat air conditioned in the hot summer, so you can get out of the heat for the time you stand in line for the ride.

Re:Cedar Point

[dmszero]

i hear it does it at one atmosphere too!..

oh the sarcasm

MattD

Re:Cedar Point

[machinegunben]

Its really a shame they've let DT deteriorate like that. But one cool thing is that they have themed the new ride Top Thrill Dragster very well Ben 2003 Cedar Point Season Pass holder

Re:Cedar Point

[mamba-mamba]

Well, one of the things that confuses matters is that we live in a one-G world.

That is, sitting at a stop light, a car is already doing one G. If it accelerates at an additional one G in the forward direction, the riders will experience the vectorial sum of gravity's one G plus the car's forward acceleration. So, if the car accelerates at about 22MPH per second, the total acceleration is 1.4 (sqrt(2)) G's.

But the real issue is that with roller-coasters (and aerobatic planes, for that matter) the highest G's are experienced during changes in direction. That is, when a coaster (or plane) makes a dramatic turn, or when it pulls out of a dive, it can easily experience very high G's. MUCH higher than what it experiences during start up. An inexperienced pilot can easily wreck the wings or airframe on a normal airplane if he/she inadvertently dives and then pulls up too hard on the stick.

But you are certainly right that the car pulling 1.4 G's is accelerating pretty well, for a car.

MM
--

Re:Cedar Point

[jnik]

Cedar Point seems to have fewer and fewer sane-yet-not-kiddie rides. I was there last year and the only thing I rode was the "mine ride."
Hardly. I think you aren't looking closely enough :) All the woods are still enjoyable: Blue Streak pulls more negative G's than any other coaster in the park besides Millennium Force! Gemini's a good straightforward wood and Mean Streak just rips you apart. Then you've got the metals: the original corkscrew has a thrill quotient all its own because it's so SLOW. You can see everything that's happening. Recommended for those under five feet tall; those seats are murder and the people strapping you in like to compress your spine (look man, I'm IN HERE; I don't need to hunch). But for hands-down best coaster in the park I'd still toss between Magnum and Raptor; Magnum's fast but doesn't depend solely on speed and Raptor's fantastic sensory overload.

Best of all, lines for these coasters are much shorter than the new rides; I usually hit all the coasters once in a day and Raptor five times :)

Now, the park DOES need a rotor, and badly. Spin around and around, paste you to the wall, drop the floor out. Great fun, especially when the die-hard coaster thrillseekers turn green.

Re:Cedar Point

[MCZapf]

Yes folks, the Mean Streak is sinking, slowly.

Who told you that? I heard the same thing about the Magnum. But, according to the park staff, it's an unfounded rumor. (I asked to be sure.)

Re:Cedar Point

[/dev/trash]

And if you go a bit further east to Lakemont Park you can ride the OLDEST wooden figure 8 coaster in the world.

Re:Cedar Point

[jamesmrankinjr]

Favorite Kennywood moment: my friend almost standing up out of his seat to grab a leaf off a tree hanging over the track on the main downhill of the Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt is also the best date coaster I've ever been on; it's impossible not to smash up against your date and for her(/him) to smash up against you as you whip through the turns.

The Jackrabbit's great because you always lift up off of your seat on the "double-bounce" downhill.

So if your thing is rickety, old-school wooden coasters, you must visit Kennywood.

Best,
-jimbo

Re:Cedar Point

[sllim]

I did Cedar Point last year and all I can say is that it's wooden roller coasters were dissapointments.
Rails on a wooden roller coaster? What is up with that?

I live in York County Pennsylvania and we have a local Park in Hershey (as in Hershey bar) called Hershey Park.
They have the finest and funnest wooden roller coasters you will ever imagine.
The Comet is something stupid like 50 years old. And it is a blast. It is more fun and a better ride then any wooden coasters in Cedar Point.

Then they have the Wildcat, built 4 or 5 years ago.
Holy crappola Batman. The Wildcat is a ride that you will not soon forget. It is slick and fast and feels like it is gonna come apart at any second.

There third one is a dueling coaster (can't think of the name) where they have 2 tracks and the coasters race to the finish line.

I have ridden other wooden coasters in other parks.

Cedar Point is all about the steel coasters. As well as it should be, they do those steel coasters like no one else.

But do not judge wooden coasters on Cedar Point

Re:Cedar Point

[machinegunben]

LOL On one of the cedar point boards I post on, they joke about these rumors all the time. Do you honestly think Cedar Point would spend ungodly amounts of money on these roller coasters to have them sink? Its absurd.

Re:Cedar Point

[Ralph Wiggam]

There's no money in mild? Only one of the top twenty grossing movies of 2002 was rated R. And that one, 8 Mile, wasn't very graphic. If it wasn't for that one non-sexy sex scene, it would have been PG-13.

-B

Re:Cedar Point

[Anonymous Coward]

So, if the car accelerates at about 22MPH per second, the total acceleration is 1.4 (sqrt(2)) G's.

But it wouldn't be accelerating at 22MPH/s, it would be accelerating at sqrt(32^2+22^2) MPH/s.
Ha.

Re:Cedar Point

[nuintari]

The magnum isn't really sinking, it just kind of settled at the back loop in the middle of the ride. It just changed the shape of the track a bit, which si whyt the ride is a bit shakier than it used to be. But almost all rides are expected to do this.

Re:Cedar Point

[nuintari]

Of course they wouldn't, but engineers can makes mistakes. The mean streak sinking isn't a huge issue, they knew it would happen, and built the concrete supports to be ridiculously overcompensating in this regard. When I said sinking slowly, I meant it. Its maybe a millimeter a year, and slowing down, because a) All rollar coasters sink in some way, some settle above ground, the mean streak is both settling in its frame, and sinking. The expectation from what I have heard is that the ground is gonna so compacted underneath it eventually that it will sit in, and take on its semi-permanent shape.

Do you honestly think you can build anything that big and have it not sink a little? They knew it would, just happened a tiny bit more than they had hoped, some nut got ahold of the facts and blew it out of proportion. You don't hear about this because its just bad for the stock value. People are dumb, most people don't realize how much the empire state building wobbles in the air. They'd freak out if they knew.

Re:Cedar Point

[karnal]

ummm... that 1g is the skidpad rating, if I'm not mistaken. Most cars are rated (side to side slalom) in G's as to their sticking ability in the turns.

Therefore, a 1g car will hold in a turn better than a .85g car.... Better center of gravity, better tires, better wheelbase... all contribute to this.

Re:Cedar Point

[Anonymous Coward]

What are you talking about? You're wrong.

Re:Cedar Point

[Anonymous Coward]

It's either an $84Mil opening for X-Men2 or $22.8Mil total box office for Being John Malkovich. Bigger, louder, faster, not necessarily better.

That depends. If Being John Malkovich-type movies cost less than 1/5 of a X2-type movie, then it would be a better investment.

It's not all about record breaking, unless you have such a small island that you can only build one coaster at a time (yes, Cedar Point is a bit crowded), or only so many opening weekends in a year.

Re:Cedar Point

[Saeger]

Ah, yes, headaches. The only coaster to ever give me one was the old Coney Island Cyclone.

That hunk of junk should be retired as a landmark.

--

Slashdotted, so here's the text

[JJAnon]

Top Thrill Dragster
The Giga-Coaster Rules No More.

Hard to believe it was just three years ago... three years since Cedar Point broke through the 300-foot height barrier with Millennium Force, the world's first "giga-coaster." At that time, I was certain that many, many years would pass before the next major height barrier-400 feet-would be surpassed, if ever.

But here we are today, in 2003, with what the Point calls the world's first "strata-coaster," a 420-footer. Also happens to be the world's first coaster to hit 120 miles per hour. Which it does in four seconds.

I don't know about you, but since Top Thrill Dragster was officially announced, I've been having dreams about riding it. (That may not be something I should admit to, but there it is.) I was lucky enough to do so on May 1st, the media preview day.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm prone to hyperbole when it comes to writing about thrill rides. But you're going to have to believe me when I tell you that Cedar Point's Top Thrill Dragster is, without question, the scariest roller coaster I've ever experienced. Seriously, brothers and sisters, this big dog bites as hard as it barks.

Had a chance to ride Knott's Berry Farm's Xcelerator yet? Then you know that Intamin's hydraulically launched "Rocket" coaster is not for the squeamish. Wild as it is, though, Xcelerator is less than half the height and a good 40 miles per hour slower than TTD. This should worry some of you.

Speaking of worrisome, Cedar Point's skyline is now completely dominated by TTD's soaring yellow and red superstructure. Power Tower? Not so powerful-lookin' anymore. Even the Force seems, well, kinda small now. (If you really want to give yourself the willies, hang around till after dark and look at TTD when it's all lit up, glowing against the night sky.)

Oh, and how's this for worrisome? At more than one location in the queue, we're informed that "Occasionally, a launched train will not clear the hill. You should not be concerned; the train will slowly return to the launch position." Gulp.

Should you need a place to sit and reconsider your decision to ride, there's the set of metal bleachers that faces the launch zone. You'll be mightily entertained by watching how each passenger squirms, yelps, freezes and/or freaks just before takeoff. (Media days are especially satisfying for this kind of passive sadism; one poor woman, clearly not a coaster enthusiast, looked to be on the verge of tears.)

From this vantage point, you'll also get to appreciate how much effort was made in designing this coaster's unique trains. The "stadium seat"-equipped middle cars are not much different from those found on Millennium Force. But the first and last cars, each with just a single two-passenger row, are unique to TTD. The sleek winged nose in front and the faux racing engine, air foil and mag wheels in back make these cargo-haulers as distinctive as they come.

(A note about the trains: for the media day, they were shortened to carry just 12 passengers, not 16 as promised, nor were they loading the very last row. Nor were two trains always filled and released simultaneously, also as planned. And the sixth train was nowhere in sight. To the park's credit, they had to make up for many lost days of construction, due to winter weather, and did what it took to have TTD operating in time, even if at less than optimal capacity.)

Non-riders will also dig the delightful details of the launch. Each train moves slowly into position accompanied by the prerecorded rumbles of an idling high-horsepower engine. Occasionally, the engine "revs" a bit-vroom, vroom-a sweet little tease. Finally, the long row of metal fins that line the launch track-an integral part of TTD's fail-safe magnetic braking system-sinks. The train inches forward.

Buh-bye.

To the tune of a roaring engine and squealing tires, and a very nifty cloud of "burning rubber" smoke, the train disappears. Unnerving to watch, but nothing like what it is to r

Re:Slashdotted, so here's the text

[Anonymous Coward]

More karma-whore free statistics here.

Google cache

[Anonymous Coward]

here.

Way to go

[signingis]

You slshdotted their rollercoaster. Asshats.

Re:Way to go

[signingis]

NO sense of humor...

Re:Way to go

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure, you may think calling someone an "Asshat" is the height of hilarity, but what about the rest of us?

Go around early May to avoid lines.

[Thinkit3]

I think it opens a bit earlier for the season. All the rides were open and there were around 4 minute waits at most.

Re:Go around early May to avoid lines.

[fjordboy]

Better yet, find out when one of the other coasters breaks down and go the day the other coaster gets fixed. Several years ago I went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg...my family went two days. On the first day we went, the inverted coaster "The Big Bad Wolf" was closed for repairs and the lines on the other coasters were awful. However, the second day the big bad wolf was open, and the rest of the park was EMPTY! I rode on the now defunct "Drachen Fire" 11 times without getting off. For most of the times, I was the only one on the coaster. They'd stop the coaster and I'd wave the operator and he'd let me go again. The only thing that made me stop was the pounding headache from my head being battered against the harness. However, after doing a quick google search, I found out that there were a lot of injuries with that coaster...

Evil monster

[Zakabog]

Evil monsters, sudden death, are you talking about the slashdot affect?

Re:Evil monster

[Valdrax]

All this talk of evil monsters and sudden death just shills me to the bone.. err..! I mean chills me to the bone! Chills me!

Scary Rides

[Vainglorious Coward]

Slashdotted in seconds...?

When you hear people screaming on a ride, it means it isn't scary. On really scary rides, people go silent

Re:Scary Rides

[TomServo]

I was reading this usenet post earlier, and the guy describes screaming for the first second of the launch, then claims he basically lost his breath completely and went silent for the rest of it. He also claims that he can barely even remember the ride it was so much to take in all at once.

I have yet to hear *anyone* say anything bad about this ride, I can't wait to go and try it myself!

It's because...

[Anonymous Coward]

you are a wuss.

Re:It's because...

[Anonymous Coward]

mod parent up. That guy *is* a wuss. Why ride rides that are less exciting than my La-Z-Boy?

Lame

[stratjakt]

These stupid go straight up then straight down and thats it coasters are just lame, and the speed or height doesn't impress me. They're boring as hell. You wait in line for 2 or 3 hours, go fast for 2 or 3 seconds, and the rides over.

Give me more giant wooden behemoths with hills and twists and corkscrews, and a track that rattles your brain loose from your skull.

THAT's a rollercoaster. This is just theme park owners comparing wangs to attract customers.

Re:Lame

[John3]

You can occasionally get some great rides in addition to pure thrills from the steel coasters. Universal Orlando has a cool pair of coasters called Dueling Dragons that combine the speed of a steel coaster with some creative intertwining tracks...and the ride last more than 30 seconds.

However I still prefer the rattling old wooden coasters like the Dragon Coaster (built 1929) and the Wildcat (built 1996).

Re:Lame

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds like the dragstrip when they let the street
cars on and us bracket racers have to wait while
they clean up some rice boys oil or transmission
fluid from the track when he blows his lil
nitrous pumped 4 banger up.

Re:Lame

[stratjakt]

I have no beef with steel coasters, but frankly this thing doesnt count.

It's one hill. And you're hydrolically propelled up it, then down the other side. (Ie; you dont really coast on gravity)

I havent travelled the world riding steel coasters, but I've been on some good ones. The Anaconda at Paramount King's Dominion in VA is pretty cool. Top Gun at Canada's Wonderland (well I guess all the Paramount parks have it) is cool too, I like the feeling of flight from being slung under teh track.

I've always been partial to the wooden ones though. Growing up outside of Toronto, I spent tons of time riding the Minebuster and Wildebeast at Canada's Wonderland. King's Dominion has the Hurler and Rebel Yell.

Hershey Park, PA has a pretty cool dueling wooden coaster thing, where two trains "race", and the track twists in a few ways that it looks like the trains are going to collide head-on.

King's Dominion has one of these "thrill rides". It's so unimpressive I forgot it's name, but it's something teen and Xtreme like "UltraThrill XLT".

It's lame.

You go up, then down. Making it taller and/or faster wont make it better. It's a four hour wait for nothing.

I think coaster designers and park owners love it to death, because design and implementation just means building one big hill, not designing an intricate and well crafted true coaster.

Re:Lame

[mbourgon]

There's a whole group of coasters that still rocks. Raging Bull in Schaumberg (Six Flags Great America, I think) - no inversions, it rides like a giant, really really fast woody. Big and wide sideways "loops".

Personally, I view this as a proof-of-concept. Superman vs. Mr. Freeze. Superman is a giant shoot-you-out-fast, long hangtime. Literally, it goes up, it goes down. Big whoop. Compare it to Mr. Freeze, which includes that and a whole lot more. Or to Poltergeist (Fiesta Texas), which takes the whole linear-accelerator to throw you into one gigantic knot of a coaster (think of a ball of yarn, and flying along the yarn through that.)

Re:Lame

[iabervon]

I've been on some clever steel coasters, and I find them fun but not that exciting. I think they're just too smooth; you have the feeling of moving quickly in strange directions, but it's mainly just interesting, and doesn't have the same thrill as a ride that shakes you while it happens.

On the other hand, it's fun to get pictures of yourself on a steel coaster going down a big hill. Everybody else is screaming, and you're calming chatting with the person next to you.

Re:Lame

[maddskillz]

I do like Minebuster and Wildebeast too. it's something about the fact that you aren't quite sure they will hold together that makes them fun!
That being said, I went on Goliath at 6 flags, and now all of the coasters at wonderland seem kinda boring

Re:Lame

[Glonoinha]

This phrase was originally attributed to Kenny Roberts, as I recall, mid 80's motorcycle race god complaining about 4 stroke motorcycles blowing up and slathering the track with oil.

Re:Lame

[nuintari]

Anything that takes people out of the line for The Raptor makes me happy. Its the best ride ever. I'll ride it once, on a nice slow day when no one is in the park, then fill out the big days that my lame friends insist on going on riding the smaller lines while thousands of people pile into lines for M Force and this new one.

Re:Lame

[Dave2 Wickham]

Gah, the Wildcat gave me a headache when I rode it last year (or was it the year before?)... And having ridden the Rattlesnake in Chessington World of Adventures I knew to steer clear of the Wildmouse (they are the same thing) ;).

Re:Lame

[ssstraub]

OK, Six Flags Great America is in Gurnee, IL.
and
Raging Bull is 100% smooth-as-silk steel. None of that wood-style shakin' and shiverin'... Whether that's good or bad is your opinion. I like the smoothness.

Re:Lame

[wampus]

If you can't get on the last row, skip Raging Bull and head over to Viper... the further back the better. On those bumps at the end you feel like your head is going to fly off and land in the queues.

I�m so glad the experience is back

[Anonymous Coward]

But it won't be the same without Jimi.

Almost like a roller coaster

[lcsjk]

I fell out of a tree once. Same rush as a roller coaster. The ride was almost as long too! Best part was that I did not have to wait in a two hour line to get started

Re:Almost like a roller coaster

[dynamiteweb]

Dang dude, you should get your head checked out... BTW, this thing is a little taller than your tree. At least, I hope your parents didn't let you play in 400 ft+ trees!

Next time you drop out of a tree that big, I am sure you could sell tickets and people would stand in line for 2 hours... shoot, your heirs might get movie rights.

It's a sad world folks...Falling doesn't hurt... it's the sudden ending that really gets to me. TM

Re:Almost like a roller coaster

[AtariEric]

Yeah, but you don't have to wait six weeks after riding a roller coaster for your bones to heal.

Re:Almost like a roller coaster

[heby]

yeah, be careful kids - if you fall out of a tree you'll end up like this guy!

Launch into sky...

[pjdepasq]

I wonder how long it will be before the damned thing breaks and the "car" portion just takes off into the sky landing about 1 mile from the park.

Re:Launch into sky...

[ergonal]

Hey, if it works well enough, maybe it will replace the NASA's shuttle launchpad.

Re:Launch into sky...

[afidel]

I don't think Cedar point has ever had a death due to any of their coasters. They are all well maintained and designed by the top design firms in the world. They have so many redundant systems that in the rare case where there is a problem the ride just stops, no one gets hurt (though they may be hanging out for a while depending on where they are on the tracks).

Re:Launch into sky...

[gughunter]

I'm pretty sure there were a few deaths on the Corkscrew when it was first introduced. It does seem to have a good reputation for safety all in all, though. Now if they'd just bring back the Earthquake Ride, the Pirate Ride, the Funhouse, the Rotor, the Slide, and Coca-Cola, it'd be perfect! (Of course it's been a couple years so they may have done all this... a man can dream, anyway.)

Re:Launch into sky...

[X_Bones]

we used to do that in Rollercoaster Tycoon... there was this one ride, like a shuttle launch or something, that was basically a track angled at 60 degrees into the air which the coaster cars would travel on. You could control the initial velocity of the cars so we pumped it up all the way; the next line of cars to run went flying off the end of the track, burst into flames, and landed far away, with little cartoon people running around and screaming.

(We also built hedge mazes in front of the bathrooms, but that's a different story...)

Re:Launch into sky...

[Obiwan Kenobi]

Or rather, until one of the bottom trusses breaks and they're buried at 140MPH.

"That's one hell of a hole you got there, Sonny."

"Yeah."

(akward silence)

"Rollercoaster."

(nods)

Re:Launch into sky...

[delus10n0]

Hey, that's what I do in Rollercoaster Tycoon!

Another fun thing to do in that game is build one of those "launch" rides that launch a circular platform of people up a shaft, but set the speed to something ridiculously high, and watch the cart fly off and crash into your park.

Muahahhahaa!

Re:Launch into sky...

[Tablizer]

I wonder how long it will be before the damned thing breaks and the "car" portion just takes off into the sky landing about 1 mile from the park.

The worse part up there is when you are mistaken for a Korean WMD and get hit by a Patriot missle or W's new Missle Defense System.

Re:Launch into sky...

[cap'n foolsy]

do you by any chance work for catbert in the HR division?

Personally

[A Proud American]

Personally, I find the new page scheme scarier than most rollercoasters.

Amusement park rides tend to make me more dizzy than scared, whereas games.slashdot.org makes me downright puke.

While reading that review

[teamhasnoi]

I think I peed myself.

Re:While reading that review

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, while we were going over that loop, you peed the rest of us, too.

Re:While reading that review

[lommer]

Bzzzzt! Wrong Answer.

Due to the intense G's, his pee actually flew across town before landing on the hot-dog stand.

Not Allowed Here

[Amadaeus]

I'm quite sure this... thing... will never be allowed in Canada because:

a. It's too fast for all the old ladies to watch their grandchildren fall to their deaths
b. Will make people on the ground have motion sickness.

Damn. I have motion sickness just LOOKING at those stills.

Re:Not Allowed Here

[TheKodiak]

I'm having trouble parsing this:

a. It's too fast for all the old ladies to watch their grandchildren fall to their deaths

Do you mean to say that old ladies demand that their grandchildren fall to their deaths SLOWLY?

Re:Not Allowed Here

[beebware]

Yep: gives the grandmothers a lot longer to relish being rid of the little brats and managing to outlive their own grandchildren :)

Re:BE CAREFUL!

[Anonymous Coward]

i dont think you should read /. if you are offended by something like god damn

keep speech free

[Anonymous Coward]

speek freely!!! curse more it is friday and I am bored

the irony

[fjordboy]

I find it sort of ironic that "Charles Manson" would post a comment including the words "god damn" and several references to hell....

A more on topic note...that coaster looks freaking awesome. However, I still give the Pheonix at Knoebel's grove in PA my vote for scariest coaster ever. Not because it is fast, not because of crazy g-forces, but because the riders know that it is a REALLY old coaster and the whole thing shimmies around like there's no tomorrow. People who have ridden it know what I'm talking about...it just feels unsafe...when you're strapped in to these new coasters, you know that they've passed insane safety tests before they allow humans to ride...but the pheonix...I pray through the whole ride that the car doesn't derail or that the whole structure doesn't collapse. Just looking at it makes me think of horrific newspaper headlines with pictures of the carnage after the oldest wooden coaster in the US collapsed...

Re:the irony

[Skater]

I wondered if someone would mention the Phoenix! That coaster actually came from somewhere else before Knoebel's had it, so others might be familiar with it even if they've never been to Knoebel's. The Phoenix is the one coaster I have ridden, and it was fun, but I have no urges to ride more coasters. (When I was young, I didn't ride them because I hated being pushed into it by my brothers and dad. Now that I'm older, I think I might like them, but I've had some neck problems over the last few years and I'm afraid being bounced around on coasters might not be good for my neck.) Link to the coasters.

At least it's better than the Mouse (later called the Jet*Star, and since removed). Broken collarbones were common on that thing! The Mouse was an all steel coaster with some very tight turns. They've replaced it with another steel, twisty coaster, but I heard that they had to tone it down for some reason from its design so it's not as good as it should be.

On the other hand...I love a good flume ride. The thrills of a coaster without the jostling.

--RJ

Re:BE CAREFUL!

[stratjakt]

You tell your daughter slashdot is quality?

You should be in prison with the other child abusers.

At 420 feet....

[SpaceCadetTrav]

It's probably the highest elevation in all of the midwest. ... half of which should actually be called the mideast or midnorth.

Re:At 420 feet....

[B3ryllium]

420? Cool, man. I'm sure hundreds of people would want to toke up at 420.

Re:At 420 feet....

[Anonymous Coward]

Hundreds?? Don't you mean millions? ;)

Re:At 420 feet....

[rkz]

For my fellow Europeans:
420 FEET = 128.02m
to put this into some perspective, the Eiffel Tower is 300m

Re:At 420 feet....

[Anonymous Coward]

Methinks you missed the point.

I've always found it interesting that 420 has been so incredibly popular here in the US (for ~30 years even) yet no one outside the country seems to have heard of it..

Re:At 420 feet....

[ahaning]

half of which should actually be called the mideast or midnorth.

Thank you for saying this. Here I am in Ohio, and it's considered the Midwest. Eh!? Unless the person who called it that was looking at the map upside-down, I'm still rather confused as to why the eastern half of anything can be called "Midwest".

Re:At 420 feet....

[B3ryllium]

I'm in Canada. :P

Re:At 420 feet....

[Anonymous Coward]

The naming is partly from the point of view of the original 13 states.

Steel Coaster Records...

[mythosaz]

Top Thrill Dragster is:

#1 Largest Drop: 400ft (#2 is 306 by Steel Dragon at Nagashima Spaland in Japan)
#1 Height: 420ft (#2 Steel Dragon again)
#1 Fastest: 120mph (#2 Dodonpa at Fujikyu Highlands in Japan)
#1 Angle of Descent: 90o. (In a 5-way tie!)

Of course, Superman at 6 Flags Magic Mountain at 415ft isn't too shabby in the wood coaster category either considering it does 100mph and the same 90o drop.

'Dragster, however, doesn't make the list of the longest by a longshot.

Both Cedar Point's "other" Roller Coaster (Millenium Force) and Japan's Steel Dragon rank top three on this list AND every other list of speed, height, drop records.

Side by side, I'd have to say that Steel Dragon (in Steel) and Superman (in wood) still might be the most impressive of the lot.

Re:Steel Coaster Records...

[Anonymous Coward]

Superman is NOT wood. It's not even a complete circuit coaster. It's basically an L shape, where you accellerate 100 miles, go up, then fall backwards. Most of the time, you come 50 feet shy from the top.

Cedar Point has one of the tallest Wooden coasters in the world, and it's proven to be a dismal failure. You just can't make tall and fast Wooden coasters. The train designs can't cope with it. Son of Beast at Kings Island uses larger wheels, and almost rides like a steel coaster. That's the future of woodies.

Steel Dragon is a larger version of Millenium Force.

Cedar Point might not HOLD records for long, but they consistantly break them. First coaster over 150ft, first over 200, first over 300, first over 400.

Take a look at Gemini at CP. That coaster used to hold world records, including tallest in the world, back in the late 70's. :P

Re:Steel Coaster Records...

[deke_2503]

Actually, Superman the Escape at Six Flags is steel....

Superman The Escape (Six Flags Magic Mountain) is tied with Tower of Terror (Dreamworld, Australia) for the #2 drop at 328' 1", and the Steel Dragon 2000 is 4th, at (exactly) 306' 9".

Similarly, Superman the Escape is #2 at 415' tall and Tower of Terror is 377' 4" tall, putting Steel Dragon 2000 in 4th again, with 318' 3"

Dodonpa (Japan) is #2 at 106.9 mph, Superman The Escape and Tower of Terror are tied at 100 mph, and the Steel Dragon 2000 returns for #5 at 95 mph.

Not sure about angle of descents, but there are a few tied at 90 degrees, and its hard to get much steeper than that!

The longest steel coaster is Steel Dragon 2000, at 8133' 2". Daidarasaurus (Japan) is #2 at 7677' 2" , and Millennium Force (Cedar Point) is #5 at 6595'.

And though I'm not certain, I'm pretty sure the Colossus (Thorpe Park, England) has the most inversions, with a twin corkscrew, vertical loop, cobra roll, and five zero-g heart rolls. Sounds fun.

And yes, those are only the steel records...didn't check all the wooden records against them.

Re:Steel Coaster Records...

[Anonymous Coward]

#1 Largest Drop: 400ft (#2 is 306 by Steel Dragon at Nagashima Spaland in Japan)
#1 Height: 420ft (#2 Steel Dragon again)
#1 Fastest: 120mph (#2 Dodonpa at Fujikyu Highlands in Japan)
#1 Angle of Descent: 90o. (In a 5-way tie!)

#1 ???
#1 Profit!

Cedar Point

[Schezar]

I've been going to Cedar Point every summer for most of my life. My parents had their honeymoon there. I'd even go so far as to say that my best childhood memories arise from my times in that blessed haven of thrill rides.

Hands down, Cedar Point is the greatest coaster park in the world. I've been to various others (6 Flags, Canada Wonderland, King's Island...), but they just don't compare. Cedar Point has always had the biggest and the best. They've had the tallest coaster in the world on several occaisions, and still hold the record for most coasters in a park.

I was there the day the Magnum XL200 opened (before they activated the breaks at the top of the first hill to slow it down for safety). I was there two years later for the opening day of Mean Streak. I was there for... Well, you get the point: I'm a Cedar Point nut. (An old one, too. I've ridden a lot of rides that aren't even there anymore... Anyone else remember the potato-sack slide?)

Granted, the park has changed a lot over the years. Back in the day, ther were beer carts everywhere, and very few children outside of "kiddy-land." There were more open spaces and quiet areas. I remember watching the wild turkey roaming around Frontier Land. There was a sense of history (Cedar Point is a -very- old park) and decor.

Now, it's $3 just to get a soda from a machine, there are no open spaces (and no more turkeys), and they've added this garish Snoopy dome thing. The taste and decor are gone, as are the beer carts.. It's a commercialized "family" park. It's loud and flashy, and the crowds are sometimes almost unbearable.

Now, don't go modding me troll just yet ;^) I still go there every year, and I still love the rides. Cedar Point will always be tops in my book, because no matter what else they screw up, the coasters will always be there.

Unless one of those tornados decides to pop down.

---

Re:BE CAREFUL!

[Anonymous Coward]

i don't want my daughter reading GOD DAMN over my shoulder

Then get the fuck out of here and go visit disney.com!

Trip to CP

[zaster]

Hell yeah, I have been going to Cedar point now every summer for the last 5 years, and it keeps getting better. I mean come on first they have the Millenium Force, now TTD, which beats anything else by at least 90' in height and 20 MPH in speed. 2 more weeks, then I'm off to experience it first hand.

Mirror

[DigitalSorceress]

I'm probably going to regret this, but...

I got there right when the story posted and have Mirrored it

Re:What a horrible /. posting

[Loosewire]

your right, i was envisiging some 60 foot high out of control robot going round murdering people.
Maybe i will make that slashdot headline, i err mean submit it when it happens...

Re:Be careful!

[Anonymous Coward]

Would you shut the fuck up, you GOD DAMNED moron? If your daughter hasn't seen or heard GOD DAMN, then she's either in a GOD DAMNED coma, or you keep her locked in the GOD DAMNED basement. A few quick "That's grown up speak" talks and she'll get the GOD DAMNED message.

Speaking of shock-coasters...

[Omega]

Has anyone been on the Hypersonic XLC at King's Dominion in Richmond, VA? I've only seen videos (including the one on the site). I've been anticipating its opening for some time now, but I moved to the west coast, so I haven't been back to King's Dominion in quite a while.

Let's play a game!

[Anonymous Coward]

Duck...

Duck...

Goat!

Moore's Law

[Scrumper]

Does Moores law apply to roller coaster's as well?

Re:Moore's Law

[Anonymous Coward]

No.

Re:Be careful!

[Anonymous Coward]

Haven't I read this somewhere before?

Get back to church you bible-basher!

Warning

[ergonal]

Warning slashdot users. Do not go on this ride. If you do, you brain will turn to mush. Here's one testimonial taken from here to prove my theory:

This is the greatest page ever made in the history of internet!!!!!!! I am a ride fanatic, mean you know what I mean "PSYCHO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I am 18, i have been loving rides since i was nine. Every ride!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe I found this page!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much, is there any Club i can join?????? I am going crazy!!!!!!!!!!!! Ah!!!!!!!!

You've been warned.

Re:Warning

[brer_rabbit]

It's ok, he used to be Visual Basic programmer.

Mr Show

[taernim]

Anyone remember this excellent show on HBO?
They had this great skit on one episode called The Devastator ... "Ride it... it's Soul Shattering!"... then it segues into a News segment on the rising death toll from the rollercoaster. It's great.

The best part is where the ad is lauding how cool the ride is, "including a full two minutes underwater!"

Re:Mr Show

[McSpew]

"...Including TWO FULL MINUTES UNDERWATER!!!"

I loved that segment. The sad clown in the parking lot definitely added to it.

can't wait...

[SophtwareSlump]

I'm going up to Cedar Point this weekend with some friends. Should be a good time.

For those of you that have never been to Cedar Point. You have to go. Not only do they have about 7 or 8 'oops i crapped my pants' class roller costers, but they have one of the better vintage arcades that I've ever seen. Out Run, Galaga, Space Harrier, etc..

If you're an AAA member, you can get an all-day pass for $32 or so. It makes a lot more affordable, especially if you're broke and/or have a family.

Re:can't wait...

[teamhasnoi]

If you're an AAA member, you can get an all-day pass for $32 or so.

No doubt being a member of Alcoholics Anonymous Anonymous helps to calm some of the animal terror these rides must create.

Re:can't wait...

[proj_2501]

The center of the vintage arcade scene is no doubt the New Jersey coast.

Q*Bert, Spy Hunter, HERCULES (the biggest pinball game in the world which used a cue ball insta\ead of a pinball!)

Re:can't wait...

[Rob Parkhill]

My first time at CP, it was too hot to stay outside in the afternoon, so we went looking for shade. We stumbled across the arcade. Holy crap, that place is almost worth the price of admission alone. All of the newer games are up front, but further back they have all of the video games from your childhood. And not just the fancy-ass "computer" games either... lots of old duck-hunt mechanical type games as well.

It's like a museum, but every exhibit costs you a quarter :-)

Re:Be careful!

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you going to post this again and again? I mean you've already said God Damn twice yourself. Surely you must be more concerned with your daughter seeing her own father typing God Damn then just some anonymous person on a website.

Re:Be careful!

[Anonymous Coward]

You sound pretty offended. Or maybe your Caps Lock key is stuck.

Re:BE CAREFUL!

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree with you, but please, please warn her of the ocular dangers involved in clicking any *.goatse.* link :)

average /. reader is safe

[feed_those_kitties]

from the Cedar Point website:
May not accommodate Guests of Exceptional Size.

Whew! I guess I won't be going on this beastie!

I'll just continue to enjoy the Magnum XL-200, even though now people will think that a 200 foot tall coaster is 'wimpy'...

!Sig

Re:average /. reader is safe

[Divide By Zero]

May not accommodate Guests of Exceptional Size.

Guests of Exceptional Size? I don't think they exist.

*gets mauled by Guest of Exceptional Size*

Re:average /. reader is safe

[jfollas]

I had heard that you have to be under 6'3" to ride.

Re:average /. reader is safe

[MikeFM]

This is a problem for me. I'm 6'6 and barely fit into some rides.. they take some effort to squeze into. I'd imagine there are some I wouldn't fit in. I'm paranoid about the clearence of any rides that let your legs hang free. Overall, it's a good thing I'm not much of a thrill ride fan. :)

Cedar Point

[Schezar]

While I agree that it should have been more clear, I'll note that, for the people who know of and go to Cedar Point, the notion of someone not knowing what it is is, well, insane. ;^) I've always lived within driving distance of Cedar Point, and until I moved to New York (from Detroit), I'd never met anyone who hadn't been to Cedar Point at least once (and usually every summer).

The people who go to Cedar Point are fanatics (myself included). We get excited over these things, sometimes a little too much.

Oh, and for the record: Cedar Point

Irony Nazi

[p3d0]

I find it sort of ironic that "Charles Manson" would post a comment including the words "god damn" and several references to hell....

That, my friend, is not irony. You might find it "amusing" but if you find it "ironic" then I guess you don't know who Charles Manson was.

Re:Irony Nazi

[fjordboy]

you're entirely correct. I feel like an idiot now...

Or I could just look really ignorant and claim that I thought Charles Manson was Mother Teresa's brother or something...

Dang.

Re:Irony Nazi

[Anonymous Coward]

Basically, my rule of thumb is that you can count on the average person's slinging of the words "ironic," "ironically", etc. to be incorrect.

Usage Note: The words ironic, irony, and ironically are sometimes used of events and circumstances that might better be described as simply "coincidental" or "improbable," in that they suggest no particular lessons about human vanity or folly. Thus 78 percent of the Usage Panel rejects the use of ironically in the sentence In 1969 Susie moved from Ithaca to California where she met her husband-to-be, who, ironically, also came from upstate New York. Some Panelists noted that this particular usage might be acceptable if Susie had in fact moved to California in order to find a husband, in which case the story could be taken as exemplifying the folly of supposing that we can know what fate has in store for us. By contrast, 73 percent accepted the sentence Ironically, even as the government was fulminating against American policy, American jeans and videocassettes were the hottest items in the stalls of the market, where the incongruity can be seen as an example of human inconsistency.

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=ironic

Re:Irony Nazi

[p3d0]

Hey, don't sweat it. Your kind of usage is so common that others have suggested that the meaning of "ironic" may have changed. :-)

And the first 500 seats go to

[Boyceterous]

Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, SCO Executives, spammmers, ax-murderers, lawyers, Dr. Kavorkian, and finally duplicate posters :)

Re:And the first 500 seats go to

[Anonymous Coward]

Why Doctor Kevorkian? What'd he ever do wrong (compared to all the others...)

Yawn...

[msimm]

As much as I care about this sort of t..h....zzzz.

Re:Please, show some consideration

[Pingular]

You can't please everyone all of the time... (actual quote you can't fool everyone... (but I'm sure you know that))

Re:BE CAREFUL!

[Anonymous Coward]

uhhh from someone not in the US what's ever so frightful about god damn? It's not like writing shit, fuck or cunt up onscreen. Not even like bugger, sodomy or crap. Those I could almost understand, but god damn? what's with that being so freaky.

I used it around some US visitors 2 years ago and I may as well have said "I want to fuck your dog and eat its corpse"

Re:BE CAREFUL!

[DeltaSigma]

You noticed that too? By no means am I a christian, or even moral person but I do find that, well not offensive, but unprofessional. I realize the obscenities are the quickest route to display above-average enthusiasm, but it does more harm than good. Especially if you have an audience as demographically wide-spread as slashdot.

Stupid Joke

[Syncdata]

the world's first "strata-coaster," a 420-footer
So this roller coaster is exactly 4:20 feet 'high'? I wonder if that top out was intentional? Chuckle.
If you don't get the joke, than I applaud your studious nature when you were in high school/college. You probably make more money than I do now.

Re:Stupid Joke

[Anonymous Coward]

please, someone explain this 420 thingy to me...i'm not from the us, and i've always wondered about it....

Re:Stupid Joke

[Anonymous Coward]

its a police code for illegal drug use, like 187 for a shot cop...420 for drugs...so druggies being so hip like to smoke at 4:20...clever!

Re:Stupid Joke

[Anonymous Coward]

It's all about the weed. The ganja. The sweet Mary Jane. I think a lot of people say "420" is a criminal code used by police as in "Unit 12, be advised of a possible 420 at Hyde Park" but in fact I don't think 420 is a code that exists in any law enforcement department.

Re:Stupid Joke

[jred]

That's the first thing that jumped out at me, too :)

Re:Stupid Joke

[aardvarkjoe]

For your reading pleasure: 420.

Re:Stupid Joke

[FireballFreddy]

My understanding is that 420 was chosen because that is the temperature at which marijuana ignites. But I can't find any links to back that up. *shrug* Kinda like the title Fahrenheit 451 was supposed to come from the temperature at which paper ignites.

YMMV.

Re:Stupid Joke

[Anonymous Coward]

You're way off (someone already posted a link to snopes with the real origin). Although 420 F is a pretty good temperature to vaporize at (depending on moisture levels) for a good smokeless hit. ;)

Re:Stupid Joke

[bozojoe]

Isnt 420 the answer to life, the universe and everything?

Re:Stupid Joke

[DJGreg]

No, it's 42

Re:Stupid Joke

[mikrus]

Nope, the answer to life, the universe and everything is 42.

Re:Stupid Joke

[MrScience]

I probably was, because I don't get it. Is this yet a reference to cannabis?

I had to google why everyone laughed at "Mary Jane? That's my favorite name!" after I took the family to Scoobie Doo.

no no no! These are great!

[mekkab]

Why? Why is it great that there is a 30second ride that people wait on line for over an hour for?

Its great because while those schmucks are online for the new "uber coaster" the line for the slightly-less ubercoaster has 4 people on it, and you can ride it over and over and over again!

Bigger,faster,better coasters are great because that lets me ride all the other ones without the crazy lines.

Re:no no no! These are great!

[stratjakt]

This is true, I can't argue that.

Re:no no no! These are great!

[Tablizer]

Why? Why is it great that there is a 30second ride that people wait on line for over an hour for? Its great because while those schmucks are online for the new "uber coaster" the line for the slightly-less ubercoaster has 4 people on it

Competition is stiff. They are now building the XML Object Oriented Web Services Coaster to keep up.

Seriously, I don't find coasters much fun anymore. I must be getting old or something. Either that, too much time spent driving cheap cars on cheap roads in bad weather while late to work. The newness of being jerked about and sliding and hitting big bumps that knock bolts off is gone.

Did I tell you about the time that I accidently went into the truck weighing station and hit a speed bump at 50mph in a Dodge Colt on what I mistakenly thought was the on-ramp back to the freeway? Kiss-the-Axel-Goodbye and Kiss-the-spine-goodbye.

Or the time I flipped off a jerk who cut right in front of me making me slam the brakes and paying so much attention to flipping off finger actions and movement (gotta make the movements realistic for max effect) that I almost crashed into the lane barrier at 65mph if not for A Swerve From Hell.

Nuff of that, man. Give me a seat securely welded to ground and popcorn instead.

Re:no no no! These are great!

[gmhowell]

Right on, man, I'm gonna add you to my friends list for such an insightful comment. Oh. Wait.

Seriously, now is the time for me to hit Cedar Point. I have zero interest in this new coaster, but the lines for Millenium Force should be much shorter now.

(BTW, if anyone wants to feel scared, try riding a tiny motorcycle on the interstate during blinding rain when the only other traffic is semis with drivers loaded up on 'Trucker's Choice'.)

Re:BE CAREFUL!

[Anonymous Coward]

You would rather your daughter just hear it when you aren't around?

Dude

[Anonymous Coward]

There is no "god-damn" in the "keep-remaining-hand-inside-the-car dept" I don't get it. Why are you so pissed off?

Whoop! Whoop!

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a free ride when you've already paid !

Re:BE CAREFUL!

[scrawny]

when my daughter says, 'what's that?' and i say 'this is a good site for information,' i am admitting quality in some form, yes.

i love the fucking moronic cowards who are telling me i'm a christian, which i am ~very~ far from being. i'm just suggesting respect to everyone. to slashdot, i offer the following:

can you imagine a 12 year old being told he can't go to slashdot anymore because of this? i can.

Not capitalized

[Anonymous Coward]

It doesn't say which god is damned.

There are other gods, you know. Lots of them. And some of them wear silly hats.

Re:Not capitalized

[questamor]

damned silly hats.

Re:Not capitalized

[commodoresloat]

damned silly hats.

Yes.... 500 of them!

Re: f that

[valkraider]

Nothing else for them to do?

As inspired by the headline

[div_2n]

New alias for the slashdot effect: Slashdeath

(very short) movie mirror

[Anonymous Coward]

TTDteaser.wmv

Re:BE CAREFUL!

[Anonymous Coward]

I can imagine a 12 year old being told he cant go to slashdot anymore the first time he clicks a goatse link or reads an Old Ike story.

Slashdot is not a childrens site. It's a homosexual geek wanking ground. The comments are blocked by filtering proxies on even conservative settings.

What's the best part about this new coaster?

[brutusbuck]

While everyone is waiting in line to ride this bad boy, I'll be riding the Millenium Force, Magnum, Mantis, Raptor, Mean Streak, Gemini, and Power Tower with no lines. Yay.

Re:BE CAREFUL!

[Anonymous Coward]

"can you imagine a 12 year old being told he can't go to slashdot anymore because of this"?

Good. Fewer ignorant trolls.
(Actually, I agree about the cursing part. Particularly on the front page. That'll go over real well when the boss wants to learn about that "Linux stuff".)

Re:BE CAREFUL!

[Anonymous Coward]

Aw, did the big bad words hurt the little children? Why not explain what words are instead of hiding them so that they end up seeing them when you're not there and making false assumptions?

Re:Please show some tolerance

[Anonymous Coward]

It's two words.

And as for the rest of your post, between God and Trent Reznor, I'll choose God any day.

*ponders trip to ohio*

[ocelotbob]

Got to say, the thing looks fun. 420 feet straight up and then straight down has got to be a damn good rush. Course, i'm a believer that you've got to push youself if you're to really live. Sitting in a cubicle for 8 hours a day an not doing anything to challenge yourself is not living; it's just going through the motions. A ride like this allows a relatively controlled release of adrenaline and excitement, and would be damn fun, too.

Sometimes I wonder about the people on this site. They seem to have no desire for action or excitement. All y'all you are commenting about how dangerous this looks need to rent a very fast car with no top, and cruise for the weekend going at least 20 miles per hour over the speed limit for at least an hour. Trust me, it's much more fun than playing it safe.

Re:*ponders trip to ohio*

[iangoldby]

Rollercoasters, bungie jumping, and all those things, are all just sanitised pseudo-challenge. The fact is that we have become so health and safety obsessed (at least in the western world) that these things we do to get that adrenaline rush are no more than synthetic substitutes for the real thing. Every last movement, g-force, and scream has been calculated to the 19th decimal place by computers. Soon we'll be able to just plug our brains in matrix-style for our regular fix of dial-up thrills.

That said, there's nothing wrong with any of this. I love rollercoasters as much as anyone (we have precious few really good ones here in the UK).

But if you want a real challenge, I suggest you take off on a round-the-world trip, try trekking through the rain forest somewhere, take a ride on the roof of a bus in India, or perhaps if you feel up to it, sail single-handed across the Atlantic or something. (Disclaimer: I haven't tried all of these things 8-)).

Re:*ponders trip to ohio*

[ocelotbob]

Believe me, if I had the money, I'd be doing those things and more. It's why I suggested the simple pleasure of zipping along the road at 80 miles per hour. Gets real fun when you're driving 60 mph down a one lane, one way mountain road that has a speed limit of 15 mph. Mind you, this is in a Plymouth Acclaim, a very simple, no frills, family car. Yeah, I lost a hubcap in one of the turns, but I loved the adrenaline rush.

Re:*ponders trip to ohio*

[jazman_777]

Course, i'm a believer that you've got to push youself if you're to really live... They seem to have no desire for action or excitement.

I prefer to sit on the porch swing on a warm summer evening, with my honey, sipping iced tea or lemonade. My life is full and interesting and I have no need for artificial "thrills".

Re:*ponders trip to ohio*

[ocelotbob]

I've got a pretty full life too. At the same time, though, I try to look for new types of stimulation, new experiences. I want to watch the sunrise from a mesa in the desert, I want to feel the wind rush over me as I hurtle down a roller coaster, I want to feel the rush after completing a 20 mile day hike. What's the point of living if you're just going to do the same things over and over again?

Kennywood

[Mr.Pumpkin]

I have to agree that if you're looking for classic amusement park stuff, you can't beat good ol' Kennywood. They even have a themed area for some of the older rides...

With coasters like the Jack Rabbit and the Racer built in the 1920s (and on the National Historic Register), you definitely get a whole time-warp feel going. My wife grew up there in the '60s and it's amazing how much is still there from when she was a kid. Can't say that much about most of the other parks I know...

BTW, Kings Dominion in Richmond has a similar ride to this one.... But not near the height. Only 165 ft. Only problem is the damned this is broken down most of the time! Hope CP has better luck with theirs....

Re:Kennywood

[big_groo]

Here's my favorite (for the Canadians):

Vortex.

1:45 ride time. Not high, not especially fast...but it's a hell of a lot of fun.

Re:Kennywood

[DigiDarkCloud]

The Vortex is my personal favourite too. It's a thrill without being terrifying. I like to have my breath taken away by the fun of the ride, not by the excessive G's or the insane heights. The Vortex succeeds very well at the former. 'Bout the only good thing to come out of Canada's Wonderland once it sold out to Paramount...

Scarier coaster in Vancouver

[statusbar]

The scariest coaster is the old wooden one at the PNE in Vancouver, BC.

It isn't scary because it is fast, or upside down or any of that fancy stuff.

It is scary because it is old and made of wood, and every moment you get the feeling that the wood is going to snap and you will die.

The new fancy coasters are so strong with reinforced whatchamacallits and you know deep down that they are safe.

Not this one. I swear that if you don't hold on you'd go flying out after the first hump.

--jeff++

Re:Scarier coaster in Vancouver

[fjordboy]

I hear you loud and clear...I mentioned earlier that I think the pheonix (I think the oldest wooden coaster in the US...?) is the scariest ride I've ever been on. The cars shimmy back and forth constantly and I swear you see the bolts vibrating on the wood and stuff. Does *not* feel safe.

Ever taken a glance outside the park grounds?

[Anonymous Coward]

I've never witnessed a more graphic display of white trash living around cedar point in my entire life. God damn, white trash! GOD DAMN

Re:BE CAREFUL!

[Anonymous Coward]

Can you imagine your daughter reading "fucking moronic cowards" signed by her DAD?

Better yet, can you imagine a Beowulf cluster of your daughter.... ummm, nevermind.

Re:BE CAREFUL!

[Anonymous Coward]

... so that they end up seeing them when you're not there and making false assumptions?

Are you new? I thought making false assumptions was the norm here.

Not according to the poll

[bsd-mon]

Not according to the latest poll. Now whether the poll is accurate is a whole nother issue.

Some Pictures of it

[jetkust]

Pictures of this coaster here. These go in the "you gotta be kidding me" category.

Which reminds me...OF FAILURE!

[Senator Bill Frist]

OH, YEAH...YOU FAIL IT!

HEY, YOU'VE GOT KARMA TO FAIL!

Lameness filter encountered. Post aborted!
Reason: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING.

LAMENESS FILTER FAILS IT!

Awesome pictures

[Anonymous Coward]

There are some great pictures of this beast at Virtual Midway

pussy....

[jaxle]

you pussy, roller coasters dont hurt

the bigger the better, and thats the truth. i cant believe you didnt even ride the raptor, that coaster is real fun and not that bad.

Re:pussy....

[jaxle]

god damnit wahts this bullshit about trolling when i post my god damn opinion

Love the rides, hate the wait

[swb]

I wish more places used a Disney fastpass-style system.

I try to schedule an annual trip to Valleyfair here in MN on some oddball Tuesday when it looks like its going to rain, it usually cuts the wait by about half, but some rides *still* have an annoying wait.

Some suggestions for amusement park execs:

1) Have limited-admission days where park admission is capped. Charge more to get in to make up the difference.

2) Upcharge (2x? 3x?) admission to allow some kind of limited queue-jumping system (maybe a less restrictive fastpass deal where you could get multiple fastpasses for different rides). Set the fee high enough where not everyone does it.

3) Maybe just make more fun rides and fewer megabucks rides. Nobody buys your overpriced food or stuff when they're stuck in a queue. I have a great time on the scary-maintenance rides at the State Fair, and I almost never wait for them, and those rides are usually small enough that they can be folded up and transported on a semi trailer or two.

Re:Love the rides, hate the wait

[Rob Parkhill]

2) Upcharge (2x? 3x?) admission to allow some kind of limited queue-jumping system (maybe a less restrictive fastpass deal where you could get multiple fastpasses for different rides). Set the fee high enough where not everyone does it.

LaRonde in Montreal does this. You buy you admission, and then you can buy "skip the line" tickets for extra (assuming you can find the hidden office where they sell them...)

Would be a great system if they didn't limit the value of these tickets by only letting you use them on rides that don't have really long lines to start with!

Six Flags magic Mountain also does this, and also limits the tickets (Speedpass?) to specific rides.

Islands of Adventure has the most expensive system... if you stay at one of the in-park hotels, your room key allows you to skip the line for almost all rides. Sa-weet!

Re:Love the rides, hate the wait

[gozar]

Cedar Point has looked into some sort of "fastpass" system, but ran into a couple of problems. Most notably, the weather. It could look like the nicest day in the world when all of the sudden it rains. This adds to the delays. The other problem is ride breakdowns. Another poster noted that the ride broke down for 1/2 an hour. Since the Dragster is rated at around 1,500 people an hour, that's 750 people that you have to try to get back into the cue. Just think of the rain lasting 30 minutes, then another 1 hour before the ride is dry enough to ride. You'd have 2,250 people getting pretty ticked.

Re:Love the rides, hate the wait

[bobroberts]

Islands of Adventure has the most expensive system... if you stay at one of the in-park hotels, your room key allows you to skip the line for almost all rides. Sa-weet!

This is totally worth it. No other way can you ride the Hulk 3 times, Spiderman twice, Dr. Doom, Dueling Dragons twice all in 3 hours or so. I live in about 15 minutes from the park, and having used it once, if I was going back to IOA I would stay at one of their hotels just to use this system. You get so much more out of your day than just lots of standing in line.

Re:Love the rides, hate the wait

[NeMon'ess]

Idea 1: You want me to buy my tickets in advance like the airlines? If I can't make it that day can I get my money back? This is going to make going to the amusement park into even more of a hastle than it already is. Besides, the parks try and take in as much money as possible, not keep the lines short. Unless short lines bring in more money, which is true but only to a point. People will wait in lines for so long before they get pissed.

Idea 2: Since I'm assuming you can afford these passes that's a great idea for you. I cannot. People in my position think you have a lousy idea.

Re:BE CAREFUL!

[Anonymous Coward]

i don't want my daughter reading GOD DAMN over my shoulder

You just wrote "GOD DAMN". Now your daughter will read it twice. Well, four times, actually, since I just wrote it and quoted your writing of it.

Thanks for keeping the world safe from the words "GOD DAMN" (5 times). Maybe if GOD didn't DAMN (does that count as 6?) people so much, people wouldn't have started saying "GOD DAMN" (7).

I mean, fucking (thought I was going to say "GOD DAMN" (8), didn't you?) seriously, get over it. It's just words. They don't hurt.

More info can be found here...

[w3svc_animal]

Take a look here for Admission info, coupons and other misc brochures for Cedar Point:
Cedar Point

Re:BE CAREFUL!

[RatBastard]

Yes, but the "offending words" were not written by a Slashdot editor, but the submitter. The submitter is under no obligation to be "prefessional" in any way. This is only marginally different than the comments posted by Slashdot readers. And only so if you think the editors should be proofing the submissions.

Re:Corrected Link

[w3svc_animal]

http://www.cedarpoint.com/

Re:BE CAREFUL!

[Anonymous Coward]

The story submitter is reffering to the God known as Damn. He is the lesser known God of all that is Silly, but lately he has been getting more and more attention since he has made one of his lesser minions (but still true to the sillyness) in charge of a big country here on earth.

Now lets all go outside and wear silly hats in a small praise for him!

Re:BE CAREFUL!

[Anonymous Coward]

What's an "editur" do anyhow?

Machine Design Article

[Anonymous Coward]

There's a nice 4-page article ("The Coaster with the Moster") about this in the May 8 print version (not online yet, unfortunately) of Machine Design magazine. It has some interesting details on the mechanical aspects of the design.

Re:Please, show some consideration

[Anonymous Coward]

God is not His real name.

Refute that!

Re:BE CAREFUL!

[mingot]

I called a limey broad a slag and you'd have thought I called her a cunt.

Shit's just different from place to place, ya know?

I have been on this

[vital3d]

Yes, it is fun. It is obscene. Of course it is fast as hell. I went on Sunday, May 4th. I was in line for at least 6.5 hours. In my opinion, the ride is not worth this wait. After getting to the platform, it broke for at least a half hour, seems like they have some bugs to work out. I would ride it again...and I will. Thank goodness for my season pass. :>

Now getting in the ride is another painful procedure, especially for males. You see, they have a seatbelt with a handle...and a bar that goes over the lap...with a extension near the crotch that hurts...like a mofo. The ride "attendants" pull on the seatbelt handle until you can't feel anymore. Then they put the lap bar until you cry. Imagine, if you have to relieve yourself after standing in the line for 4+ hours.

Once the train is released onto the track...the christmas tree lights up & you hear the sound effects...with a voice if you have your hands up. Don't be that guy. Do not put your hands up...you just screw everyone else over. The brake pads go down...3 seconds later the train is shot. I blacked out...all I remember is crossing the top & going down the other side. Wow...what a ride.

Not worth a 6.5 hour wait. Hopefully it will be shorter later in the summer. The better part of the day happened afterwards...my party rode Raptor, Magnum, Wicked Twister all in an hour.

I also dropped $12 for the priceless picture.
http://www.shackspace.com/~vital3d@shack mail.com/t eh%20funnay/topthrill.jpg

killer magnet

[forgetmenot]

Isn't the need to experience thrills to enjoy life one of the defining traits of a sociopath? Wouldn't that make this thing a magnet for psychopaths and axe-murderers?

Re:killer magnet

[Spunk]

You'll note that the article was submitted by Charles Manson.

Skip the lines

[John3]

If you have some $$$ to spare when heading to Universal Orlando then stay at one of the on-site hotels. Showing your room key gets you to the head of the line at every ride in the park. At Spiderman, we rode four times straight and each time walked by the same people on line. On the Jurassic Park ride the kid behind us said he waited an hour and hoped the ride was cool. I had to "shush" my daughter who was about to tell him this was our third time in the past fifteen minutes.

I felt guilty a few times as we passed the same people in line, but then I remembered that they were saving $100 per night by staying in Kissimmee instead on on-site.

You pay a bit more but you get to fly by everyone standing in the hot sun, plus you get to stay at a cool hotel (in our case it was the Hard Rock Hotel). It's an especially great deal if you've got kids since they definitely don't handle long waits on line.

Re:Skip the lines

[mekkab]

yeah, there's also some other deal where you get some pass and once every hour you get to go to the head of the line...

Still, if I ever go to Uni Orlando I'll stay on site. No Lines is worth $100 (to me).

Re:Skip the lines

[John3]

That's "Express Pass" and it's almost more of a hassle than it's worth. Disney has the same kind of setup, and you can probably use it for two or three rides during the day if you sign up immediately after using the prior pass. However you give up some flexibility in your day if you need to worry about being at "The Hulk" at 1:30PM when you're on the other side of the park on line for "Men in Black".

Re:Skip the lines

[mekkab]

Gotcha... I had only heard of the Express Pass second hand (thus, I couldn't remember its name!) but it doesn't sound as nice as skipping to the head of the class with an on-site hotel key.

Wireless LANs?

[Jerk City Troll]

I'm staying in a cabin (Lighthouse Point) this weekend at Cedar Point. Does anyone know of any unguarded wireless access points around the island? I'll need to get my fix while I'm there.

Re:Wireless LANs?

[beebware]

I dunno, but I heard rumors of an SSID of "coastercontrolsys" ;)

Re:BE CAREFUL!

[Anonymous Coward]

If you had used your ID, and I had used mine - I would mark you as "friend". Kids are going to see and learn - you choose how, when, and where. If not with you at home, it'll be with friends or on their own...

sudden death experience....

[thedbp]

at first glance i thought they were talking about the slashdotting of .Mac, yahoo, and other small-bandwidth hosted sites...

Four Hundred Twenty Feet Tall

[Jerk City Troll]

420

And you get really high.

Does anyone else think this wasn't a coincidence?

1.4 G's

[Anonymous Coward]

Keep in mind that gravity also exerts 1 G in addition to the roller coaster's 1.4 approx. G force.

The Navy has...

[Anonymous Coward]

Aircraft carriers. I would like to try TTD (I live in OH, so it's not a big trip), but based on my little brother's description of Carrier trap ("landing") and launch ("takeoff"), I would like to try a coaster that simulates what Navy Aviators do regularly...

0-170 in 2 seconds...

170-0 in 2 seconds...

get real slashdot

[Anonymous Coward]

Man, this is getting old fast. Between the dupes, and the slashdotted sites... it's getting to be a waste of time to even visit slashdot anymore. Where's the innovation? Caching of news stories would be nice. Guess it's back to fark.

Near Death Experience

[Anonymous Coward]

Shouldn't it be "Near Death Experience"?

American Geography.

[BDew]

Just remember that Michigan was originally "The Northwest Territories"... Americans are good at a lot of things, but geography has never been one of them :)

Re:American Geography.

[Carnivorous Carrot]

http://www.geo.msu.edu/geo333/Treaties.html

Re:BE CAREFUL!

[khuber]

Well it's not like anyone said shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, or tits.

-Kevin

Re:I have been on this

[Artemis]

Your URL for the priceless picture doesn't work, would be nice to see how the "buy your picture" photo's look for the TTD.

Re:I have been on this

[hkfczrqj]

This one should work.

More information...

[Anonymous Coward]

Let me add to my original post (the parent), I've been searching since for a very good explanation of those electromagnetic forces. There are actually two different types, LIM and LSM. Great info. If you want more information, just Google for "Linear Induction Motors" and "Linear Synchronous Motors".

Re:More information...

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, TTD is powered by a very large hydraulic motor attached to a cable that runs along the track seen here. (And that is just one side of the hydraulic room!)

It would take some very powerful electromagnets to accelerate those trains to those speeds that fast.

Re:More information...

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought they were electromagnetically charged hydraulics (or something), am I wrong? Like Hypersonic XLC is air powered, but uses hydraulics to actually push the train forward.

Hmm cool

[Absolutionfse]

I'd probably puke sitting in the car before we even started moving. I don't get motion sickness, but I get nauseous when I'm nervous. :) I stay away from those for the benefit of all involved.

MANUFACTURER: Intamin AG, Wollerau, Switzerland

[Anonymous Coward]

Cool... a company in the town I live in manufactured it and I don't even know about it... those small businesses are always a surprise ;)

Jesus Christ

[ces]

Long before I was 12 my parents would play their George Carlin records while I was in the room.

Really people they're just words, nobody is going to die because of some words on a page (or screen).

Besides do you really think your kid is that damn sheltered? I heard far worse things from other chlidren than I ever heard from adults. Unless you are with your daughter 24/7 she will get exposed to foul language and far worse things. It is best to make sure she can handle herself rather than trying to shelter her from everything you find bad or evil until she is 18.

In any case since she is 12, if you've sheltered her from other things as well as much as you've sheltered her from foul language, you are going to have much bigger things to worry about soon.

Re:Which reminds me...

[Anonymous Coward]

You seem like a nice guy, so I'll help you out. If you're replying to a post, then it is definitely not an FP.
Also, it would help you to jack me off, and shove what penis you have into my anus! I WANT SEX!

omfg

[abhisarda]

Take a look at this picture. I laughed and screamed at the same time.

I don't know who is scarier-the man on the left or the ride itself.

Re:omfg

[joelil]

I Forget that alot of people haven't been to cedar point. Myself growing up 30 miles from cedar point and seeing all the new roller coasters going up.If you can get there You have to ride them all i think it's up to 19 total now. BTW I remember when they put up the Corkscrew....And that was cutting edge....at the time some time in the 70's.Now being 40ish I'll think about this one.

Punishing Amusement Park Rides

[pipingguy]

...it's all fun and games until somebody's uncle pops a ventricle.

My favorite has always been The Tooth Chipper at Colonel Tex's Traveling Carnival.

-Bleeding Gums Murphy

Hydraulic launch system

[WhiteDragon]

I wonder what the advantages of hydraulic launch are as compared to linear induction. Also, what about steam? (don't laugh, it is what aircraft carriers use)

Re:I have been on this

[ashitaka]

So, ummm.

Are you they guy with his eyes shut or the one with the hairy pits?

What does "strata-coaster" mean?

[tella]

What the heck does strata-coaster even mean?
The only thing that comes to mind is if they were trying to make a description of how high the thing can go. But, the stratosphere doesn't actually start till about 7 miles up IIRC not 420 feet ... strata-coaster?

Re:BE CAREFUL!

[chief-dot]

intentional blink182 reference?

You're a bit mixed up...

[jmichaelg]

Lateral acceleration is what you experience in a curve. When you're talking about 0-60 in 3.9 seconds, you're talking about a different beastie. The calculations are:

60*5280/3600 = 0 to 88 ft/sec in 3.9 seconds.

88/3.9 = 22.6 ft/sec/sec

1 g = 32 ft/sec/sec so 22.6/32 = .7 g

The 1.4 g isn't quite right either.
0-140 in 4 seconds...
140*5280/3600 = 205.3 ft/sec

205.3 ft/sec in 4 seconds is 51.3 ft/sec/sec

51.3/32 = 1.6 g

That heavy fellow on the left probably weighs 220 pounds when he's just standing. At 1.6 g, he's feeling 352 pounds pushing him into his seat. Add the 140 mph breeze in his face and he's probably wishing he hit the head before getting on that ride.

Thwacks self on head (Re:Cedar Point)

[TaliesinWI]

Yes indeed, I was talking about "lateral" acceleration - generally found by the skidpad test - when what we're worried about is "linear" acceleration.

Feh. Looks like the cold medicine isn't as non-drowsy as I thought. :)

What makes a coaster fun?

[MikeFM]

Am I the only person who doesn't 'get' rollercoasters. You pay a fortune to ride them and most don't go any faster than you can go in a car. I'm paranoid about lossing my glasses so I take them off and then I can't see anything so for me it's a little wind on my face and a few bumps and it's over. My eyes are bad enough that I can't see anything and anyway I'm not afraid of heights. I've never really noticed Gforce as much of a factor when riding.. I guess I've been on car rides (with some crazy drivers) that were worse. I wouldn't ride if I didn't think the ride was safe. Being I think the ride is safe it doesn't really excert any fear factor. Is this worth waiting in line for an hour and paying $20 a ride?

The last coaster I road was Speed in Las Vegas. It doesn't even go very high or fast or do any loops or anything. My main worry while riding was 'what if a bug hits me in the eye'. The NY NY coaster looked a little better but was quite expensive. The Stratosphere sounded okay but again was expensive and everyone said it kind of sucked. I no longer even remember the name of the last coaster I road before that.

For me at least I'd have a lot more fun on water rides and things of that nature. I'd like to try skydiving because that seems it'd be a much better rush than a coaster. If I could find a good solution for my glasses maybe the coasters would be more fun.

Re:What makes a coaster fun?

[Paradise Pete]

My main worry while riding was 'what if a bug hits me in the eye'

Looking at this guy I was thinking the same thing. They're obviously going pretty damn fast. Any bug makes it in between that squint and that eye's not going to work very well any more.

Re:What makes a coaster fun?

[MikeFM]

Maybe they should issue goggles to everyone when riding. It'd help people like me keep my glasses on too. I guess a windshield would kill the experience ?

Re:What makes a coaster fun?

[NeMon'ess]

What about wearing ski goggles over the glasses? If you look you could probably find a simple pair that isn't as outlandish as many others I've seen. Something like these: http://www.anonoptics.com/products/productDetails. aspx?productID=2&productName=THEOREM

No more nazis!

[MikeFM]

Meanings change. Considering how often ironic is misused you can just assume it's meaning has shifted to include these other uses. If the majority of people use it that way then that is it's meaning. :)

Re:No more nazis!

[pilkul]

No it hasn't. In this case there was a perfectly good word the parent poster could have used instead of "irony": namely, "fitting". Nobody who understands what irony officially means uses the word incorrectly, and the mistakes in usage show no real consistency that would indicate the appearance of a new meaning.

The reason "irony" is often misused is not because of a linguistic shift: it's because it's a subtle, relatively hard to understand concept, because people listen to brain-dead pop singers like Alanis Morrisette, and because generally people are stupid.

Re:No more nazis!

[MikeFM]

I see it misused it almost the exact same way a couple times a week. Everyone understands what someone means when it is used that way. I see this exact same nitpick at least once a week. That seems like a shift to me.

People are stupid. We should all talk in binary. :)

2028

[DongleFondle]

"But know this: Cedar Point's Gemini was a record-breaker in 1978, at 125 feet in height. Think about what's happened in the last 25 years.
Then think about the next 25 years. That, my friends, is really scary."

Actually, that's a great friggin point and the first thing in a long time to give me something to look forward to in the future. Let's do the typical geek thing for just a sec . . .

From 125 to 420 feet is 336% increase. Also, according to the rollar coaster database, the Gemini reaches a top speed of 60 mph (96.5 kph), which the Top Thrill Dragster doubles. Now, that may not even be the speed record for time, so if we experience the same increase over the next 25 years we're talkin' bout a 1411 ft high coaster that reaches a top speed of 240 mph (386 kph).

Jesus! They'd have to outfit you with G-suits prior to launch. But look at the bright side; by then, if you pop a vien in the ol heart during the ride, they can just throw a monkey heart in there and no worries . . .

Try the real thing

[GreggyBUIUC]

Look boys and girls, if this sort of thing is exciting to you, then I'd highly recommend forgoing the 15 second ride and try something a little more exciting -- Sky Diving.

For about $150 or so you can do a tandem dive. It takes about 20 minutes or so for the plane ride to elevation. The whole time you're looking at your altimeter strapped to your chest thinking "For every notch this thing goes up... I have to fall that much further..." So you goof around in the plane, make silly conversation with the other guys... the pros, in a failed effort to prove that this thing isn't phasing you. You ain't scared... You've seen this on TV hundreds of times and it doesn't phase you... You crack jokes like "Hey, at least if the plane goes down we've got a parachute..." And then the guy on your back goes "Well... I've got one." Yeah, they know the truth. They know you're wondering why on earth you thought this would be fun and thinking "Maybe I should have written my mommy a letter to let her know how much I love her."

Then they open the door and cold air rushes in. Who'd have thought... 13,500 feet up and its cold even though its the middle of summer. And then, the strangest thing happens. Someone jumps. They don't make a big deal out of it... they just kind look out the door like, you know, it was a car window or something, and then poof... all you see is them falling... and falling... and falling. And fast too.

So after most of the pro's are out the door the big guy strapped to your back tells you its time and you two crawl out to the door. If you're really lucky you step outside the plane as he hangs on to a handle. And you're sitting there thinking "I am two and a half miles in the air... and just kinda... hanging out... Hey... that's a really nice wing... and look at that pretty rudder..."

And then, it happens. You know that feeling when you were 6 and you'd jump from the highest point on the playground... that part where your stomache shoots way up in your abdominal cavity? Its sorta like that... only it lasts quite a bit longer. Because, you see, every other time in your life that you've had this feeling, you've hit ground really quick and it was over... but not this time. Now, this time you have that feeling for a good 6-10 seconds and its stttrrrraaaange.

And then, you're flying. You're going 120 miles an hour... You don't feel like you're falling anymore because you're not longer accelerating. But damn, you're going fast. But you're not strapped into some car with a lap bar or something... you're free.... you are going faster than you have ever felt yourself go before. Its utterly amazing. And the thing is, it lasts for a good 60 seconds. I mean, there's actually time to get over the thought of "Holy Crap" and to actually process logical thoughts like "I wonder if I left my lights on in my car..."

I can't really explain it enough... I can just say that you need to do it at some point in your life. You'll look at things differently after that day. I mean, you want to talk about a leap of faith... about stepping out over the earth trusting that the guy on your back and the little piece of cloth on his are going to literally save your life.

"Congratulations... you've just had a near life experience..."

Re:Try the real thing

[DongleFondle]

I couldn't agree with you more, if you want to experience the element, get out of the vehicle. Skydiving may be the single greatest experience in my short life so far, but there is one thing that rollar coasters give you that skydiving does not . . . G's. And unless you're a fighter pilot in the military or an otherwise experienced aerobatics pilot, or drag racer or other obvious exception that only an extreme minority of people in the world get to experience, the rollar coaster is your best bet to pull 4.5 G's or better yet, negative G's which is what you get when a 4000+ lb train is pulling you toward the earth much faster than you fall out of a plane.

To those that are wondering, Skydiving is great for exactly the opposite reason: zero gravity. And everyone should at some point try skydiving, cause unless you're an astronaut or . . .

Something about Charles Manson...

[crashnbur]

There's something about Charles Manson writing about "sudden death experience" that strikes me as suspect.

And I'm not even going to go into the literal meaning of "experience" conflicting with the idea of death...

A Truly Evil Monster

[Cheesewhiz]

"I'm sure you and your readers have already heard about this evil monster"

*clicks link*

.... page loads...

"Bandwidth Limit Exceeded
The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to the site owner reaching his/her bandwidth limit. Please try again later."

*sigh* Oh yeah, all too familiar...

How about 10,000 feet at 110MPH?

[MZoom]

"looking over the side and seeing 500 hats on the ground below."

If one could fix eye's on 500 hats below then I say it wasn't high or fast enough.

Jump out of a perfectly good aircraft at 10,000 to 13,000 feet on a sunny day and let the the wind hit your face at a meger 110MPH within the first ten seconds. After experience and with practice vertical drops at speeds of 160-180MPH can be achieved. Professional and die hard (pardon the pun) amatures can reach 200MPH with a little effort.

BTW the freefall record is something like 321MPH last time I checked. Of course one should slow to the meger 110MPH rate before going under canopy.

Now thats a rush!

Zoom

Bathroom passes

[echolex]

The new ride is getting so much attention, that Cedar point employees are handing out bathroom passes: http://www.clickondetroit.com/det/entertainment/st ories/entertainment-219360220030509-120524.html/

From www.fark.com

Re:It's legal, but is it ethical?

[schtum]

Just remember that most of what we now call "West" used to be called "Mexico". Americans are good at a lot of things, but history has never been one of them :)

Knowledge

[Anonymous Coward]

I used to live in the nearby town of Port Clinton for 13 years (1989-2002) and all that I can say is that over the years, the park has been geared away from the little kids and more towards your teenagers. Though, it is a damn fine park.