ACE Holiday Party

Today at the ACE holiday party Tony Clark was there, he said some interesting things about Maverick:

1. Maverick will have a dual loading similar to Dragster's.
2. Maverick is more efficient than Wicked Twister and uses less power.
3. Maverick will have a single rider line.
4. 5 of the 6 trains are currently on site and 3 out of the 6 trains will all be the same color.

Did you not hear the part where he asked us not to mention #3? Or did you just decide that you didn't care?

Tony said that they hoped we would keep that a secret until they finished up this winters coaster club get-togethers. You know, kind of like their big surprise for the crowd in attendance.

Thanks for spoiling thier surprise.

3 out of the 6 will have the same color? What kind of sense to does that make? Will the other three all be different colors? So essentially were looking at 6 trains featuring 4 colors?

I thought 1-3 were pretty much already established. And if they weren't, I certainly don't see it as a surprise.

*** Edited 12/3/2006 12:34:25 AM UTC by DBCP***

Well, we know one is the gold-ish color (according to the pic on the OnPoint blog). So of the remaining (Iron, Gunmetal, Silver, Brass, and Copper), which two got the axe? I'm interested to see if this means the trains will simply be known by number (1-6). I can't see a ride op reffering to the trains as the different metallic names, anyway. *** Edited 12/3/2006 12:42:04 AM UTC by PREMiERdrum***

He didn't say they were all the same color. He said that sitting there Wrapped up, he couldn't tell the difference between the gold brass and copper.

And the dual load is somewhat similar, but the one major difference is that the Load and Unload will be at the same location allowing for Storage Bins, unlike Dragster.

*** Edited 12/3/2006 12:47:02 AM UTC by Jason Hammond***

When I went back to look at the colors on the site, that did come to mind... So they'll be close in color, but atleast they won't be the same. That makes quite a bit more sense.

That makes much more sense - thanks Jason. I had about five minutes of "huh?"

Rihard 2000 said:
Did you not hear the part where he asked us not to mention #3? Or did you just decide that you didn't care?

Tony said that they hoped we would keep that a secret until they finished up this winters coaster club get-togethers. You know, kind of like their big surprise for the crowd in attendance.

Thanks for spoiling thier surprise.

I didn't even know I was suppose to keep it a secret. A friend of mine told me about this stuff because he went today and I couldn't make it. It wasn't like I was trying to mess up their strategy on purpose.

Also to be more specific about the Power Usage, Tony said that Current LSM technology is more efficent than what was used on Wicked Twister. Thus Maverick will be more efficient. He said a common misconception is that the power line (run from the toll booths all the way to the back of the park allong perimeter rd.) was not layed only for Maverick. It will have "other" uses. He didn't elaborate on that.

Another stat that was not previously released is that the Lift Hill speed is suposed to be between 5mph and 7mph. He did mention however, that it could change as the ride gets tweaked. He said we may see a pull through some time in January.

Thanks, Jason, for the info.

So why did they choose to use a launch on the lift then? Why not a chain?

Well, if it means anything... Last week at the history presentation, Bryan Edwards spoke about why they did some of what they did with Maverick; most in regards to getting people who are afraid of the big and fast to ride this ride. He touched on the lift's height, the ride's speed, how close it is to the ground, and the lack of a conventional lift noise as being factors of this.

First time in years I could have gone to this and my invitation got lost in the mail. :(

Oh well.

I always thought the colors looked the same. 3 gold and 3 black.

I didn't even know I was suppose to keep it a secret. A friend of mine told me about this stuff because he went today and I couldn't make it. It wasn't like I was trying to mess up their strategy on purpose.

No worries, the info's gonna come out eventually anyhow.

*** Edited 12/3/2006 4:06:54 AM UTC by Rihard 2000***

You can't really have a chain lift with a mid-course LSM launch, can you? There wouldn't be enough room on the bottom of the train for both technologies. I'm guessing that's why the "non-traditional" lift. Plus, faster lift = more riders per hour.

Yippie for loose article bins. :rolleyes:

Nonsense. A chain dog is a couple of inches wide, and this thing has little more than magnet sandwiches under it.

That's what I was thinking, Jeff. I was really surprised when I saw how small the magnets on TTD's trains were, because I had always thought that they took up most of the car's underbody and the fins went through slots, kind of like the reverse of Wicked Twister.