Aquatrax

Little Leslie said:
I only mean better as in the extra height and hill at the end.

Haha, that makes me laugh! :)

And I'm with John, as long as it's a fun ride, count me in.....tall height or not.

The two most important questions when trying to guess what the new coaster will be:

What record(s) will it break?
Why are they starting so early?

It will break some sort of record. The record could be "first of its kind in North America" or "-est of it's kind" or "first of its kind to include this feature". I hope that will be the case- they don't need another tallest or fastest ride. If it's more then 150 feet tall or faster then 80mph, I would be surprised and dissappointed. And the most inversions isn't very practical. So although an ordinary sit down looping coaster might be just what the doctor ordered - it's unlikely.

There has to be a reason it's starting so early. It's not because they are building more then one ride, that would be stupid as far as marketing goes. It could be dueling coaster I suppose, but unlikely. I also think it's unlikely to go beyond the current construction area - they would have been working on demolition now instead of construction if that was the case. Personally I think they are starting early because it's a relatively new/complicated coaster design and they want time to work out the kinks and/or it involves a lot of theming that will take all winter to build.

With these questions and assumptions in mind, what seems most likely?

My guess:

Possibility A: WindWalker coaster like the one they are building in PortAventura in Spain. It has riders seated on the sides of the track. So as you ride, you don't have tracks above or below. This looks like it would fit in the space and fit the teaser clues given to us (although that's more for fun then legitimate predictions).
Record broken: First of it's kind (assumming they launch before Spain). Tallest, Longest, Fastest of it's kind.
Reason for Early: Extensive Testing time and replanting in fall instead of spring. This seems kind of flimsy, but maybe they figured demolishing WWL let the cat out of the bag, so they might as well do the construction and testing right instead of rushing it and doing it during winter conditions.

Possibility B: Aquatrax coaster. It's kind of a super duper log flume with pure roller coaster elements. It would be good fit for that part of the park: frontier trail with rides that get you wet.
Record broken: First of it's kind in North America. Tallest, Longest of it's kind.
Reason for Early: A ride like this would require a lot of theming to make it at all interesting. The one in SK weaves through a man made mountain and castle. Such things take a long time to build.

The Aquatrax coaster seems like a better fit for the area of the park and as a replacement for WWL. However, traditionally CP doesn't worry about such things. It doesn't seem like the type of ride CP would go for. It's just wouldn't generate enough hype. Maybe that's what the "we're going in a different direction" means - go for a family ride. I'm kinda leaning towards the Side Flying (WindWalker) choice - it seems more like a ride CP would install. And it looks more fun.

The supports going up look consistent with Aquatrax. But I haven't seen anything yet to eliminate either possibility.

The supports going up look like any other intamin supports.

You can compare supports on Project 2007 with Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster, that dosen't mean that it will be a hybrid between the two.

The wingwalker design i think would be a blast, but because of the height of the supports and how banked they are(the ones already vertical) seems to erase that idea from the drawing board.

If you take in the distance from the track that the seats will be, then the people riding it would be able to touch the ground while riding, which makes this idea very unbelievable.
*** Edited 7/20/2006 11:18:19 PM UTC by MillenniumForceSmurf2008***

MillenniumForceSmurf2008 said

If you take in the distance from the track that the seats will be, then the people riding it would be able to touch the ground while riding, which makes this idea very unbelievable.

Not nessesarily. The supports aren't that low to the ground, and the track isn't going to be that banked. It would still be possible for a windwalker to go through a turn like that. Still very much possible, IMO. Although I'm still leaning towords this being a dueling coaster.

I have heard thru the grapevine (note: this is just a rumor so please don't flame me...) that this ride needs it own substation. That's a LOT of power for just one ride IMHO. Does any other ride at CP have it's own substation???

The WT has its own.

Lots of power would probably mean launch.

Or, MrScott, water pressure for all that water involved. :)

If WT does have a substation, this could mean a LIM launch coaster IF the rumor is true.

If it ends up being a smaller coaster, then I hope it turns out like IJST at KI. I absolutely love that ride. It may not be tall or super fast, but it sure is fun; lots and lots of fun.

I was at the park tonight and they have done a lot of work with the supports. You can see supports over almost the entire width of the project now. What I saw tonight makes me reach a few conclusions.

First, this ride will be low. Judging by how the supports are set up now, there will not be enough room to add a tall hill and transition and still mate with what is already installed. I'm thinking 60 or 70 feet max.

This ride will be extremely twisted, with a lot of areas that will be head choppers. Also, many of the turns will be at an extreme bank. Kind of reminds me of the old Jumbo Jet, but much, much bigger.

I've always thought it to be launched, and looking at it tonight just makes that a bigger possibility in my mind. Also, with the length of the track, I'm not ruling out the possibility of two launches during the ride.

Everything still points to an Aquatrax in my mind. The track layout seems perfectly matched to work with individual cars. An Aquatrax will also be very unique, and knowing CP, this will be the biggest Aquatrax built (yes, I know there is only one right now).

This ride just looks like it will be so much fun. You really need to see the banking on the many turns to really appreciate it.

^Sounds fun!!

Yes, I have to agree, it really does.

The only thing that gets me about the aquatrax is that it (judging from the only existing one) seems to do its low high speed turns on flat track. BUT that's not to say this one wouldn’t be different and use triangle track. Though I won’t be totally satisfied to start seriously thinking aquatrax until I see some proof that there will be some kind of splash area or serious water feature.

But what if this is some different kind of launch coaster that uses small trains. What if Intamin came up with a new kind of launch? I know I might sound crazy but I feel that they could do air launch. It may not be new technology, but it's new for intamin....and new for CP (coaster wise). Every time I look at the sign "the winds of change are a blowin"(or whatever it says) I can’t help but think of the possibility of an air launch. And Let out a big Yee Haw makes me think of launch. But if it does have multiple launch sections...would the only possibility for that be LIMs?

I’m not eliminating aquatrax out of the possibilities since it launches as well...I just want more proof to suggest it could be one.

*** Edited 7/21/2006 6:10:31 AM UTC by TTD 120mph***

If there are multiple launches, the second one at least would have to be a LIM launch, as both a hydraulic and air launch would require bringing the train to rest on a catch car, and I'm guessing that if a second launch is used, that the trains/cars will already be traveling around 15-25 mph. Imagine pulling into a dark tunnel going about 20 and then all of the sudden out of nowhere you're up to 60 mph.

That'd be kind of cool... not really knowing you're going to get launched.

What would be even better is if CP wouldn't tell you in the ride announcement about that. It would be cool if they still leave some mystery about the ride even after the announcement. Some things shouldn't be revealed ahead of time.

ramboozle said:
why is it called an Aquatrax??? What special thing does it do that other roller coasters dont?

as far as i've seen Atlantis adventure doesn't even splash down like WWL or SRF. I guess it just sprays you with water.

Atlantis adventure does splash down, similar to the Matterhorn at Disney and Sheikra.

http://www.intaminworldwide.com/i_products_water.htm

click on the pic of the aquatrax (lower left of screen)

Looks like it barely skims the water.

I miss lift hills.