Maverick - 5/28/07

Wow the ride sounds amazing. Can't wait until June 6 comes last day of school and I'll be going out there right after I get out lol. I have a question. What are trims? He said that after the launch and going up the hill you barely notice them. What are they? I also notice people talking about them on other rollercoasters also.

"Trims" refer to trim brakes, which "trim" some of the speed off as a (usually) minor adjustment. You can find big ones going down the drop of Snake River Falls now, something I'll never understand.

The launch is basically like coming out of a 200-foot drop in terms of speed, so because the ride never gets anywhere close to going back up that high, you have take off a little bit of that speed or finish the second half of the ride much faster than would be comfortable in that space. Just a couple of fins have been place on that track. No idea what the speed is at the top of that hill, but it's plenty fast to finish the course.

Jeff said:
Did I miss something? Because aside from years of boneheaded moves by Six Flags, last I checked the industry was doing extremely well overall, both in the regional parks and the destinations.

There is more than one way to look at a picture. Just because an industry is doing well doesn't mean that they aren't facing problems. Cedar Fair is in an interesting period with the Paramount acquisition. This alone will make the company's future volatile. This is probably the reason Kinzel was asked to stay. Keeping experience on the board is more critical now then ever. If the company is still in good shape at the end of his term, I'm sure that Kinzel will jump on his retirement boat.

As far as the trims go, I like the idea of launching and hitting the trims. It gives more launch and a quick burst of speed without having to use much larger elements afterwards. Larger elements taken at speed have the disadvantage in intensity because they take longer to negotiate. It's kind of interesting how smaller rides can pack more of a punch, with a more intense layout, than their larger brothers.

Unless they do something completely stupid, or California sinks into the ocean, Cedar Fair's future is not even remotely volatile. Clearly Wall Street doesn't think so either, seeing as how the unit price is up over last year.

I frankly think Kinzel is a non-factor, and I don't think he was asked to stay as much as he asked to stay on.

Thanks Jeff for the info on trims. I always wondered what they were. Great Review on Maverick.

Jeff, your mention of the "bass sound" inside the tunnel got me thinking...I don't know what that sound is supposed to be, but it would be fitting if it sounded like stampeding horses.

I think the "not quite an inversion things" (I had been calling them "half inversions") are pretty cool, almost more interesting than the actual inversions.

I'm not sure Mr. Kinzel has literally "asked" the Board for anything in a number of years. I think it is more like, "here's the plan...any questions...seeing none...next."