The Boardwalk - New for 2023

RideMan:

Premier Rides and Weiland Schwarzkopf are teaming up to reintroduce the Wildcat coaster.

Good to know! And agreed. Wildcat was a must ride for me. Small, but packed a fun punch. (And of only a few rides that ever gave me that funny feeling in my tummy).

Does anyone know and/or have a source on how the rotation is controlled or enabled? As in, what mechanisms are used to prohibit the car from spinning in certain sections?

On the website is says this: "Marketable Moment: No two rides are the same! The Twister coaster spins riders differently during each ride."

To me that reads as if it will spin freely. there was a form at the bottom of the page so I filled it out asking the question to clarify that it freely spins.

Interestingly, the website also says that the station is a "Moving station". I wonder if they are going to opt-in for that feature.

Presumably it doesn't spin all the time, like in the station or on the lift, for example. I'm just curious how they achieve that.

I know that on the Crazy Mouse models the spinning is confined to the lower tier only. Just before that lower set of switchbacks there’s a visible lever on the track that trips something under the car that unlocks it, allowing it to spin. It does so until the car is set straight on the final brake then it locks again. I don’t know exactly what the mechanism is, if that’s what you’re looking for. And I imagine this Zamperla will be likewise, although I’m unclear as to where on their model the spinning commences.
The Mauer spinner does something similar- the car is set still through the first swooping drop and after that, once it hits the switchbacks, it’s allowed to spin.
I remember hearing stories that on one of the first Crazy Mouse rides, maybe at Morey’s or someplace similar, you could tip the ride op and he would manually unlock the car before dispatch allowing free spinning throughout the entire ride. Savvy enthusiasts (who weren’t too cheap, lol) reported the secret hack was well worth it.
But typical of all spinning rides, sometimes it’s dizzying and sometimes it’s a complete dud. Riders’ position, weight distribution, speed of the ride, and I suppose lubrication has much to do with it. Someone mentioned Kissimmee‘s ride which I thought was a waste of my money- it was heavily trimmed which led to a dull ride with little spinning. Like, none. I rode the exact same ride when it lived at Cypress Gardens and it counts as one of the best spinners I’ve ever encountered.
So there ya go, I guess anything’s possible. We’ll see how this one turns out.

Hello again. Edit: I checked with a friend who had that manual spinny mouse ride and he said it was indeed Morey’s at Dinosaur Beach. It was during an event. And there was no tip, but the ride op would do it for those that had their ACE event badge on. So I have some mistaken notion of how that went. Besides, and I don’t care if it is the Jersey shore, tipping a ride op seems less than wholesome, doesn’t it?

Frog Hopper King:

I wonder if they are going to opt-in for that feature.

No way IROC will let that happen

There's a lever under the train that engages a locking mechanism. When it hits a "bump" on the track, it releases the lock, and the car is free to spin. On approach back into the station, the lever is reversed, and then a horizontally mounted tire turns the car along the bottom ring until it locks into place facing forward.

Thanks, Jeff!

What is IROC. I googled it and only found the International race of Champions.

iROC - International Ride Operation Certification

https://ridetraining.com/iroc/about-iroc/

When I first saw the layout with an entire lap of flat straight track my first thought was IROC salivating at the stacking capabilities lol. The moving station is definitely a no go, and I doubt more than 1 of the 7 cars will be allowed on the circuit at a time. Sad really.

Countless times throughout the summer on busy days major rides were only running two trains and the second train was making it back to the station having to wait still. I mean 150 years of being in the amusement park business and a clear understanding of ride operations I'm not getting the want to involve a 3rd party. They're like a form of government, extremely slow response and operations, a lot of unnecessary bloat, assume they know what's "best" for you, and to stay relevant will constantly place more restrictions (like the wavepool this year). The way it's going, I literally expect them to make guests wear eye protection and helmets in the coming years.

How to operate a ride safely, to me, is common sense. Not that there is much common sense anymore these days but man, they just gotta know when it's time to let them go. I had two encounters on Gatekeeper where the attendant would check the restraint, drop his arms fully down to his sides, and proceed to do the exact same action again. It reminded me of an NPC running into a wall lol. Extremely awkward. Also, when visiting KD this year (while standing in line in 97 degree heat), I had to watch the operator on I305 doing a full 360 "scan" in his operating booth before each dispatch that was making my brain hurt. It's seriously making me question reality. It isn't smarter, safer, cutting edge, blah blah blah, it's absolutely ridiculous.

Sorry for the rant, but man their operations were absolutely horrible this year and have been on a steady decline for awhile.

But just think of all the innocent lives cut short from being ejected from the train and getting ran over in the station before IROC. Oh wait.

RideMan:

Premier Rides and Weiland Schwarzkopf are teaming up to reintroduce the Wildcat coaster. Why is that disappointing? Because now that it is a possibility, I kind of wish Cedar Point was getting one of those instead of this Mouse!

I don't see why CP couldn't have a new generation Wildcat along with the Wild Mouse being constructed in the park. Both rides do offer different experiences.

The thing about IROC is... by utilizing them I have no doubt the chain pays far less in insurance fees than they would without it. I agree the park did a far better and more efficient job having all operations policies done in house. But I guarantee IROC is saving them money somewhere.

What's funny is that Disney is just as safety obsessed as Cedar Fair, but they also have the most lax loose article policies, restraint checks, etc. There are two very different ways to do it, and those two chains showcase both ends of the spectrum well.

At Cedar Point if you pull a phone out on a ride they will stop the lift, come and get the phone, and you will be met by security. At WDW, the Cast Member at the exit will excitedly ask if you got good photos.

At Cedar Point if there's a light drizzle they will shutter the coasters or take them to one train. At WDW they will excitedly tell you Big Thunder Mountain is now a water ride.

What I find interesting about those comparisons is that the safety outcomes are the same. I remember taking my full camera bag, with a bunch of lenses, on Rock-n-Rollercoaster. I just put the bag on the floor with my leg through the strap.

The thing I always bring up, is compare Barnstormer to Woodstock Express. They're both Vekoma roller skaters, but Disney's runs two trains, no seatbelts, guests pushing up on lapbars, and even with kids, they can often run them with little to no stacking. Compare that to the obnoxious extra belts that you can't open yourself. It makes zero sense, and you can't tell me that the Disney ride is any less safe.

Yeah I was super impressed the first time I rode Barnstormer. After years of being exposed to Woodstock Express operations, I didn't even think running two trains (without stacking, no less) on a ride like that was even possible. Disney definitely leads the way when it comes to operations.

I think the ride training people lost a battle with the racing people and had to change their moniker; they're IRT for International Ride Training. That Cedar Fair even thought of hiring those people made absolutely no sense to me; Cedar Point pretty much invented the entire discipline of ride safety through operations and separate from maintenance. I can remember when Cedar Point operations were second to *none*, with Disney a very close second. The park is classically the corporate expert in safe, efficient ride operations, and they hire these IRT people who are so hung up on appearances and theatricals that they actually impede ride safety and destroy operations. Personally I think they should have just changed their name to International Ride Operator Training.

Let me ask you this. Which is the more serious hazard? That a rider gets out of the station without an operator tugging on his seat belt, or that trains crash into each other because the trains are stacked at the station (and something else goes wrong)? Granted, that second scenario requires a failure in the safety system. But running on interval actually mitigates that other potential failure. It seems to me...as one who only sees the results of IRT-accredited operations, not the underlying rules, training, and philosophy...that IRT is single-mindedly focused on guest interaction and operational rituals, to the detriment of the broader requirements of ride safety. It's a testament to the quality of modern safety systems and equipment maintenance that we haven't seen a significant incident that can be traced to these bizarrely theatrical ride operations.

I cringe every time I see a solo ride operator throwing hand signals to...nobody. I also wish more ride operators understood the DANGER of taking a very long time to load a flat ride. Ever see a kid get tired of waiting for the ride to start and simply bail *after* he's been checked? From the back side of the ride where the operator can't see him? Yeah, it happens.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

After waiting 8 minutes between Cedar Downs cycles at the park this year, I was about ready to bail.

Looks like they topped off the Wild Mouse lift hill today. Do they not do the flag thing anymore, or is it not a big enough coaster to warrant it?

Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the track is completed this week. Perhaps the relatively short construction timeframe is cause for no flag? Also, it is pretty short who would see it? Furthermore, it looks as it the lift peak is flanked with (decorative?) flags on each side.

Yep, that was the last of it. They just posted it was complete on their twitter.