wooden twister layout with steel track

I was at Cedar Point yesterday and looking at the track that is going up it appears as if the ride is going to be pretty twisted. I know a lot of people (myself included) have been hoping for a wooden twister a CP. I wonder if CP is going for the layout of a wooden coaster, but with the smoothness and ease of maintenence of steel track? If this were true would it actually give the thrills of a wooden coaster? I don't know. But it would be interesting to discuss.

If CP wanted to build a wooden coaster they would have wood track since recent wooden roller coasters have had a smooth track. This won't be a wooden twister this time.

Hopefully your idea of recent doesn't go back to 2000.

And wood coasters aren't supposed to be smooth.

One thing that is noticeably lacking in most of CP's coasters is lateral g's more likely to be found on a wooden coaster than on a steel coaster. With few exceptions Cedar Fair is not exactly known for its ability to maintain wooden coasters. So why not go with a more classic twister layout using a coaster type that Cedar Fair is more capable of maintaining. I also wouldn't agree with the assumption that wood coasters are supposed to be "rough" good wooden coasters do have a distinct feel but good wooden coasters are not rough i.e. the coasters at Kennywood and assorted other small parks.
*** Edited 8/23/2006 5:56:04 PM UTC by Delbert***

Have you rode the Thunderbolt at Kennywood. It is rough, but i get your point that CP should have a great wooden roller coaster and they are really good in maintaining Intamin steel track.

Delbert, I don't mean rough like S.O.B, but rough as in not smooth like steel. A wood coaster shouldn't feel like Raptor or Millennium or Magnum (and Magnum isn't as rough as she is just violent).

Your supposed to hear thumpity thumpity clunk when a train goes by on a woodie. not a swoosh like on a steelie.

GETS ON MILKCRATE

I have to speculate that steel is low maintenace compaired to wood. But everyone seems to down CP about how they pooprly maintain their wooden coasters. I say thats a bunch of bunk! If CP didn't maintain there wood coasters they would fall apart. Just because a Small circle of (Enthusiasts/GP) people are used to the smooth steel track, they think something isn't maintained. I know for a fact that Mean Streak is going to be a rough ride, so I try to prepair myself for it. Blue Streak is smooth(as far as wood goes) and well maintained, Heck look at the ageof it, and it is still operating. O.K. I'm Done!

GETS OFF MILKCRATE

I kind of agree with the wooden twister layout with steel track theory. When track started being put up, I looked it at very closely and I made a few comments to people that those turns are incredibly similar to Voyage's insane high lateral twisty turns. That hill looks like a hill that belongs more on a woodie than on a steel coaster.

Whatever happens here, I think we'll all be happy :). That is of course unless you don't like roller coasters. ;)

I think wooden coasters in general have a unique feel without being rough. Blue Streak is a perfect example. It has some pretty intense drops and a basic rumble on the hills, but you do not feel like you're in the middle of an earth quake. Mean Streak has always been rough. When they built it, I think they were going for a speed effect like The Beast rather than major air time. Since then they slowed the ride down with trim brakes on the first drop as well as actually using the mid-course brakes. If Millennium Force got the same kind of treatment on the first drop, I think it would lose most of the thrill as well, rough or not. At this point Mean Streak still manages to be rough, but the speed thrill is taken away. I don't really think this is Cedar Point's fault so much as a poor design from the start. I personally think they should either re-design certain sections of the ride or possibly replace the current track with some similar to El Toro.

I've ridden far too many poorly maintained wooden coasters to point the finger at Cedar Fair parks. I recently rode both Great American Scream Machine and The Georgia Cyclone at Six Flags Over Georgia. In my previous visit they were both running in prime condition. Now they both feel like riding a skate board over a gravel road. Great American Scream Machine is designed by John Allen, just like Blue Streak. While Blue Streak is over 10 years older than Great American Scream Machine, it still manages to give a much better ride. The Racer at Kings Island is another former John Allen classic that feels painful due to the a failure in maintenance. On my last ride, I felt a jolt at the valley of each hill, which severely destroyed the ride experience. I think Cedar Point takes a lot of criticism because of Mean Streak alone, which is really not fair.

On a more positive note, "Maverick" seems to be taking on the form of a classic wooden coaster rather than a ride like Millennium Force, which is more of a speed coaster than an element-filled design. While I love Millennium Force, this one appears to have the most cutting edge design at Cedar Point in years. Compare the layout of The Voyage to Magnum and you see a great difference in variation between drops that steel coasters rarely achieve. It seems like Cedar Point is trying to give us the best of both worlds this time around.

I think it's a possiblility. Of course anything is a possibility. But I do like the idea because I had that same idea two months ago. I kind of forgot about it because of all of the other theories when the track actually started going up. But I will tell you this....The Voyage is one bad SOB. Number one wooden coaster with a bullet. Believe that!

Lets point out, that wooden coaster require more maintenance dollars in the long haul, plus the nature factors of wood naturally decay.

Lets take a prime example, Son of Beast at PKI. Only been around for six years and the thing is a neck breaker, kidney crusher, headache producer, and not to mention, a liability that PKI is really paying for at the moment.

Granted, other wooden coasters have made it through the years without any major problems, but I'm not one who like to get off a wooden coaster and say to myself, man, I'd rather be in the back of a truck without any shocks going down a rocky road.

Everytime I've rode the SOB, I've walked away telling myself I would never ride it again, do to the pain in the side, neck muscles hurting and all over body pain, but I do go back each year at least once hoping that it would be smoother.

I don't know why, but The Beast is always smooth and you could ride that coaster over and over again, without the pain and suffuring that the SOB dishes out.

You are so right on. SOB feels like it's running on square wheels. I rode it twice during the opening year and it seemed fine, it was a little rough but not terrible. But now that thing just sucks. son of beast is really a son of a #####. I'm done with junior, i'll stick with daddy for the real thrills.

Well, if the new pics coming from funcoast are what they look like they are....this theory is now offically DEAD.

Yeah, the last time someone put a loop into a wooden coaster, it didn't work out so well.

are you serious... the loop is the best part... actually the smoothest part of sob. It's the rest of the ride thats junk

I would be so incredibly awesome if cp decided to put in a intamin woodie! I had the opportunity to ride El Toro and as much as I hate to say it it is more intense then any coaster at cp.

This thread would be better suited for coasterbuzz.

http://coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=topics&ForumID=11

I would love to see a El Toro go up at cedar point. El Tora is the best coaster I have ever been on. It was so fast and never stoped. Great job Intamin and Six Flags. I think the beach would be a great spot for a coaster like that.

SFSKnights - How do you figure? We are (were) discussing the possibility of Cedar Point installing a steel coaster with all the elements of a tradition wood twister.