Bob K Mertz
In the case of the impulse coasters with the holding brake that’s an example of the thrill but I think the distinguishing factor is that your adrenaline is already going by time you hit that point… With a tilt coaster you’re going to mix the suspense of a dive coaster with the 90 degree hold of the brake on the 2 impulse coasters that have/had them.
I’ve never been on a full 90 degree tilt coaster but even the slightly sloped one I’ve been on actually gave me more of a thrill than any holding brake on a B&M dive coaster (like Valravn). Being held at 90 degrees and then suddenly being dropped is going to be something unlike anything you’ve experienced on a coaster… This will be on the level of a drop tower. One of these has existed overseas for decades and I’ve been dreaming of riding it… I seriously can’t wait.
Here’s the point that I was done with any passes from SeaWorld/United Parks:
Prior to 2020 everyone with a Platinum pass had their own parking lot and could use the employee entrance to access it (and avoid the line at the main gates). When Covid arrived they told us they had to remove that benefit temporarily because the alternate access impeded screening… That was reasonable. Two weeks later that lot reopened as the premium parking option at the main gate and all of us pass holders were welcomed to purchase parking tickets to use that lot… The same lot that our current membership gave us free access to. It also confirmed that they used Covid as a false excuse to take this benefit away and by giving the same thing to purchasing customers they clearly showed there was NO legitimate reason for them to remove that benefit from us.
Following that they later changed tiers in the middle of pass ownership taking many other benefits away and then they kept enticing us to renew our passes so we could ride Pantheon when it opens in 2021… 2022…
And I was done. They did send me the free ticket so I could ride Pantheon when it opened… I paid my $40 parking fee and went straight to pantheon which was down and not declared as being down on the board at the entrance to the park. That day every single coaster was down at some point with many being down all day. I talked to guest services who took my information and said they would send me another ticket… That never happened.
They have a really long walk to get me to even consider a pass again. The truth is, I just don’t have much interest in going there at all. I’ve had so many horrible experiences in the last 5 years that being in the park has just been associated with misery.
I hope they can turn it around though… The parks have so much potential.
BGW really just stopped maintaining stuff. The theming in that park was just a little below Disney but after the holdings company took over they just stopped fixing things when it broke and that has led to a subtle but yet very noticeable difference. Then you look at rides like Verbolten which has degraded a ton solely because they didn’t maintain the theme elements in the building leaving the dark forest not so dark.
I’m really hoping they actually follow through with theming this thing… It’s going to make or break it. They dropped the ball with Pantheon but at least it is a fun coaster but DarKoaster is just a complete failure without the full theming.
This entire story made me laugh. In a lot of ways this is the same way that many old houses are supported with the main difference being the house takes up less square footage. Racer has been like this for years (probably it’s whole life) and was just waiting for the right person to come along and make a big deal out of it.
Now wait until they learn how much coasters start leaning and flexing 😂
As much as I hope someone can stop this freight train, I am afraid that no one can or will.