Busch Gardens Africa : New Trains on Gwazy rumor ?

[DLRP_bopazot]

[FONT='Times New Roman', Times, Serif, serif]Park News - (8/9/06) I’m not sure how much truth there is to this, but we’ve heard that the park may have been talking to GCI about possibly replacing the current get of trains on Gwazi with new style GCI Millennium Flyer coaster trains. [/FONT]

According to this rumor i'd love to see those trains on Gwazy . Never been on a coaster with that kind of train .

that's what those Millenium Flyer Trains looks like :


Kentucky Rumbler has opened this year at Beech Bend Park in Kentucky .

[Peabody]

Not are they super cool, but those trains are some of the most comfy trains to ride in, and...most importantly, they track better than any other wood coaster train out there.

What's tough to tell from that picture is that those are "single bench" trains. Meaning that there is only 1 row per car. 99% of wooden coasters have 2 or 3 bench cars. They track so fluidly and smoothly it's hard to beleive. http://www.coastergallery.com/2002/DW11.html

But...that being said....these trains are not the solution to Gwazi's problems. It suffers from bad upkeep. A good wooden coaster takes a lot of time, money and most importantly a healthy dose of TLC to run well and smoothly. Gwazi has not recieved that, and delivers a poor ride compared to what it is capable of. There are bigger, faster, and older coasters that are glass smooth, thanks to fantastic upkeep. (The mind-blowing woodies at Holiday World and Silverwood come to mind first)

[figment1986]

Originally Posted by Peabody

Not are they super cool, but those trains are some of the most comfy trains to ride in, and...most importantly, they track better than any other wood coaster train out there.

Maybe i can take a nap in one.... lol Imagine sleeping on Gwazi...

Originally Posted by Peabody

But...that being said.... these trains are not the solution to Gwazi's problems. It suffers from bad upkeep. A good wooden coaster takes a lot of time, money and most importantly a healthy dose of TLC to run well and smoothly. Gwazi has not received that, and delivers a poor ride compared to what it is capable of. There are bigger, faster, and older coasters that are glass smooth, thanks to fantastic upkeep. (The mind-blowing woodies at Holiday World and Silverwood come to mind first)

Name a park that’s not seasonal... because seasonal parks have a lot of time after Halloween season, before bad snow.. and after bad snow before weekend operation begins to replace parts and such... (Busch Gardens Europe Williamsburg has great classic coasters than run well, including Loch Ness Monster [Old Nessie] And Big Bad Wolf... but they are steal.. so easier upkeep..)

[Peabody]

Figment: That's not a valid argument to me because a lot of TLC that goes into good wood coaster upkeep is on a daily basis. I've spoken to the gentleman that is in charge of 3 of my favorite wood coasters. That's his full time job, he's in charge of those coasters and spends his full time tending to them. He goes above and beyond just a simple walking the tracks every day....he rides each one multiple times a day and notes what he doesn't like and what he feels he should do....That's the TLC I'm talking about. The park chooses to invest in this gentleman caring for those rides and it pays off in the riders reaponse and their standing in theindustry. A long off season is not the key to keep a wood coaster great.

But, in the end, you're right....some good off season love is also required too, but not months...at most a few weeks. Especially in FL where you're not repairing stuff from ice and snow! In the end it's what's important to the park. Have a coaster open 51+ weeks that sucks, or a coaster that's open 48 weeks that rocks. You see?

My point is they choose to keep Gwazi in the shape it's in. Year round or not. M-Flyer trains won't change that alone.

[figment1986]

Originally Posted by Peabody

My point is they choose to keep Gwazi in the shape it's in. Year round or not. M-Flyer trains won't change that alone.

It might help... and they might actually fix more of the coaster... I wonder why BGW didn't get the wooden and BGT get the hyper, BGW spends more time on maintenance.. (Ignore Drachen Fire and it's demise)

BGT doesn't spend as much time, probably because they don’t really have the cash on hand because of all the upgrades they are doing elsewhere in the park....

They figure changing trains might also help speed the loading.. right now it takes forever...

[Peabody]

That's something else I don't understand....what is with the loading on Gwazi? I've ridden over 100 other wooden coasters...most which have those same PTC trains and no other park loads that slowly.

[figment1986]

setbelt check.... ok.. now for lapbar check...

Busch lawyers... no shortcuts.. Actually didn't it load faster in 99?? when the lines were long.. (I road it within a month of opening.. great back then)

[Hector]

Originally Posted by Peabody

That's something else I don't understand....what is with the loading on Gwazi? I've ridden over 100 other wooden coasters...most which have those same PTC trains and no other park loads that slowly.

THUNDER RUN at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. Seatbelts before lapbars (two rounds of checking) and two people to work the ride (*hint*the control op never left her seat...)

TLC is what's needed most. PTC trains are not that bad (not as bad as the Grestlaur ones at least) but the parks need to keep up the maintenance *cough* Mean Streak at Cedar Point *cough* no matter which train they have running.

[DLRP_bopazot]

Originally Posted by Peabody

That's something else I don't understand....what is with the loading on Gwazi? I've ridden over 100 other wooden coasters...most which have those same PTC trains and no other park loads that slowly.

i heard on El Toro at SFGAdv they check the seatbelts and the lap bar very slowly .

I Haven't been to SFGAdv since Nitro Opened but i want to go back there to ride on Kingda Ka and el Toro .

[Peabody]

DLRP - I attribute that to your standard crappy Six Flags operation. They love running one train pre coaster and using ride ops whose combined intelligence doesn't equal Koko the Gorilla, and whose speed could be topped by well trained turtles. During my recent trip to SFMM their brand new flagship attraction was using 2 trains with 2 separate stations and despite that advantage, due solely to the crew, was making 5-6 minute dispatches. I believe they were given horse tranquilizers prior to starting their shift.

Hector: First, Amen about Mean Streak, which in it's 1st 3 years was a world class ride. But....despite the ride it gives, CP sure knows how to run rides. Opposite of Six FLags, sometimes it seems like they give the Raptor crew performance enhancing drugs. They move with a speak that's hard to imagine....and they keep it all day.

Anyway, back to Gwazi. Even if the Busch lawyers require 2 separate checks, they could still run that ride with a good efficiency. It would require proper staffing, training, and effort. They have a great coaster on their hands there, but due to the way they choose to run it and upkeep, it's a fair ride at best.

[JPTexan82]

I will tell yall this about this coaster. It is a great ride but ruff. I know for a fact at Hershey Park, in PA that they have these new cars on thier racing coaster there and they are great. I really think they are the smothest wooden coaster I have been on, way better than Gwanzi. Right across the mid-way at Hershey they have the Gwanzi type cars on the WildCat, and its just as ruff as Gwanzi.
It doesnt matter the amount of time riden, those cars are just plain bad. All the racer there at Heshey goes through more temp changes, than Gwanzi ever has and is still smooth.

[Peabody]

JPTexan you are wrong. The trains do not make Gwazi or Hersheypark's Wildcat rough. Those are standard PTC wood coaster trains. I've ridden them on about 100 other wooden coasters. Some are smooth as glass, some beat you within an inch or your life. It's the upkeep, not the trains.

[JPTexan82]

Peabody: Are you telling me Hershey would take better care of one ride right across of a other, better. NO its the cars that make it the most on these Wildcat is only one years older than the Racer at Hershey. But I do know that the RACER cars are smoother for a fact. It will help at TB.

[Peabody]

No, that's not correct. First, Wildcat is 4 years older than Lightning racer....that plays into it...not 1 year. I would agree that MFlyer trains are not as prone to tear up track as fast as PTC trains, but they will just the same in time. Like I've said...I've ridden nearly 100 other wooden coasters with the exact same PTC trains as Gwazi and Hersheypark's Wildcat. Depending on the parks level of upkeep and TLC they can be smooth as glass. If they don't invest the time, and money to do that, they can go to crap like Gwazi. Shoot, even Lightning Racer was a lot rougher than it used to be last time I rode it. It could use some work as well!

[JPTexan82]

Yes I would agree with that. I mean look at Texas Giant, it was not always that bad, now its horible and the MEAN Streak at Cedar Point I couldnt wait for that thing to be over after the second hill.