HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: aq009@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (David A. Johnson)
Newsgroups: rec.roller-coaster
Subject: Re: Bat "deaths" (was Re: Top Gun at King's Island)
Date: 15 Nov 1992 19:53:18 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: aq009@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (David A. Johnson)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, rdorocke@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (rob lawrence dorocke) says:

>At least two people died on the Bat, I remember that vivdly.  One of the cars
>fell off and the people in the front were killed, the ohers were 

[...]

>hospitalized.  About three years ago, a man was killed on the King Cobra
>when his seat fell off  of the main chassis.  I remember this one also
>because I was there the day after it happpened.  I was dissappointed that
>it was not running and was told by my father that he saw the story on the
>news


I still have to disagree.  When the accident involving the Flight Commander
occurred, newspaper articles made it clear that it was the first
ride-related death in Kings Island's history.  

I've never heard of anyone dying on the Bat (or, for that matter, any
major accidents involving that ride)...  There was indeed an accident
involving the King Cobra (some wheels fell off and at least one car
derailed), but nobody was killed in that accident; a few people were
injured, though.  

If you can come up with any sort of proof (newspaper articles, etc.) that
Kings Island's coasters are death machines, then feel free to cite them
here.  Until then, I'm still confident that no one has died on any Kings
Island coaster.  


Perhaps these types of stories come up whenever any sort of "radical" new
ride opens.  Remember, both the Bat and the King Cobra were the first
coasters of their kind to modern riders, and I've heard death stories
involving them from other people as well.  We saw something similar happen
with Batman - The Ride at Six Flags Great America.  Apparently, some people
heard that a child sitcom star had fallen out of it and died.  Again,
though, the story was untrue.
-- 
_________________         David "Buddy" Johnson         _________________
      "I'm       \     aq009@cleveland.freenet.edu     /   ...no one
   looking for    \       "The Beast is always        /  seems to have." 
    something...   \       lurking in ambush."       /     -Mudhoney
Newsgroups: rec.roller-coaster
From: rdorocke@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (rob lawrence dorocke)
Subject: Re: Bat "deaths" (was Re: Top Gun at King's Island)
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1992 16:52:56 GMT

In article <1e4stkINN4jo@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> aq009@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (David A. Johnson) writes:
>
>In a previous article, rdorocke@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (rob lawrence dorocke) says:
>
>>KI had a ride like this called the Bat about 8-10 years ago, but they had
>>a lot of troubles with it.  The cars kept falling off and people got
>>killed often.  SO, Needless to say, they took it out.  Does anyone
>>remember it??
>
>I don't know if this article was entirely serious, but I thought someone
>should clarify..  The Bat did indeed have a lot of mechanical problems
>(which have been discussed here several times), and it was removed for that
>reason.  
>
>However, no one ever died on The Bat.  Indeed, nobody has ever died on
>any of Kings Island's roller coasters.  In fact, the only ride-related
>death in KI's history was the Flight Commander incident during the 1991
>season.  I'd say that's a pretty good record for 20 years of operation...
>
>(I just had to respond...  Urban legends, y'know..  What can you do?)
>-- 
At least two people died on the Bat, I remember that vivdly.  One of the cars
fell off and the people in the front were killed, the ohers were 
hospitalized.  About three years ago, two people died on the King Cobra when
3d
hospitalized.  About three years ago, a man was killed on the King Cobra
when his seat fell off  of the main chassis.  I remember this one also
because I was there the day after it happpened.  I was dissappointed that
it was not running and was told by my father that he saw the story on the
news
>_________________         David "Buddy" Johnson         _________________
>      "I'm       \     aq009@cleveland.freenet.edu     /   ...no one
>   looking for    \       "The Beast is always        /  seems to have." 
>    something...   \       lurking in ambush."       /     -Mudhoney
From: wperz@srg1.psych.pitt.edu (Walter Perz)
Newsgroups: rec.roller-coaster
Subject: New to this group
Date: 18 Nov 92 23:13:37 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Smoking Research Group

Hi everyone!

I am new to this group and have enjoyed reading the interesting posts that I'
ve seen.

I live in the Pittsburgh area and am interested in planning an amusement 
park vacation with my honey late this spring or early summer.  Now, both of 
us are Roller Coaster enthusiasts, and would prefer to hit as many of the 
major kick-butt roller coasters that we could.

We don't mind driving, or would consider flying to a central location and 
renting a car.

Now, my question to everyone is what would be your suggestions for one or 
both of these options:
	Long weekend:  Fri-Sun  3 full days in parks
	Week vacation:	Sat-Sun 8 full days in parks

We had the following trip in the back of our minds:
	Leave Thursday after work, travel to CP, ride till we drop and close 
the park on Friday!  Saturday ride anything we wanted to a 2nd time and 
travel to KI.
	Spend Saturday evening at KI and Sunday, come back to Pittsburgh.

It has been ~10 years since I've been to KI and ~7 years since I've been to 
CP.  My honey has never been to either place.

Would we be doing ourselves justice by allowing this little time, or are 
these parks "do-able" in the time period I stated?

Let me know what you think.

Later, 

Walter

p.s.  I currently can't receive mail (sorry) so please post to this group.
-------------------------|------------------------|---------------------------
Walter G. Perz           |  .        I hate       |- Spaceman Spiff
Smoking Research Group   |     .   10-pins!       |  is going down !!!
University of Pittsburgh |  .                    *|                (Watterson)
-------------------------|------------------------|---------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.roller-coaster
From: buck@cavlry.enet.dec.com ()
Subject: Re: Anaconda like Nessie? (was Re: Wooden Rollercoasters)
Reply-To: buck@cavlry.enet.dec.com ()
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 13:59:59 GMT

>I don't see how you can compare the Anaconda with the Loch Ness Monster.
>IMHO, The Loch Ness Monster is CLEARLY better than the Anaconda.  

Here's one vote for the Anaconda.  I don't like the Loch Ness ... after 
the first drop, it's utterly boring imvho.  I've had some killer rides 
on the Anaconda -- it can produce some great speed and lateral g's when 
it wants to, although, I heard Arrow reworked the ride just a tad after
it's debut, so many it's not quite as wild as it once was?


Buck
From: mac18@po.CWRU.Edu (Michael A. Cornell)
Newsgroups: rec.roller-coaster
Subject: Re: Physics and coasters
Date: 16 Nov 1992 22:59:39 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: mac18@po.CWRU.Edu (Michael A. Cornell)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc12.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, geoff@pmafire.inel.gov (Geoff Allen) says:

>RiViT@cup.portal.com (Russell Michael VanTassell) writes:
>|One thing you might want to look into (maybe just for a curiosity,
>|if nothing else).
>|
>|A company called BanDai puts on a product called SpaceWarp -- a basic
>|model of a coaster using marbles and plastic, flexible track.  The
>|coefficient of friction between the steel balls and plastic track seem
>|to be pretty low, so the rise/fall ratio isn't in perfect perspective
>|however.
>|
>|The company produces <several> different scales of kits as well as
>|spare parts.  All in all, it is pretty cool and relatively
>|educational.
>
>For those interested, you can find one of these goodies in the 
>J.C. Penney Christmas catalog -- page 422, item A.
>
>I don't have it (yet ;^) ), but it is on my Christmas list.
>
>Geoff ``Trying to be a good boy'' Allen
>
>-- 
>Geoff Allen          \  [If it weren't for kids,] we'd all live in a
>uunet!pmafire!geoff   \  quiet house, without Big Bird or Mickey Mouse,
>geoff@pmafire.inel.gov \  or Kool-Aid on the couch.  Thank God for kids.
>                        \             -- The Oak Ridge Boys
>

I got one of these sets like four years ago.  They're pretty cool,
the only problems I've encountered are the sliding of the balls.  You'll
set up a hill, and the balls will go down, but will not be able to make it
UP the next hill because of backspin imparted on the balls.  The only 
other problem I've seen is the inablilty to build anything realistic.
You can't build a scaled down model of The Magnum.  You can't build up
enough speed in order to accomplish this.  BUT you can make rides that
go through 5 consecutive loops =) .  Maybe they've improved it since then.

My advice, BUY THE BIGGEST SET, it's the only way to build the best stuff.

Mike Cornell
mac18@po.cwru.edu
Newsgroups: rec.roller-coaster
Subject: Re: New to this group
From: wperz@srg1.psych.pitt.edu (Walter Perz)
Date: 19 Nov 92 15:59:21 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Smoking Research Group

In article <sysop.310.722180121@elan.glassboro.edu> sysop@elan.glassboro.edu (Ken Denton (Supervisor)) writes:
>What about Kennywood (lots of coasters), 

Sorry, I should have mentioned in my original post that we spent a couple 
days at Kennywood this summer.

Being new to this group, I would like to solicit the opinions that people 
have about the Steel Phantom at Kennywood.

I thought it was _very_ smooth, almost to the point that I didn't even feel 
like I was on a ride that was supposedly as scary as it was built up to be.
Coupled with the fact that climbing the first hill takes nearly as long as 
the rest of the ride after it.  I was a little disappointed.

I just can't get excited about going to Kennywood anymore, since I grew up 
about 20 minutes away from the park.  The most pleasurable coaster I find at 
Kennywood these days is the Thunderbolt.  Guess I need to see some new 
pastures (sigh.)

Bye for now.

Walter
-------------------------|------------------------|---------------------------
Walter G. Perz           |  .        I hate       |- Spaceman Spiff
Smoking Research Group   |     .   10-pins!       |  is going down !!!
University of Pittsburgh |  .                    *|                (Watterson)
-------------------------|------------------------|---------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.roller-coaster
From: "Christopher E. Hagen" <cehagen@kiwi.ucs.indiana.edu>
Subject: Re: Bat "deaths" (was Re: Top Gun at King's Island)
Organization: Computer Science, Indiana University
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 13:51:55 -0500

Ok ok ok....


 Here's the scoop on "deaths" at Kings Island.


  The only accidental deaths in KI's history occured on the same day last year.
One lady died on Flight commander-- It was ruled to be a design flaw, the bar 
next to her (in a seat which was empty) was not down, and she slid out from
under her bar into the seat beside her then out of the ride. She was also 
very drunk at the time. The other deaths were another park patron and a 
security guard. Evidently there wasn't a 2 dollar grounding fuse attached to
the fountain in the lake that the patron had fallen into (the lake next
to the pirate ship) and was electrocuted, along with a security gaurd who tried
to save him/her.

  The first year that the king Cobra was opened, there WAS a death. A man was 
trying to escape from the restraints and the attendant noticed this and stopped
the car while it was close to the top of the hill. Before they could reach
the man, however, he was able to climb to the top of the hill and jump, and he
died in the fall. This is/was considered suicide-- not the park's problem at 
all. This has happened before on the Racers and the Beast too. You can't make 
a restraint system that will stop people who are actively trying to defeat it.
I guess there's something about amusement parks and all the people there that 
makes it an attractive place to committ suicide.

 Now-- The bat story goes like this: The bat was the very first suspended 
coaster made by Arrow. It had many problems, including cars not swinging out 
far enough and banging into the poles. People were hurt by this, but not 
killed. Where the death legend comes is from two maintenance workers who were 
trying to get the coaster unstuck on one of the hills. The coaster suddenly 
freed itself, and both men, who were working on it at the time, died in their 
fall into the ravine. This had caused alot more bad press with the local 
papers (which already had a bad reputation since it was broke 80% of the time)
and Arrow removed the rollercoaster and installed the Vortex as a replacement.
I'm not sure if/where the cars and track ended up at from the bat. Alot of the
same footers and of course the station is from the Bat. (Ever wonder why you 
had to walk up so many steps to cross the track 15 feet up instead of the usual
5 or 6? that's because a hanging rollercaoster needed more vertical space!
Also, look up at the grooves in the ceiling and the entrance and exits straight
above the track-- you can see indentions in the wood where the track used to
go.)


-chris
-- 
* Chris Hagen   "<risco"  *MAIL ME ANYTIME!*         cehagen@ucs.indiana.edu *
* 409 E. 16th St.       The love you take is equal to the love you make      *
* Bloomington, IN  47408                               (812) 334-3098        *
Newsgroups: rec.roller-coaster
From: asimeone@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (antonio simeone)
Subject: Re: New to this group
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 15:45:31 GMT

>In a previous article, wperz@srg1.psych.pitt.edu (Walter Perz) says:
>
>>Hi everyone!
>
>>We had the following trip in the back of our minds:
>>	Leave Thursday after work, travel to CP, ride till we drop and close 
>>the park on Friday!  Saturday ride anything we wanted to a 2nd time and 
>>travel to KI.
>>	Spend Saturday evening at KI and Sunday, come back to Pittsburgh.
>>
>>It has been ~10 years since I've been to KI and ~7 years since I've been to 
>>CP.  My honey has never been to either place.
>>
>>Would we be doing ourselves justice by allowing this little time, or are 
>>these parks "do-able" in the time period I stated?

well, in my experience with KI, try to go on a weekday.  i went on a
wed. last summer, and had riden every coaster within 2 hours of being
there.  longest wait was about 20-30 min. for the beast, and there was
no waiting for either of the racers.  rest of the lines were 10-20 min.



-- 
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| Tony Simeone, also known as: asimeone@silver.ucs.indiana.edu | 
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ 
Newsgroups: rec.roller-coaster
From: sysop@elan.glassboro.edu (Ken Denton (Supervisor))
Subject: Re: Anaconda like Nessie? (was Re: Wooden Rollercoasters)
Organization: Rowan College of New Jersey
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 13:47:31 GMT

In article <1eclmjINNfe@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> mac18@po.CWRU.Edu (Michael A. Cornell) writes:
>
>In a previous article, rmt6r@faraday.clas.Virginia.EDU (Roy Matthew Thigpen) says:
>>
>>
>>The King Cobra was removed in order to make room for the Anacondia.
>>The Anacondia is a HUGE improvement over the KG.  It's a lot like the
>>immortal Loch Ness Monster at Busch Gardens, but in my opinion is no
>>nearly as fun as the Grizzley.
>>
>I don't see how you can compare the Anaconda with the Loch Ness Monster.
>IMHO, The Loch Ness Monster is CLEARLY better than the Anaconda.  I mean,
>the Anaconda looks like it was just plopped into the middle of a lake.
>At least on Nessie, you get the illusion that it's been there forever.
>The walkway by the loops, the drop over a river, it just seems more
>REAL to me.  As far as I am concerned the Anaconda is NOTHING like
>the Loch Ness Monster.  Riding Nessie in the back car.....nothing like
>it. =)
>

I had the chance to visit both King's Dominion and Busch Gardens this 
summer, and I must say I was not terribly impressed with the Anaconda.  The 
first drop into the tunnel is good, but the second half of the ride slows 
down *way* too much.  You can feel yourself hanging onto the shoulder 
restraints during the final corkscrew because the speed is not enough to 
force you into your seat.  Also, I agree with Michael that the placement of 
the Anaconda is, well, lacking.  Having come from a SFGAd background, I am 
used to coasters just being dropped into parking lots, and loved Nessie for 
taking its environment into the design.  Seeing the Anaconda reminded me of 
SFGAd again (not a good thing :-().  Had a blast riding Nessie over and 
over, but only did Anaconda two or three times - fairly boring.  But the 
Grizzly, on the other hand.  Man!, that's a ride.  Easily the best ride in 
either park, it ranks high on my list of best coasters.  Being hidden in the 
woods, you have no idea what you're getting into as you wait in line.  The 
camelback in the tunnel is really thrilling - airtime in the dark!  6 more 
months...6 more months...6 more
Newsgroups: rec.roller-coaster
From: rhb@ucs.usl.edu (Bird Rendell H.)
Subject: Louisiana (Re: IAAPA Show Starts Today!
Organization: Univ. of Southwestern La., Lafayette
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 20:08:18 GMT



(*I am beginning another my usual tirades, skip now if you don't
  wanna hear it*)





(Christopher Toomer) writes:
>  The following year, I hope it will make its way back to
>  New Orleans, Louisiana.  I just love Lousiana and cajun food!  


I am glad to see that *someone* out there likes Louisiana!  I have
been worried about tourism since USA Today had their big two-page
spread about our lovable (and deeply corrupted) governor, Edwin
Edwards.

USA Today even included one of Edwin's more colorful quotes: "I won't
lose an election in Louisiana unless I am caught in bed with a 
live boy or a dead girl".


He said it; honest!        And, unfortunately, he meant it too!


Currently, he has threatened to cut University budgets by 40% for 
next year. All the schools here in the state are running around
trying to find ways to meet this "challenge".     :-(



Rendell (feeling better now) Bird


p.s. ....to tie this back to the newsgroup...maybe JazzLand will be
closer to a reality in two years. Right now, no one seems to know
another about it's status -- although many people have heard of the
plan to build a "jazz version of Opryland" in New Orleans.
It is a shame that the proposed site is the swampiest swamp in all
of Louisiana (and that MEANS SOMETHING!)    :-(
Newsgroups: rec.roller-coaster
From: geoff@pmafire.inel.gov (Geoff Allen)
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 92 19:07:33 GMT
Organization: Roller Coaster fanatic with no hope for a cure
Subject: Re: Knoebels trades in JET STAR!  8^(
Summary: 
Followup-To: 
Organization: Roller Coaster fanatic with no hope for a cure
Keywords: 

buck@cavlry.enet.dec.com () writes:
>It's just been announced that the Schwarzkopf JET STAR
>steel coaster is currently being dismantled from
>Knoebels Amusement Resort!!  Appartenly, Dick Knoebel
>has used the ride as a "Trade in" with Vekoma.  
>
>Knoebels will debut the Vekoma WHIRLWIND (std corkscrew
>model steel coaster) in place of the JET STAR in 1993!

I certainly hope no one thinks this is a ``upgrade!''

Ugh.

Geoff

-- 
Geoff Allen          \  Macintosh Old-Fart Memory #207
uunet!pmafire!geoff   \
geoff@pmafire.inel.gov \  Typing ugly documents with 73 fonts/styles,
                        \    and thinking they looked good.
From: mac18@po.CWRU.Edu (Michael A. Cornell)
Newsgroups: rec.roller-coaster
Subject: Re: Wooden Rollercoasters
Date: 16 Nov 1992 15:17:40 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: mac18@po.CWRU.Edu (Michael A. Cornell)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc5.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, rmt6r@faraday.clas.Virginia.EDU (Roy Matthew Thigpen) says:

>
>
>
>Call me old fashion, but the old wooden rollercoasters really
>get me.  My favorite is the Grizzley at Kings Dominion.  The
>steel coasters they have there are OK, but seem a little, well
>sex-less.  The anacondia has lots of loops, and a tunnel, but
>riding it, is so quiet, it's almost peacefull... definately
>not what I want in a rollercoaster.  The Grizzely on the other
>hand, rocks you left, right up and down into your seats.  I 
>especially love how they have a small camel hump right
>before you enter a tunnel, so it feels like you're going to
>get brained by the roof.  A genuinly scary feeling.
>
>On the thread about rollercoaster deaths.... KD has had
>one fatality in the last few years.  The had an old
>steel coaster called the galaxy that is similair in design to
>those mini-coasters you'd find at State Fairs.  The cars had no seatbelts
>in them, and o group of kids decided to have some fun, and stand up in the 
>cars... well, it proved to be a fatal mistake, as this one guy ended
>up being decapitated by a cross beam.  Ironically, the coaster that
>KD replaced it with is a stand up coaster, called the ShockWave.
>well that's all for now.
>
>
Wasn't that ride that was taken out called The King Cobra?  Correct me
if I'm wrong, but wasn't it a shuttle loop type ride where the ride
pushed you through a loop and then sent you back thru the loop
backwards after you went up a slope?  If I recall correctly, it was
green.  I remember seeing it on an old show about Coasters on the
Discovery Channel a year back.  It was hosted by Vincent Price, I think.
I remember them showing the King Cobra and Rebel Yell from KD, I'm
not sure what else they showed.

Mike Cornell
mac18@po.cwru.edu
From: mac18@po.CWRU.Edu (Michael A. Cornell)
Newsgroups: rec.roller-coaster
Subject: Re: Paramount tames THE BEAST
Date: 18 Nov 1992 19:39:55 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: mac18@po.CWRU.Edu (Michael A. Cornell)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc12.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, buck@cavlry.enet.dec.com () says:

>In one of their first moves exhibiting MAJOR
>TPM -- Paramount has sent the trains on THE
>BEAST back to PTC to have them all retrofitted
>with those awful, painful, hateful, disgusting
>individual racheting lap bars!!!
>
>8^(
>
>God, I hate to be the bearer of bad news today folks!
>
>
>See you all in line with a frown on my face... 
>Bungee Buck
>

Well I had a feeling about something like this happening.  ACE should
write a letter to Paramount telling them to get a clue.  The unforunate
thing is, it won't hurt them since people will ride the Beast no matter
what.  Like I said in an earlier post....looks like Paramount is getting
a severe case of Theme Park Mentality.  I'm just shaking my head....can't
figure out why anyone would want to ruin a ride with something like that.

Mike
Newsgroups: rec.roller-coaster
From: wjf@controls.ccd.harris.com (Bill Figie)
Subject: Inside Tracks new format
Originator: wjf@rs2
Organization: Harris Controls
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 21:28:28 GMT


I was just wondering how some of you people out there that get Inside
Track (IT) like its new format?  It seems like someone at IT did their
legwork to get some great advertising sections.  I don't know how much
they charged to get someone like a Vekoma to pay for 6 or 8 pages.  I
liked some of the shots and wish they could have advertised in RC! so that
the magazine would be bigger, the ads more colorful then they are in IT,
and perhaps the next bonus issue will end up being more then 20 or so
pages.  I will be reading it on the plane tonight.  I just went out an
purchased some more magazine holders and IT changes their format.  Maybe
they could print on a little better quality paper.  Paper like this will
probably turn yellow and get brittle in 10 or so years.  I also like to
keep my coaster articles and magazines in tip top shape and I am afraid
that this new format won't stand up to the wear and tear they sometime get
around my house.  Oh well, this is just my 2 cents.  How do others think?

		Bill "Go Orlando Magic" Figie
Newsgroups: rec.roller-coaster