B&M Track Speculation

At this point, there are 4 colors of B&M track in the Clermont Steel Fabricators plant near Batavia, Ohio (first quote from Cedar Fair Roller Coaster Construction Facebook; second quote from Tosu97 at Carowinds Connection; pics from themepark.nl):

Here are a couple of shots from http://themepark.nl, according to the photographer(Simon de Bruijn), the white and orange track are both dive coasters destined for Europe. The yellow track i think is still for China, so that leaves the green track that is unaccounted for.

Now up to four colors of B&M track floating around- white, yellow, orange, and teal

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=649698781781076&id=528819877202301

Pics can be found here:
http://themepark.nl/ubb/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2130553#Post2130553

We have white track, orange track, yellow track (mentioned below), and teal track. There are two Dive Coasters confirmed for Europe next year: one in Efteling (in the Netherlands), and the other in Gardaland (in Italy; I've actually covered this park in the past with the construction of Raptor, the first B&M Wing Coaster, back in 2011). Heth from ThemeParkReview speculated this:

The promotional material for the Gardaland one has used an orange and black colour scheme, so I'd have guessed it was the other way around.

So we kind of have an idea where two of the track pieces are going, the orange going to Gardaland and the white going to Efteling. I had a feeling the white track was going to Carowinds though.

For the yellow track, here are some pics from Screamscape (back in February):

(2/26/14) Our local Screamscape spy dropped by the B&M Track Fabricator plant in Ohio and snapped up pictures of brand new bright yellow coaster track. If I’m reading the label right this is for a new B&M Flying coaster, and they do have one on the way to China for the Wanda Group set to open in 2014 at the Xishuangbanna International Resort park. The concept art for this coaster found on VHCoasters however had blue track and not yellow, so while this track could be for another project, I’m still thinking this is still the Wanda coaster unless someone knows of another B&M Flyer in the works. 

I'd definitely expect the yellow track to be for the flying coaster in China. It's been a while since we've last seen a B&M Flying Coaster, but "LC" means Flying Coaster.

So now we know:

ORANGE: B&M Dive Machine for Gardaland, Italy
WHITE: B&M Dive Machine for Efteling, Netherlands
YELLOW: B&M Flying Coaster for Wanda Xishuangbanna, China

However, that just leaves the Teal track. Cedar Fair has been adding teal/blue colored coasters recently, most notably Leviathan at Canada's Wonderland and Gatekeeper at Cedar Point. Banshee at Kings Island is an exception, as it has purple track, but does have blue supports.

Teal track would make sense for Carowinds given this recent trend. Normally I would doubt this if it was still going to be called "Centurion" (teal wouldn't make sense then :/). But now with the recent trademark of "Fury 325," I suppose it's pretty possible. So my guess for the teal track is Carowinds at the moment.

Possible Name For Carowinds' 2015 Coaster?

Permits have been filed by Cedar Fair for a trademark, "Fury 325:"

2015 - New Coaster - (6/17/14) Cedar Fair has filed for a new trademark this month for the name “FURY 325”.  It certainly sounds like a good name for a very tall coaster doesn’t it?  Following in the same fashion as “Intimidator 305”, the reports that Cedar Fair is planning a 300+ foot coaster for Carowinds in 2015, it very well could be named FURY 325 I suppose. This isn’t the first time Carowinds would have brought an attraction to the market using the FURY name, as they launched a much-hyped new haunted house for their SCarowinds event a few years ago that was simply called FURY.
    Previously this year Cedar Fair has also filed trademarks for the name “FURY’ on January 23rd and Centurion way back on October 18th, 2013. Though I have to admit, I’m a bit more keen on the Centurion name, as the location of the new coaster is said to pass out in front of the park’s main gate area, giving it a similar feel to what they did with Gatekeeper at Cedar Point, and the name Centurion does have a similar tone to it. 

While the name sounds generic, I wouldn't mind 325 being added to it.

As mentioned above on Screamscape, they added "Intimidator 305" at Kings Dominion, of course being 305 ft. Now they are naming Carowinds' giga "Fury 325" (or at least what I assume will be the case). Could Cedar Fair finally be ready to build a giga taller than Millennium Force at 325 ft (MF is 310 ft)? If this is true, "Fury 325" will be the fifth tallest coaster in the world and the tallest NON-LAUNCHED coaster in the world. If I were to guess, this could possibly be the fastest non-launched coaster as well.

Of course, this also means that Carowinds will be quite a destination park. I did hear a while back on a forum that Cedar Fair might make Carowinds essentially a "Cedar Point of the South." This certainly is a sign that they could be very well doing that to Carowinds. They also bought some land by I-77 just to the right of the entrance road, possibly for a hotel. It should be a very interesting future for Carowinds.

SFNE 2015 Update #1

I was surfing through SFNEOnline, and I noticed this JUST happening today (from BizarroAj):

Breaking news from sfne, land clearing has begun around cyclone

The whole area where the old que was, they tore down the fence and are clearing the area out. I tried to get pics from the sky ride but the trees and flashback is in the way, but you get a good view when riding cyclone. 

He then posted this image from today:



It's very interesting that they are land clearing around Cyclone this early, or are land clearing at all. Maybe it's a sign that Iron Cyclone might be more monstrous than initially thought by some.

This and Colossus at SFMM are already looking to be very successful 2015 additions.

UPDATE:

BizarroAj posted more images today (found in this link):

http://sfneonline.org/forums/index.php?threads/2015-speculation.1404/page-50#post-47568

It looks like the land clearing is between Cyclone and Flashback. I made a diagram of where the land clearing could possibly be (from the photos):

This brings us back to this report from May 24 (by Dennis, quoted by Bizarro #1 on SFNEOnline):

"...At the top of he lift hill, to my left on the walkway, I could see the orange marker with a number 9. And parallel with that is two more orange markers. All parallel to the lift hill. Maybe the lift hill is being moved to the left 20 or 30 feet??"

Why could they be land clearing this early? Maybe they ARE moving the lift to the left. I also do wonder if this could also mean the end/relocation of nearby Flashback, a Vekoma Boomerang that is now neighbored by a Vekoma Giant Inverted Boomerang. Cyclone could definitely benefit from Flashback's space, and if they are moving the lift to the left, Flashback seems much more likely to be removed. Plus, Flashback will just benefit in another SF park.

We've seen SFMM make their announcement on Colossus. I wonder when they will for Cyclone as well as a possible closure for Flashback. We'll find out in the next few weeks, so stay tuned!

Breaking News: Colossus at SFMM to Close August 16!

Just found this out on Theme Park Review (picture courtesy of bostonlva):



Colossus at SFMM will close August 16! This just came in an hour or so ago.

If rumors are true, we can expect Iron Colossus to come by 2015/2016. I do wonder now if they are going to just open it for 2015. It really wouldn't make much of a difference since Iron Rattler was worked from August 2012 to May 2013, and it was ranked just as high, if not higher than New Texas Giant.

If it opens in 2015, that means we have THREE RMC rumors for next year:

Six Flags Magic Mountain: Iron Colossus
Six Flags New England: Iron Cyclone
Six Flags Great Adventure: Custom RMC

I believe 2015 could definitely be the year where RMC builds three coasters. The fact that RMC has a bright future ahead makes me very happy, and hopeful that we will see one in Florida soon.

I unfortunately haven't ridden Colossus yet (I point this out because I did visit Six Flags Magic Mountain in Winter 2010. I rode X2, Viper, Revolution, Batman, Riddler, Tatsu, Scream, and Goliath). I do think, however, next time that I'm at SFMM, Iron Colossus will be a must-do.

SFGAdv 2015 Update #1

This was just posted on Screamscape:

2015 - New Coaster - Rumor - (6/2/14) After doing some serious thinking and chatting with a reader about the idea… I have to say that I do have some doubts about the possibility of a custom RMC wooden coaster coming to SFGAdv for 2015. This rumor has been in the pipe for well over a year now, and while I do believe that we will see an RMC creation in the park eventually, 2015 just may not be possible. 
   The main factor to consider is just how many rides can RMC actually design and construct in one season at this point in the company’s development?  2013 was the first time we saw 2 new rides launch from RMC in the same year, one of which was an I-Box transformation of an existing ride (Rattler into Iron Rattler at Six Flags Fiesta Texas) along with the built from scratch Outlaw Run (Silver Dollar City). 2014’s work slate for RMC follows the same pattern… one I-Box transformation (Medusa at Six Flags Mexico) and one custom creation (Goliath at Six Flags Great America). Keep in mind that RMC also has a heavy load of other side work, as the company is heavily involved with off season maintenance, structure rebuilding efforts and re-tracking on a number of other wooden coasters throughout America as well. 
   Looking ahead to 2015 and 2016, IF the pattern continues, we should only expect to see 2 new RMC coasters each year as well. While 2015 is still technically wide open… the long standing rumor has been for SFMM to re-work Colossus for 2015, or maybe 2016. Kolmarden is on the books already to build Wildfire, a custom RMC, for the 2016 season (their first project in Europe). If the previous pattern stays, if SFGAdv doesn’t add one in 2015, they may have to wait until 2017. 
    Other factors are already starting to stack up against adding one to SFGAdv in 2015 as well. If my sources are correct, they claim that the park has yet to have or schedule a meeting with the Jackson planning board to discuss their plans and how any possible tree removal that may be necessary, which I’m told is always a sensitive subject with the township. For now we’ll just have to wait, watch and see what happens.

Well, I'm not sure I would necessarily agree with that. I personally believe the pattern will expand to three coasters a year. This is a different company, but B&M in 1990 only built one coaster (Iron Wolf at SFGAm, now Apocalypse at SFA). 1991, they opened another (Vortex at CGA). 1992, they started building two per year (Batman at SFGAm and Vortex at Carowinds). 1993, they built 3: Batman at SFGAdv, Flight Deck at CGA, and Kumba at BGT. 1994, they built 4, including their first TWO international coasters: Diavlo in Japan's Himeji Central Park, and Nemesis at Alton Towers; plus Batman at SFMM and Raptor at Cedar Point.

Why bring up B&M? Well, this is to point out that companies have built numerous coasters in their first years, per year. They started at one, and in four years went to four per year (of course, it didn't stay that way). Sure, RMC is a different beast altogether with its offseason maintenance, structure rebuilding and retracking (especially with it being a new company), but I personally think it's possible for RMC to boost the pattern. I also doubt SFMM will be redoing Colossus until 2016 (because of the past rumors of the refurbishment lasting as long as Texas Giant. That *would* mean SFMM will have to close Colossus by the end of the year). So for 2015, I think (if they were to follow the two-year pattern) that we would see:

Six Flags Great Adventure - Custom Woodie
Six Flags New England - RMC Conversion of Cyclone

While for 2016, we will see RMC open:

Six Flags Magic Mountain - RMC Conversion of Colossus
Kolmarden - Wildfire, Custom Woodie

Now that I think of it though, one thing I do question about this rumor is the part where it would "dive underground, traveling under 'the lake' at some point." After doing some research, I've heard that New Jersey does not like underground tunnels (due to an aquifer underneath). If that's the case, then we can definitely debunk the rumor of tunnel under the lake.

However, I still believe SFGAdv could get an RMC Wooden Coaster in 2015. Looking forward to more rumors coming soon. Stay tuned!

Six Flags Great Adventure 2015

Just this morning from Screamscape:

2015 - New Coaster - Rumor - (5/30/14) The early buzz for Six Flags Great Adventure is that the park may tap Rocky Mountain Construction to build another custom crazy creation like Goliath that will soon open at SF Great America, but bigger and meaner. The only clue as to the location is that our sources says that they would like for it to try and dive underground, traveling under 'the lake' at some point. If this is true, then look for this new coaster to go in the back of the park, perhaps near the old water-ski stands, or possibly over where the log ride sits. This also makes sense as the backside of the park could use a new major attraction, as almost every other new addition for the last several years has been placed either up front near the entrance (Superman, Green Lantern, Sky Screamer) or in the nearby north-east corner where we can now find Kingda Ka, Zumanjaro and El Toro. Off the top of my head the only new addition in the last decade to go elsewhere would be The Dark Knight indoor mouse coaster on the dead western side of the park where The Chiller used to be.

 From the looks of this, it looks like this RMC monster will be in the back of the park and possibly be "bigger and meaner" than Goliath at SFGAm. It should be very interesting how they'll make this ride go under the lake, and where they will put this ride. Frankly, I'd rather see the Rapids go over the Log Flume (this is coming from a river rapids/water ride lover; I hated SFGAdv's Congo River Rapids there lol). While the log flume isn't the most exciting I've ridden, it's more interesting than that pathetic excuse for a water ride. Plus, it gives the west side more attention (it only has Nitro, DK, the Rapids, and Batman). Then again, if they take out the Rapids or Log Flume, that leaves this place with only ONE water ride. I'd rather see the old Water-Ski stands go then.

I'm very happy with this rumor. The fact that Rocky Mountain is expanding to the East Coast is making me very pleased, because there will now be one on my usual path to the North. The more we have these things, the better place this world will be.

So now let's bring up the list of Six Flags 2015 additions:

Six Flags America: Nothing rumored yet
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom: Nothing rumored yet
Six Flags Fiesta Texas: Nothing rumored yet
Six Flags Great Adventure: RMC Wooden Coaster
Six Flags Great America: Nothing rumored yet
Six Flags Magic Mountain: New Coaster OR RMC Iron Horse Conversion (Colossus)
Six Flags Mexico: Nothing rumored yet
Six Flags New England: RMC Iron Horse Conversion (Cyclone)
Six Flags Over Georgia: Nothing rumored yet
Six Flags Over Texas: Nothing rumored yet
Six Flags St Louis: Nothing rumored yet
La Ronde: Nothing rumored yet

Looks like another great year for RMC. I'd say Magic Mountain will build their Iron Horse conversion of Colossus in 2016 rather than 2015 just because of the supposed timeline (rumor has it, Iron Colossus supposed to take as long as New Texas Giant's conversion). Even so, there's still the rumor of Iron Cyclone at SFNE and now SFGAdv getting a RMC built from scratch for 2015. If you want to go one step further into the future (2016), then we could possibly have Iron Colossus. There's also that monstrous RMC going up in Kolmarden, Wildfire, the first RMC in Europe (in Sweden), also opening that year.

The next two years for RMC are looking more and more spectacular, and hopefully Busch taps them soon for an RMC in Florida.

Six Flags New England 2015

A while back, I talked about possible future RMC Coaster Projects (though it's a little outdated now, because I think Holiday World is getting an RMC project). It looks like one is locked in for 2015:

http://sfneonline.org/2014/05/20/iron-cyclone-rumors/

SFNEOnline posted an article on a possible Iron Cyclone on May 20, 2014. They first mention an interview with SFNE's Communications Manager, Jennifer McGrath:

At around 0:46, Conn Jackson of CTV asked how often SFNE adds attractions. McGrath then says that next year's attraction will "knock everyone's socks off."

Then SFNEOnline mentions what they know so far:

SUMMARY OF EVERYTHING WE KNOW SO FAR:

• Two new coasters coming within the next four years
• Rumors have been going around since the fall that Six Flags New England’s next coaster would be from Rocky Mountain Construction
• In the new year, rumors started spreading that Cyclone would get the Iron Horse treatment. These rumors continued to gain traction
• When the park opened for the season, construction markers were spotted all around Cyclone
• Construction instructions have been written on Cyclone’s supports
• New colors are being tested on Cyclone’s station

SFNEOnline then goes over a little history. Apparently right after New England SkyScreamer was announced, rumors started spreading that the next attraction will be made by Rocky Mountain Construction, or RMC.

Then the park president John Winkler mentions that SFNE is in line to receive two new coasters in the next four years (2015-2018).

Once the park opened, orange markings have been reported all around Cyclone (13 according to SFNEOnline), even "some around the North End," "the paths around the ride," and even some "near Flashback" (these photos are courtesy of SFNEOnline):





SFNEOnline then talks about how there are markings on Cyclone's structure itself, some marked "cut here" (pics taken by Dennis on the site):





From SFNEOnline themselves:

If you can’t make this out, it says “Cut here” with a number below it. These are on most of the supports near the entrance to Cyclone. Based off of Dennis’ knowledge, this whole helix is slated to be lowered to about 6 feet based on the cut marks. He estimates that there are about 250 + cut here markings based off of the number in the above picture. They circle the whole entrance area. Even the lift hill has some markings on it.

This next picture is a little hard to make out. If you look closely you can see the number 7.5 with a line next to it. This is exactly 7.5 feet up on the second drop supports – about 20 feet in. This indicates potentially a steeper drop on second hill.

SFNEOnline then points out that Cyclone's station has been given new colors, and point out an ACE logo on Cyclone's station in the 2014 park map (they claim it could be a hint "to enthusiasts that they should be getting their last rides on Cyclone this year").

Additionally, I found this post from May 24 on the forum (from bizarro#1, who quotes from Dennis):

"...At the top of he lift hill, to my left on the walkway, I could see the orange marker with a number 9. And parallel with that is two more orange markers. All parallel to the lift hill. Maybe the lift hill is being moved to the left 20 or 30 feet??"

 I wonder why? Maybe to allow an expanded layout?

I also wonder what could happen to Flashback in the process. The ride has been on the chopping block ever since they installed Goliath RIGHT NEXT TO IT in 2012. This ride has to be gone soon, possibly relocated to some other park (maybe SFOG). I'm not sure they would necessarily use the ride space for an expanded Iron Cyclone layout, but it has to go soon, and this would be a great opportunity.

I'm intrigued as to how they will build an Iron Horse conversion on Cyclone. If this is true, this will be the most compact coaster RMC has worked on at this point (Cyclone is pretty compact). If they're moving the lift, that will allow more work on the layout (possibly a higher lift about 10-20 ft), and if Flashback goes, that could be more space for an awesome layout.

Regardless, I believe we have our next RMC project. Iron Cyclone will probably be a HUGE hit for the park. I do wonder who else could be getting an RMC next year. We have SFGAdv rumored to get one from scratch (like Outlaw Run and Goliath), Holiday World (I believe it's possible for Voyage), and that "Lake Monster" project for Darien Lake. They all seem like possible candidates for RMC projects in 2015. But I believe we will definitely see an RMC Iron Horse project come to SFNE on Cyclone.

Stay tuned.