- May 26th, 2015, 9:15 am
#78122
Ok. I'll finally throw some thoughts into this mix. First, age of wood isn't really the issue (MAINTENANCE of that much wood might be though.) Remember that the Swamp Fox was the ONLY ride at Family Kingdom to survive Hurricane Hugo. I talked with a security guard a week after that storm and he said the ride was 100% intact. So, woodies are very resilient...it was built in 1966 and still going strong.
Anyway, regardless. Practically every post on here tends to the sentimental value of the ride... and I am very sentimental too. But, think about this.. the vast majority of us sentimental people are getting older and will eventually be non-coaster riders (or at the very least, non-woodie riders because of the roughness). TR has been a walk-on at best these last few seasons. (at least before this announcement). CF wants something that people will line up to ride. They are looking to the future. What do the teens and the new families want to ride? This is their game plan.
I think what comes next will be awesome. Maybe they'll do a "Colossus" to it. Maybe they'll tear down half of it and RMC the other half. (TR has to be certified as two coasters anyway so why not tear one down? Carowinds would not lose in the coaster count race that way either.) I like that idea especially if they add a water element. Maybe it could splash through the middle of the water park drenching the 100s of people that are in line for a slide or something. That could be cool.
I'm not going to criticize CF for something I don't know about yet. Next year, maybe I change my mind. Yes, I love TR but I may love what's next better.
