Expedition Everest drop, in excess of 100ft!

[Grantsdale]

BTW...

The Expedition Everest will be the first ride to use Vekoma's newest track system.
Rather than the rails be on the inside of the ties, they will be on the outside.
To date Vekoma has only used this system on their smaller roller coasters.
This will be the first large scale installation of such a system.

Do you mean to say "expect breakdowns"?

 

[animal_king1990]

112 ft is a very big drop for a Disney ride. Doesn't TOT drop 190 ft or something since it goes to the top of the building?

 

[Rotel1026]

BTW...

The Expedition Everest will be the first ride to use Vekoma's newest track system.
Rather than the rails be on the inside of the ties, they will be on the outside.
To date Vekoma has only used this system on their smaller roller coasters.
This will be the first large scale installation of such a system.

Will that improve the issue Vekoma has with rough coasters? Other than RnR, all Vekome rides I've been on were very rough. Even RnR felt noticeably rougher after it'd been running awhile.

 

[LSUxStitch]

112 ft is a very big drop for a Disney ride. Doesn't TOT drop 190 ft or something since it goes to the top of the building?

Never the whole 190ft in one drop. It never goes from very top to very bottom at once.

 

[Rotel1026]

Never the whole 190ft in one drop. It never goes from very top to very bottom at once.

ToT drops 13 stories, no? That would be 130 ft, the building itself is 190 ft but I was always under the impression that the elevator didn't go the whole length of the building, no?

 

[Tim G]

Will that improve the issue Vekoma has with rough coasters? Other than RnR, all Vekome rides I've been on were very rough. Even RnR felt noticeably rougher after it'd been running awhile.

They say so... but as for smoothess... it'll never be a Bolliger & Mabillard...

 

[LSUxStitch]

ToT drops 13 stories, no? That would be 130 ft, the building itself is 190 ft but I was always under the impression that the elevator didn't go the whole length of the building, no?

I always thought it was a 25-35ft drop at most at once.

 

[Rotel1026]

I always thought it was a 25-35ft drop at most at once.

Sorry, I didn't do the best job of explaining that. I meant when the ride initially opened and it had just one large drop, I kept hearing it was a 13 story drop. It no longer makes one large drop but what I meant is that the elevator only uses 130 ft of the building for the drop. But again, that's just my assumption since I've heard 13 stories and 10 ft is usually taken as one story.

As far as B&M smoothness, I actually have been far more impressed by Intamin. They have Millenium Force and now Top Thrill Dragster/Kingda Ka and those rides go near 92 & 120+ mph and yet they felt smoother than most cars I've driven.

 

[animal_king1990]

I wonder why they always use Vekoma for their coasters instead of a another company like B&M or Intamin. Most of their coasters are in the top 10.

 

[mousermerf]

B&M, from what i recall, is a very strong company. They want their name on it. Coasters are known for being B&M. Disney wants none of that Disney coasters are Disney coasters

 

[animal_king1990]

B&M, from what i recall, is a very strong company. They want their name on it. Coasters are known for being B&M. Disney wants none of that Disney coasters are Disney coasters

No wonder Vekoma has no record of ever building for Disney...

 

[Lee]

B&M is nowhere near as flexible and easy to work with on custom jobs as Vekoma. Ask Uni. about trying to get the Hulk built.

As for Vekoma's being rough...good maintenance is the key. Keep them maintained properly and they will stay smooth. Let them go....look out.

Oh...and the backard section goes nowhere near 60mph.

 

[Madison]

B&M is nowhere near as flexible and easy to work with on custom jobs as Vekoma. Ask Uni. about trying to get the Hulk built.

What I wouldn't do for the chance

That seems odd, somehow, though not surprising. It's just that, given that nearly every B&M coaster is a custom job and Vekoma is conversely known for selling two of the most popular ride installations in the world, you'd think that Walter and Claude would be a bit more flexible with their clients.

I imagine, however, that they're quite a bit protective and self-conscious of their reputation and aren't too interested in pushing the envelope, technologically, simply to say that they pushed it.

 

[Grantsdale]

I always thought it was a 25-35ft drop at most at once.

Wha?
ToT 4 Drop Profiles:

7th Hortons is the first set of windows, 8th is middle, 9th is top.

Unload is obviously the bottom.

The 5th dimension is over halfway up the shaft, so even then its 70-80ft.

 

[trimmerTOT]

They have created many of the world's first rollercoasters...inverted and diving machines spring to mind.

From hearing the designers at Alton Towers speak, they never had any problems with B&M being flexable when designing the rides Nemesis and Oblivion, but thats not to say other companies would deal with each other as easily, for whatever reasons.

Anyways, i trust Lee on this one.

As for Vekoma's roughness, thier older coasters, like the Corkscrew's from 20+ years ago are among the roughest i've ever experienced...but RnRC and Space Mountain seem on a par with any of Intamin's launched coasters in terms of smoothness...but i'm guess as Lee said, maintenance is the killer

Edit to make this relevent - I'm sure Disney will make sure that this ride is never allowed to get into a state of roughness like other park's may. That said...any company investing approx. $100 in a project would undoubtable like that installation to stay prestine for as long as humanly possible right?

 

[Lee]

I've never dealt directly with B&M myself, but from what I'm told they like to take the lead in designing their rides.
Basically, you call them up and tell them you want a coaster, and they design it and say "Here you go." Not much collaboration between the parks and B&M. However, with most parks this is not an issue, as they do not have in-house designers like WDI, which allows B&M a lot of freedom to do what they want.
Working with WDI is much more complex, requiring that a ride not only do what they want it to do, but also to work within very strict design parameters.

Look at it this way: B&M would prefer to have you build your mountain around their coaster. Vekoma is more willing to build their coaster around your mountain.

 

[animal_king1990]

I've never dealt directly with B&M myself, but from what I'm told they like to take the lead in designing their rides.
Basically, you call them up and tell them you want a coaster, and they design it and say "Here you go." Not much collaboration between the parks and B&M. However, with most parks this is not an issue, as they do not have in-house designers like WDI, which allows B&M a lot of freedom to do what they want.
Working with WDI is much more complex, requiring that a ride not only do what they want it to do, but also to work within very strict design parameters.

Look at it this way: B&M would prefer to have you build your mountain around their coaster. Vekoma is more willing to build their coaster around your mountain.

How about Intamin?

 

[Rotel1026]

I'm not so sure Disney and Intamin have the best of relationships after the accident on Cali Screamin. Apparently Disney has made a good deal of modifications to CS to the point that Intamin no longer considers it one of their coasters.

 

[Madison]

I'm not so sure Disney and Intamin have the best of relationships after the accident on Cali Screamin. Apparently Disney has made a good deal of modifications to CS to the point that Intamin no longer considers it one of their coasters.

The only modifications Disney's made, to my knowledge, were not even modifications in the truest sense. Instead, Disney opted to install their own ride control system rather than use typical roller coaster supplier Consign AG.

Does anyone know of anything more that's been done to the ride beyond the custom controls system?

 

[Jose Eber]

Major modifications were made to the brake systems, including the one section in the accident. Ooops! Disney however didn't consult with Intamin and Intamin even pointed that out saying Knotts would never do that (hisss!). Apparently, its common practice to inform the manufacturer of adjustments you make to a ride. In some states, like New Jersey, its illegal to made modifications without the manufacturers approval (New Jersey has the highest standards btw).

I'm more of an Intamin fan. Per Disney and Intamin together -- see Screamin'. Rode it when it opened, and many times thereafter -- much smoother than what RNR brings you (and RNR is in a climate controlled environment!

I don't buy the whole upkeep argument. Why would the amusement industry globally disregard Vekoma coasters, but pay attention to others? Bah. Build quality is build quality. You don't get a bad reputation solely based on conspiracy!

What worries me about the new Vekoma track (which is old news for RCDB watchers) is a) its new and untested at this scale and b) if Disney uses climate control to give the effect you are in a cold environment during segments of the ride -- I would imagine that fudges with the welds. During the summer, this could be a problem no?

Hmm.

Regardless -- hope to ride it as soon as it tests for the public. That way I'll experience a smooth ride.

Joy!