Steel Curtain at Kennywood - first test

[wikiverse]

Steel Curtain has just had its first test run at Kennywood.  I don't care if it looks like someone's first Roller Coaster Tycoon design, it looks like a lot of fun and I can't wait to ride it.

 

[wikiverse]

And here is the first official POV video for anyone that is interested.

The ride is now officially open.

•  World's tallest inversion (197 feet)
• 220 ft lift hill (are we calling this one a Hyper?)
• 9 inversions - the most in North America
• Top Speed of 75mph (120kph)

 

S&S have purchased Vekoma.  Steel Curtain and Maxx Force are the first two major custom designs they've introduced.  Should an Australian park look at getting a new S&S design?

[pin142]

13 hours ago, wikiverse said:

Should an Australian park look at getting a new S&S design?

One of our parks has gone for a "new" S&S design in the past so I am not sure our parks will go for one based on the history of that. Maybe they'd consider something from the Vekoma side of things.

[Jobe]

22 hours ago, pin142 said:

One of our parks has gone for a "new" S&S design in the past so I am not sure our parks will go for one based on the history of that. Maybe they'd consider something from the Vekoma side of things.

Really? If Dreamworld were to build one of these, we would all be appropriately impressed. It’s not DC Rivals but it looks like a damn fine coaster that would go a long way to restoring Dreamworld’s reputation as a thrill destination. I for one , would certainly welcome it and I suspect I wouldn’t be alone in that feeling. 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

On 13/07/2019 at 9:46 AM, wikiverse said:

are we calling this one a Hyper?

It depends on if you're a purist. Hypers were originally designed to combat multi-inversion coasters with simple layouts focussing on height, speed, and airtime. Inversions aren't typically present in a hyper coaster, however as time has gone on, inversions have found their way into the mix.

My personal opinion - I think 9 inversions is probably pushing it, and while the POVs i've seen show there's quite a few pops of airtime, i think it's status as a hyper will always be called into question by some.

The current definition, despite the non-inverting history, states a coaster with a drop over 200ft is a hyper... and if you look at the profile below, from the peak of the lift hill, it drops a short distance before the first inversion. Do they count as two separate drops, since there is an uphill part to the corkscrew? The  corkscrew inversion after the lift hill, while being the highest inversion in the world, is at 197ft...

I'm sure opinion will be divided on this - however in the end, the official wiki for the coaster does list it as a hypercoaster so i guess that's your answer.

[MickeyD]

This looks fricken awesome and those first 2 loops... Wow!

Absolutely, @Jobe something like this would be a most welcome addition to DW - surely even they could do a better job at the themeing/landscaping than Kennywood.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

2 hours ago, MickeyD said:

surely even they could do a better job at the themeing/landscaping

What's wrong with it?

And you do remember that Dreamworld themed Shockwave with green pinebark, right?

[MickeyD]

Take a look at the surrounds just as the ride pulls in.  Looks like someone's crappy back yard off to the left. The entire coaster was just thrown down on top of an available flat space without any care or attention to landscape/dress the surrounding area up.

You of all People know that's a pretty shit effort Mista A-Lexi-B 😊

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I did notice the stuff over the fence. i'm not familiar with the park, but i thought it was another ride. I just had a look on google and that doesn't seem to be the case... at any rate... have you ever noticed all the carts and crap stacked back of house while you negotiate the labyrinth that is the hot wheels queue and exit ramps? Or the junkyard\graveyard on the old thunderbolt site? What about the derelict BB Studios and blue lagoon slab (and later, backyard fence) on the train ride? Also on the train - All the plain white boxes under the TOT?

Then there's the dirt pits currently occupying the former thunderbolt graveyard and the thunder river sites...

If anything i'd say this theming is 'on-par' with dreamworld... and hey, they aren't disney...

but while we're on the subject of someone's crappy backyard... Village aren't immune either...

 

I honestly didn't understand the theme 'steel curtain' until i looked it up. I think the theme is pretty damn clever, and will no doubt enamor the locals to a point they won't give a shit about what's over the fence.

I think most parks also try to theme and camouflage things from ground level, but there's a certain expectation that once you're elevated above ground level for a ride, certain allowances are made for the fact that you can't hide everything.

[ragerunner]

12 hours ago, MickeyD said:

Take a look at the surrounds just as the ride pulls in.  Looks like someone's crappy back yard off to the left. The entire coaster was just thrown down on top of an available flat space without any care or attention to landscape/dress the surrounding area up.

You of all People know that's a pretty shit effort Mista A-Lexi-B 😊

The new Steel Curtain is part of a new mini land called Steelers Country and is not done yet. The area will be nicely themed, landscaped with a new indoor play area, shops and food locations when complete later this summer.

 

 

[Baconjack]

Dreamworld definitely should be looking at a Steel Curtain-styled ride for the park if they want to spend the money on such a ride. It wouldn't blow DC Rivals out of the water, but it'd be close to doing that I'd say.

Village on the other hand, after the Green Lantern troubles, needless to say, will probably never be buying anything from S&S ever again.

[Gazza]

I'll get around to posting all my pics from Kennywood, but I rode this a couple of weeks ago.

It's the multi looper for the 21st century, so if you love coasters like Kumba or Medusa or Kraken this will be up your alley. Has a good level of force and feels pretty relentless speed wise, the back to back inversions are dizzying, that zero g stall is taken pretty quick. 

The ride works with its speed well.

Big impressive inversions early, but even as you reach the end it's sort of combines a corkscrew, helix and cut back into one continuous element taken at a fast pace.

My final ride was on a warm night just before closing so it was really belting along, with good pops of air on the small hills it has.

The main mark against it is that it vibrates constantly. The actual trackwork is very smooth, with no jolts at all and a beautiful flow, but in the seats it's basically a sybian.

The friction drives and lift hill are horrendously slow too, which is strange. As you know on green lantern, it's very nippy in terms of advancing trains in the station, with minimal wasted time. This thing engages the lift hill at a crawl, and when it finally clears the station, the following train takes its sweet time moving in. Hopefully this is just temporary whilst the ride is new, but they are clearly losing a lot of capacity this way.

The rest of the area wasn't done, though the gift shop was open.

Thematically, its fairly basic, though the safety announcement is done by NFL commentators with some nice touches "we dont want any items going offside, so leave them in the locker room".

Edited August 2, 2019 by Gazza