Re: Silver Dollar City |"Outlaw Run"| Wooden Hybrid Coaster
Woah.
Going back to Jer saying "what's the point", I GOT the point of the stengel dive. Even despite the fact that wood is so cheap and readily available in the USA, so it makes sense to use it if you can... When it comes to the wooden coaster as an experience, that stengel dive-like "inversion" looks like it would fit. It looks like something that would throw you about as a good woodie should, not keep you in your seat as most inversions tend to. That's why I never understood the point of SOBs loop, especially because it was just a steel coaster section in amongst a wooden layout. That made no sense, it was just a gimmick, the twisty dive makes sense and will probably fit with the rest of the experience, I think.
Barrel rolls, though? I don't get that.
Barrel rolls are typically slow "experience" based inversions, which aim to scare by letting you fall around in your seat at a slow speed, making it feel like you're going to fall out in a slow drawn out fashion. So to those of us who ride coasters fairly often, they are boring because we're conditioned to know we won't fall out. They are an overused element, I assume because they cost less than others and can be placed into slow sections to make them more "exciting". With Thorpe Park's 7 barrel rolls, I never, ever want to see a park put one on a ride again. They are crap. But, I get why they make sense on a lot of rides.
But how, someone please explain, will they fit in with the rest of a wooden coaster layout? Wooden coasters usually hit the breaks flying, this one wont. It'll just dick about through slow twists. Horrible. There's no need for them to be there, they aren't adding anything, they are simply taking away from the layout.