MIA & Thunderhawk

[jolash]

For those familiar with the park, I think this gives you the idea of where Thunderhawk is...

http://miadventure.com/thunderhawk/th_1101_04.jpg
http://miadventure.com/thunderhawk/th_1101_03.jpg

Funny, because I saw workers in this area way back in August.

[SnooSnoo]

I got the general gist of MiA.. but that doesn't help.. could ya throw up a park map and draw in a big TH on it?? :)

[Mike T]

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m178/mike2008t/THawknewlocation.jpg

[jolash]

http://miadventure.com/thunderhawk/th_1108_01.jpg

A really big dirt pile. Why? I don't know.

They have a lot of work ahead of them. It's November. Footers aren't even poured.

[SnooSnoo]

Yeah.. they better get on their horse.. they seem behind if they don't even have the footers up.. and if winter in Ohio is any clue to the conditions, they aren't in for anything good.

[Comet]

I really hope that they are willing to invest in the new trains.
This is going to be the park's stand out attraction for the next couple of years, so they should do their best to leave a good impression on the guests if they expect them to keep coming back to ride it.

[SnooSnoo]

Whats wrong with the old trains??

In fact, i've heard from numerous riders and is my personal opinion, that Thunderhawk is one of the smoothest SLC's out there.

[Thrill Reconnoiter]

^I think he meant the one's with the new 'flex' harnesses like Morey's Piers.

[jolash]

http://miadventure.com/thunderhawk/th_1115_03.jpg
http://miadventure.com/thunderhawk/th_1115_01.jpg


Not sure why soo much of the lake is walled off. You can see that it is being drained into the other side, probably for easier access to the site. I wonder if any of it will be used for the ride, and if it'll ever be refilled?

[The Storm Runner]

I think they're just draining it temporarily. There are many SLCs over water - Mind Eraser at DL, Thunderhawk at GL (ironicly), etc. I guess it would make it easier to get to the site though. :)

[Comet]

Wow, they really gotta start picking up the pace.
Do you by any chance know when these pictures are from, Delirium?

[jolash]

November 15th, today.

[Sam]

2008 - Thunderhawk - (11/27/07) Michigan’s Adventure guests may be in for a treat next summer when they ride Thunderhawk. At this time I’ve heard that most of the pieces of Thunderhawk have been delivered from Ohio, however one of the items yet to be moved are the coaster trains which are just sitting out in the open air, exposed to the elements at Geauga Lake as you can see in the bottom photo posted to Geauga Lake Today (http://www.geaugalaketoday.com/). However a local Michigan resident claims to have spotted what looked like the trains for Thunderhawk on a truck heading towards the park, repainted silver and dark blue. Since the old red and blue trains are still in Ohio, it is believed that Thunderhawk could be getting a new set of trains from Vekoma, possibly using the all new restraint system that was being tested out at Morey’s Piers (http://www.screamscape.com/html/new_jersey_shore.htm) back in October. Anyone know more?

http://www.screamscape.com/html/michigan_s_adventure.htm

[jolash]

Pretty simple math. Trains can't be in two places at once.

Plus, Vekoma has been pushing the new trains on parks with an SLC.

The old trains may be sold to another park somewhere, possibly as spare parts.

Pretty pumped for the new trains though :D

[jolash]

UPDATESS!!!!11!1!!1!!oneone!!

http://miadventure.com/thunderhawk/th_1127_03.jpg

http://miadventure.com/thunderhawk/th_1127_02.jpg

http://miadventure.com/thunderhawk/th_1127_01.jpg


They better haul *** this winter getting the ride assembled. This is never going to be ready for opening day (6 months away).

Also, someone want to explain to me what's going on in this last picture?

[tycooner55]

They are pumping the water so they can pour the footers. I don't know if MiA plans to fill the area in or have some water under the coaster. My guess is that they'll fill that area in.

[jolash]

It's obvious that they're draining the water. What's the white material? Gravel? Are they using that to fill?

[tycooner55]

I think it's gravel. Probably for the foundation before they fill the area with dirt.

[Voyage100]

They are getting ready to place the footer for the ride. That's why they are draining the water, I think.

One thing I do want to see is that they are going to change its SLC ride into the brand new SLC comfy ride with no head bangs.

[jolash]

Looks like they have indeed filled the entire area that was drained. That's a shame. It would have been cool to soar over water.

http://miadventure.com/thunderhawk/th_1220_01.jpg

[chris]

http://www.screamscape.com/html/michigan_s_adventure.htm

I will tell you guys if the new trains are nice or not. Since I go to Morney's Piers every year in early September.

[Sam]

Won't September be a little late for updating us? ;) There's a good chance I'll be going there with TPR on the east coast trip in August. Until then we will have to see what others have to say about them. :cool:


EDIT: Judging by the photos, they will probably refill the area once construction is over. Is there any other reason why they would build footers raised so high on even ground?

Photos from MIAdventure.com (http://www.miadventure.com):
http://www.miadventure.com/thunderhawk/th_1220_02.jpg

http://www.miadventure.com/thunderhawk/th_1220_03.jpg

[The Storm Runner]

^Does the lake there ever flood?

[chris]

Does anyone know what the new trains will look like?

[The Storm Runner]

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I thought I saw a pic of Thunderhawk's old trains on site...? I could be wrong though. Hopefully I'm wrong, and MIA will get the new SLC trains. :)

[chris]

But does anyone know what they look like? So I know what The Great Nor Easter's trains will be.

[Michael]

http://cache.rcdb.com/pictures/picmax/p18736.jpg

If you were referring to the new SCL trains, then here's a pic of a new set in Germany. If you ask me, they looks pretty sweet :cool:

- Photo cortesy of rcdb.com (photo by Borris Miggiano)

[IntaminFan007]

:eek: sexy trains!:eek:

[The Storm Runner]

^^I believe he was talking about the ones at Morey's which are different than those. Those are for the junior SLCs. The ones for Morey's can be found here:

http://www.capemaycountyherald.com/article/10757-moreys-tests-new-roller-coaster-seat

Anyway, let's get back to Michigan. :)

[Nate]

Are they getting the new trains? I was under the impression that they are not doing anything with the trains on this coaster.

[chris]

Yes now I could finally talk and see. I wonder if it would reduce the head banging?

[The Storm Runner]

Are they getting the new trains? I was under the impression that they are not doing anything with the trains on this coaster.

No, Thunderhawk is not getting new trains. The SLC at Morey's is. :)

[Thrill Reconnoiter]

(11/30/07) It looks like our other reader must have been mistaken when they thought they saw new trains for Thunderhawk on the way to the park. A reader checked in with Michigan’s Adventure to ask if they were getting new trains, but was told that they would be using the same trains that were used at Geauga Lake, which are supposed to be on trucks on their way at this moment that will be extensively refurbished once they arrive.

EDIT: They are not getting the new style trains. My guess is probably the cost/efficiency that they didn't see the market or benefit.

[Jake]

I guess Cedar Fair doesn't care enough about the thirty different people that visit the park each year ;).

[jolash]

Is there any other reason why they would build footers raised so high on even ground?


Well, here's Thunderhawk at Geauga.

http://cache.rcdb.com/pictures/picmax/p1249.jpg

[The Storm Runner]

^But there's also a swamp underneath, in addition to the lake.

[Dan]

My guess: Because the ride is being built so close to water, there will be water beneath the ride, probably only feet below the ground. The less far they can put the footers underground, the above ground they will go.

[tycooner55]

Exactly, and also for flooding so the footers are protected.

[Mike T]

I think they are trying to recreate the same kind of environment that you saw at Geauga Lake, with the marsh and the shallow water. You probably wont see it this year, but you will definately eventually begin to see it a few years down the line, due to this magical phenomenon that we call succession ;)

[Sam]

Thunderhawk has gone vertical. Apparently the track will be changed to red while keeping the same yellow supports.

http://miablogonline.com/

[tycooner55]

Ugg, I much prefer the orange track.

[jolash]

Although I like th orange track as well, they're straying away from the orange because of the fact that Corkscrew has an orange/teal scheme. I would assume that they didn't change the support color as well because the supports are already freshly painted, and it wouldn't be a costly mistake to paint them anyways.

Also, miadventure.com has posted new pictures.
http://miadventure.com/th_con_jan.shtml

This one is interesting in that not only can you still see orange track, but you can also see some of the old teal supports. Perhaps this ride will have multiple track colors, such as Silver Bullet?
http://miadventure.com/thunderhawk/th_0129_05.jpg

[Mike T]

Those blue supports are actually station supports and haven't been painted since the original debut of Serial Thriller back in 1998. I don't think its going to be multi-colored, but it sure does stand out with its McDonald's-Esq color scheme.

[jolash]

I was thinking multi-colored considering the red brake run pieces and the other orange pieces that are shown in the picture.

[Sam]

^ Remember when we all thought the same thing about X2? :p

I'm sure this is temporary and they will get around to the rest very soon. I actually prefer the combination of red and yellow. Not much more, but it is better than with orange.

[jolash]

^ Remember when we all thought the same thing about X2? :p

I'm not familiar with anything from the X2 project, other than the fact that the new colors are ironically the same as the newest 4D coaster, Eejanaika.

But here, these new pieces have been painted before being put together. X2 was never deconstructed for painting. That's what makes me think that if some pieces aren't already painted, that they won't be.

[The Storm Runner]

^For X2, they painted what seemed like random track segments at a time, making it look like it alternated color schemes. However, the crew eventually did paint the in-between segments.

I was thinking about that too. They painted the track before construction for some of the pieces, but others were constructed before painting? Maybe they really wanted to get moving on the construction, even if the painting wasn't done? I'm not too sure.

[Mike T]

Keep in mind the temperatures up there. They painted as much as they could with the weather that they had, and when it gets warmer they will come back to it again and re-paint the rest. I think they were trying to get a head start on it so that they didn't have to paint a constructed ride, but it didn't exactly play in their favor.