Over time those shapes begin tearing themselves apart. We see that some of the ‘hand calculations’ from the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s were not as fool proof as the designers thought they would be. Really, the areas that we will be working on have been pre-determined contractually from the site visits and pre-contract investigations.Ĭ101: As you guys evaluate rides for improvements, do you get a sense of what has caused the issues you see? Why do most rides need the work?ĪH: A wooden roller coaster can truly last forever, but over time, old ride designs and older ride vehicles begin to damage themselves. From there, we evaluate structural needs, ride vehicle needs, and track needs to pin point how we will move forward. We want to physically see the problems on the computer before we jump in head first. Which sections constantly need work or what areas are guests always complaining about? The first step is surveying the ride to get a feel for how the ride truly is. We also take time to talk to park maintenance personnel to understand problematic areas from their end of things. On our visit, we ride the ride to really get a gauge and feel for any problematic areas. We find that it works well for parks knowing that they have the option to budget X number of dollars each season and we then work with them to dial in the appropriate areas each off season.īoulder Dash, one of the coasters GCII has refurbished in the past over a multiple years.Ĭ101: Once you guys have an idea of the scale of an refurbishment, what are the first steps for actually figuring out what areas need work? What kind of testing and data collection do you do, and what is the progression of the project like?ĪH: A site visit from a GCII representative is always the first real step. I would say that in most cases (where work is spread over multiple years), we know well in advance that we are going to spread work over several seasons. We have seen rides that may need some minor TLC all the way to rides that need complete overhauls. Secondly, it depends on the nature of the ride prior to our work. To help to mitigate this in some situations, we may deem it an option to work on a ride over several seasons two great examples being Bolder Dash at Lake Compounce and the Coney Island Cyclone. We want to provide a great product or service, but need to be within the budget of the park. How to Make an Old Coaster GreatĬoaster101: You guys have sort of become the experts in refurbishing wooden coasters, do parks reach out to you specifically to do a refurbishment on a ride, or is it more of a broad request for proposals from them the way it is with new coasters?Īdam House, GCII: In the early days, we really had to push customers to give us a chance at repairing there problematic wooden coasters, but now, we have so many great repairs under our belt that typically clientele come to us.Ĭ101: The scope of your refurbishment projects varies a lot, how is that determined? Is it based on how much time/money the park has, or do you guys do some kind of assessment to figure out how much work needed?ĪH: I would say that the scope is based on two things one is certainly the financial aspect. Adam House, senior engineer at Great Coasters International, and really good interviewee.
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