Existing Roller Coaster Griffon
- Thread starter Zachary
- Start date
Does anybody know the story for this ride? There's some debate as to whether it was presented in the ride's queue or not.
Griffon doesn't have a story, that I know of. It's THEMED to a flight on a griffin, but that's not a story.
I found out today that they are doing away with the single riders line on Griffin. Yet another reason I may not be here (BG) next year. With each decision made and executed to change BG I feel less connected to the park. Pretty soon I guess it'll be a coaster contest between BG and KD... No contest there.
BuschGardener said:
I think I may have only seen it open a handful of times in the past few years anyway.
Single rider lines really cut into a rides overall capacity by a lot. That's why the park has done away with them. I wouldn't go to the extreme and say that is a reason to not come to the park, but whatever, shorter line for me.
If they did it like Disney and directed guests to each row it would work. They could keep count of how many are where and fill from there. If Busch ran a single rider from the exit and filled after the loading gates close then it would be sufficient. Filling from the line itself can cause backups, especially if you get groups that want to go single and no care about separation.James said:
Sorry for the rant. Really just wanted to report on the no single rider line news. The lines won't be any shorter on my behalf...
At times it does seem like this coaster deserves a bit more respect. Yes it's very short and replaced a classic, but I personally like it a lot. I would venture to say it's the most intense ride in the park. That first drop is awesome. The Immelman inversions are great. And, most importantly, I see happy faces on that ride every time I go on it. The line moves fast. It is sooooo smooth. I just think it should get a bit more recognized for its numerous good things rather than it's bad.
Ride-wise, it's decent. Isn't really as forceful as Alpengeist, and it's not as long/tall as Apollo. It's more of a "step up" type coaster than anything really.
My problem is that the park could've done so much with the rest of the coaster. Unlike what BGT did with SheiKra, I feel that BGW just said "Hey Tampa's got one, let's get one too" and then they plopped the ride down on where Le Mans sat. I have no problem with a Six Flags/Cedar Fair park plopping random rides wherever they can, but BGW should be able to create a well-themed experience with their coasters as they have in the past with LNM, BBW, and Alpengeist.
It also replaced a pretty well-shaded area of the park. It really couldn't hurt the park to keep a few trees could it?
My problem is that the park could've done so much with the rest of the coaster. Unlike what BGT did with SheiKra, I feel that BGW just said "Hey Tampa's got one, let's get one too" and then they plopped the ride down on where Le Mans sat. I have no problem with a Six Flags/Cedar Fair park plopping random rides wherever they can, but BGW should be able to create a well-themed experience with their coasters as they have in the past with LNM, BBW, and Alpengeist.
It also replaced a pretty well-shaded area of the park. It really couldn't hurt the park to keep a few trees could it?
I'm hoping for the years that some trees start to grow in there, it will be decades before they are large enough to make a difference though. It really needed more themeing though, I think someone mentioned French Castle ruins or something that it could have dived through. And also Swift, you are so right, it could use a different kind of inversion after the second dive. Not sure what kind of inversion would be feasible considering the size of the cars. They may have gone with a second Immelman because the train could handle a more difficult inversion, but that it just my speculation.
I was looking at some pics of Shambala, and I must say, it made me a little jealous. Every time I ride Griffon, I wish the water wasn't just a sight for the spectators. On Shambala, the water shoots up before the car comes in, so it's like a wall of water. I guess the theme is that the Griffon's claws are dragging over it, but it would be cool to make it like Shambala's water wall.
I don't really think thats a "splash down", probably an effect like backlot at KD has. I saw an interview with Larry Giles where he said the splash down is 20% of the rides braking, so really it's apples to oranges.jackelope17 said: