Man... I don't wanna think about Nessie's ultimate demise. This year's already sad enough, can we push that conversation to, like, 2023?
The Loch Ness Monster
- Thread starter Zachary
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Given that they just invested in new trains, new paint and other services on her 3 years ago I don't think it would be right away as they will want to get something out of that investment but I could very well see that assuming nothing changes ridership wise or maintenance wise that 50 is a good run and that it's time for something else.
With the lights all pretty much off at Griffon, riding Nessie at night reminds me of when it used to be all forest over there. And it felt nice to have a good long ride in the dark tonight.
How dare you all. Nessie doesn't deserve to be talked about like that. She's an icon and shouldn't go anywhere. If anything they should shut her down for a season and have someone do a little refurbishment on her.
That being said I've seen the parks general long term roadmap and Nessie getting removed isn't on it. That could change, of course, if it turns into something like BBW where it becomes almost impossible to replace parts and therefore becomes too costly to maintain.
LNM goes... when BGW goes... or vice versa. They are fatefully interconnected in that way. Nessie IS Busch Gardens.
I can see them putting money into LNM if needed. The way I've heard it talked about when I'm there by maintenance and when I took the coaster tour, LNM is their baby. Add in how excessively over designed this ride was it would shock me if it would get that bad without signs of it happening first.
And that's why I think that the plans to build two large coasters in 2 years is not something they're doing just to build up the park, but that they really take removing Ness as a serious issue. Even then, whenever it happens, it will be more a sentimental loss as I really think its replacement will be a fitting tribute or even very similar, but better. It seems like it could keep going forever, but I have trouble believing it will make it past 50 years. There are some parks that now have completely retracked and rebuilt coasters so that is possible, but they are running out of room for new coasters.
That's the thing though - Volcano died partly because it was a prototype that never really caught on so there just wasn't any parts readily available from the manufacturer.
Arrow itself may be gone, but with so many of their rides still in operation, there's a good chance parts for most of their rides will be available to some degree for quite a while. Also, because a few manufacturers have lineage to Arrow, there's also a chance for complete refurbs on the older rides.
In Nessie's case, not only is it a common Arrow model even if the layout is custom so there's still parts being made (folks here have been claiming there's even some being produced up 64 in Richmond), but there's at least 2-3 manufacturers out there that could bid on any refurbishment contracts that would come up.
Now that said, I'd venture to guess that there will ultimately be an end of service life... May it not happen for decades to come.
Arrow itself may be gone, but with so many of their rides still in operation, there's a good chance parts for most of their rides will be available to some degree for quite a while. Also, because a few manufacturers have lineage to Arrow, there's also a chance for complete refurbs on the older rides.
In Nessie's case, not only is it a common Arrow model even if the layout is custom so there's still parts being made (folks here have been claiming there's even some being produced up 64 in Richmond), but there's at least 2-3 manufacturers out there that could bid on any refurbishment contracts that would come up.
Now that said, I'd venture to guess that there will ultimately be an end of service life... May it not happen for decades to come.
If anything I would hope the park would decide to go with a rebuild like Python from Efteling where most of the supports are left and just new modern precision bent track is installed. IF they do go this route I would love if they did make some changes to the section after the helix -> the second loop. IMHO the jump up before the 2nd lift hill is the worst part of the ride. If they could figure out a way to remove that and the 2nd lift hill and do something interesting with that section I think it would make a huge improvement while still keeping the overall ride the same
RCT2 style with a small launch segment to get to the correct speed coming out of the helix cave. But I think those things are what gives it character that you just can't find in modern rides.
theres a difference between character and outright pain , which that jump coming out of the cave is definitely the latter. I honestly dont even know why it is there. The only reason i can imagine is the lift hills couldnt handle the trains approaching at too high of a speed so that jump is there to reduce momentum a bit before the train engages the train?
Possibly - but thanks to my physical proportions and lack of any major pre-existing conditions that could be affected I haven't really noticed it to be a problem over any other spot of the ride. I kind of like that double-up feeling (so what if it's not a true double-up).
I dont think you would see a parts issue cause closure of LNM. More likely corrosion, metal fatigue, or some kind of foundational issue such as soil erosion where its a big cost repair and the ROI doesnt make any sense compared to putting in a new ride.
I see a lot of discussion about Nessie as an icon, but very little discussion of her as a great ride. In my opinion, she has the best drop in the park, and one of the best I have experienced anywhere. They seem to have stumbled onto some magical parameters that lead to the perfect stomach pulling sensation that is rarely replicated. I honestly fear any retracking efforts, given how KD ended up neutering Racer 75.
She is neither the biggest nor the fastest ride out there, but she provides a better experience, in my opinion, than many more visually impressive rides. Furthermore, my impression is that she has relatively limited downtime. Of course, she is beautiful and does serve as an icon for the park.
There is more to her longevity than simple nostalgia.
She is neither the biggest nor the fastest ride out there, but she provides a better experience, in my opinion, than many more visually impressive rides. Furthermore, my impression is that she has relatively limited downtime. Of course, she is beautiful and does serve as an icon for the park.
There is more to her longevity than simple nostalgia.
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Yes, the best drop in the park. Also wish they would add RGB led bulbs to the lights uplighting the loops. Then they could change colors for different events.
Is this really true, though? Nessie is unique in that the layout is spread out across a lot of different areas of the park, but it doesn't take up much space in any one area. Unless the park wanted to build a new coaster with basically the exact same layout, I don't see the land the ride takes up being very valuable. It's divided into the following small parcels:
- A narrow strip in Scotland where the queue, station, maintenance area, and lift hill are. You couldn't really put anything else here.
- The turnaround over Land of the Dragons. Using this land for anything other than a brief turnaround like Nessie has would also require removing LotD.
- The area including the MCBR, tunnel, second lift, and turn towards the second loop. This is the largest single area Nessie takes up, but it's sandwiched between Pompeii, the Rhine, and the pipeline.
You could possibly squeeze a flat or two into some of those areas, but because of how spread out the layout is, I don't see any one area being particularly valuable to the park to justify removing the ride for space. If Nessie goes, I'm sure it would be because of some difficulty with operating the ride anymore.