***Official Footer Pouring Thread***

[LocoDriver]

isn't SFMM's Goliath 255 feet tall?

Goliath at SFMM is not a B&M. It's made by Giovanola. Link...

http://www.rcdb.com/id615.htm

[Mr.Nitro]

Ok kiddies we are getting crazy here. So lets speculate about something that might be a little more plausible.

Consider this……

*Carowinds is building something based on site prep and now a hint, -that’s a given.

*Fair CEO said with the purchase of Paramount that he would add steel, which apparently he’s doing with Behemoth and DB.

*It has been long rumored in the blogger-sphere that Fair entered into a 3 coaster deal with Fair, which also appears to be true. The main question would be, what type of coaster would No. 3 be?

*A basic B&M hyper costs roughly 20 million, and that was likely the going rate when the original contact was signed several years ago. Since that time the economy has tanked and the price of steel plummeted. It would be interesting to know if B&M passed that steel savings on to companies they are doing business with. My answer would be no, based on how business is done. But sometimes instead of the reimbursement of funds a vendor will provide more services at the original contract price. Diamondback’s splash down could be compensation to Fair for the decline in steel prices. Lets face it, except for the funky seats, B&M has never added special features to hypers, and they have built like 10 or so.

* Now this brings us to the 3rd coaster in the contract. Since that time the economy has gotten worst and steel prices has hit a decades low. Assuming the 3rd coaster is going to be a hyper, you will have to wonder what extras B&M will provide to compensate. Judging from pictures of the Carowinds site prep, you have to wonder if they are going above and beyond. The simplest construction method would have been to flatten the flume site and put in a basic Behemoth type hyper or flatten everything and add a splash down pool. Apparently they are not doing either one but are doing something else. Latest reports from the park is that the flume hill is rising. Could it be that maybe, just maybe B&M is upping it’s new 230ft standard to 250ft as compensation to Fair for weak steel prices? Normally the price increase is fairly substantial when a coaster’s height is increased above a certain limit, therefore they could be putting in a 20ft mound to accomplish this. With that said I predict that Carowinds will be home to the tallest B&M on the planet, 250ft of glorious steel. And it is not because the park is that special either but is related to pure economics. Hopefully it will have the spash down too as a cool visual.

That would be too good to be true. I hope the station is really nice as well. Carowinds doesn't have many at all.

[Foghorn-Leghorn]

isn't SFMM's Goliath 255 feet tall?

Goliath at SFMM is not a B&M. It's made by Giovanola. Link...

http://www.rcdb.com/id615.htm

close enough?

[coasterdave]

That is an interesting post there Capler. I am not really going to go into much on it but you could be on the trail of something on some of your points. I would think that this new ride coming to Carowinds next year will have something that will make it stand out that any other coaster has at present. And if it is ehat people are saying then I would say a great time to let the cat out of the bag would be around the upcoming Nascar Race that is coming in amere two weeks.

But what do I know, just a guy who does not work for Fair just giving his view.

[LocoDriver]

isn't SFMM's Goliath 255 feet tall?

Goliath at SFMM is not a B&M. It's made by Giovanola. Link...

http://www.rcdb.com/id615.htm

close enough?

I hardly think so. Giovanola vs. B&M....not close at all.

[carowinds4ever]

Maybe with the mound of dirt getting higher, maybe they could be making it go underground, without actually going underground. Ya know what i mean? I would be happy to go in the dark. Just a thought.

[bgwfreak]

That is an interesting post there Capler. I am not really going to go into much on it but you could be on the trail of something on some of your points. I would think that this new ride coming to Carowinds next year will have something that will make it stand out that any other coaster has at present. And if it is ehat people are saying then I would say a great time to let the cat out of the bag would be around the upcoming Nascar Race that is coming in amere two weeks.

But what do I know, just a guy who does not work for Fair just giving his view.

Good point. The 2 week NASCAR onslaught to Charlotte starts in about 2-3 weeks. That would be a perfect time for an announcement.

One thing I miss about working is that I'll probably miss out on Speed Street this year. I might go see Reo Speedwagon though, since its free and all.

[aaronf1991]

I have a feeling we won't hear an announcement until Coaster Stock...but track or other evidence will start to appear before that...similarly to last year.

[Wormy]

With you there Capler, but I should point out that from ground level, it doesn't look as if the mound is getting higher, but it is getting longer. Time to get out the ex-Madden telestrator:



At first glance, it looks like they've moved the dirt on the left to the spot on the right. Except that the dirt on the left isn't dirt. It's the pile of trees that were removed, which looks clearer here:



Not that this matters; it seems that the dirt on the right seems to be coming from other areas of excavation, and it looks more ominous from the ground here:



The point is that they are specifically adding to the mound for some reason, rather than leveling it. I too, assumed that the mound would be leveled and installation of a B&M cookie-cutter hyper would commence. That doesn't seem to be the case, because if their intent was to level, my guess is that they would started this already, perhaps by filling in the low areas around the basin, which appears to be drained, rather than carefully extending the mound on the right as they have. Of course, I could get over there in the next couple of days and the whole thing could be flatter than a pancake. But this theory is more interesting -the existing topography seems to be factoring into the ride layout, which is highly intriguing.

Could they take advantage of this mound for boosting the height of the initial lift? Maybe; that manmade hill has been there for 36 years, should be sturdy enough. Could be for a helix, or some other element that hasn't yet been conceived of here, I can think of a few ridiculous ones. But I agree with what's been said about B&M certainly being creative with their use of the landscape for Afterburn - hopefully the same thing is happening here.

[Thriller]

I like the sound of a 250' monster gracing the front exterior of the park. I just hope whatever it is, CF puts some money into the station and theme of the ride. Carowinds has never been one for a good theme except for Afterburn which is still the daddy of all the coasters at carowinds. Which brings me to another point. Its sad that Afterburn is now 10 years old and nothing more exciting has came to Carowinds since. Hypers, floorless, launch, and strata-coasters have all been released in the last 10 years and have became the center focus for many parks except Carowinds. We still have to give glory to a suspended coaster that is 10 years old. Maybe we can catch up with the rest of the world next year if things go our way!

[Wormy]

Nevermind. It's coming down. Posting pics in a bit.

[Wormy]

Who knows if they keep the original hill, but they were really burning diesel on the rest of it.

[Jimmy H]

hey did they repair the building where the filtration system was?
it looks like it has been fixed

[Mr.Nitro]

Sigh, the more I look at this space the smaller it seems. I really hope there can be a decently long 200+ foot coaster there.

[coasterdave]

So you think that is the only place the coaster is going to run?