215 replies to this topic

[Ccron10]

As some know, the park has confirmed at a township board meeting that there is a new project planned called Attraction 2012 which will be located in Comet Hollow and stand 212.6 feet tall. We don't know anything for sure what it will be, I did find out something today:

I just got back from Hersheypark in the Dark and from the site meet-up with Matt (HPCrazy) and Alex (coasteral). While we were there, something very strange occured.
Like I said in the Meet-Up thread, I said that our group would meet at the Hershey Statue around 2pm. We all got there and started waiting to see if anyone from the site would show up. After waiting 5 minutes we were about to just go and ride, but here's what happened....

3 people in white labcoats (one guy was wearing a berat (french hat) came walking up and wanted us to complete a servey. We were all about to turn them away, but I figured, "why not?"
They asked us 5 or 6 questions:
-What do you think is the right amount of time of freefall on a ride?
-What role do you think water plays in the effect on a ride?
-What are the freefall rides that you've been on?
-What role do you think water should play on a ride?
-and a question on something like if a concrete ride or water ride is better? I didn't really completely understand it though.

So they then thanked us for their time and the gave us a big envolope. Inside were 4 Exit Passes (which were passes where we didn't have to wait in line for a ride), and a smaller letter envolope which had a bunch of different puzzle pieces in it.

We all didn't really know what it was for, but once we thought about it for a second I knew I never heard of the Ride Institute of Technology (RIT) before and planned on googling it.

Once I got home, I got the envolope out, broke out the tape and started putting this thing together. Below are pictures.

It says "see u in the spring. game on!".
At the bottom of the page is a website address saying, Rideinstitute.com
Link:
http://www.rideinstitute.com/
Right after those 3 guys in labcoats presented us the envolope, they disappeared. We went back later in the day to check to see if they serveyed anyone else, but nobody was there.

On a sidenote, we had a list of 4 people attending on the facebook invite page that we had, someone with the name of Hershey Park friend requested me and then asked me where we were all meeting. Plus on the back of the Exit Passes was a 4 saying how many were in our group and they didn't to just open up the envolope and plop them into it while they were serveying us. It was preplanned. I have to admit it was really creepy the way this happened, but interesting.

I guess let the games begin then!

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[CoasterBGW]

I just posted this over at keystone thrills

Interesting line in the css code:

/* PreProj: nAnT_L1v3s */


Possibly stands for Nantimi Lives

[Coaster Princess]

That is a little strange. Just think your answers could have affect on what the new ride may be.

[Ccron10]

If this ride doesn't have a splashdown, then you can probably partly thank me for that since one of the questions they asked me was, "How do you think water would make a ride better?" and I pretty much told them that it would make the ride look good. But I don't think they'll go off of the questions they asked me on how to do this ride.
I think the the servey was a way to try to get the word out on the site and start things up for it.

EDIT: On the brightside, at least there won't be tons of pages of arguing over if this site was made by them. We pretty much have a clue it is and it was probably one of the things they wanted to correct that went wrong on the Nantimi campagin. I also wouldn't be shocked if they try something new this time around.

Edited by Ccron10, 18 October 2010 - 02:14 PM.

[Hillbilly1]

It's been nearly 12 years since we've released a major new study

It's been nearly 12 years since the Great Bear was built, which could hint to a B&M. Their questions about water and freefall puts drop coaster in my head.

[Tori Finlay]

^I agree. I was thinking it's a hyper before but that makes a lot more sense now.

[Tyler Carlton]

Well, freefall, water, Dive Machine? Probably just wishful thinking, but it sure would be cool to see.

[Tori Finlay]

At least it's supported wishful thinking. All the pieces fit.

[GADVFREAK99]

DIVE MACHINE OR B&M HYPER COASTER PLEASE!!!

[steel-Rock]

Two key words back there were said more than once: freefall, water.
Does "freefall" mean a 90 degree coaster drop or a drop tower?
Will it be a water ride? Will you be sprayed with water? Will there be a lake or stream all around a dry ride?
What a frustrating mystery.

[Ryan Shrout]

They're going to put in a bungee jumping tower over the river and let you pick your own length cord. See if you get dunked.

[greatbearrush]

I honestly do not want a Dive Machine. It may be shorter than a hyper, but usually they are more compact and I don't see any sort of compact coaster coming to Hershey, just because we don't have a whole lot of concentrated space; Its more spread out. Plus, it would be difficult for a DM to make it over to the golf course. I see a hyper in our future. We only have two steel coasters that don't go upside down in Trailblazer and Wild Mouse, and they are far from first-class rides. I also don't think B&M will be the ones performing this operation. Intamin is known for the tighter turns and transitions which will be essential for this thing to weave through and around Comet, go over a road, and straddle a lake and the nearby attractions. I know B&M fit Great Bear in, but they built it over top of everything, which is a whole different story than what this upcoming attraction is alleged to do. The only way it could be a B&M is if maybe they built a flyer to pass over and around everything, but it would have to be pretty tall for Hershey to ask for a 212 foot clearance. I say it'll be a smaller-scale Bizarro-esqe Intamin hyper that combines airtime hills with twists and tight transitions, but I guess we'll just have to wait.

On another note: unless they announce it pretty soon, it looks like Hershey will go a second year without adding anything to the park. I was sort of hoping last year was Flying Falcon's final one, but unless they're holding out on us, it looks like there won't be a shiny new drop tower in it's place for 2011.

Edited by greatbearrush, 22 February 2011 - 01:18 PM.

[Ccron10]

A new article has been posted featuring me and fellow member, HPCrazy:
http://www.pennlive....iddle_of_h.html

On a cold autumn afternoon, a trio of men in white lab coats walked briskly through Hersheypark.

No one knows for sure who they were or who they actually worked for.


JOE HERMITT, The Patriot-NewsVisitors to Hersheypark ride the Great Bear last year.
The only thing that this is known is where they were headed.

A few weeks earlier, several roller-coaster fanatics had started piecing together clues about Hersheypark's new ride, code-named "Attraction 2012."

On their website, keystonethrills.megabb.com, they poured over photos of strange survey markings that several of their members had noticed during visits during the summer.

The survey stakes appeared in an area of the park known as Comet Hollow and were the first clue that something big might be happening. The mystery deepened after park representatives presented initial planning documents — but few details — at a Derry Twp. meeting in August.

At the time, the park's fans had more questions than answers, and every clue they gathered only seemed to lead to another dead end.

Three of the group's members, Matt Meckley, Chris Cronrath and Alex Leair, decided a trip to the park was in order to continue their investigation.

They agreed online to meet at the fountain near the entrance to the park, near the statue of Milton Hershey, the park's founder and namesake.

As they gathered to go on their first ride, the three men in lab coats cut through the crowd and approached them.

They identified themselves as employees of a roller-coaster think tank and asked Meckley, Cronrath and Lear a series of questions about various rides. After a few minutes, they handed the stunned fans a thick envelope and, as suddenly as they had appeared, the lab coat-clad men vanished into the crowd.

When the stunned enthusiasts opened up the envelope, they were greeted with a paper jigsaw puzzle.

They almost threw it away.

At first, they thought it was a flier or an advertisement. But then Cronrath saw a puzzle piece bearing the name "Ride Institute of Technology."

None of them had heard of the institute.

When completed, the puzzle directed them to the Ride Institute of Technology's website and bore a simple message for the trio: "see u in the spring ... game on!"

It was official: Hersheypark was up to something.

Park officials won't answer that directly but acknowledge that they like to throw out teasers about big projects.

Now, four months later, the question remains: What?

A 12th roller coaster?

The Web page the three men were directed to appears innocuous enough: an image of the Ride Institute of Technology's logo and a few paragraphs on the history of the research group.

The story ends with the promise of a major spring 2011 announcement and a link to an e-mail address.

There is no mention of Hersheypark or of Pennsylvania, for that matter.

But sandwiched inside, Meckley and his friends believe, are clues to what the park might be planning.

Take the logo — eleven white stars on a red shield, surrounding a griffin holding a 12th star, yellow in color.

It might not look like much, but Meckley points out several clues hidden in the image.

The 11 stars — Hersheypark has 11 roller coasters.

The 12th star might represent a 12th coaster.

The griffin depicted at the center could be The Griffon, a Busch Gardens "diving machine" constructed by Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers, a Swiss roller-coaster design firm.

Could Hershey be hinting at a B&M steel-frame diving coaster in Comet Hollow?

The idea makes coaster fans salivate. Diving coasters are characterized by high speeds, a 90-degree vertical drop and stadium-style seating. If Hersheypark were to construct one it would be only the third of its kind in the United States.

Meckley believes B&M might be involved, pointing to another clue in the final paragraph of the page.

" 'It's been nearly 12 years since we've released a major new study...,' " Meckley read. "I'm thinking that phrase may be pointing to a possible B&M installation. ... When you break that down, it's been 12 years since Great Bear was built. ... That was [the last coaster at Hersheypark designed] by B&M."

Cronrath isn't so certain.

Sure, he said, the story line on the Web page — about two scientists forming their own company — closely parallels B&M's real-world history. But, he cautioned, "It could be a red herring."

At first, the online community was worried the website itself might be a ruse, constructed by another fan to confuse the group. But an analysis of the programming code shows it is similar in style to the legitimate Hersheypark website.

There's also the way that the ride institute appears to have located the three men during their trip to the park. The trio coordinated the trip via Facebook, with an open invitation for other people to come along.

A few days before they were to meet, an unknown individual using the moniker "Hersheypark fan" joined their group and asked where and when they would be gathering at the park. Cronrath said they later found out that the Facebook profile in question was registered using a Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Co. e-mail address.

They speculate that by using the persona, the park was able to pinpoint when they would arrive and were able to stage the ride institute's question-and-answer session.

Tantalizingly, the only link away from the institute's Web page is to e-mail an information address. Messages there are returned by an auto-response program, which states the group's work requires the "use of an encryption key for all e-mail communications."

That Cronrath said, has stumped everyone for the moment.

"I have no clue about the encryption key," he said. "But I have a feeling that [the answer] is probably hidden in the text somewhere."

There's also one final clue hidden inside the Web page's inner workings that points to Hersheypark.

It's a line of programming code that for Hersheypark fanatics closes the door on any doubts they might have: code that reads: "PreProj: nAnT_L1v3s"

Could it be a cryptic reference to Nantimi, the near-legendary marketing game Hersheypark built around the 2007 announcement of its Fahrenheit coaster?

It's not uncommon for amusement parks to play games with fans, often setting up fictitious websites or phony news reports to "leak" information.

On sites such as coasterbuzz.com, screamscape and thrillnetwork, roller-coaster fans pounce on the tiniest details, breaking them down to try and divine what various amusement parks are planning.

From the parks' point of view, the secrecy isn't just about driving buzz and keeping the faithful on the edge of their seats. Hersheypark said in a statement that like many businesses, the attractions industry competes for customers.

"As a result, we do our best to maintain any competitive advantage we can," the park said.

And a major project, such as a coaster, can take up to five years to design and tweak before it is ready to be presented. In an industry that thrives on one-upsmanship, that makes secrecy a key component of a ride's success.

But the park's marketing team also seems to delight in developing elaborate marketing strategies to hook fans and build buzz ahead of major announcements.

Michael Hammer, who blogs about roller coasters on the amusement park industry website newsplusnotes.com, said Hersheypark demonstrated its cleverness during the campaign for its Fahrenheit coaster project, code-named Nantimi.

"Hersheypark definitely took it to the next level of viral marketing," he said.

Nantimi was purported to be an Internet design company, linked to the then-unconfirmed Fahrenheit project. However, enthusiasts were quick to point out that Nantimi is an anagram of Intamin, one of the leading roller-coaster design firms in the world.

Hersheypark, through Nantimi, began leaving clues and puzzles across the Internet. It led fans to hidden photos and videos of the ride concept, code named "Tsunami."

Fans, predictably, went crazy.

"They even involved theme park message boards as a way to stir interest, and I think it paid off well for them," Hammer said. "It's a cheap and relatively easy way to promote a new ride using the latest forms of social media."

The park said Nantimi was it's first real foray into viral marketing for an upcoming ride. It's an idea that has evolved alongside the ever-expanding world of social media.

More and more, particularly in the last three years, amusement parks are engaging their fans and customers through social media.

Park officials, responding by e-mails, said that might come in the form of a game, a teaser campaign or simply an advanced or "exclusive" announcement of some exciting news.

"All of these strategies work to build loyalty, generate excitement and ultimately increase interest in visiting a park or attraction," Hersheypark officials said.

Hersheypark appears to be building on the success of the Fahrenheit launch with Attraction 2012, leaking information about the project to its dedicated fans at Keystone Thrills to build excitement and buzz.

From there, the debate has spread to other industry websites, where everyone has his or her own ideas as to what Hersheypark is planning.

Most agree that it will be a roller coaster of some kind. Planning documents with Derry Twp. along with clues on the ride institute's Web page seem to make that clear.

The debate among fans centers on the type of coaster and who will design it. Will it be a vertical-drop tower ride? Another Intamin-designed hypercoaster? Or, is B&M actually developing a new diving machine, like the Griffon, for the park?

For Meckley, Cronrath and company, spring can't come soon enough.

Not only will it bring the start of another coaster season, but the park, through the Ride Institute of Technology, appears to have promised them some form of "major announcement."

Roller-coaster pundits are trying to guess the next twist Hersheypark will introduce into the game:

Will the men in white lab coats make another appearance?

And what, exactly, is the purpose of the e-mail link on the Web page?

Until those questions are answered, the roller-coaster detectives at Keystone Thrills will stay glued to the edge of their seats — and keyboards — parsing and arguing over every minute detail that Hersheypark allows to leak.

Edited by Ccron10, 22 February 2011 - 03:18 PM.

[GADVFREAK99]

I really feel confident its going to be a Dive Machine.

[Thunderhead]

Parks have way too much fun screwing with people on stuff like this...and I have too much fun watching you guys try to figure it out and me trying to figure it out myself. You can never really tell though, but judging by the lab coat people...I would have said some sort of flat ride over water but now signs point to dive machine. But like Raptor said...if you put two and two together you get dive machine. Or maybe it could be a flyer over water. If I recall correctly someone mentioned that. Either way I might hold off my revisit to Hershey until 2012.

[Tori Finlay]

With the stuff that just happened over at KeystoneThrills, I'm definitely getting more and more excited for this.

[Your's Truly]

Keystone Thrills > scroll until you see this:
 Untitled.png   50.46K   94 downloads

April baby!
August baby!

[The BeastFan]

The more I look at the alleged area the coaster is going to be, the more I lean towards Dive Machine. Unless its a very steep lift and drop, I just don't see a hyper, and if it is, I'm thinking a mega-lite. Otherwise, the L-shaped plot and area size just screams dive machine to me.

I also just realized that a Dive Machine would be kind of redundant on Hershey's part. They just got Fahrenheit which goes beyond vertical, granted without the holding brake. Its just I wonder how Hershey will sell it with Fahrenheit on the premises. If it has the size of, say, Griffon or SheiKra, I guess I could see it working since it would be the largest coaster in the park.

[Ryan Shrout]

I have a sneaking suspicion that this is indeed real. Hershey did a great job with the viral promotion of their last coaster and it looks like they're gonna do it again. I'm still not buying the Dive Machine rumor though.

[Tori Finlay]

With how spread out the ride is, I definitely see a hyper more than a dive machine. Unless they go out there and make a long dive machine -- but that's the issue with DMs...they're just not built to be long. So I'm changing my vote to hyper. I'm pretty psyched for this whole thing though.

[Ccron10]

http://www.rideinstitute.com/
They're baaacck....

I do have to say that the webpage looks a lot nicer than the Nantimi one.

Edited by Ccron10, 18 April 2011 - 08:11 PM.

[Ryan Shrout]

I saw this. I'm very much intrigued by the idea of Gravity Manipulation and am curious as to what that means.

[CoasterBGW]

I took a layout printed in the local paper and overlaid it on the aerial photograph. It matches all of the stakes and the site nearly perfectly...



Edit:

Did some digging and found the following permit:

22-570: Hershey Entertainment and Resorts, 300 Park Boulevard, Hershey, PA 17033, Derry Township, Dauphin County, ACOE Baltimore District

 To remove and restore an existing 74.0-foot long by 24.0-foot wide low flow channel crossing, a 116.0-foot long by 63.0-foot wide staging area in the floodway of Spring Creek (WWF), and an existing 535.0-foot long cofferdam. To construct and maintain: (1) thirty-two 42.0-inch concrete support columns in Spring Creek (WWF); (2) fifty-seven 42.0-inch concrete support columns in the floodway of Spring Creek (WWF); (3) a 37.3-foot long by 21.7-foot wide by 12.0-foot high lift motor and MCC enclosure in Spring Creek (WWF) and its floodway; (4) an 18.0-foot long by 8.0-foot wide by 12.0-foot high GTP building in the floodway of Spring Creek (WWF); (5) a 3.0-foot high by 72.0-foot long masonry retaining wall in the floodway of Spring Creek (WWF); (6) a 33.0-foot long by 7.4-foot wide by 7.3-foot high open stairway in the floodway of Spring Creek (WWF); (7) a 74.0-foot long by 24.0-wide stone ramp in Spring Creek (WWF); ( a 451.0-foot long by 20.0-foot wide AASHTO No. 1 rock maintenance path; and (9) a 507.0-foot long by 8.0-foot wide on-grade asphalt walkway in the floodway of Spring Creek (WWF). Also to place and maintain 234.0 cubic yards of fill in the floodway of Spring Creek (WWF) and repair and maintain 1115.0 feet of an existing stone retaining wall in the floodway of Spring Creek (WWF). All for the purpose of constructing a proposed amusement park attraction. The project is located 0.25 miles West of the intersection of Park Boulevard and S.R. 743 (Hershey, PA quadrangle, N: 6.72 inches, W: 4.49 inches; Latitude 40° 17` 10.25 N, Longitude 76° 39` 24.15 W) in Derry Township, Dauphin County.

The short version:
- Remove the old dam
- Thirty-two 42.0-inch supports in the creek
- fifty-seven 42.0-inch supports in the flood plain of the creek
- Lift motor and Motor Control Center enclosure
- GTP building (not sure what GTP)

[The BeastFan]

That layout looks reminiscent of Expedition Ge-Force with where the possible lift is positioned, and the course combining an L shape and figure 8.

[Coasterholic14]

The layout of the footers for the lift hill is interesting, remind anyone else of Nitro? Other than Nitro, I can't think of any coasters off the top of my head that have a setup like that.

Actually, on second thought, based on how spread apart some of the supports are for what look like hills I305s structural setup with the new "double-spine" track may work as well. Not assuming it's a giga by any means, but I would say a hyper (or mini-hyper) utilizing the new structure is entirely possible. Low figure-eight turns with 2 hills crossing over one another over the lake, the rest of the ride after that consisting of some nice airtime hills and a few twists...would make a pretty good ride if you ask me.