Shirofukurou
Mega Poster
I was impressed by the "dropped plans" thread, and was originally going to post this in that thread, but I don't think this have ever been confirmed. It may just be a dumb theory, but I think it holds water.
Hydra: The Revenge at Dorney Park is one of B&M's strangest creations. It's a floorless looping coaster that does not follow any elements of previous floorless coasters, such as Medusa or Dominator. It lacks a block brake "kicker" at the top of the lift, and the elements are drawn out, causing the trains to go through them slowly. These are both aspects of B&M's Wing Rider coasters, introduced 6 years later.
But wait, there's more!
This unique element, an inline roll directly out of the station, seems quite similar to the roll over at the top of the lift on Wing Riders such as X-Flight. Before Wing Rider train designs required it, B&M sit down multi-looping coasters never experimented with new element styles and designs, generally sticking to a strict formula. Hydra was the only exception, and for what reason? The floorless trains were not like dive machine trains, they were no different from previous floorless trains.
In addition, take a look at this cobra roll:
Why is it so strangely spaced at the top of the element compared to the bottom? I imagine the reasoning behind this is that if the ride was originally intended to be a Wing Rider, the wider trains would need more maneuvering space to execute the element properly. We have not seen a cobra roll on a Wing Rider yet, and if we do in the future I think it would have to be designed like Hydra's.
Finally, the giant flatspin, which can be seen in the picture above as well, was likely made that large to accomodate wider trains. Other floorless coasters have tighter flatspins, almost always interlocking, while Wing Riders like Wild Eagle and Gatekeeper have much larger ones like the one on Hydra.
So, what do you think? Agree? Disagree? An unfortunate missed opportunity for Dorney?
Hydra: The Revenge at Dorney Park is one of B&M's strangest creations. It's a floorless looping coaster that does not follow any elements of previous floorless coasters, such as Medusa or Dominator. It lacks a block brake "kicker" at the top of the lift, and the elements are drawn out, causing the trains to go through them slowly. These are both aspects of B&M's Wing Rider coasters, introduced 6 years later.
But wait, there's more!
This unique element, an inline roll directly out of the station, seems quite similar to the roll over at the top of the lift on Wing Riders such as X-Flight. Before Wing Rider train designs required it, B&M sit down multi-looping coasters never experimented with new element styles and designs, generally sticking to a strict formula. Hydra was the only exception, and for what reason? The floorless trains were not like dive machine trains, they were no different from previous floorless trains.
In addition, take a look at this cobra roll:
Why is it so strangely spaced at the top of the element compared to the bottom? I imagine the reasoning behind this is that if the ride was originally intended to be a Wing Rider, the wider trains would need more maneuvering space to execute the element properly. We have not seen a cobra roll on a Wing Rider yet, and if we do in the future I think it would have to be designed like Hydra's.
Finally, the giant flatspin, which can be seen in the picture above as well, was likely made that large to accomodate wider trains. Other floorless coasters have tighter flatspins, almost always interlocking, while Wing Riders like Wild Eagle and Gatekeeper have much larger ones like the one on Hydra.
So, what do you think? Agree? Disagree? An unfortunate missed opportunity for Dorney?
