Screenshot / New for 2015
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04-January 15
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Baker Lake Amusement Park
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Since my short comment I've looked at this a few times and tried to be objective but I can't do it...
Here are the main problems I have with this ride.
1) The believability: I never got the idea that this was a corporate park. It seems to me like a large family run park or a very small chain park (like Kennywood / Lake Compounce). As of 2014 I don't believe there was a single non-corporate park in America that has a B&M coaster due to their hefty price tags (Hershey and Hard Rock aren't park chains but had major brands associated with them). In 2015 Holiday World will be an exception but it's the only exception and it's a much larger park than this is.
The small arrow, the classic woodie, the togo, the mouse and maybe even the Powder Keg style coaster are smaller investments that fit this park much better. This coaster gives a park that previously had a very clear direction a major identity crisis.
2) The way it looks: The launcher and flume used to be my favorite part of this park but now it's the ugliest part by a mile. I know you could point to Hershey and say that this is the same idea as Great Bear, Coal Cracker and SooperDooperLooper and you'd be right, but that area of Hershey is ugly and Hershey is a much larger park with presumably a lot more money than Baker Lake would have.
All of the charm you worked so hard to add in this area is now gone, it looks busy.
3) The layout: I can tell this is Great Bear inspired and I love that you went with something that unique and daring but it doesn't work. The drop seems really akward and it needs a pre-drop. Since you're going for realism the coaster needs this to show that it's a mid 90's early 2000's B&M. The only inverts without a pre drop are the most recent ones (Oziris and Banshee). If this coaster was that new there wouldn't be that many trees around it as some of them would have had to been cleared to build it.
Still I don't even want to get too caught up in this because no matter what you did to the layout it still wouldn't fit here.
4) You don't need it: I know you felt that this park needed a star attraction but I respectfully disagree. I strongly disagree. How many small family owned parks do you know that have a stand-out steel coaster? Thinks of parks about the same size as this one... the only one that comes to mind is Darien Lake but that's a special case where the park used to have corporate backing and has since gone down the tubes. Charming little parks like this (Canobie Lake, Lake Compounce, Knoebels, Rye Playland, Waldameer) never have major steel coasters because they can't afford them. If these parks want top 10 coasters then they're wood coasters, not steel because they can afford them and they maintain them better than larger parks do (Boulder Dash, Phoenix, Twister, Ravine Flyer II). This park still has a better lineup than Canobie and Rye Playland though even without adding anything new (and not counting this invert).
If this park were a Six Flags park I'd agree that it's missing a star attraction, but it's a small park and therefore it was exactly where it needed to be before you added this.
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You know I'm almost never negative with my comments but with this one I am because Baker Lake is an awesome RCT park. It's a unique direction, it's very charming and colorful and it's a nice break from the traditional corporate parks you see around here.
Baker lake deserves better than this ride. I know you have a lot of time invested in it but I'd strongly suggest removing it and leaving that area as it was... a nice little area with a fun family launcher that interacts beautifully with the flume. This park doesn't need another coaster and it definitely doesn't need this one.
Obviously this is your park and doing what makes you happy is the most important thing here but if it were me I'd delete that ride so fast it's incredible. It really holds this park back. The park is in a good place as is and it's not lacking anything a park that size would need. I can't believe this is coming from me but I'd finish the surroundings, release it, move on and enjoy the high accolade this park has coming to it.
I agree with bill...I think you're on the verge of overdoing this park, and by piling another coaster on top of an already somewhat cluttered area (my favorite btw), it's become too much.
You just need to quit pumping with this park and pull out and cum all over the submission page.
Lol.
Anyways, I agree in part with apparent consensus. While I don't think in general that adding an invert is overdone, or that the park would lose its charm, I sort of agreed from the initial release that you needed a signature ride. However this location is particular is just strange. The nontraditional drop is cool, but why? I get the Great Bear idea of being all stacked up on top of things, but it doesn't really work in this case. I could appreciate that style if it were done in the right way, but this just seems like it was the first light bulb that turned on.
Also, I don't really get the small family-owned park feel. Sure, for the area around the arrow, it seems like this was a small family park at one time. The intricacy of the architecture and layout, particularly in the entrance area and the Northwest, and the depth of the themeing suggest that this is a growing mid-sized park with enough revenue for a signature ride. Seems to me to be a lot like Dollywood/SDC or Holiday World (even prior to the additions since the release).
I'm so glad I didn't stop reading this thread because this made it all worth it.
The screen is decent and doesn't look terrible so you know, if you like what you've done, fuck it and keep it. Well, don't literally fuck it, that sounds like a bad idea. Maybe that's what Austin was talking about? So many questions. Much coasters. Very New Element.