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[PLC] Whispering Cliffs


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Hey guys…Look, I’ve recently had lost interest in doing Cedar Plains….I truly am sorry to people who are fans of my RCT3 and PLC projects….There are times where I try to make this whole big grandiose realistic history behind my parks, and I try to stretch it out as far as I can with this sort of make-believe “Journal of an coaster enthusiast telling about his/her home park” format. The problem with that is…Eventually it gets dreadfully boring to do it that way, and sometimes you just wanna skip the “land clearing” teaser updates and cut right to the chase.

 

That’s why with this park, I’m going to do something differently. I’m not going to do separate updates for every year, I’m not going to make this whole big grandiose backstory, I’m just going to be telling the history of Whispering Cliffs from its beginning to the present without any major fluff. It’s going to be on a decade by decade basis, meaning each post is going to be a decade of the park’s history….Everything has already been written up, so I won't have to make up my own updates as I go and suffer from writers block as a result. All I need to do is take pictures of my park to go with the paragraphs....

 

And without further adieu….

 

EARLY HISTORY: 1928-1967

 

 

The history of Whispering Cliffs in Sturgis, South Dakota starts around the tail end of the roaring 20s, when Whispering Cliffs Park opened as a nature preserve and a dog walking park with a carousel. It became a popular relaxation spot in the local area. Slowly but surely, the park began to grow, with small amusement rides popping up throughout the park.

 

 

The economic downturn of the Great Depression didn’t stop the construction of Whispering Cliffs very first roller coaster in 1932, an Ed Vettel designed wooden oval coaster by the name of Thunderbolt. While Thunderbolt wasn’t as large as it’s contemporaries, such as the Coney Island Cyclone, it still was a very fun ride filled with airtime moments which was designed to thrill for generations to come.

 

 

After the Great Depression came World War II, however that didn’t stop the park from adding new rides and attractions, such as the Philidelphia Toboggan Company designed Thunderbolt Jr. A tiny wooden roller coaster designed for young children either not tall enough, or not brave enough to ride Thunderbolt.

 

 

Whispering Cliffs, now a fully-fledged amusement park, continued to be a popular spot throughout the 1940s and 1950s, despite its small size. Then, in 1958, the park built its very first steel roller coaster. A B.A Schiff and Associates Wild Mouse coaster simply named Wild Mouse. This proved to be a very popular and well loved attraction in the park, attracting many more guests.

 

 

The park continued to operate into the 1960s, however…In 1967, everything started to fall apart….The original owners of the park found themselves in a period of financial distress, losing lots of money, and soon enough, being unable to afford to keep Whispering Cliffs open…They were forced to sell the park….By the end of the summer of ’67, Whispering Cliffs closed its doors to the public and became Standing But Not Operating, or SBNO.

 

 

The future didn’t look good for the park, a new housing project proposed in 1969 threatened the very existence of the derelict park, however…In that same year, another family bought the park…And had big plans for it….

Edited by fraroc
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THE 1970s

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whispering Cliffs reopened in 1971 following a one year revitalization period to get the abandoned park in working order. Throngs of guests flooded the gates to get the chance to ride Thunderbolt and Wild Mouse once again. The park also opened with two new flat rides from Eyerly Aircraft Company. Sky Diver, and Roll O Plane.

 

 

 

 

The following year 1972, brought Whispering Cliffs a small expansion to the south end of the park and the very first tubular-track steel coaster (Wild Mouse’s steel track is made of flat steel beams.) An Anton Schwarzkopf designed Jumbo Jet model coaster. When Jumbo Jet opened, it received rave reviews for its smoothness and fun factor.

 

 

After Jumbo Jet opened, the new owners of Whispering Cliffs found themselves in their own financial turmoil, mostly due the mid-70s recession. As a result, It took Whispering Cliffs an entire six years to build another new attraction.

 

 

 

 

 

However, in 1978, the drought ended with a roller coaster that set the tone for the numerous new rides to come in the following decade. King Kobra, an Arrow Development Shuttle Loop coaster. As the ride’s model plainly says, King Kobra is the first roller coaster in the entirety of the Dakotas to feature an inversion. A single vertical loop, passed forwards and backwards. King Kobra became immensely popular in the late 1970s and put Whispering Cliffs on the map for coaster enthusiasts.

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THE 1980s

 

 

The early 1980s saw a series of small changes throughout Whispering Cliffs. In the premiere year of the Decade Of Decadence, 1980, Roll O Plane was sold and was replaced with Monster, an Anton Schwarzkopf designed Octopus ride.

 

 

1981 and 1982 went by without any new major additions to the park. However in 1983, Sky Diver, the Eyerly Rock O Plane shared the same fate as Roll O Plane and it too, was sold. It was then replaced with Muzik Express, a Moser Rides Music Express ride. Both rides proved to be very popular among thrill seekers and families alike!

 

 

1984 passed by without any major upgrades….However 1985 was a whole different story. This time, a park expansion was brought near the entrance of the park. The new area was given a Pirate/Swashbuckler theme and was named “Pirates Cove” as a result. The area consisted of new nautical themed resturaunts and facilities, a HUSS Maschinenfabrik Pirate Ship ride named Buccaneer, and the pièce de résistance, a brand new Arrow Dynamics log flume ride named Timber Falls. Timber Falls proved to be an extremely popular attraction at the park, especially during those hot July days!

 

 

Despite the popularity of the Pirates Cove attraction and the growth of Whispering Cliffs, it still took them nine years to build another roller coaster after King Kobra in ’78. In 1987, it finally happened! Venomous, a new Intamin standing coaster, was built in the Pirates Cove area of the park. While it may appear to be a Bolliger and Mabillard creation from the outside, don’t be fooled. This is most definitley an Intamin/Giovanola built attraction. Venomous gave riders a unique ride experience by having you stand up as opposed to sitting down during the ride, also it was the very first full circuit coaster at the park to have an inversion.

 

 

The following year, 1988 brought some good news and some sad news to Whispering Cliffs. The sad news was that it was confirmed that Jumbo Jet was put up for sale and was going to be removed from the park by the end of ’88. Coaster fans were saddened to hear about the removal of this popular ride, however, there were plans put in place for Jumbo Jet’s replacement, which is where the good news comes in. The plans were for the biggest investment that the park ever made, to build a steel roller coaster larger than any other coaster in the park. Something that was really going to blow people’s minds…Jumbo Jet was dismantled after the summer of 1988 and construction started on the new coaster shortly thereafter….

 

 

The result was Rattlesnake, an absolutley massive Arrow Dynamics custom looping roller coaster. At the time, it was the true coup de grâce of roller coasters at Whispering Cliffs. The tallest, fastest, longest, and loopiest roller coaster in the entire park. A maximum height of 146 feet tall, a 128 foot tall first drop, a top speed of 61mph, a length of 3700 feet, and a total of six inverting elements, two loops, two corkscrews, and a batwing element for good measure! Also, the southernmost part of the park, which encompasses King Kobra, Wave Swinger, and Rattlesnake has broken off from the “Midway Strip” area and is now named “Coaster Alley”. Rattlesnake opened to rave reviews in 1989 and became one of the most loved roller coasters not only in Whispering Cliffs, but the entire United States as a whole! What a way to close out the decade of decadence!

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THE 1990s

 

 

1990 arrived and the park was experiencing a period of unprecedented success, mostly due in part to the addition of Rattlesnake. Although there were no new major upgrades for Whispering Cliffs for 1990, market research was being done for a new “modern” wooden roller coaster for the following year….

 

 

Of course, in 1991, Whispering Cliffs opened multiple new attractions. A Bumper Cars ride near Rattlesnake, and FrontierTown, a brand new cowboy/western themed area at the far southeastern end of the park. It’s the smallest out of all the major areas in the park, with only a few pieces of western scenery and western themed shops, however that area was also home to the newest roller coaster at Whispering Cliffs, Rumbler, an absolutely mammoth Charles Dinn built wooden roller coaster. Rumbler was the second tallest coaster in the park when it was built at a maximum height of 138 feet tall and a first drop of 115 feet. It reached the same top speed as Rattlesnake at 61mph. Rumbler became well known for its steep first drop and various moments of airtime throughout its “Quadruple out and back” oval course.

 

 

By 1992 though, the latest owners of Whispering Cliffs had begun to experience their own financial woes, and soon enough, the park was going to change hands for a third time….Cedar Fair L.P of Sandusky, Ohio bought the park, alongside Dorney Park and Worlds of Fun and slowly grew into a major theme park chain, becoming a major rival of Six Flags. And in 1993, Whispering Cliffs opened it’s doors again as a Cedar Fair property.

 

 

1994 brought the very first coaster to Whispering Cliffs under the Cedar Fair banner. It was a cheaper option for a coaster, A Vekoma Boomerang by the name of Zoomerang located in the Pirates Cove area of the park, located adjacent to Venomous. Coaster enthusiasts were rather disappointed to see such a mass produced ride being brought to Whispering Cliffs as opposed to a new custom built ride, however park officials made it clear that bigger and better things were to come to Whispering Cliffs in the following years…

 

 

By 1996, the plans to build a bigger and better coaster at Whispering Cliffs seemed to have come into fruitition, as a massive plot of land in the Coaster Alley section of the park was cleared, spanning all the way back to FrontierTown. With a plot of land that size, it seemed plainly obvious what kind of coaster was coming to the park….

 

 

In 1997, Colossus, an absolutley titanic D.H Morgan hypercoaster debuted. Contrary to popular belief, the name Colossus was NOT a ripoff of the wooden racing coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain, rather it was named after the original name for Dorney Park’s Lazer. Colossus shattered multiple local records when it opened at Whispering Cliffs. At 205 feet tall, with a 200 foot drop, a top speed of 74mph, and a total length of 5,702 feet, it was the tallest, fastest, longest coaster not only in the park, but in the entire Dakota region. The track layout is similar to it’s cousins at Dorney Park, Valleyfair, and Worlds of Fun, however instead of a single large helix after the second airtime hill, it’s a double helix, making it considerably longer than the other D.H Morgan hypercoasters in the world. When Colossus opened, it became one of the top attractions at Whispering Cliffs, bringing so many new guests from around the country into the small South Dakota town.

 

 

In 1998, despite not getting any new attractions, two older roller coasters at the park, King Kobra and Venomous received new brightly colored paint jobs. Venomous’ old red and orange colors were replaced with electric blue and white, and King Kobra’s old black and grey color scheme was replaced with a neon green and white color scheme. Also, King Kobra’s red train was painted to yellow and blue to better compliment the new neon colors.

 

 

1999 not only brought no new attractions, but also some sad news. It was confirmed on July of 1999 that Wild Mouse was going to be demolished at the end of the 1999 season. This caused an uproar in the coaster enthusiast community, as by 1999, Whispering Cliffs’ Wild Mouse was the absolute last B.A Schiff and Associates Wild Mouse coaster operating in the entire world. Despite being a rough and slightly uncomfortable ride, it was arguably a coaster landmark, being the very last example of the very first Wild Mouse coaster model to ever be built. Several coaster enthusiasts attempted to lobby the local government in order to make Wild Mouse into a state landmark. Unfortunately, the request was denied, and a petition to save Wild Mouse, also fell on deaf ears. As it was entirely demolished after Halloweekends 1999. The 1990s ended with very last B.A Schiff Wild Mouse unceremoniously reduced to a pile of rubble within moments.….

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THE 2000s

 

 

 

 

The decision to tear down the only remaining B.A Schiff Wild Mouse angered a lot of people in the coaster community. However, for the new millennium, Cedar Fair tried to get back into the Whispering Cliffs fans’ good graces with not one, but TWO new roller coasters and a new thrill ride for 2000! The first was a MACK Rides Wild Mouse built in the same place where the old Wild Mouse stood, aptly named New Wild Mouse. Fans appreciated the New Wild Mouse’s fun factor and smoothness, however still maintained that a new modern Wild Mouse just did not have the same sort of charm that the vintage one had.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second new coaster was a roller coaster that was long overdue for a park like Whispering Cliffs. Nestled between the Coaster Alley pathway and Colossus was Raven, a brand new Bolliger and Mabillard or B&M Inverted roller coaster. Raven was a medium sized inverted roller coaster with four inversions and several similarities to Great Bear at Hersheypark, such as the first drop being considerably smaller than the second drop, and featuring a loop, a zero-g-roll, an immelmann, and a corkscrew. Raven was praised for its uncanny smoothness, however some enthusiasts have called Raven “forceless” compared to other B&M inverted coasters, such as Great Bear, Afterburn (Then known as Top Gun), and Alpengeist. Also, a new 1950s diner themed restaurant named Coasters Drive-In was placed in the space between the main path and Raven.

 

 

 

The new thrill ride was a gigantic Intamin gyro-drop tower named Power Tower! The tallest, and fastest thrill ride in the entire park! Reaching a maximum height of 290 feet and a top speed of 85mph during the freefall! All in all, Power Tower, New Wild Mouse and Raven were a big success for Whispering Cliffs and a great start for a new millenium!

 

 

 

 

With Whispering Cliffs being a park under the Cedar Fair banner that meant that they were allowed to use the IP of Charles Schultz’s Peanuts comic series…and in 2001, a large children’s area called Camp Snoopy was built, linking the northern and southern ends of the park together. This area includes several peanuts themed flat rides such as the Kite Eating Tree and Woodstock’s Whirligig. However, it also contained a Vekoma Family Gravity Coaster named “Woodstock’s Express”, which was very popular amongst the younger coaster fans.

 

 

 

 

2002 brought a new flat ride to the Coaster Alley section of the park, a hand-me-down HUSS Top Spin ride to Whispering Cliffs, named Element. This exhilarating head-over-heels flat ride included several water jets designed to get riders soaking wet during the ride experience. A fountain was put in place in front of the ride, equipped with three gas burners which ignite, giving riders the feeling of diving headfirst into a pit of fire.

 

 

Two years later in 2004, a new flat ride was brought to Pirate’s Cove, this time it was a brand new Chance Rides Revolution named….well…Revolution! An exhilarating swinging pendulum ride that swings riders 64 feet in the air while spinning them at the same time.

 

 

 

Despite all the new growth going on at the park in the early 2000s, it wasn’t without its hitches though. Complaints started to pop up, especially around 2005 about the way the park was operating, and the way the park was maintaining its rides. One of the more popular complaints was the clientele at the park during the summer months, consisting mostly of rowdy teenagers overcrowding the park, not following park rules, line jumping etc. Slow dispatch times and one-train operations on coasters, leading to excessively long waits for coasters was also a very popular complaint…Also, certain roller coasters, such as Rumbler, Zoomerang, Venomous, and even Rattlesnake have become unbearably rough and uncomfortable. Due to the close proximity of Zoomerang and Venomous. Some park fans have even started to call Pirate’s Cove “Headbangers Cove”.

 

 

The solution that the current management of Whispering Cliffs had was to get GCI to retrack the rough parts of Rumbler, however this included putting trim brakes on the first drop and some of the airtime hills, severely affecting the coaster’s speed and pacing, reducing the top speed of the coaster from 61mph to 57mph.

 

 

Cedar Fair saw all these issues with the way Whispering Cliffs was run, and in 2005, the old management was fired, and replaced with a new management team. Almost instantaneously, things started to turn around, guest happiness was increased, operations became way better, the park became cleaner, and overall the park atmosphere was improved in almost every way…

 

 

Then, in 2006, the park received it’s biggest investment ever since the Cedar Fair takeover, a brand new theme park expansion branching off from Camp Snoopy and Pirates Cove. Camelot, a brand new medieval themed area of the park featuring medieval scenery, medieval themed shops, historical reenactments, a new flatride, and above it all, another major steel roller coaster!

 

 

 

The new flat ride was a massive Zierer Star Shape named Trebuchet. Essentially combining a Mondial Top Scan with a HUSS Ranger. The main arm flips 360 degrees, the star shaped gondola spins, and the individual arms also flip and spin riders around all at the same time!

 

 

 

 

 

The coaster was a brand new Bolliger and Mabillard floorless coaster named Claymore. Themed after smithing, the coaster’s station was excessively and impressively themed to a medieval blacksmith’s workshop. The coaster itself has a very compact and tightly wound layout just jam packed with elements, Very similar to Hydra-The Revenge at Dorney Park! Claymore features a loop, a zero-g-roll, a cobra roll, and two corkscrews in a tight, fast paced, and forceful layout. (with no MCBR, mind you!)

 

 

Camelot also featured a real jousting arena, which brought a Medieval Times esque show to the park, featuring true full-contact jousting with knights on horseback! The jousting arena was in close contact with the rides, including a B&M floorless coaster, known for their loud roar as the trains traverse the track. Initially there was some concerns that a potential B&M roar could spook the horses, and as a result Claymore’s track was filled with sand, essentially muting the ride.

 

 

However, another problem arose with a different coaster in close proximity to the jousting arena, Venomous. While Venomous was indeed an Intamin coaster, it uses nearly identical track to B&M coasters and is also known for a very loud roar. Instead of filling Venomous’ track with sand as well, whenever a jousting tournament was taking place, Venomous could not operate. All in all, Camelot was a much needed and much loved attraction to Whispering Cliffs.

 

 

2007 had no new major upgrades or attractions, however towards the end of the season, fans noticed a massive plot of land was cleared in the FrontierTown section of the park, spanning all the way down the plateau that Whispering Cliffs was located on. This meant only one thing for sure, a new terrain coaster was coming to Whispering Cliffs in 2008….Speculation was abound on what this new coaster was going to be, a B&M Dive coaster going down the cliff? An Intamin LSM coaster? The question was answered when wooden beams started to show up at the construction site…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2008, Cliff Diver, an absolutley MASSIVE GCI wooden roller coaster opened at Whispering Cliffs. From the point of view from the park guests, Cliff Diver looks like a standard, medium sized, thrilling but family friendly GCI wooden twisting coaster, but after the initial 85 foot tall first hill and 70 foot tall first drop and first two turnarounds, you find yourself plunging down a massive 130 foot tall drop down the plateau wall! This massive drop makes Cliff Diver the second fastest coaster in the park with trains reaching speeds up to 65mph! The fastest of any GCI wooden coaster! Down at the base of the plateau, the you then go through a series of swift overbanked turns and airtime moments before you go up a massive airtime double-up back to the top and back to the station. Cliff Diver opened to rave reviews from coaster enthusiasts, calling it the best GCI coaster in the world and possibly, one of the best wooden coasters to ever be built.

 

 

2009 was another off year for park upgrades….Early on in the 2009 season, Whispering Cliffs’ website was displayed an image in the “Rides” section that said “Take the last stand on Venomous” and just a few days later, park officials confirmed that due to high maintenance costs, complaints from the public about roughness, and the Camelot jousting tournaments causing massive amounts of downtime for the ride, the 2009 season would be Venomous’ last. Reactions to Venomous’ closure was mixed to say the least. It wasn’t a particularly loved attraction at the park, however it was still the only Intamin Standup coaster still operating in the US after the closure of Six Flags AstroWorld in 2005….

 

 

 

However, by the next year…Venomous would have been all but forgotten, especially after the public got a gander at it’s replacement….

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Awesome! I love seeing people's Planet Coaster creations but never cared much for the long extended story lines. I think you've inspired me to post a similar "story" too sometime in the future.

 

That GCI looks absolutely ridiculous, and I mean that in the best way possible.

 

EDIT: Also, how did you get that custom Arrow loop support structure? Are there ones available for corkscrews too, somewhere?

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I have just caught up with all the post great park! I can't wait to see what replaces Venomous. Part of me is upset to see a last of it's kind coaster go, but with that big plot of land, I know something awesome is going to replace it

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THE 2010s

 

Venomous was scrapped on the spot at the end of the 2009 season. However, the scrapping of the last Intamin Standup coaster in the United States was the last thing on people’s minds when they realized what was coming to Whispering Cliffs in 2010.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2010, Kings Dominion opened Intimidator 305, Carowinds opened their Intimidator, and Whispering Cliffs replaced Venomous with Intimidator 255. A massive, leviathanian, airtime filled Intamin hypercoaster! As the name says, this coaster reaches a top height of 255 feet tall, has a drop of 247 feet, and reaches a top speed of a whopping 86mph!! It was the tallest, fastest, and the second longest at the park at 5,032 feet! When Intimidator 255 opened, it took the entire roller coaster enthusiast community by storm. Many consider I255 to be the best out of all the three Intimidators in the Cedar Fair chain, with high speeds, unparalleled ejector and floater airtime, a gigantic stengel dive, and multiple overbanked turns! While the addition of a second hypercoaster in the same park seemed like a strange choice, enthusiasts and thrill seekers had no qualm against the wide variety of coasters at Whispering Cliffs. While Colossus was more of a “family friendly” hyper with its large swooping turns and mild floater airtime, the mighty Intimidator 255 was anything but with its snappy transitions and violent ejector airtime.

 

 

 

However, not all was good in 2010…Around August of that year, Sturgis, SD got hit with a massive severe thunderstorm which spawned several small F1 and F2 tornadoes in the region. While the rest of the park didn’t receive major damage, one ride unfortunately did. And it was the oldest roller coaster in the park, Thunderbolt. An uprooted elm tree was flung several yards from its original location and slammed straight into the second turnaround and station of Thunderbolt, causing the entire section to collapse, severely damaging the station, and damaging the two classic four seater trains.

The damage to Thunderbolt was extensive, and it was theorized that the then 78 year old roller coaster was going to be torn down entirely and replaced with an exact replica.

 

 

 

 

 

However….Gravity Group came to the rescue! They agreed to rebuilt the collapsed section of the coaster, and supply Thunderbolt with new trains. However, this was where the controversial part came in….instead of building trains similar to the vintage four seater trains, Gravity Group instead tested out Gravitykraft's brand new Timberliner trains on Thunderbolt. While coaster fans were happy that Thunderbolt was saved, they were also absolutley infuriated at Gravity Group’s decision to give Thunderbolt Timberliner trains, viewing it as an act of shameless self-promotion on Gravity Group and Gravitykraft's part. As a result, Thunderbolt’s status as a ACE Coaster Classic was revoked and was instead labeled as an ACE Coaster Landmark. Thunderbolt reopened in 2011 with three new eight-car Timberliner trains, a new station, and a new computerized braking system that replaced the manual lever brakes, another controversial addition to the ride.

 

 

However, that same year, another gigantic plot of land was cleared which included the bottom of the plateau! This time, located in the Camelot section of the park! The prospect of a second terrain roller coaster was extremely exciting for fans of Whispering Cliffs, especially when pieces of dark blue B&M style track started appearing on site!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The result was Wyvern, a gigantic B&M flying coaster themed after the ancient dragon in European medieval folklore. Wyvern is currently the fastest flying coaster in the world, reaching a top speed of a 70mph (making Wyvern the new third fastest coaster at the park!) at the middle of the tallest pretzel loop in the world, at a staggering height of 135 feet, one of the largest inversions on record! Numerous special effects were implemented on Wyvern, including flamethrowers at the bottom of the massive pretzel loop, and a burning medieval village around the coaster’s helix. Wyvern was praised for its extensive theming and forceful pretzel loop, but was also criticized for its relatively short length.

 

 

 

Also, in 2012, Zoomerang received a much needed rehab from Vekoma. A brand new bright green and pink paintjob to replace the old flaking yellow and indigo paintjob, and on top of that, a brand new comfortable Vekoma built train with vest restraints to replace the old Arrow Dynamics train. Riders much appreciated the comfortable ride experience that the new vest restraints gave!

 

 

2013 was another off year as far as upgrades for the park…However, in July of 2013, an incident occurred on King Kobra, the Arrow launched shuttle loop. The front car of the train managed to derail during the backwards launch, careened off the track, and caused the entire train to valley and get stuck. Three passengers suffered non-life threatening injuries, but waited nearly an a hour in and half in a the hot July sun to be rescued from the local Sturgis fire department. King Kobra was subsequently closed and became SBNO for the rest of the season.

 

 

In 2014, the park attempted to renovate the still SBNO King Kobra in an attempt to reopen it in time for the 2015 season, however it became all too apparent that the damage done to King Kobra and its train was simply too costly to repair. And in mid-2014, it was announced that it was going to be removed from the park. Ultimately, the vintage Arrow launched loop was scrapped unceremoniously.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For 2015, King Kobra was replaced with Speed Demon, a Premier Rides Sky Rocket II roller coaster. Speed Demon was a welcome addition the Whispering Cliff’s lineup, as it replaced the defunct launched coaster with a multi-launched coaster that was more modern. While Speed Demon granted riders a thrilling and fast ride experience with three strong launches and a zero-g-roll filled with hangtime, it was criticized for being a cloned coaster.

 

 

 

By 2016, Rumbler had become an absolutely unbearably rough ride, even with multiple retrackings by GCI AND Gravity Group, and trim brakes cutting down on the speed, it was still back breakingly rough throughout its entire layout. Some people have even started to call Rumbler the “Spine Snapper” especially after a rider reportedly busted a disc in his vertebrae as a result of riding the coaster. There were many calls by roller coaster enthusiasts for several years for Whispering Cliffs and Cedar Fair to get into contact with Rocky Mountain Construction and famed coaster designer Alan Schilke in order to convert Rumbler into a brand new smooth steel hybrid roller coaster…

 

 

Then, in mid-2016, it was announced that Rumbler was to permanently close at the end of the year….and roller coaster fans went absolutley nuts, viewing the announcement of Rumbler’s closure as confirmation of an RMC conversion…..Then, around October of 2016, the famous photograph of a steel I-Beam appeared on Whispering Cliffs’ website, with the caption “Time To Give The People What They Want” underneath it….Unsurprisingly, this kicked up an absolute frenzy within enthusiast circles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally in 2017, Werewolf, the RMC conversion of Rumbler debuted at Whispering Cliffs and instantaneously reached legendary status. By the time Werewolf opened, it was the very first RMC conversion to feature four inversions! A barrel roll downdrop, two zero-g-rolls and a zero-g-stall! Werewolf was absolutley jam packed with overbanked turns, airtime hills, inversions, tight transitions and turns that it became known as one of the most intense roller coasters of all time in terms of pure G-force, pulling nearly 6Gs at some moments! Werewolf was clearly not a coaster for the faint of heart....

 

1972

 

1987

 

1995

 

2006

 

2010

 

Whispering Cliffs started off as just a tiny little pleasure park many many moons ago, and througout the decades slowly transformed into one of the most elite coaster havens in all of not only the US, but also the entire WORLD. Many consider Whispering Cliffs to be one of the best Cedar Fair parks (besides Cedar Point). With fourteen already extant roller coasters, how much further can the park go? Only time can tell!

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So the 2010's have been very good to park

 

1. Wyvern look like awesome flying coaster. I love the theming. I think the flame flower on the ride thing is more of a six flags move BUT it works great and it is also on the best part ride.

 

2. Speed demon is excellently made. The Sky Rocket II is the boomerang of the 2010's. I finally rode the one at Busch Gardens and it was awesome. Capacity sucks, but the parks has so many other rides. So it is fine.

 

3. Werewolf looks awesome, I wish there was a POV. It looks like a Cedar Fair conversion where they keep most of the track.

 

I am not sure if this is the end of the park. If it is, good job. If it is not, I look forward to the next update.

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Very well done! I have to ask, how does your computer handle running such a large park? When my parks start getting about that big the FPS starts to really slow down.

 

TBH because I don't overdo it on the custom scenery, the lag is there but it isn't oppressively bad.

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