Powder
Keg
A
Blast for the Whole Family
By Chris
Godsey, ThrillRide/RideWorld.com
Take a step
back in time and visit Silver Dollar City. Sitting atop the Ozark
Mountains, Silver Dollar City is a superb park themed to the 1800s.
You walk in and are taken back to the olden days.
Do not be deceived though. Silver Dollar City is one park packed
with new era thrills! This year the parks already stellar collection
of thrill rides just got a lot bigger with the addition of PowderKeg-A
Blast in the Wilderness. There is nothing olden
about this ride! This S&S power launched coaster is packed
with a plethora of negative Gs and amazing floater airtime hills,
along with over banked twisted turns all in a fantastic setting
on a hillside overlooking Table Rock Lake. One of the most important
highlights of a great coaster is the ability of the entire family
to enjoy the ride together. But dont be fooled by its family
coaster designation as this ride is exploding
with thrills. For all these reasons and more we can easily say
that PowderKeg is our pick for the Best Family Thrill Coaster
on the Planet!
The
year was 1999. Buzzsaw
Falls became the first Liquid Coaster ever
built. Developed by Premier Rides, this coaster debuted as one
of the most innovative concepts of its time. The ride opened to
rave reviews, but the park always felt something just was missing.
So, in 2004 the park decided to retire the water coaster for something
that was a little more thrilling. However, they wanted to keep
some of the existing ride structure and buildings to preserve
some of the Buzz. The park accepted bids for the new
coaster and chose S&S Power to design their family thrill
ride.
S&S Powers
Pneumatic Launch System (thats air launched for you non-scientific
types) debuted with the opening of HyperSonic XLC at Kings
Dominion. Next S&S Power launched the Dodonpa in Japan,
which held the world speed record at one point, using the same
pneumatic launching system. However, the technology didnt
seem to catch on like they had hoped. Enter PowderKeg.
Dont
be fooled though. PowderKeg is a design to its own. PowderKeg
was designed to have a thrilling launch which would raise the
hair off the neck of any thrill seeker, yet be tame enough so
the whole family can be blasted together. With its 42 inch height
requirement, PowderKeg can be enjoyed by the youngest and oldest
alike. The unique S&S restraint system allows for complete
safety and security for the little ones. The lap bar comes across
the hip area and can be moved up and down depending on the riders
size. This allows for maximum comfort and maximum thrills!
The park had
several ideas for the design of this unique thrill ride. Number
one, they were searching for a family ride. With 42 inches as
the minimum highth requirement for this ride, a family ride is
exactly what they got. Number two, the park wanted something environmentally
friendly. PowerKeg is just that. As an air launched system, you
get the best of both worlds. You get great launching speed yet
virtually no impact on the environment. And in a place as beautiful
as the Ozark Mountains, you can see why the park felt this was
important. Number three, the park wanted to use some of the old
Buzzsaw Falls ride track and structure. S&S accomplished
this by using almost a third of Buzzsaw Falls ride track
and structure and then adding over 2,800 feet of twisted, airtime
filled track. It is a great combination of the old and the new!
Lastly, if the ride was to be launched, the park wanted an observation
area so guests could watch a train being launched. Or more specifically,
watch the unsuspecting riders who didnt quite know what
they were getting into when boarding PowerKeg.
The
observation viewing area posed a small problem because the park
also wanted to use existing station and queue areas which sat
downhill from the existing pathway on which the observation area
would be. However, this problem was overcome with an ingenious
design for a transfer track system to get the trains uphill almost
30 feet to the launch zone. This is something that had never been
done. What a uniqueness this element brings to the ride! Using
10,000 pound counterweights, a transfer system swiftly lifts the
train from the lower station area to the launching area. The anticipation
of the launch builds as you inch higher and higher to the launching
area.
Once
the ride reaches the blast shack, audio warns you
of smelling smoke as well as nitroglycerin being left out in the
open. It sounds like things are about to turn bad. Onlookers notice
effects on the outer wall of the shack that reveal a blast is
imminent. The train slowly creeps out of the shack and approaches
the launch bogey. A loud click startles riders as they wait to
be blasted toward Table Rock Lake. The shot tank is ready and
releases two quick hisses. Fire and smoke blast out of the top
of the blast shack. BOOM! The train blasts from 0-53mph in less
than 3 seconds and onto the first airtime hill. Before you have
time to catch your breath, you are face down twisting downward
110 feet into the valley below. The second hill is also filled
with amazing floating airtime which leads into the first dragonfly
turn. This over banked turn flows gracefully into airtime
hill number 3. Wow, 3 beautiful pops of air in the first 20 seconds.
This is NOT your average family ride!
After a few
more heavily banked turns, you enter part of the helix from Buzzsaw
Falls. S&S did a fabulous job with the transitions from their
track to the existing Buzzsaw Falls track. After this intense
helix, you hit a couple of pairs of magnetic brakes to slow the
train into the lift hill. Now I know the thought here. Why the
lift hill so far into the ride? At first, I wasnt a big
fan of having a lift hill so far into the ride either, but the
lift allows you to catch your breath before one final plunge and
turn into the brakes. The ride coasts to a stop and the blasting
is over.
With
this ride you get the best of both worlds. You get to experience
the new technology of a launched coaster mixed with an old-fashioned
coaster experience. As you catch your breath from the exhilarating
launch and all the crazy air time you just experienced, you listen
to that lift hill chain as you go higher and higher then plunge
straight down letting gravity take over to pull you the rest of
the way around the track. The mix of the old and the new is absolutely
amazing and in perfect harmony with the Silver Dollar City park
experience.
As my first
ride of PowerKeg heads into the station, I catch my breath from
one amazing ride. Being the coaster enthusiast I am, I can not
help but think about the fact that this ride is one great achievement
in both coaster engineering and design! We stop in the station
and get off the ride.
As
I turn around to head to the exit I notice children, teens, moms,
dads, and even a few grandparents getting off the train with me.
We all have one thing in common: a great big smile.
Do not be
deceived by all those smiling faces though. This group has just
experienced a genuine thrill ride. The launch was intense. The
speed was a blur. And the heights of the hills were enough to
make even the stomach of the most avid ride fan flip upside down.
Silver Dollar
City and S&S have an instant winner with PowderKeg. So whether
you are young or old, or maybe just young at heart, you will enjoy
the unique experience of PowerKeg. It is a ride whose thrills
will truly amaze those coaster enthusiasts who are looking for
another coaster for their count, as well as those who are ready
to experience their first coaster ever. One thing is for sure;
each of those riding will come off the ride smiling and are ready
to be blasted again.
.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
PowderKeg
- Launch
Speed 0-53 mph in 2.8 Seconds
- Track Length
3,506 feet
- Ride Duration
2 minutes, 53 seconds
- Top Speed
64 mph
- Tallest
Vertical Drop 110 feet
- Number
of Trains 3 trains carrying 16 passengers each
- Height
Restriction 42 inches and higher
- Ride Manufacturer
S&S Power Inc. of Logan, UT
Other Interesting
Stats
S&S designed
PowderKeg to reuse approximately 30% of existing Buzzsaw Falls
track and the surrounding queue and station buildings. The ride
also boasts a one of a kind counterweighted transfer track to
lift the 16 passenger trains uphill almost 30 feet to the launch
area.
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