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It might be noted that I have something of a vendetta against California Screamin's scream tubes. I understand that DCA has obligations to the community to put them there, but they are so badly incorporated into the design of the structure that they are an eyesore on the DCA sightline.
I've been pondering different ways around incorporating them into the new Victorian theme of the pier, and I toyed with Victorian rooflines, archways, etc., but they all seemed out-of-place on a classic "wooden" coaster.
So, here is a simple approach to redesigning them, that I think fits in to the general appearance of an old boardwalk coaster. Basically, the supports for the scream tubes would wrap around at and angle, and the supports from either side would form a crisscross pattern (instead of the current circular rings). These would be white, to match the rest of the coaster, instead of that godawful teal. The half of the tubes facing the outside of the park would have a sheet of clear plastic or plexiglass (possibly frosted or distorted to hide the outside world) so screams would be deflected but visually the whole coaster would be open to the sky.
Here is a rough sketch of what I had in mind:
As you can see, the tubes are much less visually obtrusive, and the crisscrosses go nicely with the diagonal supports on the rest of the structure. Also, because the supports come in at an angle, they arise more organically from the lift hills, instead of the "hacked-off" appearance the current tubes have. Since I'm a stickler for detail, the top of the plastic sheet should be cut to match the lines of the crisscrosses as they curve over, instead of having a free edge that just stops halfway around the tube like the current teal one does.
I was also wondering--would it be possible to move the titanium sun from the plaza to the back of California Screamin'? I've always liked that sun, even though it is woefully inadequate as a hub centerpiece, so I would like to see it incorporated into the park in some capacity rather than chucked out when Carthay Circle is built. I read that it's about 50 feet wide, or about 1/3 the diameter of Mickey's Fun Wheel, which seems like it's roughly the same scale as the Screamin' sun/Mickey head. I couldn't find any info on how deep or how heavy it is, or how it's mounted, so I don't know if it's technically possible to put behind Screamin'. The drawing above has the sun from the plaza shown, but, failing that any yet-to-be-determined-but-certainly-better-than-that-painted-cartoon-sun would do.
Another bit of detailing I would like to see (although it would probably be more expensive to do than it would be worth) would be to actually make Screamin' look like it's made of wood--basically by adding a "skin" of faux woodgrain panels (painted white) around the existing supports, at least the ones that a guest can see walking through the park.
I look forward to your thoughts, suggestions, and comments!
UPDATE: Here is more detail on the faux-wood idea.
Here is what the supports look like now:
[Disclaimer--not my photo, and I don't know where I got it
]
Here is a very roughly photoshopped mock-up of how they'd look covered in "woodgrain":
I think it makes quite a difference.
I've been pondering different ways around incorporating them into the new Victorian theme of the pier, and I toyed with Victorian rooflines, archways, etc., but they all seemed out-of-place on a classic "wooden" coaster.
So, here is a simple approach to redesigning them, that I think fits in to the general appearance of an old boardwalk coaster. Basically, the supports for the scream tubes would wrap around at and angle, and the supports from either side would form a crisscross pattern (instead of the current circular rings). These would be white, to match the rest of the coaster, instead of that godawful teal. The half of the tubes facing the outside of the park would have a sheet of clear plastic or plexiglass (possibly frosted or distorted to hide the outside world) so screams would be deflected but visually the whole coaster would be open to the sky.
Here is a rough sketch of what I had in mind:
As you can see, the tubes are much less visually obtrusive, and the crisscrosses go nicely with the diagonal supports on the rest of the structure. Also, because the supports come in at an angle, they arise more organically from the lift hills, instead of the "hacked-off" appearance the current tubes have. Since I'm a stickler for detail, the top of the plastic sheet should be cut to match the lines of the crisscrosses as they curve over, instead of having a free edge that just stops halfway around the tube like the current teal one does.
I was also wondering--would it be possible to move the titanium sun from the plaza to the back of California Screamin'? I've always liked that sun, even though it is woefully inadequate as a hub centerpiece, so I would like to see it incorporated into the park in some capacity rather than chucked out when Carthay Circle is built. I read that it's about 50 feet wide, or about 1/3 the diameter of Mickey's Fun Wheel, which seems like it's roughly the same scale as the Screamin' sun/Mickey head. I couldn't find any info on how deep or how heavy it is, or how it's mounted, so I don't know if it's technically possible to put behind Screamin'. The drawing above has the sun from the plaza shown, but, failing that any yet-to-be-determined-but-certainly-better-than-that-painted-cartoon-sun would do.
Another bit of detailing I would like to see (although it would probably be more expensive to do than it would be worth) would be to actually make Screamin' look like it's made of wood--basically by adding a "skin" of faux woodgrain panels (painted white) around the existing supports, at least the ones that a guest can see walking through the park.
I look forward to your thoughts, suggestions, and comments!
UPDATE: Here is more detail on the faux-wood idea.
Here is what the supports look like now:
[Disclaimer--not my photo, and I don't know where I got it
]Here is a very roughly photoshopped mock-up of how they'd look covered in "woodgrain":
I think it makes quite a difference.
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