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Update:

We received this letter from Steve this week:

The long awaited Ravine Flyer II opening has slipped to Saturday May 17,
2008. The delay was caused by one of the coldest and snowiest months of
March on record. Despite the weather, much has been completed:

- all steel structure is erected
- Station, Motor House and Control House are constructed
- steel arched bridge over Peninsula Drive is complete, coaster track over
it will be done soon
- 5 tunnels are built
- trains are complete and sit in the warm shop at Philadelphia Toboggan

Attached is a photo I took this afternoon from the top of the lift hill.

We are well on our way. We look forward to seeing many of you this summer.

Steve Gorman
Waldameer Park, Inc

Note: There will be a fundraising event for the opening weekend to benefit
Juvenile Dibetes Research Foundation. On-line auction for the first train
seats will begin April 14 at www.947bobfm.com

We recently had the opportunity to interview Steve Gorman of Waldameer, the park introducing Ravine Flyer II in 2008! We'd like to thank Steve for his cooperation in our interview.

Why did the park decide to go with Gravity Group when designing Ravine Flyer II over other companies?

We felt comfortable with designer Larry Bill and wanted to stay with him.

The Ravine Flyer II has been talked about for years, how did it feel to see the coaster finally coming to be a reality?

Awesome! After talking about it for so long and dealing with all the delays, it is so exciting to see it taking shape. I am so anxious to ride it!

What kind of challenges had to be overcome to allow Ravine Flyer II to travel over the highway?

We needed to satisfy the requirements of PennDOT, which really weren’t too difficult. But it took several years of many discussions with their engineers and legal department to get final approval. PennDOT required the screening over the bridge to prevent any objects from falling onto the road, and chose the color blue for the bridge.

Some enthusiasts are afraid of this being a "$6,000,000 coaster with a $4,000,000 bridge." How much was the bridge in comparison to the total product?

I hope that these concerns will vanish after you ride the ride! I’ll estimate that the bridge cost about 15-20% of the total project cost.

Was an under-the-highway tunnel ever considered for the coaster? Or was the focus always on the highway crossover?

No, there never was a consideration to tunnel under the highway.

How do you expect Ravine Flyer II to affect your attendance?

We expect that this ride will give us a nice bump in attendance (we do need to pay for it!) It should bring more people to our park that felt we were too far to travel for what we had to offer, or had never heard of our park.

Why did you go with the two-bench PTCs instead of the single-benches?

No disrespect to PTC, but we felt that we had to go with a proven car design. This ride means too much to our park to have any delays in opening. I sincerely hope and expect that PTC will develop a single-bench design.

Will there be any homage to the original Ravine Flyer incorporated into Ravine Flyer II?

In our marketing and in information that we provide to publications, we pay homage to the original ride. Possibly in the future we will have a sign or plaque to document the history.

Is Ravine Flyer II the start of a multi-phase expansion plan for the park?

We have always had and will continue to have future expansion plans for our park. There are amusement rides and water attractions that we have desires to add, staying with our family-friendly mindset.

With the new coaster opening, dose Waldameer have any plans to host and enthusiast event in the near future?

We have 2 events scheduled so far for 2008: Western NY Coaster Club May 24 and Great Ohio Coaster Club August 16
I believe that ACE is trying to pick a date. We do not have a generic coaster enthusiast event planned - maybe in a future year.

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RAVINE FLYER II COASTER

Coming in 2008

The Ravine Flyer II took over 10 years to come to fruition. The original concept was designed by Charlie Dinn, refined by Custom Coasters International, and finally perfected by The Gravity Group, LLC. Neighbors and the state of Pennsylvania caused the delay. The original estimated cost was increased by millions of dollars due to this delay. To build the roller coaster a road with a 20’ high concrete retaining wall was built at the base of a slope at a cost of $1 million to handle cranes and other construction equipment. The price of concrete and steel to construct the 165’ steel arched bridge increased from several hundred thousand dollars to over $1 million. Legal fees, engineering. etc. during the process of obtaining permits cost above $500,000. In total the project expenses will be over $6 million.

· 3,061 feet of Track

· 3 Giant Drops

1st - 120 feet, 60° with hard bank to right

2nd - Double down drop of 105 feet and into a 171’ long tunnel

3rd - starts with 90° banking and drops 60 feet over the bank

· Speeds up to 60 Miles per Hour

· 10 Spots of Air Time

· Wood Track / Steel Structure

· Beautiful Views of Lake Erie

· Cross over 4-lane Peninsula Drive on a 165 foot Arched Bridge

· 6 Tunnels

· 10 Cross-Overs

· 2 Trains by PTC (6 articulating cars, 4 passengers each)

· Design by The Gravity Group, LLC

· Construction Supervisor Jeff Mason

The site of the Ravine Flyer II is the same as the Ravine Flyer I Coaster from 1922 - 1938 (Our Lakeview Picnic Shelter, next to the Ravine Flyer II station, was the Original Station!)

For further information contact:: Steve Gorman
Waldameer Park, Inc.

814-838-3591 office