Talk:Shivering Timbers

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WP:ROCO tag

Ridership[edit]

 Shivering timbers is Michigan's tallest and fastest coaster. Each year the ride has a celebration called timberfest,

people around the world come to ride this wooden beast. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.107.88.178 (talk) 22:07, 17 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Height and speed[edit]

We should stick with reliable sources for height and speed. Park websites are known to exaggerate statistics. RCDB usually has data from the actual builder. In this case, we know the park website is hyperbole. It is not possible for any coaster to achieve a 65 mph speed with a 122 foot drop — or 125 as the park website claims. A wooden coaster would need at least a 150-foot drop to get to 65 mph. There are fewer than ten wooden coasters in the world that go 65 mph or faster. Despite what the park claims, Shivering Timbers is not one of them.—JlACEer (talk) 23:52, 15 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed. Park websites are considered self-published and generally weak primary sources at best. We can cite them for general information about themselves, but for stronger claims such as statistics/specifications, we give secondary sources more weight when there is disagreement. RCDB.com is a secondary source that verifies information in a number of ways: straight from the manufacturer or designer, reliable contributors/researchers that have been on site, etc. RCDB's statistics generally trump park statistics with only some rare exceptions.

As for the height of the drop that's required to achieve 65 mph, a lot of other variables come into play, such as friction. But a general example we can look at is The Beast at Kings Island. It comes close to 65 mph with a 141-foot drop on the second lift hill. So 142 feet is probably the expected minimum on most coasters, maybe slightly less than that on newer woodies with less friction. --GoneIn60 (talk) 18:11, 28 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]