GuruGuys

For the last time, this is NOT a result of it being 'too intense, twisted, track taking a beating etc". How many times must it be said that this coaster had construction issues from the beginning. The work being done now is fixing what was off to begin with. If this happens again next year when all the specs are correct then we can make speculations like this. Do people just read the first post in a thread and skip the rest? I think a hybrid pre-fab, non pre-fab woodie would be ideal. You'd still get some of authentic woodie feeling but the more aggressive elements could be pre-fab. This way it would be affordable for many parks as well as my understanding is that pre-fab costs quite a bit more. -GG

You are right, while this coaster will never be non-aggressive, it supposed to run smoother. I don't think anyone has claimed it is smooth or non-aggressive to this point. While I have posted this in several threads before it always seems to be overlooked then you get posts with speculation like above... The Bullet was supposed to be open in spring 2007. A very abnormal amount of rainfall in the area delayed this opening until very late summer, even after school started locally. When they finally finished and tested the coaster it passed all the required safety inspections but it was not running as fast or smooth as designed. Parts of the track needed to be reworked but since the coaster was running they decided to go ahead and open it and salvage what was left of the summer. There have always been plans to work on it this off season and get it running as designed. That is what is happening now. -GG

Yeah, its been closed since the weekend after Thanksgiving, I thought I posted that here in another thread but perhaps not. It'll likely remained closed for another couple of weeks while they attempt to get it running faster and smoother as it was designed. -GG

Looks like Mayan Mindbender will probably go up this year. http://www.amarillo.com/stories/111307/bus_8707623.shtml -GG

Everything is there on site. -GG

Last I heard was they had problems with all the rain we had last year making the soil too unstable in the area they planned to build it. Since then I have heard they are going to try to get it open for Summer 2008, however as of late that is looking a bit more less likely. I'm sure it will be put up at some point, just taking a bit longer than expected. Check sixflagshouston.com threads where I got this information from if interested. -GG

I would have still corrected you on the fact that you probably wont have back problems or get a headache unless you ride it consecutively a lot, even then, I doubt you'd have back problems. I don't care if you like it or not, I've ridden with MANY people who didn't like it and I don't convince them to like it. I just don't like a sudden barrage of posters saying things like it is too rough, will cause bodily damage, etc, when this is not the case. Some may find it too rough for their liking, but constant reports of back problems ... thats a bit extreme. Thats fine - I don't think anyone has questioned that. The part of your post(s) which I have quoted have nothing to do with that, they have to do with your statement of constant reports of back problems and headaches which you can't seem to cite. -GG P.S. The funny thing is agree with you on that its not worth a trip to ride, especially with the closest other coasters being over 3.5 hours away. Perhaps next summer will be different.

Who is this non-local that has been telling everyone not to ride it? I haven't seen this post. Personally I wouldn't recommend anyone making the trip just for the Bullet right now either. Wait until this summer when its running to spec. Why be sorry, just state solid basis for your opinion. Basing your opinion on the information that you will get a headache and back problem riding is wrong. Where are these 'constant reports' you talk about? If you want to reference others, at least use their name so we can see what they said about it. I still don't know who 'non-local' is or what they have posted. If this is all silly, then whats the purpose of letting everyone know you don't want to ride the Bullet in the first place? Oh OK. I thought it was cause it was too rough, as indicated in your first post. I didn't realize there was a vendetta of people out there claiming the Bullet is more than it is. I've followed the TPR posts for the Bullet pretty close and I have not come across this phenomenon. Perhaps you can point me to these posts by the "some people" that are claiming this coaster is any more than what it is. -GG

I just read over this ENTIRE thread. I see more people saying it isn't that rough than otherwise. The main problem I see is that the thread was started by Texcoaster after having ridden it 88 times in ONE DAY. Of course it would be nice if it was not as rough when riding it that much. After searching TPR, I really have not seen many 'reviews' of the coaster by locals OR non locals so I would really like to put out a call to non-locals who have ridden it and when you rode it. -GG

Exactly - who, if I am not mistaken, took his first back seat ride while holding his camera which may have hurt... Obviously you have not been following this thread at all. Nobody needs to complain to anyone, as I have stated in this thread and others, they have had plans to fix it before it even opened. -GG

Did you ride it? How was it? What was good, what was bad? I'd be interested in your opinion since you are a non-local and they seem to be the only ones that TPR people trust these days... -GG

Its far to early to close the book on this coaster. I still don't know why everyone here that hasn't ridden it is coming off with the opinions they are. While it might not be a coaster you will want to ride 10 times in a row right now, its is still a good coaster and its not even running to spec yet. -GG

Who other than people like myself who ride it WAY more than normal are complaining of back problems and headaches? I've only once pulled a muscle in my side and that was the opening night when I was in the back seat and decided to try to put my hands up on the first drop for the first time and wasn't ready for it. I highly recommend not putting your hands up the first time you ride in the back rows, and definitely don't try to hold a camera or phone or the like during your first ride in the back as you wont be ready for it... Which non local are you talking about? Who says its better than sex? I know locals and non locals that love the Bullet and locals and non locals that don't enjoy it as much. While some may not rank it has high as Texcoaster, this is far from a bad coaster even with the poor tracking which will be fixed soon. Too bad, its a truly unique coaster which some some of the most intense elements in the first 15 second that you'll find. Once they get it running faster it will likely go from very good, to great. At the very least everyone, especially if you haven't ridden it, should give them a chance to get it running to specifications and ride it yourself before making an opinion. -GG

Which is my argument. It was poorly built, thus according to you, should fall down on your list, and yet you're proclaiming it's greatness. Makes no sense. To Texcoaster's defense, aside from the three jerks into the rail while the train shuffles on the upper bay turn there are still no real "rough without reward" parts. There are no straightaways or non-aggressive elements that pound you, which seems to be the case with coasters that are neglected. While I prefer not to ride the bullet as many times consecutively as I did when it first opened, it doesn't hurt to ride it once or twice. The fact that it is only going to get a lot better is really exciting. I can not imagine how nice the Bullet is going to be when it runs in the mid 50's. The fastest it has ever run while I was on it was 59 seconds in the rain on opening night and it was a totally different ride then. It was so much faster you got ejector on the little hill going into the station and "the pop" had some floater! -GG

I think everyone should hold off on speculation until this coaster is built to spec. As we know, the coaster was supposed to be open by the summer of 2007. The massive amount of rain and extremely hot summer we had delayed and delayed the coaster. Everyone was in a rush to get it done with some summer left. The workers labored extreme hours in heat indexs above 110 degrees when it wasn't raining. When the coaster opened everyone involved knew it was not running to spec. The coaster was fun and ridable, not near as rough as it is now, but even before it opened they knew they would have to do more work on it this winter. While I am sure there are many excuses floating around as to why measurements are off here and there, nobody is blaming anyone. Everyone involved worked their butts off to get it done and everyone involved wants the coaster to run the way it has been deisnged to run. The park, construction company and designers have all be working together to ensure this happens. Right now it is running as much as 71.5 seconds from end of lift hill to first brake. The simulation of the coaster, which I am pretty sure is scale speed, runs 54 seconds. The train should go 15 MPH at the second big drop, right now it is lucky to go half that speed. This being said I would assume they will have to rework the track from the bottom of the first drop on to the second big drop since this seems to be the where most of the speed is lost, and it is the roughest part as well. Before everyone starts blaming Gravity Group, M&V, and everyone involved and speculating bad design etc, lets give them a chance to get it right. Had it not been delayed so long they would have likely been able to fix all this to begin with but the decision was made to salvage some of the summer and open it. As it is now, its still ridable and fun, not near as bad as something like the Texas Giant, its just much harder to ride it consecutively. Anyway, thats my stab at it from information I have gathered here and there. -GG

Jim works for a national shipping company (hint: What can brown do for you?). The good thing about the bullet is you really don't have to wait in line to ride on most days. If you can make an entire weekday out of it getting 100 rides is very possible. I've ridden somewhere around the lower 300's but quit counting awhile back. The last time I rode it was too rough for even my liking and I only rode it twice before getting a headache. I'll probably attempt to 'marathon' it one more time before the weather goes bad but not sure if I'll be able to ride it as much as I used to. The last time I rode it over 20 times in a day was the TPR video shoot. -GG

How many coasters have a Margarita stand within 5 feet of the entrance queue? -GG

On weekend nights there are 2-3 "drunk" regulars. They seem to get a beer after every ride. By the end of the night one of them starts acting like hes a bull... Piers will just add to the happy group -GG

From the end of the lift hill to the first magnetic brake the ride usually runs 67-70 seconds. -GG

I don't think the back row is as rough as row #2 right now. You get banged around on the first drop and turns but the shuffling isn't near as bad later. About the other stuff. I got most of my information from posts at sixflagshouston.com. There is someone at Kemah that posts there occasionally. I think its pretty common knowledge now that the coaster is not running as fast as it is supposed to. When they were testing the coaster I heard people say that the train should be going 15MPH over the first big hill. On the first test it rolled back there and now it might be going 5-7MPH on a good day. With all this lost speed in the first 25% of the ride it rides a lot rougher than it should. The train shuffles between the rails on the upper bay turn causing some serious slams. The elements on the last 60% of the ride are probably not performing as expected. The magnetic brakes are bringing the train to a near stop when they should only slow the train down a little (like during the rain rides). All this I believe is due to the lost speed. Why exactly it is not running as fast as it should is something I really don't know, its likely a combination of things. I have heard the same thing Robb stated in his opening post - the park plans to work on fixing these problems sometime around January and we could see a totally different riding Bullet next summer. -GG

AWESOME job Robb!!!! That was well worth the wait! We finally have some great POV of the Bullet! Thanks! Oh, and if you want to see what REALLY happens in the back car on the first drop. Go frame-by-frame between 36-37 seconds and watch Jim and I... Right around 37 seconds we go "PLUMP" back into the seats just in time for that intense right turn. Watch how far down the back of our shirts are at 37 seconds compared to 36 AWESOME!!! EDIT: Here is what I'm talking about. Hope Robb doesn't mind me editing this piece! -GG Bullet_1st_Drop_Ejection.wmv Jim and I (aka Bullet Boys) getting ejected on the first drop of the Bullet.

...although I must admit that the day of the shoot it was running rough enough to give me some neck soreness for a day or two afterward. And for me, I am just fat enough. I fill the seat nicely to prevent from being thrown around too much but have just enough room to move from keeping it too rough Seriously though, once you learn to ride it isn't bad. I've only once been hurt on it once when I pulled my right side and that was during the first "rain ride" the night it opened as I wasn't expecting the turn after the first drop to be that much different than the ones I had before the rain. Once adjusted it isn't that bad, you know where to lean and when to let yourself fly (unless the lapbar is strapped down on you so tight you can't move...) -GG

Ah yes, the fly like a bird lessons Robb had us perform. My arms were quite tired afterwards. Still never figured that part out -GG

I'm not too suprised. Most of them were stuck in the middle of the train which was pretty rough, rogher than the back with little reward (first drop ejection etc) that you get in the back. I sure hope EVERYONE has a chance to ride in at least the front row if they thought it as too rough, and at least once in the back - it is not as bad as the middle, especially row 2, IMO. The front is like a Cadillac, relativaly speaking, dramatically smoother than any other seat. I'm hearing that most of the train was designed to ride like row 1, and like Robb's previous post about the shuffling on the upper bay turn (which is at an all time high at this point), it may be much improved in the off season if things go well! -GG

Ah.. Yes I recall those rides. Normally when we ride the Bullet in the back it isn't too bad. We've become pretty adjusted to the quick turns and know how to 'fly around the seat'... there was the problem however. Since several times they let the train go through the station so quick our lap bar was PINNED down on us like nobody's business from the ride before. We are NOT used to this since normally people unload after each ride and we can re-adjust the bar... OMG, the first ride of being 'pinned' down by the bar was brutal. Always make sure you have plenty of space between you and the bar in ANY seat, especially the back, at least 3 inches or so if possible, to move around in your seat. Wow. Neither of us was expecting that - I think we scared off many riders from riding in the back later on from our moans and groans. It was such a relief to make it to that first big hill where that picture was from - I think Jim who had his head down there in the picture was just beginning to recover and then realized "Oh noes! We still have the 'The Pop' to go over in a few seconds (that real quick and violent jolt into the lap bar on the following turn near the parking lot is what we call the 'The Pop' for those unaware). The 'the Pop' with a ultra tight lap bar is not a good thing! So - tip of the day... Make sure your lap bar is loose! We were able to loosen the lap bar on ride #3 in the back, but then they zoomed us through again on ride #4 and it was ultra tight again. I am interested to see in the video how much higher I came out of my seat in ride 1 and 3 when the bar was loose as Robb was shooting from the lift at that time. =GG