Dragon Khan

I love those photo TR's of parks off the beaten track. They might NOT be home to the newest thrill machines, but are often filled with a (sometimes smelly) atmosphere, and when the pics are great and the report funny, not self based and most of all BALANCED, one can just find them amazing...

Hello fellow readers / club members. I didn't react to the FB page because this all drama actually made me laugh. However, since I'm the kind of guy who BELIEVES the trip participants' reviews, it makes me fear for the worst about the future of this coaster. Because I'm ok to believe in the headache Oziris seemed to give to some people, but trust me, I am NOT LYING either when I say it was absolutely glass smooth on opening.(both back and front seats) So, if a coaster can be degraded THAT MUCH in just 3 months, what will it be like in a couple of years ? As for the coaster's "forcelessness", I remember my own words in my review on opening day: Not Batman intense, that's a certainty. But then again... are there really many B&M inverts that have achieved this level of awesomeness since the Batman / Nemesis era ? MY biggest disappointment with this coaster was its zero G roll, which i would have loved to deliver the same crazy feeling as the one felt on Batman, Khan, Giovanola's "Eurostar" in its early days, and to a lesser extent, Talon and Raptor. On those, I like the feeling of "failed zero G" since you feel like ejected INTO the harness, best inversions on the planet imo (matter of taste) So maybe there was a kind of "French Hype" that played against the coaster itself. But I'm afraid to say this can also be felt in the other direction too... I believed the hype about SFROS in 2008 and this coaster was a letdown. And I WANTED to fall in love with it, seriously. Maybe I rode it on a bad day (probably !) but to me it felt WAY inferior to Dutch Goliath or EGF. I also think the order in which people ride coasters plays a role: I rode SFNE's hyper just a couple of days after El Toro blew me away (THAT is a forceful ride). So after Katun, no wonder Oziris felt "meh"

Didnt' take part in FB discussion, but read it though. I am not sure what has happened to Oz'Iris either, since it was actually glass smooth in the front AND in the back on opening day. I'm not talking about the lack of intensity, as one shouldn't expect this to be the next Maverick. That being said, as much as I respect any opinion -good or bad- it seems the club really hit the park on a day that was temperamental for rides, because Oz'Iris aside, I was the first to tell how disappoiinted I was of Tonnerre de Zeus last year when I was almost ashamed to introduce it to some US friends, having raved so much about it, (it was REALLY sluggish on that 2011 day) but here again, on opening day this season (2012), it was much much much better (I remember posting about its recovered glory back in April). But the receipe must be: don't believe the hype and go and ride coasters as if you had never heard about them, or you might very often be disappointed, be it by the ride itself or just because you ride it on a bad day. I remember being positively antsy before I boarded SROS (now Bizarro) at SFNE with the club in 2008 (Ernierocker, you were there too on that specific day, I wonder if you felt the same way) and Supe was my biggest letdown on the trip, whereas coasters I had not watched POV of or read about that much ON PURPOSE were actually THE jewels of East Coast 2008 (Boulderdash comes to mind). Same happened with Raven in 2010 (great expectations > letdown) or in the reverse order, with Prowler (didn't expect anything from "just another GCI" > was BLOWN AWAY)

YESSSSS ! And what a ride ! I had my exactly 100th ride (at night) on my all time favourite Dragon Khan in 2007 (agreement with a friendly operator... YES, this exists even at Port Aventura)

Oh thanks a lot David ! I'm very flattered I have been able to convey my passion for this specific coaster. You're awesome and I'm glad I took part to two trips you attended too ! hopefully more to come in the future ! By the way, anyone knows if the origin of those loose greasy parts has been found ? Is the issue solved and has the new hyper reopened full time since then ? Hopefully it's open when I ride it in August, but my nephew is going in 4 weeks and is now scared Shambhala might be closed (he DOES want to ride it before I do to make me jealous )

Should have put in a netting system to catch the netting system. AWESOME !

Has anyone checked youtube recently to see how this coaster is growing up ? If not, out of curiosity, I advise you to check the latest offride videos of it to witness how it now FLIES over the hills, even the bigger ones. I was sooo worried when i saw the test runs in which the train was crawling. I didn't expect loaded trains to make such a difference (weird since dummies should have had the same effect) I am now so excited to go back to my favourite European park at the end of august...

^ They did, Chuck. Not sure if that was one or two seasons ago. they also built a nice "boat" station. What is new this year is all new chassis on this torture machine, and although some seem to find it a bit smoother, I still have to understand their conception of smoothness. Now, if one makes abstraction of the two slaps in the butterlfy element (which admittedly are insane and really hurt the neck) it's similar to some of the roughest SLC's out there. I'd compare the rest of the layout's roughness to the SLC at Adventureland and the one at Morey's Piers. (yes, even with the new restraint style, I DID find it rough and cannot imagine how abominable it must have been before they retrofitted it) it's really a shame it rides like this because in my book, Goudurix is one of the most photogenic coasters on the planet... Someone who works at the park for maintenance once explained, that some laterals were so strong that the running rails space, is increasing with the years !!! (what would NOT be possible with a track system where the cross ties are "outside"... thinking of it, all new coaster types seem to adopt "inside cross ties) Maybe spring loaded boggies combined to newer trains ala Carolina Cyclone could compensate a little...

Totally willing to call it a rollercoaster now

Could this and Khan be the best B&M combo ever ? And Hanno: What did you think of Dragon Khan ? Is it still the intensity beast it has always been ? I like how those 2 coasters will offer totally different experience. This is a very well rounded park now. If only they could do something to Stampida and maybe find a solution to Baco's edge seat vibration problem... Alos, even if it's NOT for tomorrow, I wonder what's next at this park I personally adore...

Those pictures just blew my mind. I cannot wait for my Khan pilgrimage (end of august) and after seeing lot of hair up, I have come to expect very good things from Shamby as well. I remember how slow the start of construction was, and even with the track complete, I couldn't have guessed this area of the park would look THAT nice THAT fast. Good job as usual Port Aventura. I also dig the train colours on DK !!!

Knowing Hanno's skills at shooting pictures, I hope (and assume) he took plenty of pics of Dragon Khan from once unaccessible areas. I mean, my baby Khan has always been very photogenic from the Great Wall of China, although it was hard to get different views in the park. I like the idea of walking directly underneath this massive looper and now get unrestricted views of it's first drop and huge vertical loop...

Take that with a pinch of salt, since it's only something I read on Dutch forums: it seems the man was actually trying to commit suicide, according to investigations. Nice way to ruin a family day out...

I also have a soft spot for Turbine as it was my first Schwarzkopf ever. I rode it with some heavy coastered enthusiasts who told me its flywheel launch was the strongest ever, but they also found that the brakes on the way back were applied a tad too much, preventing the train from climbing very high on the back spike, unfortunately. Maybe they'll tweak the ride so it goes high on both ends now ?

I drove by the park this week and noticed the rails of Turbine (on the spikes that will be enclosed) have been painted black and they seem to be using the same colour on the supports too. So at least, something has been started... I'm curious to see the trains and wonder if they'll be the same as Hershey's SDL, and also if they will keep the former "rainbow" colour scheme of the old trains or if they will totally change them to something else, maybe themed (like on "Speed of Sound" in Holland) or a more "industrial" shade... wait and see

What a mess since this was Walibi Smurf in the first years; i still have the "Big Bang Schtroumpf" media kit with the park's revolutionary concept; incidentally, Anaconda (which was not THAT bad at the time !) was my first woodie ever. The brothers who bought the park some years ago are actually travelling showmen who wanted to settle down with some of their rides. On French forums, they are heavily criticized as very bad park managers but the French should be grateful they brought Monster, as it was the first significant (i mean good) coaster in their country (ok, OK Corral had a Looping star at a time....) Monster was also supposed to be painted, then this was postponed and honestly, seeing the state the park is in currently, I don't see them survive a very long time... I DO NOT wish them bad luck, of course, but if they fail at keeping the park decently open, the only good thing would be a NEW relocation of this Raptor clone, closer to where I live. Any Belgian park will do Bellewaerde has been in need of a coaster for ages, Plopsaland is getting a new coaster in 2013, Bobbejaanland maybe ? (they still need a thrill coaster) or why not even relocate it at Walibi Holland to replace the infamous SLC prototype "El Condor" ? or even Toverland would be a good new home to it if they want a steelie...

I know this thread is about the USA. Was checking myself about Olympia looping on the official site, but it seems they have only announced 3 venues so far, and one already belongs to the past. Are they just taking a "soft" year or does anyone here know if other places and dates are going to be announced ? As a reminder for you US friends visiting Europe this summer, OL will be in Hannover June 29 > July 8, and in Hamburg for the second time this year (lucky Hamburgers lol) from July 30 > Aug 29...

While my coaster tally is not "that" high (316 to be exact) it's not as important imho as it used to be before. Moreover, out of those 300+ coasters, I have a feeling than more than one third of those credits were just "for the list", at a time figures still mattered to me. There are now rides I won't take just to concentrate on more important coasters at a park that's new to me. It's only on my 4th visit to Cedar Point for instance, that I bothered to ride Wildcat, iron Dragon, Cedar Creek Mine ride, and I still haven't ridden Woodstock Express or Gemini Jr (although I hear this one's hard to get). Quality over Quantity, I guess. It's just like this "most coasters at a park" title, which really, to me doesn't mean a lot. I don't keep track of the missed credits, but there is still one I regret I had to skip: the Scenic Railway at Vidam Park. I visited the city with my class 20 years ago and needless to say my history teacher didn't want to modify our day schedule to let me take a spin on it. I HATED her (only for a couple of hours though LOL). Now, what I like is having some defunct coasters on my list, like Psyclone, Flashback, GASM, Hercules or older Arrow or Schwarzkopf coasters. It's not all about the figure on one's list. It's also what those credits represent for you... Anyone feels the same ?

^Thx for the info. I assume it's a USD price, so that's approximately €19 M. I guess building a similar layout with fewer terrain constraints would also lower the price tag. Well, it's still rather pricey for my home park. I guess I'll have to dream on Too bad as this coaster really seems to be a perfect combination of air, twistiness and capacity... I'm a bit bored I have to drive 3,5 hours to ride Dutch Goliath or almost 5 hours to ride EGF, the coasters that look the closest in experience to this one.

The more I see this coaster, the more I am in love with it. Does anyone have an idea of the price tag for it ? Because it seems both EXTREME as well as compact and I'm now daydreaming of a copy of it (ok, slightly modified since it was built according to the park's configuration) at parks closer to home ! I am sure a park like Walibi Belgium could fit this in easily if they had the cash. This is THE thing to acquire to put them on the map. If only this could become a "cloneable" ridese we get one in europe...

^this combined to the fact that a lot of Schwarzkopf ex engineers and workers are now working for Gerstlauer, who seem to be responsible for a lot of former Anton projects (Sooperdooperlooper, Turbine... maybe Revolution ? , and then, why not the one at ex Kentucky Kingdom) Maybe they can rebuild an older type launch system or modify it and upgrade it with a more modern one. But I agree with Eric that it might not be easy and be a lil' costly for a ride that could only run further for a couple of years...

Although I have no chance to visit this park in a near future, I would also say this is EXCELLENT news. Is 2013 the year of the shuttle loops ? This and Turbine making its grand comeback @ Walibi belgium... yummy. Although very basic, they are among my best coaster memories. I can't have enough of them either !!!

Despite being an Anton fan, tbh, I have always seen Wildcat as one for my credit whoring list... Maybe because this specific model is nothing more to a Belgian, than a coaster that attends most average sized fairgrounds this side of the Atlantic... Come on, it's not like there is no other ride at CP that one can enjoy with family... As for the coaster crown, I have never really gotten the point... I've become more of an "how many GOOD" (at least) coasters are there in a park... and in my book, lots of highly equipped parks like CP, many Six Flags (not to make people think I'm biased) or even other parks offer a large part of "meh" coasters in their collection. I have been to such parks, and will probably not reride a large part of the coasters they have, only to concentrate on the good, great, excellent, or ultimate coasters (which are rather seldom) I won't drop coaster names but I'm sure I could visit Cedar Point (as an example) again and just ride one third of their coaster collection.

Makes me think of the Parent family (Parent is their family name) in Wavre, who have always been a pain in the a** for Walibi , ever since Sirocco opened in 82. Ever ? not really... actually in the first years, well before the Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop was renamed Turbine, they just moaned " a bit " but used to shut up because Eddy Meuws (the park's founder) used to give them enough cash compensation so they could go on holiday during the two most active months of the season (July and August). I appears they never really left on vacation but gladly took the money for many years ! And when this practice came to an end, they created "les Versants de la Dyle", an association of protesters against the awful noises this machine from hell "suddenly" generated... Now, even the end spikes of Turbine have to be enclosed...ah the power of money...

This makes me regret I had to drop out of the New Hotness trip this summer :/