GigaG

My test video, containing rollback testing and practically every angle.

SFMM markets Full Throttle's backwards launch a lot (2 forward, 1 backward), so it is no surprise that people watching it test think it goes backwards - over the "top hat" hill. Making it worse is the fact that from the vantage point of the construction site, where a large opening in the wall allows the public to see, it is almost impossible to see the "dive drop" (I call it is a Flying Snake Dive, actually) and therefore the backwards launch is obscured.

Going to be posting some YOLOCoaster test footage soon.

What is up with the lake? Low water level? It can't be ice?

Possibly, but SFMM don't have the sort of capital Universal and Disney are able to put into their dark rides. I mean, RSR cost $200m and Transformers was $100m against Yolocoaster's $6m. So the park will have to find other ways to bring in the crowds. If I was running the park the first thing I'd do is improve the operations. I'd add a staff member to the more popular coasters to assign rows and maximise capacity (as is the current practice on GL and X2). On my last visit it wasn't uncommon to see 6-8 empty seats on some trains simply because some rows only had 1 or 2 riders. Extrapolate that across an hour (assuming one train dispatches every 2 minutes) and you could potentially get another 200-250 people on the ride, which would have a huge impact on wait times. Cost would be minimal, and it would actually make Flash passes more valuable since you wouldn't end up with 30 minute station waits after skipping the queue. YOLO was only 6 million dollars with all the LSMs?

Here is my rating of all the coasters at SFMM that I rode. Ratings may be somewhat relative to the type of coaster - a 5/10 kiddie coaster is different than a 5/10 hyper coaster. Apocalypse - 7.5/10 - A good ride with some pops of airtime and great scenery in the queue. Batman - 7/10 - This cloned inverted coaster can give an intense ride, but sounds horrible on the lift hill. Seriously, it bangs and squeaks during dispatch and the lift. Canyon Blaster - Didn't ride Colossus - 5 or 6/10 - This would be a good ride, but it is neutered and has some poor design. The train slows to a near-stop upon reaching the top of the lift hill. In the back, you are slammed to the side on the kinked first drop. If you sit in front, you may get some airtime going into the first turnaround. The speed hill and double up has no airtime, and the block brake (the point of most neutering) slowed the ride down, if memory serves. This caused the ride to crawl through the final big turn. The ride doesn't need topper track or Iron Horse because it is rough - it seemed very smooth to me - but it really needs the RMC treatment to de-neuter it. FT/YOLO - Won't get to ride it for a while, but I got to see quite a few test runs. Gold Rusher - 6 or 7/10 for the type - A fun mine train that serves its purpose nicely. That is all. Goliath - 7/10, maybe 6 - I honestly didn't really like this as much as one would think. The lift hill slowing sucks, and it probably contributes to the airtime hill's unusual sensation - despite throwing you into the lap bar, it doesn't seem that intense to me. Then is the second neuter point - the MCBR, which is somewhat necessary. The helix is intense, but in my opinion, wasn't intense as I thought it was hyped up to be. Maybe it is just me. Plus, the park seems to only own two trains despite this being a quite popular ride. Overall, another neutered coaster, although the neutering here makes a bit of sense. Green Lantern - 5.5-7/10 - I don't know if I should like this or hate it. It is uncomfortable and throws you back and forth, along with having sudden trims and block brakes. It is balanced to not flip, and you are lucky to get one full flip in my opinion. But you might as well ride it - it is a unique ride and can be pretty fun, even if it is painful. Magic Flyer - Didn't ride. Ninja - 6.5/10, maybe 7 - A decent suspended coaster, and a fairly long ride compared to its other "megasuspended" cousins such as Flight Deck and Vortex. Not super swingy, however. Revolution - 4.5-5/10, maybe a 6 at the highest - A mediocre ride. First of all, it is slow over its first few hills, although I would imagine it started off that way due to a lack of trims before these. It bangs your head a little due to the mutant variant of Schwarzkopf restraints. The restraints suck, but the headbanging is not constant throughout the ride. The worst part is the trims - the ride is trimmed to death right before the loop and while "threading" the loop. Riddler - 6.5-7/10 - A good standup coaster, much smoother than Mantis. The trains (according to the ride op, a newer model) have seats that are harder to push down, but the coaster itself is good. Road Runner Express - Didn't ride Scream! - 6-7/10 maximum - I don't know why, but this ride struck me as mediocre. I just didn't really enjoy it. Maybe it was the cookie-cutter series of B&M elements, the single-train operation (warned about on a sign out front), or even the parking lot, but I just disliked it. Superman - 6.75-7.75/10, depending on how you ride it - A unique and fun ride. Just follow my tips - fasten the restraint loosely, tell the op not to staple you, and hold it up until you are flying up the tower. Then you will experience zero-g at its finest. Tatsu - 7-8/10 - A fine coaster. The lift hill gives a great view of the paths below and the pretzel loop is forceful, if not "confusing" somehow. 8 is an absolute maximum rating, because I thought the corkscrews were a bit repetitive. Viper - 4-5.75/10 - The last of the mega-loopers is a headbanger. If memory serves, the second to front seat sucks up until the block brake. The second to back sucks in the batwing, but is fine everywhere else. I would imagine the middle is a better balance. Either way, it is sometimes hard to enjoy, but 4 is the absolute minimum. X2 - 6-8/10 - I gave this a wide range. Why? The rocking as you rotate is uncomfortable and painful. However, the ride is unique and fun, and the fire effects can really freak you out (Why did it just get twice as hot here?) The ride would be amazing if they could fix the rocking.

I don't think I'm affected by intense positive forces as I am by sustained, medium to high forces. Examples - -Millenium Force occasionally gives me a partial grey-out in the back. Let me tell you, the first part of that ride are awesome! -I've noticed some slightly screwy vision on Gatekeeper's Dive Drop-Immelmann combo (The world's largest Norwegian Loop) in the back. -Mantis can also screw up my vision in the first two inversions. -Batman at SFOG caused a brief srew-up in my vision Ironically, I don't recall greying out on I305 at all, but that was a while ago with the trims. Titan was a looooong time ago, and I don't recall it very well, but I'll be going on Goliath soon. Raptor's final helix doesn't give me much trouble. I think if the forces are relatively weak and slow to come on, or hard to brace for, I begin to gray out. If the forces are strong and noticeable, maybe I brace for them? I don't really even know. Mindbender at SFOG has good forces in its diving helix, as somebody said earlier. Magnum has intense airtime, along with Blue Streak. As somebody else said, TTD has a good launch, not to mention rocketing 420 feet into the sky in just seconds with only a lap bar.

Does SFMM have any sort of early entry for passholders? I remember at SFOG they let us in a bit early.

I think that's a accurate analysis of the GateKeeper restraints. I was at the Point for the past several days including Coastermania. That was the reason for my visit. Over the past several days I rode GateKeeper 10 times ( nothing compared to you media day maniacs), and it hurt every time except the first ride. It was always my first ride(s) of the day, so not a good start. I was on both sides although the inside seat (not as much fun) seemed to clamp down less. I'm 6' and 160 pounds. My collar bone is still sore this morning. I do like the ride a lot, but I guess I need to wear football pads for my visit in August. I a big B&M fan, but this is the first one that has hurt me. I'm MUCH shorter than that (5' 2 and 2/3) and a bit heavier than 180. The restraints are uncomfortable at the end but not bruising.

Physics. If the train is empty, it has no momentum and will slow to a crawl before it reaches the LSMs. If it is full and it's a hot day, it will power past the brakes and straight onto the LSMs. Any ride will stop much later loaded than empty. Simple physics of inertia. I feel like you answered your own question there...the park only has 7 coasters. Maybe they have the time to deal with lights and effects. The maintenance at CP works hard enough to keep the rides RUNNING. Be thankful for that. I understand the physics thing, but my friend claims it used to slow down more during normal operation.

So I am going to SFMM soon. It will definitely be on weekdays. I will go for 2.5 to 3 days, and we are hoping to hit most or all coasters. There is a VERY low chance I will get a Flash Pass, so that goes out the window. I was able to ride every roller coaster at SFOG besides Canyon Blaster and Ninja (Ninja was broken the whole time and Canyon Blaster was down most of the time), but I've heard horror stories about bad operations at SFMM, not to mention the size of the park. Any tips for a SF passholder?

CoasterMania was good, but they wouldn't let us re-ride on Magnum like last year (I think.) They did let us reride on Maverick, and it was amazing, running fast and hauling "donkey" through the Twisted Horseshoe Roll. It kinda sucks that there was nothing special at the event - no announcements, no video competition, etc. - and it was shorter than it used to be. But my toe has a blister from my friend forcing me to walk fast anyways, so maybe the shortening was a good thing... Now, GateKeeper disappointed me on my ride right before CoasterMania. It is still running normal, my nitpicky complaint is the lights. The lights on the wings of some cars are turned off. Only one train (the one we were riding in) had all its white lights on, at least on the left side. The glowing eyes (my favorite part of the lighting package) were not running on most trains. One train (not the one with all of its white lights) had its left eye on. The right eye was off, but flickered a bit as the train pulled into the station as I watched from the exit area. The ride has been open to the public less than one month. To compare, here is Swarm during Fright Nights, so it has been run much longer than GateKeeper at filming time. So a park with 7 coasters can keep a coaster with what looks like more lights in working order along with a plethora of special effects, while the world's best park for 15 years (fanboy mode, activated) that probably has more money to work with can't fix the lights on its trains after a month without any other effects to deal with. On a related note, several of Scrambler's lighting tubes were closed on opening day. Yesterday, TTD's giant "Christmas Tree" lights on the tower had the both uppermost lights turned off, if memory serves. By the way, I have a question. My friend points out that Maverick used to slow down and crawl a bit in the tunnel before the LSMs got the train moving. It still happens when the ride runs empty. Why does it not do it during normal operation?

Exactly what I thought lol Even looking at the rider cam you can see there is no on the ride. I can't believe changing the motor pretty much solved the biggest complaints about these rides. I find it kind of hard to believe that the headbanging is eliminated too. New train? Anyways, anything to make the ride better. If only it had the new style of trains, but I think this is good enough based on what you are saying.

Except that it's totally gimmicky! 14 inversions? And presented in a way that's not new technology? That's totally a gimmick! Let me explain to you... Three inversions on Outlaw Run = Innovative, unique, and new technology Two normal Eurofighters bolted together to create 14 inversions = Gimmick I actually agree. But it's still gimmicky. Well, compared to Thirteen, it would be impossible for anything to be overhyped as much. You're comparing a typically over-hyped coaster to the Burj Khalifa of over-hyped coasters. I would say it's less over-hyped and more "deceiving" in that I really expected something a bit more unique and interesting to produce the 14 inversions rather than just two normal Euro-Fighters stuck together. Please tell me that I just dreamed this being posted and one of our readers didn't actually just suggest something this stupid. It's not actually a real post, right? RIGHT?!?!? (please!) Honestly, I don't think it would be even close to "2 Euro-Fighters bolted together" had it not had the vertical lift. It is missing the single-car trains and beyond-vertical drops, and each "half" seems to have more inversions than your typical Euro-Fighter. In my opinion, Smiler takes a much better approach to the "super-looper" genre than Colossus, because Smiler uses more unique inversions when it repeats and uses its repeats in a way that is practically a new element(like the double dive loop) and newly shaped elements (the interlocking cobra roll/batwing), while Colossus does 4 normal barrel rolls and other garden-variety inversions. Not to mention Smiler's bunny hops. However, I'm surprised that the Dare Devil Dive style restraints were not used. Maybe too much lateral movement to allow people to sway side to side, or trouble fitting them into a 4-abreast row? As for the 2 lift hills, they are unusual, but kind of necessary for two reasons - a break from the inversions and the height restrictions. The worst thing is that there was no "secret element" - the washing machine would be pretty cool, although very gimmicky. And this is coming from somebody who is typically an airtime fanatic!

Just wanted to say that Cyclone Sams's is an insane ride (at least when I rode it) despite being a carnie ride in a barn.

Manual launch? What do you mean? Like the launch was initiated by the ride op rather than automatically, or something else?

And with these inversions, I'd guess you feel like you just got out of a washing machine at the end.

Monster Mansion at SFOG has something, right?

Is it considered against the rules to remove your seatbelt on the brake run while waiting for the next train to dispatch? I've encountered a ride that tells you to do this, I think (Flight Deck @ Canada's Wonderland), but is it generally OK to do this anywhere else?

Any pics possible through the fence or even the Eiffel Tower? However, if you are talking about the ones seen from Adventure Express' line, I thought those are King Cobra's old ones. Are these definitely new? These are King Cobra's old footers, if I remember correctly.

Bump. We haven't heard much about Journey to the Stars, but recently, a NoLimits recreation was posted from who I believe is the guy who used to be TetsuneSonic (I think.) I don't know if this guy knows the true layout, but this version of the ride looks pretty good (probably somewhat of an improvement on Colossus if it had been genuine with the newer restraints.) Some things to note- -The bunny hop is retained -The cobra roll goes the other way, so the corkscrews are positioned differently -The ride appears to have been crapified by the addition of a perfectly straight Arrow-esque drop. -The moving of the corkscrews seems to make the transition into them less twisted based on the Colossus POV Now, I don't know how the real thing will turn out, but here's the closest thing we have- (couldn't get the embedding to work) or http://www.youtubedoubler.com/?video1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DXxO1S_fHS8g&start1=109&video2=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DKeKIBSN2F5c&start2=34&authorName=GigaG

Knoebel's. Honestly, I don't keep a mental checklist of them because when we film we work with the parks so I don't have to worry about that. I will say that I know more parks ARE starting to allow chest mounted GoPros and Pivothead glasses. Nice! I hope Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks will soon allow secure cameras (chest mounted GoPros and glasses). Of course, I'm in Ohio, so Knoebels is probably feasible to go to.

Out of curiosity, which smaller parks let you film?

There are cameras (I have one but I don't think it works right anymore) like THIS- http://www.chucklohr.com/808/index.shtml They are disguised as key fobs, and are no more dangerous than your car keys. If you strapped one securely to your wrist, would a large park let you film?