BrandonR

The trains look good full of people: A few more photos and a video from the commercial shoot are available here: http://www.guidetosfot.com/features/giantreinvented/

We also have to remember that this is basically the slowest the ride is going to get. The trains and wheels are still being broken in, and just wait til an July/August day with 100°F+ temperatures... The grease will heat up and I'm sure the trains will be tearing through the track (just hopefully not too much, where they had melting wheel problems like with Titan).

Nope, I work and didn't sign up for it. Congrats on being chosen, though!

Of course it's safe. You think Six Flags would intentionally put people on a ride they didn't think was safe? My question is, if the ride is fully tested (which it is if they're letting people from the public on it), why in the world are they waiting another 44 days before opening it?

SFoT's Flash Pass is the evolved Q-bot, yes. You still virtually wait the same amount of time the people riding the ride do (well, as good as the ride ops can estimate at least). I've never seen them reserve more than the number of people from Flash Pass currently waiting, never entire trains/cars. And most of the rides just have the Flash Pass people enter the queue right before the station anyway. I thought it was a fair system, until they introduced the more-controversial and costlier "Gold" and "Platinum versions." Gold lets you wait a reduced amount of time, Platinum lets you wait even less and lets you "wait once, ride twice." At least with the normal one you can rationalize everyone is waiting the same amount of time, one is just paying for the privilege to not wait in a line. The Gold and Platinum basically straight out say "people who can afford $84 more for the first person can wait in a much shorter line and ride twice for their efforts." Getting a little philosophical, Six Flags was the first park to do the pay-one-price model which, when compared to parks where everything is an upcharge, just seemed kind of fair and equal to everyone. The Gold/Platinum Flash Passes seem to go against that somewhat. But I'm likely thinking too much into it...

Look, I hate waiting in lines for rides as anyone, but for a new big ride shouldn't long lines just be a fact of life? Looks like you'll be waiting a while to ride if you're not willing to wait in a line over 45 minutes. Oh well, one less person in line in front of me.

I followed the directions, however, I am unable to find where is says NTG will not be available with a flash pass, perhaps you could be so kind to post a link for a blind man? On a side note, Shockwave is advertised to open in April, similar to last year. For what it's worth, the Six Flags map also has Flash Pass icons next to each attraction its enabled for, and it's not listed next to the Giant either.

Agreed. I've tried to like their pizza so many times but the crust has always been soggy and gross.

Shorter. The ride is 10' taller, but it got rid of the double-helix around the lift in favor of a crazy-looking hill and swoop under the lift. Personally I won't miss the lift helix as it was the low point of the ride IMO, and its replacement looks pretty to me.

Got some new pictures today, which was opening day (of the park's 50th season): A few more photos, including the new sign and a (very) short video showing the completed layout from the train, are here: http://www.guidetosfot.com/features/giantreinvented/ Unfortunately the tower was closed due to high winds preventing any aerial shots yet again. Not too many other changes for the park that I saw. Papa John's was replaced by "Primo's Pizzerria," the entrance to the Chaparral Antique Cars was moved to a very awkward position, and that's about it that I saw... They were having some ongoing issues with several of the big rides. Shockwave was closed, Freeze and Batman kept going down, and Superman (Tower of Power) was e-stopped while I rode it, which meant for a chilly, slow descent to the ground. I will say that I overheard numerous people who were looking for the line to the Giant, so either the park did a poor job of making it obvious that the ride wouldn't be open yet, or I was just surrounded by higher-than-average ignorance.

I'm sorry but what is the purpose of this post? Do you really think a forum full of coaster enthusiasts needs a list of basic coaster common sense?

Yeah, I just found the article that mentioned a Memorial Day opening, and it's credibility seems non-existant. It mentions Mrs. Fields will be making its debut at the park this season, which actually has been at the park for a few years and was removed for this season. I'm still feeling an April opening. Memorial Day seems a bit late into the season.

I read an article that mentioned a Memorial Day opening. Not sure where they got that date or if they prematurely leaked it.

G-Forces is not a problem at all! if you just make a gentle accelleration, the G-Forces will not be that extreme. I think he was talking about vertical G-forces as opposed to acceleration G-forces. EDIT: There goes me not reading through the entire thread again... Still, G-forces aren't the problem here, whether they be acceleration or vertical. Cost is the limiting factor. Top Thrill Dragster simply launches, goes up, comes down, and hits the brakes, all for a whopping $25 million. I'm sure Kingda Ka's price is in the same ballpark. Cost seems to rise at a non-linear rate the higher/faster you go, so it soon becomes an issue of diminishing returns for the parks (let's not forget what roller coasters mean to parks -- they're an investment to boost attendance and sales). If a park spends $50 million on a 600' or 700' roller coaster, it had better attract an insane amount of people in order for them to justify the ride's price tag.

Uhh it looks like the streetlight and supports are two totally different entities to me...

Forget all this Texas Giant nonsense, I just read that the new park closing show will feature the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders!

You think the park would intentionally lie and say the ride won't be open for opening weekend and then secretly open it? What's the point in that? I just don't see them doing that at all. I'd think they would want to promote their new $10 million ride a bit more than that... Anyway I've heard April 30th as a potential opening day, as the park wants to throw a big 50th anniversary bash around that time (it's supposedly in their business plan for this season).

Agreed, Rattler is utterly terrible. Next to Son of Beast, I've never had a ride induce that much back pain and that many headaches. And to counter its roughness, the . You'd think with as it would absorb some of the roughness, but alas... I agree, the Rattler would be a great treatment for the RMC-treatment.

Wow, how quick everyone is to jump to Disney's defense without knowing ANY details of the case. The cheese could have very well been way too hot and caused burns, and if it was, you had better believe Disney was negligent. I'm no more a fan of frivolous lawsuits than anyone else here, but at least wait for more details before rushing to the corporation's defense like reckless fanboys.

Well not to get too off-topic, but I liked the Zune too. The addition of an FM tuner made it somewhat better over the old-style iPods, at least before they turned into the iPod touch and suddenly the device turned into a mini-computer.

This next picture should put some of those early structural concerns to rest: Link in case the photo doesn't work. Looks like they added some steel supports to the overbanked turns. So does this mean now it's a hybrid-hybrid?

Why yes, you've made that perfectly clear numerous times... Why you do such for a truly awesome state is still a mystery.

And speak of the devil, here's the video of the full-train test run:

A video of a full-train test run was shown at the Winterfest ACE event. I think they mentioned it should be online soon. Not many updates beyond that. And to briefly skip back to another topic, similar to the weather when Six Flags opened for the All-Star game, the metroplex is currently experiencing some more horrid winter weather just in time for the Super Bowl. I'm sure the park is glad it stayed closed.