rcfreak417

I'm not sold on some of the supports either, but I think they'll beef them up once they finish the track. As far as the G-forces, by the looks of it, it will be crazy, but I don't think outside of any extremes. Just pushing the envelope. No part of the ride screams "More intense than Rolling Thunder turn around on El Toro" or more G-force than Titan's helix. If anything, they may be equal to, but I don't see it being a huge issue. The cars look like they were designed to handle a significant uplift force, and the steel track won't wear as easily.

Man...the airtime just doesn't look nearly as intense anymore with the trims.

Six Flags Over Texas has a picture of the Rangers banner posted on their website. It also shows the steep drop into the old helix area as well as a good view of the ledgers coming out of that area. http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=490558955990&set=a.126323650990.135946.65853440990

I would definitely say Intamin wooden coasters are the best (if affordable). They stay pretty smooth for the most part (El Toro was a bit rougher this year, but not nearly as bad as a typical woodie), and have AMAZING airtime. If there were another Intamin woodie in the US, I would definitely make a trip out to ride it.

^That's kinda my concern too. With the helix gone, you probably remove about 400-500 feet of track. So it'll be about 4,400-4,500 feet long, which is the length of El Toro. That's a good length still I think.

Here's the pictures. Sorry it took so long. Look at the second picture. I can't see any evidence of a helix going over the track. It looks like just about all of that structure was removed. Also, there's a 3rd >90 degree banked turn. Right after the first 95 degree turn. Also, I took an older picture of the Texas Giant and juxtaposed it onto the new picture. Aside from the hill, which is taller, the rest of the ride is significantly shorter than the original. I will upload that picture later. You can see they used the structure of the old helix as evidenced by the very long ledgers. One of them seems like it is at an odd angle. I can't imagine any other way that these would connect. It looks like it dive turns under the structure right by the chain house and connects back up into the magic carpet section.

I was also there today and they had virtually all of the ledgers on the ride. The layout (with the exception of the magic carpet) seemed pretty clear. After the mid course, it will do the same diving left turn. The coaster then comes up lower than previously, does the two airtime hills (as shown on the video) and dives into where the old heix used to begin. The coaster banks to the right as it goes over a small hill where the helix next to the station would be. It then steeply dives into a almost 90 degree turn at the ground, comes back up (higher than before) into an airtime hill and goes into the remainder of the magic carpet. There is only one helix, and there are no signs of it going over the lift hill. instead it dives under and goes against the chain lift house.I can post more pictures if wanted.

They just posted the video on the Six Flags website. I'm guessing it's official now. It's a bad representation of the roller coaster, but I'm guessing they wouldn't screw up a single vs. double helix?

From a coaster enthusiast standpoint...this is an awesome investment. From a business standpoint, this is a bad investment. Realistically, these additions/improvements should have been made over the course of a few years. Putting multiple thrill rides in one year is what buried Six Flags in debt in the first place. It would have been a better idea to renovate Superman and add the kid coaster this year and in two years add the Green Lantern. I just hope that this is not the new "Six Flags" trend. I don't want to see them go under for good. And in all honesty, the one thing that Magic Mountain needs is rides with good airtime. Not more loops and spins.

Unfortunately, there is only one loop around the lift hill. That video is legit from Six Flags. They use the no limits simulation on their website as the front picture. http://www.sixflags.com/overtexas/rides/TexasGiant.aspx Also, there are pictures from October posted, as well as more information about the trains.

Well, we know there's a block brake at midcourse. Or at least I'd assume there is, if there are three trains. At least the lines will be shorter though!

Yeah, these are definitely amazing. I'm surprised there's no seatbelt though like on El Toro. I'd just imagine there will be some crazy uplift forces on this ride as well.

The caption on the photo is Everything's bigger on the Texas Giant, Six Flags over Texas media event Any news if they released anything else about the ride? Maybe a layout or something at this event? Edit: Nvm. Six Flags is apparently posting more pictures on Facebook in the Texas Giant album. Here's the one they posted as the profile picture.

http://www.guidetosfot.com/features/giantreinvented/ The last picture on the October 2nd update makes me think that there may still be a double helix. The trip reports from Lone Star Coasterthon indicated the first loop of the helix would be a dive into a low to the ground turn. That looks like the 2nd leg of the helix (the outer leg), which would be awesome. Any thoughts?

I really think that if all works out as planned, the new Texas Giant will be one of the most intense, highly ranked steel coasters. It's layout is more unique than most true steel coasters, and it looks like it has a great mix of both negative and positive G's.

To me it looks like they cut off the old supports for the second helix...I hope they replace them.

I'm pretty sure they will keep most of "that which we do not talk about" very similar to the original design. I'm definitely more curious/concerned about what is going to go where the helix was.

At least they are keeping the midcourse brake.

I'd say the awards if anything are more skewed towards the parks that contribute the most $$ to amusement today. How is Top Thrill Dragster 10th and Kingda Ka 27th? If anything, Kingda Ka is a better ride. Not that it's a top 10 steel coaster, but yeah.

Wow. I would never have guessed the 114 degree banked turn would have gone on that third turnaround. The coaster will definitely have enough speed there to make that comfortable (assuming no trims). I'm actually most curious to see what happens to the double helixes (or what's left of them) after the old block brakes. I hope they don't shorten the coaster and just completely get rid of them, but who knows?

Hey, just something I noticed on the Six Flags website. This was posted as a caption of one of the August pictures. "Crews continue to install track for the first hill and onto the first turn. The first piece of 3D track is installed to allow twisting motion of ride." I'm assuming that since the Six Flags website is typically inaccurate that this means nothing. But It wouldn't be referring to the track already installed, because that track has been there for months already. Maybe a hint about the new Gerstlauer trains? Any thoughts? http://www.sixflags.com/overTexas/rides/TexasGiant.aspx

Earlier in the thread there was a picture showing the bolts had been removed and the track had been welded together. They are just temporary. I can confirm from seeing it in person.

Lol...they are still advertising it as the steepest ____ on a wooden coaster. Oh well. Whatever it is, it'll still be good. Just a thought, probably not practical, but it would be cool if the 112 degree banked turn was in place of where the old helix was. Right over the lift hill. They did tear down the entire structure. But I guess as far as support strength goes, it would probably be cheaper to put it towards the opposite side of the ride where there is still a lot of structure left. Just thought it would be cool if you were going up the lift hill and a car came by almost 180 degrees above your head. Again, probably not practical but a cool thought.

The only thing is, the more and more I see of this ride, the less and less I believe that "only 15% of the ride's original design has been changed." All the drops in the first section of the ride are steeper and all reach the ground (which they never did) before, and there's also two additional airtime hills. Also, just an observation, but looking at trackwork, I'm not completely sure that the old helix will still exist. Unless they make it a downward helix, which would be pretty cool. But who knows? They just seem to keep ripping up more and more of the old structure. I'm most definitely not complaining though. If it makes it a better ride by changing up more than 15% of the layout, so be it. Just an observation

Here's some photos from 7/29. Sorry they are of such bad quality. I did not think of taking a camera with me, so I used my camera on my phone. Just something to note....as I was on the Titan I looked down on the ride. They did start putting ledgers on the back half of the ride (after the first turnaround on the ride). Whatever happens with the turn, the ride will still reach the height at which it used to. Also, the (what used to be) third drop now extends all the way onto the ground. Sorry I couldn't get any pictures. Also, looking at where they have placed some new wood within the old structure, the first turn *might* be an overbanked turn, although it looked like it might only go partially into the old structure, and they would use everything above the track (the old structure) as structure to withstand the upward forces. Just what I thought it looked like. Overview. Note the new ledgers before the pre-block brake hill. More overviews. Also, part of the hill before the old brake run has been laid. View from the oil derrick. You can try and make out where the track is going from here. More of the turn The new ledgers on the back left hand side. These ledgers start at the top (where the coaster used to come from after the first turnaround), but go all the way to the ground now instead of only partially