PURE

Thanks for the Update Jahan. Good to see Valencia Falls are running like they told us they'd be! I believe as soon as they retrofitted Revolution to have OTSR's, they changed the ride's future from that point on. From all the laws I've read from links and posts about the ride over the years (on here and on other sites(because believe it or not this is not a new topic LOL)), I think the law has something to do with once you put OTSR's on the ride, you can't take them off. Partly because of the age of the ride. And that's OSHA standards. So because of how old it is, Revolution will always have OTSR's. Which is a shame because it was my first looping coaster, and I don't ride it anymore, specifically because of the restraints. In reference to all the hate mail: I don't get why all of you think I hate MM. Its like some big misunderstanding or communication problem or something, and if some of you get pissed off at me, imagine how I feel. Its even more frustrating for me because I'M the one getting reamed for it. From everyone. All the time. I do know one thing, and its that I'm very cynical and pessimistic about pretty much everything (I was raised that way). But that doesn't mean I don't know how to appreciate the better things in life, or how to enjoy things, or how to have a good time. I love life and the world and the opportunities I've been given, just being alive on this planet. I think part of the problem is that some of you are confusing my criticality of MM for hate, maybe it's because I neglect to kiss the parks asses in every post? Lets see here, I'm going to scroll through the last 5 pages of posts that I've made and not one of them mentions anything about me working there. In fact, I don't think I've made a reference to working there for probably well over 100 posts. So MrSkyWhirl I don't see any evidence backing your claim on that one. Neither do I see the reason for Robb bringing it up in another post either. Again, I'm going to scroll through the last 5 pages of my posts that I've made (which is available for anyone to do) and look to see how many of them I've used to "piss on Magic Mountain." Oh lets see here, I’ve got a post that says and one that says There’s even posts where I say I prefer MM’s Bugs Bunny World theming over the kids play theming of other parks. The thing is my posts are long enough as it is, imagine how they'd be if I had to say something positive about MM every time... As a big fan of the park, I have high standards for MM, mostly because I know the park has the potential to meet them. You're only as strong as your weakest link, I say. If knowing the park has amazing potential to meet high standards is not showing love for the park, I don't know what is. For example, wouldn't it be amazing to see X with 3 train operation on opening day? A little bit of "icing" on the cake if you will? I can tell you one thing I'd be f**kin amped if I ever saw that happen, because it's never been done. Now, is it better to think "2 trains is good enough." Or is it better to push the bar and think "We can have 2 trains no problem, let's see if we can have 3!" I personally think it's better to go with the second option, and push yourself to do better, all the time. I don't know if he remembers and I'm not going to bring up his name because I don't wanna embarrass him by associating him with me (because apparently I'm the asshole here) but I sat with a fellow member of TPR for like 20 minutes eating Johnny Rockets at WCB right before nighttime ERT. We talked about MM, about life in general, and I even told him that Magic Mountain was my probably my favorite place in the world--thing was, he said it right back to me too, with almost no hesitation. I'm sorry if don't know "computer lingo" or "language", or how to post or something without having a crappy negative attitude. I have no problems communicating with people when they're standing right in front of me, in fact people don't ever want to leave me alone because of how friendly I am in person (I don't judge anyone). Maybe at the top of every post I'll write "Sorry if I come off as a complete dick in this post, but I'm not trying to be" and we can avoid this problem from here on out. However I'd like to mention that when I go to events and bring a girl or friend, they've always felt like we stick out like a sore thumb. Meaning, there definitely is a culture clash when it comes to us and mostly all of you, and I don't know what it is. And it's not just me that sees it, its my friends and anyone I've ever brought to an event. They're always like "What on earth is wrong with these people?" And I tell them "Nothing, they're just all into coasters, and they're all nice people." SEE! I DON'T EVEN KNOW MOST OF YOU AND STILL, I'VE STOOD UP FOR YOU to my own friends because regardless, we all share the same appreciation for coasters and theme parks. So I guess if I'm really that bad I should be banned because I'm not a big ol shining ray of positivity. But beyond that and this ridiculously long post, I really don't know what else to say. Apparently I just don't understand any of you. And none of you seem to understand me either.

Do you feel safe riding rollercoasters? Yes. If no, describe the time where you did not feel safe. My first ride on X I didn't feel safe, even though I'm sure I was. I think it was because of the unique exposure I had never felt on any ride before (facing the ground with no lapbar). Has your health ever been an issue when riding a coaster? Never. Xcelerator has hydraulic lap bars that have some play in them (they can move up about 3/4 of an inch if you really put pressure on them) but I think saying they moved 6 inches during the course of a ride is a bit of an exaggeration...hydraulic lap bars are pretty much 100% fail safe.

^That figure might actually be low, considering there's 3 (?) electric surges (launches) on WT. ^^I've never heard of LIM's having some sort of relay to conserve power by shutting off the "unused" motors before the launch is complete. As far as I've been told once they start doing that, it's an LSM. Keep in mind LIM and LSM do get thrown around a lot when it comes to talking launched coasters, I see the connotations being used wrong all the time. Especially with LSM's being a form of LIM's, but not the other way around.

^^Not at all Robb, you're making too much of it. Not only that you're taking it a little too personally as well... I think if anyone wants the park to succeed, it's me. Seriously. I've stood up for the park since it was a sh*thole in the mid 90's, even when it was embarrassing and everyone else was talking about Cedar Fair. If anyones a SF fanboy, its me. I'm just skeptical and I don't believe them anymore. I understand you have confidence in the park because of the improvements that are going on in the past 7 months, and I do too, but I'm not going to get excited for something that's not going to be there at the end of May. I'll be the first to give them a round of applause on opening day if everything goes as planned, but until I'm there standing on the station platform actually seeing it with my eyes, I think I have every right to be a skeptic, without "wanting the park to fail." Because that's just stupid.

Definitely make a trip to Cedar Point. The only reason I would go to Six Flags Great Adventure is because I've never been, and I've already gone to Cedar Point several times. I know people complain about the rides (me included), but the thing about Cedar Point is just that--the rides do NOT make the experience at Cedar Point. The atmosphere is beautiful, the place is huge, and even though the rides could be much better, they still are a lot of fun. Apparently the rain policy is bullsh*t, but I think that's because of how quickly the rain can turn into lightning storms, (honestly the weather can go from sunny without a cloud in the sky, to rain and lightning in under 30 minutes). Get some of their signature grub around the park, their steak fries with vinegar are my favorite. The park also has one of the last 1st Gen Intamin drop rides in the world. Honestly I've never left Cedar Point and had a horrible day. There's a lot to do, some really fun rides, and its a "must go" park for any coaster fan, in my opinion.

Maybe someone else will side with me on this, because at WCB that's what they told us, and they held great pride in saying it over and over too--mostly because its never been done before. ^^^They can say they're going to do whatever they want, nothing says they have to follow through with any of it. I'm telling ya people, they've done it over and over ever since I've visited or known the park. They build up rides and expectations whenever something new is happening and they make things sound better than they possibly can be, very rarely owning up to the promises. They've already taken the tunnels away, I wouldn't be surprised if opening day gives us 2 trains with X2 looking exactly like it does now.

Keep in mind that I was just guessing when I said that. I don't actually know if all three trains will be ready. I know. I didn't say they would or would not be ready either. I said if they don't have 3 trains like they said they would, it would not be a good representative to their word, meaning, if they can't keep this promise, whats to say they'll keep all the others? I'm not passing judgement, I'm just saying what I see. Now, I know many of us have been around long enough to see all the mistakes the park has made the past 15 years and all the promises broken, and that's why I'm beginning to get skeptical about these 2008 improvements. You say that leaves time IF things fall into place. What if they don't fall into place and something goes wrong? They're gonna be screwed because they waited to long. I'm not saying the park has failed the improvements because nothing is going on, I'm just saying they're cutting it close by waiting till the last 2 months of the refurbishment to make decisions and get things into place to open. Doing it correctly to make it last for the long term means having it ready a month before it opens to work out the kinks, not opening it just as the ride is ready and having to deal with kinks while customers are in line. I'm just playing devils advocate because to be honest, I don't have complete faith in everything the park says they're going to do. They've done it before, who's to say they won't do it again? We'll all know on Memorial Day weekend.

^Not having 3 trains on opening day like they said they would is strike one. Nothing has been going on with the ride and improvements, from what I've seen. They were talking a month ago how they hadn't even decided what they were doing on the ride, tunnels or not. I don't know, as much as they sounded like they had a grasp on X2, no new trains arriving and a halt on the tunnels idea is not a good sign that things are going smoothly, in my opinion. Poor guy Believe it or not this is very often how many of the employees at SF are trained and treated. Now think about it, they have foreign exchange students working at the park, and believe it or not, they're trained like this too. They sometimes can't even speak English, and this is not only at food places, this is on rides. The training and certification program at the park is embarrassing sometimes, and for some of the employees they just go with it and do the best they can do. Not good for a company trying to face lift its image. Now this is a video I took of X2 testing on 3-12-08 (day of WCB) but it sucks. But maybe some of you will be happy to see it anyway. Sorry I got a new camera for christmas (Casio) and I thought it'd work great but the quality is nowhere what I wanted. That day I thought I'd get back around to shooting the testing later in the day, so my recording was very nonchalant.

What I like most about this ride is how there are just long sections of the ride where you're just gaining speed on a marginally inclined slope, and how you're winding through the trees. Thanks for the videos, this POV is good too, not sure if the hills are trimmed, but from this video it looks like fun. That first tunnel after the second lift hill is nuts, it's like 1000 feet long or something.

If we're talking strictly LIM's, I'm gonna have to go with Speed at the Nascar Cafe. I really think this is one of the more unridden, underated rides just because its at Las Vegas. Now I haven't ridden Maverick yet, but I have seen POV's. I'm sure being in the dark and having the lights fly by really make the launch more intense than it really is, kinda along the effects of why Space Mountain feels like it does. If we're speaking a launch in general I'm gonna have to side with the hydraulic launch coasters, because besides the air launch by S&S, I really don't think any other launches compare.

How was it a fiasco? New pieces were fabricated and the problem was solved, I think it took all of 2 weeks to fix the problem. I don't care what CP gets, I just wish they would take the time to make more quality, not more quantity of rides.

Well haven't you been shining a big 'ol ray of positivity lately. Mean Streak should be doused in gasoline, and lit by a ritual of roller coaster enthusiasts, each using their own flaming torches made of Mean Streak wood. ... That's what this threads for right?

And I'll take a head-first X over a over-hyped giga-coaster any day. You can see that same view from Power Tower or the Ferris Wheel. It really doesn't matter, I like going to both parks reguardless.

^That's what the Ski Lift's for, I was wondering what the hell was going on with that. I totally dig the skis that move up and down, under the riders legs so it looks like you have ski's on your feet.

^Man an Intamin Pre-fab at MM would so boost the parks already great group of rides-much more than any steel IMHO. As much as I'd love to give another park the greatest arsenal of coasters because it would be something to look forward to whenever I'd make a trip, I've been to Cedar Point enough times to know that when it comes to just coasters, there's really no comparison, MM takes the cake. Although I will agree my last trip to CP (2 years ago) was nicer than my last trip to MM (1 month ago), Cedar Point definitely has it's grasp on a quality amusement park (although other CF parks of been to do not hold the standard of CP). But for some reason I have the feeling that this summers trip to CP will bring CF down yet another notch, I've heard the operations and quality of CP have been going downhill. But coasters only, even some of CP's biggest and most popular rides (MF, Raptor, Mantis, Magnum) I find tame and disappointing. Match them up with rides like Riddlers, Deja and Tatsu (not even mentioning X) and it's almost laughable.

The Edge at Wild Rivers. Holey crap that ride got me good.

I've never seen Colossus run both sides 3 trains. And I've been to a lot of Fright Fests... If you look at a picture on this side you can see that support sticking out like a sore thumb. Apparently that section of track was designed after the coaster had already gone vertical, hence it's "last minute uh oh" look. You can see where they could have easily built supports on the support right behind it, but it was too late. I'd bet that support has a lot of movement on it, contributing to the roughness in that part of the ride. Something new trains can't fix.

This is exactly the problem, you're getting things confused. Nobody said anything about a "vertical slide," all it mentions is a point during the drop that is going to be ninety degrees. It's advertising language getting the best of you. Here is the same 90 degree image which you had placed in your head(which I posted earlier), now modified with a slide-in. Doesn't look like a 90 degree angle, does it? Well it is! I'm not saying the drop is actually going to have that angle, or that the dimensions are similar. All I'm saying is I don't think it's as impossible as you're making it out to be. You just have to think of it differently than the roller coasters you're used to seeing with a 90 degree drop that pulls you out of your seat. Its 2 different things.

Fake.

I'm sure the illustration or "artists rendering" will look nothing like the slide when its done.

Exactly. It all evens out. Whether or not the economy is up or down this year has no determination on the results of the companies yearly profits. Now, if we're in a depression...

Which is why its pretty much amazing all coasters have as much uptime as they do, especially the big ones that launch you at over 100 miles an hour. You don't see it happening, but there's a lot going on with computers and safety systems to shut the ride down if something isn't just right. As much as it sucks when you're standing in line, it's a good thing because it means the computer is doing its job properly. Releasing the seats (to allow them to move from fly to sit) when it's in the station is a very important safety concern, so it's no wonder the train is very touchy/feely when it comes to clearing for seat release (It would not be pretty if the trains released from fly to sit while circuiting the track(but the chances of that happening are significantly low)). It's not like an invert, where all that happens is restraints release. Is anything going on with Thomas Town? How about with X2, I guess there's not going to be any tunnles? It seems like these attraction's developments have come to a halting stop. I mean, its now April 1st, you think they'd be running around the locations trying to get stuff done. Something fishy's going on...

Maybe its just me but it seems like soft openings don't happen with alot of coasters. I don't even consider that a possibility ever, I don't know why people wonder that all the time. That Norwegian loop looks freakin sick. Its gotta be one of the best sit down elements in existence.

I don't understand what's so hard about having a water slide with a 90 degree angle. The article says 90 degrees at one point, which is possible.

I believe this has been the cause of most of Tatsu's downtime from day 1. Over/Undershoots are inconsistent so they're hard to fix, and Tatsu's trains have a lot going on with them. It's not really anything you can fix, I mean, unless you wanna replace an already working sensor with a brand new one.