aCoasterStory
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Posts posted by aCoasterStory
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And if Morey's can finally start construction on this coaster, it will have a support structure similar to Goliath's. Does that make it a steel coaster or a wood coaster?
This is the first I've seen/heard of this coaster...looks like it'd be fun!
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^Yeah, isn't it awful? (I was partly being facetious, I can be mildly disappointed and also still be pleased with whatever they picked, it is possible.)The anticipation is agonizing. Whatever it is, it better be a roller coaster, it better be full-circuit, and it better have a custom layout. If all these things are true, I promise not to be disappointed, even if it is some kind of impulse water coaster.
I don't think it's going to be a launched woodie, in fact I doubt it's going to be a prototype at all, seeing as they were described as having "found" it (i.e. something that already existed). HOWEVER. If it is a launched woodie, then I am changing my permanent address to Knoebels' campground.
Another impossible idea for you: the world's second wing rider... though the woods... how awesome would that be?
Actually, the idea that they had to go searching for something, and wasn't something that everyone already knew about, could mean its something we've never seen before. It can go both ways!
Or that they went to three states to see examples of whatever it is - that's what led people to RMC in the first place (Texas, Missouri, and Illinois).
This is what I thought at first, but it's true that they just said they visited at least three states, not that the ride they picked was specifically in each one. The "impulse" thing really threw me off since it doesn't seem to jive with the "three states" thing no matter how you slice it. Very mysterious, as intended I'm sure.
There are 5 Intamin Impulse coasters in the US (not counting Volcano). Since Possessed is in PA, they wouldn't have had to travel far for it. That leaves Cedar Point, Valleyfair, SFGAm, and SFDK as out-of state installations.
Not at all suggesting one of these coasters would fit in at Knoebels...
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^Heck, if they could dig a 90-foot hole for Oblivion, I think it could be doable.
True, but they're stuck with extremely strict height restrictions and were willing to pay for something like that. I don't think any park in America (please correct me if I'm wrong) has a coaster that digs so far underground before coming up and out.
Also true, but the key point is that where there's a will (and an appropriately-sized pile of cash), there's a way.
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Anyone that travels to Vegas to ride el loco. Make sure you post it. There are a lot of TPR members that would love an excuse to go ride this coaster again!!!
I'm going to be in Vegas for a convention in June. It's still quite a ways away, but I'm excited to ride it. The biggest hurdle will be figuring out how to make the trek out to ride Desperado while I'm there.
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The Looping Starship we used to have at SFoG only had lapbars & went upside-down.
Are you confusing that Starship with Mind Bender or Dare Devil Dive? I've never seen a looping starship with just a lap restraints. (Now I'm thinking of the old Ring Of Fire carnival rides. Good memories!)
I only ever rode it once, and all I really remember about it was the hydraulic lap restraints that clamped down super tight. I couldn't find any great pictures, but it's entirely likely that it had OTSR's as well.
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What about building a coaster along the quarry wall at SFFT? The wall only buys you an extra 100 feet or so, but you could go 400 feet up above the quarry wall, plus the 100 feet or so down to the ground at the bottom of the quarry, or if they really wanted to get interesting, maybe they only go 350-ft up top and then dig a 50-foot deep hole at the bottom of the quarry? Heck, if they could dig a 90-foot hole for Oblivion, I think it could be doable. This certainly wouldn't be the cheapest coaster in existence, but I think it'd be about one of the only halfway reasonable ways to have a legitimate 500-foot drop on a full-circuit, non-accelerator coaster. The challenge would be talking the park into spending the money to actually do a full layout and not just be a one-trick pony. But if you designed the layout right, you could save on 100-ft of support steel on several big hills.
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Another thing that slightly bothers me about the trains: The angle of the seats is way more reclined, also like on the wing coasters. That's one of the things that bothered me about GateKeeper, I felt more "embedded" in the train and it took me a little more out of the experience. Instead of feeling perched on my seat, I felt sunken into it, which also added to the "smothery-ness" of the restraints.
I imagine the reclined nature of the seats is what is going to allow the ride envelope to be small enough that they don't need to dig trenches at the bottom of those drops where the track looks really close to the ground.
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Are there any parks out there located on the side of a mountain that could use the terrain for the bulk of the drop to save on support steel costs?
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^Arrgh!!!! You're right. I forgot about those other Goliaths. There are some many coasters sharing the same name, it can become so confusing.
This is worse than riders confusing the rocking boat ride with one that goes upside down. They would see a rocking ship and be afraid to ride it because they think it will go upside down. As for me, I'll ride anything, but I can tell whether or not this ride is the type that will rock back and forth, or will go upside down. First, look at the restraints : rocking boats will only have lap bars, but upside down ships will have both lap and shoulder restraints. Then looks to see if the boat has a counterweight above it; upside down boats will have one, but rocking ships will not. And if you still cannot decide, then just stand back and watch the ride in action. Easy as Pie.
As for me, I can tell my rocking ship from my upside down ship much better than trying to remember all the Goliaths that Six Flags have. In other words, I should have checked the roller coaster data base.
The Looping Starship we used to have at SFoG only had lapbars & went upside-down. Appropriately enough, it was removed to make way for our Goliath.
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Superman ROS at SFA. "Two gigantic helices right in a row! What fun!"
This. I also don't like the long straight sections. They could have totally fit a couple more hills in the ride layout. Or taken the hills in the middle of the straight sections & made them double-up, double-down hills. That would have been sweet.
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This is my first post to this website. I will be visiting this park in May and I was wondering if anyone could give me advise on visiting this Six Flags.
Cool!
First, go after May 24 so you can ride Goliath
Second, if you want to go on V2, go on it early because the line gets long.
Superman, V2, and Raging Bull's lines are also extremely long. American Eagle will have a long line if and only if one side is running with one train, which they do sometimes. So maybe ride American Eagle Early.
Also check out Whizzer! It's an ACE Historic landmark and only one of two of its kind left in the world.
Also, SFGAm is expensive (no duh, but just throwing it out there) but it's an amazing park! That's all I can come up with but I'm sure other people have more!
Thanks for the info. I appreciate it. I was wondering when Goliath was opening, so that was helpful.
Is your avatar a bunch of Klansmen??? Not cool.
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Being completely honest here - I didn't even realize that the layout was like that of a Zacspin. I always thought that those were wavy curves instead of ups and downs.
Same here. That's a little disappointing.
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^I've heard others complain about GASM, but I don't recall having a bad ride on it. Granted, it's no El Toro or Phoenix, but what else is?
Again, I'm not saying it's bad...just uninspired.
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As soon as I saw that RMC was involved, I started thinking about an S&S/RMC brand new 4D wooden roller coaster concept. Then I realized that there would be way to many clearance issues with the wooden structure, especially on any type of inversion. I'm interested to see what type of supports they use on the I-Box track. I wonder if it could open up the possibility of RMC building completely brand new steel roller coasters with high-G inversions?
I think the Great American Scream Machine at SFoG would be a nearly perfect candidate for such a makeover. The only place where clearance would get tight is at the corner of the L (but imagine if they just banked the track 90deg for the turn on the return trip). They could do the Iron Horse treatment to the track, and then re-do the station to accommodate the 4D trains. I think it could be epic.
That seems kind of unusual to overhaul a perfectly good, old woodie.
GASM is a 4/10 at best. It's not that it's painfully rough (though it does rattle you around a bit), but it just doesn't do anything really spectacular. It doesn't have great airtime, and that's really what you expect out of an out-and-back woodie.
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Pleasant:
-Tennessee Tornado: wasn't expecting an Arrow to be so good.
-Phoenix: don't know what I was really expecting from it, but I know it wasn't that it would be my favorite wooden coaster ever (which it now is).
-Expedition Everest: rode this in Feb of 2006 (they were doing a soft open prior to its official grand opening in April)--had zero expectations coming in as it wasn't even "officially" opened yet, but we got to ride it 7 or 8 times in a row right before closing, and it was a great ride. I still say it is the best combination of theming and ride experience anywhere at a theme park. Went back last year & I'm pretty sure I got somewhere between 25 and 30 rides in on it the day I was at AK. Great experience.
NTAG: I had no real expectations going in, but it immediately skyrocketed to my top 5 of all time. GREAT ride. I really need to ride the other RMC creations.
Unpleasant:
-Skyrush: the restraints about killed my legs...and it stole my phone right out of my pocket
-The Voyage: was expecting the #1 wooden coaster to actually be fun. It was so rough & painful. And I *hate* massive laterals during airtime moments.
-Alpengeist: I guess for a coaster as massive as it is, I was expecting more forces. I grew up riding my local Batman clone, so I expect inverts to be a lot more on the intense side. Comparatively, Alpengeist was a snooze.
-El Toro: only ride I've ever ridden where ride ops had to force the restraints down to clear me to ride. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't stapled into the seat so uncomfortably.
-Kingda Ka: I was expecting it to be a taller, faster, at least as good if not a little better version of TTD. I don't know what it is, but the only good seat on Kingda Ka is in the front; the rest all shake too horribly. And the restraints are sucky.
Transformers: Rode this during its soft open at USF this past year. Was terribly disappointed. The pre-ride story shown on the video monitors in the queue was horribly written and wasn't at all coherent; it made absolutely no sense if you watched it and tried to figure out what the storyline was supposed to be. The ride wasn't much better. I thought it was at best a retread of Spider-Man (which I think is the superior ride experience, btw). I just don't get how they couldn't make it any more engaging, or at least a noticeable upgrade on a ride that's 15 years old.
-Intimidator: I would have hoped a Dale Earnhardt-themed ride would have been at least a bit intense. I mean, he was the Intimidator after all! It's not a bad ride by any stretch, but I don't think it lives up to its namesake. I305, on the other hand, is exactly what a Dale Earnhardt-themed ride should be.
-X-Flight/Gatekeeper: I really enjoyed Wild Eagle, but I was let down by both of it's bigger brothers. I think a lot of the difference in enjoyment comes from a different in expectations. You don't expect a super-intense ride at Dollywood; Wild Eagle is smooth, fun, and you do kind of feel like you're soaring like an eagle through the forest. From a theming & marketing standpoint, you would expect X-Flight & GK to be much more intense, but they aren't. The wingover drops are cool, don't get me wrong, but I was just expecting *more* from these rides. A big area where I think they could have improved would have been to have more 'snap' when going through the keyhole elements. Those transitions are just too fluid. And GK was oddly bouncy for a brand-new B&M (not to mention the unpleasantness of the tightening vests, which I didn't notice on the other two.
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As soon as I saw that RMC was involved, I started thinking about an S&S/RMC brand new 4D wooden roller coaster concept. Then I realized that there would be way to many clearance issues with the wooden structure, especially on any type of inversion. I'm interested to see what type of supports they use on the I-Box track. I wonder if it could open up the possibility of RMC building completely brand new steel roller coasters with high-G inversions?
I think the Great American Scream Machine at SFoG would be a nearly perfect candidate for such a makeover. The only place where clearance would get tight is at the corner of the L (but imagine if they just banked the track 90deg for the turn on the return trip). They could do the Iron Horse treatment to the track, and then re-do the station to accommodate the 4D trains. I think it could be epic.
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KI tweeted about a half hour ago that the last piece of track was ready to be hoisted into place.
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What's a Media Day like? Do they just let you ride the new ride a bunch for a few hours? Do they have anything else open, or is it just the one ride?
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So last night I had a dream about riding FCE...
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I just wish they would invest more in White Water. A lot of their slides and things are in need of some TLC. And they haven't added much lately in the way of new attractions. I think they're overdue for a water coaster.
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They could easily increase the Riders per hour rate if they utilized their entire station. Currently when a train returns to the station it stacks behind the train being loaded BUT its actually inside the station. They could easily use that area to unload a train while the one in front of it is loading, that way when the train is moved up it would be ready to load waiting guests immediately. I think that would also bring down wait times.
THIS.
But then again, I think the ride could use a bit more intensity. It'd be a great 'first coaster with inversions', but for me, I wish they'd built the lift 50' taller.
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Having ridden all three types within a fairly short timeframe, I must say my favorite was Black Anaconda (conveyor belt). I though Wildebeest and Mammoth were very good (magnetic), but I was a bit disappointed by the Master Blaster types (Master Blaster, Dragon's Revenge, and whatever the one is at Schlitterbahn Kansas City).
While the Master Blaster rides definitely get you wettest, the uphill acceleration is really slow. It's like you stall out & then wait for the water to build up enough pressure to push you over the top, and then when it does, you get this huge wave of water that just crashes over your shoulders. Of the 3 Master-Blaster-type rides I've ridden, I preferred Dragon's Revenge because it had a more complex layout didn't feel like it was over in 5 seconds.
The magnetic types delivered a better ride experience than the Master Blasters, but the biggest problem with them was that I felt like I never really got all that wet. I would have preferred some more water or splashing or whatnot given that they are water rides. I still felt like it took a second for you to start accelerating up the hills, but the acceleration was much better than the Master Blasters. The layouts were much more engaging as well.
My favorite, though was Black Anaconda. I loved the zip that the conveyor belts gave. I felt that there was no delay with the uphill acceleration--as soon as you hit the conveyor belt, you were going at full speed. It was an engaging slide with a great layout and a ton of speed. And you actually got wet.
(That being said, I rode another conveyor-belt style water coaster at a small indoor resort that I could have ridden in street clothes because I never go so much as splashed.)
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Glad to see the ride get a new theme...The Bat is a lot better than Flight Deck or Top Gun for this ride. I'm hoping when Kings Island's turn comes around again for a new coaster after Banshee they add a RMC wooden coaster to fill in the rest of the space where Son of Beast once stood. I could see this section of the park with a whole haunted theme too it...Could be quite awesome.
Ghost of Son of Beast?
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Cedar Fair, hands down. While I have really enjoyed my time at some of the Six Flags parks, I have just generally found that Cedar Fair does most things better. The parks are cleaner, the staffs are friendlier, the rides are better maintained, and the ride selection tends to be a little more unique to each park.
I've had some miserable experiences at Six Flags parks, but I've been trying to think and I don't think I've experienced a truly awful day at a Cedar Fair park--usually it's been the exact opposite.
(This is from having been to all of the parks from both companies at some point in the last two seasons except CGA, SFDK, and SFM.)
what ride or rides scared the poop out of you?
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Posted
1) Like many others on here, 1st-Gen Intamin Drop Tower (Free Fall @ SFoG). Rode this for the first time in like the 6th or 7th grade. Now I'm not one to curse, but when it dropped, I definitely went "oh s***".
2) Sky Rocket @ Kennywood. Was not prepared for the airtime at the top of the first hill, and I didn't have my lapbar down as tight as I should have...I literally thought I would have flown out of the ride if I hadn't been holding on to my lapbar at the time.
3) Cliffhanger @ SF White Water Atlanta. 90' tall body slide. I want to say it's at a 79 degree angle, but I couldn't find confirmation of that. I still remember when I was a kid, being up at the top of the slide and trying to work up the nerve to actually go down the thing. But I always would, and it would always be a great rush.
4) Skyrush @ Hersheypark. Only rode it once. Back row, wing seat. I wasn't terrified I was going to fly out, but it felt like the restraints were going to snap my leg bones.