BBH

SFStL

Station of Ragin Cajun

Censorship

Thunderation - Silver Dollar City

This beauty at a local fair... El Salvador is amazing.

Balder Huss Top Spin

Excalibur Schwarzkopf Speed Racer

Superman: The Escape Fajume (only coaster type they offer)

^I knew about the option to park at the base of the lift hill (a fellow poster from another forum works El Toro frequently) but I omitted it for simplicity's sake. Interesting how the lift hill can't be manually engaged. I thought most coasters went through a few test runs in manual mode to specifically test each part's responsiveness. I've also noted Intamin's frequency with minimal blocks but El Toro is especially interesting because of its specific block assembly with the holding brake.

Most modern two-train coasters theoretically could run three trains, but not practically so. I won't go into block theory here, but Dave Althoff wrote a fantastic description that can be found here. What he says is correct: on a multi-train roller coaster, there should always be at least one extra block. However, ideally speaking from an operational standpoint, it is wise to have at least two more blocks than the number of trains. While what I said above is true, it just wouldn't be sensible from an operating standpoint due to obscene amounts of stacking and stoppages on the lift hill. Most coasters in this category are designed with the aforementioned four blocks: 1. station 2. lift approach and lift hill 3. ride course and final brake run 4. pre-station holding brake, usually transfer track MOST final brake runs are designed with magnetic trim brakes and then a final friction block brake at the end to stop the train in the event of an E-stop or occupied block in front (for whatever reason). However, on some rides (such as El Toro which we'll get to later) the final brake run does not count as a block because it contains no friction assembly, therefore the ride cannot be stopped fully. El Toro El Toro is pretty much a ride op's worst nightmare when it comes to the blocking system. Because of the tight space, the ride had to be designed so that the final brake run contains no friction assembly and the holding brake extends partly into the station building. Because of this, the track fork that leads to the storage cannot be switched unless one train is stopped on the lift hill and one is stopped in the station/storage bay. The ride ops also have to be more precise in their dispatch timing because a lift hill stoppage due to an occupied block is much more likely on El Toro than pretty much any other ride. Running that coaster in full manual mode would keep you busy...

Eisenhower

Why would a small indoor park that already has a EuroFighter get an El Loco? It doesn't make sense as they're basically the same type of ride: compact, beyond vertical drop, inversions, etc.

Now, did I catch Dark Knight on a bad day or ride in a bad car, or was my recent visit justifiably the single worst coaster experience I've had ?

That is the most wonderfully pathetic thing I have ever seen... you go from a semi-nice station at SFGAm to a couple of boards with thrown-together signs.... Nicely done Six Flags.

Demon at Six Flags Great America. Fantastic first drop (especially in the first row of the back car) but the rest of the ride is just uncomfortable...

Rooster Teeth + RMC = I am a happy human The Brit who, at the end, said he was going down "faster than gravity" also once said that cars had "headlight fluid," just for some perspective on his character. That was actually the most intelligent I'd seen him in a long time...

I've never ridden it but the ride looks uncomfortably rough and trimmed a fair bit on the heavy side. The layout does provide some nice opportunities for headchoppers and more extreme elements so I'd love to see what RMC would be able to do to this. (As I'm sure we all are. )

7.5/10 - I like how you poke fun at your comparatively small coaster count. (Mine is way worse, though...)

Media

Filled up today for $3.919 in Chicago. Lowest they've been in a while.

Very easily Outlaw Run. Never ridden something with such intensity in so little time.

Emotion

Whizzer - Six Flags Great America

Yeah, all coasters are open for all guests to ride provided you're not above a height or weight restriction.

Then there's also a McDonald's nearby (complete with roller coaster subtheme) if you're into that.