El Toro_Ryan

Having worked Bizarro, the floors absolutely had a huge impact on intervals. In order to not double stack on Bizarro, you have to dispatch the train in the station while the train on the course is leaving the MCBR. That is very early for a three train running B&M. Nitro can dispatch with a train in the bunny hills and not double stack. And then by the time the next train parks in the station, the train on the lift is already half way up. I'm not saying Bizarro had a good crew (most of the employees there were very slow) but it takes a lot of work to get that thing not to stack with only two people checking the train. And yeah, Nitro's crew was definitely slacking this year as compared to other years. Not sure why, I guess they were just really lazy. lol

^Agreed. I always feel like the new B&M's are slacking in the intensity department. All their coasters are great, old and new but the older B&Ms just have this awesome kick to them. #Kumba

Sorry if anyone asked this already but is Fury 325 going to be silenced or is it going to have that vintage B&M roar?

Yeah that would really complete the experience for sure.

Just out of curiosity, when Goliath vallies between the loop and second spike, can the catcher be manually lowered to reengage the train so it can finish its cycle or not? I've always been curious about that.

I definitely get the best air in the back seat of El Toro. The first drop, the two big camelbacks, and the Rolling Thunder hill offer the craziest airtime ever and even the little floater pops around the rest of the ride are nice. Other than that, Bizarro in the front seat comes close but Toro's airtime is much more powerful. Plus Bizarro's lapbars aren't exactly the best.

Yes, the park has a few options that they're going to test out this winter supposedly. It all depends on whether or not the State of NJ deems the park's fix safe. Honestly the two rides are safe as they are to run together but NJ is the nanny state.

If you get another chance to ride it please do... I'm almost 100% positive you were riding in Train C and I believe that was a wheel issue that's since been fixed. That train jackhammered through the entire course especially near the back of the train. Yeah from what I hear, all three trains are fine now. From what I hear the A Train rattles a little more than the other trains do now but it's nothing like how it used to be. I've also found that Dragon Challenge and Incredible Hulk both have slight rattles to them. It was nothing uncomfortable though, plus those rides run pretty much everyday all year so it's understandable.

I was born in 1995 so Viper at Six Flags Great Adventure easily takes the cake for best ride of the year. Jk 1) Dragon Khan at Port Aventura 2) Viper at Six Flags Great America 3) Raven at Holiday World I haven't ridden any of these coasters yet but I hope to in the future.

I can't wait to see how this turns out. It looks like it could be the best ride at SFMM hands down. And this wasn't in the concept art but does anyone know if the old track from the portions of the ride that aren't being redone are staying? Like the lower portion of track in the structure of the first turnaround.

Wait, why didn't you film Gatekeeper??.... jk, nice video!! Keep them coming! haha

Vekoma seems to have a bad track record with valleying. Jubilee Odyssey at Fantasy Island comes to mind. I think several of its hills had to be lowered.

Most cobra rolls are the same height on both sides so valleying is common. A lot of newer B&M's feature cobra rolls with lower second halves to avoid this though. Picture by David H of TPR

Why does New Texas Giant never run with three trains?

That train was probably tested earlier in the morning and then pulled off when the ride opened. Parks do that all the time to ensure that if a train gets swapped or one gets added, no additional testing needs to take place in order to limit downtime.

^Lol Looks like that fire was one of seven fires in Jackson that night started by an Arsonist. http://7online.com/news/fire-at-six-flags-great-adventure-in-safari-section/389655/

That depends on the ride. Some can run in colder temperatures than others by design or by using different wheel setups. I know this isn't a Great Adventure discussion but I have to ask... does Great Adventure even have a point where they'll close the coasters (besides Kingda Ka)? They seem to completely disregard weather with the lone exceptions being snow on the tracks or lightning in the area. They ran Nitro last week in the sleet. They're awesome. I think it's kind off odd that the same chain that runs coasters in basically anything at Great Adventure seems to be a little more strict at their other parks but being a ride op you probably have more insight into that than I do. Would wheel setups generally be the main reason for this? Lol I'm glad you asked that. GADV is super lenient with running the rides and to my knowledge, I don't know of an official shut down point except during thunder storms, downpours, or when the tracks are frozen over which rarely happens. Most of the coasters use faster wheel setups during the colder parts of the season so that they can run without problems even when it's freezing out. The only ride that doesn't apply to is El Toro because it only has one wheel setup for some reason which runs better in warmer weather. Watch it test run on a cold morning and it is scary how slow it runs. However, Toro can still be opened in the cold weather because we just slap some test dummies in the seats and there are tire drives on the final hill into the brake run to give it the extra boost it needs on those first few test runs. But after the wheels warm up a little, it's fine.

That depends on the ride. Some can run in colder temperatures than others by design or by using different wheel setups.

Valleying is common on coasters, especially in cold weather. That train looks empty so I'm guessing it was an early morning test run so it's completely normal. Most coasters have a particular spot where they valley due to weird hill heights so that's probably where trains valley on that specific SLC model. El Toro likes to valley on the last hill into the brake run or a ride like Raptor likes to valley on the climb up into the MCBR. I love Raptor but it's always weirded me out that all those hills here are the same height haha #nerdtalk

Sorry but I don't believe the restraint came unlocked. I've worked a B&M and sometimes if the restraint doesn't quite click into the next lowest ratchet, it can pop back up to the next higher one. People always complain of their restraints coming unlocked but trust me, that is most likely what happened. The restraints on a B&M or any roller coaster really should never unlock during the ride. In the case of your step mom, I'm guessing the restraint popped up a ratchet and then she yanked it back down again and got the full click.

Agreed. And half of the time, the single rider line for GL is closed anyway. I think SFGAM experimented with single rider lines for most of their major coasters this year. GADV should do that too for next year. They probably won't though. haha

From what I understand, RMC told the park to remove a car from each train. I'm not sure why but this usually has to do with structural concerns.

Literally every roller coaster has that. Besides, if theres any ride at GAdv begging for a fresh coat of paint, it's Nitro. Agreed. Even Batman and Superman should get fresh paint jobs before Ka does. In my opinion, Ka should look fine for a few more years before it needs a paint job.

No problem. I always enjoying helping out.

^ The park should run all of their coasters besides Ka and possibly Toro earlier in the morning if it's too cold and windy. It'll probably be empty too so even if they do close early, you should still have time to ride all the major rides. Just get there at opening and you should have a few good solid hours. And the weather could always change by Saturday as well. Hopefully everything works out for you.