Arthur_Seaton

Sounds like the park is running a weak ride program. The thing must be capable of a better ride cycle than that. I think it's more the nature of the ride itself as there's very little movement away from the center of gravity. Maybe I'm wrong, but I suspect that most people saw the concept and guessed that the ride wouldn't really do much of anything; it's more of a visual spectacle in that it looks impressive and hi-tech (and will draw crowds based on that alone). The actual ride experience would (presumably) be a bit like jumping on a Gravitron but riding in the control booth at the center.

It caught me off guard as well and near did me in. It was very hot and very humid (raining, in fact) when I was there, and I started my day with Firehawk and that awful hang-n-bang boomerang thing, so I guess I asked for it. Premier rides tend to have some very snappy transitions, and, without the ability to clearly see what's coming up, all of those snaps are felt in your neck / spine. I rode it a few times and it got a little better, but still, not a pleasant ride.

Much of it is outdoors if I remember correctly. I actually screwed up when I was there and walked in through the exit (I didn't know that the ride was exempt from fastpass), and the ops just threw me on an open seat rather than sending me back to the entrance.

I'd reiterate this — it's surprisingly maze-like in that section, and it's one of the first parts you'll hit. New Texas Giant is a priority (still my favorite RMC out of the ones I've ridden as it's more of a traditional coaster design), but Runaway Mountain is worth getting on early too — especially if it's a busy day. It's a small, off-the-shelf design, but done in a quirky way. La Vibora's surprisingly uncomfortable, but worth knocking out early because of its poor throughput. Judge Roy Scream is a fantastic classic-style coaster that's well worth waiting for (if classics are your thing).

Great to hear that story, Phil! And I'm glad to hear people have been able to get at least a ride or two on SV. It seems like this has been an especially stressful few weeks for the park.

What's the word on the new Fright Walk? I haven't heard much about it. I loved the old one and have some concerns that this one might be a bit tamed down.

That's a good point, although I think I'm one of like three people who loved Silver Bullet from the get-go haha!

Fully agree. I had a feeling when I saw the original design that it wouldn't be my thing (inversions don't do much for me), but I also knew it'd be a great-looking ride — one that I'd be as happy to watch as ride. I kept my expectations in check, so the drop and the little airtime drop both surprised me as I thought they'd both be fairly forceless. Also, even though it's quite small, I think the first drop's better than the other beyond-vertical coasters I've ridden, so that was a plus. The rest of the ride was kind of what I expected from back-to-back inversions. Having said that, I think its lack of intensity will make it a good stepping stone for kids who aren't quite sure about the bigger coasters.

I'd assume there are all kinds of problems associated with staff members singling guests out for potentially being too big. My guess is that test seats are there to be optional more than anything. The Hang Time one was mainly being used as a photo op when I was there yesterday, and kids were climbing all over it and stuff. In fact, kids were climbing all over everything. One couple was taking pictures of their kid who'd jumped the queue railings and was trying stomp a plant to death. There was a lot of line-jumping going on when I was there, so hopefully they'll be able to station staff in the queue itself to help keep things orderly.

I hope I'm wrong and it's actually a thrilling ride, but I can't fathom how this wouldn't feel just like rolling around on the floor.

Coming Soon: "Headset, the Ride!"; "Large Screen Experience!"

I swear I saw a test seat out front right next to the entrance? I wonder if test seats are even that useful in terms of people's size? It's kind of like having a scale out front where everyone can see the results, but I guess it's probably no worse than holding up a train in the station. I watched a few shame walks as well, and it certainly delayed dispatch. Can't blame people for trying though! I was surprised to see this as well and I lucked out on my two rides (front and back), but the grouper was taking requests. I saw a couple ask if they could wait for the front and the grouper obliged, but the whole system fell apart minutes later, resulting in a half-empty train dispatch. I'm guessing that it'll be assigned seating for much of the summer at least. To be totally honest, I didn't notice a huge difference between front and back, aside from a better first-drop in the back and a better post-overbank drop in the front.

I found it hard to gauge just how bad the lines were overall (the app was way off), but the place seemed swarmed with high schoolers who, I predict, were graduating or something. My first ride on Hang Time was about a 20-minute wait as it had just re-opened from a breakdown (around 3:30pm ish). I jumped straight back in line, but that one was much more like 45 mins. By the time I got to the station, they'd opened up the switchbacks that extended way down to the far end of the ride, so I guessed it would have been well over an hour. I wandered into Xcelerator, only to find the line starting really close to the entrance of the queue. I figured that would have been at least an hour with a single train, so I walked right out again. I also looked at Silver Bullet and saw that the stairs were completely full, so I just left the park at that point. I really only went to ride Hang Time so it was no big deal, but I was hoping to marathon it a little more. I'm guessing it'll be a first for many riders. I remember the first time I rode Fahrenheit, the vertical lift freaked me out as it does the same kind of thing. Also, for what it's worth, I thought the drop on this was better than some of the other beyond-vertical drops I've been on. It really does give you a sense of falling.

^ Yeah, I noticed the dispatches were weirdly slow as well, but figured it was the staff just breaking the ride in. I saw several walks of shame, and one person trying to ride with a backpack around their chest, and so those kinds of things tended to hold the ride up a bit. Good thing they have three trains, though, as the lines are going to be rough for this one! It's kind of hard to photograph because of the support that run all over the layout, but it's a fun ride to watch fall from the drop. Wow, really? That's cool! It's certainly a fun ride, but Xcelerator, Silver Bullet, Ghost Rider, and Montezooma are still my favorites, but I've always loved those rides. The summer crowds are going to eat this one up. One of the hang time moments. A lot of pass holders here today, it seems! The drop's fun to watch from down below, and it's better than it looks on the ride itself Wasn't expecting much from this little hill, but it's great. It feels like the track's been pulled out from under you.

Ha! Its a major step up from Boomerang, and a fun ride overall. If you love back-to-back inversions like cobra rolls and corkscrews and whatnot, it’ll be right up your alley. I think it’ll appeal to families and kids who aren’t quite sold on the bigger coasters as the drop’s small, and the ride’s not a particularly fast or intense ride. I’d hoped to ride it at night, but the park was getting progressively packed so i’ll just revisit on a quiet day. I missed the headchopper mentioned above, but the vertical lift reminded me of other vertical lift coasters I've ridden in that you're tipped back more than 90 degrees, so there’s a bit of a headrush on the lift. I didn’t expect that little airtime hill to have of an effect, but it’s great — especially in the front.

Just rode Hang Time right now (it broke down there for a while). It’s fun, sort of cute, and fits the scale of the park well. The restraints are tight and really staple you in, but I think that’s expected because of the amount of time spent at weird angles. Despite it crawling over the drop, it packs a punch when it does actually drop. The rest is a mix of disorienting inversions and, surprise surprise, hang time. The lift is the part that people seem to be enjoying the most as it makes the blood rush to your head. Three-train operations right now, but the line does move kind of slow. EDIT: In case anyone was planning on checking out the ride tonight, the park’s busy and the line for Hang Time looks to be quite long now. It was spilling out of the entrance until they opened up additional switchbacks. Got two rides in, front and back. The front’s got some rattle, but nothing too bad.

I rode it a few weeks ago and noticed that. I don't see any brakes involved, but something's up with that last elevated turn — the train slows way, way down far more than it has before. I also thought it wasn't going to make it back up to the brake run. I wonder if it has to do with the big turns at the end? That's always been the roughest part of the ride and seemingly the area that gets re-tracked a lot. But even after maintenance, that section is almost always jackhammer brutality. If you look at the rails on the brake run, they're a warped mess.

It looks fantastic; a very impressive ride to say the least! I hope RMC creates more designs like this that run through the structure and not just on top of it. The ride time on this is very impressive indeed. I had concerns about that massive outward-banked turn as I personally haven't enjoyed them on the RMCs I've ridden, but here it looks much more sustained so less chance of it flinging you back and forth too abruptly. I can't wait to hear some more impressions from folks here once they get to ride it, and I hope to make it back out to CP sometime in the near future.

The ride spends time hanging you over the first drop, hence “Hangtime.” That’s what the name is referring to.

Yes. Theres one just an hour away, in fact.

I was there today, and walked past Hang Time at least twice. How did I miss that!? I wonder if they unveiled it later in the day as we bailed around 3pm?

Took a trip to the park today for a few hours to catch a couple of rides on the newly-reopened Xcelerator. It's as good as ever, obviously, since nothing about it has changed. An empty station from opening until about 11:30 am allowed for instantaneous re-rides, although we stopped at five laps. The park felt busy, even though it was a fairly slow day in terms of the rides. There were a number of high-school events underway, so the park was filled with continual shrieking and a notable increase in line jumping (for the two rides that actually had a line, that is: Ghost Rider and a 10-minute line for the log ride). Single-train operations on most of the coasters, but no-trains operations on Hang Time (obviously). Ghost Rider's line began at the bottom of the station steps, ran through a single switchback on the top floor, and still managed to take a full 65 minutes to clear. This, I assume was a staffing issue as there were only two staff members working the station. Such a shame that such a great ride has such poor capacity. In other news, Sol Spin is still weird. Although the ride looks impressive, I really don't see how anyone could enjoy the kind of ride it gives. I'm surprised these models are so popular. Oh, and for fans of the boysenberry thing that happened last week, there's still a lot of boysenberry products on menus and displays it seems. The very idea of boysenberry-anything is horrifying to me, though (most theme-park food is, to be honest), but it's still available if it is your thing.

That was really bad. When I rode it, the train stopped on the brake run for a couple of minutes and I felt like I lost circulation in my legs. The restraints were so tight by the end of the ride that I could feel my pulse. Skyrush's restraints aren't nearly as bad as that, plus they release early. I marathoned it when I visited as well as I knew I wouldn't be back any time soon and really wanted to get a good sense of it. The park was dead, too, so instant re-rides were an option. I've found that marathoning RMCs is more painful, but Skyrush did produce some serious bruises. Even though I rode it around 15 times, I honestly just didn't think it was a very good ride. The restraints really weren't that much of an issue for me, but I found it to be such over-the-top intensity that there wasn't much fun involved; it was more like an endurance test. I much preferred the other rides in the park, like Fahrenheit and Lightning Racer, as they do a much better job of balancing thrills with fun. I preferred the middle as the wings toss you around a lot in the second half. They were also quite rattly when I rode it. Front and back were pretty different rides, so I'd try both. It doesn't ride like a hyper — there's nothing floaty or monumental-feeling about it. It didn't even feel that fast to me. It's more like extreme slamming up and down and rag-doll style twists. Watch out for the last bunny hop as that one's more intense than the two big airtime hills — a sudden jolt up into the restraint. And, for what it's worth, Fahrenheit has a gnarly ejector hill right at the end as well, but that ride's so much more fun (IMO). Skyrush isn't anything to be particularly nervous about — it's intense and the ejector air is brutal, but not particularly frightening.

In fairness, I rode the SFOT VR on Shockwave soon after it opened, and the goggles were absolutely filthy there as well. They had a station of employees "cleaning" them, but it was apparent that the station was mainly to create an illusion of sorts as the employees were preoccupied and barely even touching the headsets with their wipes. They headsets were loaded with lint, hair, bugs, scabs, pus etc. as well. Unfortunately, I think that's what it'll take to finally put a nail in the coffin of this gimmick — a small-scale outbreak of eye-herpes all traced to one of these things.

I've always wanted to try Dragon Mountain for the weirdness factor, but I couldn't justify the drive and the entry fee last time I was in the upstate NY area. I've always been curious about the two tunnel drops in Dragon Mountain as POV footage makes it difficult to tell what they're actually doing. Are either of the drops (the one coming out of the volcano, and the one going into the bowtie) steep or particularly intense? The one going into the bowtie looks like it might be similar to the first drop into the loops.