Arthur_Seaton

I'm kind of the same in terms of airtime (I assume I'm one of very few here that doesn't particularly dig the kind of thigh-slamming ejection you get on certain RMCs / Intamins), yet this ride's genuinely great. I remember watching a reverse POV on here and assuming that the riders were exaggerating by slightly standing up in their seats, but that's exactly what it does to you (you can watch riders launching out of their seats on the return bunny hop-leg from outside the ride). It has plenty of the ricketiness you might expect from a classic woodie, but it's not that rough or uncomfortable overall, and the launching airtime is more funny than freaky. When people discuss it as an intense airtime machine, they're right, but it's a different experience to riding something like an RMC or Skyrush. If it had more robust restraints that pinned you down, it'd probably be a fairly mediocre ride. I didn't enjoy the park as much as I hoped I would, but I certainly see why so many people love it. The anti-corporate style is a breath of fresh air, but the place also has a kind of Deliverance-style atmosphere to it. I like classic, old-school dark rides, so it's worth it for the two they have, and the place is definitely a trip. I'm not a fan of greasy / fried food (or cooked food in general really), but folks go nuts for the stuff on offer here.

It's just past the carnival games section, across from Tidal Wave. I'm surprised they can fit this thing in there. Fantastic addition. These rides are consistently excellent, and I couldn't think of a better flat for SFMM.

Similar, really. Green Lantern is the obvious one I skip because it's utter garbage, but I usually skip all the B&Ms as well unless I'm there with people who have never visited before. I also skip Revolution when the VR is working but will ride the crap out of it when VR is down. Did Justice League for the first time recently and probably wouldn't ride that again by choice as it's not my thing.

I'd definitely prefer a Giant Frisbee as I think they're fantastic rides overall that match thrills against fun, but I could see the draw of a massive Star Flyer too. I've ridden both the Texas and the New Jersey ones, and they're nerve-wracking. Aside from the height, the ride isn't up to much, but they certainly draw attention and set records.

I loved Hershey Park when I was visited as well — definitely a favorite. Skyrush, however, is too much about endurance and not enough fun for me. I actually rode it a lot when I was there (somewhere around 15 times!) as I figured I wouldn't be back anytime soon and I wanted to really commit it to memory. I just found it unnecessarily aggressive at points, and a little dull at others. Unlike others, I never found the first drop to be all that; the extended s-shape curve in and out of the drop felt more like forward tipping than falling, to me. I liked the speed and some of the directional shifts, but what it comes down to for me is that I want more from a coaster than just extremes — it has to be fun, well-sequenced, and as enjoyable as it is thrilling. Favorites in the park for me were Fahrenheit, Lightning Racer, and Comet.

Ultimately, I still like NTAG the most out of the RMCs I've ridden, largely because it feels somewhat closer to a traditional coaster (it's more than just a sequence of gnarly ejector hills). This one looks like it might strike a good balance of speed and transit alongside RMC's trademark ejector moments.

Not particularly, IMO. I've ridden a few (Steel Hawg, Fahrenheit, Maverick), and they vary somewhat. Steel Hawg's is so heavily braked that it barely registers as a drop (it's fun though!) Fahrenheit's feels more like an abrupt push forward (in the back at least) followed by an aggressive push back — more like tipping than dropping. Maverick's feels more like traditional ejection, but it's over very fast. I personally think these kind of drops are more about the visual spectacle / intimidation they produce than the ride sensation itself. They look fantastic and are super fun to watch, but I can think of a number of non-vertical drops that feel more intense than the beyond-vertical drops I've experienced. It'll be interesting to see where the brake releases on this one, as that'll play a role in how gnarly that drop feels.

Took a trip to the park today with family visiting from out of town. Since a number of schools were back in session, the place was fairly dead. The only hefty wait was, inexplicably, Riddler’s Revenge whose line spilled out of the main building and into the switchbacks (I haven’t seen that happen for some time). Apocalypse was down all day, but everything else was running as normal (except Justice League, which had to be unplugged and plugged back in a couple of times while we waited inside). Scream was running better than usual; Viper seemed extra punishing. Ride ops on Full Thröttle and Colossus were as fantastic as ever (two complete duels on our one ride!); ride ops on Goliath, Justice League, Batman, Ninja, Tatsu, and X2, less so (restraint-checker apathy levels were off the charts today). Superman was launching both sides almost at the same time, but only the left side was hitting the usual heights. Hideous VR was broken so we actually got to enjoy Revolution as nature intended it. Our Jet Stream boat had (no kidding) about 6" of water in it from the moment we climbed in (we hoped it would drain on the lift; it didn't). When we returned to the station, I pointed it out to the ride op and he said "yeah, I guess we should pull that one out." I’ve ridden the SFOT version of Justice League, and this one’s somewhat different (this was my first time trying it). The sets appeared more elaborate (projections on the crashing truck etc.), and I don’t recall the Texas version spinning as much as this one does. The first half has some good detail and nice practical sets, and the second half makes an admirable use of immersive screens. With that said, the ride’s just a step up from the Knott’s video-game ride to me, with dodgy graphics/gameplay etc. It may be the result of the technical problems the ride was having while we waited in the pre-ride rooms, but several effects didn’t seem to do much, the fog projection lacked fog, and there was an “And the winner is . . .” announcement at the end that failed to announce any winners. Having already ridden another model, I knew what to expect but this version didn’t exactly win me over. Then again, I'm not the target audience for such a ride. I think if you love Justice League characters (and especially enjoy shooting them with lasers), it'll probably rock your world. I'm a huge dark ride fan, but much prefer traditional ghost trains and whatnot. Are the pre-ride rooms supposed to do something? The first one was just a weird CGI animation. The second was just a stationary robot thing in a case that we just walked right past. My guess is that there’s more to them than that and that the ride’s reboot screwed them up. Last, I don’t know if it’s a problem of positioning, but the ride really kind of just looks like a white warehouse on concrete with a facade and some portable switchbacks. It didn’t seem quite finished, but maybe it’s a space that’ll see more use as a plaza for entertainment in the future? Anyhow, glad I got to check it out, but I think the air conditioning was my favorite part overall. Anyhow, a decent day, and a good time to visit right now it seems.

Sounds very cool indeed, and the design looks like a great fit for that spot.

I was referring to the ride called Helix as opposed to rides with long helix sections. Sorry; I should have been more clear. Helix is a long Mack multi-launcher as opposed to hypercoaster.

I'd love to see a super-long Helix-type ride installed at Knotts (far more so than some Skyrush-type thing), but such a ride's success seems dependent on a fairly generous footprint with a multi-level terrain; it would really need to span out across the park so as not to feel like a half-assed version. Given that, my guess is that whatever it'll be will be relatively compact, but I'm looking forward to seeing what they offer either way. The dream, for me, would be a Diamondback clone, but that's not gonna happen!

That's a surprisingly intense coaster as well — even when it's not spinning that much. Definitely interested in seeing how this one shapes up as some of the moves it makes will feel very odd depending on what angle the car is at when it takes them. A brave move by SDC it seems.

Nice to see so much interaction with the structure; it's as if the second leg of the ride is a long wooden tunnel. Given that Mean Streak was such a good-looking coaster, it's like the engineers tried to preserve some of that and maximize its impact. There are some really bizarre moves going on in that track design.

I actually called the day before and the morning of my visit there as it was a two-hour drive from where I was staying. I was told that "every coaster should be running fine," only to arrive at the park and find that both Cornball and Lost Coaster had sections of track removed. If you're going specifically for Lost Coaster, it might be wise to at least try calling ahead of time (although that didn't work well for me), and I'd still proceed with caution. There's plenty of cool stuff to do there, but they're clearly struggling to keep the place operational right now.

It just defeats the purpose of riding a roller coaster to me — unless you happen to prefer riding with your vision obstructed. I guess enclosed coasters do something somewhat similar (and I do love enclosed coasters), but when it comes to big, spectacular rides that rely on landscape/visual experience, it's baffling from a fan perspective. Of course, it makes perfect sense from a business angle, though, as crap sells well and most people consume ncritically. I still maintain that the most entertaining place for a VR in theme parks would be the restrooms, eating areas, and perhaps the parking lot.

Really? That sucks! I've ridden it at least 80 times, and I can only think of a handful of occasions where it didn't duel at least once. As of late, I've noticed a bit of an uptick in close calls on the lift hill, but that's almost always because of riders goofing around and the crew resigning themselves to the fact that there's little they can do to fix the issue. I haven't been to Knotts this year (my pass expired), but I visited a lot last year and saw far more apathetic employees than I do at SFMM these days. I always found the Xcelerator crew to be pretty enthused though, which I always assumed had something to do with getting to watch riders freak out prior to the launch.

It's hard to say whether you'd need a FP or not until you get there, but, historically, that particular week is probably the busiest week to go to any SoCal park in the entire year. The week before xmas is a dead zone, but the week after is a disaster. I can think of several occasions in the last few years where the various parks have reached capacity early in the day and had to turn people away. If this is a rare trip and you won't be back anytime soon, I'd prepare to splurge on the most elaborate FP possible.

That Mo-6 does look decent! I stayed at the Rodeway Inn South when I visited. The location and price were decent, but it's probably one of the most run-down, disgusting places I've ever stayed. I'm fine with roughing it in low-budgets spots, but this one tested my limits.

I haven't read any of the books or seen any of the films either, and so the ride's story confused the hell out me. I've found that to be true with most of the stuff at Universal though (at least the Hollywood version). While being steeped in blockbuster movies and the latest commercial products will only add to the experience, the rides are still all enjoyable even if you have absolutely no idea what's going on. The storyline for the Transformers ride appears to be "OMG Robots! OMG Explosions! OMG Car Chases! OMGOMG Robots!" (which I think is probably the extent and depth of the film's plot as well), but it's still a visually-impressive and enjoyable ride. Forbidden Journey is more like "Dragons! Spiders! Ghosts! Thanks for Riding!" The funny thing about the Forbidden Journey ride is that I've ridden with both young and elderly family members who absolutely love the thing, but it makes me nauseous pretty much every time. This is largely due to the movement in and out of screens, but also the motion effect is more like being on a boat than flying to me. There's a part that tips you backwards pretty far so the blood rushes to your head, and then it spins you around and propels your forward into a screen at the same time (barf).

Yeah, I'd love to see a giant frisbee at the park too. I've ridden a couple (CP and KI), and they're fantastic rides overall. Much faster than they look with solid capacity. Two of my favorite rides at CP were MaxAir and Skyhawk; I liked them more than several of the coasters.

The airtime vector and the lateral G vector should be fairly independent of each other. There can be some force straight up into the restraint, which is just air like we'd expect from RMC, and then there can be a distinct force to the side. Since the track is banked, the sideways force has more to do with how the track changes in the vertical direction. I don't have a good feel for how that hill is shaped, but it's certainly possible to engineer it so that there is a strong force up into the restraint like you'd get from an RMC air hill, yet the sideways forces are balanced, and this can be done at any banking angle. My lone experience with RMC is Wicked Cyclone, where they did not follow this plan and have strong lateral forces on the outward-banked moments, but I've heard from others that Outlaw Run has an outward banked moment where it feels like a standard ejector hill, but you see the ground to your side instead of below you. Yeah, it's a little hard to tell exactly what it'll be like at this point. The outward-bank turn on TC is weird. It's not really a lateral force, but it pulls you downward while you're tipped on your side. I suspect that's kind of what this will be like — a launch up into the restraints followed by an intense drag back down at a weird angle. It'll be a good hands-up moment, but that's kind of true for all RMCs!

Don't give them any ideas — VR on coasters is the worst! I'm still not sure about that massive outward-banked turn. I'm looking forward to seeing the ride in operation (and riding someday), but I'm probably one of very few people here who isn't a fan of RMC's outward-bank airtime moments. If the train takes that element at speed (which it will, given the height of that drop) it's going to slam you into the restraints and pin you there pretty hard. If it's more sustained than the smaller outward-banks RMC has done so far, I think it might produce a different effect, but I'm still side-eyeing it a bit. Also, the outward bank on the return lap that dips back into the main structure (the one that runs next to the first drop) looks like it's going to be very intense. It's a crazy-looking ride overall, and I am really looking forward to seeing some official stats here soon.

Wait, there's more? I thought they already announced the two rides (Georgia and Texas)?

Double Post

Green Lantern used to be good? I rode it when it first opened and found it to be atrocious then too. For me, it's held the crown of "worst coaster currently in operation" since the day it arrived. Good to hear you had success with Revolution, JT325. I assume the VR was broken on your visit?