texcoaster

I remember that, but I'm skeptical. The trains will probably feel like woodie trains and there might be a little bit of the shuffle that's inherent in flat, box track... but considering that the Intamin plug and play coasters actually ARE wood coasters and they feel more like steelies than woodies, I can't imagine that TNG will feel more like a woodie than those. Even LESS like a woodie than those, I'd bet. The difference is that I'm not expecting TNG to feel anything like a woodie... but I was hoping the Intamins would (wood?). Perhaps El Toro will change my mind, but I was seriously disappointed in Heide Park's Colossos. It took several rides for me to just appreciate it for what it IS and shake off the "that's not what I wanted it to be" feeling.

But I thought they already did that with El Toro... Smoothness, yes. Acrobatics, no. Overbanked turns have, up till now, been exclusive to steelies with pipes for rails. This is a first for flat track.

I can't think of anything that Gemini and TG have in common other than steel track and wood structure. Even the track is very different: round pipe vs flat I-beams. Gemini isn't all that fast, has a ton of really slow turns, very little airtime, and its main selling point it racing. Giant is steep, fast, has extreme elements, and looks to be an airtime monster. Kinda like comparing a station wagon and a MINI Cooper because they both have rubber tires and run on gas. I'm thinking that we're all in for a completely new kind of coaster experience. A mixture of the out-of-control feelings of a woodie with the smoothness and acrobatics of a steelie.

^This. If you want a perfect example of "looks great, rides like crap" then look no further than Goudurix: http://www.rcdb.com/753.htm?p=24724 Beautiful. Now imagine that the transitions are more jarring than the worst SLC you've ever been on. Now imagine those transitions with these headrests: http://www.rcdb.com/753.htm?p=30098 And no, those weird fins are NOT soft. I would ride the roughest wood coaster 100 times in a row before I will set foot on Goudurix again even once.

OF COURSE that's what they were going for! Proof: http://www.coasterphotos.com/SFOT/texasg20.htm

You know, all this talk of how "bad" and "tacky" it looks is amusing, considering that those supports were already in place when they shot both the videos. None of us noticed the tackiness when we were spellbound watching the cars do their acrobatics through the layout. It took a closeup shot from a weird angle taken from a place at the bottom of the structure that none of us will be before we even noticed those supports. ...and now it's gone from "OMG that looks SWEEEEEET" to "OMG that looks BAD" I'm guessing that when you're on the train getting your azz kicked with ejector air and overbanked turns that you aren't going to notice the supports then, either.

I guess it all depends on what you think is "intense." Some people think that huge drops are intense, others talk of high g-forces, still others think that rapid-fire pacing that doesn't let up makes it "intense." For high G-forces, the BTR clone called "Great White" at Sea World of Tx takes the prize. Holy crap. Tatsu's pretzel loop is a bit more forceful, but that's just one element. Great White's entire layout is one big maelstrom of G's. For pacing, Nemesis has got it in spades. It's the only B&M that catches me off-guard because the layout and the order of the elements is so NOT like a B&M. Cork, helix of death, heartline, and THEN a loop? The half-out-half-in corkscrew in the trench finale is insane, too.

Major awards? I'm sure that it will be in the running for some IAAPA accolades, and perhaps some Amusement Today "golden tickets", but the one "award" that the rest of the industry is going to be paying attention to is whether or not the increased attendance and reduced maintenance costs mean that SFOT is going to recover the $10M they spent on this project. The quicker this upgrade gets in the black, the more coasters we're likely to see on RMC's to-do list.

Fingers crossed. Turbine is the only Schwarzkopf shuttle that ever topped Astroworld's Greezed Lightnin' in my book. I'd hate to see it scrapped. Speaking of GL, Joyland is having trouble trying to sell it now that they don't plan to build it at their park... maybe they could sell it to Walibi for parts?

...and for those who wanted some, here's a page with a brief description and some pics of Golden Loop: http://coasterguy.squarespace.com/golden-loop/

Also, here is a page on The Tower of Terror back before the ride was modified. From the sound of it, everything I loved about the ride (the funky ride vehicles, the crawl around the top of the tower, the nearly full minute of hang time before the drop) has been changed. Elevator lift? Bah! http://coasterguy.squarespace.com/tower-of-terror/

Here's a page I did on Anaconda several years ago in its original paint scheme. At the end of the page is a link to a video of the whole layout. http://coasterguy.squarespace.com/anaconda/ Anaconda is my current #3 steel coaster, behind only Expedition GeForce and SFNE's Bizarro

The stereotype of ACE being eaters was poked fun at several times, mostly by the ACErs present. Jeffrey Siebert (who is one of the coolest speaker/presenters in the industry) kicked it off by welcoming "American Catering Enthusiasts" and said that "food would be available at all times in the back of the room". There were even buckets of snacks on each table for the "between buffet" times. Several of the presentations included videos or slide shows about upcoming events and nearly every one mentioned something like "Breakfast! Lunch! Dinner!" and we'd all cheer loudly. Schlitterbahn has several new projects in the works, including a new park and at least two parks in the planning stages. The new family attraction at the Galveston park will have a shipwreck theme and will incorporate additional shade and seating, which have been requested by guests. Landry's sent the new GM of the Kemah Boardwalk and Jay (formerly at the Boardwalk) from the Downtown Aquarium. Jay says that the Aquarium is looking to expand and he's got a Gravity Group "Splinter" coaster in mind, but it's a longshot if it happens. The Boardwalk could put in more rides where Babin's Seafood (which had a fire recently) is, and he said, "We're thinking wet." A log flume would be perfect for that park! He also said that Galveston's Pleasure Pier would be "all about the rides." (sorry if I'm repeating some things that have already been said). I asked him if they were looking into new track technologies to make the Bullet less temperamental and he said that they are watching the TxGiant project very closely. Speaking of the TxGiant, it seems that the official name is "New Texas Giant" and the logo with the horns that was posted awhile back is legit. We got a preview of the full-train video and while the latter part of the course seemed really sluggish (a full train of wheels with really cold grease would naturally be slow), it had no problems completing the course at all. The video was spliced together from three separate cameras (no POV yet, dammit) and has one gasp-incuding shot of the train hitting that first overbank in a nice closeup. Chills. During the Q&A, I mentioned that the videos show the train cruising through the MCBR without any heavy braking at all and asked if that was just the setting for the empty-train test runs, or if that would be the norm. She said that the plan is to run it like that normally, without heavy braking on the midcourse block. The upcoming CoasterCon was discussed and all 13 of the coasters at SFOT will have ERT and the Giant and Titan are scheduled to have ERT nearly every morning and evening. In addition, there will be a separate ACE day of ERT on the New TxGiant that is separate from CoasterCon. Titan turns 10 yrs old this year as well and they're asking for ideas on how to celebrate it in a unique way. The afternoon was filled with a tour of Schlitterbahn Galveston, a ridiculously difficult coaster-themed game show (I missed getting into the finals by ONE POINT), raffle drawings, an auction, door prizes, and exclusive hot tub time with an open bar. More food there, too, with hot wings and spiral potatoes on a stick. Even without rides, it was a good day and well worth the $15 ticket (all the proceeds are being donated to the Roller Coaster Museum and Archives). Hell, I think I ate $15 worth of bacon!

my bad. That's what I get for trying to multitask TPR and TurboTax

^that's probably what he meant, but the back row was actually the 6th row, not the third. Just sayin' Besides, even on UltraTwister (which ran a single car "train" with three rows) the back row had considerably more airtime than the front

If the end result is that they create a kick A$$ coaster out of it, why does it even matter? Obviously, it doesn't really matter except to things like Mitch Hawker's poll (which is what made me think of this in the first place) and folks like me who have their personal ride lists split between wood and steel.

I'm pretty sure you mean the absence of catwalks on either side of the track exposes the underlying structure... and not that the "track is narrower." Besides, when you're on the ride, it will all be a blur anyway, so whatevs. If the track actually WERE much narrower, they could run it with those new Matterhorn sleds! That would be sick. Seriously, or maybe the WDW Space Mountain sleds. I could totally imagine doing that third overbank in one of those... not sure how they'd keep you in the sled on those airtime hills, though.

Wondering if those seams can damage the polyurethane on the wheels over time... maybe now that they know that it will clear the course, they'll go back and weld them together to smooth it out... this isn't speculation, just thinking out loud. Pay no attention. The main thing is that if anyone was still thinking of this thing as a wood coaster, they obviously didn't have the sound up on their monitor when they watched the video. It almost sounds like a B&M! On a totally separate note (and should probably be a new thread, but I just woke up and haven't had enough coffee yet), what about Topper Track and the designation of wood/steel coasters? I could see making an argument that a coaster done up in 100% Topper Track could be a steelie, but what about those that are wood for most of the layout but have TT for a few 'trouble spots'?

Did anyone notice how LOUD the wheels thunked as they crossed the seams in the track? Three good CHONKS coming into the valley of the first drop, another three going up into the first overbank, then it slowed down enough to go from CHONKS to Ka-CHUNKS between the first two overbanks. I'm surprised that nobody is screaming "I heard it hit those bolts!"

I rode BB in it's early years, and got one of those brutal, rough rides. I then rode it this year and it wasn't quite as intense, but it was pretty smooth. I think that the Bullet, in its current state, is probably the best fit for the park which draws more families than anyone else. Do you agree that even though it isn't as intense, Kemah is better off with Boardwalk Bullet running the way it does now? Having ridden every Boardwalk Bullet version...I feel like I can chime in. For the park, it IS best for the park in it's current state. They finally, with the latest retracking, did something right as the ride is pretty consistent and STAYED smooth. Agreed, it's the perfect fit for the park now... but that leaves the Houston area without a badass coaster experience again. Of my 700+ rides on it, only about 40 have been in the last year since they "fixed" it. Meh.

My list is wildly different this year, not because I rode a bunch of new stuff, but because what I like in a wood coaster is undergoing some changes. Things that I used to find nearly mandatory for a "good" coaster are slipping and things that I didn't used to hold in high regard are becoming necessities for me to get back in line for another ride. Go figger. Boardwalk Bullet dropped several places this year, not because of the reasons above, but because it has given much more consistent rides lately. Let me 'splain: in its early years, BB was famously temperamental. One day the ride would be slow, boring, and incredibly brutal. A few days later, it would be smoother, insanely intense, and easily a top-three ride. I based my ranking on those very, very good rides, since they stood out in my mind much more than the crappy rides did. This year (or rather 2010), a lot of the issues that caused the wild variances were addressed and it became much more reliable and found a "happy medium". You didn't get the "barely make it back to the brake run" rides, but you also didn't get the top-tier rides anymore, either. I still really like the ride, but I no longer go down there as often as I used to, because I know I'm not going to be blown away anymore by the ride. I did the "top ten plus grouping" method. Top Ten 1. Voyage 2. Fave Steel Coaster (Expedition GeForce) 3. Mega Zeph 4. Screechin Eagle 5. Shivering Timbers 6. Boulder Dash 7. Boardwalk Bullet 8. Phoenix 9. Raven 10. Grand National Bottom group: Son of Beast Mean Streak Grizzly (California) Tx Giant Rattler Predator

Many years ago I visited Chapultapec in Mexico City and took a spin on the infamous La Montana Rusa. BRUTAL airtime and crushing Gs. On the fifth (and last) ride I took, I was in the front seat and as we crested the camelback after the first drop, the buzzbar popped up and LOCKED in the up position as if it were in the loading station. OMG I thought that we would seriously be ejected from the train before the ride was over.... not because we were in any danger, but because the airtime was so extreme on the previous rides that I was sure we'd be launched into space or something. When we arrived at the station, the bar was still up and the guy next to me was screaming to the ride ops in Spanish and pointing at the bar. The ride ops sorta shrugged, stepped on the lever, tested the bar, then sent the next group of riders off on their way.

At Lone Star Coasterthon, one of the maintenance guys explained the brakes to us. They are magnets, but not electromagnets. The fins on the train never touch them and they are mounted in a static position. They never "clamp" or "close" they only provide magnetic resistance to slow the train as it passes through. He even had a brake and a fin that we could play with and try to pass the fin through. It was very difficult. Since they never clamp nor close, this is why I speculate that there will be at least one regular clamp brake at the end of the line of mag brakes that would be used in the event of an emergency where the train would need to be stopped completely. The same style brakes are used on Boardwalk Bullet. There is a regular clamp brake (two, actually) at the end of the line of mag brakes at the end of the ride. If the power goes out, the mag brakes aren't affected at all: they are just magnets. However, they won't stop the train, so the regular clamp brakes (which, as has been said, default to closed when the power is off) are there to keep the trains from colliding in the station. Assuming that the two systems are the same, the amount of braking isn't controlled by a setting on the control panel, but by how many brakes are on the brake run and how they are spaced. Bullet went through several patterns and even removed a brake at one point when the trains took too long to arrive in the station (it has since been replaced and the trains CRAWL back home now). The bad news is that parks are likely to err on the side of caution and opt for slightly more brake than is necessary.

Of course, it doesn't say that there won't also be clamp brakes installed as well. Adjusting the current to e-stop a train works just fine unless there's a power outage. I will be amazed if the insurer doesn't require a backup system of some kind in addition to electrically controlled magnets to bring the train to a full stop on the MCBR in case of an emergency. Yes, I'm aware that it can be rigged to have a backup power supply that kicks in during a power failure... but I would still expect to see at least ONE brake up there that will physically make contact with the train in some way if needed.

No, but it would be unusual to see them put mag brakes on the MCBR without also installing a few regular clamp brakes as a backup in case the train needed to come to a full stop and be evacuated.