texcoaster

The initial plot designs had a dueling B&M whose overhead layout pattern was exactly like Dueling Dragons. Back then (when it was first announced), they mentioned four coasters, although I don't know if they counted the dueling coaster as one or two. The new concept art is totally different, which makes me think that the closing of Astroworld got them thinking "more rides needed".... not a bad thing at all! That volcano coaster looks like an S&S Thrust Air... but I hope not. An Intamin rocket would be so much nicer!

Bullet was ridiculously slow on Saturday. It was pulling 73 seconds with a full train... What was really odd was that the front seat was brutal and row 10 was actually not bad. Go figure. It was the first time I've ever ridden Bullet with single ride tickets. When I saw how slow it was going over the second drop, I knew I wouldn't ride it enough to make a wristband worth the money. And no, the first drop is nothing like it used to be. The ejector air is gone.

A few memories and other stuff: Skyscreamer, the first gen drop tower was so named because of the backstory that they tried to use (which never caught on) of a terrible winged creature who would swoop down, pick up people, then squeal with delight as it dropped the people from dizzying heights. Hence, the two "whoops" of the siren before the drop. On opening day, they sold black and red foam visors that said "Skyscreamer" across the bill and had two bat-like wings sticking out from the sides. Two enormous white eyes in the center of the visor completed the look. "Dexter Frebish's Electric Roller Ride" may just be the world's most often misspelled ride. Even the band "Dexter Freebish" (named after the coaster) added that extra "e" in there. The attached photo is of me, age 5, right before my first-ever coaster ride. Note the spelling on the station. Oh, Shane... all those pics of TxCyclone with the four-bench PTC trains!!! I'm drooling! Those things MADE that ride. It was the undisputed #1 wood coaster in the world when it ran those, and for good reason. The first two drops, the northern upper turn drop, and the post turn were beyond thrilling in the back car... they were downright terrifying. There was a reason that the height requirement was 4ft for the ride, but 5ft for the back car! Once they changed the trains (causing much modification to the profile), it was just never the same. Still good, but no longer terrifying. In the 29yrs of its life, I rode TC more than 10,000 times. Sadly, most of those rides were with the crappy trains. Oh, well. I still have the park map from my first visit to AW: 1969. It's amazing how much green space was in there! Still hard to believe that a 35-acre park managed to squeeze in nine coasters. Perhaps only Blackpool has a greater coaster density than that. I just remember that you could plant yourself anywhere in the park and look in any direction and see at least two coasters.

Um, yeah... that's why GG is marketing them to parks with existing coasters that aren't GG designs. Anyway, the point of building a train for the "modern wooden coaster" is that modern designs tend to be a LOT more twisted and full of turns (banked and otherwise) than old-school woodies. The track designs have evolved, but the train designs haven't changed that much. Even the MFs are throwbacks to previous designs (with some improvements). If you build a train that's supposed to excel on twisted, curvaceous track that other trains are NOT working well on, then it seems the obvious choice would be Boardwalk Bullet. It's a GG design, it's one of the most twisted layouts in coaster history, and it has yet to run at designed speeds with the current trains. No brainer.

Well, First, I respect your opinion. What makes it a bad idea? Given its size, a complete rebuilt/redesigned layout of the non-mechanical parts from the bottom of the first drop to before the final break would run around $7.5 Million, then omit the mid-course, reset the sensors and purchase 2 GCI Trains. Then add the cost of the tear down and there you have about $10 Million. ^ But I think whats really going to happen, is that it will be a completely new GCI coaster named "Texas Giant" or "TG2". I'm thinking a 120-125 foot tall "Roar" with a straight drop. But we'll see, I could be right on the money or the furthest from the truth, but thats the fun of speculation. It's a bad idea because they're selling the idea of making the Giant better than it is, and pulling a bait-and-switch on your customers is going to piss them off. It's a bad idea because the original design that locals remember so fondly was a butt-kicking maelstrom of a coaster. "Roar" (pick one) is fun, but it's just not what people are expecting. It would be like "refurbishing" the Coney Cyclone by tearing it down and putting up a Blue Streak clone in its place. Nothing wrong with the replacement in and of itself, but it's not even in the same category when it comes to what people are expecting. I still seriously doubt you're going to do it for $10Mil. While you pulled some numbers out of a hat for the cost of materials and construction, you've completely neglected the cost of engineering, design, and such. There is just as much engineering work on the kind of project you're suggesting as there would be on a brand new coaster... probably more, since you have to factor in the existing structure and its age. While I can totally see some Mil Flyers or Timberliners running on the revamped Giant, I absolutely do NOT want them to scrap it and build another modified Roar clone (or any other clone). Giant is a one-of-a-kind coaster and should remain so.

Hmmm.... WHAT???? I can't imagine that ANYONE would oppose making it smoother and faster. If he's worried that enthusiasts won't like what they're going to do, then it sounds like there's a lot more afoot than just some retracking and new trains.

No way. Firstly, it's just a really bad idea. Secondly, there is NO FREAKING WAY they can do what you describe for just $10Mil. Thirdly, as fun as GCIs are, if long-time Giant fans are expecting a return to the Giant of the early 90s, they are going to be seriously disappointed with a GCI layout.

I rode MS in its first year, and I also rode TG its first year. Seriously, there is just no comparison. TG opened a year earlier than MS and I remember friends who lived near CP were seriously impressed with MS when it opened. They hadn't been on TG yet, but MS was taller, faster, etc etc etc.... we (myself and a couple of friends who were going to CP with me) were seriously stoked about riding it. Giant was almost a religious experience during its opening season. Yes, it was violent, but that wasn't due to roughness, but simply the wild layout and insane speeds. Once you learned which way it went, you could lean with the turns and ride as much as you wanted without worry. Surely, MS's similar-looking layout and superlative stats would take it up a notch. My CP buddies met us at the park and couldn't wait to show off their new "backyard coaster". It was really impressive, with the queue inside the bowl and the roar of the trains all around. We got in, sat down, and prepared for bliss. Meh. What a letdown. Fast? Sure. Big? Absolutely. Fun? Yeah. Thrill? Nuttin. All that size, all that speed, and that's the best layout they could come up with? There were almost no forces on the ride at all. No airtime to speak of, few laterals, and the entire ride seemed to be one long stretch of "oooo, look how fast we can go". We rode two or three times, then went back over to marathon on Magnum for the rest of the day. If SFOT can get Giant to anything remotely close to the way it ran in 1990, there will be a lot of big smiles on older Texans.... and a lot of OMGs from younger ones who've never EVER ridden the Giant when it was still a damn good ride.

In THE African language? "Kumba" is from an African Congo language. I'll bet the speakers of Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, English, Swahili, French, Arabic, Tsonga, Ndebele, Venda, and around TWO THOUSAND others are very interested that you've narrowed down one dialect to be THE African language....

I'd go with "Holly Dog" Holidog is Holiday World's mascot and has its own coaster.

I rode it last night and I can say that it's not the same Bullet that TPR experienced last year. What can you expect from Bullet 3.0? Bug fixes: Fixed the painful shuffling Fixed the body slams on the turns Fixed abrupt transitions Enhancements in this version: Much faster performance. Runs much smoother. Infinitely re-ridable now, without pain. 2nd half of ride no longer boring! Features removed from previous version: Ejector air on first drop. Features added in this version: Multiple instances of floater air.

Um.... you realize, of course, that the last line is actually "and maybe I'll love you" The whole point of the song is that the woman is a using, controlling bitch.

It was Boardwalk Bullet around 12:30pm Jan 1. Got 18 rides in, plus a nice order of coconut shrimp at Joe's...

^ I'd be one of those who would desire that sort of "character." Colossus is my only plug n play coaster so far, and I was really disappointed in it. Yes, it was smooth and fast and full of airtime, but it just didn't feel right for a wood coaster. I kept thinking to myself, "if this is the sensation they were after, why didn't they just build a B&M and be done with it?" Nice to hear that it's starting to act like a woodie. Maybe I'll wait a few more years before heading to El Toro.

I'm going to begin 2009 the best way I know how: taking some coaster rides on Jan 1. For those interested, M&V is definitely coming down to do the track work. It should begin in late January and will (hopefully) be done before the ACE Winterfest Feb 28. I wonder, if this round of trackwork doesn't make it run as it was designed to, (and it still hasn't ever run at designed speeds) will they talk to Intamin about the possibility of refitting it with plug-n-play? Would the years of reduced maintenance and trackwork eventually cover the initial cost of the retrofit and purchase of new trains? Now that the p-n-p coasters have been around awhile, how are they holding up? Do they get off-season trackwork like regular coasters do?

Surely you meant to say that there are very few Mitch Hawker Poll-taking people in the world who have been on some of these coasters.... I'm sure that LOTS of people have been on these rides. Thousands, even!

Ms. SharkTums, I gotta ask something after seeing your rankings.... You ranked EGF as your #1 steel coaster, then Fave Wood below that on your steel list. On your wood list, though, it shows Fave Steel falls behind at least three wood coasters. How is that possible?

I tend to agree that a water ride... ANY water ride... would be well worth the investment in this climate. I can remember the days at Astroworld when every ride in the park had a 10min wait, but the rapids ride, shoot the chute, and log flume were a half hour to an hour or more. I wonder, now that there will be more "real" rides down there, if the all-day wristband will become more expensive?

I'm one of the ones who "gets" the Voyage. I can understand your puzzlement, Robb, since there are rides way up on your list that I didn't "get", either. Heide Park's Colossos, for example, did nothing for me. It was OK and fast and smooth, but whatever. I rode it, shrugged, rode it again at the other end of the train, shrugged again and went back to their excellent bobsled. That was my fave coaster in the park! I've always been willing to put up with some roughness if I get rewarded for it. Voyage is beyond rough: it's freaking BRUTAL. That's OK, though, because when I get off it, I'm so high on adrenaline that I just don't care. Would it be better if smooth? Sure. But even as-is, it's by far my fave woodie. Likewise with SFNO's Mega Zeph, my previous fave woodie. I don't know anyone else who was as amazed by that ride as I was, and that's OK. I would go and ride for hours (there was never a line) and not get bored. And, I might as well say it: when Bullet is running well, it's my #2 woodie. When it's not, it's down in the 20s somewhere. However, I rank my coasters by my most recent ride on them, and as of the day I took the poll, my last ride was spectacular. Rides since it re-opened haven't been bad, but haven't been top 10.

As long as we're wishing, I'd love to see Inverter get replaced with a Huss Frisbee or a KMG Afterburner.

Wow, Robb, we certainly disagree on rankings of wood coasters (judging just from the ones we have in common).... I've got Voyage at #1, and Colossos and Kentucky Rumbler don't even come close to my top 20. But at least we agree on EGF as the best steelie on earth! A nice setting, jam-packed with airtime, sustained speed, butter smooth, head choppers, a wicked twisting speed hill, one of the best first drops ever made, and getting to listen to a trainload of people scream obscenities in German. What's not to love?

Best: Nemesis Cyclone Chaos Alpengeist Big Bad Wolf Shiekra The Beast Steeplechase (fits the ride perfectly) Big Dipper Space Mountain Worst: Dog Fart Coaster ANYTHING that requires a punctuation mark in it

After zooming the pic, it appears that even though the track lines go "through" the building, nothing inside the building appears to be situated around the track. There are theater seats with track right across them, as well as part of a restaurant where the track goes right across the tables. Clearly, the track is either under the building, or on stilts high above the other stuff. My best guess would be that the track goes under the building. I did notice some sort of tracked attraction in the building, though, in the upper center of the building. Could be a Convoy or something like that. There also appears to be a 360deg theater just to the left of the tracked attraction.

^Vortex at CW is one of those coasters that just blew me away, even in the daytime. It was exactly the opposite of anticipointment for me, since I've never been a huge fan of KI's Top Gun. The layouts are the same, so I was basically just riding Vortex for the credit. It instantly justified all those "just for credit" rides I've wasted my time on. You keep opening the oysters until you find the pearl, right? OMFG, that thing was amazing! The terrain worked so much better than Top Gun's, the speed was unbelievable, and it was so intense! I never expected that kind of thrill from an Arrow suspended... hell, from an Arrow, period!

So many folks saying he should've been a ride op.... but the whole point of the movie is that he thought it was going to be the worst job ever! I can't imagine anyone at that age who wouldn't look forward to running the rides at a park, or at least view it as a fairly cool job.