texcoaster

If you want to make JRS a great little woodie again, just retrack the whole thing (all the layers) and lighten up the trains. Not by getting new trains, because I really love the old 6-seat PTCs, but by removing the seat dividers and the headrests. Oh, and do buzzbars weigh less than individual ratchet bars? Then slap those on it, too. Yes, I realize that will prevent them from being able to dispatch the train with single riders, but it shouldn't be hard to install a single rider line to fill the empty seats. Classic Bill Cobb out and back design with 6-seat PTCs, no headrests, no seat dividers, and buzzbars. That would be even more exciting than a 400ft star flyer!

See my above post. It ain't gonna happen, at least not in the short term. They've still got that piece of land with the dead mall and Flashback is gone. Expect something there.

I don't think Iron Judge is going to happen. The coaster is too small to be turned into the sort of world-class ride that Giant became and the park will most likely want Judge to remain the "classic wood coaster experience," especially with the Bill Cobb tribute plaque at the entrance. Besides, it's a great little training coaster for younger enthusiasts and something that most everyone in the family can enjoy. ....now if they'd just throw it a little TLC with the money they're saving on Old Giant and Flashback maintenance funds.

There are right-wing hatemongers everywhere. While they are more plentiful (by percentage) in the small towns, the cities are generally pretty easy-going and friendly. Austin has the politicians in it, but the town isn't that way. Dallas might judge you by the labels on your clothes or the hood ornament on your car, but Arlington (where SFOT is) isn't like that. Houston has a lesbian mayor who just won her second term election. But enough of that... You can come here and in just three days, hit the major parks and ride: 3 inverted 2 woodies 1 bobsled 4 kiddie coasters 1 launched shuttle 2 badass steel/wood hybrids 2 spinning coasters 2 mine trains 1 enclosed coaster 1 classic Schwarzkopf looper 1 hypercoaster 1 boomerang 1 launched Premier looper 1 floorless terrain coaster 1 steel non-looping coaster 1 water coaster 1 Euro-fighter In addition, if you spend more time in Texas, you can hit some of the kiddie parks and three Schlitterbahn parks. That last bit should be enough to trump any right-wing nonsense, because SCHLITTERBAHN.

Also, the track will be pink with oil and grime on it.... unless they paint it before they ship it over, which is unlikely.

If you look at where the original comes out of the tunnel, it's not hard to mentally connect it to that track that goes back into the station without doing the helix first. From the videos, this is apparently how it's going to be.

Kinda makes me lose some respect for that site.

So what are the odds that RCDB is going to put iRon Rattler on the same listing as Rattler and not call it a new coaster... the same way it did for NTAG?

Looking carefully at the videos, it appears that the track exits the tunnel and heads right for the station.

What's the capacity on these things? It must get lower as the towers get taller, because each ride cycle will take more time. I'm thinking that when the park opens, run to NTAG and get 20-30 rides on it while everyone else is still queueing at Skyscreamer.

Yeah, the Centrifugal Railway was the reason I specified Flip-flap being the first full-circuit looping coaster, rather than just the first looping coaster.

Well if you want to be technical, SOB was the first wooden coaster to go upside down... Ohhh, and there is also the fact that Iron Rattler isn't a wooden coaster. Technically, the first wooden full-circuit coaster with a loop was Brooklyn's "Flip-flap Railway" circa 1895 or so.

It is definitely an homage to the original Rattler drop, which also did a little twist just as it got steeper... if this even gets close to the sensation of the old one, it will be epic.

Those were to keep people from sticking their arms out the sides of the car and hitting structrure. Apparently, they're doing this one with enough clearance so they won't need the side blockers.

If they put flying scooters on this, I'd actually be excited. I rode the 360ft starflyer in Vienna and thought it was nice for the view, but boring. It did kick up a bit in rotation speed when it was almost all the way back down. Is that common? Why don't they do the faster rotation up top before it gets back down low? Yay for all you folks who are scared of these things, you've got an exciting ride. For the rest of us, though... (shrug) I'm already looking forward to the 2014 announcement.

I think I'll hold out and wait for the white one.

Looking carefully at the short video, it seems that "what will they do with that area where the helix was" can be answered with "nothing." The cliff drop looks like it will have the turn at the bottom instead of twisting during the drop like before and the tunnel is definitely used again. Hard to tell from the video, but it looks like the final turn might go outside of the station and circle it, rather than buzzing the ride operator like before. No helix, just an airtime hill and a big turn No track near the cliff edge to indicate anything after the turn Gotta love those RMC matchstick supports Look in the background for the finale

Cool.... that's kinda where I thought they'd put it. Dammit, I still can't get that video to work. Is there a full POV anywhere?

^ I couldn't get the other video to load, so I haven't seen it yet. Dude. A Colossus makeover would be WICKED. It could go from a racing coaster to a dueling coaster pretty easily. Just add some height to the first drop for lots more speed, and then at the crests of some of the hills you could throw in some high-five elements, or even have the sides switch by having the left side do a quick crossover (like those Intamin hills that lean left, then switch at the top and lean right) while the right side does a barrel roll over the top. On a later hill, they can switch back... or not, and then it would be the world's only möbius track steel coaster - or if SFMM still wants to call it a wood coaster, it would only be the third one of those and easily the largest in the world. Speaking of calling it a wood coaster, did you notice that SFFT stuck with "hybrid" throughout that whole announcement? That's a good thing, IMHO.

OK, I love that the drop is going all the way down to the floor of the quarry again and I love that it's taller and steeper than it was before. The original drop had that little wavy thing happening in the middle of it, right around where the top of the cliff is, which made the bottom of the drop mostly invisible until you were halfway down while this (if the video is accurate) looks to put that at the bottom of the drop. THAT should be interesting. I wonder if they'll cover it with a roof like before to prevent the possibility of loose rock ending up on the track. I didn't notice in the video, I was too busy thinking OMG, FULL DROP AGAIN! I admit that putting the barrel roll at the top of the horseshoe turn was a surprise, but in the glimpse we get from the video, it looks like the horseshoe will be a double-down drop again. I'd still love to know what's happening up top where the helix used to be....

This. Other than being a gimmick, can anyone come up with a good reason that it launches backward for a few feet?

Jet Scream went to SFAW in 1989 and ran there until the park closed in 2005. That wasn't exactly letting it go to waste. It ran really well here.

Technically, "go soaring" could refer to a wing coaster, a flyer, or even a 4th dimension. ...but it's probably a StarFlyer. Yawn. Maybe it'll suck people out of the Giant queue. OK, so now I'm most geeked up over what SFFT will announce.

Compare the layouts of the Summers/Dinn ride with the RMC layout. They are totally different. I would definitely count it as "new". Old Texas Giant: wood coaster, no airtime, rough (even when new), out-of-control feeling, flying carpet finale New Texas Giant: STEEL COASTER, batsh!t crazy airtime, smooth as glass, graceful in-control feeling, disco tunnel finale Also, new serial number. Just because RCDB has it listed as the same ride (in spite of my objections), it's a NEW COASTER that uses parts of the old one. Crystal Beach Cyclone recycled parts to make the Comet. Does anyone count those two as the "same coaster"? Edited to add: If you told someone how much you loved the Giant and they said, "Oh, I rode that several years ago and hated it" would you not tell them to try it again, since it's a steel coaster now?

Dropping in the dark, six people at a time.... Maybe a DDD with a tunnel? I agree that the waterpark is the most likely target for new stuff, but I can't think of anything that fits the description. Also, on their Facebook, they mention that it will be a "world's first..."