sfmman2000 Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 I don't know if it's just me, but Supreme Scream and knotts doesn't give the same drop ride 'feeling' as other drop rides, such as the old Freefall ride. It feels more like a rapid descent than an actual zero-gravity freefall. Does Lex Luthor five that true dropping feeling? The lose-your-stomach-cant-breathe-all-the-way-down feeling? On an S&S tower, the ride carriage is permanently attached to a cable at both the top and bottom, on all four sides. On an Intamin tower, cables are only attached to the catch car (which hooks onto the ride carriage from above). This makes Intamin towers as close to a freefall as possible, whereas an S&S tower is more controlled due to the attached cables. On an S&S Turbo Drop, compressed air pushes the carriage down at a fast speed after being released from the brakes at the top of the tower, but anyone who has ridden both products knows that a Turbo Drop "freefall" doesn't quite match up to an Intamin freefall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The49er Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 SFMM actually did a decent theming job! Also, I'm not sure if I would ever ride this. Scary! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cal1br3tto Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Oh, man. I wasn't that interested before, but I think I'm sold now. Hopefully riders will have a fair chance of feeling the tower sway during any given ride. That sounds exhilarating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCoasterGuy Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 My only question, is the queue air conditioned? Yes, very much so. I was sweating profusely after standing in the direct sun for about an hour yesterday. I stepped inside the queue building for about 15 minutes and completely cooled down and even dried off. Of course, there weren't any other people in there at the time. I'm not sure how it fared today being full of hundreds of hot people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy4Coasters! Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 I don't know if it's just me, but Supreme Scream and knotts doesn't give the same drop ride 'feeling' as other drop rides, such as the old Freefall ride. It feels more like a rapid descent than an actual zero-gravity freefall. Does Lex Luthor five that true dropping feeling? The lose-your-stomach-cant-breathe-all-the-way-down feeling? On an S&S tower, the ride carriage is permanently attached to a cable at both the top and bottom, on all four sides. On an Intamin tower, cables are only attached to the catch car (which hooks onto the ride carriage from above). This makes Intamin towers as close to a freefall as possible, whereas an S&S tower is more controlled due to the attached cables. On an S&S Turbo Drop, compressed air pushes the carriage down at a fast speed after being released from the brakes at the top of the tower, but anyone who has ridden both products knows that a Turbo Drop "freefall" doesn't quite match up to an Intamin freefall. You would think being dropped down faster than what gravity would pull would give a bigger punch. I remember freefall but that was just a 100 ft drop compare to supreme scream's 252 ft drop. I do feel that gut wrenching feeling on supreme scream probably at the 2 second mark of the drop. Freefall had a smooth drop but I wonder how it's going to feel adding almost 300 ft more to that drop. I can't wait to ride it with my church group when we go in September! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasteroverdose2012 Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Rode it and my hands were trembling the whole ride and about 20 minutes after i got off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmcdllr Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Saw the tower sway in the webcast and I would bet it sways more than 24", which is even better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfmman2000 Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 You would think being dropped down faster than what gravity would pull would give a bigger punch. I remember freefall but that was just a 100 ft drop compare to supreme scream's 252 ft drop. I do feel that gut wrenching feeling on supreme scream probably at the 2 second mark of the drop. Yeah, that sounds logical to me too. Just pulling up some quick stats shows that Supreme Scream has a 252 foot drop at only 50 mph. Drop Tower at CGA has a smaller drop at 207 feet, but reaches 62 mph. My guess is that the initial release of a Turbo Drop is faster than the pull of gravity (as claimed), but the ride isn't maintaining a real freefall after that point due to the friction and pull of the cable and pneumatic system. I'm sure someone has a better explanation of this, and if so, I'd like to hear it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry_Gumball Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 I'd love to be on a swaying drop tower! I remember back when V2 opened at SFDK, I used to watch both the front and rear spikes sway quite a bit. Considering that thought, when we went to SFMM later that year I looked to see if Superman swayed which it did quite a bit. The ride carrage itself: I like the restraints (noodles) that are used...it looks like as close to a lapbar you can get to on a floorless/open air carriage. I still don't think anything will top the freedom felt on Thrillshot back in 2001 where it felt like virtually nothing was holding me in, that I was just straddled over the saddle-like seats (while a thin vest-like harness with 4 locking pins held me in during my 300 foot launch upward). And I remember watching TS's 3 poles suck inward as the pod went upward above the poles...looked very unreal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaMapa Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Rode LLDOD 3 times today. Really great ride! For the first time I ran straight to the ride and waited about 30 minutes. The second time, I waited a total of an hour and 50 minutes due to 3 breakdowns. The third time I used the SR line and got on in about 25 minutes due to another breakdown. When I left an hour ago the wait time was about an hour. Post any question here and I will answer! Full review coming later!!!! I don't know if it's just me, but Supreme Scream and knotts doesn't give the same drop ride 'feeling' as other drop rides, such as the old Freefall ride. It feels more like a rapid descent than an actual zero-gravity freefall. Maybe it's just me and I'm crazy. Which drop is more intense... the S&S compressed air drop or the literal freefall intamin gives? Does Lex Luthor five that true dropping feeling? The lose-your-stomach-cant-breathe-all-the-way-down feeling? It was broken about 15 minutes. There were about 20 people in front of me in the SR line. The queue is air conditioned, but not very well. I was still really hot in there because of all the people. As for the ride... Yes it does give you that feeling in your stomach. And on my third ride, I was lucky enough to get synced with Superman (which was running great by the way) and wow does that tower shake! It wasn't swaying too much but the vibrations were intense! It made the ride so much better! The spiel at the top was all in sync today and there were no problems. When the ride broke, it was because the catch car would get stuck at the top of the tower after the ride dropped. Maintenance was on hand and all was fixed nice and quick. The operations were really good too! What fascinated me though is once the ride was clear to launch, the ride operators had a key and a lock to the gates that riders used to enter and exit. Every time the ride would cycle, they locked the gates with the lock and key. Wonder why they had to do this. I must say the scariest part in my opinion of the ride was when you are about half way up the tower and the brakes end and the ride speeds up as it climbs. The drop was really fun and I had my hands up by the third ride. It is a great ride and the they kept the line moving relatively fast. The ride is on the Flash Pass, but Platinum only (not sure about an upcharge). The line is 1 hour to the door of the queue building. The queue works like this: you wait through the switchbacks inside and then they have an employee stopping the line at the end of the switchbacks. This is where Flash Passers are let in (they come in through a door just to the left of the slingshot game). Then a long hallway is left open and the line backs up again right at the door to go outside. When you are in the inside queue, you can't really hear Superman at all. When you are outside, it isn't too annoying. After the line goes outside, you will come to a junction. This is where a ride op will put you in row 1 or 2 (for each side). This is where the groups of 8 are made. If when all the people that go back do not add up to 8, single riders will be placed in one of the 2 lines. Then there is a 2 car wait from there. Since everybody is already in groups of 8, the ride loads really quickly. This was all really thought out and designed very well. I saw Neal, Tim, and even the Ice Queen out at Lex. Tim and Bonnie were just there in the morning, and Neal was there all day. Also, if it makes anyone feel any better, in my opinion the ride looks a lot taller from the ground than it does when you are at the top. It is a great ride and totally worth it. It's not one of my favorites, but it easily makes my top 10 rides at the park. Again, feel free to ask any questions. Edit: And the harnesses felt perfect! No pain whatsoever, and you did have a lot of freedom! You wouldnt have even known that The bars that went over your shoulder were there unless you were holding onto them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfmman2000 Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Since everybody is already in groups of 8, the ride loads really quickly. This was all really thought out and designed very well. This is the best news I've heard all day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAWKIN_coaster38 Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 This sounds great! And I guess Six Flags was one step ahead of us again with having the capacity issues taken care of by pristine operations. Great job! I'll echo what everyone else has already said: this looks terrifyingly awesome and I hope I get a chance to ride it synced with Superman because that would be rad. One question: has anyone been on Superman yet when it's synced up with Lex Luther? If so, was the experience on Superman better or unchanged? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaMapa Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 ^it was exactly the same as far as I could tell. And I should mention that they were ready for the crowd! They had a lot of extra queuing set up outside! It never even filled up! That was awesome that they were prepared. By around 4:00 today, the end of the line was right at the queue door. They were giving out boarding passes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousReed Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 I just got this email from Six Flags regarding when we will get the EDT Passes for Lex Luthor: Hi, Evan… We are sending out the certificates for Monday and Tuesday’s riders this evening/tomorrow morning…Wed & Thurs riders will receive theirs by Tuesday morning and Friday’s riders will get theirs by Wednesday afternoon. We appreciate your patience and hope you have a great time on LEX LUTHOR: Drop of Doom!! M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaMapa Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 It really wasn't a bad wait compared to everything else. After my first ride on LLDOD, I went over to X2 and found a 2 hour wait. Tatsu was 1 hour. GL was 1 hour. Goliath's line was almost to the entrance with 3 trains running. And Lex, their lowest capacity thrill ride, only had a 60-90 minute wait on opening day. I think that people might actually be too scared to ride this thing and that is what is keeping the line down! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ728 Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 When Goliath is running three trains, and the line is to the entrance, how long of a wait is that? Two trains with that line is nearly two hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaMapa Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 ^Not sure, didn't feel like waiting. Probably a little more than an hour, assuming operations are sufficient. With 3 trains there is stacking no matter what though. But anyone who hasn't been out to try Drop of Doom yet should definitely come down and check it out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlakeCoaster Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 This makes Intamin towers as close to a freefall as possible, whereas an S&S tower is more controlled due to the attached cables. On an S&S Turbo Drop, compressed air pushes the carriage down at a fast speed after being released from the brakes at the top of the tower, but anyone who has ridden both products knows that a Turbo Drop "freefall" doesn't quite match up to an Intamin freefall. Oh man did you hit the nail on the head. I've been on quite a few Intamin drop towers, but I would say even the 1st generation Intamin towers, due to their unrestricted freefall drop, have given me more airtime and butterflies than any S&S tower. And it really doesn't matter how tall they are. I always felt like Freefall @ MM gave more airtime in 100 feet than Supreme Scream did at 250 feet. The feeling of "uncontrolled" freefall is unmatched. After riding Lex Luther today, I truly feel like they replaced my beloved Freefall Satellite Tower with a drop ride that one-ups it. I am so glad this happened, and I can't wait to be there again on Tuesday to have some ERT in the morning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymonster-rex Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 what does LLDOD feel like compared to the giant drop for the feeling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasternut Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Rode LLDOD 3 times today. Really great ride! For the first time I ran straight to the ride and waited about 30 minutes. The second time, I waited a total of an hour and 50 minutes due to 3 breakdowns. The third time I used the SR line and got on in about 25 minutes due to another breakdown. When I left an hour ago the wait time was about an hour. Post any question here and I will answer! Full review coming later!!!! I don't know if it's just me, but Supreme Scream and knotts doesn't give the same drop ride 'feeling' as other drop rides, such as the old Freefall ride. It feels more like a rapid descent than an actual zero-gravity freefall. Maybe it's just me and I'm crazy. Which drop is more intense... the S&S compressed air drop or the literal freefall intamin gives? Does Lex Luthor five that true dropping feeling? The lose-your-stomach-cant-breathe-all-the-way-down feeling? It was broken about 15 minutes. There were about 20 people in front of me in the SR line. The queue is air conditioned, but not very well. I was still really hot in there because of all the people. As for the ride... Yes it does give you that feeling in your stomach. And on my third ride, I was lucky enough to get synced with Superman (which was running great by the way) and wow does that tower shake! It wasn't swaying too much but the vibrations were intense! It made the ride so much better! The spiel at the top was all in sync today and there were no problems. When the ride broke, it was because the catch car would get stuck at the top of the tower after the ride dropped. Maintenance was on hand and all was fixed nice and quick. The operations were really good too! What fascinated me though is once the ride was clear to launch, the ride operators had a key and a lock to the gates that riders used to enter and exit. Every time the ride would cycle, they locked the gates with the lock and key. Wonder why they had to do this. I must say the scariest part in my opinion of the ride was when you are about half way up the tower and the brakes end and the ride speeds up as it climbs. The drop was really fun and I had my hands up by the third ride. It is a great ride and the they kept the line moving relatively fast. The ride is on the Flash Pass, but Platinum only (not sure about an upcharge). The line is 1 hour to the door of the queue building. The queue works like this: you wait through the switchbacks inside and then they have an employee stopping the line at the end of the switchbacks. This is where Flash Passers are let in (they come in through a door just to the left of the slingshot game). Then a long hallway is left open and the line backs up again right at the door to go outside. When you are in the inside queue, you can't really hear Superman at all. When you are outside, it isn't too annoying. After the line goes outside, you will come to a junction. This is where a ride op will put you in row 1 or 2 (for each side). This is where the groups of 8 are made. If when all the people that go back do not add up to 8, single riders will be placed in one of the 2 lines. Then there is a 2 car wait from there. Since everybody is already in groups of 8, the ride loads really quickly. This was all really thought out and designed very well. I saw Neal, Tim, and even the Ice Queen out at Lex. Tim and Bonnie were just there in the morning, and Neal was there all day. Also, if it makes anyone feel any better, in my opinion the ride looks a lot taller from the ground than it does when you are at the top. It is a great ride and totally worth it. It's not one of my favorites, but it easily makes my top 10 rides at the park. Again, feel free to ask any questions. Edit: And the harnesses felt perfect! No pain whatsoever, and you did have a lot of freedom! You wouldnt have even known that The bars that went over your shoulder were there unless you were holding onto them. Sounds great! I can't wait to get back to Magic Mountain. From other reports it also sounds very re-rideable which is important to me. Sound like the queue line is organized well, and a little a/c won't hurt either. I'm always a single rider, so I'm looking forward to that. A shaking tower at 385' - OMG! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 Lex Luthor Drop of Doom Rider POV Video! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 (edited) ^Excellent video--the best one I've seen of this ride (loved David/Spears ride and all the other angles). It's cool when it syncs up with Superman. Edited July 8, 2012 by cfc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterfreak101 Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 ^Agreed. Seriously awesome! Can't wait to try this out next month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xmichellex Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 What an awesome looking ride! I love drop towers, and I can't believe this one is all the way across the country from me. Great video as well--the rider expressions were priceless! Great job (as always) with coverage TPR! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryce Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 All drop towers freak me out... I don't think I could do it. I love Tower of Terror, but I draw the line after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now