BugEyed Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 My travel plans for next year have not included a return trip to SFMM; or being anywhere geographically close to California for that matter. The intention of my 2015 trip planning has been to exclusively focus on visiting parks, cities and countries that I've never before experienced. This announcement makes me feel that a return trip to the park next season is now essential. And this is probably the highest compliment that I can give to RMC and Six Flags. Good job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 The new Twisted Colossus dual-lift coaster will require precise timing to dispatch one train every 110 seconds so that riders on both tracks will simultaneously climb the parallel lift hills and navigate the high-five element together. http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-81201830/ This got me a little "concerned" on the capacity of this ride -- that 110-second dispatch seems very slow, and would put the capacity at 700 PPH. That can't be right, can it? 110 second dispatches are aspirational at SFMM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rramstad Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Considering the old Colossus often ran only one side, and dispatches were easily in the 90-110 second range, and the ride was only a couple of minutes long, and boring, if they get this working with a 110 second dispatch for a thrilling four minute ride, well, it's a huge freaking upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tororific Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 The new Twisted Colossus dual-lift coaster will require precise timing to dispatch one train every 110 seconds so that riders on both tracks will simultaneously climb the parallel lift hills and navigate the high-five element together. http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-81201830/ This got me a little "concerned" on the capacity of this ride -- that 110-second dispatch seems very slow, and would put the capacity at 700 PPH. That can't be right, can it? 110 second dispatches are aspirational at SFMM. Well, this will have big lines, for sure! (As a side note, that is one thing that RMC may have to work on a little bit more. They use a very short (for today's standards) 24-person train and that, coupled with the seatbelt / lapbar configuration, leads to bad capacity. If they end up doing a Mean Streak make-over, I could see Cedar Point pushing them to a longer train or blocking to allow higher capacity. 700 PPH is not good for big amusement parks.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCT3Bross Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Omg I didn't expect this ride to look so good. I have difficulty planning an American trip next year and hoped this ride would set my mind of California, it only draws me near it. Great addition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterfreak101 Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Oof. Unpopular opinion, this was disappointing. I think my favorite part is that they've actually advertised 'precise' 110-second dispatch times - so very Six Flags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rramstad Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 (As a side note, that is one thing that RMC may have to work on a little bit more. They use a very short (for today's standards) 24-person train and that, coupled with the seatbelt / lapbar configuration, leads to bad capacity. If they end up doing a Mean Streak make-over, I could see Cedar Point pushing them to a longer train or blocking to allow higher capacity. 700 PPH is not good for big amusement parks.) Ooh, off topic, but one of the most difficult days in my life was media day for the opening of Mean Streak. CP had fed us breakfast, gave us free rein of the park for the rest of the day, got us in super early so we could make the morning local TV news, and so on, and walked us all back to Mean Streak, which had impressive stats. I rode it with my friend (who at the time was a primary photographer for Roller Coaster magazine, ACEs publication) and we looked at each other before getting off and knew that we weren't impressed... it was "fine" but for that kind of money and effort, it needed to be great, and wasn't... but we had to put on a happy face and talk to the media for 20 minutes about what a great addition to CP it was. (Of course, once the park opened, we were off, and never rode it again all day. Magnum, Blue Streak, hell even Gemini was a better ride.) I had always assumed Mean Streak would become kindling, but if RMC doesn't have an exclusive with Six Flags, a remake would be fantastic, as IMHO 99% of the problem with Mean Streak was improperly banked turns, odd lateral forces that took a lot of speed out of the ride. Simply making it a hybrid would help a lot, rebanking would fix most of the issues, and if you cut down a couple of spots as necessary, based on speeds, you'd be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil009 Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 This looks like one of the world's best racing coasters, if only it was a racing coaster. Don't get me wrong, it looks awesome, and everybody should absolutely be excited. My only thought is that it looks like about thirty seconds of ride, followed by a lift hill, followed by another thirty seconds of ride. If it actually races, then it should be amazing. But it'll only take one delayed dispatch to completely throw off the timing - they're not going to have one train sit and wait on the second lift while the other is still loading. Then they'd have to modify the lift speed to gradually bring the ride back into synchronization, and that's not something I see SFMM doing. If it doesn't race, which I suspect it won't, then you'll just end up with a very strangely paced ride, where half your time is spent on the lift hill. IMO they should've just knocked down the second lift and made it a standard double out-and-back design, with the second lap build very low to the ground. Those are my thoughts as a wanna-be designer coaster nerd. Feel free to ignore them. Looks awesome, west coast people have every reason to be stoked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Also props to SFMM and RMC for starting the construction work in 2014 and not 3 weeks before opening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KBrylczyk Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 they've actually advertised 'precise' 110-second dispatch times HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tororific Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 A while back (by a while, we're talking 10+ years ago) while working at SFMM I ran into somebody who was a big fan of my website (rollercoasterz.com shout out! Does it count as a plug if my site is defunct?). He offered to take me around and show me some of the cooler behind the scenes places at the park, including underneath Colossus. There is an access road that goes under the ride where that hole is and goes back towards the turnaround. This was a no-pictures tour so I don't have anything to post, but in response to it being a picnic area my understanding is that was the original plan. I can confirm that it was very loud down there! As a side note, ACE did have a breakfast with tables set up in the inside Colossus area for a convention back in 1990-ish?? But they did not run the ride while we had breakfast. Still, it was cool to be surrounded by that structure up close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tororific Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 (As a side note, that is one thing that RMC may have to work on a little bit more. They use a very short (for today's standards) 24-person train and that, coupled with the seatbelt / lapbar configuration, leads to bad capacity. If they end up doing a Mean Streak make-over, I could see Cedar Point pushing them to a longer train or blocking to allow higher capacity. 700 PPH is not good for big amusement parks.) Ooh, off topic, but one of the most difficult days in my life was media day for the opening of Mean Streak. CP had fed us breakfast, gave us free rein of the park for the rest of the day, got us in super early so we could make the morning local TV news, and so on, and walked us all back to Mean Streak, which had impressive stats. I rode it with my friend (who at the time was a primary photographer for Roller Coaster magazine, ACEs publication) and we looked at each other before getting off and knew that we weren't impressed... it was "fine" but for that kind of money and effort, it needed to be great, and wasn't... but we had to put on a happy face and talk to the media for 20 minutes about what a great addition to CP it was. (Of course, once the park opened, we were off, and never rode it again all day. Magnum, Blue Streak, hell even Gemini was a better ride.) I had always assumed Mean Streak would become kindling, but if RMC doesn't have an exclusive with Six Flags, a remake would be fantastic, as IMHO 99% of the problem with Mean Streak was improperly banked turns, odd lateral forces that took a lot of speed out of the ride. Simply making it a hybrid would help a lot, rebanking would fix most of the issues, and if you cut down a couple of spots as necessary, based on speeds, you'd be done. yeah, and the lack of airtime is criminal on it as well. But it is a VERY easy fix for RMC to turn it into a monster ride-- I just don't know how much Six Flags has RMC locked up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rba13 Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 On another note, I am glad that Six Flags is starting to do Dark Rides in their park. Hopefully they do it right and Magic Mountain will get one in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tororific Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Also props to SFMM and RMC for starting the construction work in 2014 and not 3 weeks before opening. well, let's see how this actually plays out. It is encouraging to see wood there already -- but they have a lot to do on this ride, since it's not so much of a make-over as it is an entire rebuild of a big chunk of the old Colossus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLex Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Also props to SFMM and RMC for starting the construction work in 2014 and not 3 weeks before opening. HAHAAAA! This is true! I'm amazed at this ride. TWO lift hills, TWO 80 degree drops, TWO HI Five moments, this is going to be siiiick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerstlaueringvar Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 How much is NTaG's hourly capacity? I'm getting a feeling that RMC coasters' capacity is declining for a more continuous experience. Wildfire has a super long course without MCBR but for a zoo, that might not be a major problem. But for SFMM, even though caring about capacity isn't their tradition but such a huge coaster can surely do better than around 700pph. Cedar Fair sticking to B&M might have something to do with capacity so I think RMC is losing a major client... Can I say I'm actually hoping this to have a MCBR? At least the theoretical capacity could be increased. Plus, NTaG's train flies through the MCBR like it is just a straight section. About the racing timing issue, what if the station loads and unloads two trains together and train 2 waits at the block outside of the station for train 1 to pass a certain spot ? Just like Maverick, the load time is doubled and the timing can be perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KBrylczyk Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Cedar Fair sticking to B&M might have something to do with capacity so I think RMC is losing a major client... Or, you know, Six Flags has an exclusivity deal on RMC's technology. Because they do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Also props to SFMM and RMC for starting the construction work in 2014 and not 3 weeks before opening. Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLex Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 ^^What are the specifics? I would have to think it only applies to the IBox track style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bostonlva Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 (edited) http://www.cbs.com/shows/cbs_this_morning/video/K93gqqTGNZjk0rk3fb6tvdPTrZ6R__TC/historic-colossus-wooden-roller-coaster-goes-high-tech/ It was on CBS morning show... Worth a watch Edited August 28, 2014 by bostonlva Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamondbacker27 Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 I'm actually surprised Magic Mountain wasn't one of the first parks to get an RMC. Considering it's their largest park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy4Coasters! Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 I've never experienced an RMC creation but it seems it's one of the most sought out coasters with rave reviews. I have no idea what to expect but with all the positive and ecstatic talk about them, I have once again bought a season pass for SFMM for the first time since 2006! And one last thing, I'm so happy that there hasn't been much negativity posted about this coaster so far. I'm glad to see people genuinely happy for SFMM and talking about all the good aspects of the ride than the negative ones for a change! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DenDen Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 This is why it has been confusing to some people. That it went from two 4,300 foot track sides to a 5,000 foot track ride. It's also looks to be a single-oval, instead of the double-oval layout, so each side is cut almost in half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VF15 Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 (edited) Another thing I'm happy about is that RMC is finally going outside the box with track color. I didn't expect the track colors to be blue and green, so that's a nice touch. Also, "Opening Spring 2015"... . It will be a miracle if they get this coaster opened during the Spring, especially considering how massive this project is. Edited August 28, 2014 by VF15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VCXfreak Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 This is why it has been confusing to some people. That it went from two 4,300 foot track sides to a 5,000 foot track ride. It's also looks to be a single-oval, instead of the double-oval layout, so each side is cut almost in half. Yup, really wish they kept the double oval but hey, I'm happy with this. I wonder what the station is going to look like! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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