rcdude Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 I consider Raptor to be the fourth best coaster at Cedar Point (after Maverick, Top Thrill Dragster, and Millennium Force), and at the time I rode it I thought it was by far the best inverted coaster. However, since I hadn't been to any other parks outside of California at that time, I didn't have much to compare it to. Now, I think of Raptor like this: If I were to split the B&M Inverted Coasters into three groups, Raptor would be the worst coaster in the top group. I'd probably place it third after Afterburn and Alpengeist, with Silver Bullet, the Batman clones, and Flight Deck falling below it. It's a great ride and a must ride when visiting Cedar Point, and it would be the best coaster at many other parks. It's just not as good as the custom Inverted Coasters of the mid to late 90s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyRCT3 Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 Raptor has always been good but not great (it always seems to shuffle and second half is slow IMO). However on the TPR trip this summer the Raptor clone in France made me realize how great Raptor could be - smooth and no brakes made for an intense ride all the way through. I know most of us walked away thinking "way better than Raptor" and it's a clone. I've never had a trimmed raptor ride, I've always felt that it needed trimmed though, those wing overs were just O_O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cal1br3tto Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 Now, I think of Raptor like this: If I were to split the B&M Inverted Coasters into three groups, Raptor would be the worst coaster in the top group. I don't rank my inverts anything like you do, but I think I agree with this part. I think of Raptor as either my "worst very good invert" or, less strongly, my "best middle of the pack invert." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFOGdude25 Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 All this ranking organization is making my head spin. All that matters to me is that Raptor is one darn good invert, and frankly a darn good coaster that I thoroughly enjoy every time I visit the Point. Sitting on the far right side of the train gives some really nice airtime going down the first drop. Now I am a little fuzzy with my memory of the ride since my last visit to Cedar Point was 2008, but I do remember some of my most fun rides on that trip were spent on Raptor. It is definitely one of the better coasters in CP's line-up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrilljunkie Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 Thanks to all of you for the awesome construction pictures of Gate Keeper. It's going be a blast. Looking great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omgitsmatt93 Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Having ridden wild eagle, wing coasters are really great coasters, all the inversions feel wierdly drawn out, and they are super smooth. But they also are a bit on the forceless side. Wild eagle was a good coaster but it wasn't spectacular, in fact nothing about it really stood out at all in my mind, so while I think this will be a good coaster and a fun ride, I don't think it will be another mindblower like millenium, or maverick, or top thrill. Don't get me wrong. This looks like it has the most potential of any wing coaster built to date and looks like it will probably be the best wing coaster on the planet when it opens, I just dont think its going to be the mindblowing powerhouse coaster that the other three coasters I mentioned are. Then again only time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyRCT3 Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Few Questions for whoever knows the answers: 1. At what height does TTD go vertical (90*) 2. How long is the launch section of TTD? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterlover420 Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 1. I'd guess around 220-230 ft 2. What part of it? The length of the catchcar track, the length before the train begins to go vertical, the length the train actually spends accelerating (from the beginning to the catchcar brakes)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy* Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 I know this kind off subject but have any statistics on the green wing coaster in Japan released as of yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterlover420 Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 There's actually a topic for that!... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simaticable Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 I think every coaster needs to have a snow day once in a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyRCT3 Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 1. I'd guess around 220-230 ft2. What part of it? The length of the catchcar track, the length before the train begins to go vertical, the length the train actually spends accelerating (from the beginning to the catchcar brakes)... ^This Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vacoaster09 Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Doesn't that length vary?.. I always thought these rides accelerate only until the ride reaches a certain speed (as read by the rides sensors) and then it lets up/maintains that speed. Thus depending on the weight of the train with riders some lauches accelerations may take more track than others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillseeker4552 Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 ^ Agreed. I think Raptor is way better in the back than the front. And Raptor is my favorite B&M invert by far (granted, I haven't ridden many). The one B&M invert I think is really underrated is Silver Bullet! I couldn't agree with you more! I have been on 3 inverts (Raptor at CP, Silver Bullet at KBF, and Batman at SFMM) and I like Silver Bullet the best because of it's smooth ride as well as smooth transitions. Raptor isn't bad, but it does have the older B&M layout style, with tighter transitions and fewer flowing elements. It's the same thing with Batman. All of them are great rides, but I think Silver Bullet is the most re-rideable. Anyway, Gatekeeper looks amazing! I wish KBF would get something like this. We're still waiting on our next B&M... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 I have been on 3 inverts (Raptor at CP, Silver Bullet at KBF, and Batman at SFMM) and I like Silver Bullet the best And this is why B&M has gone from building intense coasters to mild, floaty, forceless ones. --Robb "How a 'coaster enthusiast' would choose Silver Bullet over Raptor or Batman is beyond me...but whatever..." Alvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenA07 Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 I have been on 3 inverts (Raptor at CP, Silver Bullet at KBF, and Batman at SFMM) and I like Silver Bullet the best And this is why B&M has gone from building intense coasters to mild, floaty, forceless ones. --Robb "How a 'coaster enthusiast' would choose Silver Bullet over Raptor or Batman is beyond me...but whatever..." Alvey Well I would take Silver Bullet over Batman simpy because Batman causes some serious motion sickness issues with me. However my own weak stomach aside, I found Silver Bullet to be one of the most boring coasters I've been on, there are no forces to speak of on the thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 (edited) --Robb "How a 'coaster enthusiast' would choose Silver Bullet over Raptor or Batman is beyond me...but whatever..." Alvey Well I would take Silver Bullet over Batman simply because Batman causes some serious motion sickness issues with me. However my own weak stomach aside, I found Silver Bullet to be one of the most boring coasters I've been on, there are no forces to speak of on the thing. Again, and this is EXACTLY why B&M have stopped building so many forceful rides! Parks don't want people puking on the ride dock, so a more forceless ride has become the "GP friendly" experience. You just proved it yourself. Even though Batman is a VERY intense, action packed ride, you would still take "one of the most boring coasters you've ever been on" over it. And that's why the majority of B&M's offerings the last ten years have been huge hits for parks and the general public, but pretty lame for the rest of us who actually like a roller coaster with a bit of punch and power to it. --Robb "There is nothing wrong with playing to your audience, it just won't break many top ten lists..." Alvey Edited December 28, 2012 by robbalvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper39 Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Wild Eagle was much more forceful than I was expecting it to be, maybe Gatekeeper will be similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 Wild Eagle was much more forceful than I was expecting it to be, maybe Gatekeeper will be similar. See, and I found Wild Eagle to be one of the most force less B&Ms to date. To be fair, I thought the ride was better than I thought it was going to be, and had "fun" riding it, but I really felt it had zero forces in it and was PERFECT for the general public. I want my B&Ms to be like Kumba, Nemesis, Pyrenees, Katun, and Dragons... Where you hit the brake run and need to catch your breath. I can only name a couple of B&Ms in the past decade that are like this. --Robb "I get it though, I'm not their core audience." Alvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ccron10 Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 In other news, the airtime hill is almost done. I can't wait until they add the Immelman turn-around since you don't see many B&Ms entering them from the top and the train seems to flow beautifully through it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donkeyman18 Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Wild Eagle was much more forceful than I was expecting it to be, maybe Gatekeeper will be similar. See, and I found Wild Eagle to be one of the most force less B&Ms to date. To be fair, I thought the ride was better than I thought it was going to be, and had "fun" riding it, but I really felt it had zero forces in it and was PERFECT for the general public. The GP ate up "the eagle" as they called it. It was enjoyable but overall force less but the view of the mountains was incredible! EDIT: Is it just me or does the first drop into the Immelman look VERY intense? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterkyle Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 I can't wait until they add the Immelman turn-around since you don't see many B&Ms entering them from the top and the train seems to flow beautifully through it. I don't mean to get all technical but a that's considered a Dive loop (opposite of an Immelman). According to CP's press release they call it a Inclined Dive Loop – a tight, 180-degree turnaround pushes riders through an overbanked turn and rockets them back towards the station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historyfreak92 Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Yeah, it does look intense, to me, I think this will be one of B&M's newest, & smoothest coasters ever made, & Batman Inverted Clones seems to be rough! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronWolfman Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Batman Inverted Clones seems to be rough! Your crazy. Don't know what your smoking right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historyfreak92 Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 I'm not trying to say they're painful, it's just they're not really intense, but I don't dislike them, I think they're really great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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