GuruGuys Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Have fun at your ACE day. It's because of attitudes like yours is why I don't want anything to do with that group. Although I just can't justify paying the ACE membership fee (made that mistake before) in addition to the event fee to be able to attend that day, I am curious how the ACErs will be behaved that day. You can always find an ACE'er and ask them to take you as a guest (sans membership fee). One of the things that makes some people dislike ACE is that when you are attending a park sponsored event you are NOT ALLOWED to say anything negative about the ride, ESPECIALLY to the media. You are taught that if you don't like the ride, say some positive spin. Your ACE membership is on the line, therefore ACE'ers at ACE events are very well behaved at events (at the least ones I have been too). Also, its mostly older folks (30's+) at the ones I have been to. I have no problem with the policy as the park gives us great perks and I can honestly usually find something good to say about any coaster. -GG
Bolliger&Mabillard Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 I'm just happy that it will be open after a long six months.
packfanlv Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 ^Agreed. X has always been a top 5 coaster for me. I also agree my last rides on X which were at WCB in 2007 during ERT were much smoother than in the past. If that is still the case then it is wonderful. I can't wait to ride it later this year when I get back to the states.
VivaLaVibora Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Great video Robb. The only part of me that didn't like X was my calves, but that never stopped me from riding this ride. For me the pain was worth it. It looks like they have improved on it. I can't wait to get out there later this year to ride one of my favorite coasters. Hold your legs out and you'll be fine. I wonder why they didn't just let your legs hang like they do on any other floorless ride. That would have gotten that roughness problem out of the way, i think, considering i think the legs are what most people complain about. Oh well, it never bothered me so i can't wait to get back on X. Its been too long. =] Why didn't they fix that part of the train? How about having some pads on the seats to help with that problem. When I don't want that rough calve ride I just pick my legs up, and put them on that plastic piece. I bend them. As someone said before, what is up with the loading and unloading part of the ride? How long are the dispatches going to be? Is it going to be like a Batman the Ride, or is it going to take so long like it did before?
mcjaco Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 How many coaster trains have their own trunk? Eric So does that mean we can say X2 has junk in it's trunk? My one ride on X last year was enjoyable. Not smooth, but enjoyable. I'm looking forward to riding this new incarnation.
packfanlv Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 ^I believe they did add padding for the calves, but someone complained that there is not enough shoulder padding. I understand holding your legs out to avoid banging, but if you have to concentrate on doing that for the entire ride then it becomes a lot harder to enjoy. (Of course being in pain also makes it hard to enjoy!)
nickbuol Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 I've never been on a coaster like this where the "cars" rotate around. Does that increase the "puke" factor, or just add to the experience. I can ride about any coaster with loops, corkscrews, or whatever, but you put me on a ride that spins around a lot, like many flat rides, and I get nauseous.
VivaLaVibora Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 ^^I'm saying the other option it to bend your knees, and rest your feet on the plastic part. It works fine for me. Stretching your legs on the whole ride just sounds like it would be a hard thing to do. Now, maybe it will feel better because of padding they added, and I won't need to do that when I get out there again.
packfanlv Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 I've never been on a coaster like this where the "cars" rotate around. Does that increase the "puke" factor, or just add to the experience. I can ride about any coaster with loops, corkscrews, or whatever, but you put me on a ride that spins around a lot, like many flat rides, and I get nauseous. No the seats rotate in a way that is conducive with the way the car is moving on the track. It is more disorienting than anything else. I would compare it more to an inversion than a spinning ride. For instance if you watch the video, you will see the seats rotate during the first drop. In that circumstance you rotate to face straight down as you drop. It makes sense with the way the car is moving. I think you will get off X2 thinking, "What the hell just happened?" But I haven't ever seen anyone get sick from it. (Unless you ride it too many times in a row like I did a WCB 2007. I had to sit down for a good hour after riding it five times in a row but that happens with any intense coaster for me.)
mcjaco Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 No the seats rotate in a way that is conducive with the way the car is moving on the track. It is more disorienting than anything else. I would compare it more to an inversion than a spinning ride. For instance if you watch the video, you will see the seats rotate during the first drop. In that circumstance you rotate to face straight down as you drop. It makes sense with the way the car is moving. I was about to say the same thing. The seats rotate in a way that seems logical, so it's not disorienting. If that makes sense.
Coaster Palooza Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 X2 looks great Robb! It is always great to see the video of the ride along with the photos you take.
nickbuol Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Cool. It is one of those things where just watching it makes you wonder if it helps or hurts the ride experience. I just wouldn't want to ride it and then have to sit out for an hour or whatever. Thanks guys!
mynameistatsu Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 I'm happy to see X back ! It's a one of a kind coaster in the US... But I don't consider this ride as a new coaster at all... Moreover, new trains do not make a ride better. I am sad to hear that we will probably have a Batman Dark Knight wild mouse clone or/and a family coaster... Thrillseekers need new rides !!! (no more freefall in the park that's missing ! grrrr) Six Flags tend to become a Knotts like. I don't wanna see a Pony express, a BTDK, or a Tony Hawk (with a lot of waiting for no thrills) for 2009, but a Kingda Ka clone (with two loading/unloading stations) would be perfect to replace the too bad Superman the Escape... But I don't think it's on the plan... I'll ride Tatsu, Riddler's, Goliath and Scream all day in next years. Ok the new trains must be expensive, but X2 is the price of a new coaster for only a few improvements... Even if I'm happy to see it back, I won't often ride it (cause the waiting lines for X2 used to be the longest in the park). Will we have to wait until 2015 to have a real good new coaster?
packfanlv Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 ^I have to disagree. I have been on more height friendly coasters that have been extremely enjoyable. It doesn't have to be the biggest and fastest to provide a fun experience. Besides, Magic Mountain needs to draw families and a new coaster with a low height requirement is what is required for that. (A dark ride or two wouldn't hurt either!)
VivaLaVibora Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 ^^The point with this new ride is they are thinking that it's not going to be so long. Hopefully, they will run more trains because they shouldn't be broke as much. I don't really get the unloading of this ride. Where do you unload now? If it doesn't have an unloading area, does that mean you have to walk back to were it used to be?
DenDen Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 As for the actual "ride" is concerned it's about as smooth as it was when X closed, which for some reason was much smoother than it was in it's REALLY "rough" years (2002 - 2006), and certainly nowhere NEAR as rough as Eejanaika. For me, I know (from what I've read from everyone in the other threads) that the actual improvements weren't for smothness, but after all the money they spent, (which we know was a lot!) it would have been a nice suprise! Once the video came out on SF's site, (the ride footage version, not the commercial,) the one thing I noticed right away was they had no good shots of the seats inverting, meaning the the flip action on the new trains was just as noticably shakey than the old trains. And the audio alone REALLY did add something to the ride. It's sort of like the difference between riding California Screamin' with or without the audio. Understandable. I think for me, Magic Mountain bit off more than they could chew on this. When they announced the revamping, they went too far, playing as if X2 was going to be some extraordinary, uber-cool retheming of the ride. (Especially when you watch that CG commercial.) If they just would have said "we're closing for a paint job and new trains", I think I would have been less critical, and the music/fire would have been an awesome bonus! The overall experience actually DID exceed my expectations. I'm sure when I ride it again, (I think/hope at the end of June) I'll like it just as much as I did before, maybe a little bit more with the added distractions. I'm just disappointed over all this hype, and was waiting for some big suprise to come out of all of this.
packfanlv Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 ^I understand the hype though. They spent 10 million dollars on revamping this ride. The money needed to be spent, but to get some return they almost need to advertise it as a new experience. They are trying to get the draw that a new coaster would. If you spent $10 million wouldn't you do the same thing? I also think the general public will love it even more than before. The choice they faced was either scrapping a unique coaster or doing the refurb and I think they made the right decision.
AllenA07 Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 I think people really are short changing this ride before they have a chance to try it. While I agree that from pictures some of the effects look gimmicky, these are only pictures. I could look at 100 pictures of the first drop on Millennium Force and conclude that I know exactly what it is going to be like. Does that make my prediction true? No because I've never been on the ride and all I have is a guess of what the drop would feel like, I won't actually know what it feels like until I'm on that train. The same goes right now for X2, we can all look and say that the fire effect looks lame, and the onboard music system is too much, and that the ride hasn't improved a bit. However considering that most of us are concluding this from just looking at a handful of pictures, really all we have are predictions. Unless you were at media day yesterday, you're not going to know what the ride is actually like. I for one will wait to pass judgement until I actually have a ride and compare it to prior rides on the coaster before the remodeling.
packfanlv Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Give me an X!!! Give me a 2!! Wait how do you spell that? Edit: What happened to the cheerleading comment?
VivaLaVibora Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 ^^^Top Thrill Dragster and Kingda Ka costed nowhere near any B&M coaster. Yes, you say 25 million for Top Thrill Dragster, but that price is very under-flated. I imagine the reason why they didn't dump X already, and want to keep it is because it cost so much money, and you want to keep a very costly coaster you paid big bucks for.
mike541x Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Frank Sinatra? Metallica? Must....ride.....X2! Man that coaster looks awesome. I like the fire effects.
FeelTheFORCE Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Great video Robb! I have to get out there again to ride my favorite steel! I love the Will Smith Men in Black reference, "Old and busted, new hotness!"
robbalvey Posted May 23, 2008 Author Posted May 23, 2008 I love the Will Smith Men in Black reference, "Old and busted, new hotness!" HA! I wondered if anyone would catch that! --Robb
rllrcster Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Thanks for the shout out Robb, even though I was being a hussy with ACE yesterday. I enjoyed my 3 rides on X2 yesterday, and will agree that it is "smoother" than Eejanaika. The effects weren't working on my rides (except the music, which I really dug), so it's difficult to give a full review. The last time I was at SFMM and X was operating, it was simply not rideable. Now, I'd wait 45 minutes for it. I think that's saying something. I'm in the minority on Eejanaika though, and had a fun ride on it. I attribute it to the excellent padding. I just wish the new X trains were padded like Eejanaika, than there would be no issues whatsoever. On the drive up to SFMM yesterday, my expectations were lowered by a good analogy... You drive a heavy car down the road, your ride is going to be smoother than driving a lighter car down the road. So, if the new "lighter" trains are running about the same as the old "heavier" trains were running at their best, and improved reliability and operations are achieved, than isn't it a win win? I hope everyone gets a chance to ride it for themselves, with all effects working, soon! I think the issue of the effects working is a very legitimate one and comes right down to the core of what SFMM is trying to accomplish... This would definitely be a barometer for me on how they are doing. But it's looking like I could walk up to the fire breathers and blow, and they wouldn't work for the next train passing by!
IwantRevenge Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Haha the ACEr on the bike. Best part. Great video as usual Robb.
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