Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread

[canadianparkfan]

^^^I don't get this either. Seeing as the ride's made by intamin, I'd imagine it'd be the exact opposite of an S&S. I'm also thinking the gondolas are to blame, though. Anyone on here done the Australian version at Dreamworld?... Was it just as "meh"?

 

Also, sorry if this sounds stupid, but if the two rides (Ka and Zoomie) can't run at the same time, why were the roofs put on the cars in the first place?

[Swede]

I'm thinking it's the new restraints.

[Garet]

^^^I don't get this either. Seeing as the ride's made by intamin, I'd imagine it'd be the exact opposite of an S&S. I'm also thinking the gondolas are to blame, though. Anyone on here done the Australian version at Dreamworld?... Was it just as "meh"?

 

Also, sorry if this sounds stupid, but if the two rides (Ka and Zoomie) can't run at the same time, why were the roofs put on the cars in the first place?

 

I'm guessing that Ka will be running while they are loading riders so the roof is to protect them while they are being loaded.

[El Toro_Ryan]

Hopefully the park can figure the whole roof thing out with NJ...this shouldn't be surprising seeing as they shut down the extended queue for Ka years ago, but still. It's disappointing and definitely restrictive for both rides' throughputs.

 

Yeah the right gondola definitely drops later than the others. It's pretty weird haha It was kind of funny though because that gondola would still beat the others back to the ground because heavier people tended to be in that one by chance.

 

That's not how physics works. The brakes on each tower are just a little different, or maybe it's the magnetic strips on the gondolas. You can see when the cars in this run hit the bottom:

.

 

Actually, it is how physics. A heavier gondola will take longer to stop with magnetic brakes. In fact all roller coasters take longer to stop with magnetic brakes. If you watch Kingda Ka hit the brake run with an empty train, it literally crawls to a stop before the end of the camel back while a full train clears the brake run with cruising speed to spare. The same principle applies to drop towers.

 

^^^I don't get this either. Seeing as the ride's made by intamin, I'd imagine it'd be the exact opposite of an S&S. I'm also thinking the gondolas are to blame, though. Anyone on here done the Australian version at Dreamworld?... Was it just as "meh"?

 

Also, sorry if this sounds stupid, but if the two rides (Ka and Zoomie) can't run at the same time, why were the roofs put on the cars in the first place?

 

I'm guessing that Ka will be running while they are loading riders so the roof is to protect them while they are being loaded.

 

Yessir. When the roof is closed, Ka runs. When the roof is open, Zumanjaro runs.

[canadianparkfan]

^Ok, got it.

 

Still sucks to hear that the drop is so forceless though

[larrygator]

Zumanjaro - my thoughts after riding today

Damn that sucker moves fast when dropping, but it brakes so gradually that it kills forces.

Damn you can see far. I saw what appeared to be outlines of tall buildings in the distance, but not sure if it was Philadelphia or Trenton.

I would have rather spent an hour riding El Toro non-stop from 10:30-11:30, the ride queue didn't open until 11:30

The park is better off with Zumanjaro, than without it. And that's the most important thing.

 

I will post pictures of the History Museum later today or tomorrow, I loved this little addition.

Edited July 6, 2014 by larrygator

[GigaG]

So Zumanjaro has been neutered from the start... Come on, what are the chances that somebody will be hit by an article while climbing the tower? I understand the roofs, but do they REALLY have to stop Ka whenever Zumanjaro goes? You have the lifting device above the gondolas, and I doubt that somebody will drop an article on the face of a rider in the 5 seconds that the ride drops without the lifter overhead.

 

 

I wonder how much ka's capacity is going to be diminished due to NJ's bs regulations.

Wasn't the whole reason Intamin came up with the vest restraints on their rocket coasters due to problems at GAdv as well?

 

Storm runner had them before KK. If this is true at all, I can't help but wonder what's wrong with NJs government. This is a state where you can't pump your own gas!

[KBrylczyk]

^ Seeing how much you complain about the state government in NJ, just move. Give California a try if you don't like stupid government decisions.

 

Also, what's this I hear about Ka's restraints? Have they gotten the I-305 vests? Or are you guys calling those stiff bars a vest?

[GigaG]

^ Seeing how much you complain about the state government in NJ, just move. Give California a try if you don't like stupid government decisions.

 

Also, what's this I hear about Ka's restraints? Have they gotten the I-305 vests? Or are you guys calling those stiff bars a vest?

 

I don't live in NJ (I'm Ohioan.) But they seem even more controlling on amusement parks than CA. I'm sure there's some way a rider on the outside edge of SEFK could toss items at LL riders, but CA didn't force timing like this.

[larrygator]

^ Seeing how much you complain about the state government in NJ, just move. Give California a try if you don't like stupid government decisions.

 

Also, what's this I hear about Ka's restraints? Have they gotten the I-305 vests? Or are you guys calling those stiff bars a vest?

 

I don't live in NJ (I'm Ohioan.) But they seem even more controlling on amusement parks than CA. I'm sure there's some way a rider on the outside edge of SEFK could toss items at LL riders, but CA didn't force timing like this.

 

I'm pretty sure that if you offered to pay the insurance premium differential, Six Flags would change the ride.

[GigaG]

^ Seeing how much you complain about the state government in NJ, just move. Give California a try if you don't like stupid government decisions.

 

Also, what's this I hear about Ka's restraints? Have they gotten the I-305 vests? Or are you guys calling those stiff bars a vest?

 

I don't live in NJ (I'm Ohioan.) But they seem even more controlling on amusement parks than CA. I'm sure there's some way a rider on the outside edge of SEFK could toss items at LL riders, but CA didn't force timing like this.

 

I'm pretty sure that if you offered to pay the insurance premium differential, Six Flags would change the ride.

 

Out of curiosity, is Six Flags self-insured? I know Cedar Fair is, but I don't know about SF.

[larrygator]

^Based on this excerpt from a Dallas Business News article than ran after the Texas Giant accident, I think the answer is no. But I'm no insurance expert.

 

"In standard filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, unrelated to this case, the company said it carries “multi-layered general liability policies that provide for … liability coverage of up to $100 million per occurrence.”

[sspaz1000]

Zumanjaro - my thoughts after riding today

Damn that sucker moves fast when dropping, but it brakes so gradually that it kills forces.

Damn you can see far. I saw what appeared to be outlines of tall buildings in the distance, but not sure if it was Philadelphia or Trenton.

I would have rather spent an hour riding El Toro non-stop from 10:30-11:30, the ride queue didn't open until 11:30

The park is better off with Zumanjaro, than without it. And that's the most important thing.

 

I will post pictures of the History Museum later today or tomorrow, I loved this little addition.

 

I'm hoping to get back to the park later this week. Glad to hear that it's still a decent ride. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[larrygator]

History Museum pictures.

Lots of interesting quiz cards.

40 years of brochures

Lots of pennants

Hi Martin!

Sorry for the sun glare, but installing of the iconic Yum Yum Palace decorations.

Calypso and Monster ride vehicles

Fruit Juice sippers were not just a Florida thing.

Rolling Thunder blueprints

The monkeys will f' up your car.

I do not recall this phase of the park

But it's neat that they didn't trash the robot.

Now let's return to the present.

Zumanjaro - Through the trees

El Toro from a different perspective

Intamin's new and improved "cable of death"

[greghill]

Does this really only use one lifting motor and one drum for the cable? That seems quite impractical to me. Most towers have separate lifting mechanisms for each separate car, so when one breaks, the rest of the ride still works!

[Swede]

Nice pictures from the museum. Wish it was open during my visit.

[saweetdude05]

Does this really only use one lifting motor and one drum for the cable? That seems quite impractical to me. Most towers have separate lifting mechanisms for each separate car, so when one breaks, the rest of the ride still works!

 

From all the pictures, it appears as though all three towers share the loading area. Without separate loading areas, maintenance would be unable to work on a tower that was down while the other 2 are still operating. I'm guessing Six Flags could choose 2 towers with separate load areas or 3 towers with one loading area, and Six Flags opted for the 3 tower design.

 

Only having one motor also cuts down on parts needed and I'm guessing it takes less time to inspect as opposed to 3 motors, which helps save labor costs and cuts down on daily inspection times.

[coasterfreak101]

So Zumanjaro has been neutered from the start... Come on, what are the chances that somebody will be hit by an article while climbing the tower? I understand the roofs, but do they REALLY have to stop Ka whenever Zumanjaro goes? You have the lifting device above the gondolas, and I doubt that somebody will drop an article on the face of a rider in the 5 seconds that the ride drops without the lifter overhead.

 

But...this doesn't neuter the ride at all. The on-ride experience is exactly the same, second for second.

[coasterkid124]

I'm first catching up to the thread now. I think that the roof is a smart idea, but bad that it makes waiting times longer. In average, how much longer is between Kk's dispatches?

[GigaG]

So Zumanjaro has been neutered from the start... Come on, what are the chances that somebody will be hit by an article while climbing the tower? I understand the roofs, but do they REALLY have to stop Ka whenever Zumanjaro goes? You have the lifting device above the gondolas, and I doubt that somebody will drop an article on the face of a rider in the 5 seconds that the ride drops without the lifter overhead.

 

But...this doesn't neuter the ride at all. The on-ride experience is exactly the same, second for second.

 

It has been neutered in terms of capacity (along with KK) and you don't get the added effect of a coaster train passing you (like you do on LL:DoD.) I do know that LL:DoD sways more than any other drop tower I've experienced even without S:EFK launching - does Z:DoD sway?

[canadianparkfan]

^ Seeing how much you complain about the state government in NJ, just move. Give California a try if you don't like stupid government decisions.

 

Also, what's this I hear about Ka's restraints? Have they gotten the I-305 vests? Or are you guys calling those stiff bars a vest?

 

I don't live in NJ (I'm Ohioan.) But they seem even more controlling on amusement parks than CA. I'm sure there's some way a rider on the outside edge of SEFK could toss items at LL riders, but CA didn't force timing like this.

 

I'm pretty sure that if you offered to pay the insurance premium differential, Six Flags would change the ride.

Well, is it an issue of SF not being able to pay for the insurance to run both rides at once?... If so, I now understand the claims that cf is better off financially than SF.

 

Also, shouldn't the park have realized that issues like this could've occurred *BEFORE* building the ride? I always thought parks had to look into stuff like this before they even broke ground.

 

In regards to the restraints, I was referring to the fact that TTD just uses lapbars, whereas Ka doesn't. I remember reading somewhere that GAdv wasn't allowed to use the TTD style restraints, & therefore had to come up with the ones found on Ka.

[El Toro_Ryan]

I'm first catching up to the thread now. I think that the roof is a smart idea, but bad that it makes waiting times longer. In average, how much longer is between Kk's dispatches?

 

My nerdy self was timing KK launches on my break. While Zumanjaro was loading, they'd launch a train every 55-60 seconds but when Zumanjaro was running, it could take 2 to 3 minutes for the next Ka train to launch while it waited for Zumanjaro. From working Zumanjaro yesterday, it seemed that it wasn't interrupted at all by Ka but Ka definitely takes the hit since it can load trains much more quickly.

[Brassinthegrass]

So I wonder what the long term plan is then... It makes sense that the "New Hotness" would take top bidding with capacity, but when both rides are no longer new and are pulling about the same amount of people in the lark, I wonder how they will run it then...

[biker7766]

Just got off of Zumanjaro today after my shift. I rode four times. Let me tell you that the single rider line is so helpful! I could easily hop on whenever I wanted to. I enjoyed the drop, but I do prefer Demon Drop at Dorney. Being that high up really added a lot to the experience.

[El Toro_Ryan]

So I wonder what the long term plan is then... It makes sense that the "New Hotness" would take top bidding with capacity, but when both rides are no longer new and are pulling about the same amount of people in the lark, I wonder how they will run it then...

 

Hopefully by then, the state will allow both rides to run at the same time so Ka isn't affected by Zumanjaro anymore. GADV is still fighting the state about this.