Is Gwazi the biggest "Roller Coaster Fail" since SoB?

[BarryH]

I rode SoB when it had the loop and it was horribly rough. The smoothest part was the loop! As for Gwazi, over time it go so rough that I refused to ride it. The Millenium Flyer trains helped it out a little -- at least now it's re-ridable -- but it's just not a memorable ride. It's nothing I would ride over and over again in one day. I never rode SoB when they took out the loop, but I think Gwazi is a big fail. I won't shed a tear when Gwazi is torn down.

[Kyle Coleman]

Would the original version of x qualify as a failure? Took sfmm eight years and a lot of work to finally get it running more or less reliably.

[mark549]

The only really major "roller coaster fails" in the last 20 years that come to mind are:

 

1. Son of Beast

2. Gwazi

3. Drachen Fire

4. *maybe* Hercules

 

Any others?

 

I haven't been on 1-3, but I really liked Hercules and did not think it was a failure. I went to Kings Island when SOB was SBNO, it was bizarre to see that huge pile of wood, unacknowledged by the park map ...

 

However, I rode Hercules when it was relatively new and smooth, I didn't ride it later when its nickname was "Hurt Your Knees." I imagine maintaining the turn after the big drop was a never ending maintenance headache, too bad it didn't last long enough for Topper Track. (I visited Dorney last year after a long hiatus and thought Hydra, its replacement, my least favorite floorless coaster, too tame and the only time you feel like you're upside down is coming out of the station.)

 

I guess the very large wood coasters have tested (and gone beyond) the limits of wood coaster engineering. The biggest wood coasters all seem to be either Intamin plug and play, Rocky Mountain, steel structure (ie. Voyage), or trimmed (Mean Streak). Conventional wood coasters don't seem to have a good record above a certain size.

 

I also wonder if there's a weather factor - is it safe to assume the wood coasters in places that get rain in the summer and don't have a winter season last longer than those with hot dry summers (Ghost Rider) and / or have to run year round (Gwazi).

 

In the realm of partial failures, I'd add Goliath at SFMM (the hard braking needed to avoid excessive G force at the helix) and I-305's change of design. I really like I-305 but find it strange how it had to be redesigned. Maverick's zero-G roll might be a partial failure, too, but it was quickly dealt with and forgotten.

[robbalvey]

I haven't been on 1-3, but I really liked Hercules and did not think it was a failure.

I think people are REALLY missing the point of this thread. It has nothing to do with YOUR personal opinion of a ride, but more from the industry stand-point of it being a fail.

 

Rides like SoB, Gwazi, Drachen Fire, Chiller, etc, were NOT built only to have to be torn down 10-13 years later, and in the meantime have even more money poured into it to keep it barely operational.

 

You could have thought Son of Beast was the BEST DAMN RIDE IN THE WORLD... It's still a massive failure.

 

--Robb

[Rollercoaster Rider]

This is the Ultimate Fail for a coaster: Orphan Rocker at Scenic World.

 

Under construction since 1988!

 

http://rcdb.com/1870.htm

[robbalvey]

In the realm of partial failures, I'd add Goliath at SFMM (the hard braking needed to avoid excessive G force at the helix) and I-305's change of design. I really like I-305 but find it strange how it had to be redesigned. Maverick's zero-G roll might be a partial failure, too, but it was quickly dealt with and forgotten.

I don't think I'd call these partial "failures" as much as it is just needed more than the normal amount of "tweak and adjust." I don't think you probably realize how common it is for a ride to have to replace a piece of track or make train modifications. It happens more often that you think, it's just sometimes it goes more unnoticed. Those two rides in particular that you mentioned, were also built to "push the envelope" so I think that had a lot to do with it. If there was a huge malfunction in a standard B&M Batman that needed sections of track replaced, that would be a "fail", but to have something where a company was specifically hired to build "insane" and you had to scale back a little, and STILL end up with "insane" as your end product, I don't think that's a fail at all.

[3Mutts]

In my opinion the top ten amusement park failures are:

 

1. Son of Beast at Kings Island

2. Shoot the Rapids at Cedar Point

3. The Bat at Kings Island

4. Windjammer at Knotts Berry Farm

5. Original GIB (SFMM, SFGAm, SFOG, & Parque de Warner Madrid)

6. Original X at SFMM

7. Orphan Rocker

8. Vertigo at Walibi Belgium

9. Ring Racer

10. Gwazi at BGT

[CoasterFEV]

^ I know another coaster (or two) that should be on that list !!!!!!!!

[A.J.]

I'm not fully aware - when GCI put the new Flyer trains on Gwazi, was there any re-tracking done at all?

 

Also for consideration - Lightning Racer, a very similar set of coasters to Gwazi was built only a year later and still runs very well today. How responsible is Busch Gardens Tampa for Gwazi's current state?

[SteveStL]

Why not the RMC treatment instead of a tear down? It is an awesome structure and a great looking ride, even the station theming is great. Ashame to tear it down. Even just the RMC topper track may do the trick.

 

 

I'm not fully aware - when GCI put the new Flyer trains on Gwazi, was there any re-tracking done at all?

 

Also for consideration - Lightning Racer, a very similar set of coasters to Gwazi was built only a year later and still runs very well today. How responsible is Busch Gardens Tampa for Gwazi's current state?

 

Probably the Florida climate that ruined the ride.

[Blatch]

This is the Ultimate Fail for a coaster: Orphan Rocker at Scenic World.

 

Under construction since 1988!

 

http://rcdb.com/1870.htm

 

I can do you one better: SBNO for 30 years. Built, but never had an electrical system added, and never operated. I'm talking about Vertigorama at Parque de la Ciudad.

 

http://rcdb.com/1506.htm

 

Come to think of it, that entire park was a fail of epic proportions, spread across all their coasters. Heck, they have a JetStar that has been hanging around since 1984, and was never even built!

[AndrewRnR]

I'm not fully aware - when GCI put the new Flyer trains on Gwazi, was there any re-tracking done at all?

 

The park did a major retracking to both sides (at separate times) the fall before for one and the winter a year before for the other prior the arrival of the new trains. (Extract times may be slightly off but you get the idea). I can't imagine running PTCs on a newly retracted ride for several months/year helped for the arrival of the new trains.

[cmullin]

^^Ooo yeah, Hypersonic is another good one. And I think you're right that we'll see Ring Racer go that way as well soon.

That would be my say too. How many years ago did they start construction? And they had to alter the layout and speed.

[boardwalkbullet91507]

I wouldn't say that Gwazi is as much as a major fail as SOB.

Nobody said it was. The thread is asking if Gwazi was the biggest fail SINCE SoB.

 

Can you name another one?

 

--Robb "A little reading comprehension can go a long way!" Alvey

 

Well then, allow me to rephrase;

 

I wouldn't say that Gwazi is the biggest fail since SOB. Gwazi is rough, but to my knowledge (correct me if I'm wrong) hasn't had anywhere near the plethora of problems SOB had. Gwazi in a way is like the original Rattler, it worked but would beat you to death. SOB was like 'nope, that didn't work. Try this, and this, and this.' It had more downtime than time spent operating.

 

. . . and to add, none of the repairs or fixes or attempts to save the coaster actually worked; Gwazi's trains neither helped, nor hurt the efforts to better the ride while SoB's 'new' trains still had negative externalities even with the loop removal.

 

 

Yeah, my fault on that one. My SAT reading score was 80 points lower than my mathematics and writing and I think I know why.

[robbalvey]

^ I know another coaster (or two) that should be on that list !!!!!!!!

Agreed!

 

I really think most people are just grasping at straws now to make their voices heard and I'm seeing a few rides on those lists that are actually not failures at all, but instead could be considered success stories, X/X2 being one of them. (Even though I'm not a fan of the ride.)

 

--Robb

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Well, when I hear "roller coaster fail," the first thing that comes to mind is Buzzsaw Falls. Built in 1999, it lasted for 4 1/2 seasons before being shut down in 2003. During that time, it was constantly breaking down, and cost the park so much to keep it open that they felt the better option was to replace it entirely. Of course, when S&S stepped in, they created a truly awesome work in Powder Keg, so this one has a happy ending. But as for Buzzsaw Falls itself, I say good riddance. It was truly a disaster for the park.

[Jew]

Definitely agree about Hypersonic, but I'd also add Zonga, not because the ride itself failed but because Six Flags and the sue-happy US culture killed it, and Psyclone only lasted 15 years and went to hell really quickly, albeit that may have been largely the fault of SFMM, as well as SFGAdv's Viper.

 

Zonga was a terrible ride with the OTSR's.

 

Does saving the Big Dipper count as a ride failure?

 

Depending on what the fate of the Hard Rock Park coasters ultimately becomes, it's fair to say investing so much money in those rides turned out to be a giant failure!

 

I'm having a hard time thinking of any others that haven't already been mentioned here.

[downunder]

Mods: please remove this post it was a duplicate of the one below because my computer was playing up. Thanks.

Edited September 30, 2013 by downunder

[downunder]

This is the Ultimate Fail for a coaster: Orphan Rocker at Scenic World.

 

Under construction since 1988!

 

http://rcdb.com/1870.htm

 

Damn, you beat me to it.

 

Cyclone, as it is known at Dreamworld Australia, was an epic failure of sorts at Luna Park Sydney. Residents complaining about noise shut it down and eventually the park followed (it later re-opened as what TPR visited). And the coaster really sucked too.

[Jew]

This is the Ultimate Fail for a coaster: Orphan Rocker at Scenic World.

 

Under construction since 1988!

 

http://rcdb.com/1870.htm

 

Damn, you beat me to it.

 

Cyclone, as it is known at Dreamworld Australia, was an epic failure at Luna Park Sydney. Residents complaining about noise shut it down and eventually the park followed (it later re-opened as what TPR visited). And the coaster really sucked too.

 

 

That reminded me of one! The halfpipe coaster on the roof in Japan is a pretty big failure! Never opened, and now stuck there..

[Mechanic]

While not a coaster, I'd have to consider Rocket Rods a fairly major failure.

[DanM64]

Interesting topic! I think SoB is by far the biggest coaster fail of all time. I would say that since SoB was built, I would say that Gwazi and Hypersonic SLC are probably tied IMO. Hypersonic SLC cost more to build and didn't last as long, but with all the work Gwazi has been given over its life I would think it probably has more money invested in it now than KD put into SLC, and I consider Gwazi a bigger attraction than SLC as well.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

^^ I'd put Rocket Rods in the category of "dark ride fail" and the nominees for that category would be pretty interesting list. Superstar Limo would rank right up there.

 

As for coaster fails, I never rode SoB but I have ridden Gwazi and Hypersonic XLC. Gwazi is nowhere close to as painful as Hypersonic was, at least for me. There was a time while I legitimately believed Hypersonic had fractured at least one tibia of mine on those restraints. The on-ride photos for my cousin and I were sheer grimaces of pain. So of course we rode it 5 or 6 times that day.

 

I'd give Hypersonic XLC the nod for most painful ride, but in terms of sheer size and scope of fail, especially with the whole loop fiasco, SoB wins out for sure.

 

Top 5 Fails that I've Ridden

1) Hypersonic XLC

2) Manhattan Express

3) Windjammer

4) Gwazi

5) Flashback (SFMM)

[julioot]

And what about Vertigo in walibi belgium?

 

 

Besides from earning the award for most ugly roller coaster ever. If you would consider this a roller coaster to begin with. The ride closed down and was already removed in the winter of 2009 atfer opening in 2008.

[caffeine_demon]

what about roller soaker and flying super saturator? horrendous throughput and reliability throughout!