New 4-D coasters? Next Gen coasters in general.

[SpectralN]

Ok so I admit it I am a "4-D coaster" Junkie, but since there is really only one coaster in the world currently that is a "4-D" coaster, I am pretty much screwed unless Magic Mountain is open and X is operating with a under 4 hour wait time. So what is the deal?

 

Is anyone else in the world building a 4-D coaster? I remember hearing something about a Japanese park thinking about building one.

 

Does anyone have any juicy rumors or news about the future of the 4-D coaster? which in my opinion really is taking the whole roller coaster concept to a new level (sure the mega coasters and giga coasters are great, I mean who doesn't like a 300+ foot drop hill? personally I cannot wait till we hit 600+ feet on the first drop.

 

Too bad the Stratosphere (in Vegas) launched coaster didn't materialize because that was going to hit the 600+ foot mark oh well it was a launched coaster and not a traditional Gigacoaster but still it would have been cool. Well untill all that happens its all about the 4-D in my head, of course the new for West Coast flyer "Tastu" is going to be great, but it is a been there done that type of ride for those who have been to the east coast. There is nothing like an original concept, beats the crap out of the cookie cutter off the shelf designs.

 

Come on designers lets take the future of riding to the next level and beyond! The tracked RoboCoaster if that ever happens sounds pretty darn wierd to me, but hey thats the type of thinking we need!

 

ADMIN EDIT: Try to add some spacing in your posts so they don't look like one giant sentace!

Edited October 14, 2005 by SpectralN

[SharkTums]

It is all but confirmed that Fuji-Q Highland about 90 minutes outside of Tokyo will open the next Arrow 4-D in 2006.

[Gnome]

^ correction, S&S/Arrrow 4D 8)

Hopefully they've improved the design flaws from X, and if all things go well, more of these will start popping up around the US.

[BiCoastal Kid]

I think Im the only person not so impressed by the 4D. X, really, isn't that much of an outstanding coaster to me. :?

[DRWP2005]

I think there is little future for the S&S/Arrow 4D only because of the problems with X at SFMM. I mean it has to be hard to sell, because of all the problems they keep having, and I'm sure S&S just saying that they've worked them all out, isn't enough to get a park to spend a few million.

[Blazen_AZN]

well, here goes greedy me talking, but i WOULDN'T want to see another 4D coaster built, considering SFMM is my homepark and i want it to be special! ...

 

wow i just read over that ^^ and i just realized i am a total @$$

 

anyway, SFMM was the park who was brave enough to do it first, heck, they were brave for just going to arrow in the first place. I wouldn't appreciate it much if other parks said, "hey now that we know it works, lets all put them in!"

[DRWP2005]

^^^

 

But isn't that what parks really want is something that is proven that works? It's always cool to be the "first" to have something, but sometimes being the first with something that doesn't work or no one likes, isn't going to draw in the big crowds.

[Gnome]

well, I've only ridden in the front, and if they fix its problems, and its capacity problem (statistically it has ok capacity, but the way its set up, it runs slow) then you'd have a pretty good ride. It has some nice air time in the front, and the drop is amazing, of course, it is no intamin with its amazing ride time and history of smashing into other trains, or throwing people out of the train. :shock:

[SpectralN]

Well in terms of rider hourly capacity and maintenance costs it is probably not in a companies best interest to build another "4-D" but in terms of taking roller coasters to the next level and giving the rider a truly unique experience it is the right thing to do.

For those who don't like the "4-D" concept, I can relate to not liking a particular coaster its all in the eye of the beholder or in this case rider

I am curious to know how many times you have ridden X and how long you had to wait for it. If I had to wait 4+ hours in the 100degree + heat with the Magic Mountain thugs, I probably would not think it was that great of a ride either. For me it was a ride that really took about 3 or 4 rides to fully begin to understand what the heck was really going on but I was hooked from the begining, it is just so different from the standard lineup.

Either way I believe this is only the begining and where it will go from here we can only imagine, this is just the Beta version 1.0, looking forward to version 2.0 in Japan!

[rollermonkey]

I hope to get out to Fuji-Q one more time this year. If I can, I will bring my camera. Hopefully, there will be more than the few signs around the construction area that are posted around the web this time!

 

Chris B

ooooh, maybe I'll get to ride this before any of you! Too bad I haven't been on X, so I could compare!

[suave1226]

Well if you look at the big picture people jumped all over the rocket coasters and they have their share of problems as well. I love X and yeah it was a prototype and depending how they do on the one in Japan determines its future otherwise we will just have to see how that Unicoaster down in Orlando is going to do.

[Gnome]

the unicoaster looks like unicrap. I'll take my problem filled S&S/Arrow 4D anyday.

[Hattuchili]

First I thought a 4D coaster is a "virtual reality coaster", because we had a 4D cinema here! I thought it is something with a onboard screen. However, now I know what you are meaning. I never rode X before, but I hope there will be a chance next year or maybe on the TPR Japan trip, the one at Fuji-Q Highland.

 

Anyway, we had "virtual reality coaster" in Bremen, called "Galaxie Express". I think it was the first one world wide. It is to sad, that they closed the park! But there is a good chance, that they reopen the park in the next years. There is someone, who want to buy the whole area!

 

--Sören

[SpectralN]

Virtual Reality coasters are really a whole other ball game. I believe DisneyQuest (if it still exists) has one in Orlando where you design your coaster layoout and then "Ride" it in a full motion simulation.

Very cool, I would say that is really a whole other experience.

But for the case of this discussion yes"4-D" refers to the Arrow Dynamics designed, Six Flags funded "X" and other rides similar in design.

(

[ChemicalWhore]

i dont really see any problems with x the whole its really rough and all that jazz i just think some of you people are extremely jaded and go out of your way to complain about any little thing possible that might be wrong with a roller coaster.

 

I mean if you go into something looking for flaws how are you going to have fun? You just always look at the negitive side of things.

 

Granted x does have some problems like wait time and being broken but i think the overall ride is good and its exciting.

 

Would i wait more then an hour and 30mins to ride it? no which is why i go during the weekdays if i can when everyone is at school or work for the most part.

[Gnome]

Granted x does have some problems like wait time and being broken but i think the overall ride is good and its exciting.

Those are the problems that keep it from selling.

[ChemicalWhore]

yea if i owned a themepark i wouldnt buy one based on that (kinda like you wouldnt buy a car with a lot of problems)

 

but i love the ride.