Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park Discussion Thread

[CPmillenia94]

It concerns me that this is so rough.. How about the part that is brand new, like the corkscrew and turnaround?

[Wes]

^ Robb has said the corkscrew and turnaround are the only smooth sections of the ride now.

[ZeroGravity55]

I have no idea how Gravity Group could even sign off on this ride - it needed a complete re-tracking to have any chance of being good. Honestly, this is giving Gravity Group a bad name and if I were in their position, I would not have agreed to do the Hades 360 modification without a contractual obligation from Mt. Olympus to maintain the ride properly.

 

As for the Timberliner trains, I'm now really concerned about seeing them on rides like Voyage. They should be really comfortable on a smooth coaster, but without anything to brace yourself against (the grip area on the lapbar is pretty awkward to hold), any rough sections of track will be painful.

 

The Gravity Group signed off on it because Mt. Olympus gave them their first chance to design a wooden coaster and the chance to prove they could go upside down. They also probably needed the business since they only seem to be drawing interest from China. To be quite honest the only blame TGG should probably get is for designing such an aggressive layout, but I much rather have them design aggressive layouts than boring ones. Most of the blame should fall on the parks shoulder. They purchased what they wanted and it's their job to maintain it, not the designers.

 

As for the Voyage, I hope it's at least slightly better than before. HW actually tries their best to maintain the Voyage. It's just hard for them to cover that much track with their maintenance budget and 2 other old aggressive coasters in the park. But as I said before, HW purchased what they wanted, so it's their job to keep it maintained.

[ScottyDoesKnow]

I rode Hades 360 about a week after it opened to the public. The only enjoyable seat was the front row, which actually provided a decent ride. From what it sounds like, the ride has just gotten rougher this summer.

[Rollercoaster Rider]

I rode Hades 360 about a week after it opened to the public. The only enjoyable seat was the front row, which actually provided a decent ride. From what it sounds like, the ride has just gotten rougher this summer.

 

Imagine the "Quality" of the ride in 3 years.

 

 

Sounds like Hades 360 makes Mean Streak look good.

[gerstlaueringvar]

Actually I marathoner Mean Streak during TPR's Texas/Midwest tour. I found it 1,000,000 times better than Hades 360 though Hades 360 provides much more airtime than Mean Streak. Mt. Olympus should learn from Cedar Point!

[darklingscribe]

 

As for the Timberliner trains, I'm now really concerned about seeing them on rides like Voyage.

 

 

The thing about the Timberliner train that I think everyone realized on the trip when they rode Hades 360 is that turning every seat into a wheel seat was perhaps not the best thing to do on a already rough coaster. I'm sure the trains will prove to be great on new GG woodies, but I and a few other trip members were wondering if the PTC trains did so much damage to the ride that even a total retracking might not bring it back to it's former glory.

 

Right now we can only wait and see if the combination of a gentler train and progressive retracking of the older sections of the ride can bring Hades back to world class coaster status.

[ZeroGravity55]

^ I don't think the PTC's damaged the ride beyond repair, especially since the ride utilizes a steel structure. If they ever do a full re-track, it would be wise for them to hire TGG to come in and do a ledger by ledger analysis. Ledgers are going to move, especially in places of high-g forces. If they move even a quarter of an inch, it will be enough to make difference in the smoothness of the ride. So simply going through and bumping the ledgers up where needed is going to make the ride significantly smoother. If they don't do that and just re-track the ride, I say it will be better, but will still have it's bumps.

 

Btw, great point about every seat being a wheel seat and that could have been why it was so rough. If I had to guess, I'm assuming the trains are still wanting to bounce around the track. I think TGG should seriously look at RMC's trains and the suspension system it uses to keep the side wheels in contact with track at all times. Idk if it's possible to incorporate that suspension system in with the bogey steering system, but it's something they should look into.

[Moose]

I still question Gravity Group's ability to design these big, forceful coasters. Hades and voyage have some big issues and all the blame should not be put on the park.

[coastercrazy216]

I still question Gravity Group's ability to design these big, forceful coasters. Hades and voyage have some big issues and all the blame should not be put on the park.

 

However, Mt. Olympus has certainly done nothing to ease the issues. I would say that probably about 70 to 80% of the blame should be put on the park in the case of Hades. with 10 to 20% of the blame being put on PTC. I really love the Gravity Group's designs. They are fantastic and a great improvement over the old CCI designs, but they still have the problems that the CCI coasters have now, where they are showing their age much more quickly. That being said, I am now a total RMC fan on top of already being an Intamin fan for wooden coasters, so it is hard for me to really stay unbiased.

[cfc]

I still question Gravity Group's ability to design these big, forceful coasters. Hades and voyage have some big issues and all the blame should not be put on the park.

 

I agree with this to a point. But if a park is going to install an intense, huge wooden coaster like Hades or Voyage, they had better be prepared to do all they can to maintain it properly. For example, Happy Valley Shanghai had obviously done a lot of retracking on Fireball, and it was running very well during TPR's China Trip last year. But Jon is an actual engineer and, frankly, knows more about this stuff than I do.

 

In for a penny, in for a pound. (Or just go with Intamin plug-and-play woodies or a solid GCI coaster. )

Edited August 14, 2013 by cfc

[robbalvey]

I rode Hades 360 about a week after it opened to the public. The only enjoyable seat was the front row, which actually provided a decent ride. From what it sounds like, the ride has just gotten rougher this summer.

I read "enjoyable" as "didn't kill me as much as the rest of the train."

[PalmTree55]

I was at Mt. Olympus this past Thursday the 8th for my very first trip to the park and was able to get a couple of rides on Hades 360. I am going to refrain from saying too much here as I'm working on a TR of my whole trip (also went to Valleyfair and Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America), but I must have caught Hades on a really good day because I found it to not nearly as bad as some other woodies I've had the displeasure to ride. It was far from the best, but better than the worst I've ever ridden.

However, I only rode in the very front seat (wasn't going to risk going too far back since there was some pretty good jackhammering near the end of the ride which would have only gotten worse; that and the front seat line wasn't that long), so maybe I missed the worst of it that day.

It had some interesting elements (the drop out of the station and stuff before the lift, the elements in the tunnels, and also the loop, though I still think loops on woodies are nothing but gimmicks), and also some pretty rough patches (as noted especially at the end). And yes, I also thought that it lacked re-rideability - if there was an ERT I don't think I would have been good for anymore than two rides in a row, and then only in the front. I also noticed that sign about it being aggressive and thought it was rather odd.

 

Speaking of roughness and not allowing children to ride, they were not allowing anyone under 18 to ride in the back few seats on one of the other woodies (I think it was Cyclops), which is really a bad testament to roughness. I rode all 4 woodies only in the front, and of the 4, Zeus was by far the worst, IMO. I almost wish I hadn't gotten the cred on that one, but then again, I wouldn't have hit my 200th coaster on this past trip.

 

The reason no one under 18 can't ride on the backseats of Cyclops is because of the ridiculous ejector air you get from one of the drops.

[Dr. M]

^Midget 18 year-olds, however, are fine.

[ZeroGravity55]

I still question Gravity Group's ability to design these big, forceful coasters. Hades and voyage have some big issues and all the blame should not be put on the park.

 

I think it's more compelling that TGG hasn't designed a roller coaster with a drop over 115 feet since The Voyage. To be fair to TGG, Holiday World really encouraged them to push the limits with The Voyage. When your a company that's in your second design, I don't think you tell the park no.

[IronWolfman]

^Though it was their second design as TGG, the designers still had a ton of experience from their work as CCI. Holiday World probably would not have had them build such a big ride if they were a completely new company...

[ZeroGravity55]

^That's true.

It comes down to this, I don't think Hades 360 is going to give TGG a bad name. Their designs hold half of the top 10 in the Mitch Hawker and Amusement Today polls and that should say more than one bad coaster. The Amusement Today poll is quite debatable though.

 

Other than Hades 360 and Voyage, has anybody had a rough ride on any other TGG coaster? I know I read Boardwalk Bullet was rough early on, but I thought I saw where someone said that Kemah Boardwalk seemed to have worked out the kinks.

[Schrecken]

I recall there being a couple of rough places (not as much or as bad as Hades) on Ravine Flyer 2 the last time I rode it a couple of summers ago, but nothing horrible. However, I only rode in the front seat or the first seat in the 2nd row so I can't comment on what it might have been like towards the back. I've been on only three Gravity Group coasters - Hades 360, Voyage and RF2, and while I liked Voyage a lot (for its blistering speed, intensity and power) and also liked RF2, I didn't find either of those two to have a whole lot of re-rideability. Might be just me, but I couldn't do anymore than about 4 times in a row on Voyage and no more than about 5 times on RF2 w/o a decent break.

[ZeroGravity55]

I liked Voyage a lot (for its blistering speed, intensity and power) and also liked RF2, I didn't find either of those two to have a whole lot of re-rideability. Might be just me, but I couldn't do anymore than about 4 times in a row on Voyage

 

That sounds about right for the Voyage.I think the Voyage is just to intense for a lot people. There really isn't a spot for you to catch your breath except for the mid-course break run, which just goes by really fast since HW doesn't use it.

 

I totally get why people don't like the Voyage, but the reasons they hate it, are the reasons I absolutely love it. In 2010, which was by far the Voyage's roughest season. Me and 2 my friends rode it 5 times in a row and absolutely loved it, while my other friend rode it once, and had to go sit down because the ride gave him a jarring headache.

[railsrust]

^That's true.

It comes down to this, I don't think Hades 360 is going to give TGG a bad name. Their designs hold half of the top 10 in the Mitch Hawker and Amusement Today polls and that should say more than one bad coaster. The Amusement Today poll is quite debatable though.

 

Other than Hades 360 and Voyage, has anybody had a rough ride on any other TGG coaster? I know I read Boardwalk Bullet was rough early on, but I thought I saw where someone said that Kemah Boardwalk seemed to have worked out the kinks.

 

I've ridden Boardwalk Bullet. Right now the roughness is hit or miss really. Some days it's screaming by at a 100mph smoothest woody ever, and other days it's slow, sluggish, boring, and rough as nails. It's actually a ride that gets taken well care of though. You'll regularly find stacks of lumber somewhere around it and fresh yellow pine on some sections. The best time to ride it is at night. It gets absolutely nuts then.

[Koasterking48]

I liked Voyage a lot (for its blistering speed, intensity and power) and also liked RF2, I didn't find either of those two to have a whole lot of re-rideability. Might be just me, but I couldn't do anymore than about 4 times in a row on Voyage

 

That sounds about right for the Voyage.I think the Voyage is just to intense for a lot people. There really isn't a spot for you to catch your breath except for the mid-course break run, which just goes by really fast since HW doesn't use it.

 

I totally get why people don't like the Voyage, but the reasons they hate it, are the reasons I absolutely love it. In 2010, which was by far the Voyage's roughest season. Me and 2 my friends rode it 5 times in a row and absolutely loved it, while my other friend rode it once, and had to go sit down because the ride gave him a jarring headache.

The Voyage is disliked just because it is rough. No other reason. The layout is fantastic and decently smooth up until the turnaround. I do admit, the PTC's are pretty uncomfortable since you get slammed into your riding partner often.

[ZeroGravity55]

^ I know that.

 

I'm saying if there was a spot in the ride where you had a chance to really catch your breath, it wouldn't seem as rough.

[A.J.]

I recall there being a couple of rough places (not as much or as bad as Hades) on Ravine Flyer 2 the last time I rode it a couple of summers ago, but nothing horrible.

Either absolute end of the train is absolutely fantastic, but the back seat stinks like smelly garbage in the second through fifth cars. For some reason, when I sat near the middle of the red train one ride the lap bar tightened down another notch on me (How does that even happen? I'm a walking twig!) which made the ride very unpleasant.

 

The only rough spots I noticed on the actual track layout were the transition after the first highway jump and the transition after the ninety-degree turn where it goes under the lift hill.

 

I'm saying if there was a spot in the ride where you had a chance to really catch your breath, it wouldn't seem as rough.

No it wouldn't. A rough ride is going to toss you around into oblivion whether you're breathing or not.

[GoBears]

I've ridden Hades every year since (except its first 2 seasons) and it's my 2nd favorite wooden coaster. It's by far the roughest coaster I've been on but I love every part of it (except the ending turn around). However, I have yet to ride it this year. I'm a little nervous to go on it even though it's been one of my favorites for so long.

[ilrider]

Just got an email that admission to the park is totally free tomorrow.