Six Flags Over Texas (SFOT) Discussion Thread

[CorkscrewFoley]

Flying Carpet? As in the flat?

[Dailey Enterprizes]

^ I am almost certain they're referring to the "flying carpet finale" that happens before the brake run. I remember it being considered the best part, but I never got the chance to ride it. Maybe someday I'll get the chance to ride it with the finale intact.

[Zingoman]

^Yes that is what we are talking about. The Flying Carpet section was the finale of the ride, and was absolutely outstanding.

[SharkTums]

The 'Flying Carpet' section was also the only redeeming quality of the ride the last few years. Oh, and only in the front car or else it would try to kill you. Gosh I hope this 'transformation' works, cause that ride had really gone to hell and so many other terrible woodies could benefit if this treatment works!

[texcoaster]

The 'Flying Carpet' section was also the only redeeming quality of the ride the last few years. Oh, and only in the front car or else it would try to kill you. Gosh I hope this 'transformation' works, cause that ride had really gone to hell and so many other terrible woodies could benefit if this treatment works!

 

It's true. Even though Giant was my #1 coaster for many years, the last five or six years were a study in diminishing returns. Do you throw a lot of money at a ride to keep it in it's current unridable state?

Or do you throw even more money at it in hopes of changing it into something so new, so different that it can essentially erase all the bad memories?

 

Giant wasn't even in my top 50 woodies last year.

The finale was still good even in the later years, but you were so brutalized by the first 2/3 of the ride that you couldn't enjoy it. During ERT at Lone Star Coasterthon, the Giant would have a few people all waiting on the front seat while Titan got the crowds. Such a shame.

[jynx242]

^This is one of the times that I'm actually glad that I haven't been able to ride a coaster since 1996! I can't emphasize enough how much TG blew my mind when I rode it back then.

[CoasterComet]

Ah yes... Giant during the ACE 1990 summer convention, right after the ride opened. Only time I ever knocked heads with someone on a coaster - it was funny though. I have pics of the blue train using a white car from the white train as the lead car - the ride was falling apart the week we were there. It was an incredible ride. One morning, returning to the park, we saw the installation of a trim on the first drop they had put on overnight. That ride was incredible then.

[Zingoman]

^ Ha Ha. Giant certainly had its history of self destruction. Including ripping it's rear car hitch off the original trailored trains, and the more recent derailmant. Speaking of trains has anyone else checked out the rumor mill over on Screamscape and read up on the new trains? I for one think it's comically awesome and I'm all for it! If you haven't read it here is the bit from the site.

 

A reader sent word that early Wednesday morning they caught a quick glimpse of something new on the official Texas Giant page. The image was quickly pulled before they could even think about making a screen capture, but it apparently featured a new shot of riders screaming and a new description of what the trains will look like. From what I’m told it said that the new Texas Giant trains would be given a 1961 era Cadillac body style theme, complete with a huge set of Texas Longhorns mounted to the front.

[Gutterflower]

I Wonder... Could this actually make Mean Streak into a good ride?

 

Also excuse my ignorance but why is the finale referred to as the Flying Carpet section?

[KCForce]

I Wonder... Could this actually make Mean Streak into a good ride?

 

Also excuse my ignorance but why is the finale referred to as the Flying Carpet section?

 

In my opinion, anything would be an improvement over what the Mean Streak is today. It's probably my least favorite wooden coaster because of the heavy breaking which ruins any airtime and makes the ride basically a scenic railway.

 

Imagine any cartoon you've seen with a Flying Carpet where the carpet moves along quickly while making little rolling waves rapidly and then changes directions rapidly, going left, right up and down. This is what the finale on the Giant felt like. It was (and hopefully will still be) one of the best coaster finishes ever.

[texcoaster]

I Wonder... Could this actually make Mean Streak into a good ride?

 

Also excuse my ignorance but why is the finale referred to as the Flying Carpet section?

 

re: Mean Streak -- it wasn't rough its opening season, but it was boring. The only way a makeover could turn it into a good ride would be a complete reprofiling like they're doing with Giant. I understand why they're doing the big changes with Giant, creating something completely new for the GP to get excited about, but they could've simply left the profile as it was, installed the steel rails, and removed the trims. Much less money... and it would probably rocket Giant back into every top ten list on earth. From a rider standpoint, there was nothing wrong with that layout. It was absolutely insane. From a maintenance standpoint, it was a disaster.

 

re: flying carpet -- I don't know who coined the term, but if you think back on cartoons of folks riding a flying carpet, the carpet was always undulating under the riders in waves while the carpet was hauling serious azz. The finale of Giant began with a drop off the last helix, hit a tightly banked S-turn at breakneck speed, then made a large 180 curve completely inside the structure with undulating hills that mimicked the way a flying carpet flies. Unlike the cartoon riders of a flying carpet, though, Giant riders were usually hanging on like crazy the whole time -- or getting tossed around like rag dolls.

[jynx242]

I Wonder... Could this actually make Mean Streak into a good ride?

 

Also excuse my ignorance but why is the finale referred to as the Flying Carpet section?

 

re: Mean Streak -- it wasn't rough its opening season, but it was boring. The only way a makeover could turn it into a good ride would be a complete reprofiling like they're doing with Giant. I understand why they're doing the big changes with Giant, creating something completely new for the GP to get excited about, but they could've simply left the profile as it was, installed the steel rails, and removed the trims. Much less money... and it would probably rocket Giant back into every top ten list on earth. From a rider standpoint, there was nothing wrong with that layout. It was absolutely insane. From a maintenance standpoint, it was a disaster.

 

re: flying carpet -- I don't know who coined the term, but if you think back on cartoons of folks riding a flying carpet, the carpet was always undulating under the riders in waves while the carpet was hauling serious azz. The finale of Giant began with a drop off the last helix, hit a tightly banked S-turn at breakneck speed, then made a large 180 curve completely inside the structure with undulating hills that mimicked the way a flying carpet flies. Unlike the cartoon riders of a flying carpet, though, Giant riders were usually hanging on like crazy the whole time -- or getting tossed around like rag dolls.

 

^ I thought we weren't mentioning the Ending That Shall Not Be Named lest they &$#@ it up.

[texcoaster]

Curses to the evil forces that made me forget about not discussing this.

[BrandonR]

. And like most rides, it feels a lot faster and crazier on the ride than in a video, especially since it was near/enclosed within all the other supports.

[texcoaster]

The

is worth a look. This is from the early days: no trim on the first drop, no hard trims in the lift helix, and very little midcourse braking at all.

Notice also that the double-up after the third drop hadn't yet been removed.

 

This is the Giant that sat at #1 on my list for so long.

 

...and

Agonizingly slow over the lift, trim on the first drop, no double-up, trims in the helix, s-l-o-w in the helix, decent finale. Also rough as all hell, even in the non-wheel seats.

[Zingoman]

^Every seat on Giant was a wheel seat by the third or forth season. Those trailored trains were very short lived.

 

Dispite all of the trimming, and reprofiling Giant was still a force to be reckoned with. I think that just goes to show how awesome it was. Even after being raped they just couldn't take the bite out of the ride and tame it.

[cedarpointfangirl]

^

^^

Wow, the glory days!! Thanks for sharing!! I actually used to be able to put my hands up. I used to love the backseat, it was so intense for me. The last ride I took, right before they shut it down I had to take two advil a half hour before and jam myself in the front seat to avoid all the abuse! I look forward to the future.

[KDcoasterMAN]

I think Cedar Fair should beconsidering buying a few of these coasters, even on the small scale...

Both Hurlers, Mean Streak, SOB (That's a Maybe), Wolverine Wildcat...

 

It could bring new thrills back to these once classic rides. I think a Iron Horse Hurler would be amazing!

[athurart09]

Gwazi and Wildcat have/had PTCs, PTCs make coasters suck! IDK about Evel and Renegade though.

 

I think everyone should send in their underwear to SFI with the words "Give TG Timberliners" on them. That'd make a statement.

[krazekiddd]

^Please do it and report back.

 

I'm glad I haven't ridden this since I was 16! Maybe I'll go visit the family next spring if it's open and hop on a ride. Kind of excited to see what it's like.

[Funky Cold Medina]

www.sixflags.com/overTexas/rides/TexasGiant.aspx

 

Look at the time lapse pictures and look towards the bottom left hand corner where the brake run is, that track wasn't there before and it looks like it's banked, I think the magic carpet is going in! And also the ledgers near it look banked as well! This is awesome!!

[Zingoman]

^I was just about to post about this! They seem to have left the final bunny hill profile just as it was! You can see the ledgers for it on the webcam! "That which we do not speak of" is getting started!

 

However it looks like there is a nice flat spot going into the brake shed, like the ride won't dip down after that bunny hill before the brakes as far as it used to.

[Funky Cold Medina]

Ok, read this,

 

(9/18/10) Screamscape sources have confirmed that the new Texas Giant cars will indeed look like big Cadillacs with Bull Horns on the front. Boss Hogg would be proud my friends!

 

*facepalm* This can either look really cool, or completely stupid.

[KCForce]

^I'm going to vote for looks cool (in a kitchy, yet seriously cool way). *crosses fingers*

[texcoaster]

^ and ^^

 

I don't know whether to applaud or cry. I'm going to cautiously go for applause. In one sense, this is a completely new, first-of-its-kind, absolutely outlandish makeover and it deserves something truly unique for rolling stock. I get that.

But horny Caddies?

 

On the other hand, I like the contrast of a cutesy, whimsical, family-friendly-looking train rolling along totally badass extreme coaster track. I just hope the "nose" on the front isn't too big. I hate getting a front seat ride and still not being able to see the track because of some lame lead car decoration (Vekoma mine train, anyone?) The nose on Xcelerator is even too long for my tastes, although it does add a bit of excitement to the top hat by keeping you from seeing any track until you're completely vertical.