Goliathdude Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Ok I rember when I first went to SFMM. Superman just opened and the car got to the top of the tower.I just went a couple of months ago and it wasen't even getting half way up the tower.Does any one know what happend to the once great ride? (here is what i saw before and after!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MF310ryb Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 I don't know what to say to this cause I can say a lot of rides at SF parks that I have seen are not always running the way they are supposed to be running. When I was at SFMM a few yrs ago Superman was not running fast at all we went maybe less then half way up and of course that same side in your picture was in operation. I am not sure why SF is unable to have the rides running the way there designed. Tower of Terror in Australia goes all the way from pictures I have seen. Does anyone know the last time Superman raced? Not to keep it on SFMM but even my home park Chiller blue was closed the whole season. Why can't they get these rides working properly is it due to the ride or they would rather buy multi million dollar rides instead of fixing what they have? I have only been to a few SF parks has anyone else experienced this at the other locations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonLord Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 I dunno, perhaps there was something wrong with the motors that day. Or something was trapped or stuck like a wheel. Â When I went in 2003, it got up to your "Before" line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zburns999 Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 I think your "after" line might be stretching it a bit. I have not personally seen the ride in action, but that seems a little too low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy4Coasters! Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 True i just went this past Friday and Superman gets to where that before line was at. 8) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Six Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 It really depends on the day. Sometimes I see it launching close to the brakes and other days its a little higher than your "after" line. _six Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShoubraStreet74 Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 I think height varies ALOT with this ride. When I went to SFMM last summer, it was pretty close to the "before" line. It probably has its good days and bad days. Even in the same day I was there I saw it really high some times, and somewhere between the two lines at other times. I actually have never ridden it, but from what I have observed of the ride, the "after" line looks to be exaggerated, although I doubt it reaches the "before" line very often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazen_AZN Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Superman is really a unique coaster, unlike practically every other coaster in the world, it will get faster with less people and less warmth, keep that in mind. Â on other launched coasters it will get it's highest when people are on it and it is warm, so you get closest to the top of the spike in the middle of the day, when people see it. Â On superman they had to build the spike according to how high it would get empty in the morning. When you see that coaster when walking around the park it will start to freefall the farthest from the top of the spike than any other time of that day. Â To sum it up, the launch varies in certain conditions, and they have to build the spike according to it's fastest launch, that happens to be when you don't notice it. the ride still can kiss the brakes every once in awhile, you just have to be lucky. Â Â and your after line is REALLY pushing it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 It was actually going pretty far up the tower yesterday. I think I have a fairly recent photo that shows it going up pretty far. Maybe not as far as the one in Joe's photo, but really close. Â I also think your "after" line is a bit exaggerated. I'd say on average, it's between your before and after line, but on a "good day" it will still get pretty close to the "before" line. Â Also, if you want a REALLY kick ass ride on it, go RIGHT AFTER OPENING when no one has made it up the hill yet and you're like one of 3 or 4 people on the ride. The lighter the car is, the higher it goes. Â --Robb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkTrips Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Maybe it's just my imagination, but when I rode, while it looked like it barely made it halfway up the tower, from the ride, it seemed to go pretty far up the tower. Perhaps it was just an illusion, but that's what I got out of it. Â Â Still a boring ride that I didn't take a second ride on, even though it was a walk-on. Â Â - Joe, who was very disappointed by Superman. Stupid Travel Channel hype Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coaster_type_of_person Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 ^ same thing with me...i thought that it didnt go that high up and i thought the ride sucked. Â Â Â 100th Post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DATman Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 I hate it, but it is "fun", and when it opened, there was no such thing as a hydraulic launch, so I bet it was amazing (or at least, till more forcefull launches came out) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazen_AZN Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 I hate it, but it is "fun", and when it opened, there was no such thing as a hydraulic launch, so I bet it was amazing (or at least, till more forcefull launches came out) Â Â you hate it... but it's fun? huh?? Â Â Anyway, yeah the ride was probably much more exciting when it came out... but to me, and lots of people who have not been on rocket/compressed air coasters, the launch is still a rush. Â (ive been on xlr8r and i still like superman) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry_Gumball Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 When I rode it, it made it between the 2 lines shown in the previous pic. Discovery Channel did over-hype it as I was disappointed when I got off...my reaction was: "Cool launch, but what happened to the rest of the ride?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Superman hasn't raced in a long time, but back in early '98, I spent an afternoon riding (park was closed) to tape a Discovery Channel show. Â We raced many times that day. 8) Â Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Six Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 I hate it, but it is "fun" The first time I rode it I was shocked to how "safe" of a feeling it has. I never had any "floating" time on it. Perhaps it has something to due with its larger car but you don't feel like your in danger. Meh, kinda hard to explain. I almost want to say it reminds me of a Coaster Simulator. _six Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mind Eraser Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Geez, guys, how can you be disappointed with STE?... it does exactly what you think it's going to do. Launch, up, down, brakes. Did you think there was a whole bunch of extra track in the station or something? Â I thought it was amazing. Then again, I rode it in spring of '99. The cars went way high up and you floated for about 5 seconds or so. My mom doesn't like coasters, but I got her on STE anyway. After our ride, she ran and told my dad we all had to go back and ride it again "right now!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepp Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Â Anyway, yeah the ride was probably much more exciting when it came out... but to me, and lots of people who have not been on rocket/compressed air coasters, the launch is still a rush. Â Indeed, the ride has to be taken in context...at one point it was the fastest, tallest ride in the world. It's not S:TE's fault that Kingda Ka got built. I bet at one point even SLCs seemed amazing and cool. Maybe. Â That being said, I think the ride would be better if SFMM put up vertical poles or arches close alongside the launch track, which would enhance the perception of speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robinschroder Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Superman is really a unique coaster, unlike practically every other coaster in the world, it will get faster with less people and less warmth, keep that in mind. Â Also, if you want a REALLY kick ass ride on it, go RIGHT AFTER OPENING when no one has made it up the hill yet and you're like one of 3 or 4 people on the ride. The lighter the car is, the higher it goes. Â That's true enough! I was at SFMM earlier this year when the park was really quiet! STE was a walk-on and with only 2 of us in the car, we got really close to that 'before' mark! When we arrived back in the station, the ride-ops even asked us if we wanted to launch again - we approached that 'before' mark a second time. Â I think one of the problems with the ride is that because it's a reverse freefall you have no real perception of how high you are off the ground when you reach wherever it is between those 'before' and 'after' lines. Â Robin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4718 Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 That being said, I think the ride would be better if SFMM put up vertical poles or arches close alongside the launch track, which would enhance the perception of speed. Yeah, with LED's on them that spiral or something so it takes on a "space warp" kinda feel at night......that'd definately be cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Don't those little huts between the tracks provide enough of a perception of speed? If I sit on the inside seat of either car, I feel like I'm going to get my arm ripped off if I stick it out. Â All in all, I still enjoy riding S:TE, but its time has passed, given some rides that have come since. But I still get plenty of floater air when the car gets to its highest point, whether at the "before" or "after" line. My rides are usually closer to the "before" line. Â Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RctInfinity Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Wow that sure is weird! :o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy4Coasters! Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Well i guess I was one of the lucky ones... When I went back in Sept of this year the ride ops were giving 2 or 3 rides depending on how loud the people would say "ONE MORE TIME" and lucky for me I got 3 rides and on each ride Superman almost reached the brakes!!! I really think it depends on luck and other circumstances that need to be just right to get to that height... but trust me the chances of Superman going near that before line are not that bad! 8) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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