FLIPDUDE Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 EDIT - Apparantly it only opened a day after the video was shot, but this is a video fo the first riders! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyvlBDTapCU&feature=related On one hand the first turn looks horribly horribly painful, on the other hand those people looked happy at the brake run Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 Looks really fun to me. Just one more reason to want to go back to that awesome place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjaco Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 on the other hand those people looked happy at the brake run That could be because the ride is over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom25 Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 Thank you for sharing the video. The ride certainly screams through the course and even up the lift it seems to fly. I think it looks like a lot of head banging, and hope I'm wrong - cause it does look very cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLIPDUDE Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 Yikes, sorry folks but its a simple conclusion... Imagine putting OSTRs on a wild mouse, or on the Thunderbolt in kennywood. This ride is most definately a headbanger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterguy618 Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 Looks like a fun little ride. I hope its not as bad as people think it is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesdillaman Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 Yikes, sorry folks but its a simple conclusion... Imagine putting OSTRs on a wild mouse, or on the Thunderbolt in kennywood. This ride is most definately a headbanger. What basis do you have? Thunderbolt is a wooden coaster, and this is an entirely new ride design. It isn't like Mack decided to make a wild mouse with this layout. I'm sorry, but unless you've been on it, you can't tell by a (very poorly shot) video of some people on it whether or not there is a lot of headbanging on the ride. It looks surprisingly smooth to me, especially in the testing footage, which you can watch without throwing up because the videographer knows how to hold a camera. I don't mean to sound unkind, but it just seems like a ridiculous conclusion to me. Also the only first-hand information (which YOU gave us) was that the ride is awesome. Headbanging isn't awesome, so I would assume if the ride was horribly rough, the person who's ACTUALLY ridden it would have told you. -James Dillaman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steel Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 I don't think that looks bad at all. Makes me feel like I should get out there as soon as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scaparri Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 I'm really on the fence on this one. Even if it is smooth, I don't really see it being terribly spectacular. I hope I'm wrong. I really hate that style of restraints though and I can't imagine it being terribly comfortable. We will see though. Hopefully I will make it up to the park before the end of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Joe Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 I rode Hawg five times early Friday morning. The shoulder restraints eliminate the "headbanging" as they touch every rider square on the shoulders. Despite the transitions looking aggressive, they are heartlined very well and flow nicely. My fav parts of the ride were the twisting climb into the first block zone and the outside-banked turn. I'm not a huge fan of hangtime but the hanging was far less than in the original Squirrel. The first drop had a negative-G kick before the free descent while the second upside-down moment is entered through a roll so the negatives are entirely from hangtime. A third hangtime moment is the midpoint of the descending barrel roll. The transitions from right hand curve->left barrel->right wall turn are very well done. I kind of compare this to the Eurofighter....although Hawg handles the slower elements with more grace and the manuevers far more interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jive Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 I'm really on the fence on this one. Even if it is smooth, I don't really see it being terribly spectacular. I hope I'm wrong. I really hate that style of restraints though and I can't imagine it being terribly comfortable. We will see though. Hopefully I will make it up to the park before the end of the season.Why would it have to be spectacular? Do you only ride the spectacular rides when you visit a park? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scaparri Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 ^^Great report, Joe. This renews some of my excitement about the ride now. I'm really on the fence on this one. Even if it is smooth, I don't really see it being terribly spectacular. I hope I'm wrong. I really hate that style of restraints though and I can't imagine it being terribly comfortable. We will see though. Hopefully I will make it up to the park before the end of the season.Why would it have to be spectacular? Do you only ride the spectacular rides when you visit a park? Yes, yes I only ride spectacular rides at parks. Seriously, was the real meaning of that sentence that hard to comprehend? I said that I don't see it being "terribly spectacular," meaning, I'm not expecting it to be something really special. Is it a sin to say that I'm no longer as excited about this ride as some? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jive Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 I see your point now. It's not a sin to be skeptical. I still am as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom25 Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 Since we all have different prefferences, I for one am still skepticle. The ride does look agressive, which is a good thing, but I find it hard to believe the restraints eliminate head-banging. Bring on a POV and more opinions, and I may change my position, but I suspect until I ride it and see first hand what it's like - the doubting Thomas in me will win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jive Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 The Euro-fighters made me a skeptic of everything similar. I loved the concept but once I started riding them I changed my tune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superdasher Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 That video of people riding it is from a sneak peek preview Indiana Beach gave this last weekend. The winners of the video contest were the first to ride, as well as some others who were there. The official opening and media day will be sometime later this month. I was lucky enough to be there, and I took pictures of the ride, yet somehow lost the camera. So anyway, I rode the ride. Here's my review: It is kind of like a "Wild Mouse that was forced to evolve by S&S" being that it pulls strong laterals that can be jarring, but all of the elements on the ride are unique and just a lot of "fun". Steel Hawg layout is actually pretty simple. The ride has a very fast lift hill, and you reach the top in just seconds, even when allowing for the fact that it is only 96 feet tall. The first drop is cool, although in my opinion the first drop on Maverick is much better. After the drop, you climb back up into a sharp turn to the left, which brings you to the block brake. It takes off a little speed, before you go around the outside banked turn, and into what I'm guessing is the 90 degrees "wall" turn into a dive loop, which delivers a lot of hangtime at the top. After that there's another climb and turn to the right then a downward heartline roll then an overbanked turn then brakes. It is very similar to Mystery Mine with a beyond-vertical drop, small cars, and two inversions but not quite as good due to the lack of theming. It's very different from Maverick, but yet it has a G-Force at Drayton Manor feeling, it is a different layout. All of the inversions are very different from the average loop. It is worth riding, even if the wait is 60 minutes. One highlight is actually the outside banked turn, you really feel like you're going to be thrown from the car. As for the issue of headbanging, the track is actually pretty smooth, and yes the laterals on the turns are powerful, but they're not nearly as bad as Flashback's hairpin dives were, and like I said, it feels like an evolved Wild Mouse. Just brace for the first two turns and you'll be fine. Have any of you ridden Mystery Mine? Because it's not really much worse than that. I’d say it’s a solid 8 out of 10 attraction. Don't expect to see it rate as high as staple coasters like the Beast and Storm Runner, but it's still perfectly enjoyable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesdillaman Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 I rode Hawg five times early Friday morning. The shoulder restraints eliminate the "headbanging" as they touch every rider square on the shoulders. Despite the transitions looking aggressive, they are heartlined very well and flow nicely. My fav parts of the ride were the twisting climb into the first block zone and the outside-banked turn. I'm not a huge fan of hangtime but the hanging was far less than in the original Squirrel. The first drop had a negative-G kick before the free descent while the second upside-down moment is entered through a roll so the negatives are entirely from hangtime. A third hangtime moment is the midpoint of the descending barrel roll. The transitions from right hand curve->left barrel->right wall turn are very well done. I kind of compare this to the Eurofighter....although Hawg handles the slower elements with more grace and the manuevers far more interesting. See, told ya it didn't look like the headbanging would be bad I can't wait to go ride this, but I'll have to wait until I get back from Boston later this month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reon Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 So far I'm impressed. I'm hearing this thing being compared to a themeless MM, or Eurofighter in general. MM is one of my favorite steel coasters right now, so I think I'll be pretty happy riding this one. Won't know until I get a chance to ride it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bovinejumpsuit Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 but I find it hard to believe the restraints eliminate head-banging. why? The side of your head doesn't touch any restraints. Where would the headbanging come from? Air? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormrider Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 I hope this ride can convince other parks to consider installing more Arrow-S&S rides, since they've shown that they can design better transitions and heartline their track to be smoother (so maybe the Stengel monopoly on dynamic calculations can be broken). This ride does look like a twisted wild mouse, and the lift goes by really quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom25 Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 ^^ Come on - no need for wise guy replies. The side of your head can EASILY hit the shoulder restraints. Did you see the video of the first rider? Did you notice both riders were holding onto those restraints (possibly to minimize head banging), while the shoulder portion was maybe 3 inches fom the side of their heads. The turns are agressive, so it is more than possible your head will hit more than air imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesdillaman Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 ^ Or the fact that they were holding on could be because they were HANGING UPSIDE-DOWN and are a little freaked out by it. The restraints on Catapult at SFNE are very similar, and even though there is no headbanging at all, I always hang on to the restraints in much the same manner. -James Dillaman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginzo Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 ^^ Come on - no need for wise guy replies. The side of your head can EASILY hit the shoulder restraints. Did you see the video of the first rider? Did you notice both riders were holding onto those restraints (possibly to minimize head banging), while the shoulder portion was maybe 3 inches fom the side of their heads. The turns are agressive, so it is more than possible your head will hit more than air imo. No offense but I think I'm going to believe the coaster engineer who has actually ridden the thing over the guy who is guessing from watching crappy YT videos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesdillaman Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 ^ But the dippin dots guy told him it was rough! How has the ride been doing? Any long down times? I'm thinking of getting up there in the next couple weeks. -James Dillaman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom25 Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 James, the riders were holding onto the restraints in the station, after the brake run. In fact the car wasn't even moving and they were still holding on? The video wasn't that great and I couldn't see where their hands were while on the ride itself. You may want to re-visit the video. Regarding the one and only comment about the ride not being a head banger - call me crazy, but some people - espeically coaster engineers - tend to be biased. I am not about to take the one and only comment I've seen from an actual rider, who could be biased as gospel truth - just like I don't take too seriously the opinion of one man wearing a "prison" orange jumpsuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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