Prototype rides don't rock...
Prototypes DO rock...i live an hour and 15 minutes from paramounts kings dominion, and they had three "firsts" in the prototype coaster field.....the first linear induction launch coaster ( Flight of Fear, which also debuted at PKI the same summer).... Volcano the Blast Coaster, which was the first linear induction suspended coaster, and was the fastest suspended coaster at that time, with a top speed of 72mph..and of course HypersonicXLC.
I dont recall there being any downtime for FOF, but for Volcano??? It didnt debut until August, and when it did, it only seated 8 people instead of 16, because the LIMs didnt have enough power to rocket 16 people straight up 155 feet. Was it worth the wait?? YES, Volcano is one of the best coasters ive ever been on. As for XLC, i think itll be running like it should by mid summer. As someone said above, its a one trick pony, but its so intense, thats all it needs to be.
I'm a chemist by occupation, and i can tell u that whenever new technology is developed, it rarely goes or runs smoothly on its debut. So be patient, and try not to have such a crappy attitude for an enthusiast. As for X, id wait 4 hours to experience something like that, and i HOPE that it is running when i visit SFMM in August.
For all you Eastern Standard time people, BED!
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Stop the lawyers, not the rides!
*** This post was edited by RememberIdora on 6/11/2002. ***
Magnum XL 200 and Bandit(first hyper coasters)
Apollo's Chariot(first B&M hyper with raised seating)
Medusa(first floorless coaster)
Batman:The Ride(first inverted coaster)
Rock n' Roller Coaster and Space Mountain(first lanched coasters)
Fujiyama(first hyper twister)
Sky Trak(First Flying coaster)
Flying Super Saturator(first Setpoint Swing)
Lightning Racer(first racing/dueling woodie)
Son of Beast(first hyper looping woodie)
Mr.Freeze(first launched shuttle coaster+fisrt top hat inversion)
Moonsault Scrambler(first 200+' shuttle coaster and first preztel knot loop)
Now, I can look above at all these coaster and say that they did more than deliver the goods. They delivered a new, one of a kind experience beyond expectations. Sure any new coaster is going have a long line at some point, but that does not make unreridable. If it wasn't for these great coasters, we wouldn't be as far as we are now. Would the inverted coaster be as highly developed as Alpengeist had Batman:The Ride never come? Would be attempt in making massive hyper twister if Fujiyama didn't dare to try it? Superman:Ride of Steel@SFNE and Phantom Revenge could have been some tiny Arrow and Intiman loopers if Bandit and Magnum did not set a new standard and range of coasters. You should be thanking these coaster for starting the new trends in coaster for where would we be without a starting point in new thrills?
Could you imagine:
News Flash-2003, Matterhorn is in preperation at Disneyland as the world's first steel coaster. Never before have we seen a coaster made entirely out of steel.
I bet you'd be in a panic if there were zero steel coaster constructed until 2003.
Within 12 hours, this debate has become completely one sided......probably because he lives on the other side of the pond. But, put me down for a "yes" for prototypes. I want a different way to be thrilled. People who have ridden X, love it. The bugs will be worked out, hell, look at Wicked Twister, they are having some down time with the ride and many of the Intamin Impulse rides have exzperienced similar problems (Out of 8 trips to SFWoA last year, S: UE was up 5 of 8 times).
Where would we be without Arrow and Swartzkopf when it comes to steel coasters?
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There's nothing like a woodie...
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AC?, RB?, MF?, DD?, PR? Who can keep track of it all?
just for your information, air now runs almost up to the predicted 1600pph. there are little or no breakdowns anymore, and trains are often loaded and in the flying position even before the next block is free.
there are still the odd 10 minute safety cut off, but what ride doesnt suffer from these most days?!
i've calmed down a little bit now.
i think most people have missed the point of my first post. obviously i understand that all types of coaster have to have a beginning somewhere, and i realise that many of these first of a kind coasters still pack in a great ride years after their debut (Batman : the Ride is a classic example). However, if you read my first post carefully you realise that i'm talking about the current wave of prototypes, the rides which have been planned, built or opened (or all three) within the past two years (or so). I think that the throughput, reliability and excitement of these rides is disappointing, and however technically advanced they may be, i simply don't think that their all they are hyped up to be. John Wardley might say that Air is for families, young and old alike, but how many grandparents have you seen flying round the staffordshire countryside, plus the min height is 1.4m which rules out a lot of kids. if Alton Towers and John Wardley want me to believe that Air wasn't intended to be a thrill ride then i'm stunned. Plus it's unreliable, and the theming (where existant) is terrible. The ride still looks like a trawl through a buildingsite.
Great ride experience it maybe, X, is an unreliable piece of junk which is already falling to pieces. It's terrible operating maintence condition and inane single (short) train operation adds up to horrific queues. now, as you can probably tell, i'm not a hardcore coaster enthusiast, but i do LOVE going to themeparks and having a good time with my friends on loads of different rides. the thought about having to wait 5 hours for a 1min ride on X leaves me gutted.
even if these rides are prototypes, coaster companies should not build them unless they are confident that they are going to work, fastly and reliably. The B+M Inverted - great ride. prototype. but opened with great reliablity. ditto Millennium (as pointed out above by phydeux, was a prototype, of sorts), yeah it did have long lines when it opened, but that's because it's such a great ride EVERYBODY wanted to ride it, and hey, it swalloed those queues.
why can't coaster companies seem to get it right anymore?
if coaster companies want us to take these new wave prototypes seriously then they're gonna have to try a lot harder on future installations.
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http://www.mfanzine.com/
It isnt a matter of the coaster company, its a matter of the corporation that is WANTING to buy the ride. Look at Six Flags, they rushed the Deja R&D, and look at what came out. Look at X, same thing, it has its problems.
Look at Xcelerator, the ride hasnt even opened, but is running flawlessly in comparison to other rides that have been developed. Xcelerator is also what they could fit into the space of Windjammer.
Alot of the times, its not the company's fault, its the parks, if Windjammer's site had been about 3 times its current size, I am SURE that Intamin would have tripled the length, and added more. Companys do what they can with what they have to deal with.
You are blaming the companys for everything, look at how everything is done. Alot of the time, it isnt the company's fault.
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Nessy: Ride of Steel
Webmaster of Digital Coaster - http://digital-coaster.com
Don't coaster companies typically assemble and test rides off-site before they are built? I remember a friend telling me about a roller coaster testing yard near his house in california (10 or more years ago) where they did just that. I realize it may be more time consuming, but when the deploy the ride to the park, they know it works...
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"Getting on Iron Wolf is kind of like going in a blender and pressing PUREE"
--Ever lying in wait for someone to say something stupid.
"why can't coaster companies seem to get it right anymore"?
I don't know, maybe you should do some "actual" research into the subject before making claims out of your butt(sorry, but people like you really irritate me).
This isn't anything new, remember Flight Of Fear, Mr. Freeze, Superman:The Escape, Volcano to name some other from up to ten years ago. Are these rides I just mentioned STILL not operating? To my knowledge, they are all fine now. Yes there are problems with some prototypes, but certainly not enough to warrent your attack on them. Deja Vu and X are special cases in that their developments were RUSHED by Six Flags. Now their problems are being played out in a public forum rather than at the testing facilities.
If you don't like them, DON'T RIDE THEM, and you've solved your own problem. But none of us are experienced ride engineers and neither are you. Let them do the problem solving.
*** This post was edited by OutKast on 6/11/2002. ***
*** This post was edited by OutKast on 6/11/2002. ***
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Off to CP in August, first to IB in late June though!! YEA!!!! :-D It will be a good summer!
Questions:
smles@ilstu.edu
mfanzine, you are such a MF praiser. What is this? You think MF is the best just because you *think* it is the only prototype that worked? (which it is not in the first place, other coasters in the past have used cable tows).
Look at all the past prototypes. They eventually had their problems worked out and will leave a mark in the achievements of the amusement park industry. In order to proceed, you must take a risk. In the future, you'll be thankful for rides like X, Xcelerator, Déjà Vu, Stealth, among others.
Volcano The Blast Coaster. What came from this? The Impulse coaster. Volcano was the first suspended coaster to test and run on a LIM catapult. Now we can look forward to a whole new dimension on launched rides.
Xcelerator. The only catapult coaster that is able to contain its force of acceleration. This is only allowed by a hydraulic system that Intamin AG developed. With that, trains are able to blast out of the station at a rate of 0-85 mph in 2.3 seconds. (yes, 85, that's what mechanics at Knott's say now, instead of 82). And have you seen pictures of its non-inverted top-hat? I'd like to invite you down here and take a look as it looks like something out of a roger rabbit cartoon. Unbelievable.
So go ahead and talk trash. You're the one who's going to be ending up picking it up off the ground and taking it to the dumpster.
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A CoasterForum Member
www.thrillnetwork.com/boards/index.php?referrerid=211
SaxPlayer said:
I remember when the first Batman came online at my homepark SFGAM in 1992. That ride had some big problems in the very beginning. But look at what has become of it since then..
I'm wondering.... what where Batman's problems when it first opened? I always thought it had a fairly trouble free opening, and it amazed me, considering how long other manufacturers where working on a suspended looping coaster, to no avail.
Man I was so amazed the first time I saw that ride! Engineering brilliance! And I thought the whole themed package worked great too. What a fun ride when that opened!
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Can't this thing go any faster?
Incidentally, I'm jealous of all you folks who get to go to CP! It's my home park, but now I live in LA, (SFMM is noooooo comparison in terms of overall experience) and haven't been to CP in about 5 years!
So, to all you going to CP, have a blast! I wish I was there screaming alongside ya!
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Can't this thing go any faster?
For those that doubt Xcelerator...tsk tsk tsk (Visit www.westcoaster.net for more jaw droppers, thanks to James Disney and his hardworking crew, we're able to relish these photographs)
http://www.westcoaster.net/images/updates/061102/061102-kbf003-lrg.jpg
http://www.westcoaster.net/images/updates/061102/061102-kbf008-lrg.jpg
http://www.westcoaster.net/images/updates/061102/061102-kbf006-lrg.jpg
http://www.westcoaster.net/images/updates/061102/061102-kbf004-lrg.jpg
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A CoasterForum Member
www.thrillnetwork.com/boards/index.php?referrerid=211
If it wasn't for prototypes we'd all be riding Russian ice slides in the winter for fun instead of what we have today. Imangine how long it would take to get to a park if Henry Ford didn't come up with a prototype of the automobile.
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Knoebels visits in 2002. 4
coasterpunk said:
"If it wasn't for prototypes we'd all be riding Russian ice slides in the winter for fun instead of what we have today. Imangine how long it would take to get to a park if Henry Ford didn't come up with a prototype of the automobile.-----------------
Knoebels visits in 2002. 4"
Yeah, but i wasn't dissing all prototypes, only the current wave of prototypes.
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http://www.mfanzine.com/
Volcano, S:TE, Chiller, Mr. Freeze, The Bat, etc were all prototypical rides that had MUCHO problems. I'd be willing to say that MOST prototype rides had difficulties in the beginnings (the only one I think was fine was Batman: The Ride). Nowadays, you'd be hard pressed to find negative reactions to these rides (or their offspring in the case of the Bat). Why? Because they had TIME to work those issues out. You have not given bat-stealth-flight, X, or Delay Ja Vu that time yet. If in 2005 these still arent running, I'd agree that they were pieces of ****. But seeing as those Mr. Freeze has all types of problems and I now love that ride, I'm willing to let them work out the kinks on the rest.
Now, why I'm really upset with your post, how can you call these new rides "banal"? I know Brittish and American 'English' is a little different (like you call erasers 'rubbers'), but I'd believe that "banal" is the same here and there. YOU tell ME what part of the flying coasters is "commonplace". YOU tell ME what is "not novel" about hydraulically launched coasters. YOU tell ME that you honestly believe that X is "lacking in originality".
Come on man, work with me. :)
lata,
jeremy
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Besides, if we were really shutting down people we disagreed with, would Jeremy (2Hostyl) still be around? :) I think not. - Jeff 1/24/02
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