Question about X @ Sfmm

Next week I will be visiting sfmm, and I was wondering if X is as rough as all of the other Arrow Dynamics coasters. I know it is a different restraint system, but I am just curious. If this is a dumb question let me know!

It's not too bad.

However there's a pretty big difference between the seats. I found the inside seats to be not too rough. But the outside seats seemed to toss me around much more.

i just got back from SFMM.

X is not rough, but really intense. It is the most awesome coaster on the planet, in my humble opinion.

You ride X then viper, and you will see an enormous difference. The old arrow looper is painful, X is not.

You will have so much fun.

Enjoy

And I will offer the complete opposite opinion. Viper was one of the smoothest looping coasters I've ever ridden (considering it's age), and that includes B&Ms. It was definitely my favorite coaster in the park.

X was indeed very strange and a very thrilling experience, but I banged my head around so much and so badly, I had to sit down afterwards, and I have an incredibly high tolerance for pain, especially from coasters. After the second time in two days I rode X, I had a bruise on the side of my head large enough that I had a painful time riding Boomerang at KBF the next day (the only OTSR coaster I rode at KBF). For those that say it's seat based, I sat back seat, outside seat first time and front seat, inside seat second time. Both were excruiciating pain on the final raven turn. The first half of the ride is mostly smooth to the turnaround over the station, then it gets more and more painful until that final raven.

That's my take on it. Enjoy the ride, it's a great one, but bring the aspirin.

I visited MM for the first time yesterday too. I *loved* X, and *hated* Viper. If it's of any relevance, I rode X in the front car, inside right.
-R

I just got back from SFMM as well (look for a bunch of TRs during the next week) and will offer yet another opinion:

Both X and Viper suck. Two of the worst steel coasters I have ever ridden. They both bumpy, jerky and rough- there isn't a smooth and fluid motion on either of those rides. X is a great concept and, if designed properly, would be a really good coaster. But built to Arrow's design tolerances (whatever those are), it is a crappy ride, deserving of its spot next to Viper.

It's been about a year since I had my 2 laps on X and thought the roughness was a bit different from your normal Arrow headbanging. When I sat on the outside, it seemed that your head would bang front to back rather than side to side, my legs also took a beating. My 2nd lap was on the inside, last row and found it to be pretty smooth compared to the outside.

Of the the four rides I took on X this past January, I would consider none of them rough. Just intense. 3 out of the 4 I sat in an outside seat. One was in the front, one in the back, and two were in the middle.

GASP! I need air!!

X (in my humble opinion) is the best ride I have ever set my arse on. After that everything paled in comparison. I do agree the last Raven turn on the left side jerks you around some, but the worst steel coaster Rob?? Are you sure you are not jaded by Magic Mountain's crappy service? Have you ever ridden Viper at Great Adventure?

I thought Rob was the one that actually *liked* Viper at GAdv? Or was that +Danny?

Just for the record I was highly offended that such a crappy coaster at GAdv sullies the great name of Viper ;)

Once upon a time, I liked Viper @ SFGAdv. Then I rode it a few years ago (after its hiatus) and thought that it was awful. What used to be a small steel coaster with a great first drop and two interesting elements turned into a vicious headbanger that's on par with GASM.

Antuan: Sorry to put your ride down, but X completely disappointed me, and it had nothing to do with SFMM's failings, of which there are many. I honestly can't think of one good thing to say about that ride, and a lot of other riders agreed. One guy got off the ride complaining that "his heart hurt" from the thrashing around that the ride does.

Viper (SFGAdv & SFMM), GASM, RC-48 and X all reside at the very bottom of my steel coaster list.

Add me to the "got off of X mildly amused" group. Cool ride. Probably a top 25 or 30 ride. Not even close to the life changing experience I'd heard others describe it as.

Viper was great. I really dug the 'floaty' corkscrews. And to prove just how sick I am, the only ride I enjoyed more than Viper at SFMM was Riddler.

I don't have the intolerance for the Arrow multiloopers that many seem to. I just did Anaconda at PKD for the first time last week and thought it was a very good ride too.

Heck, I even didn't find Viper at SFGAdv to be too bad. Not a great ride, but not the ass beating suck machine I was led to believe I was about to ride. I also seem to have the super power of Togo Invulnerability in addition to Arrow Tolerance as I don't mind Viper, actually liked Manhattan Express and didn't find Shockwave at PKD to be painful at all, just boring. Now if I could just beat my one superhero weakness - B&M Hyper Sleepiness ;)

More on topic - I rode X on the outside every time and I found it rather 'bouncy' and jerky. Not enough to make me hate the ride or call it rough, but it was certainly noticable. I still wish I'd have tried an inside seat even though I doubt it would have changed my opinion of the ride much - the bounciness didn't make the ride any worse.

X was the roughest ride I have experienced on any rollercoaster. It was the biggest case of anticipointment I've ever experienced. I've ridden some pretty rough ones in my day (Rattler@SFFT comes to mind)..and this still managed to beat them out.

The first drop is brilliant, after that-get ready to be thrown around like a shoe in a dryer.

X is the best coaster ever concocted (like a drink :). It was extremely smooth, in competition with some B&M's and some Intamins. I loved it, and there is not one notch of nausea either.

FWIW, X made my "top ten steel" list. Is there PLENTY about the ride that could/should be improved....no! (KIDDING!) Obviously there is LOTS to improve upon.

But having ridden in a variety of seats (and, based upon my experience, an even WIDER variety of ride quality), I can honestly say that the BEST rides I had on X were surpassed ONLY by my top woodies and THE Ride of Steel.

Conceptually, X is the greatest thing since sliced bread....in application, it still has that kind of POTENTIAL. But it is SO innovative, it's going to be a "love it or hate it" ride, it's a virtual lightning ride for emotional reaction. But when rating the RIDE, I can't hold SFMM's horrendous operational policies, or the long lines, or anything else, against THE RIDE itself. I'm just judging based on the rides *I* got...and they were GOOOOOOOOD...:)

I think all of you "X-lovers" are on drugs! ;) And Gonch... I dunno about you. First you say you dislike Nitro, then you exhibit an appreciation for Arrow looping coasters. You are definitely a strange breed of coaster enthusiast... although you do have a hatred of RC-48 that I can understand!

Seriously though (for all of you that were taking me seriously), I think that much of the problem with Arrow looping coasters is not the coasters themselves but the old Arrow horsecollar OTSRs. Being 6'3" tall, the point where the horsecollars pivot is below the highest point on my shoulders. When the horsecollars are lowered, they push me down into the seat by pressing on my shoulders and collar bone, thus making any change in direction painful. Perhaps people not as tall as me aren't subjected to that and are able to enjoy Arrow coasters more than I can?

However, X uses an entirely new kind of restraint system so there is no excuse for the pain that I associate with that ride. I'm not sure what is wrong with that one, but it's definitely something that makes the movements far from fluid and graceful.

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Rob Ascough said:
And Gonch... I dunno about you. First you say you dislike Nitro, then you exhibit an appreciation for Arrow looping coasters. You are definitely a strange breed of coaster enthusiast...

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Heh. I've noticed this myself.

The best way I can describe my likes (in general, there are exceptions, of course) is that I like the 'inbetween' coasters.

Much new steel (like the B&M hypers) is fun and all, but it's just too smooth. In my opinion you can overengineer/neuter a ride. A lot of wood is too herky jerky for me. Spine realignment is not something I'm after at an amusement park.

My favorite coasters tend to fall on the rougher or more forceful side for steelies and the smooth or tamer side for wood. That 'inbetween' area - not too smooth, not too rough.

That make any sense?

Although this season I do find myself liking all kinds of wooden coasters a lot more than I have in the past...even coasters that I've ridden before, I find myself liking more this go around. Go figure.

EDIT - Also, I'd like to clarify that there are only a few coasters I truly dislike. Really, a handful or so at best. I tend to rank rides on how much I liked them. I don't hate Nitro or even truly dislike it - I just happen to like probably 40 or 50 other coasters I've ridden better. With a track record about to hit 200 that's still in the top 30%. Nitro's a rare case where a ride gets almost universal rave reviews and I just didn't 'get' it. It's not bad, I try to ride once every visit to Jersey, but don't feel a loss if I missed out.

I don't really tend to break down ranking rides very much. I keep a track record and a basic ranking list (mostly for my sanity when it comes time for Mitch's polls) - in my mind (now that I'm psychoanalyzing the whole thing) I guess I see coasters in 5 basic categories:

1. Coasters I have no desire to ride again. (I have maybe 6...maybe)

2. Coasters that I've ridden and didn't really care for. I'd ride again, but wouldn't miss out if I didn't. (I have probably 50 of these, mostly kiddie and family rides. I wouldn't miss out if I never rode again, but they really do little beyond the fun of riding with the kids. In the case of bigger coasters, it's rides that I just didn't care for a whole lot)

3. Middle of the road coasters. Fun rides, but nothing spectacular. Glad I rode them, but like category two, if I never did again, I wouldn't feel like I missed out.(my guess is approximately 60 coasters land here)

4. Coasters that I definitely make a point to ride every visit to a park. (probably roughly another 60 here give or take)

5. Coasters I simply adore. I want to ride them again and again and will make a point to get to them whenever possible. The true cream of the crop for me. (I probably have 8 to 12 of these)

Yeah, I'm weird.

Sorry to get so far off there. Please continue with the X discussion :)

*** Edited 6/23/2004 7:05:49 PM UTC by Lord Gonchar***

I hate to turn this into a Nitro-bashing topic but add me to the list that feels B&M over-engineered the forces right out of Nitro. There is air and there are positige Gs but not extreme in any way. It's a family hyper.

mOOSH

Hey not all of us that enjoy Arrow loopers are that strange ... ok, I take that back we are. Arrow looper fans, UNTIE! ... uh ...

But back on topic, yea, I think you hit the nail on the head as to your shoulder height. I'm only 5'8" and I know that I really enjoy any Arrow multilooper that isn't horrible on lateral banging (see - GASM). Case in point, Steel Phantom was and is one of my favorite coasters of all time, and I rate Viper SFMM up there with Kumba, Nitro and Medusa West as my favorite steel coasters. But, I know many of my taller friends couldn't have been happier Steel Phantom went because of their shoulders, let alone their heads. Arrow loopers were designed for midgets like me ;)

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Rob Ascough said:
I think all of you "X-lovers" are on drugs! ;)

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It's possible... ;-)

<---has X in a tie for #1 steel with THE Ride Of Steel...