Revolution Love

Man I hope Magic Mountain realizes what a classic they have on their hands. Look at this thing from the movie "Rollercoaster":
http://tinyurl.com/27pgn4

It's a monster now. It's really ashame. I just found a good history of the ride here:

http://tinyurl.com/ypxpdd

Seems the park intended to rehab both Revo and Colossus, but kept spending money on 'new' coasters. I hope they fix it soon.

What do you think would make the ride great again? New station 'stuff'. That station is gawd awful loud (train ran an employee over a few years ago). Put in some friction wheels or magnets. And magnetic brakes, lots of coasters seem to be getting them.

It probably needs a new 'system'. I think it originally ran with 5 trains.

And of course, new trains. Maybe longer ones!? Anton's son apparently builds these classic trains... get rid of those damn harnesses!

The entrance/exit to the loop may have to be tweeked a bit, maybe a whole new loop!? Things could be done.

This could cost a couple mill easy. Would much rather see this than 10M spent on 'X2'.

Positive energy folks! What do you think?

Would be cool to paint the track dark green (like the Whizzer) but keep the loop and thru track white...

And could the trains ever run this close??? :
http://history.amusement-parks.com/Revolution/landscape.jpg

I mean, the thing is from Intamin... 5 trains... *** Edited 12/13/2007 7:11:32 AM UTC by J7G3***

I really don't see much difference from Revolution then I do Whizzer. Just get rid of the OTSR's and less braking, and this coaster would be fine.

Whizzer still gives a great ride. No reason why Revolution can't.

Been on both.

Whizzer sure does give a great ride!
The thing about Revo, is that many of the old brakes are still there. Some of the 'curved brakes' on Whizzer have been removed. They just stopped using them (notice no trims). These are two of the best steel coasters ever built, I hope the parks have some sort of 'multi year rehab program' ready. They sure deserve it.

The Whizzer ALWAYS has a line. A ride on the thing with a full train on a cool night gets near wicked at the end of the ride... I never thought the Whizzer would give me a 'pop' of airtime, but it did. Me and my buddy were laughing so hard...

The only place I could see Whizzer giving a pop of airtime at, is just before the turnaround outside of the spiral lift if you are in the front car or just before going around the pond. Is that correct? Oh wait, it might give a pop of airtime just before entering the helix at the end. *** Edited 12/13/2007 8:10:02 AM UTC by Chitown***

Unlike Revolution, Whizzer has a line because it's a family coaster. Revolution isn't.

Aw come on! Revolution IS a family coaster, when it runs as intended. Didn't you see "Vacation"???!!! All I ever wanted...

Yes, the pop of airtime I got on Whizzer (suprised the helloutta me after riding the thing since '81) was after the 'lagoon dip' right before the right turn before the final helix. The thing was like a raging bull :) I couldn't believe it! (one of the 'removed' brakes is on that right turn, the brackets are still there though...)

I'm with Chitown. Get rid of the OTSRs and brakes, and this ride would be mentioned right up there with Mindbender and Shockwave.

Sadly, as it is, it's one of the worst steel coasters I've ever ridden. Great design and setting ruined by outside factors. And I'm not sure Six Flags is in the business of rehabbing old rides the way that Disney is.

My hope is that just like the guys from GCI are bringing back design elements from early 20th-century wooden coasters, there's a future designer out there who appreciates the Schwarzkopf classics and will bring those elements back in new rides. (I already tried my hand at mechanical engineering ten years ago and was a C- student at best... it'll have to be someone else.)

I love Revolution as well - that is...
if they would restore it to it's original state... (get rid of the OTSRs and smooth out bumpy parts of the track), and..
well, get rid of the brakes it has everywhere, make it as smooth as Expedition GeForce (at least), make the hills have more airtime, rebuild the loop with a different shape that doesn't whip as much, paint it differently,
..well... maybe I don't like it at all.

Maybe they should just tear it down!!! :)
:)

In it's current incarnation it might be interesting to watch from the plaza, but definitely not from on the train. *** Edited 12/13/2007 6:00:24 PM UTC by superman***

Is Revolution really as good as everyone says? The one time I visited Magic Mountain the coaster was closed (as were a lot of others). I have heard great things, but I have also heard it has lost a lot of its stagger.

I would love to make another trip and ride it. Is it worth it? I have been wanting to do a California run again but I just don't have the money.

Aww man, I'm getting nostalgic for my old Whizzer in Santa Clara. What a great ride! My first job too. Ahhh...those were the days.

Amazing how different it looks now surrounded by trees. :)

Too bad the natural beauty is ruined by the un-natural harnesses and brakes. :(

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Hatham Al-Shabibi said:
Is Revolution really as good as everyone says? The one time I visited Magic Mountain the coaster was closed (as were a lot of others). I have heard great things, but I have also heard it has lost a lot of its stagger.

I would love to make another trip and ride it. Is it worth it? I have been wanting to do a California run again but I just don't have the money.

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Believe me, this ride is awful. You did not miss anything but I headache and a broken back. It should have been sold for scrap metal a lone time ago. Carnival coasters give a better ride. SFMM worries too much about deuling with CP instead of taking care of older coasters. I dont think there is much you can do with this one. Sad days are upon poor old Revolution.

Blasphemy! All the ride needs is reversion to the trains it was designed with and TLC. ;)

Hey 'manofthechurch' do you realize everything bad you are saying about Revolution is due to the harsh braking and OTSR? Did you know that the ride was once, fast, smooth and pain free? Also, keep in mind, that original track is still there. Get rid of those 'new' things and you have the great original ride. Look here:

http://tinyurl.com/27pgn4

Also, take a look at the 1983 move "Vacation." The ride cleary still has it, w/o the OTSR and brakes.

I still have hope. SFMM is under different, uh.. presidentship. You never know.

Things can happen. Anyone into good thoughts, visualization and mass conciousness? If everyone thinks a terrorist attack is gonna happen next week, what do you think will happen!?

If you think your gonna get sick, guess what happens!

Come on geeks, lets think positive! Do we all wanna live in the boring mundane B&M world? Not me!

^ OK maybe it isnt fair of me to say that about a ride that I never rode when it was supposedly good. I didn't mean to put down a ride that has obviously gave so many people a good ride at one time. It just tears me up everytime I have ridden it.

^You got it man! I agree though, it's very painful, odd and no fun to ride now. But you can see the joy and fun oozing outta those old vids!

I must be the perfect height/build to enjoy the ride in its bastardized form. It's my favorite ride at the park, but I can only imagine it would be my all-time favorite looper if it was restored to its true self.

Hopefully Jay remembers what some of us said to him about fixing the ride.

^ I sure hope so! I worked with Jay when I was an intern in Arlington in '95. I saw him the day of the accident at Kentucky Kingdom (before it happened) and he is a great guy and is very reasonable and practical.

I wonder who at the Mountain and or Six Flags has seen this page:
http://tinyurl.com/ypxpdd

Great site and pretty much sums it up. With maybe 3 mil (I know alot!) that ride could be better than new (new system, mag brakes, LIM in the station - get rid of the chain, etc. new, maybe longer trains, and of course modify or get a new loop).

I actually did one of my senior projects on the Revolution mainly concerning the restraint issue and the loop. The professor was really clueless, o well :)

One would also think that when MM incorporated Tatsu around Revolution it was a sign that Revolution was there to stay. A permanent prop/theming for Tatsu.

Maybe that's just me.

Didn't they even sync the runs of Tatsu and Revolution when Tatsu opened?
Yeah... looks like it's staying.

On the other hand - they could tear down all of Revolution apart of the loop - maybe with a train welded into it upside down -
as a kind of monument to itself -
kind of like a ... hunting trophy or something...
*just kidding*