SFOT- New Texas Giant!!!!! My first rides!!!

I'll start my review by saying that TNG has become my new #1 coaster! In fairness, I have never ridden El Toro so I won't try to compare the two. Instead I'll compare it to rides I have been on. At CP I have ridden the likes of Millennium Force, Magnum XL 100, Maverick, Mean Streak, Blue Streak, Gemini, Wicked Twister and Top Thrill Dragster.

I've also ridden Ghostrider at KBF (back when it was still smooth enough to ride!), as well as both Titan (SFOT) and Goliath (SFMM). I've also ridden both Psyclone and Colossus as well as Riddler, Talon and Superman Escape From Krypton. But X was closed the day I went. At SFOG I rode Georgia Cyclone, Georgia Scorcher, Superman Ultimate Flight, GASM, Mind Bender and Deja Vu (before it was removed). SFOG's Goliath did not exist at the time I visited the park.

During my trip to Kings Island I rode The Beast and Son of Beast when it still had the loop. At Geauga Lake I rode The Villian, Raging Wolf Bobs, Batman Night Flight and X-Flight. At Universal I rode The Incredible Hulk, Dueling Dragons and The Mummy's revenge. I've ridden both the classic as well as the re-vamped Space Mountain at both Disney parks.

Last, but not least I've ridden the Texas Giant back when it first opened in 1990. During which time it was considered the best wooden coaster. I can say, without any hesitation, that New Texas Giant blows all the fore mention coasters out of the water.

I arrived at the park three hours early. When the park gates opened I made my way down to where park security was holding everyone back behind a rope. The gathered crowd was escorted to the NTG queue entrance. I was near the front of the pack, I managed to ride on the second train leaving the station that morning. The trains are really cool looking in person, I just love the black Cadillac because it's so sexy. But, more importantly, the seats were roomy and comfy, and the lap bars very giving.

They were stapling guests most of the day, but on the last two night time rides I took I wasn't stapled at all. Let me start by saying that the front seat gives a great, airtime filled ride. The middle seats give outstanding, airtime filled rides. But the back seat is OMG!! OMG!!! OMG!!!

Riding near the back on the second train out of the station, we made our way up the lift hill- which, BTW, runs quite fast and smooth. The first drop nearly threw me out of my seat, even though I was stapled in!! I didn't think anything could beat the first drop on Millennium Force, but the first drop on NTG makes it seem tame! Intense, stand up, ejector air all the way down! Then comes that extraordinary double up which tried for all it was worth to break my restraint and send me hurdling skyward!!

Next the train went up into an over banked turn that had good intensity and a tiny pop of air. A slight bit of air as the train came down out of the over bank and then up into another. However, this second over banked turn is easily the best of the three. I had extreme lateral airtime on this over bank which, once again, tried hard to beak my restraint send me hurdling to my doom!! Extreme air on an over banked turn- UNBELIEVABLE!!

Next comes a swooping turn up into the third and most over banked turn at 112 degrees. This over bank did not have the intense air of the second over bank, but it did have a tiny bit of air and GREAT head choppers!!! Next comes what is perhaps the most insane airtime hill of all!! My thighs were aching as once again the ride tried hard to break me out of my lapbar and send me skyward. Or, at the very least, bruise my thighs- badly!!!

The trim breaks were completely off, which is understandable for a ride this smooth! The train didn't slow down at all, but instead continued down the drop into the second half of the ride. I've heard some reviewers say they didn't get good air on the next hill after the drop, but I'm going to have to disagree. No matter where I rode on the train throughout the day and night, I kept getting good floater air on that next hill right before the dive through the structure.

Then, as the train turns through the lift hill, what happens next is positively insane!! The train dives down so hard and fast that if your thighs weren't bruised before, they will be now!!! This hill had me wondering if my keys were still in my pocket it was so intense!! Then comes a small turning hill with good floater air as the train heads into the s-turn and starts it's run towards the tunnels.

Let me say one thing about those tunnels on the magic carpet finale. They are always good, but are best experienced at night time when it's dark out. Those tunnels were unbelievable during my night rides on TNG.

Ok, now where was I? Oh, right, the train was headed for the tunnels. Anyway, after the train goes through the s-curve, which was fun BTW, it then comes to the first tunnel. The train then drops down fast and hard yet again. This provides more of the same ejector air as before, but this time you are treated to a flashing light show underneath the track itself as cool mist hits you from all sides of the tunnel!!!

Next you glide upwards and into a second tunnel which treats you to yet another light show, this time on the ceiling. This is accompanied by a nice bit of floater air. Next the train turns into the third and final tunnel. Here you will be ejected once again causing your thighs to ache once more- only this time on complete darkness!!

After the train leaves this tunnel it hits yet another ejector airtime hill!! Oh Lord- not another one!! Yes, ANOTHER ONE!!! By now my thighs were screaming at me for getting on this ride!!! But the fun wasn't over yet, as the train enters the end brake run you catch one last bit of floater air as a sort of going away present from the NTG. That's right, you float your way up onto the end brake run. For the record, you also floated your way onto the end brake run on the old Giant- only your thighs didn't ache so bad!!!

As soon as the train came to a stop on the end brakes another rider sitting in front of me exclaimed "My God Mark! That hurt my thighs!!!"

You can always tell you've been on a good ride when other riders start complaining about their thighs hurting!! LOL

So um, wow... I can't believe no one has replied to this yet and discussed the apparent awesomeness of the ride and its smooth lift hill. :)

I am pretty impressed by the reviews. Seems they have a winner on their hands - low maintenance I presume. I'm waiting for some <more - less annoying> videos to surface.

Excellent review.

I love "play-by-play" reports for rides with interesting layouts. The different effects in the tunnels is an awesome idea.

Thanks for sharing!

Acoustic Viscosity said:
So um, wow... I can't believe no one has replied to this yet and discussed the apparent awesomeness of the ride and its smooth lift hill. :)

Yeah, the "awesomeness" of the ride has been confirmed by numerous coaster enthusiasts besides myself. BTW, thanks for the replies guys!

Got 4 more rides (3 on the 29th, 1 on the 6th) and it's definitely the best steel I've ridden this side of the Mississippi. I can't get enough of this thing.

Don't want to suffer any anticipointment, but I think this might be "the one" Andy and I completely agree on. That ride looks pretty awesome. FWIW, I think Rattler could require some additional structural enhancements in order for this to be viable. Giant was already pretty solid (not Ghostrider, but certainly sturdy).

Heh. We agree on just about everything that wasn't designed by Schwartzkoph. :-P

Phoenix and PR to name two.

Giant did get quite a bit of extra (steel) support in the overbanked turns, but I think most of the support structure is the same as before.

...except for all the new wood they added on top of the old wood. The ride is totally Frankenstein-ish now. ;)

As a side discussion, do we think parks who have a candidate for this treatment and were waiting for the outcome of this project will now make a move, or will they wait a little while longer to see how this pans out over the next few seasons?

I heard from park management that Kings island is waiting until September of this year to decide what to to with SOB, so maybe the reason why they are is to see how this project works.

^I wonder if all steel track will help with SOB's exploding and splitting bents... Argh...

Six Flags may have an exclusivity contract with the technology for the time being, but perhaps the topper track could be used to fix SOB... Ah forget that. The layout needs to be redesigned from scratch. It's horribly boring.

Well, I would've said the same thing about Texas Giant's layout, but making it a bit faster and turning normal turns into overbanked turns and boring helices into sharp turns mixed with air hills seems to have done the trick. That said, I've never ridden SoB, so I could actually say how boring the layout is.

I rode it and certainly found it quite enjoyable, but I still think Titan and B-TR are better rides. That said, that's not much of a knock on NTG. I really liked it, and in my opinion, it really turned an otherwise mediocre ride into a smash hit. The first drop was great, and I really liked the abundance of steep banking throughout the layout.

ApolloAndy said:
I've never ridden SoB, so I could actually say how boring the layout is.

Consider yourself lucky ;)
Painful piece of crap AND boring

Jo
Lifetime Raptor flights: 3000 :)

Never found it painful, but certainly boring once the awesome loop was removed.