Silver Dollar City announces Time Traveler roller coaster

This coaster is will need to have some testing and tweaking. Who thought it would be good idea to be spinning while plunging down a 90 degree drop? You don't need the extra novelty of spinning on the "world's first 90 degree drop out of the station". And not sure about being launched while spinning; perhaps accelerating perpendicular to my seat would be okay. You do have to hand Silver Dollar City to go for something new and bold.

Relieved to hear that Thunderation is unaltered.

Just looking at Time Traveler makes me feel sick!

I'd still give it a ride.

I too do not think I could ride this. I'd love to see a "locked" car, and honestly think that it will eventually come to that.

Maybe they'll see some feedback such as this thread and other forms of social media. Maybe they'll see it in the form of messy exit queues.

They'll get the message eventually.

That's my hope. If it didn't spin, my wife would ride it with me. It does, however, and I know I'll be stuck riding it alone, and even I'm concerned that the spinning is a bit unnecessary.

Yeah, but even a locked car means 2 people have to ride backward. I'm generally OK with that, though it still churns my stomach a bit more than facing forward. I would much rather just have the option to ride a standard, front facing seat.

If I rode it a few times and got a feel for the layout, then I might be tempted to try the spinning, but I'd probably still get sick as a dog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLaqW0IWK8M

Veil of Dark barrel roll is featured in this video and in this case, Gerstlauer tried to control the position of the car by placing it quite close to the launch and with the curve leading into it leading the car to enter it at a 90 degrees angle in most cases. Notice how the support was also designed to take into account the spinning.

For the cost concern Big Boy, if Mack charge that much for the coaster, what are the chances of other parks buying one? Will they become like B&M and be an Asia or Europe thing only?

As far as the spin goes, whoever is lucky enough to sit with me will be destined to follow the path of least resistance and will be facing the ground at all times. Same with the launch. We'll be the last ones outta there, facing backwards. Guaranteed.

Raven-Phile, I don't mean a locked version of the current car. I mean normal, four-person, forward-facing cars. The ride looks good enough on its own without the need for spinning. I'm extremely resistant to motion sickness, but even if this doesn't bother me, it's a bummer that it's probably going to be a bit much for a lot of people. I'm all for intense rides, and I prefer rides that push it a bit, but spinning on a ride with this layout seems like it could possibly cross the line between extremely intense and too much going on at once, even if the spinning is controlled by magnets.

When Mack was testing the technology they put a spinning car at the end of a standard forward-facing train on Blue Fire:

It's definitely doable should they decide that the spinning is too much. Then again, Herschend rarely misses the mark so they might have their audience pinned down.

I am a super wuss when it comes to spinning so I can't make the distinction, but is this really that different from any number of flat rides that people totally eat up? I mean, some of those things look way worse than this coaster.

I personally am all about trying spinning cars on a thrilling track layout like this. However, I really don't think I would have chosen to invest in this type of ride if I was calling the shots at Herschend. I'm hoping the ride is a success, but it does seem like a bit of a gamble since no one knows how popular an extreme spinning coaster will be. I can see it having a fairly limited appeal, as it won't attract those that dislike spinning or those that are put off by inversions. Typical family friendly spinning coasters always seem popular, and could be purchased for a small fraction of the price.

Yeah, this doesn't seem to me to be well thought out at all, but I could be wrong.

In any case, I can't wait to ride it. Once. I got a car on Laff Trakk that did nothing but spin, and it was so much fun...but I was glad when it was over.

Count me in on the list of those that think this coaster would be awesome with standard Blue Fire trains but not appealing as is.. The need to do something unique is getting to the point that the rides are not good rides anymore. We saw what happened with Herschend and their quest for uniqueness with that unreliable wooden launch coaster at Dollywood, which would have also been a great ride with a standard lift.

The other thing that is concerning about a spinning cars in this layout is that some of the elements may well cause injuries to people if taken at a certain angle. Neck snapping can cause injuries.

Spinning cars are best on small coasters, especially coasters without inversions.

I don't think neck-snapping will be an issue. The spinning is regulated magnetically and isn't overly fast, and the elements don't seem too abrupt. Besides, this is a tested concept. Being at the extreme in terms of inducing motion sickness is what my main concern would be.

I think the saving grace here is the manufacturer. Mack seems to have it all together. I don't know of any disasters or complete failures there.

The problem with the launch on Lightnin Rod comes from a first time maker of a LIM launch. Had they went with an experienced designer things would be much different. Had they went with a chain lift, I don't think the ride would be nearly as spectacular.

Yes, it was the vendor, in an attempt to save money. They cheaped out on Outlaw Run by reusing sensors and that didn't serve them well, either.

RCMAC said:

I think the saving grace here is the manufacturer. Mack seems to have it all together. I don't know of any disasters or complete failures there.

Only issues I can find are some annoying vibrations in spots on Helix in Sweden and Alpina Blitz in France and a snapped chain on Flash in China. Flash is an interesting case as it was their first Hyper Coaster and the chain broke less than 6 months after the ride opened.

Their launch coasters are reliable and have zero issues. Blue Fire run 4 trains and launch them like clockwork.

Test run...

Too bad they show only real video of the first drop.. but WOW that drop looks so cool.

Visited SDC yesterday for the first time in nearly 20 years.

this ride was impressive. Very unique. What’s funny though, it’s so smooth and flows so well you never really get that scared sh*tless moment you get on a lot of other coasters. I quite enjoyed it though.

rode outlaw run for the first time as well. Loved it! Now that’s a coaster that feels out of control a few times. SDC remains one of the top theme parks I’ve ever seen IMO. Clean, employees are always friendly, ride Ops are on point, and a very unique setting in the hills. You can’t really see any of the rides until you get into the queue line. So neat! Highly recommend Marvel Cave if you visit as well as long as you’re in reasonably good health. Fun times!!