Six Flags Astroworld

I am going to give a brief description of the park and then the coasters. The park is the typical Six Flags Park. This is the park that gets all the used rides. It just happens to be one of the smallest Theme parks in the world. There is much vandalism, and the park is rarely clean. Anyway, it hasn't got a new and unique design since XLR-8. On the other hand some of the coasters are great.

Serial Thriller: Vekoma SLC (Figures)
This ride was much better than I had expected. It's very short, yet very intense. It features 5 unique inversions in less than 40 seconds. Thats from the top of the lift of course.

Dungeon Drop: Intamin Giant Drop
Even though this is not a rollercoaster, I decided to put it on the list. This is one of favorite non-rollercoaster rides in the park. At 230 feet tall it is the tallest ride in the park.

Viper: Schartzkopf
This is a pretty good ride. Little kids would enjoy this. It only has one inversion, but it has highly banked turns. Unfortunately, this ride is too short.

Mayan Mindbender: Vekoma
This rollercoaster is so boring. It does nothing but go in circles. The only good thing about it, is that it is in the dark.

Serpent: Arrow Dynamics Jr.
This rollercoaster is also extremely boring. Of course the little kids do injoy this ride. The only good thing about it, is that it weaves in and out of the trees.

XLR-8: Arrow Dynamics Suspended
This is also very boring. It doesn't have any big drops, so there is not much speed. This ride was actually the first successful suspended rollercoaster.

Texas Tornado: Schartzkopf
I unfortunately have not been on this ride. It has been closed lately. This is the most twisted ride at the park. It was originally used at carnvals around Europe until Astroworld purchased it.

Greezed Lightnin': Schwartzkopf (Again)
This is the typical shuttle loop. The best part about this ride is when it lauches. It feels so fast. You then travel through a loop, up steep hill, then you go through the whole ride again backwards.

Batman The Escape: Intamin Stand-up
This ride is awesome. It is one of the greatest coasters in the park. Unfortunately, it is extremely rough. Especially in the back. There is 1 inversion followed by twists, turns and airtime.

Ultra-Twister: Togo Heartline
This ride is great. It features a near 90 degree drop. You then travel thtogh a bunny hop and 1 heartline spin. Thne ther are 2 heartline spins traveling backwards.

Texas Cyclone: Bill Cobb
This is my favorite ride in the park. It is a copy of the original Coney Island Cyclone; only taller and faster. This ride is very intense. Especially in the back.

Well, I'm finally done. I hope it isn't too long. I'll be posting more topics around Coasterbuzz anytime soon.


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Lance Baker
Nitro Will Rule *** This post was edited by Lance Baker on 4/2/2001. ***

Batman the Escape is awesome? Wow, I have never heard it described like that. I have ridden Batman a few times and I would have to say that it is (along with Ninja at SFOG) one of the worst (and painful) rides I have ever ridden. Of course that is just an opinion.

Actually, when I ride Batman, I sit in the front and I lean my head to the left ot OTSR. It doesn't hurt me at all. I may have exggerated when I said it was awesome, but it's pretty good.

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Lance Baker

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Lance Baker said:
"Texas Cyclone: Bill Cobb
This is my favorite ride in the park. It is a copy of the original Coney Island Cyclone; only taller and faster. This ride is very intense. Especially in the back."

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When I rode the Cyclone March 17, it was terrible. It was easily one of the worst woodies I've ridden due to some serious overbreaking (or something - it was VERY slow). However, when I rode it last year, it was fast and intense as you describe it. Did they not have it overbraked when you were there? *** This post was edited by Lothar on 4/2/2001. ***

Actually, Texas Cyclone recieved new trains for this season. It used to feature Morgan "coffin cars". These had a huge headrests, and you could not see where you were going unless you were in the front. These trains were obviously heavier, causin gthem to go slightly faster. Anyway, this is not a trip report from the most recent time I went. This was just a review of the park and the coasters. I have not ridden the new trains yet.

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Lance Baker
Nitro Will Rule

I went on the Texas Cyclone last month, and it was riding great. The removal of the headrests actually seem to have made it run faster now. I went on it last year, and it was barely making it through the course, it was so slow. I visited the park on March 13, and it was going up and over each crest in a short matter of seconds. There are still two trim brakes, one of which is usually turned off. They did not ruin the pacing on the three times I rode the coaster, but they still reduce the excitement, to a small extent.
*** This post was edited by bjal on 4/12/2001. ***

Texas Cyclone is my #1 woodie! What do you mean it was overbraked? There are no brakes till the end!

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CONNER said:
"Texas Cyclone is my #1 woodie! What do you mean it was overbraked? There are no brakes till the end!"

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The brakes are hard to see, unless you're sitting in the front. The first trim brake is at the crest of the third hill that passes through the lift's structure. You can notice a loud "clanking" noise, and see the train slow down before descending. The last trim brake is on the second turn that passes by the loading station, but has always been turned off when I've ridden. On some occasions, AstroWorld runs Texas Cyclone with the two trim brakes off. And by the way, Texas Cyclone is number five on my top ten list.
Now, I have a question for anyone who can answer or take a guess. Will the park ever bring back the giant clown entrance? It was taken down after the '99 season. I could believe it's taken them this long to re-paint it (this is AstroWorld we're talking about), though they may have just trashed it. The shoddy entrance that's there now, just doesn't work for me. *** This post was edited by bjal on 4/12/2001. ***

To be nitpicky, these are the same trains Cyclone has had for years but with the headrests removed. Theories on why it goes faster are that perhaps the headrests were catching wind on the drops and slowing the trains, also I believe they added some heavier axels to the rolling stock which make up for any weight difference. There was also a bit of retracking done to the ride.

Anyway, it's running great this year. They don't really brake this ride much at all, if they did it wouldn't make it back up the hills!