Something wrong with Villain?

It's not CCI. Great White needs good care like any woodie. Catch it on a bad day and it's not CCI's fault.

-----------------
- Peabody

*** This post was edited by Peabody on 9/1/2002. ***

Simply put, The Villain sucked _____. I was expecting to be blown away. What I got instead was a rough, shaky, side slamming, boring layout ride that shames itself.

Even with PTCs, the layout wouldn't do anything for me. There are no headchoppers, lack of changes in direction, 0 airtime, and poor laterals.

All that, and it's still the best ride in the park by far...

Poor laterals? What Villian did you ride. That ride is chalk full of lats since day one.

Personally, I blame the G-Trains. I think it was proven with the change of G-Train to PTC on Legend just how rough those trains really are. IMO, Villian would be a top notch ride with PTCs.

Coasterman Mike - who was blown away by the layout of Boss but loathed the trains which ran on the track!

I could see Villain knocking a lot of 'better' rides down a notch. Too bad it just shuffles and squeals around the turns and bangs and jerks along. Having only ridden it this year it is just speculation on my part but it might surpass Ghostrider in my book if "Dr" Hammersley(sp?) were given a chance to rehabiliate it. While he's at it (not that it will ever happen) he could probably turn RWB into a proper tribute to the original Riverview Bobs.

I rode Villian in early August and I thought it was a great ride, the only thing I didn't like about it was the 1 train operation.

-----------------
Deja Vu Count = 23
CoasterWorld

No Mike, it can't be the G-Trains. I was given an insane ride last year, all year. Now it gives the grinding and squealing noise even between the brakes and station (where you are moving at about 5-10 mph). Also, some of the steel in the track is rusty, at least on the side if that makes a difference. It's changed.

-----------------
My fellow Americans; Let's Roll!
Woodencoaster.com
The World of Thrills

I thought Villain was a fantastic ride both opening year and last year. I haven't been back to the park this year because of the horrendous ops, which only seem to get worse as the season turns to fall, but I'm saddened to hear that my favourite coaster in the park has apparently taken a turn for the worse.

I disagree with people who claim the G-Trains track roughly, yes, they beat you up, but they track better than PTCs IMHO. I've been on *many* coasters that shuffle furiously with PTCs, and similarly with G-Trains. It's the maintenence of the track that determines what kind of shuffling the train will experience, not the train itself.

The fact that Villain has gone south (if it in fact *has* gone south) should surprise no one, the chain parks don't exactly have a stellar record of keeping their woodies up to snuff...they reprofile old classics like the Riverside Cyclone, and let their newer rides like Twisted Sisters go for years without grease or graphite, let alone retracking.

I dread to see what the Boss is going to run like in 5 years, right now I love it, and it's something like #5 on my favourite wood list, but christ, you just need to ride the Screamin' Eagle across the park to get an idea of what the Boss'll be like if SF continues it's inane "buy it and then forget about it" policy toward wood.

Pardon my "I'm pissed that no one other than the small guys keep woodies well maintained" rant :-)

medusafanatic said:
By the way I really think its CCI and not SF because Great White at Moreys Pier is a VERY rough ride and that has PTC trains.

I didn't think Great White was very rough. Certainly seemed less rough than Villian did to me. I rode them within 6 weeks of each other this year.

-----------------
www.coasterimage.com
Dorney Park visits in 2002: 16

I did ride Villain this year, and I encountered the same problem. It was just too rough. I believe it is the combination between wood and steel. The wood flexes and warps, while the steel stays the same and not giving the coaster the shock protection it needs. Ever seen a whole structure bend while a train gove over it? Thats what Villain lacks. And yes you can blame it on SFWoA as well as CCI. In my opinion.

-----------------
LIMs? Who needs them?

I rode Great White last season so it may be smoother now but when I went this season I rode Great Nor Easter and Sea Serpent several times but didn't ride Great White because it was so rough last year.

Zeus is just fine and that's been around longer than Villain. I think the steel structure is a good thing because it gives parks more options in ride design. (Imagine cornball express with a whole wooden structure!)

-----------------
Vekomember is from Holland, ishn't zaht veerd?

I could never understand all the hype about Villian opening year. It was an ok ride, but it felt like it was missing something. Offered nowhere near the amount of air Big Dipper gives.

-------------
1.Phantom's Revenge 2.Thunderbolt 3.Shivering Timbers 4.Montu 5.Mega Zeph

Great White has upkeep problems due to it being in the salty ocean air. Naturally if they don't keep their eye on touching up/replacing some track segments it will deteriorate before you know it. I also do not know if it is oiled very often.

Squeaking and roughness is a sign of lack of upkeep not bad engineering. On Jazzland's first opening weekend of '02 Mega Zeph was squeaking due to lack of maintenance over the off-season (due to all the bankruptsy mess they couldn't fix everything up in the short period of time they had for preparation before opening). But now it is being maintained just great and is very smooth and running fast. You can always smell a strong scent of fresh oil in the air when you visit it.

I rode Villain today and actually had a decent ride on it. The one reason I don't ride it that much is because it has a dual personality. Some days you get a decent ride and others you get the snot beat out of you. I say it's the trains and not so much the track.

I do vouch on the so-called trick track that it does need to be removed. The train just bounced on that part of the ride...it wasn't pleasant. All they need to do is straighten that section out and put a tunnel over it.

X Factor

-------------
SFWoA: An Unofficial Guide
http://sfohio.tripod.com

Villain also blew me away in 2001 overtaking the Beast as my favorite woodie. They must not have maintained it well since it gets negative comments now.

-----------------
84 coasters and counting

The Villian is still a damn good ride. I rode it in the stinging rain last year and it blew the Beast away. Period. The Great White is in 'great' shape, so come down and give it a try.

I loved Great White (and Villain a year ago). If someone catches a ride on a bad day I hate how they blame it on the construction company! I can't comment on the Villain this year.

-----------------
- Peabody

The only reason I blamed it on CCI was because I have rode 3 of their coasters and they were all VERY rough I could be wrong but to me that says something.

I'm guessing you haven't ridden ST, Boulder Dash, Raven, Legend, Ghostrider, Zeus, Cyclops, etc. :)

It's not CCI's fault. You can blame it on the parks, or a bad day for the ride (which does happen, and can make a HUGE difference!)

-----------------
- Peabody