The Maverick upgrade that might be bigger than the Rougarou one...

I never had an issue with the old restraints. Maverick will likely be the first ride I go to Saturday morning.

I never really had much of a problem with the old ones either. But I still welcome the upgrade.

I rode it only once, thought it had great potential if I wasn't repeatedly getting punched in the neck. Vowed to never go on again, but I'll retract that and give it a try now.

Maybe it's just my specific height, but it was painful to ride that thing.

Maverick is already one of my favorite rides anywhere, but in part it's because I learned to ride it defensively. You shouldn't have to "learn" how to ride something. I can see a lot of people drastically changing their minds about Maverick if they had the kind of issues that kpjb had.

And that would be me, too. I like Maverick a lot and would like it even more if it didn't box my head and neck. (I liked the straps on I305). Some of the best features of Maverick are the sharp transitions and if the new restraints make that rideable (read: re-ridable) for me I'm all for it.

I also don't agree at all with having to learn to ride defensively, that's just a ridiculous and uncomfortable chore.

Not to mention a chore that would leave a lot of people as "once-and-done". I've also learned to ride it, and while I never had any pain issues with the older restraints they certainly felt terribly cumbersome. The increased freedom of movement and vision will be great.

My height caused me to get neck-chopped a lot when I rode Maverick, but the restraints had enough give in them that it was only mild to moderate discomfort as a result. Still, I was hoping to see something similar to the I-305 restraint. This looks like a more secure version of that, and I must say, it makes me wanna get out to Cedar Point even more just to try them out.

Wondering if Hershey would do a similar restraint like this for Skyrush.

Jeff said:

I learned to ride it defensively. You shouldn't have to "learn" how to ride something.

Sums up my feelings to the people who defend the painful experiences on Mean Streak, Arrow loopers and Vekoma rides. If you have to "learn" to ride it a certain way to enjoy it, there's is something wrong.

This addition, in my mind is about 7 years late, but welcome. Does it even need shoulder restraints? No. But if I have to have them, then these are what I want.

Probably redundant for me to say I'm one of those who had issues with Maverick v1.0....and they're pretty much the same ones I had with I-305 v1.0, and that others complained about with Mavy - quick jarring transitions that end up with heads/necks smacking into restraints that don't even need to be there in the first place.

This may not be the Premier lapbars....but it's not that far off either. Changes for the better are ALWAYS welcome.

Do those straps retract at all? They look to be somewhat rigid... Definitely a lower profile than the old restraints. If they don't extend & retract I wonder if taller people will have issues.

rollergator said:

This may not be the Premier lapbars....

Good. Not that I dislike the Premier lapbars, but I think they're actually more cumbersome than these Intamin shoulder restraints. Maybe it's the combination of the low seat position and how large the Premier bars are.

I never had a huge issue with I305's original restraints, but I do remember getting popped in the side of the neck/face on one of the quick transitions. The new restraints are really nice, and should benefit Maverick greatly.

This is a bigger upgrade than Rougarou for my family. My wife gave up riding Maverick with me due to the restraints. I had to ride with the mother-in-law sitting next to me!

Thank goodness my mother in law doesn't ride. She just waddles around the park and watches the kids for a moment so we can take a quick ride.

Maverick is one of my favorites and the first coaster that my fiance and I rode together at BooBuzz '08. I'm happy to see that my view will no longer be obstructed by the restraints. I'm not sure if this a bigger upgrade than Mantarou upgrade but I'm hoping to find out soon.

Count me in the camp that is happy about the new restraints on Maverick as well. Any ride that has to be ridden defensively by a decent-sized portion of a park's guests in order to not be painful has to have some inherent engineering glitches. So, does this mean that Intamin had to approve the use of these shoulder vests? IIRC, any changes made to a ride in OH must be signed off by the manufacturer as a matter of law. This would make me chuckle as Intamin has indirectly admitted that the original design was not optimal or as perfectly engineered as they may (or may not) have originally thought.

While on my anti-Intamin soapbox, does anyone else have the impression that they focus an inordinate amount of time on a ride's elements, general layout and G-force dynamics at the expense of "boring" things like capacity/rider throughput, reliability/keeping it simple, and restraint safety & comfort? Maverick is a ride that I really want to enjoy a lot but it has strikes against it IMO due to the short 12-passenger trains and not uncommon downtime on any given operating day. I guess I'd rather have a solid B coaster in terms of forces that almost always runs all day long and pumps the crowds through rather than an A coaster with extreme forces that has persistently nagging issues.

I commend CP, Intamin or both parties as the restraints will now be one less thing to worry about. I'm looking forward to increasing Maverick's ratings this spring, fingers crossed.

One thing about Maverick in terms of capacity and rider thru-put is there's a dual loading station. It essentially makes for a false 24 passenger train. At dispatch, the first train rolls directly onto the lift while the second train leaves the loading area and sits on deck. Then the next two trains are free to move into the load/unload area. It's always seemed to me that it's about the same interval as a coaster that has 24 passengers per train with a slower lift and a longer block.

But- I hear what you're saying. Maybe it's Intamin capacity issues in general, but Maverick has always had an interminable line that seems to move so slowly. If I get to it and the line is down into the lower queue it's a pass for sure. And as I said before the restraints were another reason why the ride is not one of my favorites.
But for a really long queue for a ride with short trains, try Hershey's Fahrenheit. I thought I was gonna die waiting for that one and the line wasn't really all that long.

And I'm not one to dog Intamin rides, particularly- rides like Superman/Ride of Steel, Millenium Force, Volcano, Top Thrill Dragster and yes, Fahrenheit, sit high on my list to this day. But I suppose I'd gladly trade the designs and thrills that Intamin has produced for a high capacity experience like we currently enjoy on the latest B&M coasters. I'm so glad that B&M has stepped up the thrill factor on rides like Thunderbird, Behemoth, and Fury325. Finally there are coasters that are thrilling from beginning to end and are people eaters too. And that's nothing but good in my book.

All the coaster companies need to follow suit from rmc and make better lapbar restraints. Any ride you have to brace yourself for is a pos imo. I do realize intamin put lapbars on skyrush but again those are complete crap. I've always wondered if these companies actually try the restraints they design, because most of them are crap. I also wonder why these parks buying these rides are trying these restraints, because if i was buying a ride for millions it better dam well be comfortable.

The restraints might help head banging, but the ride still has a flawed design. Some of the transitions are too quick back an forth and snap your neck. If you aren't ready for them, you could actually hurt your neck. The one that stands out the most is the poorly executed overbank at the end. Its like they wanted an overbank, but didn't have room for one.

The only thing flawed about Maverick's design is your opinion of it.

;)

Yeah, I've been on it dozens of times, and I've never had an issue with "neck snapping." The quick transitions are kind of the point.