The Rattler?

Recently I was looking at coaster pics and I came across SFFiesta Texas's Rattler. I haven't heard much about this coaster but it looks awesome. Anyone have any opinions on it?

I liked it but it HAS been tamed down alot and isnt what it used to be. It goes very slow in the so called helix. Although I haven t been on it in awhile, other people have and said theyve been on better!

I went on it last year. The first two drops are fast, but then it slows down to about 30mph on the helix then gets some of its speed back at the end of the ride. It is a fun coaster.

If you want to read a very detailed history of how the ride got to its current state, you can check out this link:

http://members.aol.com/rides911/rattler.htm

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James Draeger
'00 CP Trips: 23
'01 New parks to visit: 9

I read through those files, and they are very interesting. However, I'm still in the dark a little as to what all has been done to this coaster. From the way it sounds in the files, the Rattler's plans were changed in order for it to obtain a record right before construction, and this caused major problems with the how the coaster tracked and rode. Was the coaster then reprofiled after they encountered the problems (it looks from the statistics as though the first drop was modified), and if so, what exactly was done?

Something else in those files struck me as being very funny...one of the files mentioned that they wanted to design the world's greatest wooden roller coaster, and then later said that they wanted no negative G's in the ride. I know that rides like The Beast are popular with little airtime, but it seems strange to me to go out of your way to ensure that no negative G's are experienced on a wooden coaster.

I guess this coaster would probably be the poster child for "building rides for quantity and neglecting quality," from what has been said.

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Mamba--One of the Tallest, Longest, Fastest Roller Coasters in the World

Adam Rentchler

Actually, when I read up on the Rattler, I thought that the indication was to avoid "0" G's for any extended period; but negative G's were OK. In any case, negative G's can't be more than about -1G. 4G's negative would leave you bruised and possibly with eyes that look like cherries. I think that avoid 0G for any period of time is to prevent nausea.

I knew that you cannot exceed more than about one negative G, or otherwise blood rushes to the riders heads and causes headaches, and in extreme cases (-4 to -5, I believe), it can cause aneurysms. The general idea I got from the articles is that they wanted to avoid any miniscule negative G's. I guess you can get some strange sensations from positive G's between +1 and 0, but I'm not sure that's really "airtime". I remember reading about the avoiding zero G's, and I guess the feeling of complete weightlessness can cause nausea sickness in certain riders, although I think the floating sensation is great.

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Mamba--One of the Tallest, Longest, Fastest Roller Coasters in the World

Adam Rentchler

Positive G's are OVER 1g. 1G= 1 times the force of gravity, i.e. normal. Avoiding negative G's is acceptable if there are places with ZERO G's... that's the absence of gravity --- air time.
Negative isn't necessary.
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I refuse to add a signature. Damn, too late.

Yeah, I have an opinion. It was fun. I'd ride it again.

I actually got kind of bored by it. First two drops are cool, but that helix is just boring. I was disappointed by it.

kpjb said:
"Positive G's are OVER 1g. 1G= 1 times the force of gravity, i.e. normal. Avoiding negative G's is acceptable if there are places with ZERO G's... that's the absence of gravity --- air time.
Negative isn't necessary."

That all depends on what your definition of airtime is. Any amount of G's between +1 and 0 mean that the force on your body is still downward, but just less than what you normally feel from the earth. You kind of get a light feeling when you're in the +1-0 range, you float at 0, and you get pushed upward below 0. You could float around at 0, but to get ejector airtime, I believe you have to be below zero.

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Mamba--One of the Tallest, Longest, Fastest Roller Coasters in the World

Adam Rentchler

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