The Rattler at SFFT. Holy flexing of structure batman!!!!!

I am so mad that I had to move from San Antonio to Phoenix!!!

I lived just across the freeway fro SFFT and only 15 minutes from Sea World and I use to go there all the time!!!

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Touchdown said:
I am no fan of the Rattler (what an appropriate name huh?) the helix of death not only managed to wrench my back but managed to "re wrench" my back about every 5 seconds (felt like bone hitting nerve) it was horrible.

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The name Rattler actually came about due to the snakes that (I hope) no longer poulate the canyon. The helix of death got the nickname "The Pain Chamber" by one of our group.

^I realize that, I just thought the name was ironic given the way the coaster "rattles."

As for the Pain Chamber I fully agree with that nickname.

Aside from the helix, I don't think that much from the original Rattler still exists.

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Impulse-ive said:
If it wasn't for the fact that the line up to the station is on this claustrophobic staircase that's barely wide enough for people to pass single-file, I would have gotten out of line. I'm sorry I did ride because I had to just sit for a while afterwards and try and get my back to uncompress. One of the worst rides I've ever ridden, one of the worst constructed, and because of that movement and the inability for anyone on the load side of the station to quickly exit in the event of a fire (see: narrow staircase) a huge safety hazard.

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It's not a staircase, it's a zigzag ramp. You probably didn't notice them, but there are two evacuation staircases to the right of the zigzags plus another at the station level. They are about twice the width of the ramps so evacuation of the queue and loading platform should not be a problem. I do agree it is somewhat claustrophobic--I avoid the Rattler when the line is on the zigzags.

I hate zigzags. Newer coasters are built with their stations so high off the ground. Why? What was wrong with coaster stations being built on the ground, like Thunderhawk, Kennywood's Jack Rabbit and Coney's Cyclone?

^Its to allow maintence enough clearence to check under the tracks when inspecting trains. As an added bonus it also gives you some cheap potential energy to allow for longer pre lift segments (when designers decide to use it.) FInally, it makes queue and exit ramps easier to design (especially when it comes to handicap ramps) and causes less wear and tear on the breaks since the trains have to go up an incline before reaching the final run.

Makes sense, although couldn't that be accomplished by building a higher brake run and leaving the station closer to the ground?

It WAS interesting to sneak looks at the maintenance shop under the Dania Beach Hurricane's station. I couldn't believe someone was working on rebuilding one of the trains at 11:00 on a Saturday night!

Not entirely, Rob. Once it hits the higher brake run, and releases to go into the station, all that potential energy turns back into kinetic.. thus your station (or transfer if it's right before the station) brakes take the same hit instead of the reduction brakes.

I like how Steel Force accomplished this with a high station. There's a set of stairs which are spread out (every other "step" is the size of a normal sidewalk square) and then the line itself is on the same level as the station.

How long until we see the coaster station that is 300' up, with a themed pre-ride elevator up to the top. The ride starts immediately without any type of launch mechanism, and then ends with the lift hill. :)

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HarryTraver said:
Here's the original Rattler drop:

http://members.aol.com/Coasting2/Rattler92.mov

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Cool! Thanks for sharing!

The Rattler has been a mess from the time it was designed. On the one site that is dedicated to ride accidents (the good one Rides911), they have all the transcripts that went back and forth about the original design, and the redesign that the park went through just to claim a record.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe they were trying to outdo Hercules. There were all kinds of warnings that went unheaded, and people were getting seriously injured as a result of the redesign. The transcripts have records of injuries and where they occured.

To be fair, we talked to woman at SFOT who was quite familiar with The Rattler saga, and apparently the ambulance chasers came out of the woodwork (ooh, bad pun). They were taking out advertisements asking if anyone had been hurt on The Rattler.

The Rattler has immense potential. From the drop to the first swooping turnaround, it's shere brilliance. But what would posess someone to throw in a buzz-killing up-and-down triple-helix? I have to assume this was once taken at much greater speed, but I can't imagine that the effect was any better. Once off the midcourse through the canyon, again the ride shows you what it's got and it's good!

Well, I guess the final words on The Rattler are outside of the queue. There in English and Spanish (I believe) is a lawyer-talk sign about some riders may experience undesirable forces blah, blah, blah. For those who've been to Hersheypark, it's the same kind of sign that's been posted in front of the entrance to Wildcat.

They were trying to outdo Mean Streak (which outdid Hercules)

Back in the late 80's/early 90's there was a race to build bigger wood coasters. It started with Hercules and led to Texas Giant, Mean Streak and Rattler. What the designers failed to understand was that what works for a 90 foot wood coaster doesn't work for a 180 foot wood coaster. Not only that, but aside from the huge scale they were built to, they didn't offer too much in the way of thrills. Texas Giant is the only one of those monsters that seemed to get any love from riders, and if any of those coasters lasts another decade, that will be the one.

Just about every part of Rattler has been modified to some degree except the triple helix, which is ironic since that is what people complained about when the ride first opened. They said it was boring compared to the rest of the coaster.

The triple helix has been modified too. The first 300 degrees or so was retracked a few years a go and all of those rises and dips* were taken out.

*Bill Cobb used to call them hoop-de-doos, John Pierce tried to copy them, but something got lost in the translation.

I think Pierce failed to understand that hoop-de-doos work better when the train is moving rather quickly. I had no idea the helix was modified... figures though, since everything else was changed.

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Rob Ascough said:
I hate zigzags. Newer coasters are built with their stations so high off the ground. Why? What was wrong with coaster stations being built on the ground, like Thunderhawk, Kennywood's Jack Rabbit and Coney's Cyclone?

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Stations being high give the designers room to scrub off speed. Notice how Voyage is still doing 50mph through it's final tunnel but actually only hits its brake at about 15.

Saves a bunch on braking.

Chuck, who was told this by a friend (Engineer) who will remain un-named

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Rob Ascough said:
Makes sense, although couldn't that be accomplished by building a higher brake run and leaving the station closer to the ground?

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Kinda like Wild Adventures?

Is there anyone out there that has a video of the "original" Rattler back in the day? I'm sure we would all like to see it....Thanks

I know this probably won't help anyone here...but I figured I'd mention it anyways. Moody Gardens in Galveston, TX has a SimEx Iwerks ridefilm that is POV footage of the original Rattler. Was pretty neat to see what the original Rattler looked like since I never rode it. Pretty amazing to see how much has been changed on the ride.

Footage is out there somewhere...just a matter of getting access to it and making it available on the web.

http://www.moodygardens.com/ridefilm-now-playing.asp

Jason

I thought this was worth posting, the same user used the same footage to make a video focusing just on Rattler, and that one turn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYF84b8O7a0&mode=user&search=