Thoughts About Outlaw Run

Andy, I have been trying to find better words to describe what you just did about Skyrush. You hit it perfectly.

I don't think you can use the Skyrush restraint system as a viable example until it has a restraint system that is suitable for the riding experience. The current restraints were anything but suitable for many (most?) riders' comfort. And my comment is just about riding experience...not safety, per se.

Bobbie1951 said:

I will be riding Outlaw Run at the beginning of June and feel uncomfortable with the idea of going through inversions with only a lap bar and shin restraint. I would much prefer a harness.

Ride their B&M looper, it has shoulder bars :) But I promise you will be very safe and much more comfortable (except perhaps psychologically, which is arguably a good thing on a thrill ride) with lap bars.

With a couple exceptions (Skyrush quickly comes to mind) shoulder bars have caused many more injuries than any lap bar.

While I would typically prefer an OTSR for an inverting ride, there any many examples of fun inverting rides with only lapbars. It really probably wouldn't phase you in the end.

Dare Devil Dive vs. Mystery Mine. DDD is mildly (moderately by SF standards?) themed to some sort of airplane motif. It has your more typical layout for a Eurofighter, nothing exceptional. Mystery Mine has quite a special layout. It is imaginative and immersive in its theming. It is truly an experience, not just a ride.

Which would I rather ride? Honestly, I'd be more comfortable riding DDD. I'd enjoy the experience of MM more, but in the end my shoulders are a little sore and I probably got clipped by the OTSRs once or twice.

I survived the zero-g rolls on Chiller with lapbars, (backwards was almost too much) - I'm no longer worried about coming out of a ride without OTSRs. There's never a need for them except for the obvious stand-ups and flying coasters....and they're not that fabulous anyhow.

rollergator said:

I survived the zero-g rolls on Chiller with lapbars, (backwards was almost too much) - I'm no longer worried about coming out of a ride without OTSRs.

Ooooo that was heaven! Felt like I was being ripped out of the train over that non-heartlined roll. Now THAT was a roller coaster!

I am migraine-y right now, so I really can't read back too much. Forgive me if we already covered this:

Did you guys also ride Chiller with the OTSR's? Was there a noticeable difference? I would imagine the lapbars would be somewhat more comfortable for the headbanging, but wouldn't hanging by your lapbar hurt? I don't remember a lot of pain on FoF or the Joker ride at SFA, but Chiller was much much bigger and more forceful from the stats...or didn't it really make a difference?

Flight of Fear and Joker were pretty brutal at times with OTSRs, and exceptional without them. I only rode Batman: the Chiller with OTSRs and Robin without. I preferred Batman overall, but the comfort level of the Premier retrofit is so far beyond that of the original restraints.

Yes, I DO remember Joker being a LOT of fun.

Off the topic of restraints a little bit, but still on Joker and FoF: did Joker have a brake run in the middle of it? I definitely remember FoF having one, and it slowed the train to a crawl, which was (in my opinion) a big interruption in the midst of a really fun ride. I don't remember Joker doing this, and I enjoyed it more.

Joker never had a mid-course brake because it only runs two trains. And Flight of Fear's mid-course didn't always slow the train as drastically as it has the last several years. It's fun both ways, for different reasons.

Vater said:
It's fun both ways, for different reasons.

That's what she said.

Or he, depending on which way.

^:P. Anyone else excited about the "lateral ejector" airtime on Outlaw Run's Wave Turn or Wallcrawler (I don't know which one they settled on).

Most definitely

Vater hit the nail on the head when he said that "the fact that Skyrush has only lapbars to me is proof enough that OTSRs are not needed on even the most violent of rides." ( At least I agree when it comes to rides without inversions. Outlaw Run is a different story.) I rode Skyrush 11 times during a film shoot for Travel Channel - and recently got my article about it published on another website, which shall remain nameless because it would be inappropriate to identify it in this forum - and can say without hesitation that this is by far the most violent coaster I have ever ridden. I find it more intense than Kingda Ka, Top Thrill Dragster, I305, Montu and any number of others. Although OTSRs are obviously not essential on Skyrush, I wonder whether they would be an improvement over the thigh-crushing lapbars. Could this ride operate safely with a good snug harness that didn't tighten on every directional change?

Honestly if they would have just put the Toro restraints on Skyrush it would have probably been better. Probably.

I've not been on Skyrush, but Toro's restraints were by far the most painful I've ever experienced, so that puts things into perspective for me. :)

Not so fast, CP Chris. I also thought El Toros restraints were heinous, and ruined what should have been the best ride experience ever for me.

Instead that honor goes to Skyrush now. Perhaps I stand over here by myself when I say the restraints aren't that bad - but they aren't. Yes, you can feel it. No, it wasn't horrifyingly painful and I rode it several times. I appreciated that it was a good fit, it didn't punch me in the gut causing me to gasp for air the way Toro did, and there was no seatbelt cutting me in half because they pulled it so freakin tight. So, judge for yourself.

^I never had any problems with Toro's restraints. They were tight, yes, but not painful.

Also, does anybody know when Skyrush will open again?

I feel like I've chimed in on this a lot, but yeah, Toro's restraints are uncomfortably tight for me, but not painful. If the super tight restraints are a tradeoff for extreme OMG airtime, then honestly I'd rather have less constriction and less forceful airtime. I suppose this is why I still very much enjoy El Toro but still prefer rides like BD, Raven, and Phoenix.

I was one of those people who wrote a pretty lengthy take-down of Skyrush's restraints early in the season but now having four rides on it, I'm still not sure what to think. My last ride, in the middle of the train, in a non-winged seat was still face-meltingly extreme, but not nearly as painful and unpleasant as my first rides of the season. I actually enjoyed it. I'll be interested to see what the restraint changes look like this season, if there are any. I actually think just pulling down the speed a couple ticks on SkyRush would help a lot but I already see the crowd gathering with pitchforks and rotten tomatoes after dropping that comment. :)