When SLC came out-Were You Amazed!?

When SLC's came out from Vekoma that first year, but got bumpy and unpleasent over the next few years?

I was amazed at The Hangman at Opryland USA.

But soon, it started to suck. Did anyone else have this feeling?

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Well i was amazed with T2 for about a month then i rode B:TR at magic mountin
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Montu, God Of Coasters

When SFMW got Kong I was like "WOW!"

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"I can't dream anymore, since you left. I miss you singing me to sleep."- New Found Glory

I was amazed with slc's when they came, AMAZED THAT THEY SUCKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (vekoma needs to eat some trash)

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I Will Destroy Vekoma For All Of Their Evil Hypercloning!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nick] Webmaster]- www.amusementmania.com -

I was amazed when WMBW Australia built Lethal Weapon in '95, the year after the first SLC, El Condor was built at what is now SFH. I only wish it were at my homepark, Wonderland Sydney as all they have is a crappy woodie & a Boomerang.

LW is great fun, it may have aged a bit. IMO all of that 'roughness' makes it more intense. Last year I rode it 11 times in one day with a mate who wasn't even a coaster enthusiast. He loves the adrenalin rush of riding coasters. We make do with what we have, there are no Beemers down under or in the Southern Hemisphere for that matter.

Well, my first experience with an SLC was T2 in 1997. I looked very forward to this ride..then I rode it. T2 is really the only bad one in my opinion, but it includes the old harnesses which I like.

Serial Thriller was the one that redeemd my joy towards them , and I still like it, though now its got a hard restraint on it, which really hurts.....

But I still enjoy the SLC

Mind Eraser at Riverside park (now SFNE) was my first experience of that type of ride (trains hung from the track). This was 1997, it was new that year.
I know Vekoma calls them Suspended Looping Coasters (SLC) and B&M calls theirs inverteds (with 4 across seating) but either way, Mind Eraser was my first experience of that type of ride.
I remember being apprehensive going up the lift, but as soon as the ride started down and into the elements, I was amazed. It was simply great, there is a lot packed into a small footprint.
Sadly, it is now rough and not worth a long wait.
And, like a lot of us (most of us), I have moved on to bigger and better things!
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*** This post was edited by MABrider on 8/23/2001. ***

The one located at SFDL isn't all that rough, even after like 5 years. It isn't silky smooth, but from what I heard... it's a lot smoother than over 80% of the Vekoma SLC's out there.

When it first came out, I heard rumors that it had the same layout as Top Gun at Paramount Canada's Wonderland. Either way, I rode it and I liked it. I ride it now, and I still like it. I wondered back then why our park's inverted coaster only has trains that hold 2-across until I found out that a different manufacture makes other inverted coasters such as Raptor and Apleginist. I thought our park was originally too small to hold that kind of coaster trains (naive I was, but I haven't seen a B&M in SFDL's past, present, or current near future yet!!)

All in all, it DOES offer a decent ride for what it's worth (Vekoma wouldn't have cloned the s**t out of it for nothing). 5 loops, packed in a small area, and intense. The only problem is that some of them do get a little rough after awhile. What the difference between them year after year getting more rough is beyond me!!

The first inverted / slc i have every seen or been on is B&M'S top gun at PGA its first year. it was awsome. as for an slc ive never seen one in my life, but they look so cheep to me

My first SLC was the one at SFA, it was one of the originals so it was pretty rough, I didn't just ride it for my count, but for what all the bashing of these rides was about! I mean, it wasn't as bad as everyone said, I've been on worse. I think some people should be thankful for what they have.

SLC's are inexpensive, offer an "intense" ride, and can fit into a small space. To me, the banging is due mostly to the compact nature, making the elements tightly packed without the spacing normally found between elements on larger coasters. That being said, they can still be fun - MUCH more so when there is sufficient and SOFT padding. Otherwise, my ears and head can take a considerable beating.
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rollergator - intent on improving the "guest experience" - coming soon to a park near you

Well my first ride on an SLC was Adventure World's (now SFA) Mind Eraser in 1998. By that time I had ridden both the original B:TR and Raptor several times. I thought that the layout was intense, but not as intense as B:TR. I did (and still do) love the first two inversions. That heart shaped 'rollover' thingy is the most beautiful (artistically and experience wise) inversion sequence I've seen.

What struck me most was that it was only two seat across, that was kind weird to me.
jeremy

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"Nobody writes about the planes that land." Steve Salerno Washington Times 7-10-01

I never even knew what an SLC was until I joined CoasterBuzz. (about a year and a half ago) There were (and still are) none in Southern California, Central Pennsylvania (Knobles, Hershy) or PKI. (those were the places I had been before becoming an "enthusiast") I HAD been on Batman at SFMM and loved it! October of last year I hit SFMW's Kong and was less than impressed. I didn't think it was too rough, their Boomerang was rougher than their SLC.

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"X" marks the spot in 2001!

gatorwoodie said:
SLC's are inexpensive
I'm not sure what they cost, but I do remember that they are actually more expensive than you would think for a clone. Can anybody find that old debate or does anyone know how much they cost. They are quite a rip-off as far as the price goes when you can get a kick butt CCI for a couple of million dollars. Anyway my first experience with an SLC was this summer at SFWoA. I didn't have too bad of a ride (actually two) but went into it expecting a real headbanging and only received a couple of bumps. Before that though I have been used to B&M's such as Raptor, and Batman (SFStL & SFMM).

In the News section there is a story (the one about Jazzland) with a link to an article that states the cost of delivery of the ride itself being 4 million, and installation being an additional 2-4 million, depending on geography of the install site.

I always thought that they were more than that, but I will trust the article.

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"X" marks the spot in 2001!

Four million you say? If I remember correctly SFA's Mind Eraser which was built by Adventure World in 95 cost around 8 million to build.

He said $4 million for the ride and another $2-4 million for the construction, so that does add up properly considering that they would have to pay $4 million for construction.

Anyways, I have only ridden the one at SFNE. It looks cool with the heart-loop. I enjoyed it, and quickly learned to hold the head back to avoid the head-bang. It was not the best, but not the worst. And it certainly is not a boring ride. I had little in the way of expectations at first so it was pleaseant.
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Any resemblance to living or
dead people is purely coincidental.

My first SLC was Serial Thriller last summer at then-SFOhio. Needless to say I wasn't exactly overwhelmed with joy afterwards. I've since ridden T2 and SFA's Mind Eraser. None of them has impressed me very much in the "fun to ride" category.

Like Jeremy, I find the heart-shaped rollover incredibly interesting and appealing, both visually and as a ride element. I feel that element on a better-designed-otherwise ride would be REALLY good.

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--Greg
My page My other page And my coaster page

2Hostyl said:
That heart shaped 'rollover' thingy is the most beautiful (artistically and experience wise) inversion sequence I've seen.

I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one who finds that inversion sequence both thrilling and beautiful. Aside from the fact that it can't easily be described (is it two half loops, an Immelman/diving loop combo, a mid-air corkscrew???), it is quite disorienting yet very graceful. I'm surprised that something like it hasn't appeared on any other coasters, either ones by Vekoma or someone else.

Well the 'rollover' is really an Immelman (the only "REAL" I-man on coasters) followed quickly by a 'Split-S' (using "dogfighting" terms). It leaves me disoriented all the time.

It's strange that I like it so much, yet I dread cobra rolls.

lata,
jeremy
--who wonders what that feels like on a sitdown coaster ala S:TR @ SFH