X continues to test at Magic Mountain

Great work Karl! Can't wait to read your review as I dunno when I will be able to ride it!

Just give me a date!
I"ll be there.

WOW!  Great video, Karl. 

One question for ya since you've seen it test up close:  what seems to be making the rattling sound as the train negotiates the second Raven turn?  Any idea??

Sounds like trim brakes to me.

I think the rocking of the seats is making the noise. I don't think that the mechanism has been completely tightened down just yet. You can tell that the seats are a little jerky at spots still, but they do look smoother than before to me. And I don't think the trim brake was being used on any of the runs I witnessed.

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Karl
http://www.twistedrails.com *** This post was edited by Karl DeAngelo on 8/31/2001. ***

The seat rotation is definately smoother now!!  I saw X test in person on Aug 15, and the rotation looked jerky, but not now.  It looks like it's ready to open to me, BRING IT!!

Something tells me I will be putting a lot of miles on my truck in the near future. (150 miles round trip from my house to SFMM)

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"X" marks the spot in 2001! *** This post was edited by Soggy on 8/31/2001. ***

As I have only seen pictures and video from the comuputer, I have not been to SFMM in a little while (I'm talking about 8 months here). In those short 8 months, X has been built and has received a lot of fame, even before the thing has opened. I turn 19 in December, and I seriously hope that this breaker has opened before hand, so I could ride it. That would be a good birthday present to myself. I agree with someone who wrote earlier. X marks the spot in 2001.

Yeah when I was at SFMM, X's track was complete but they hadn/t begun testing yet, hopefully if I can ever get out to So Cal again I'll be able to ride this unique coaster.

Ive downloaded the big one in about 7 minutes.

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http://www.coasterhut.com

I don't think the rattling in the second raven turn is trim brakes, as I thought those were at the bottom of the turn before entry, not in the middle of it.

It is an interesting rattling noise. If it's the seats, then it's kinda funny that you don't hear it in the rest of the ride.

That said, any word yet on when it will open? I'm hoping to be there.

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Willow? Yes, my name is Willow. Would you stop pecking on me on this big droooopppppppppp......

About how many times do the cars flip upside down . Is there a known number or does anyone have an estimate.

Does anyone know how many time does the seats rotate and on which part of  the ride do they rotate?

B&M Rocks and SFMM4Ever: 

If I recall correctly according to the video there are the seat flips:

1. Bottom of first drop; 2. bunny hop after first Raven Turn; half-twist following turnaround; 4. entry into the brake run. 

From the video I saw you will remain upright during the first Raven turn.

Anyone else count any other flips??

i cant even imagine what the front seat is like on this ride first you get a face first drop into the ground almost straight down. Then the view from the angle of the 2nd raven turn and other things as well. the front seat sure is the way to go with this ride, as in any other ride.

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NEW - 35 Michigan's Adventure Photos at G-Screams
http://gscreams.cjb.net

Does it seem likely if X will open by September 15?  Also, has anyone been to the mountain in the past week?  If so, how long are the waits for Deja Vu and Goliath right now?

People:

No offense to anyone but it does NO good to continue to ask if anyone thinks if X will be open by any particular date especially when the answer continues to be "we don't know."  Nothing has been announced and none of my VERY reliable sources knows anything right now.  DO NOT plan your trips with the hopes that X will be open on your visit.  If riding X is a must for you wait until after the media day [but even then there's no guarentee....]

Sorry for the rant.

Matthew

Well I was at The Mountain Yesterday (8/30) and it was not crowded at all , of course it was a thursday. But here are some aprox wait times

deja Vu- 45 min early, 30 min later  ride ops were moving slowly in the morning. Many people i overheard saw it as nothing more than boomerang at Knotts and figured it was not worth a 2 hour wait. Yes the sign at entry said 2 hours and that scared a lot of people off.

Goliath- I walked right into my loading lane the first time, and the second time waited about 5 min, this was the most empty i had ever seen this ride. Both times around 1 o'clock

Riddlers Revenge- Definately the longest line, all day stayed over an hour most of the day, i rode early and got the front seat in 50 min

Batman- Empty, Walked right to Loading Lanes waited 2 min for front seat.

Viper- Unusually crowded early in the day,  Late i was able to walk on several times in a row.

Superman- Did not ride, once again the line extended way outside pouring onto samurai summit. Line was about 1 hour.

X - one of the best parts of the day was  just seeing x. the beauty seemed all to familiar seeing as i have seen it dozens of time by the great coverage on twisteed rails. While on viper I noticed that a train was moving up the lift hill. The first time i ever wanted off a coaster so badly. I ran off to see it and it was beautiful. watching it bounce over the bump and dive down ther first hill into the raven turn. Seemed to be running very smoothly. But then about 20 min later while i was enjoying some dippin dots, i noticed sky writing. One already faded said I LUV U and then in fresh print directly above the Mountain was "X" what the heck would they spend the money skywriting that for? Well i was hoping for an early open seing as it was testing so perfectly, u might say it was writtin in the clouds, but alas they never opened it, i left early.

nosk8er,

thanks for the info, very helpful.  i am heading up in a few weeks and hope the crowds stay light.  i can't believe that they were all that short.  i can't wait to see x in person, but i am going to wait until that baby opens.  its too much of a tease to watch something test and not be able to ride it.  even if the crowds view deja vu as just another boomerang, i don't understand why they would stay away from it.  i mean, it is the newest ride right now.  anybody have any ideas behind this?

Thanks so much Karl. Nice work!! :)
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My score on PCW's Scooby Doo Haunted Mansion: 2370!
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