X-ficionado (The Greatest Ride on Earth...)

well... i don't proclaim to be the most knowledgeable speaker on roller coasters, but i've been a devoted rider for over 20 years. I understand that some may feel differently but I just wanted to state my review, just got back from SFMM and I only went to ride "X" and for the one train running on a hot Saturday afternoon I was getting rather perturb, but after 2 1/2 hours of waiting... The wait was no more and at the end of the three minute journey, I have concluded that X is the BEST D@MN roller coaster on the planet and IT IS the truth. I've listened to other buzzers talk about how great it was and I always believe you need to right things for yourself to formulate an opinion. But that first flip had me fiending like a crack addict. To bad I can't go back this week when rollergator and the other buzzer's head out. thanks to Arrow & Six Flags for making it happen and thanks to my SFOG season pass. As sad as this sound but I wouldn't mind a clone somewhere close to Ohio and/or Georgia.

Hell yeah, I hear ya. X is one unbelievable coaster that no other ride can simulate. I just hope Arrow can get out of their funk and continue to make this awesome new type of thrill for the future!

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It tastes like burning.

Does Arrow have a patent on this ride? Whats to stop the likes of Intamin or B&M from constructing something like this in the future?

If you answered my first question with "yes", than please disregard question number 2. :)

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Ric Flair was hitting on the female host, he told her - "Space Mountain may be the oldest ride in the park, but it has the longest line." WOOOOO!

i hope all goes well with this Six Flags lawsuit and they keep that ride under their belts. It will ressurrect Arrow is the most unimaginable ways. If Intamin and/or B&M comes out with something like this I would hope they could only try to improve. But I was always told that sometimes a Xerox isn't always a better copy.

Arrow does have a patent on their 4D design, it's something SF wants a piece of, and something they will never get.

However, another company could build a coaster in which the cars spin independently of the track. It would have to have another name though, and couldn't mimic X in any way.

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"Escuse me, can you tell me where the heck the Mystery Lodge is"?

Couldn't mimick X in any way meaning it couldn't use that third and fourth rail to make the seats rotate or what?

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It tastes like burning.

Either that or the entire vehicle/ride emphasis and concept itself.

X is amazing, but MY GOD! It took so long to start working right! Sorry, but that's not what I like in a coaster. I went to SFMM this summer and it was closed much to my dismay. I hate rides that don't operate properly. That's why I hate Deja Vu.

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Take it up a notch, Mr. Operator! I wanna feel my brains in my feet!

i feel you X to the Xtreme... De Ja Vu can sometimes tick me off because it's problematic, but X can break down all week (let's hope not...) and I would still love that ride!

I'm sure the ride is great, but in another thread we figured out that the capacity is much higher now, at 336 PPH. I just can't believe it. How can that be? I'm sure other parks would love one, but not until the capacity becomes somewhat reasonable.

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- Peabody

Well, if the ride worked, it would already be different from X. :)

Isn't there a sign in the queue listing the capacity as some outrageous number? (1600 pph comes to mind) I'd like to see the calcs. for that number.

OutKast said:
"Arrow does have a patent on their 4D design, it's something SF wants a piece of, and something they will never get."

In what country? Under what name? I've not seen an "Arrow" patent issued at all. Perhaps there is one *pending* (though I would not be at liberty to say that even if it was). But I would think that, based on when "X" went to market, the Pre-Patent Publication (a public document) would already be out (it has been over 18 months since "X" was offered for sale).

You got a document number?
lata,
jeremy
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"To get inside this head of mine, would take a monkey-wrench, and a lot of wine" Res How I Do

No doubt Arrow has patents for the 4-D, likely related to track and train design. But it cannot patent the 4-D concept, just as B&M can't patent the concept of an inverted, but does patent train and track design. So another company can come up with a coaster design that rotates seats (even using 3rd and 4th rails), so long as it doesn't copy the specific design of the Arrow model. Is my understanding, anyway.

rdmc:

What Saturday were you there? I was there the last two Saturdays and they were running 2 trains on X everytime we were in the area, including our morning ERT session on Saturday, Aug. 31st.

OutKast said:
However, another company could build a coaster in which the cars spin independently of the track. It would have to have another name though, and couldn't mimic X in any way.

Well, what about the Vekoma Flying Ducthman and the B&M Flyer. They are both the same concept, so why would it be any different if Intamin or another company came out with a 4D type of coaster!

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So...you can't handle a rollercoaster huh? Well...you ARE the Weakest Link! Goodbye!
Number 1 Batwing Fan!

Lankster said:
Isn't there a sign in the queue listing the capacity as some outrageous number? (1600 pph comes to mind) I'd like to see the calcs. for that number.

A trip report from this past Saturday said there was a 2 train-op with 5 minute dispatches. Assuming every seat was full (never seen that at a Six Flags Park) that would mean a 336 pph capacity. Not quite 1600 :(

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- Peabody

Peabody:

That was my report of last Saturday at SFMM - but the current capacity is sure a lot better than before (and I would guess there was probably an average of 1 empty seat per train - people were trying to fill in the empty slots). 1600 pph would mean dispatching a train almost every minute (with 28 rider capacity per train) - I don't see that ever happening on X.

Very few coasters hit their targeted capacity, so the 1600 pph means absolutely nothing. So many things with X would have to go right for it to hit 900 pph, which is SFMM's true goal. How many times does it have to be said that X is a prototype work in progress? To expect this ride to have Goliath's capacity is absurd.

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"Escuse me, can you tell me where the heck the Mystery Lodge is"?

"Well, what about the Vekoma Flying Ducthman and the B&M Flyer. They are both the same concept, so why would it be any different if Intamin or another company came out with a 4D type of coaster"!

Please explain to me how the Vekoma FD and the B&M version are alike other than the concept is the same? B&M flyers do not mimic the layout of Stealth or Batwing in any way. Nor do SLCs mimic B&M inverteds.

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"Escuse me, can you tell me where the heck the Mystery Lodge is"?