I always here the fact that a place like Disneyland has 85 acres, but a park like Six Flags Over Texas is so bigger with 212 acres. Of course, you think automatically that Six Flags Over Texas, you will walk tons more than Disneyland because of that fact. Are you sure about that? I find the walking at both parks pretty substantial. Why is that if one park has so many acres than the other. I just want to say that Six Flags Over Texas could have some land that is not used yet, and that contribute ot the high acres also, but that's not the point I want to make.
Disneyland seemed somewhat crowded when I was there, but it wasn't that bad. Six Flags Over Texas felt the same way, but rides weren't hour lines at either park. So, this is what I think. Disneyland has a lot of smaller attractions that can fit in tiny buildings. On the other hand, you have gigantic roller coasters at Six Flags Over Texas that take up huge space.
They usually don't have the lines of the roller coasters under the rides because you never know what the riders might throw from the rides. Disneyland doesn't have that many roller coasters compared to Six Flags also. They also run many more trains for the roller coasters than Six Flags. However, Disneyland bigger roller coasters are just Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and the Matterhorn. Disneyland has an Alice in Wonderland ride which is a smaller space, and gets a remarkable 800 guests per hour. What Batman the Ride at Great America is 990 which is only 190 off from a smaller dark ride at Disneyland. That is a wow thing to me.
It's a Small World at Disneyland gets an outstanding 3200 capacity. Nothing gets that at Great America. Nothing is even close to that. Is Small World really that huge? I don't think it is that big. Six Flags Over Texas has a lot lower capacity rides in Tony Hawk spinning coaster, Flashback boomerang coaster, Runaway Mountain, Mini Mine train, the other kiddie coaster, Mr. Freeze, and some other non-roller coaster rides. They still take up quite a big space for the capacities they get.
I kind of believe that more than ever that you need these trains as big as possible, and get enough of them. Who cares if they trim an unimportant parts of these rides (Don't trim rides before an airtime hill, but after.) just so they can fit more trains, and more passengers on these rides. You get this huge ride, and you just don't have enough trains, or capacity for these rides. Mr. Freeze is a real awesome ride, but it only launches 20 people out at a time, and it has one train. It has two trains, but it's more like one loads when the other one goes, and so on.
Wouldn't it have be been better to make it have at least 32 people instead even though you would have to add more LIMs? Maybe, even make it 20 feet smaller to lessen the speed, but the point is that the capacity is that much higher.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Goodbye Deja Vu - Get It Out While You Still Can Remember
Deja Vu was removed after the 2007 season. Deja Vu will be missed by me because it was worth the wait even though it was mostly a 40 minute line. Deja Vu sadly was removed because it had low capacity (The target capacity was around 440.), and it had mainteance problems. Six Flags Magic Mountain has one, and it is probably going to be closed after the 2008 season. Deja Vu at Great America is going to Silverwood in Idaho, and might open in July of 2008.
The ride was introduced for the 2001 season. It didn't open till way later in the season in October. I was on it in October. During that season, I would see painters taking there time painting the fences. The train wasn't even on the track even though the whole structure was up until way later in the year.
The first ride on it was really memorable as I was wearing a knitted hat. It was either Eagles, or Steelers hat, and it was going off my head until I stopped it from going off my head. It was colder, and windy on that day.
This ride is the most unique roller coaster I have ever been on. On the first tower, I felt like I was falling out of the seat. That is with the B seats. This ride had a very different seating layout. It had 2 seats together, (next row) it had 2 seats far apart from each other, 2 seats together, and so on from there. It had 8 rows of 2, and not 4 per row like a Batman the Ride even though people that have never ridden it before felt like it did.
For B seats on tower 1, I always felt like I was falling out of the seat. For A seats which I never liked whatsoever unless maybe I get the front row even though I never cared about getting it, there was this stupid metal square in front of you to hold the other seats, and you could barely stretch your legs. They even had warnings to not do it, and it bugged me the heck out of me. It didn't feel like you are falling out on these seats because you felt safe that you had this thing in front of you.
Those people that rode it in A seats could have thought, this ride isn't that much of a big deal because of that. I thought the A seats were for chickens, and the B seats were people that were a little braver. Some people didn't know the difference, and it was evident. They rather ride next to the person they were with rather than be stranded alone.
So, on tower 1, you felt you were falling out of it with B seats (Not with A at least for me). For tower 2, you felt like you were being pushed back in the seat, and it's a different feeling. I liked the falling out feeling better than the pushed back feeling as I liked going more towards the back on this ride.
Before, I talk about the layout, I want to talk about how the train gets up the towers. In the station, there is a square box with wheels that is called the catchcar. It's above the 6th row. It's called a catchcar because it catches the trains when they go up the tower. The catchcar goes up the tower by a cable and pulley system.
The ride layout is this. So, the catchcar is connected to the train. The floor lowers in the station, and you go backwards up this 178 foot tower. The catchcar is going up the tower too. This tower is a 90 degree tower. The catchcar goes up to a certain point, and than the catchcar let's the train go. Sometimes, it would wait a second or two to release, but other times it would release right away. At this height, you can see over the Demon, the waterpark, and so on. This is pretty tall, at 90 degrees.
So, the ride let's go (You are facing forward), and you go through the station fast, go through the cobra roll, than go through a big loop, and than the catchcar catches the train in the air, and than are going up tower 2 which is the same height and it's a 90 degree tower. The catchcar on this tower catches the train on a different row. It's like 3-4 rows on the second tower instead of 5-6 rows on the first tower. Now, you are facing forward up the tower, and you feel like you are pushed back. After the catchcar pushes the train up the tower, the catchcar let's go of the train like the first tower did.
Now, you go backwards through the entire ride again. That is after the second tower, you go through the loop, cobra roll, station, and than on tower one, a catchcar catches the train in the air (Not all the way up the tower, lower), and than it lowers slowly down into the station forwards. It catches it on the 5-6 row.
Why does the catchcar catch it on different rows? The reason is because you want to get the highest part of the train to release. So, on tower 2, the highest part of the ride is rows 3-4 instead of rows 5-6 which are lower because you are going up the second tower forward, and it's going to release backwards.
The biggest problem this ride had as in maintenance was called miscatching. This is when the catchcar didn't catch the trains on tower 1, or tower 2. It would be down for quite awhile especially in the first years because they had no idea what to do with the ride. Soon, they got better though. After the train wouldn't hook up with the catchcar, the train would go backwards.
For tower 2, it would go backwards on the bottom of the loop in which there were brakes that would stop it from going anywhere. For tower 2, it would go into the station, and the brakes would be be turned on. For either way, they would shut the brakes off once it was stopped, and you would go back and forth until it stopped more.
Another problem that happened on tower 2 was called a retraction. This is when the catchcar on tower 2 caught the train, but it wasn't in the right place. So, the catchcar went down the tower. I wonder if this also could be the fact that tower 2 lost power, and thus that's why. It could of been an overheating problem. Eventually, they fixed it,
Too be CONTINUED
The ride was introduced for the 2001 season. It didn't open till way later in the season in October. I was on it in October. During that season, I would see painters taking there time painting the fences. The train wasn't even on the track even though the whole structure was up until way later in the year.
The first ride on it was really memorable as I was wearing a knitted hat. It was either Eagles, or Steelers hat, and it was going off my head until I stopped it from going off my head. It was colder, and windy on that day.
This ride is the most unique roller coaster I have ever been on. On the first tower, I felt like I was falling out of the seat. That is with the B seats. This ride had a very different seating layout. It had 2 seats together, (next row) it had 2 seats far apart from each other, 2 seats together, and so on from there. It had 8 rows of 2, and not 4 per row like a Batman the Ride even though people that have never ridden it before felt like it did.
For B seats on tower 1, I always felt like I was falling out of the seat. For A seats which I never liked whatsoever unless maybe I get the front row even though I never cared about getting it, there was this stupid metal square in front of you to hold the other seats, and you could barely stretch your legs. They even had warnings to not do it, and it bugged me the heck out of me. It didn't feel like you are falling out on these seats because you felt safe that you had this thing in front of you.
Those people that rode it in A seats could have thought, this ride isn't that much of a big deal because of that. I thought the A seats were for chickens, and the B seats were people that were a little braver. Some people didn't know the difference, and it was evident. They rather ride next to the person they were with rather than be stranded alone.
So, on tower 1, you felt you were falling out of it with B seats (Not with A at least for me). For tower 2, you felt like you were being pushed back in the seat, and it's a different feeling. I liked the falling out feeling better than the pushed back feeling as I liked going more towards the back on this ride.
Before, I talk about the layout, I want to talk about how the train gets up the towers. In the station, there is a square box with wheels that is called the catchcar. It's above the 6th row. It's called a catchcar because it catches the trains when they go up the tower. The catchcar goes up the tower by a cable and pulley system.
The ride layout is this. So, the catchcar is connected to the train. The floor lowers in the station, and you go backwards up this 178 foot tower. The catchcar is going up the tower too. This tower is a 90 degree tower. The catchcar goes up to a certain point, and than the catchcar let's the train go. Sometimes, it would wait a second or two to release, but other times it would release right away. At this height, you can see over the Demon, the waterpark, and so on. This is pretty tall, at 90 degrees.
So, the ride let's go (You are facing forward), and you go through the station fast, go through the cobra roll, than go through a big loop, and than the catchcar catches the train in the air, and than are going up tower 2 which is the same height and it's a 90 degree tower. The catchcar on this tower catches the train on a different row. It's like 3-4 rows on the second tower instead of 5-6 rows on the first tower. Now, you are facing forward up the tower, and you feel like you are pushed back. After the catchcar pushes the train up the tower, the catchcar let's go of the train like the first tower did.
Now, you go backwards through the entire ride again. That is after the second tower, you go through the loop, cobra roll, station, and than on tower one, a catchcar catches the train in the air (Not all the way up the tower, lower), and than it lowers slowly down into the station forwards. It catches it on the 5-6 row.
Why does the catchcar catch it on different rows? The reason is because you want to get the highest part of the train to release. So, on tower 2, the highest part of the ride is rows 3-4 instead of rows 5-6 which are lower because you are going up the second tower forward, and it's going to release backwards.
The biggest problem this ride had as in maintenance was called miscatching. This is when the catchcar didn't catch the trains on tower 1, or tower 2. It would be down for quite awhile especially in the first years because they had no idea what to do with the ride. Soon, they got better though. After the train wouldn't hook up with the catchcar, the train would go backwards.
For tower 2, it would go backwards on the bottom of the loop in which there were brakes that would stop it from going anywhere. For tower 2, it would go into the station, and the brakes would be be turned on. For either way, they would shut the brakes off once it was stopped, and you would go back and forth until it stopped more.
Another problem that happened on tower 2 was called a retraction. This is when the catchcar on tower 2 caught the train, but it wasn't in the right place. So, the catchcar went down the tower. I wonder if this also could be the fact that tower 2 lost power, and thus that's why. It could of been an overheating problem. Eventually, they fixed it,
Too be CONTINUED
Capacities on Flats Sadly Not Helping
At Six Flags Great America, these are the target capacities. These are what they are supposed to get compared to the unrealistic maximum capacities that manufacturers say:
Superman Ultimate Flight: 800
Batman the Ride: 990
Demon: 840
V2: 610
American Eagle (one side operating): 670
Flat Rides:
Triple Play: 340
Ricochet: 330
Rue Le Dodge: 300
How long when you go to a Six Flags park, or a Cedar Fair park do you wait in line for more than 5 minutes for a flat ride to get on the ride? The ride itself might be a good 2-3 minutes, but I'm not talking about that. Whereas for a roller coaster like Batman the Ride, you are always seem to be waiting a good 40 minutes unless the park is empty, or Superman Ultimate Flight is around an hour or more the whole day.
So, are flats really helping the capacities at these parks at all? Sure, there might be 20 people in line for Condor, but that's at one time during the day, and it's a walk-on type of ride. So, for the next 4 minutes goes by, and there is another 20 people. It only handles 20 people at a time in line while Superman has 800 people in line (Not the same people) for that line. It's always 800 people in that line, but Condor only has some 20 people in line at a time.
The problem is that the flats aren't up to standards to make long gigantic lines. Get some more thrilling flats unlike the Condor even though I do like the Condor, but I think it's a good ride, and it can be skipped unlike a KMG Fireball which I don't believe should ever be skipped.
Think about this. Two flats equal one Vertical Velocity roller coaster, and 2.5 flats equal Superman Ultimate Flight roller coaster as in capacity, but yet the roller coasters have the longer lines. I don't think that high capacities mean diddly squat than. Deja Vu target capacity was like 440, and you wait in line a good 40 minutes or something whereas Six Flags flats people aren't willing to wait.
The flats also aren't advertised as the roller coasters that has something to do with it, but still. Are the flats really helping? I'm not talking about the water rides either like Roaring Rapids, Yankee Clipper, and Logger's Run because they do get the people in the lines.
I believe that old flats should be replaced, but I think they need to be replaced, and not just removed for nothing like what Six Flags Magic Mountain did. These flats have to exciting though that you replace, and they don't have to be Max Air, or Skyhawk. They just need to be thrilling.
They can't be like the Enterprise that it doesn't even feel like you go upside down. They can't be the Huss Top Spin where it hurts your chest, and it hardly flips you upside down because they are afraid you are going to puke. That's like a baby ride.
Superman Ultimate Flight: 800
Batman the Ride: 990
Demon: 840
V2: 610
American Eagle (one side operating): 670
Flat Rides:
Triple Play: 340
Ricochet: 330
Rue Le Dodge: 300
How long when you go to a Six Flags park, or a Cedar Fair park do you wait in line for more than 5 minutes for a flat ride to get on the ride? The ride itself might be a good 2-3 minutes, but I'm not talking about that. Whereas for a roller coaster like Batman the Ride, you are always seem to be waiting a good 40 minutes unless the park is empty, or Superman Ultimate Flight is around an hour or more the whole day.
So, are flats really helping the capacities at these parks at all? Sure, there might be 20 people in line for Condor, but that's at one time during the day, and it's a walk-on type of ride. So, for the next 4 minutes goes by, and there is another 20 people. It only handles 20 people at a time in line while Superman has 800 people in line (Not the same people) for that line. It's always 800 people in that line, but Condor only has some 20 people in line at a time.
The problem is that the flats aren't up to standards to make long gigantic lines. Get some more thrilling flats unlike the Condor even though I do like the Condor, but I think it's a good ride, and it can be skipped unlike a KMG Fireball which I don't believe should ever be skipped.
Think about this. Two flats equal one Vertical Velocity roller coaster, and 2.5 flats equal Superman Ultimate Flight roller coaster as in capacity, but yet the roller coasters have the longer lines. I don't think that high capacities mean diddly squat than. Deja Vu target capacity was like 440, and you wait in line a good 40 minutes or something whereas Six Flags flats people aren't willing to wait.
The flats also aren't advertised as the roller coasters that has something to do with it, but still. Are the flats really helping? I'm not talking about the water rides either like Roaring Rapids, Yankee Clipper, and Logger's Run because they do get the people in the lines.
I believe that old flats should be replaced, but I think they need to be replaced, and not just removed for nothing like what Six Flags Magic Mountain did. These flats have to exciting though that you replace, and they don't have to be Max Air, or Skyhawk. They just need to be thrilling.
They can't be like the Enterprise that it doesn't even feel like you go upside down. They can't be the Huss Top Spin where it hurts your chest, and it hardly flips you upside down because they are afraid you are going to puke. That's like a baby ride.
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