Six Flags Fiesta Texas | Batman: The Ride | S&S 4D
- Thread starter Jason Voorhees
- Start date
GuyWithAStick
Captain Basic
We have a POV!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar6J8nQI3y8[/youtube]
It seems to be a very random ride experience. One video it flips over 5 times, the next it flips around twice. Should still be a very fun little ride.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar6J8nQI3y8[/youtube]
It seems to be a very random ride experience. One video it flips over 5 times, the next it flips around twice. Should still be a very fun little ride.
GorresCoasters
Roller Poster
This was better than I expected it to be. Hopefully enthusiasts won't be confused between this and the Batman B&M Invert clone Goliath.
GuyWithAStick
Captain Basic
^ Trust me, none of us will. You should replace "Enthusiasts" with "The GP". Then it'd be a realistic statement.
Thanks for posting my ridercam video. :--D
I guess you can tell that I like this one. I've ridden a lot of flipping coasters including X2, Kirnu, Inferno, Green Lantern: First Flight and a couple of rides on Insane with Ian (one was a full on spinner with the both of us one one side and Peter Osbeck on the other). It's obvious what I think about X2 (see my Top 10) and I like the Zac Spins, even though they're a bit wonky. So I guess it's natural that I would like this one as well.
However, I'd like this one even if I hated Zac Spins and/or X2 (and I completely understand those of you that do). Both of those have issues that certainly put people off. X2 is much too rough for what it is, as are the Intamins and the Zac Spins don't flip correctly.
These 4D Free Spin/Free Fly coasters have no such issues. The ride is very smooth thanks to the use of I-box track and the flips feel more natural. I think it has something to do with the two seats spinning around their own axis rather than having four seats spinning around an axis between the two sets of seats. The comfy restraints are also a good thing.
Other than Jeffrey Siebert, the park's PR Director, and Tim Baldwin from ACE, who did all the live TV segments, I'm pretty sure I got the most rides since I showed up at 5am. TV stations from around Texas and neighboring states where doing live feeds at scheduled intervals and I got to ride during the broadcast breaks, including a ride in the dark.
All these seats to choose from...
Here's Jeffrey all mic'd up waiting to go live with Batman.
At night you really can't see much making the ride even more disorienting...
...even with all the TV camera lighting.
After my first ride I took a stroll around to the ride entrance...
...to check out the themed queue line.
The queue within the air conditioned building is fairly short, with most of it outdoors.
I got in about another three rides after the sun came up and my friend Scott showed up. I had arranged to get my own 60fps on-ride videos beforehand, so we got right on the coaster and got this filmed before it started to rain.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar6J8nQI3y8[/youtube]
We has to wait about 30 minutes for our POV ride and missed the opening ceremony. My apologies to those who were expecting my usual video. From our seats on the coaster we could only see the fireworks that were launched from the entrance rooftop.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SLZD_ehMzg[/youtube]
After our two POV rides the broadcast production team offered us the chance to ride in front of their live cameras. They had this rig setup for those live on-ride feeds, whereas the videos I posted above were filmed with a GoPro rig on another train (see last photo in this post).
Here's some footage they gave me with scenes of us in those seats. I really like the camera they had attached to the track that shows us flipping.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe142vLP-Dg[/youtube]
After that ride the coaster was closed once again due to the threat of lightning. By now the rain was really starting to come down and most everyone dashed off to eat. Scott and I stayed behind because we didn't have our umbrellas with us and didn't want to get our cameras wet. After waiting it out a while they allowed the both of us to check out the coaster a bit closer.
And for those of you for whom the photos weren't enough:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUMakVC1Iu0[/youtube]
After another half hour the rain let up enough for us to get something to eat without getting our equipment too wet, as well as fetch our umbrellas. I also took the opportunity to grab Preston Perks, the project manager from S&S, for an interview.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB-7mKMQFrQ[/youtube]
With the coaster running again I finally go the chance to film some off-ride footage...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VBI-G3-I-Y[/youtube]
...but I didn't include these two.
I got in five rides in total. They had each side setup differently and those that rode the other said it wasn't worth trying and to continue riding the same side. Of the seats, the ones facing forward in the station were my favorites. Of course they won't remain that way as the park will likely still be tweaking them a lot more before opening day. Once they get it down it will be interesting to see if riders will be able to start controlling the flips. Scott and I felt like we could have with another ride or two.
I guess you can tell that I like this one. I've ridden a lot of flipping coasters including X2, Kirnu, Inferno, Green Lantern: First Flight and a couple of rides on Insane with Ian (one was a full on spinner with the both of us one one side and Peter Osbeck on the other). It's obvious what I think about X2 (see my Top 10) and I like the Zac Spins, even though they're a bit wonky. So I guess it's natural that I would like this one as well.
However, I'd like this one even if I hated Zac Spins and/or X2 (and I completely understand those of you that do). Both of those have issues that certainly put people off. X2 is much too rough for what it is, as are the Intamins and the Zac Spins don't flip correctly.
These 4D Free Spin/Free Fly coasters have no such issues. The ride is very smooth thanks to the use of I-box track and the flips feel more natural. I think it has something to do with the two seats spinning around their own axis rather than having four seats spinning around an axis between the two sets of seats. The comfy restraints are also a good thing.
Other than Jeffrey Siebert, the park's PR Director, and Tim Baldwin from ACE, who did all the live TV segments, I'm pretty sure I got the most rides since I showed up at 5am. TV stations from around Texas and neighboring states where doing live feeds at scheduled intervals and I got to ride during the broadcast breaks, including a ride in the dark.
All these seats to choose from...
Here's Jeffrey all mic'd up waiting to go live with Batman.
At night you really can't see much making the ride even more disorienting...
...even with all the TV camera lighting.
After my first ride I took a stroll around to the ride entrance...
...to check out the themed queue line.
The queue within the air conditioned building is fairly short, with most of it outdoors.
I got in about another three rides after the sun came up and my friend Scott showed up. I had arranged to get my own 60fps on-ride videos beforehand, so we got right on the coaster and got this filmed before it started to rain.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar6J8nQI3y8[/youtube]
We has to wait about 30 minutes for our POV ride and missed the opening ceremony. My apologies to those who were expecting my usual video. From our seats on the coaster we could only see the fireworks that were launched from the entrance rooftop.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SLZD_ehMzg[/youtube]
After our two POV rides the broadcast production team offered us the chance to ride in front of their live cameras. They had this rig setup for those live on-ride feeds, whereas the videos I posted above were filmed with a GoPro rig on another train (see last photo in this post).
Here's some footage they gave me with scenes of us in those seats. I really like the camera they had attached to the track that shows us flipping.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe142vLP-Dg[/youtube]
After that ride the coaster was closed once again due to the threat of lightning. By now the rain was really starting to come down and most everyone dashed off to eat. Scott and I stayed behind because we didn't have our umbrellas with us and didn't want to get our cameras wet. After waiting it out a while they allowed the both of us to check out the coaster a bit closer.
And for those of you for whom the photos weren't enough:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUMakVC1Iu0[/youtube]
After another half hour the rain let up enough for us to get something to eat without getting our equipment too wet, as well as fetch our umbrellas. I also took the opportunity to grab Preston Perks, the project manager from S&S, for an interview.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB-7mKMQFrQ[/youtube]
With the coaster running again I finally go the chance to film some off-ride footage...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VBI-G3-I-Y[/youtube]
...but I didn't include these two.
I got in five rides in total. They had each side setup differently and those that rode the other said it wasn't worth trying and to continue riding the same side. Of the seats, the ones facing forward in the station were my favorites. Of course they won't remain that way as the park will likely still be tweaking them a lot more before opening day. Once they get it down it will be interesting to see if riders will be able to start controlling the flips. Scott and I felt like we could have with another ride or two.
andrus
Giga Poster
Thanks for the great work ECG! Nice and in-depth interview as alwaysECG said:
Thought I should comment on a couple of things:
1) It's nice to hear that S&S already have other layouts available! But at the same time it's too bad that they will just be scaled up versions, and not include any turns (as Preston Perkes phrase it: "other layouts might be a little bit bigger, might have some different elements to them; but not neccesarily a left or right turn"). This is the disadvantage with both the zacspins and this model. Since they do not turn, and do not integrate with the terrain (only station and brakes are at ground level, the rest of the coaster is raised), they feel more like flat rides than coasters to me. A model that does turns would make the whole concept so much more appealing! And I know that Intamin have said that the zacspin is able to do turns, but I doubt they'll sell any more coasters of that model since the Terra Mitica accident, and this S&S model being more comfortable and cheaper(?).
2) I wonder whether S&S will utilize the RMC track for more coaster types in the future? It would be interesting to see whether a full-scale 4D-coaster (X2-style) would be any smoother with the iron horse track? The new launch coasters look very interesting as well! The only downside that I've heard of is that they're already pretty rough. With the use of iron horse track these ride would surely be smoother, and maybe catch on even in the US and Europe? One can only hope!
GuyWithAStick
Captain Basic
Re: Six Flags Fiesta Texas | Batman: The Ride | S&S 4D
This is really far fetched, but if S&S is(or will be) using the RMC track so much, why not just merge? Kinda like with Arrow, and have a separate division for RMC woodies and Hybrids? That way, both companies can utilize the I Box track , and could possibly make S&S more money.
Sent from my VS840 4G using Tapatalk
This is really far fetched, but if S&S is(or will be) using the RMC track so much, why not just merge? Kinda like with Arrow, and have a separate division for RMC woodies and Hybrids? That way, both companies can utilize the I Box track , and could possibly make S&S more money.
Sent from my VS840 4G using Tapatalk
