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Indiana Beach I All American Triple Loop | Quimera (Dreier Looper) relocation | 2024

Indy said:
I've experienced all of the coasters in question and I don't believe so. Half of what made Quimera incredible was the absolute insane intensity that was a product of the ride not being operated appropriately. It'll certainly be toned down at IB simply because the block brakes will function correctly, so it won't have the same intensity as it did at La Feria. That could potentially be a good thing because certain portions of the ride were rather brutal. Also, It could definitely go a long way if IB decides to get new trains without OTSRs as some of the transitions aren't perfect and provided some nice shots to the jaw.

With that said, Mindbender at WOM is an absolute monster. I considered it to be slightly better than Quimera and imagine it will continue to hold that position.
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Pardon my Naïveté as a 15 month enthusiast...what/where the hell is WOM?
 
Indy said:
I've experienced all of the coasters in question and I don't believe so. Half of what made Quimera incredible was the absolute insane intensity that was a product of the ride not being operated appropriately. It'll certainly be toned down at IB simply because the block brakes will function correctly, so it won't have the same intensity as it did at La Feria. That could potentially be a good thing because certain portions of the ride were rather brutal. Also, It could definitely go a long way if IB decides to get new trains without OTSRs as some of the transitions aren't perfect and provided some nice shots to the jaw.

With that said, Mindbender at WEM is an absolute monster. I considered it to be slightly better than Quimera and imagine it will continue to hold that position.
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Thanks for the first-hand assessment!

Even if Dreier Looping at IB takes a backseat to WEM Mindebender as THE single best Schwarzkopf on the continent, it's still way beyond awesome that it's being saved for yet another reincarnation.

I've never ridden any of Schwarkopf's "big 4" traveling-style multi-loopers (Drier Looping, WEM Mindbender, Thriller, & Olympia Looping), but from everything i've seen, heard, or read about them, they all seem(ed) to push the limits of +G intensity, along with having that special, hard to quantify Schwarzkopf magic. They've long lived very large in my fascination as true masterpieces of their style that have as of yet eluded me.

I cannot wait to scoot down to IB someday soon and finally ride one of them!

I still can't believe that i'm gonna have one in my relative back yard.
 
Steely Dan said:
I've never ridden any of Schwarkopf's "big 4" traveling-style multi-loopers (Drier Looping, WEM Mindbender, Thriller, & Olympia Looping), but from everything i've seen, heard, or read about them, they all seem(ed) to push the limits of +G intensity, along with having that special, hard to quantify Schwarzkopf magic. They've long lived very large in my fascination as true masterpieces of their style that have as of yet eluded me.
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I never experienced Thriller, but the other three are incredible machines. I would argue that Olympia Looping is the least intense, but was centerlined better than the others. It's a masterpiece. WEM Mindbender is more intense, but a little rougher around the edges. Drier was by far the most insane, but again, it wasn't operated correctly.

I should also retract one of my statements. I alluded to Quimera providing shots to the jaw, but it didn't have OTSRs. It had these weird 3-4 point harnesses. It was just very jarring towards the end. WEM Mindbender on the other hand DOES have OTSRs than can provide some shots to the jaw.
 
My goodness; if Olympia Looping is the least intense of the 3, then I can’t even begin to imagine how forceful the other 2 are! When I rode Olympia, I found it to comfortably be the most consistently intense coaster I’ve ever ridden, to the point where combined with the very painful shoulder harnesses, I personally found it rather unpleasant, as I’m not massively into constant positive g-forces of that style.

I’m sure fans of high positive g’s would have loved it, though!
 
Olympia varies quite a lot between the front and back, with the back being the most intense. There is also quite a difference between the back car with 5 cars and the back car with 7 cars, with the back car of 7 being the most forceful. (The first year that OL came to London they originally ran it with 5 car trains before realising that it needed the full 7.) Mindbender runs two front carriages since it's accident so it's pretty interesting to hear that some say it's more intense considering the shorter train length.
 
Well, for sure the most intense of these was Thriller. Before they actually elevated the entire first section (containing the valley after the first drop and the first two concentric loops) it had up to incredible 6.5g! This was because the showman Oscar Bruch wanted to have circular loops. (BTW, would be interesting to know what Werner Stengel actually thought when he first heard about it, given that he was so proud of his invention of clothoid loops.) And these loops had no hang time! In contrary, you were really pushed through them with positive g's also on the top of the loop. That's where the 6.5g's at the bottom came from. Don't know why this was actually allowed. But I remember that the first section, that is, the little dip after the lifthill, the first drop and these concentric loops were really unique. As I was a kid the g's were ok for me. However, I guess today it would kill me ;) The only thing that was a pain were these additional over-the-shoulder restraints that came further down during the ride. And for a kid they felt really heavy...
 
Don't make me start about Thriller when it was still on the funfairs - did it so often at Hamburger DOM funfair. The forces in the first two loops were totally crazy - you had poeple who grayed out every ride. It was glorious. Olympia's forces are lesser - and even while the loops have higher short-time Gs I mostly like the "fast turn" between loop one and two with continued high G-loads.
 
I've ridden all four - Thriller at the Oktoberfest; Olympia Looping at the Oktoberfest, Annakirmes & Düsseldorf's Größte Kirmes am Rhein; Mindbender at Galaxyland, Quimera at La Feria Chapultepec Magico & as Dreier Looping at the Oktoberfest. Thriller was the most intense and my favorite of the Big Four. As has been stated Quimera was more intense than I remember Dreier Looping was, although it was a good dozen years between when I rode each of them. I put Mindbender somewhere between Quimera and Dreier Looping, as far as intensity. Never been a great fan of Olympia Looping, even though I've ridden it far more often than the others.
However, my favorite Schwarzkopf looper is Teststrecke. Went to the Hamburg DOM for it's debut (many CFers could have joined Brad, Ryan, Aidan & I, but flaked out and drove past it because of the long day at Heide). Not as intense as the Big Four, but love what Meyer und Rosenzweig did with it after purchasing it from Dorney. Those SAT rides trains <3 I also go to the Stuttgart (Cannstatter) Volksfest whenever possible just to ride it.
 
Loving all of these first hand accounts from folks who've ridden two or more of these legendary machines.

Sorry for taking things a bit OT, but as I said before, these schwarzkopf multi-loopers have always fascinated me.

RIP Thriller.
 
ECG said:
However, my favorite Schwarzkopf looper is Teststrecke. Went to the Hamburg DOM for it's debut (many CFers could have joined Brad, Ryan, Aidan & I, but flaked out and drove past it because of the long day at Heide). Not as intense as the Big Four, but love what Meyer und Rosenzweig did with it after purchasing it from Dorney. Those SAT rides trains <3 I also go to the Stuttgart (Cannstatter) Volksfest whenever possible just to ride it.
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Teststrecke rules. Shame it’s seemingly stuck in Saudi Arabia now.
 
cookie said:
Teststrecke rules. Shame it’s seemingly stuck in Saudi Arabia now.
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I was massively disappointed with it. The size and smoothness of it was impressive for a traveling ride, but I found it dull and forceless.

Sent from my Redmi Note 7 using Tapatalk
 
Having ridden it as Laser probably 20 times and liking it, I thought most people disliked it now, with the new trains?
 
Having not ridden Teststrecke as Laser I thought the new trains possibly took the edge off a bit compared to other similar rides with the old trains but it really wasn't that noticeable. My main thought was that they looked a bit odd. I am interested to hear/see what Alpina Bahn's new Gerstlauer trains are like as they changed them at the end of 2019. Sooperdooper looper has had Gerstlauer trains for a while and they were hardly noticeable as any different from the classics. I think if I was buying new trains for Quimera I'd go for Gerstlauer as they seem to reflect the classics a lot better and Gerstlauer have a history with Schwarzkopf. Of course, sunkid may be cheaper.
 
SilverArrow said:
. I think if I was buying new trains for Quimera I'd go for Gerstlauer as they seem to reflect the classics a lot better and Gerstlauer have a history with Schwarzkopf.
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Will be interesting to see what happens with the OTSR/Strap situation. SDL trains with EuroFighter OTSR? Were the shoulder restraints for clearance issues or seen as an actual necessity.
WEM Bender only got them post accident and we've seen this ride try different methods already. I'd assume everyone here would just hope for lapbar only but I just don't see that happening here.
 
CanobieFan said:
Will be interesting to see what happens with the OTSR/Strap situation. SDL trains with EuroFighter OTSR? Were the shoulder restraints for clearance issues or seen as an actual necessity.
WEM Bender only got them post accident and we've seen this ride try different methods already. I'd assume everyone here would just hope for lapbar only but I just don't see that happening here.
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I think they were a post-accident modification to stop people falling out if the lapbar failed as I believe the lapbar lever was knocked in the Mindbender accident which then caused the lapbars to open and a number of riders to fall out. Not 100% though but I feel like I read that somewhere. Seat belts could solve that issue as well I would imagine. OL has a few close beams but it's hard to tell whether they are so close that you'd need the shoulder restraints to stop people touching them or not.
 
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