Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit
- Thread starter Brian G.
- Start date
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- Jan 28, 2010
- 5
- 0
Hi, long time lurker - first time poster. My wife and daughter are at Uni today and called me and said the conveyer belt is running! The TMs said it was the first day. Daughter said she thought only 4 trains running, so still not at full capacity. Will find out more when they get home (Melbourne).
- Jan 28, 2010
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Update - just heard from daughter. She said the ride seemed very fast and rougher than usual (and she has ridden it many times). She said TMs confirmed that it was running fast due to brake run slowdowns being reduced. She also said that there was a tech with a radar gun shooting cars on brake run #2. Also late in the day today, they stopped loading the last row in each car (meaning only four rows total loaded for each train). TMs said it was a "weight issue". Wow this is cool to be getting so much new info in my first posts!
--- Update ---
Trust me, I do a lot of lurking on various boards, but I'm just not the posting type. But my wife and daughter are serious roller coaster fans (and geeks), and my daughter called me at work screaming that I had to post this news. She was stoked to be among the first to ride the belt. She did say the belt was stopping frequently, though. I guess they need to get some practice.
--- Update ---
Trust me, I do a lot of lurking on various boards, but I'm just not the posting type. But my wife and daughter are serious roller coaster fans (and geeks), and my daughter called me at work screaming that I had to post this news. She was stoked to be among the first to ride the belt. She did say the belt was stopping frequently, though. I guess they need to get some practice.
I can back him up officially :thumbs: Spoke to someone and confirmed that they have indeed started running the belt.
Welcome to the boards! :wave:
Welcome to the boards! :wave:
- Jan 28, 2010
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Thanks. I use that handle in very few places I do post. It is a Spoonerism – a switching of morphemes of proximate words either as a slip of the tongue or intentionally as a play on words. They are named after the Rev. B. A. Spooner of Oxford University, who may have had a predilection towards them. My screen name is from one of the classics, “the victim was killed by a blushing crow to the head”.
I have been lurking here so long following both RRR and WWOHP, getting a scoop like this was something I couldn't let slip by.
--- Update ---
'nother update. Just spoke to wife. She said the ride was way more intense than usual. Again, wife and daughter have ridden RRR many times and know what they're talking about. They said it felt like sitting in an ejection seat on the humps entering the brake runs and it was painful at times. She said the the TMs questioned her about her experience since they knew from talking to her that she was a regular. It's interesting that they're experimenting with ride speeds using guests as guinea pigs.
I'm a little ticked that I didn't go with them today, just couldn't take off from work.
- Jan 28, 2010
- 5
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They're home now. Crappy cellphone attached.
[video=youtube;lpg0RQ0m6WM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpg0RQ0m6WM[/video]
[video=youtube;agDSWyHjm1Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agDSWyHjm1Y[/video]
"Hey there all! I am the 17 year-old daughter that took these videos and passed on the news to my dad! Here's the full story:
Getting in line the first time, it was supposed to be a half hour, but because of two ten minute breakdowns, it took about an hour. Upon getting to the second level in the loading station, mom and I noticed something amiss.
For some reason, people were being loaded in the first entrance, rather than the second as they have been doing. Looking closer, mom noticed that the TM's were walking. At this revelation, I screamed in joy. After a brief inquiry with the TMs, we discovered that this was the first day and we called dad. Note: This was about noon, we were in the front car, and there were four cars on the track total (Two on the track and two in the station).
We got on the ride in a hurried and frenzied manner, obviously they were unused to the setup, and got on nicely. Now, the ride was WONDERFUL, as always, but there was a huge noticeable difference. The ride seemed to be going about 5-10 mph faster than usual. We enjoyed it like that. Following our ride, both videos were taken.
About 4 PM, we decided to go on again (After watching it stop and start from a distance). This time we have only 1 breakdown (2 minutes or so) in a 45 minute wait. This time, they seemed to be going a bit faster in the loading, but it was still frenzied and amateur. Unfortunately, I am very disappointed to report that this particular ride was horrible (yet still as fun as Rockit can be). A few notes: Four seats in every train were empty, two in each section (always the back rows). Also, we sat in the front of the second car and please remember I am a huge roller coaster buff and it takes a LOT to make me be affected at all by a roller coaster.
Going over the top hill, I immediately wished that my lap bar was about two or three clicks TIGHTER. Suddenly, that inch and a half space felt a foot tall (I'm also a small 5' 2" girl). The top of the treble cleft was not too bad, but it shot me out of the seat quite a bit. The first breaking station is what started to make me actually scared. I came out so hard against the bar that it rattled my skull. This happened with all of the rest of the brake stations as well, each time just as painful. Now, the SECOND brake station, we paused only long enough for me to notice that there was a man standing there with a radar gun pointed at us. We went through that station far faster than I felt comfortable. Towards the end of the ride, the entire train started shaking very badly. Notably, the last spiral tends to be shaky, but this time my head jerked around painfully. Even going into the station jerked me from the seat!
For twenty minutes after, both me and my mother felt very weak and dizzy from the ride.
Please be warned, if anyone has back or neck problems do NOT ride this until they work out the kinks! This will hurt you!
Do not get me wrong, I still love this ride and am looking forward to riding it in the future! Once everything is working it will be the best ride of both parks!
Hope this information helps!"
[video=youtube;lpg0RQ0m6WM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpg0RQ0m6WM[/video]
[video=youtube;agDSWyHjm1Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agDSWyHjm1Y[/video]
"Hey there all! I am the 17 year-old daughter that took these videos and passed on the news to my dad! Here's the full story:
Getting in line the first time, it was supposed to be a half hour, but because of two ten minute breakdowns, it took about an hour. Upon getting to the second level in the loading station, mom and I noticed something amiss.
For some reason, people were being loaded in the first entrance, rather than the second as they have been doing. Looking closer, mom noticed that the TM's were walking. At this revelation, I screamed in joy. After a brief inquiry with the TMs, we discovered that this was the first day and we called dad. Note: This was about noon, we were in the front car, and there were four cars on the track total (Two on the track and two in the station).
We got on the ride in a hurried and frenzied manner, obviously they were unused to the setup, and got on nicely. Now, the ride was WONDERFUL, as always, but there was a huge noticeable difference. The ride seemed to be going about 5-10 mph faster than usual. We enjoyed it like that. Following our ride, both videos were taken.
About 4 PM, we decided to go on again (After watching it stop and start from a distance). This time we have only 1 breakdown (2 minutes or so) in a 45 minute wait. This time, they seemed to be going a bit faster in the loading, but it was still frenzied and amateur. Unfortunately, I am very disappointed to report that this particular ride was horrible (yet still as fun as Rockit can be). A few notes: Four seats in every train were empty, two in each section (always the back rows). Also, we sat in the front of the second car and please remember I am a huge roller coaster buff and it takes a LOT to make me be affected at all by a roller coaster.
Going over the top hill, I immediately wished that my lap bar was about two or three clicks TIGHTER. Suddenly, that inch and a half space felt a foot tall (I'm also a small 5' 2" girl). The top of the treble cleft was not too bad, but it shot me out of the seat quite a bit. The first breaking station is what started to make me actually scared. I came out so hard against the bar that it rattled my skull. This happened with all of the rest of the brake stations as well, each time just as painful. Now, the SECOND brake station, we paused only long enough for me to notice that there was a man standing there with a radar gun pointed at us. We went through that station far faster than I felt comfortable. Towards the end of the ride, the entire train started shaking very badly. Notably, the last spiral tends to be shaky, but this time my head jerked around painfully. Even going into the station jerked me from the seat!
For twenty minutes after, both me and my mother felt very weak and dizzy from the ride.
Please be warned, if anyone has back or neck problems do NOT ride this until they work out the kinks! This will hurt you!
Do not get me wrong, I still love this ride and am looking forward to riding it in the future! Once everything is working it will be the best ride of both parks!
Hope this information helps!"
That is a little strange, that they would test the new speeds with guests....... something about Rockit makes me want to "wait and see" before I jump back on.....
- Aug 17, 2009
- 8,003
- 9,843
They aren't necessarily using guests as testers, this is just the first time it has been used with people. They've used it several times when the ride was still in the testing/construction process.
Thanks again for all of the info!
- Jan 28, 2010
- 5
- 0
Welcome to the boards and thanks for the info. I am very excited to hear that the belt is running. Hopefully all the kinks will be worked out by the time Mardi Gras gets in full swing.
It's just sad all the kinks weren't worked out during "technical rehersal". This ride really had some potential, but loading and smoothness are some pretty important parts of roller coasters.
