• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Rita: General Discussion

Not 100% sure of the workings but I would imagine it will take time for the hydraulic pressure to replenish. I'm not sure how it works though. I've never known it take as long as a minute from the despatch being cleared to the catch car attaching though. Rita's main problem is that it's launched directly from the station. If the train moved out of the station and was launched in front of it which is the case on some other Intamin Accelerators then it would allow the train behind to enter the station and begin loading.
 
Pretty much what was said, a still crude and basic explanation is this.

Hydraulic fluid is pumped into the massive accumulators compressing nitrogen gas to an extremely high pressure. When the ride wants to launch, the hydralic fluid is pushed out of the accumulators at huge velocity due to the compressed nitrogen, turning a hydraulic motor, which is connected to a winch which in turn connects to the catch car and train.

This process has to be repeated every launch. So the waiting time sounds like it is waiting for the acumilators to refill with hydraulic fluid.

Very different system to say a LSM launch where you can send vehicles as frequent as you like. With the hydralic launches there is a minimum wait time based on the mechanical and hydraulic launch equipment recharging.
 
Very different system to say a LSM launch where you can send vehicles as frequent as you like. With the hydralic launches there is a minimum wait time based on the mechanical and hydraulic launch equipment recharging.
That's not always true ... many LSM systems use a flywheel ensure there is adequate power available to launch the train, as many parks don't have a grid that can support that.

Some good stuff here on the Holiblog - https://www.holidayworld.com/holiblog/2015/02/07/made-germany/
 
That's not always true ... many LSM systems use a flywheel ensure there is adequate power available to launch the train, as many parks don't have a grid that can support that.

Some good stuff here on the Holiblog - https://www.holidayworld.com/holiblog/2015/02/07/made-germany/
And some LSM coasters have to wait a certain amount of time between dispatches to allow the system to cool down. The computer counts down and will not allow the op to dispatch until the time has elapsed.
 
Anyone reckon Rita is seemingly riding faster/better this season? Had my first ride of the season on opening day and I was convinced that it was a much better experience than the last times I'd ridden it over previous seasons. Then a couple of random guys behind me remarked how they thought it seemed faster and were amazed by the improvement in airtime (we were at the back). Then, yesterday, whilst flicking through Facebook some people also made the same remarks. Were we just wrongly convincing ourselves of this?
 
Anyone reckon Rita is seemingly riding faster/better this season? Had my first ride of the season on opening day and I was convinced that it was a much better experience than the last times I'd ridden it over previous seasons. Then a couple of random guys behind me remarked how they thought it seemed faster and were amazed by the improvement in airtime (we were at the back). Then, yesterday, whilst flicking through Facebook some people also made the same remarks. Were we just wrongly convincing ourselves of this?
I had a solid ride on Rita last Thursday. Very intense launch. Felt very smooth too
 
It really depends with Rita - it can be very smooth or it can be incredibly uncomfortable - more recent rides have all been the former.
 
Can’t wait to try out Rita later this year, had the pleasure of trying stealth at Thorpe park recently, and I’m interested to see what it is like in comparison. Hopefully it continues to ride smoothly throughout the season!
 
Can’t wait to try out Rita later this year, had the pleasure of trying stealth at Thorpe park recently, and I’m interested to see what it is like in comparison. Hopefully it continues to ride smoothly throughout the season!

I wouldn't listen to all the "rough" talk. Rita isn't smooth but you'de have to be very sensitive to call it "rough". It's a compact layout Intamin launcher with hard seats and restrictive restraints, of course it's not butter smooth. It would be a similar experience even if it was a little rougher than it is currently. I personally don't understand why a smidgen more comfort on the exact same coaster it's always been seems to be such a discussion point here? It's the exact same coaster it's always been.

You'd be disappointed after familiarising yourself with Stealth, the launch just doesn't pack the same punch. But as coasters go, it does the job. It offers a decent thrill and as ugly and intrusive as it is, it's by no means a bad ride. I enjoy it every time I ride it and so do the majority of riders I'd wager. I've never understood the hatred it gets. AT itself isn't a patch on a park like Europa, but it doesn't mean a day at AT is pile big crap. Rita is made out to be worse than a poke in the eye when compared to Kingda or Top Thrill, but that doesn't make it bad.
 
I wouldn't listen to all the "rough" talk. Rita isn't smooth but you'de have to be very sensitive to call it "rough". It's a compact layout Intamin launcher with hard seats and restrictive restraints, of course it's not butter smooth. It would be a similar experience even if it was a little rougher than it is currently. I personally don't understand why a smidgen more comfort on the exact same coaster it's always been seems to be such a discussion point here? It's the exact same coaster it's always been.

You'd be disappointed after familiarising yourself with Stealth, the launch just doesn't pack the same punch. But as coasters go, it does the job. It offers a decent thrill and as ugly and intrusive as it is, it's by no means a bad ride. I enjoy it every time I ride it and so do the majority of riders I'd wager. I've never understood the hatred it gets. AT itself isn't a patch on a park like Europa, but it doesn't mean a day at AT is pile big crap. Rita is made out to be worse than a poke in the eye when compared to Kingda or Top Thrill, but that doesn't make it bad.

That seems like a pretty balanced review there pal. I’m still very much looking forward to it, it looks very fun. Just trying to go in with a positive attitude always seems to make any ride more fun regardless.

Honestly a bit of roughness doesn’t really phase me that much, at the end of the day these launch coasters are monster machines designed to chuck people about at high speeds in short spaces of time. A bit of roughness seems like it should be par for the course.

After trying velocity recently at flamingo land as well, I can’t imagine Rita being any rougher than that, and Velocity was great bit of fun in my opinion!
 
I don't have the highest roughness tolerance by any means, but I honestly haven't been finding Rita rough at all lately. Since 2020, when my 4-year Rita hiatus ended (I didn't ride for 4.5 years as I used to find it very rough and none of the rest of my family liked it, either), my rides haven't been overly rough at all; the worst ride I've had since then was a tad bumpy, but nothing deal-breaking by any stretch. I still rather enjoyed the ride, even though the bumpiness detracted ever so slightly for me.

And the other 3 rides I've had have honestly been pretty smooth; my front row in September 2021 was bordering on glass smooth apart from a vibration that was so minimal it was totally inconsequential, and even the back row I had on the same day had only slightly more rattle than that; it was still totally inconsequential, and honestly pretty smooth in the grand scheme of things. Of the 4 rides I've had since 2020, only one was ever bumpy enough to detract even slightly for me, and even that wasn't rough enough to have any significant impact on my enjoyment.

To be honest, I actually like Rita a lot these days; it's my 4th favourite coaster on park, and to be honest, it's not that far behind Nemesis in 3rd for me! I love the launch, the airtime is fantastic, I don't find it rough, and even though the drawn-out turns aren't the most interesting, the ride does maintain a pretty great sense of pace throughout! I could be scoring smooth rides, admittedly, but I'm surprised at the level of hate it still gets compared to Stealth for roughness; I've personally been finding Stealth notably rougher lately, and that one does sometimes leave me with a slight headache these days, whereas Rita hasn't since 2020.
 
Top