Magic Mountain 2013: "Full Throttle" terrain hugging launch coaster

[Fredward]

It's not about speed its about acceleration anyway!

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[Alastair]

It's not about speed its about acceleration anyway!

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Yeah that's what I meant, it couldn't be a powerful TTD style launch because you would probably break your neck. It would have to be almost certainly a slow LIM because it's more gradual, or maybe even tyre driven which gives you more control.

 

[Benzin]

I'd count it as a credit if you went straight through the 3rd launch, I suppose it's just the same as verbolten with the 3 different themes/ story's during the indoor section.

You'd consider Verbolten as 3 different rides because the theming inside changes ever so slightly?

I just can't agree with that...

 

[Andrew]

I'd count it as a credit if you went straight through the 3rd launch, I suppose it's just the same as verbolten with the 3 different themes/ story's during the indoor section.

You'd consider Verbolten as 3 different rides because the theming inside changes ever so slightly?

I just can't agree with that...

You could get loads of credits off Spinball!

I like the look of this coaster.
It's a new, unique idea which will get the visitors in to the park.

I like the idea of the backwards launch too.
It would be a nice little surprise to first time riders.

EDIT:Removed some exclamation marks, which I have a habit of including.

 

[Alastair]

I'd count it as a credit if you went straight through the 3rd launch, I suppose it's just the same as verbolten with the 3 different themes/ story's during the indoor section.

You'd consider Verbolten as 3 different rides because the theming inside changes ever so slightly?

I just can't agree with that...

You could get loads of credits off Spinball!

I like the look of this coaster.
It's a new, unique idea which will get the visitors in to the park!

I like the idea of the backwards launch too!
It would be a nice little surprise to first time riders!

Are you sure! There were enough! Exclamation marks in your post!?

 

[JB1985]

This looks truly excellent! Well done Premier - some of these smaller manufacturers are really starting to pull some great rides out of the bag. I cant help but wishing B&M would be a but more imaginative with there rides, they are more than capable of this!

 

[Alastair]

This looks truly excellent! Well done Premier - some of these smaller manufacturers are really starting to pull some great rides out of the bag. I cant help but wishing B&M would be a but more imaginative with there rides, they are more than capable of this!

They'd never do a ride with an LIM/LSM launch, whereas Premier are masters of it already and were probably the first to use the technology. Granted that does limit the capability of B&M's but you cannot deny that they have the most reliable coasters due to it.

 

[Fredward]

After much thought, I fail to be that impressed thus far. the top hat and loop sharing the same spine looks pretty, The backward launch seems odd. I'm still trying to decide whether it will enhance the experience or just ruin the flow of the coaster.

Call me pessimistic, but I am not that impressed. I'm interested to hear the reviews though, I would be glad to be wrong.

 

[JB1985]

This looks truly excellent! Well done Premier - some of these smaller manufacturers are really starting to pull some great rides out of the bag. I cant help but wishing B&M would be a but more imaginative with there rides, they are more than capable of this!

They'd never do a ride with an LIM/LSM launch, whereas Premier are masters of it already and were probably the first to use the technology. Granted that does limit the capability of B&M's but you cannot deny that they have the most reliable coasters due to it.

Very true but my point was that it limits the creativity - their rides are excellent but they could produce better if the were to play with the launch systems available

 

[Alastair]

This looks truly excellent! Well done Premier - some of these smaller manufacturers are really starting to pull some great rides out of the bag. I cant help but wishing B&M would be a but more imaginative with there rides, they are more than capable of this!

They'd never do a ride with an LIM/LSM launch, whereas Premier are masters of it already and were probably the first to use the technology. Granted that does limit the capability of B&M's but you cannot deny that they have the most reliable coasters due to it.

Very true but my point was that it limits the creativity - their rides are excellent but they could produce better if the were to play with the launch systems available

I fully agree, they've certainly been successful with their one instance of creating a launch coaster! Imagine an Intamin-style hydraulic launch straight into a classic B&M loop 8)

 

[Cheese]

Personally I fail to see the appeal of this coaster. Other than the very cool sharing of the track spine between the loop and airtime hill (sorry Six Flags, but it's not tall, thin and pointy enough to be a top hat in my book) it seems rather insubstantial and gimmicky. The latter particularly applies to the backwards launch, as I don't think being fired most of the way up into the inversion you've just been through is a good enough reason to stop and reverse a train mid-course.

For one thing, you'd expect the second time you drop out of the dive loop to be less thrilling if anything; obviously unlike taking the full dive loop you won't carry any speed from the inversion into the drop. Secondly, my understanding is that Magic Mountain need high capacity from their rides, and this is of course going to reduce throughput. You could argue that that's not the case as the coaster's designed to do it, but when a train is going backwards somewhere between the station and brake run it's not getting out of the way of the train you want to dispatch next.

Perhaps I'm being overly critical, but I don't see anything industry-progressingly innovative or 'premier' about this Premier coaster. With the mess that is Superman Ultimate Flight and now this, it almost feels like they're having a laugh at Six Flags' expense. More fool them for buying the rides in the first place I guess!

 

[John]

At least this one will be able to run 2 trains unlike that bizarre Superman ride, though unfortunately it won't be able to have a train on both sides of the loop/"top hat" in case of a rollback.

Stopping the train for the 2nd launch probably won't have too much impact on capacity as the ride is so short they'd be hard pressed to get a train ready to go until the previous one clears the "top hat" anyway - it's less than 1 minute after the start of the ride based on the animation. Couple that with 18 seats to a train rather than 12 and overall capacity shouldn't be too bad.

 

[BigAl]

Nothing Full Throttle related, just a video that TPR uploaded. It's retro footage of Colossus from before they added the MCBR which pretty much killed the last part of the ride:

Retro Colossus Roller Coaster POV Six Flags Magic Mountain 1980s Wooden Rollercoaster


It looks so much smoother too. Shame they haven't kept the ride as good as it should be.

 

[Sam]

Honestly, I don't think the MCBR would have made that much difference, the whole thing is a pretty rubbish ride. Except the low-height high-speedy flyover at 0:57!

 

[BigAl]

But just look at how slow the ride gets on that last bend now compared to what it used to be like. It's horrific!


Anyway, arracuu27 has recreated Full Throttle in No Limits. Just skip to 2:00 in the video to view the actual ride:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_805958&feature=iv&src_vid=RgYxhSIizug&v=-ULbeoGDnuQ#t=1m57s

Another recreation by Trevor Bondi:

"Full Throttle" - Six Flags Magic Mountain 2013 [No Limits Recreation]



I have to say, the shared loop/top hat is going to look very impressive if they can time two trains to meet or chase each other on that part of the ride!



I've also found some images from the Coaster Guy website of what's happening at Six Flags Magic Mountain.


The person that took this first image thinks they're probably walls to go around the construction site:

Here's some photos of the construction area being cleared:

And two final photos of an old fried chicken outlet being demolished to make space for this new toy:

 

[John]

I have to say, the shared loop/top hat is going to look very impressive if they can time two trains to meet or chase each other on that part of the ride!

They won't be able to - the "top hat" is the first high point after the 2nd launch, so in case of rollbacks they'll have to wait for the train to clear it before launching the next one round the loop.

 

[BigAl]

Ah, that's a shame. How long after it do you think the next train will hit that top hat/hill thing?

 

[LiamC]

Ah, that's a shame. How long after it do you think the next train will hit that top hat/hill thing?

If they're being efficient, they're going to want the next train in the holding brakes before the first launch once the train clears the top hat in my opinion.

Can anyone enlighten me as to the point of the second small backwards launch? It looks completely pointless ???

 

[John]

They put it there because they could. They've chosen to bring the train to a stop and launch it backwards slightly slower than it was travelling before it was stopped and then boosting the speed when it comes back down - clearly they could skip the first two steps and have just the forwards launch.

Technically it's completely pointless, obviously they're hoping it will improve the ride experience enough to justify it.

 

[BigAl]

It might depend on how quickly it launches you backwards (obviously nothing too painful ) and how much air time it may create. It could be quite forceful and create a nice amount of lift before you head back down into the final launch?

I'm just guessing though, really.