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PortAventura: General Discussion

I’m not one to guess but. - steel prices are through the roof. Maybe less quality steel has been purchased leading to less quality rise?
 
This is probably a stupid comment as I know nothing about the engineering side. But in relation to this and the Nemesis re-track; could it be anything to do with the the old style trains on the new style track, could they be a few extra mm out which is causing the vibration on the wheels?
 
siralgenon said:
This is probably a stupid comment as I know nothing about the engineering side. But in relation to this and the Nemesis re-track; could it be anything to do with the the old style trains on the new style track, could they be a few extra mm out which is causing the vibration on the wheels?
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That wouldn't explain why so many brand new B&Ms are also opening with marked rattles, though. Many B&Ms from the early 2020s onwards have had heavily criticised rattles.
 
Didn't it recently come out that their margin for error on every piece of track has ever so slightly been increased to make the cost more affordable for the end purchaser?

We are talking microscopic differences here but of course but that will still have an impact on smoothness.

Maybe this was needed in order to remain competitive in a very tough market but from a B&M fanboy perspective, I would have preferred they remained the silky smooth rides they once were.
 
Benjsh said:
Didn't it recently come out that their margin for error on every piece of track has ever so slightly been increased to make the cost more affordable for the end purchaser?

We are talking microscopic differences here but of course but that will still have an impact on smoothness.

Maybe this was needed in order to remain competitive in a very tough market but from a B&M fanboy perspective, I would have preferred they remained the silky smooth rides they once were.
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Yes this is true.
 
Wrath of Rakshasa at SFGAm was equally not good due to its dreadful rattle, also new for 2025.

I don’t get B&M. You spend decades building a reputation for quality and comfort then just chuck it all away.
 
It's interesting that B&M haven't built a hyper or giga in recent years. The most recent ones are Orion and Candymonium which are both very smooth rides.

Seems a bit risky to build one now with the build quality issues. Wouldn't be much fun rattling down a 300ft drop at 80mph.
 
RicketyCricket said:
It's interesting that B&M haven't built a hyper or giga in recent years. The most recent ones are Orion and Candymonium which are both very smooth rides.

Seems a bit risky to build one now with the build quality issues. Wouldn't be much fun rattling down a 300ft drop at 80mph.
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Going to be interesting to see what the reviews of Tormenta at Six Flags Over Texas are like, a 300 foot tall dive machine.
 
Leigh said:
Wrath of Rakshasa at SFGAm was equally not good due to its dreadful rattle, also new for 2025.

I don’t get B&M. You spend decades building a reputation for quality and comfort then just chuck it all away.
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I think that ignores the fact enthusiasts are a tiny portion of the revenue for parks (and also will come to go on the rollercoaster anyway, no matter how often they read it has a rattle, I mean come on, they'll go on a hundred different wacky worms).

Obviously you don't need to be an enthusiast to notice a ride being actively uncomfortable to the point of unpleasantness, but a small rattle that enthusiasts complain about isn't going to affect most people's enjoyment and desire to reride. So if you can reduce prices and sell more rollercoasters by increasing tolerances, and the only consequences are some enthusiasts complain about a rattle and give 4 stars instead of 4.5 on captaincoaster.com, why wouldn't you do that?

Unless new B&Ms ride like an slc and the public are coming off with headaches and swearing never to return, it makes perfect sense.
 
BarryIsAnIsland said:
I think that ignores the fact enthusiasts are a tiny portion of the revenue for parks (and also will come to go on the rollercoaster anyway, no matter how often they read it has a rattle, I mean come on, they'll go on a hundred different wacky worms).

Obviously you don't need to be an enthusiast to notice a ride being actively uncomfortable to the point of unpleasantness, but a small rattle that enthusiasts complain about isn't going to affect most people's enjoyment and desire to reride. So if you can reduce prices and sell more rollercoasters by increasing tolerances, and the only consequences are some enthusiasts complain about a rattle and give 4 stars instead of 4.5 on captaincoaster.com, why wouldn't you do that?

Unless new B&Ms ride like an slc and the public are coming off with headaches and swearing never to return, it makes perfect sense.
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The thing is it’s not a “small rattle” though. People are coming off with headaches (or at least I was) - it rides like a shopping trolley pushed down a flight of stairs it’s that bad. I’ve also heard the same said about Big Bad Wolf at BGW, although can’t confirm that from experience.

I can cope with a bit of rattle - Hyperia and Nemesis both have rattles but they don’t detract from the experience, really - but when it’s consistently shaking throughout the entire layout like so many of their newest installations seem to do I think it’s fine to call B&M out on it. And in the case of DK from what I’ve seen they’re right to do so.
 
Been PortAventura for the first time today, still processing the experience and will probably write a longer post later, but anyway onto the hot topic… Dragon Khan.

Yeah, the retrack is terrible, it is considerably worse than the existing 1995 track on the ride, B&M really have something to answer with this because my roughness tolerance is pretty high and the only coaster I’ve ever found worse was Stampida (minus the titan track). Very much an extreme version of the vibration on Reborn evolving into a nasty rattle. Wouldn’t surprise me if B&M/Clermont have messed with their track manufacturing process to make things more cost-effective for parks and keeping business flowing but the reputational damage is damning…

I know a lot of enthusiasts are listening to the Khan retrack feedback as a sign for smoothness on Tormenta in Texas, but if a new B&M rides like new Khan track, it probably wouldn’t get out the commissioning process.
 
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That's such a shame to hear about Kahn. I went on it in September last year and loved it, didn't think it was rough at all.

B&M are seriously ruining their reputation...
 
That’s not good.

I went on Khan in September 2024, and while I would have said it was among the rougher B&Ms I’d ridden up to that point (quite possibly the roughest B&M… I can’t immediately think of any rougher), it wasn’t overly rough and still compared pretty favourably to many other old coasters smoothness-wise.

It is concerning that new B&M track is now riding considerably worse than old B&M track despite it being shiny and new and coaster manufacturing precision having come on leaps and bounds in that time period. And the fact that this is the case on Khan, where the trains weren’t replaced, arguably confirms that it’s a track issue and not a train issue…

It should not be the case that “progress” is resulting in a rougher ride than in 1995…
 
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