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Busch Gardens Williamsburg | Pantheon | Intamin LSM Coaster | 2022

JoshC.

Strata Poster
anyone else already bored of this whole forwards-backwards-forwards launch thing.

cba with it.

they all look ride solid rides but its such an 'eh' element. Of all the coaster element fads out there why did this one have to catch on.

Sort of.

I've never been sold on the idea at all, but I feel hypocritical complaining when I've enjoyed the only full length coaster I've done with one (Star Trek). But yeah, I'm not sure I like the idea, especially mid-circuit.

In saying that, I can see the appeal. But equally, I hope it just stays as a passing fad rather than being the next big thing in coasters.
 

Pokemaniac

Mountain monkey
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
In saying that, I can see the appeal. But equally, I hope it just stays as a passing fad rather than being the next big thing in coasters.
A bi-directional launch has one pretty clear purpose besides being a gimmick: It saves space. Instead of having one stretch of track launching the track up to full speed, they use a track that's half as long to launch it to half speed first, and then to full speed on the second pass. Since a launch track has to be one long, uninterrupted, straight line, it's much easier to fit a shorter launch track into a layout than a long one.
 

Crazycoaster

Giga Poster
I actually really like this take on the triple launch coaster, think about riding it with so many unsuspecting members of the GP, and having it roll back unexpectedly.
 

JoshC.

Strata Poster
I actually really like this take on the triple launch coaster, think about riding it with so many unsuspecting members of the GP, and having it roll back unexpectedly.

Surely with a 300ft odd spike, almost everyone is going to notice the backwards section?

I know the GP aren't always the most observant, but give them SOME credit.
 

CrashCoaster

CF Legend
This isn't going to be nearly 300ft tall. It just won't be. It'll be 200ft tall max, with what will likely be a 210-220ft drop down to the river, where it will hit 76mph.
 

Intamin to Win

Mega Poster
I think a multi launch is tons of fun. I quite enjoy Intamin’s Impulse models, for example. The only issue is it won’t be as punchy or fast-accelerating as most launches would because it doesn’t need all the speed initially.
 

Hutch

Strata Poster
It's also just great to see another big Intamin making its way to the states. I need that huge outward banked hill.

What's even more interesting is that they'll be going with lap bars (not complaining) after being really behind the shoulder straps on the Sky Rocket II. I wonder who/what set their minds right?
 

Peet

Giga Poster
A bi-directional launch has one pretty clear purpose besides being a gimmick: It saves space.
Don't forget about the $$ too; the launch hardware can't be cheap and you have far less to install with a rocking launch to achieve a certain speed. For that reason I think they're here to stay.
Personally I like them; the zero-g moment on the spike is good fun.
 

SilverArrow

Certified Ride Geek
I feel like this would be better without the back and forth launch but I like it on some other rides so who knows. I just feel like the big intamins can do a bit better (e.g. the skyrockets are cheap and small so it works for them). Cred in general looks good though. BGW is fab so anything intamin is going to add to the greatness imo.
 

Lofty

CF Legend
This isn't going to be nearly 300ft tall. It just won't be. It'll be 200ft tall max, with what will likely be a 210-220ft drop down to the river, where it will hit 76mph.
Sorry, but those calculations are just incorrect. If the highest point of this ride is 200ft (which is at the top of the hill) and the drop utilises the terrain to hit the lowest point at the bottom of the valley - then the difference is vastly greater than 10ft - 20ft. Your maths just don't work out. The chances of this having a 'holding break' at the top that means a great deal of speed is cut from the large drop, then I wouldn't be surprised if the stated 300ft drop would hit that mph. I'm not stating that this IS going to have a 300ft drop, but it's definitely not logical to look at it the way you are.
 

JoshC.

Strata Poster
Wasn't it also said in some form of planning application that it featured a 315ft spike/high point?

Even if doesn't use all of that (which it wouldn't), people are still going to notice the spike and trains changing directions. It'll be a focal point.
 

Hixee

Flojector
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Social Media Team
Wasn't it also said in some form of planning application that it featured a 315ft spike/high point?

Even if doesn't use all of that (which it wouldn't), people are still going to notice the spike and trains changing directions. It'll be a focal point.
Two comments on that. Firstly the spike on SWD is huge, I'd guess similar to the height of the non-inverting loop, so I was assuming we'd see something similar here. From memory the SWD train doesn't use an awful lot of the spike, but as you rightly say it creates a big spectacle.

Secondly (and I can't remember from the discussions a while back and can't be arsed going back to look it up), was the max height of the ride, or could it have covered a crane?
 

tomahawk

Strata Poster
Two comments on that. Firstly the spike on SWD is huge, I'd guess similar to the height of the non-inverting loop, so I was assuming we'd see something similar here. From memory the SWD train doesn't use an awful lot of the spike, but as you rightly say it creates a big spectacle.

Secondly (and I can't remember from the discussions a while back and can't be arsed going back to look it up), was the max height of the ride, or could it have covered a crane?
It was max permanent structure, so the max height is 315, both for the spike, and for the top hat.

I'm not gonna give my full opinion on this, as we discussed this for about 30 minutes on the podcast. bit.ly/DrunkRidersBGW

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 

Kw6sTheater

Hyper Poster
Today's supposed to be the Passholder day for Busch Gardens Williamsburg or something along those lines right? Could anyone keep us posted if there's a teaser dropped? Thanks! :)
 

CrashCoaster

CF Legend
It was max permanent structure, so the max height is 315, both for the spike, and for the top hat.

I'm not gonna give my full opinion on this, as we discussed this for about 30 minutes on the podcast. bit.ly/DrunkRidersBGW

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
The spike is usually taller than the top hat. Look at SWD and the Parc Astérix Intamin.
 
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