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Gardaland Retracking Shaman

francescoaster

Roller Poster
I don't think so, judging from this photo it looks like it's getting a full Python retrack in one go... You can see they are leaving the old lift hill and drop sections intact, and rebuilding all the actual track.

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I'm a long time fan of this coaster and park, so I'm really looking foward to ride it as smooth as it once was, if not better, and I really hope they won't ruin this up with VR things again...
 

Rupert

Mega Poster
I don't know why exactly but this retrack track style looks really satisfying to me, it's just so smooth and round and chonky
I know what you mean, but given how thick and robust the track seems, I’m surprised at just how many cross-ties there are when you compare it to other modern track. I don’t recall the coaster being that intense to justify it either.

Still seems insane they’ve opted for this but I guess it seems to be a national treasure. Do we think there are any UK coasters that Merlin would ever invest like this on? I think perhaps Nemesis and Oblivion, but not beyond those.
 

francescoaster

Roller Poster
I'm pretty sure they opted for this because all the design work was already done for Python, and it should be cheaper to rebuild all the clones using the same design... Let's just hope some park will order an equivalent of this for the SLC track, the one at Gardaland keeps getting rougher and rougher every time I ride it.
 

Dar

Hyper Poster
I thought I'd pop a little POV of the new track, seeing as everybody is so thrilled and excited by the prospect of this being finished :p

It's hard to tell from the backseat POV, but it doesn't look like it's had the full Python treatment, just a like-for-like re-track. Which seems weird because surely the company would have the plans from Python ready-to-go?

 

Trax

Hyper Poster
I had the chance to ride it in September and it feels nothing like Python. It has already been mentioned that this apparently did not get the full Python treatment, but just a retrack. So the bad transitions and jolts from the original are still there. Overall, it is still a bad and unpleasant ride.
It would have been great if Merlin took the money and allowed for some reprofiling, but this would have involved a reshaping of the supports, and they obviously didn’t want to spend the money. So instead, they spend money for a retrack which is barely better then the old track. That’s what I call a waste of resources.
 
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VikingsAf

Mega Poster
I had the chance to ride it in September and it feels nothing like Python. It has already been mentioned that this apparently did not get the full Python treatment, but just a retrack. So the bad transitions and jolts from the original are still there. Overall, it is still a bad and unpleasant ride.
It would have been great if Merlin took the money and allowed for some reprofiling, but this would have involved a reshaping of the supports, and they obviously didn’t want to spend the money. So instead, they spend money for a retrack which is barely better then the old track. That’s what I call a waste of resources.
Yeah also rode it beginning of September. Didn't know about the retrack and found it to be very painful (certainly one point in the Helix which really really crushed my bones)
 

Leon_K

Mega Poster
I rode it yesterday. I only rode Python before retracking and I expected a smooth ride, but I also have the feeling it was only a retrack, not a full rework. For the big part it was smooth but there were two rougher moments. The most notable just before entering the helix where there was a very painful transition.
 
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