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It's more than I prefer sitdown coasters over inverts. Inverts are intense but I like the visuals as much, if not more, than intensity. Looks to me like they duel when they are both on 2 train operation, if either or both are on single train operation they dispatch separately. I agree that they...

Universal Studios Singapore. I'd been a few years ago and got all of the open coasters but the Battlestar Galactica dueling coasters were down when I last went. They are a pair of dueling launched Vekoma coasters, one sit down with no inversions and an invert with multiple inversions. Human...

It's not like an LSM Launch is new technology, it's been around since the late 1990s/early 2000s in different forms. Way beyond teething issues now. I don't really get the comparisons to B&M either, B&M can be innovative but they don't just shove new concepts out the door as fast as possible...

Interestingly enough, Battlestar Galactica at USS (also Vekoma) does use LSMs to move the trains in the platform. As far as I can tell there are no drive wheels used when in normal operation, only in the maintenance shed. Whilst it's a more expensive solution it does mean fewer moving parts.

If you look at the trend of Phantasialand coasters they do tend to be towards the more intense end of the spectrum. Taron, Raik, Chiapas, River Quest, Black Mamba and Talocan being some of the most intense versions of those rides in the world. I've assumed this was as a counterpoint to Europa...

MOAR SKYWARPS

The only 2 coasters I'll start to grey out on consistently are Nemesis (after the helix / into the zero G roll) and Black Mamba (out of the vertical loop and into the zero G roll). The SWARM when it's running really well will make me grey out on the low turn over the water. That's kinda of it...

Most European parks will revalidate tickets if enough rides are down / weather is bad enough. Is it an American thing *not* to do such a thing? I thought Customer Service was a big thing there.

I think their marketing department did wonders. If they had just announced the classic car ride on a normal Thursday with no fanfare would any actually care? They played us perfectly. Good job.

I see this at Thorpe Park all the time, especially on SWARM and Inferno. I think it's mainly because a lot of rides have a batcher but these 2 don't. Well, Inferno does sometimes but not very often. They're waiting for someone to direct them until generally someone tells them to move on.

I'll try and drag this topic back on, er, topic: So I guess this explains why there have been fewer than normal boats on the rapids this year! Hopefully it'll be a collaboration between Alton, Thorpe and Drayton (and I guess Intamin?) to get the boat right for the UK market. Are there any...

It's possible that GCI didn't know it was going to happen. I wonder of the 'kink' as it changes gradient is causing it? All lift hills change gradient but generally not as sharply as that kink.

Silver Star (Europa) during Winter: it was blitzing around the circuit like an absolute boss. Loads of ejector and positive Gs. Nothing like the boring, drab experience of it during the summer. Xpress: Platform 13. Yes it's the same layout as the Aerosmith rides but it's way more intense, so...

That's ... not right. Seems like a reverberance around the chain, probably from the coupling of the train to the chain. That can't be doing the gear box / bearings any good!

It's been closed since the start of the season, originally it was due to waiting on a part but I don't think we've heard anything official since then.

I was very impressed by how intense some of the rides were at Liseberg I wouldn't be surprised if they left it as-is. At least they can't add extra seatbelts to Valkyria *grumble grumble Helix grumble*

I've also seen that Woden at Europa Park has been pretty unreliable this week. I'm willing to give Merlin a bit of slack here, maybe it's the heat causing issues.

I saw it on Towerstreet Twitter (I think), since been updated to 'It's finally opened'. Good work on them getting it open, lets hope it's more reliable now.

Word on the street (park) is that Wicker Man won't open today, it's third day out of operation. I get that rides break down but Wicker Man feels incredibly unreliable even for a Merlin ride. WTF Merlin?

The pacing looks really good at the moment but, as mentioned, the holding brake isn't active. It's something that B&M test last. This is probably quite representative though. The drop will be slower but the ride should speed up as it beds in.