Menu
What's new
By:
Filters

Intimidator 305 and greying/blacking out

MestnyiGeroi

MestnyiGeroi

Giga Poster
I have never known any coaster to get such consistent association with riders greying out or blacking out as Intimidator 305 does.

I will be riding this coaster for the first time in a couple of weeks, and I'm very curious about this. I have ridden some of the most intense coasters in North America and I have never had any hint of greying out or blacking out, and I wonder if this will make me any less likely to experience it on this ride.

Did you grey out or black out on this ride?

If so, was it your first time experiencing this?

If not, have you greyed/blacked out on other rides?

I guess I'm asking just how special is i305 in this respect.
 
The first turn on I305 is one of the most intense parts of any coaster I can remember riding. The G-force in itself it's that bad (certainly no worse than in the bottom of a batwing or in Nemesis' helix), but it's sustained for a relatively long time. I'd never greyed/blacked-out on a coaster, until I rode I305.

I definitely felt my vision starting to blur and my head feeling drowsy towards the end of the turn and into the first hill - which would suggest I was starting to grey-out. I rode the coaster a number of times throughout the day, and whilst the first time was definitely the most severe, I felt the effects of the G-force on every lap. Thankfully the effects wore off very quickly for me (before we'd even made it to the crest of the hill), and in some respects was quite satisfying. :p

In my mind, I305 is pretty special in that regard.
 
Yeah same ; that and SToT Titan / SFMM Goliath - helixes at the end are the only notable grey-outs I can think of. Usually know where it going to happen and take a few deep breaths as its coming up (Goliath at SFoG which I rode recently has a helix that starts to get that way but can cope with it OK).
 
I was fairly underwhelmed with it to be honest. Looking at the POV's and stuff I was kind of expecting it to be the most intense ride ever, but it just... wasn't. Can't say I really felt any of the g-forces, positive or negative. I found the overriding sensation of I305 was one of pure speed, and very little else.
My mate who rode with me on the other hand - he said his head and vision went all 'funny' on the first turn, but he's a wuss. I'm made of tougher stuff, me.

Sometimes though, on powerful helices or loops, I get a tingly, pins & needles type sensation in my feet. Anyone else get that? It's fun, I quite like it.
The Batmen clones, Helix and Olympia Looping, for example.
They give good 'tingle'. :)
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the responses; they confirm what I've been hearing -- yes, it is special, and no, your previous experiences are no indicator of how you will fare on i305.

And thank you, Howie, for sharing your disappointment, as maybe that will help lower my expectations before riding.
 
Don't get me wrong - it's a good ride, it still cracks my top 20, it's just that I was kinda hoping for a top 3 smash, so in that respect it was a disappointment. I still rate it as a speed coaster.
 
Howie said:
Don't get me wrong - it's a good ride, it still cracks my top 20, it's just that I was kinda hoping for a top 3 smash, so in that respect it was a disappointment. I still rate it as a speed coaster.
Click to expand...
Yes, a good point to clarify!
 
Hixee said:
The first turn on I305 is one of the most intense parts of any coaster I can remember riding. The G-force in itself it's that bad (certainly no worse than in the bottom of a batwing or in Nemesis' helix), but it's sustained for a relatively long time. I'd never greyed/blacked-out on a coaster, until I rode I305.

I definitely felt my vision starting to blur and my head feeling drowsy towards the end of the turn and into the first hill - which would suggest I was starting to grey-out. I rode the coaster a number of times throughout the day, and whilst the first time was definitely the most severe, I felt the effects of the G-force on every lap. Thankfully the effects wore off very quickly for me (before we'd even made it to the crest of the hill), and in some respects was quite satisfying. :p

In my mind, I305 is pretty special in that regard.
Click to expand...
Even after the modifications?
 
I've greyed-out in Nitro's helix. I was a crazy-hot day and I'd not been drinking much (mistake). It doesn't typically get me to grey out, though.
I305 had me grey out every time I rode. The force isn't so much more intense than other intense coasters, but the force is sustained for a long time.
I'd say that it's pretty unique. The only other coasters I've heard of causing almost everyone to grey out almost every time are the Titan/Goliath helices.
 
Well, I rode this today -- front row and back row (would have liked more rides, especially as there was no line, but I was in a group) -- and I didn't grey out, as far as I could tell. The speed and airtime were great, and the Gs of the banked turn were fun, but for me the standout element was the first drop, which felt as if it were vertical and eternal.
 
^Good good, hope you enjoyed your day.
Thoughts on Dominator and Volcano? I was quite surprised on the day to find that I enjoyed both of those more than I305. Is that weird?
 
Dominator and Volcano were my last and first rides of the day, respectively. I thought they were both fun rides, and I always appreciate a unique ride, so I loved Volcano in that respect, but no, I'm afraid I don't share your ranking of the three. The terrifying race up the lift hill, the insane dive-bomb drop, the speed around the turns, and the oversized airtime -- I found i305 pretty exhilarating. The only negative I can say is that the fun is so front-loaded that it all feels as if it ends too fast.
 
Ah seems you've already been on! Was gunna say for me it was certainly special, I have never really had grey out or anything like it on any coaster. Even as friends have blacked out on Helix's on Nitro, Goliath @ SF:MM. I did have some grey out on I305, very little at first but after 7 straight rides and 11 on the (very hot) day I did get it much more intensely by the end, and there was another point, (I think the tight turn right before the trimmed hill) where I had a sudden 50% grey out. Never had anything like that before, so yeah for me it was something else.
Honestly could've been my #1 at the time if it wasnt for the trims. It wasn't that big a deal for me but it does sap some life out.
 
JJLehto said:
Ah seems you've already been on! Was gunna say for me it was certainly special, I have never really had grey out or anything like it on any coaster. Even as friends have blacked out on Helix's on Nitro, Goliath @ SF:MM. I did have some grey out on I305, very little at first but after 7 straight rides and 11 on the (very hot) day I did get it much more intensely by the end, and there was another point, (I think the tight turn right before the trimmed hill) where I had a sudden 50% grey out. Never had anything like that before, so yeah for me it was something else.
Honestly could've been my #1 at the time if it wasnt for the trims. It wasn't that big a deal for me but it does sap some life out.
Click to expand...
Well, I went on it twice and experienced no grey outs, although the wind was so intense in my eyes that I can't say I had totally clear vision to check for any effect of the Gs. But I assume that if I had as many rides as you I would have started to experience something along those lines.
 
I rode it when I was 12, and I fully black-out. Perhaps if I rode it again now I would have a better time, but I rode it before the retracking or even the trims. It was bordering on too much for tiny Edward. It was an insane and memorable experience, but I was quite content with only one ride.
 
I rode I305 last month and it was the first time I’ve properly greyed out on a coaster on that first turn.

More embarassingly, I also started to great later in the day on Backlot’s upward helix! That took me by surprise with its intensity for a family coaster!
 
I-305 was my favorite coaster for the last five years. (It was dethroned this year by Steel Vengeance.) I only greyed out slightly in the past, and it actually added to the feeling of intensity. I always did marathon rides with no problem. Last year, for example, I rode it 27 times in six hours, so the grey-outs obviously weren't bothering me! This year, though, for whatever reason, I had bad grey-outs that lasted into the first airtime hill. My sixth ride was the first time on any roller coaster that I thought I was going to black out, so I called it quits. The more intense grey-outs diminished some of the fun for me, so I dropped I-305 down to 4th in my rankings. I still love the intensity of the ride, but those grey-outs this year made the ride a little less enjoyable.
 
I consider it the most overrated steel coaster out there. For such a large innovative ride it seems to fail to do certain things that should be pretty textbook for a ride of its tech level.

Now, it's an amazing machine. The positives on it are nuts and the fact that it can manage to pound you with such high magnitude force for such a sustained period of time is impressive. I mean, the thing needs water sprayers in the station to keep the wheels from melting for crying out loud! However, it's not my cup of tea because it spends so much time doing stuff I don't really find interesting and not enough time doing stuff that I actually enjoy. It's not that I hate positives, there are several coasters out there that can really pound you with force that I enjoy, but for other aspects of the ride. Skyrush, Banshee, and others are all great examples of this. But personally, when such a large amount of the ride is dedicated to chilling out in the same turn forever as it exerts the same magnitude of force on you and very little is done to break it up, that's not going to impress me. Now, it does have the best drop of any giga in the US and there are a few moments where I feel it utilizes its speed well (that "right turn, unbank, rebank, right turn" moment is incredible) but it's going to take more than the same mildly amusing transition over and over again to really win me over on a ride like that. Now they made an attempt to do that with a few air hills around the layout but they flat out fail to get you out of your seat. They legit feel like the missed air hills on the second half of New Texas Giant, or any overrated "classic" wooden coaster that barely gets you out of your seat, such as Screamin' Eagle or Kennywood's Racer. It's definitely a positive-focused ride, probably moreso than many other coasters out there. Not so much the magnitude, but the focus it puts on the force over all else is probably why it has this rap.

As for the magnitude of the positives, they're powerful. Not the most powerful I've experienced (that's gotta go to SFMM's Goliath) but still powerful. I don't grey/black out much but the first turn got my vision a little spotty, and when I first rode it as a new enthusiast (opening season as Intrimidator) I was seeing in muted color for a bit after I got off. If you're a positives guy you'll go nuts for it, but if you're more about speed/airtime/agility, it's nothing special.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top