Six Flags Qiddiya | Saudi Arabia | Theme Park
- Thread starter Matt N
- Start date
insanelaterals.
Roller Poster
In terms of length, probably. In terms of effort? Not so sure. I bet there's some of the toughest track installation ever about to happen here.
Agreed 70% is pretty generous, recognizing we're still yet to shove a bunch of track to the top of the mountain. All the same, the currently slated fall opening feels well within reason.
roomraider
Best Topic Starter
Must be quickly reaching kingda level heights by now
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I don't know if it's been flagged, but the Google Maps grab of SFQ is relatively up-to-date and show construction progress of coasters. Helps with seeing the sheer scale of Falcon's Flight especially! https://www.google.com/maps/place/Six+Flags+Qiddiya/@24.5808074,46.332487,978a,35y,39.03t/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x3e2f29000e0f79e1:0x5f8914569965e623!8m2!3d24.5886735!4d46.3332992!16s/g/11lcg6rc4c?entry=ttu
I also partly loaded this in to understand more of the topography of SFQ and if it's a moment of the park having a perched cliff conveniently nearby or genuinely having mountains nearby they're taking advantage of. (Hadn't really thought about the surroundings of the park as being more than desert) Definitely interesting to see a bonafide mountain range!
I also partly loaded this in to understand more of the topography of SFQ and if it's a moment of the park having a perched cliff conveniently nearby or genuinely having mountains nearby they're taking advantage of. (Hadn't really thought about the surroundings of the park as being more than desert) Definitely interesting to see a bonafide mountain range!
MagicMountainFan
Roller Poster
Honestly I am so excited for this coaster, even with Falcons FLight
So, a conversation popped up on the Buzzed Bars Discord: will this be a top 10 roller coaster? And in turn, what are realistic airtime expectations? It's hard to judge these things on a roller coaster the size of a small moon, but other large-footprint coasters have come and gone (Magnum XL-200, Moonsault Scrambler, Millennium Force, Steel Dragon 2000, TTD, Kingda Ka, Formula Rossa) but often are middling in pure coaster enthusiast review.
Don't get me wrong - I expect a pure shock and awe factor on FF, especially for the lucky few who get to grace it's presence over the first few years of operation. But there is a genuine question of how "good" will the coaster be, versus a massive blast of speed and air for 4-minutes. I reflect on this at a personal level on the one-year anniversary of having ridden Formula Rossa. While it was absolutely astounding to be on an Intamin Accelerator once more (and the fastest one at that), I still only have it ranked at #14 (with lots of love).
Another question is airtime - how much will there actually be? We are seeing an insane assortment of speed hills and airtime hills being built, but height is only one part of the equation. Entry speed, angle of attack, etc. also greatly determine the airtime experience, especially for sustained, floater airtime which looks to be in spades here. An example I point to is Millennium Force's first airtime hill - it is ~180 ft. tall, and an absolute beast of a hill. But the actual airtime is questionable at best, despite entering the hill at 70-80 MPH.
The obvious answer to all of this is we won't know until folks get on it, and it will be fascinating to see if this ends up being a true slayer of coaster rankings.
Don't get me wrong - I expect a pure shock and awe factor on FF, especially for the lucky few who get to grace it's presence over the first few years of operation. But there is a genuine question of how "good" will the coaster be, versus a massive blast of speed and air for 4-minutes. I reflect on this at a personal level on the one-year anniversary of having ridden Formula Rossa. While it was absolutely astounding to be on an Intamin Accelerator once more (and the fastest one at that), I still only have it ranked at #14 (with lots of love).
Another question is airtime - how much will there actually be? We are seeing an insane assortment of speed hills and airtime hills being built, but height is only one part of the equation. Entry speed, angle of attack, etc. also greatly determine the airtime experience, especially for sustained, floater airtime which looks to be in spades here. An example I point to is Millennium Force's first airtime hill - it is ~180 ft. tall, and an absolute beast of a hill. But the actual airtime is questionable at best, despite entering the hill at 70-80 MPH.
The obvious answer to all of this is we won't know until folks get on it, and it will be fascinating to see if this ends up being a true slayer of coaster rankings.
The_bullgod
Mega Poster
Hmmm, I don't know if this will (or can) be a top 10 coaster. Just like the Hyperia/Nemesis topic, taller and faster doesn't automatically mean that it's better.
For example Kingda Ka and TTD. Kingda Ka is taller and faster but TTD is a lot better.
TPoseOnTantrum
Giga Poster
Granted this is something my group has also debated, but I think the potential is there.
The layout is much more cohesive than many give it credit for, following a sort of storytelling structure. Warm-up "normal" coaster section to scout around the bigger elements, big incline, leisurely sightseeing at the clifftop, big drop, climactic airtime hill, and the high speed portion. It's a special tactic applied by some of the best coasters out there (Steel Vengeance, Velocicoaster, Beast) as opposed to most rides that stay consistent with behavior and elements. Plenty of coasters have a modest degree of layout storytelling, Arrow in particular was often quite good at it, and Intamin knew this very well when designing Falcon's Flight.
Airtime has not been a major concern of mine. Yes there will be some of it for us to enjoy. But I'm not going to be much concerned with ejector on the big hill when that's a bloody 530-ft tall camelback that I'm about to go up and down on. Kingda Ka and Top Thrill Poo are 400 feet-and-change tall, neither experience of which is detracted by lack of violent ejector at the top. That particular wow factor is, of course, made up by everything else.
Qiddiya's team is a little more ride savvy than many major corporate park developers. They're the same people that took a hard hat tour at Knoebels not because it was on their itinerary with GCI, but that they had free time and were interested. They've ensured that manufacturers have designed some of the most substantial ride layouts for them and have transcended the "bigger means better" mindset. Therefore, I'm confident that Falcon's Flight has been calibrated to do a little more than just check record boxes.
Of course, we won't know it until the thing opens, but I don't really have much to doubt.
The layout is much more cohesive than many give it credit for, following a sort of storytelling structure. Warm-up "normal" coaster section to scout around the bigger elements, big incline, leisurely sightseeing at the clifftop, big drop, climactic airtime hill, and the high speed portion. It's a special tactic applied by some of the best coasters out there (Steel Vengeance, Velocicoaster, Beast) as opposed to most rides that stay consistent with behavior and elements. Plenty of coasters have a modest degree of layout storytelling, Arrow in particular was often quite good at it, and Intamin knew this very well when designing Falcon's Flight.
Airtime has not been a major concern of mine. Yes there will be some of it for us to enjoy. But I'm not going to be much concerned with ejector on the big hill when that's a bloody 530-ft tall camelback that I'm about to go up and down on. Kingda Ka and Top Thrill Poo are 400 feet-and-change tall, neither experience of which is detracted by lack of violent ejector at the top. That particular wow factor is, of course, made up by everything else.
Qiddiya's team is a little more ride savvy than many major corporate park developers. They're the same people that took a hard hat tour at Knoebels not because it was on their itinerary with GCI, but that they had free time and were interested. They've ensured that manufacturers have designed some of the most substantial ride layouts for them and have transcended the "bigger means better" mindset. Therefore, I'm confident that Falcon's Flight has been calibrated to do a little more than just check record boxes.
Of course, we won't know it until the thing opens, but I don't really have much to doubt.
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JoshC.
Strata Poster
One thing which has come into my mind is how much will the windshields impact the experience.
Their existence to negate the need to riders wearing goggles is neat. But regardless of what row you're sat in, one staple part of a roller coaster is having the wind rush by you, hitting your face, etc. How much will that be neutered by the windshields, and will that make a difference to the ride experience?
Their existence to negate the need to riders wearing goggles is neat. But regardless of what row you're sat in, one staple part of a roller coaster is having the wind rush by you, hitting your face, etc. How much will that be neutered by the windshields, and will that make a difference to the ride experience?