Leviathan vs. Scenic Railway

[CR4ZE]

6 hours ago, New display name said:

There are multiple airtime moments, plus the back-seat turns the mid brake run into a ejector element as it drops in that you don't get up the front.

True, but not all ejector is created equal. That moment to me isn't powerful or sustained enough for it to be a true standout moment. It hits better than the airtime hill after horseshoe rolls, which really should've been the ejector moment.

https://youtu.be/QzoZY9wTvZU

According to this Blue Fire video, it peaks around -0.9 G off the brake run, but I find this very hard to believe.

 

 

Edited January 12 by CR4ZE

[New display name]

All the little moments is what creates a better ride for me.   I like the fact, I can't see where I'm going because that creates another little moment, an element of surprise.  I would like to hear what makes sitting up the front better.

 

[CR4ZE]

5 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Leviathan's backwards seats are pure gimmick and a total waste. The thrill of a woodie is seeing the headchoppers coming at you and facing backwards isn't the same balls to the wall experience you get on DCR.

Overall, I have to agree. It's also stupidly overpriced. I see proportionately way more cycles go out with the back seats empty than filled. If Village were smart, at the very least they'd drop the price to get people on more consistently, which, from a corporate overlord's perspective, would make them more money.

That first drop is pretty wild in the back, though. I haven't shared the story here yet of how I got my backwards ride for free. Basically, the app is non-functional (telling you something you already know) on Android so I couldn't purchase in-app. The young guy at the photo booth went out of his way to help me; we tried everything until he called someone up who added a ride coupon onto my account at no extra charge.

The actual purchasing process with the half-hour release window sucks because the app simply doesn't work. I think the ops realise that, so I have to give kudos where it's due as they went out of their way. I got a free ride, so I'm in no position to complain.

5 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

despite separate unload station ops being in the design, the nature of single train operations 97% of the year means it'd be more efficient with the single station.

Makes sense but even if Village wanted to do that, I don't know that the automated systems would allow for it. I imagine the train physically can't enter the load station with the restraints down.

Another idea, if we could go back in time, would be to design the station to have something like carousel-style or double-sided storage bays rather than free lockers. That would be more efficient year-round, guests could take phones and water bottles into the queue, and you'd still have separate load/unload areas.

2 minutes ago, New display name said:

I would like to hear what makes sitting up the front better.

I've already said so, and as @DaptoFunlandGuy points out, it is a personal preference thing.

To reiterate though, to me the forces on ST simply aren't intense enough for the extra whip at the back to account for much. You also get more lateral whip through the horseshoes and the heartline roll when taken with speed. If the layout emphasised air time and/or hang time more, I could see the backwards row as being superior. But it doesn't. I simply prefer the sensation of speed.

[Tricoart]

 

31 minutes ago, CR4ZE said:

According to this Blue Fire video, it peaks around -0.9 G off the brake run, but I find this very hard to believe.

 

Edited January 12 by Tricoart

[CR4ZE]

@Tricoart Note these are not synchronous as the launch starts at 0:33.

https://youtu.be/bEPb0cb_yXU

Adjusting accordingly, 0:49 on Ride Forces is the vertical loop's apex, so the MBCR entry pops in about -0.9 while the drop off pulls about -0.3. That's decent, although it's not sustained.

7 hours ago, New display name said:

plus the back-seat turns the mid brake run into a ejector element as it drops in that you don't get up the front.

By "dropping in", you are referring to the MCBR entry not exit, correct?

Not that they're even remotely apples-apples, but now I'm curious how Rivals and Levi compare. (Android simp here so I can't check myself).

[Tricoart]

3 hours ago, CR4ZE said:

@Tricoart Note these are not synchronous as the launch starts at 0:33.

https://youtu.be/bEPb0cb_yXU

Adjusting accordingly, 0:49 on Ride Forces is the vertical loop's apex, so the MBCR entry pops in about -0.9 while the drop off pulls about -0.3. That's decent, although it's not sustained.

By "dropping in", you are referring to the MCBR entry not exit, correct?

Not that they're even remotely apples-apples, but now I'm curious how Rivals and Levi compare. (Android simp here so I can't check myself).

The MCBR gives a pop of similar strength in both the front & back rows, they’re just reversed (front gets it when entering, back gets it when exiting). The location of the MCBR in the RideForces graph is just after the first 2 +G spikes at the halfway point in the graphs, for reference.

And, if you wanted the RideForces graphs for DCR & Levi, these are the latest DCR rides I’ve recorded (November 23), in the closest to front & back rows I could get:

And Leviathan (October 23), keeping in mind that force graphs for woodies have a lot more noise/margin of error due to both their roughness and it being hard to keep hands still:

To show that margin of error, here are 2 other Row 11 Levi rides I had within hours of the one above:

Also, should be noted, Ride Forces begins the graph whenever it believes that the ride has begun, which can alter drastically on every ride, for seemingly no reason. Like, one has decided to begin at around the disengaging of the chain, whereas the other has decided to begin around the time it first engages with it. I could edit that after the fact, to have them start at the same point, but I can’t really be bothered.

[Spotty]

21 hours ago, CR4ZE said:

 

Makes sense but even if Village wanted to do that, I don't know that the automated systems would allow for it. I imagine the train physically can't enter the load station with the restraints down.

 

The ride can, as long as the seatbelts are undone as the ride detects if the seatbelts are open or not. If the train comes into the load platform with a seatbelt done up the seat can not be used as the system basically has a heart attack if it's opened up again. No idea why it does this, but yeah... really annoying if the unloader forgets to undo a empty seat and it comes into the load station locked... especially if the group is already sorted.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

On 13/01/2024 at 11:48 AM, Spotty said:

The ride can, as long as the seatbelts are undone as the ride detects if the seatbelts are open or not. If the train comes into the load platform with a seatbelt done up the seat can not be used as the system basically has a heart attack if it's opened up again. No idea why it does this, but yeah... really annoying if the unloader forgets to undo a empty seat and it comes into the load station locked... especially if the group is already sorted.

Yeah I imagine if Village was going to cut a hole in the load station wall facing the old Arkham entrance to have unload occur on the same platform as load, they'd probably get intamin in to do some reprogramming of the PLC. So you'd program out that heart attack as if you're going to stop in unload to undo all the seatbelts you're kinda defeating the purpose.

[Spotty]

On 15/1/2024 at 8:56 AM, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Yeah I imagine if Village was going to cut a hole in the load station wall facing the old Arkham entrance to have unload occur on the same platform as load, they'd probably get intamin in to do some reprogramming of the PLC. So you'd program out that heart attack as if you're going to stop in unload to undo all the seatbelts you're kinda defeating the purpose.

That would work in theory... if Intamin still supported the model. They basically don't really want anything to do with the Hydraulic launches anymore, as seen with TTD2 and the one going to Playland in Canada. It's a shame as the smaller ones are actually fairly reliable, with Superman not really having any major downtime issues in its lifetime. I don't see Village wanting to spend any major money on the ride system in its current incarnation. I'd say in the next 5-10 years (once it hits 20 years, like Scooby, West and Road Runner) if they decide to keep Superman around it may get a similar LSM conversion like the other Hydraulic's are having.

it's one of the older hydraulic launches too, with only Xcelerator, Storm Runner, Rita, Kannoen (now in the US) and Kingda Ka being older than it. I'd say Superman likely would only have a few more years before Village has to decide what to do with it. I'd say after Wizard of Oz and Scooby re-open's, Superman will be the next ride they really look into its future with. Unless they finally decide to put Doomsday or GL out of its misery. At least Green Lantern is a good ride, when it works.

[Gobbledok]

You dont have to have intamin do the programming

But it will be part of the sealed safety code so there are a lot of hoops to jump through to have it recertified

Plus that assumes that the now very old safety controllers are capable of that sort of functionality as they may simply need to see the belts open on power up

[RobMac]

Two entirely different types of experiences. Both true quality in their own respective ways.