DC Rivals HyperCoaster - soft open discussion

[Flynn_Smith]

I think @pushbutton has a point. Some people like really smooth, incredibly intense rides (DC Rivals, Superman). And others like rides that pull a final destination on you (Arkham Asylum, Hotwheels)

[Reanimated35]

9 minutes ago, Flynn_Smith said:

rides that pull a final destination on you

Green Lantern would have been a much better example, just saying...

[Locke]

5 minutes ago, Flynn_Smith said:

I think @pushbutton has a point. Some people like really smooth, incredibly intense rides (DC Rivals, Superman). And others like rides that pull a final destination on you (Arkham Asylum, Hotwheels)

Arkham Asylum and Hotwheels are precisely the type of rides I don't like - they're head-ache makers.

So if someone likes AA over DCR then that tells me all I need to know.

[Flynn_Smith]

11 minutes ago, Reanimated35 said:

Green Lantern would have been a much better example, just saying...

[xRazzBerryx]

I couldn't resist so I headed back down today for some more rides! I got 2 rides in the last 2 hours. First ride in the front row & the second ride in the 8th row. 

Front row - Amazing views from the first drop. I personally rather the airtime on the front than the back. Those bunny hills!!! Insane airtime! 

Row 8 - Even though we just missed out on getting row 10, row 8 still provided a good amount of airtime and was very enjoyable. I believe the rows towards the back are absolutely incredible for the first drop! Whipping you completely out of your seat. So intense! 

At about 3:50pm we tried to get a backwards ride in however they had completely sold out by then! It's definitely very popular! There's always next time I guess  

[Reanimated35]

This review and experience is purely based on the soft opening on 16 September 2017. (No photos as there's plenty of time for those later)

 

Front Row: While the back row is great, and more on that later, nothing IMO will beat the experience of riding this hypercoaster in the front row. Not only do you get the unobstructed views of everything, but you get the full eye watering force of the wind in your face and a good look at the track and theming on the train.
Rating: 10/10 - Would definitely do again given the chance.

 

Backwards: 100% worth the money. The forces seem a decent amount stronger when riding backwards. It's $10 for a backwards seat. I spent $30 on day one. Would have been a lot more if there were more hours in the day. Going up the lift hill, and throughout a lot of the ride, the only thing holding you down is the OTSR. That's an incredible feeling I haven't experienced on anything other than a flying coaster before.
Rating: 10/10 - Time to start saving.

 

Theming: There's not much, which is as expected, but what's there is good. Much like the coaster itself, it's big and it's bold and bright. In saying that, it would have been nicer to see something similar to what's in the DC Villains area. For me, there was also a couple of things with the theming I didn't like. Firstly, and this is very little so doesn't detract from my overall opinion of the ride, the DC Rivals sign just to the left of the queue. The sign itself is nice and will make great photos, but whatever cleaning product they used on day one left it all covered in white streaks. They're going to need stainless steel cleaner or something less streaky. The other things I would have liked (which I have docked a couple of points for) would have been something on the ceiling of the station. Ideally that would be themed hero/villain mannequins hanging in fighting poses. If not that, even just a nice coloured ceiling. Just something other than a plain ceiling really. Finally, the positioning of the test seat. Why put it part way through the queue when you can almost guarantee for the next several months the queue will snake out long past the test seat and back towards the GL queue if not further. There's plenty of space back in the entry area/courtyard. 
Rating: 8/10 - It's almost there, but just missing that last little kick which would make it great, and the test chair is in a stupid spot.

 

Load/Unload: Maybe it was because it was day 1 and everyone was really keen to be involved, but the loading and unloading procedures were some of the best I've seen at an Australian park. The next bunch of guests would be staged at the gates before the train made it back to the station, even when they were running two trains. Everyone was in and out very quickly and there was no waiting for the last ride to clear the station before opening the air gates. The item drop is well positioned and works well. I have high hopes of this procedure and speed staying for quite some time given that the ride will be popular for years and they'll want to push through as many people as they can so the lines don't get too long. I really hope we don't hit off season and see them drop back to 3 ride ops (1x Control, 2x platform).  
Rating: 10/10 - Let's hope it stays that way.

 

Staff: Huge credit to the opening day crew. They were super friendly, happy and genuinely looked to be enjoying their jobs and excited to be working on the ride. They were always smiling and chatting with guests and they really helped add to the excitement and atmosphere of the opening.
Rating: 10/10 - Excellent staff.

 

Ride Experience: The ride just does not let up from start to finish. There's constant speed, thrills, airtime and excitement. You do get thrown around a decent amount, but the seats are comfy and there doesn't really seem to be any violent head banging or anything. The ride is incredibly smooth and silent. I've never been on a coaster this close to construction before so I don't know if this is fairly standard for coasters or if this is really something special. Will be interesting to see how it ages over the next few years.
Rating: 10/10 - Would ride again.

 

Overall: There is nothing in Australia that's going to beat this for a very long time, if ever. I can't personally see Dreamworld investing in anything that comes even close to this and it doesn't make sense for VRTP to invest in something this large to compete with themselves for a good decade or more. This is truly hands down the best coaster in Australia and in my opinion would rank very highly among the worlds' top coasters.
Rating: 9.6/10 - I don't care if the math doesn't work. It's not a perfect score because of the theming and the test seat position. The ride itself though would get a 10/10.

 

Personal Top 3: Tatsu (SFMM), Rivals (WBMW), Ghostrider (KBF). While Rivals is an excellent coaster, for me there's just something unique about flying coasters that can't be beaten. 

Edited September 17, 2017 by Reanimated35
I found a spelling mistake

[Slick]

Yep going to add an excerpt and some photos you guys might enjoy.

Quote

I’ve been hedging my bets and calling it for months, and i’m happy to say that I was right in saying that DC Rivals HyperCoaster, without a shadow of a doubt, is Australia’s best thrill ride, and definitely Australia’s best roller-coaster. It’s like a classic hits of the very best components of the world’s best coasters, and that makes it a delight that’s greater than the sum of its parts. Every-time I rode it I got lost in the kind of joy and delight i’ve only experienced in rides overseas, and so for us to finally have something this good in our backyard is worth raving out. It’s bloody brilliant. You should share this with your friends to convince them to ride it because doing anything less is frankly ungrateful. DC Rivals HyperCoaster is worth travelling half way across the world for, and Dreamworld should take note, because the bar for what thrill rides should be like in the future has been well and truly set very, very high.

If you want to read the rest of my ramblings and swearing, you can go to that other place with the things.

[Brad2912]

Cheers for the detailed review. 

Totally bummed I haven't had a ride yet. Maybe sometime this week I hope! 

[xRazzBerryx]

One thing I did notice today was that there was no audio playing in the Queue line. Hopefully that gets fixed soon.

[Coaster Hipster]

Seeing this unanimous and overwhelming praise is so heartwarming. This is the kind of emotion and excitement which explains why I'm so deeply interested in rollercoasters. I truly hope to make my way across the world to ride it someday <3

[Aimsley81]

On 16/09/2017 at 4:28 PM, xRazzBerryx said:

To finish off here are a few photos I took on my phone. 

@xRazzBerryx  I'm in these two photos!!! 

[New display name]

Which park should a want to be man visit????????????????

 

MOVIE WORLD

 

DREAMWORLD

[Whombex]

Here's a video I cobbled together in iMovie of the various angles I got video of on Sunday.

 

 

[Aimsley81]

Not sure if this is the right topic to post this under but was just wondering what everyone's (who's gotten to ride) opinion is of the back wall (behind the loose articles bins)? Doesn't impact on the ride experience at all, but just thought it was a little off to have that artwork and not be able to properly appreciate it because of the reflection - mainly the fluro lights reflection. 

[Reanimated35]

Honestly was so excited to ride that I didn't even notice it. Will have to check it out next time. 

[xRazzBerryx]

I think the wall is definitely a good backdrop & I prefer having that over a plain wall. Just a shame about the reflection & not standing out as much as it could have.

[Aimsley81]

6 minutes ago, xRazzBerryx said:

I think the wall is definitely a good backdrop & I prefer having that over a plain wall. Just a shame about the reflection & not standing out as much as it could have.

Agreed. I liked how they kept the 'fuschia' theme on that wall too. I could also make out buildings and the bat signal. Would be great to see it in all its glory. 

[themagician]

Just been past the park, and tonight all the lights around the fosters were red. Looked very cool 

[ABYSS]

1 hour ago, Aimsley81 said:

Not sure if this is the right topic to post this under but was just wondering what everyone's (who's gotten to ride) opinion is of the back wall (behind the loose articles bins)? Doesn't impact on the ride experience at all, but just thought it was a little off to have that artwork and not be able to properly appreciate it because of the reflection - mainly the fluro lights reflection. 

I actually live in Perth and won't get to experience the coaster for a couple of years, but from all the photos showing the back wall, I've really liked the wall. I completely agree that it's a shame there is a reflection as I think it's a really nice touch. Would be nice to see MW do something about it in the future to make it more appealing to the eye.

Edited September 18, 2017 by ABYSS

[themagician]

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW

Just had my first ride on it, and it was incredible. Exceeded my expectations. The air time, the forces, the speed. Wow. What a coaster it is. World class. Not a dull moment throughout, and the surprise airtime for longer than you expect is awesome. What a weird feeling the NIL provides. And the close calls as you move throughout the track is awesome. Wait for about 45 minutes in single rider queue, while normal queue was about the same time. Loading and unloading was very efficient. Well done MW.

Now for an update:

The road has reopened, and finishing touches being made throughout the area

And the poles for the shading have now been installed, just the sails to go

[jack.c]

When should we expect the POV?

[Whombex]

10 minutes ago, jack.c said:

When should we expect the POV?

Official? Hopefully on Thursday. I'm expecting next week sometime.

Slick? He's "working on it".

Unofficial? I'd be surprised if a hidden mobile version wasn't already online somewhere on someone's Facebook timeline.

[themagician]

Here are those red lights I was on about

 

[Elise Lenske]

Excited to get my first rides today - spent 4 hours in the park from 1pm to close and managed 6 rides on DC Rivals. 

Managed to get a seat in - Front row, row 6, row 8, row 10 and backwards x 2

Each had its own pros and cons.   Nothing will beat that first ride though.. all I can say is OMG - I've only ridden at Six Flags Magic Mountain just prior to twisted collossus opening, and I think this coaster is up there with the best I have ridden!

My first ride was in row 6, decent view, good airtime for the middle of the train I was surprised.

Front row - incredible view of the twisted track and the feeling of the speed of this coaster!

Row 10 - getting whipped over the top of the lift hill and into that incredible drop one of my favourite parts of the ride, some insane airtime over those last few hills and the non inverted loop really feels like your being thrown out of your seat.

Backwards.. as everyone has said is something you just have to experience, it's completely different to riding this coaster forward and such a different experience from anything I have ever had before.  

The only downside to today was that I had to wait a long time for the backwards seats, was sold a time slot which at the time was more than an hour away, then I reached the front of the line they made me wait till the time came up - but were selling new backwards seats to the people behind me for an earlier time which meant they got to go on first. I'm not complaining (I know they are working this out) all I can assume must have happened is they decided to open new spaces in the earlier time slot as the coaster was running ahead of the expected time. It will be interesting to see what the final plan for purchasing these backwards seats will be. 

 

INCREDIBLE!!!! I can't wait to do it again!!!

Edited September 19, 2017 by Elise Lenske

[Slick]

1 hour ago, Glubbo said:

Official? Hopefully on Thursday. I'm expecting next week sometime.

Slick? He's "working on it".

Unofficial? I'd be surprised if a hidden mobile version wasn't already online somewhere on someone's Facebook timeline.

Emailed the park yesterday, still haven't heard back.

I just want to tell cool stories and make sweet films, i'm not too fussed on whether or not i'm included or invited to VIP parties, and one of my niches that I do well is Point of View videos, and I think the park should capitalise on that.