Finally got my first rides in this morning. Would have been an awesome time to marathon it given there wouldn't have been more than 40-50 people re-riding. 

Unfortunately I only had a small window to stay due to work, but between 8:35 and 9am I got 3 rides, knocking off Front Row, Row 10 & Backwards. Only wait was for backwards with most trains despatching with 8-10 vacant seats. 

Front Row for the first ride of the day and my first experience on this ride was amazing. As someone who hasn't done the overseas trips most of you have, it was hands down the best coaster experience I've ever had. Smoothness, speed, freedom in restraints, it was epic!

Row 10 was super fun, with snaps of extra speed and acceleration. A bit less smooth than the front but worth it for that force on the first drop. 

Backwards was a crazy experience. The highlight is probably the lift hill and the hanging feeling you get. Like row 10 not as smooth as the front of the train. I did find it a little nauseating, which isn't something I've experienced before on coasters. I definitely wouldn't have been able to do back to backs in the backwards seats. Glad I experienced it but probably wouldn't rush back into it given the upcharge and that fact I preferred the front. Will definitely jump in the back again at FN's though to get the night experience. 

 

Amazing 10/10 for mine  

Edited September 25, 20178 yr by Brad2912

50 minutes ago, Brad2912 said:

As someone who hasn't done the overseas trips most of you have, it was hands down the best coaster experience I've ever had.

Even for people who've been overseas, surely this'd easily be a top 10 for lots of enthusiasts.

It's gotten all the Americans on the internet jealous for once, a very welcome change of events.

1 hour ago, Brad2912 said:

Finally got my first rides in this morning. Would have been an awesome time to marathon it given there wouldn't have been more than 40-50 people re-riding. 

Unfortunately I only had a small window to stay due to work, but between 8:35 and 9am I got 3 rides, knocking off Front Row, Row 10 & Backwards. Only wait was for backwards with most trains despatching with 8-10 vacant seats. 

Front Row for the first ride of the day and my first experience on this ride was amazing. As someone who hasn't done the overseas trips most of you have, it was hands down the best coaster experience I've ever had. Smoothness, speed, freedom in restraints, it was epic!

Row 10 was super fun, with snaps of extra speed and acceleration. A bit less smooth than the front but worth it for that force on the first drop. 

Backwards was a crazy experience. The highlight is probably the lift hill and the hanging feeling you get. Like row 10 not as smooth as the front of the train. I did find it a little nauseating, which isn't something I've experienced before on coasters. I definitely wouldn't have been able to do back to backs in the backwards seats. Glad I experienced it but probably wouldn't rush back into it given the upcharge and that fact I preferred the front. Will definitely jump in the back again at FN's though to get the night experience. 

 

Amazing 10/10 for mine  

I was there this morning iswell and it was dead, I went on it 8times from 8:40-9:30

Trains this morning were being sent with only the first 5 rows with people on them. It was that quiet.

I've booked my early access for the last day of early access (only because that's the only day I can do anyway). I had a feeling the first few days of it would be packed as all the GP would want to ride it asap. Very keen to ride it & not have to wait an hour in the sun 

Probably going to head down for my early access (and first rides) tomorrow since it was so quiet yesterday, hopefully it'll be the same.

Edited September 26, 20178 yr by Santa07

Just got 10 rides in a row, only got out of my seat to change rows. 2 each of row 1 2 9 and 10, and 1 each of row 7 and 8. Such an amazing ride 😮😮😮😮

I managed to get 12 rides in this morning. Very few people came for the early access; they eventually ran one train empty and only loaded the other one.

Time for my review...

 

Sometimes if something has been hyped up a lot it can be really underwhelming when you get to experience it. I was kinda expecting this with DC rivals.

But DC rivals is not overhyped at all. It is a stellar ride.

I was lucky enough to get in 16 rides total today (10 back-to-back rides via the early access this morning, 1 backwards, and the rest via the single rider queue). Wait time was about 30 minutes in single rider and 45 in normal queue.

In total, I got the following amount of rides in each seat (a little bummed I didn't get a row 3 ride since it's the only row I didn't get  )

• 3x row 1
• 2x each of rows 2, 6, 9, and 10
• 1x each of rows 4, 5, 7, 8 and 11

I'll break down each component of the ride.

Theming
Definitely not the best-themed ride in the park. Better than Green Lantern but overall it is not much more than a bunch of 2.5d murals (that said, they are huge and quite impressive).

Trains
The Mack harnesses are very comfortable, and very open. The attendants do like to staple you, so try to sit forward a bit in your seat. That said the harnesses do tighten as the ride progresses (but the extra wiggle room can make the first drop a lot of fun, especially in the back few rows). The harnesses are a little weird when they open (they sorta briefly pop upwards a few times, then fully open). The seats are quite high, so most riders’ feet won’t actually touch the floor of the train (not me unfortunately).

Ride Experience

Lift Hill
The lift hill is very fast, and provides some great views of the surrounding area (even better in the backwards seat).

First Drop
Wow… what a drop. Especially great in the back few rows - as you crest over the drop you fly out of your seat, before being whipped to the side and then thrust back into your seat. Front few rows are great too - you don’t really get much air, but hanging over the drop for the few seconds it takes for the rest of the train to go over is quite terrifying with the very open harnesses.

Camelback
A great few seconds of constant airtime. Particularly good in the front or the back - towards the middle of the train it’s a bit less intense (it’s still ejector airtime, but you don’t get thrown out of your seat as much).

Non-inverting loop
Probably my favourite part of the ride, and definitely the part that took me the most by surprise. I hadn’t heard great stories about NI loops in general, so wasn’t expecting much, but wow. Initially, it’s really forceful, but then you get whipped around. Really strong lateral Gs, and some of the best airtime on the ride (although it is quite brief). Greyed out multiple times going around this element, it’s very forceful. Fantastic in all seats, but I think my favourite for this element would be the front, the sudden change in direction is very disorientating and takes you by surprise every time. The back initially twists you round a bit slower, but the airtime when you get pulled back down is phenomenal.

Stengel Dive
In the front few rows there’s a bit of lateral forces here. In the rest of the train, the Stengel dive is honestly quite forceless. Definitely the most dull (in fact, the only dull) part of the ride.

Inclined Dive Loop
There’s actually a surprising amount of airtime you get going over the top of the dive loop in the front few rows. There’s none in the back of the train, but its still very forceful.

Twists after the dive loop
A really fun part of the ride. A rapid twist right, followed by a rapid twist left into a high-G-force turn. The train goes really fast around these twists and you get a lot of whip. So much fun <3

Twisted airtime hill
Another great airtime moment - not the most forceful one, but still plenty of fun, especially with the twist. The train does fly over it very quickly.

Helix
I really like how this helix undulates. While it’s not too intense initially, it becomes really intense as you reach the lowest part of the helix.

Twists after the helix
The twists after the dive loop are really snappy, but the two twists after the helix are even snappier. A really rapid twist right, a turn, and then a another twist left provide two really awesome moments. The shaping of the second twist even gives you a slight pop of airtime.

Airtime finale
This is no B&M hyper, where your finale is a helix and then brakes. These are the craziest four airtime moments I’ve experienced (even if I haven’t experienced that many airtime-filled coasters). From off-ride, these three bunny hills don’t look like much, but when you’re riding you’re being thrown up and down like crazy. Such an awesome finale. If you’re in the front few rows the hill into the brakes also provides a great pop of air.

 

Backwards row
This is a completely different experience. In the back row this ride is completely relentless from the moment you leave the station to the moment you hit the brakes. Things seem okay as you pull out of the station, but as soon as the lift hill kicks in you realise this is going to be an experience like no other. Going up the lift hill, you’re just hanging there with your lap bar being the only thing stopping you from tumbling back down the lift hill. It’s great watching the expressions on the backwards riders faces as they begin to climb the lift hill.

The drop in the backwards seat is insane. You’re literally floating the whole way down, your entire body leaves the seat. Definitely recommend leaving a bit of wiggle room if you’re in the back for this reason.

The ride experience in the backwards seat is not merciful. You are being thrown in every possible direction, with no way of preparing to brace for the rapid transitions... it's great! The final bunny hills are absolutely insane in the back row. It’s just such an awesome, intense experience. Certainly not something I would recommend doing multiple times in a row though, it throws you around *a lot*. But something you definitely have to experience and worth every cent of the $10 it costs (why pay $15 for a fast-track when you can pay $10 for this?).

The negative
This is an amazing ride. The whole experience from start to end is unbelievable, the first time I rode it I was really quite speechless when I hit the brakes. But alas, there is one negative thing about the ride.

There is a rattle.

It’s not really too bad in the front rows, but towards the back it is a noticeable rattle and it is a little bit annoying, especially at the bottom of the first drop and just before the NI loop.

Staff
Another very minor negative would be that some of the staff did seem a little slow (that said it was only a couple of them). The staff in the morning were great, very quick and efficient, with minimal stacking. The sorter was using an Arkham-method of sending people to the gates (i.e. having a group of people line up behind the next group - much more efficient this way). The staff that took over in the afternoon were a bit slower, there was quite a long wait on the break run, and the sorter kept on disappearing to sit in the air-conditioned control room (can you blame him though?).

Shout out goes to the very enthusiastic guy selling the backwards passes out the front, he remembered me from the early-access and said hey every time I walked past.

Trims
They’re not really a negative, but they’re there. Not really that noticeable, but if you know where they are you will feel them. I think they could’ve done without them on the airtime hill, but I can understand why they needed them on the Stengel dive (because the last half of the ride is insane enough with them).

My Top 5 elements

5. The twists after the dive loop
4. The twists after the helix (yes I love twistyness)
3. The drop (would be #1 if this list was based on the back seat alone)
2. The bunny hills
1. The non-inverted loop

My Top 5 rows

5. Row 2 - basically the forces of the front seat, without the freedom and openness of the front seat

4. Row 10 - much more forceful, but perhaps not as much airtime as the front. Drop is outstanding in this seat. A little bit of a rattle though.

3. Row 9 - row 9 has about the same forces as row 10. The reason why I prefer this row is because since I am quite tall, my feet touch the floor in the back row of each car. In the front only my toes touch the ground, so if I lift my feet up slightly it’s a much more open experience.

4. Row 1 - so open and free. The airtime is great here (so many surprise pops of air you don’t get in the back). The wind against your face here really heightens the sensation of speed too.

5. Row 11 - I don’t think this one needs explaining if you’ve read above

 

So yeah that’s my thoughts on DC rivals. Really looking forward to riding it in the dark on Saturday.
Overall I’d give it a 9.5/10. That 0.5 that is lost is because of the rattle.

Edited September 28, 20178 yr by Santa07

5 4 3 4 5

ok

15 hours ago, Santa07 said:

Theming

Definitely not the best-themed ride in the park. Better than Green Lantern but overall it is not much more than a bunch of 2.5d murals (that said, they are huge and quite impressive).

Its a hypercoaster. Its not a dark ride like scooby, or a flume like wild west. I don't think anyone was expecting some sort of immersive theme with this monster, and it isn't necessary. You have to judge apples with apples. Of course it isn't the best themed ride in the park, but if you compare it to other full circuit coasters, you start looking at Arkham, HWSW, and suddenly the theming looks pretty damn good.

15 hours ago, Santa07 said:

Trains

 

The harnesses are a little weird when they open (they sorta briefly pop upwards a few times, then fully open).

I thought this was actually a really good idea. Not sure if its a convenient side effect or if it is by design, but the 'stutter' opening of the harnesses tends to shake the seatbelt loose of its mount - much better than a manually operated seatbelt that requires riders to open them manually - you end up with rider issues like on Doomsday where the rider can't get the seatbelt open.

15 hours ago, Santa07 said:

Front few rows are great too - you don’t really get much air, but hanging over the drop for the few seconds it takes for the rest of the train to go over is quite terrifying with the very open harnesses.

......

A great few seconds of constant airtime. Particularly good in the front or the back

......

The back initially twists you round a bit slower, but the airtime when you get pulled back down is phenomenal.

......

There’s actually a surprising amount of airtime you get going over the top of the dive loop in the front few rows. There’s none in the back of the train, but its still very forceful.

......

The drop in the backwards seat is insane. You’re literally floating the whole way down, your entire body leaves the seat.

......

Row 10 - much more forceful, but perhaps not as much airtime as the front.

......

Row 1 - so open and free. The airtime is great here (so many surprise pops of air you don’t get in the back).

I know that these statements out of context can appear a little confusing, as you've said these points during different elements of the track, so there is obviously different forces at play here, but im confused. I've always considered airtime opportunities to be much higher (and much better) in the rear, but you seem to be favouring the front for the best airtime here... i'm no expert so i'm keen to hear from those with more knowledge on this.

15 hours ago, Santa07 said:

There is a rattle.

No idea what you're talking about. One of the smoothest coasters i've been on and never picked up anything like what you're referring to.

15 hours ago, Santa07 said:

Staff

 

The sorter was using an Arkham-method of sending people to the gates

Shout out goes to the very enthusiastic guy selling the backwards passes out the front, he remembered me from the early-access and said hey every time I walked past.

Perhaps they read my suggestion from the other day?

Enthusiastic guy selling the wristbands - that sounds like Charles. Man that guy's an energiser bunny. He deserves some kudos - because even during 'technical rehearsal' phase, he was constantly interacting with guests waiting in line, high fives, and just general all round cheeriness. Movie World needs more staff like this.

15 hours ago, Santa07 said:

Trims

 

They’re not really a negative, but they’re there. Not really that noticeable, but if you know where they are you will feel them.

If you have to know where they are to feel them, then they aren't noticeable. Can honestly say I haven't felt the trims engage at all.

15 hours ago, Santa07 said:

My Top 5 rows

5. Row 2 - basically the forces of the front seat, without the freedom and openness of the front seat

......

The reason why I prefer this row is because since I am quite tall, my feet touch the floor in the back row of each car.

Interesting that your top row (or is it the 5th top row?) is Row 2 - which is the back row of the front car, considering what you said about row 9.

15 hours ago, Santa07 said:

That 0.5 that is lost is because of the rattle.

All that amazingness, and the rattle is the sole reason it's not a perfect 10?

Don't get me wrong - to be honest i don't think I can think of any ride i'd give a perfect 10 to, but for all the pluses (and minuses) that exist for this ride - a rattle wouldn't be something i'd dock for (although, I can't say i've noticed it, and considering the noise you get on Arkham through the twists, I don't think if i did hear it on rivals that it would bother me) - i'd be more likely to dock points for the shitty operations (which sounds like they've already tried to improve) than any 'rattle'.

All round though I think its a pretty fair review - sure theres a few things i've taken issue with - as said above - but that is just an opinion, as is your review, and i'm sure not everyone will feel exactly the same about this ride. Thanks for sharing your thoughts... my wife will get her first chance to ride it tomorrow so it's given me a little more to go on.

17 minutes ago, AlexB said:

I know that these statements out of context can appear a little confusing, as you've said these points during different elements of the track, so there is obviously different forces at play here, but im confused. I've always considered airtime opportunities to be much higher (and much better) in the rear, but you seem to be favouring the front for the best airtime here... i'm no expert so i'm keen to hear from those with more knowledge on this.

No idea what you're talking about. One of the smoothest coasters i've been on and never picked up anything like what you're referring to.

Riding yesterday morning I also found the airtime at the front to be better than at the back, which for the same reasons as you, I don't quite understand. I also found row 10 to be more rough yesterday than it was when I rode it (same row) the first sunday. I'm not sure if that was just since I had ridden front row immediately before, but it did seem rough. Still one of the smoothest coasters I've ridden.

It's not a noise rattle @AlexB, it's a very noticeable physical vibration towards the back of the train. It isn't really uncomfortable though it does distract, if not detract from the overall experience. 

Because it varies from carriage to carriage, it's hopefully just a wheel alignment issue that can be addressed in future maintenance. 

its a shame it will have to wait until the next maintenance period if that is the case, i'd have thought things like this would have been addressed prior to opening.

Most attractions we see come online just before school holiday periods, and then usually go back down for maintenance immediately after those holidays (sort of like a run-in period) - DCR isn't likely to get that though, given it's proposed up-time for Fright nights. We might see it in November, depending on the maintenance schedule for the rest of the park, but if it is an alignment issue, I do hope that they can fix it before Xmas.

after thought: if it is an alignment issue, is it present only on one train, or both?

^ Given that my previous ride in row 10 was much smoother than my most recent, I'd believe that it is present on only one train.

1 hour ago, AlexB said:

Interesting that your top row (or is it the 5th top row?) is Row 2 - which is the back row of the front car, considering what you said about row 9.

5th top  it was meant to be 5 4 3 2 1, row 11 is definitely the best row on the train.

1 hour ago, AlexB said:

I know that these statements out of context can appear a little confusing, as you've said these points during different elements of the track, so there is obviously different forces at play here, but im confused. I've always considered airtime opportunities to be much higher (and much better) in the rear, but you seem to be favouring the front for the best airtime here... i'm no expert so i'm keen to hear from those with more knowledge on this.

I found that the back overall had stronger airtime (particularly over the drop and NI loop), but the front had more airtime moments (eg it's the only seat you really get airtime going over the dive loop).

Thanks for your extremely detailed review @Santa07 - now I'm super excited for my turn next Saturday morning 😲

Definitely noticed the rattle/Shake in row 10 and backwards. Not sure if I was on the same train for both those cycles though.

Is anyone else finding they get really bad pain in their legs the next day?

4 hours ago, AlexB said:

Is anyone else finding they get really bad pain in their legs the next day?

I occasionally get a sharp feeling in my feet as soon as I step off, which I tend to find happens on rides where my feet are dangling with positive G-Force.

Yep, I experienced the rattle too on the last 2 rows, but worse in the backwards row IMO (perhaps the way I ride in the seat?). I didn't really feel it day one, but whether or not I was too preoccupied with excitement.

@Richard has mentioned a possible wheel alignment issue, which I hope it is. Everyone says how smooth Mack coasters are, and I assume the forward rows are smoother (I have only ridden in the front once, and never in the middle of the train).

It's a beautiful coaster, but I definitely feel the vibration is noticeable and uncomfortable (not overly however).

Has anyone worked out how to tell the difference between the two trains yet? Visually, not just by the apparent wheel alignment issues. 

3 hours ago, ash.1111 said:

Everyone says how smooth Mack coasters are, and I assume the forward rows are smoother (I have only ridden in the front once, and never in the middle of the train).

I've also heard great things about the smoothness of most Macks, although we did see how Lost Rattly turned out, and I really hope that was just a one-off.

I've also noticed that one train has noisier anti-rollbacks. Haven't been able to work out yet if it's the rattly one or not.