More About the Vurtual Reality Coasters

Apparently it's more than just one roller coaster that's getting this special treatment.  Select coasters at certain Six Flags parks across America and one in Canada are either going to be themed with the "New Revolution" or a Superman themed virtual reality program.  In the New Revolution, you fly in a fighter jet going at war with an alien invasion and Superman is a pretty obvious one.

The list of parks with coasters that are VR headset equipped:

• Six Flags Magic Mountain, the New Revolution
• Six Flags Over Texas, Shockwave (New Revolution)
• Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Superman Krypton Coaster
• Six Flags St Louis, Ninja (New Revolution)
• Six Flags Over Georgia, Dare Devil Dive (New Revolution)
• Six Flags America, Superman: Ride of Steel
• The Great Escape, Steamin' Demon (New Revolution)
• Six Flags New England, Superman: the Ride
• La Ronde, Goliath (New Revolution)

Season pass holders get to experience it before it opens to the rest of the public.

That's all I really have to say for now.

Vurtual Reality Headsets Worn on a Roller Coaster?

At first, I wasn't thinking anything relevant as to Vurtual Reality.  However, May comes and I go online to check out new rides at different theme parks.  I was on the website for Six Flags Magic Mountain and I saw an odd picture.  It looked like to be a rider wearing a Samsung VR headset, so I clicked on it.

The picture was advertising for not a new roller coaster, but an older one that went through a makeover with new paint and trains.  The world's first vertical looping coaster, "Revolution" is now known as the "New Revolution", with new revolutionary ideas of keeping an old ride trendy again.  The New Revolution is the first virtual reality coaster in North America, just outside of LA.  You ride the coaster wearing a Samsung VR headset, which produces a 360 degree view of the programmed enviornment.

Now personally, I see many advantages with these headsets:

• It gives the rider the option to enjoy riding it with or without the VR headset (My preference, just ride it the first or second time without the headset and then all other times with it).
• I could also give the rider the option of more than one programmed enviornment.
• With the headset's 360 views and the vibrations and G-forces of the roller coaster, you'll literally feel like you're in another world.
• Theme parks could charge an additional fee for using this technology (Six Flags currently inlcudes the ride and the headsets free with park admission, but that could change).
• The ride is easy to change as the app that plays the virtual world can be reprogrammed.  That way it keeps the riders interested in riding it again next season (or even next week).
• If a theme park has a not so popular roller coaster that's not getting as many riders (like Revolution before its makeover),  before tearing it down, consider Virtual Reality.
• It can attract more customers and publicity to your park.

Now for the disadvantages:

• It's expensive.  You have to syncronize all the programmed objects and the cameras to move to a roller coaster's exact movents and timings.  And of course, not one program fits all, as roller coasters come in many different shapes, sizes, and lengths.
• More things to maintain.  Especially keeping the VR headsets clean and preventing the program from crashing.

I could see something like a virtual reality roller coaster be installed or upgraded from older coasters in different parks around the country.  I can see competing parks like Cedar Point and Kings Island using this type of technology.  I also see Universal Parks and perhaps Disney Parks using this kind of stuff as well.  I'd give 5-15 years for this idea to become trendy.

P.S.  If Disney Park Imagineers decides to do someting similar to Samsung's VR headset for a roller coaster, I have an idea for the theme.  Something to do with orchestra music and the 1940 Disney film, "Fantasia".

Preview for my second coaster design

Here's a teaser for my second roller coaster design for "Legends Park".  This wooden masterpiece is called "Sasquatch" and it's a Great Coasters International styled wood twister coaster.  Unlike other GCI wood coasters, this will be the first to feature an inversion.

 The first drop and the corkscrew.

The GCI "Millennium Flyer" train rolling through the corkscrew.

It's not yet complete. but when it is, I'll post more pictures.  I honestly got a lot more than just this done but I'm hoping to complete it and surprise you with the rest.

Post to you later,

Nick.

Done with my first (presentable) NL2 coaster!

Hello readers.  I know, "another post this quick, what's going on?"  Well, I just finished my first presentable No Limits 2 Roller Coaster.  Remember the one from the last blog post?

I introduce to you, "Trailblazer"

 Trailblazer is a B&M styled floorless coaster.  Trailblazer is 133 ft tall and achieves a top speed of 58 mph.  The ride also has five inversions ans is 3,800 ft long.

 This is the second half of Trailblazer that wasn't completed in the last post.

 I was inspired to make Trailblazer a partial terrain coaster and I did so with this little valley section.  The valley part of the ride contains the final two inversions (a loop and a corkscrew) and a 105 ft long underground tunnel.

There's The train peaking out of the tunnel.

Unfortunately I don't have a YouTube video of it yet and because I'm working on the other coasters for Legends Park (the file that it's in), there won't be a video until all of the coasters are complete.  

One of my coaster ideas is a Great Coasters International wooden twister coaster with some kind of inversion.  It seems to be the new trend with wood coasters.  I mean first, it's Rocky Mountain Construction.  Then the Gravity Group.  Why hasn't GCI stepped up to the plate yet?  Inversions and over-banked turns are the new trend for wooden coasters as they become more like their steel cousins.

Post to you later,

Nick.

Preview of my Summer Project

Hello readers, I'm sorry I have not posted in months, but hey, I'm back.  I'm also sorry to say that I won't be able to make it to Adventureland in Iowa this year.  I did go to Valleyfair however and I'll have a lot to say about it in one of my later posts.

So currently in my world of No Limits 2, I've been working on a file called "Legends Park".  So far it only contains an uncompleted Bolliger & Mabillard styled floorless coaster called "Trailblazer".  It's 133 ft tall and achieves a top speed of 58 mph.  It is also planned to have five inversions and a total length of around 4,000 ft.

 Here's the layout so far.

For those who aren't familiar with a B&M floorless coaster, here's how it works.  Like an inverted coaster, there's no floor for your feet to rest on.  However, unlike an inverted coaster, the track is underneath you, just like a traditional roller coaster.  So how would you be able to board the ride without the danger of slipping on the rails?

Simple.  The coaster has a hidden loading platform.  The platform hides off the sides of the tracks.  And when the train pulls into the station, the platform folds up over the track.  This platform is made to fit around the shape and size of the train cars so it is critical for the train to slowly stop at the correct spot in order for the platform to fit the train.

At the station with the loading platform up.

The loading platform is folding into the sides.

The loading platform is hidden into the side of the tracks.

The train is ready to go!

I originally completed Trailblazer as a B&M styled stand-up coaster by a completely different name of "Excalibur".  The layout was different, but very similar .  It was the same height and speed, but it only had three inversions and a total length of around 3,200 ft.  The station up to the inclined loop from Excalibur I am using for Trailblazer but the rest will be different.  Also the color scheme is different.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the Excalibur coaster I designed.  Just remember, the first half of what will be the completed Trailblazer is the same as Excalibur.

The spiraling first drop.

  Preforming the Pretzel Maneuver (a Dive Loop and an Immelmann).

 The third inversion, an inclined loop.

 The last turn before the mid-course brakes.

After the brake run, the track goes down into a valley and performs a vertical loop.

And that's all I have so far.

So yeah, I'm gonna continue on that project and I will add more coasters for Legends Park afterwards.  I'll keep you guys updated (even if that means 6 months from now) and hopefully when all of Legends Park is complete, I'll make a YouTube video of it and all of the coasters in it.

Post to you later,

Nick.

New Roller Coasters for 2015, B&M vs Intiman Giga Coasters

Since it's the new year, you'll read about new coasters added to many different parks for the upcoming summer.  In this post, I will list and describe some new rides that I looked up on the internet that I found incredibly interesting.

I found an online list of new roller coasters for 2015 on the Roller Coaster Database.  This amazing web site has info and pictures on thousands of different coasters around the world.  It has a list of record breakers, new coasters for the current year as well as the previous and future year, and you can even type in a specific roller coaster or theme park.  I recommend anyone who likes to learn about different coasters and theme parks to use this web site at http://rcdb.com/

Anyway, moving on.  In this post, I'm going to mention four new coasters that are being built at four different theme parks.  Two of which were renovated by Rocky Mountain Construction.  Using parts of the old structure of two wooden coasters.

First one I'm going to talk about is the Wicked Cyclone at Six Flags New England.  This is one of the two re-modeled by Rocky Mountain Construction.  What they are doing is taking the old, wooden structure and then giving it a new track and layout.  This Company has re-done other famous Six Flags wood coasters like the Texas Giant and the Rattler (now known as New Texas Giant and Iron Rattler).  The Wicked Cyclone Is technically classified as a steel coaster because of its new track.  However, it still uses the old wood structure so it's classified as a steel hybrid coaster.  The renovated coaster will feature three inversions, overbanked turns, a 78 degree drop, and 14 different spots of negative Gs (Airtime).  All under 3,400 feet in length.  Pictures are available on Roller Coaster Database.

The second ride I want to mention is at Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana.  It's a winged coaster built by Bolliger & Mabillard, and it's called Thunderbird.  Now Thunderbird is the first launched winged coaster in America.  It gets launched to 60 mph in less than 4 seconds, it has four inversions, and is just over 3,000 feet long.  Pictures are available on Roller Coaster Database.

The third coaster to be brought up would be Twisted Colossus at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California.  This is the second Rocky Mountain Construction renovation on my list.  What was originally a racing coaster with two tracks, Colossus is being transformed into the mobius circuit coaster, soon to be known as Twisted Colossus.  A mobius circuit is kind of coaster where if you ride one side, you'll return to the other.  In this case you get to ride both sides in one ride cycle.  Where one side originally was 4,325 ft in length, it has now been shortened and connected together to be a total of 4,990 ft in length.  It has an 80 degree drop, 2 inversions, overbanked turns, and even a special "high five" element where the two tracks bank to face each other.  Pictures are available on Roller Coaster Database.

And finally, I save what I think is the best for last.  In a park that borders the states of North and South Carolina, a new Giga Coaster is to be built.  Built by Bolliger & Mabillard, it is built at 325 feet tall with a speed of 95 mph.  Set to open in 2015, the Fury 325.  Located at Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina, it is set to be the world's tallest and fastest Giga Coaster (not the longest though as Steel Dragon 2000 in Japan still holds that record).  It is going to be the world's 5th longest coaster at 6,602 feet in length.  Pictures are available on Roller Coaster Database.

Speaking of Fury 325 and Giga Coasters, a Giga Coaster is a closed circuit lift hill (no launch) coaster that is over 300 ft tall.  The first one of its type was Millennium Force at Cedar Point, built by Intamin AG in 2000.  Intiman AG has currently two Giga Coasters and so does Bolliger & Mabillard.  Intiman AG has built two in a ten year period and even though Bolliger & Mabillard has introduced there first Giga Coaster (Leviathan) twelve years later, they have built two within a three year period.

I have a strange feeling that there will be more B&M Giga Coasters than Intiman in the next ten to 15 years.  The reason that I'm saying this is not just because of the timeframe of each one built, but because I got to ride the Intimidator 305 (Intiman AG's second Giga Coaster) at Kings Dominion back in 2011 and it wasn't only fun, but it was intense.  Which you would think would be good for a coaster that type.  However, it was too much.  There has been a lot of criticism about the fist turn on the Intimidator 305.  It may look wide, but because the train originally went around it at 92 mph, the strong and continuous G forces would cause your vision to blackout.  The problem was so serious, that trim brakes were added to it, slowing the ride down to something like 79 mph.  Well that didn't work, so the brakes were removed and then the first turn was re-profiled.  And even with the design change, I was still blacking out.

The thing with the Intimidator 305 unlike other rides its size, was that it wasn't necessarily focused on big hills and airtime.  It was more focused on speed.  I mean there are quick little segments where you would be taking a left and then it would quickly flip you to the right side.  Now don't get me wrong, the Intimidator 305 is definitely a roller coaster worth riding.

Now with the B&M Gigas, they are more based off there Hyper Coasters (the 200 footers).  Tall hills with ejector airtime.  However they did add low overbanked curves on both the Leviathan and the Fury 325 for the high speed feel.  And the best part, no blackouts.  So I think Bolliger & Mabillard has a bright future on building Giga Coasters.

That's all I have to say for now.  I'm hoping to post more later on for you guys.

Thanks for reading

Blog Changes For 2015

Hello and happy new year.  It is 2015, and I would like to apologize to my readers that I haven't been posting for the past nine or ten months.  I also have an announcement to make about blog changes.

For blog changes, I wanted to focus on reality more than fantasy, which means I'm going to focus less on the No Limits 2 software (I'll still try to do some No Limits posts).  But I want to talk more about real theme parks and real roller coasters.  It's one thing to create fake rides on your computer but it's another to physically ride them.

My idea was to write reviews on theme parks that I'll go to in the future.  I'm making a five-year plan and I have a list of parks that I plan to go to within that time frame.  This summer, I plan to go to Adventureland in Iowa and my hometown park, Valleyfair in Minnesota.

That's all that I have for this post.  I hope you stay tuned for future posts of my blog.

Thanks for reading.