Theme Park Discussion / X-Raptor

Thought this deserved its own topic




Gardaland (In Italy) has announced it's newest coaster which will be built for next season
As the rumours suggested its a new B&M prototype where passengers sit on the sides of the track. The coaster's temporary name is X-Raptor. Some more information:

- The station will be underground
- 800m long track
- 30m tall
- 90° high speed turn
- Close encounters with objects
- Will go over water with special water effects added
- 2 elements where passengers will feel zero gravity

So esentially its B&M's take on the Intamin Wing Walker ride

>Link: http://sondaggi.gard...RAPTOR15-24.php

Im assuming your already making an RCT prototype roomie?

Ive heard on TPR that this is the first step and part of the end-game goal is to have rotating seats, only a rumor though I assume. Otherwise it seems kindoff silly, bassiccly doest it just do the same thing as a invert or floorless dive machine?
I think the most interesting thing about it will be the layout of the track, more than the actual seats.

Also yay for having more real coaster news on here, always fun to disscuss.

Isn't this basically just a 4th dimension coaster without the seat rotations? Intamin is making these now too? I'm sure it will be much more reliable than Arrow's version (which basically bankrupted the company) but still, Arrow did all the difficult R&D on this design and now B&M is probably going to make a mint ripping off the idea because Arrow isn't around any longer so they can't sue. I'm lukewarm on B&M's new coaster designs anyway ever since their version of the flying coaster was inexplicably worse than the original Vekoma prototype. Whatever magic B&M had back in the 90s is long since over I think. Well, the concept art is cool anyway.

^ Arrow had many bad concepts, they made a pipeline coaster, which was very rough and unreliable. TOGO also made a pipeline coaster, and it couldn't turn unless banked at a 90 degree angle, so I think that and the intamin concept were better.

.. And lets not forget their suspended coaster concepts.

I definitely wouldn't badmouth Arrow. They weren't afraid to try new things, which eventually caught up with them. But I seem to remember someone deciding to build a 200ft tall mine-train coaster that focused on airtime and everyone loved it. The suspended coasters weren't bad either, but the prototype had some issues that weren't noticed until it was too late. You have to remember they did most of these things before CAD was an industry standard. Once they had that, they made a "suspended" error in their 4th dimension design that caused them to fall into bankruptsy.

Eh, Thorpe are planned to get the 'second version' of this prototype for 2012, so maybe spinning seats?