I love X Flight but after taking a ride on Wild Eagle this past week in Dollywood it is definitely a little rattly, short, and lacks punch in comparison.
Love it. It's usually my number 1 coaster at the park. That surprises me, because I did have my doubts about it being worthy when it was being constructed. I rode gatekeeper last month and like X Flight better.
Turn the trains around, make it kinda like X at SFMM. Make it even better I know the third rail makes the seats move Add that or just turn the trains around
Foltzy wrote:Turn the trains around, make it kinda like X at SFMM. Make it even better I know the third rail makes the seats move Add that or just turn the trains around
Last year was my first time on X-Flight, and it quickly became a go-to attraction for my girlfriend and I. The ride is a bit short which led us to avoid it after the long lines, but after a couple rides on both sides in the front seat, our eyes were opened. It's the experience - not a gimmick - that makes this winged coaster a favorite of ours, just behind Raging Bull.
In my opinion, X-Flight is the best addition the park has made since Hurricane Harbor.
County Fair was turning into a bit of an eye sore. Once Splash Water was removed, Great American Raceway felt more like a ride through the bushes instead of actually having any interaction with the area. Once Deja Vu was removed, you had this gap of nothing between Demon and American Eagle. Even with Buccaneer Battle, there was this giant void with nothing being between that midway and American Eagle.
Galvan and I had been discussing this since construction started for X-Flight and when the Iron Wolf rumors started. Definitely think the park wanted to start driving some foot traffic away from Southwest/Hurricane Harbor and start getting a more even distribution of people. Before X-Flight, (and I guarantee you'll see a bigger difference with Goliath now) you hit a wall of foot traffic in front of Farmer's Market, and then all of the sudden the crowds thinned out. It was a big intersection in the park, but only because of Farmer's Market. Even then, those crowds thinned out after lunch, and you still had this eye sore across the way.
Now, you have foot traffic coming in for Farmer's, X-Flight, and Goliath. No dead area in the park except between V2 and Goliath, but there's not much that can be done with that area in the first place.
Oh yeah, and X-Flight is a pretty good ride.
"I get to go to lots of overseas places, like Canada." -Britney Spears
We have two amazing rides in County fair now. before Eagle was the only reason to go and even then it was so far to the station sometimes it was not worth the trip. lol X Flight has brought that area back to life. The ride is beautiful, intense and a blast from the start.
Wait Goliath is in County Fair....Ok 3 amazing rides. 3 KILLER rides.
I have ridden X-Flight, Wild Eagle at Dollywood and Gatekeeper at Cedar Point and X-Flight is my favorite out of the 3. I prefer the twisted layout to the othe two which are basically out-and-back. Wild Eagle is non-stop inversions where X-Flight has some pacing between the final inversions. The keyhole element is more effective on X-Flight than Gatekeeper, especially when you see the yellow bar coming at you upside down.
Great America tends to have better twisted coasters than most parks because of its space limitations. (Raging Bull is my favorite hyper because it twists over itself instead of typical out-and-back).
The theming is too futuristic for County Fair though. It should have been themed to bi-planes.
Chitown wrote:With IW and Ragin Cajun gone along with Goliath about to open, the park really has no bad coasters.
I never got to ride Iron Wolf, but I really don't know why a lot of people didn't like Ragin' Cajun. Sure, it had bad capacity, but I only rode it once, and I still enjoyed it much better than TDK which is a complete POS in my opinion. Honestly, I'd rather have seen it go than RC.
Chitown wrote:With IW and Ragin Cajun gone along with Goliath about to open, the park really has no bad coasters.
I never got to ride Iron Wolf, but I really don't know why a lot of people didn't like Ragin' Cajun. Sure, it had bad capacity, but I only rode it once, and I still enjoyed it much better than TDK which is a complete POS in my opinion. Honestly, I'd rather have seen it go than RC.
I rode ragin Cajun once and my neck hurt like crazy after cause of all of the spinning and sudden turns. At least the dark knight doesn't fling you around all the time give you whiplash lol
Chitown wrote:With IW and Ragin Cajun gone along with Goliath about to open, the park really has no bad coasters.
I never got to ride Iron Wolf, but I really don't know why a lot of people didn't like Ragin' Cajun. Sure, it had bad capacity, but I only rode it once, and I still enjoyed it much better than TDK which is a complete POS in my opinion. Honestly, I'd rather have seen it go than RC.
What is so bad about Dark Knight? As long as you know ahead of time it's a wild mouse, which I assume you did before you rode it, its not something to be disappointed in. Unless you find it rough, but I can't possibly think that's why as you liked RC which Is way more rough. It's a wild mouse with some effects...and it does it's job fine.
Chitown wrote:With IW and Ragin Cajun gone along with Goliath about to open, the park really has no bad coasters.
I never got to ride Iron Wolf, but I really don't know why a lot of people didn't like Ragin' Cajun. Sure, it had bad capacity, but I only rode it once, and I still enjoyed it much better than TDK which is a complete POS in my opinion. Honestly, I'd rather have seen it go than RC.
What is so bad about Dark Knight? As long as you know ahead of time it's a wild mouse, which I assume you did before you rode it, its not something to be disappointed in. Unless you find it rough, but I can't possibly think that's why as you liked RC which Is way more rough. It's a wild mouse with some effects...and it does it's job fine.
To answer your question JT3 -
TDK is unbelievably boring, rough, and the picture pretty much blinds you. - Guy_With_A_Stick
Best and most accurate description of TDK ever
I liked RC more because the spinning added to the thrill and it really wasn't rough for me. It was stupid for the park to put in two Wild Mice in the first place
[\quote] I never got to ride Iron Wolf, but I really don't know why a lot of people didn't like Ragin' Cajun. Sure, it had bad capacity, but I only rode it once, and I still enjoyed it much better than TDK which is a complete POS in my opinion. Honestly, I'd rather have seen it go than RC.[/quote]
What is so bad about Dark Knight? As long as you know ahead of time it's a wild mouse, which I assume you did before you rode it, its not something to be disappointed in. Unless you find it rough, but I can't possibly think that's why as you liked RC which Is way more rough. It's a wild mouse with some effects...and it does it's job fine.[/quote]
To answer your question JT3 -
TDK is unbelievably boring, rough, and the picture pretty much blinds you. - Guy_With_A_Stick
Best and most accurate description of TDK ever
I liked RC more because the spinning added to the thrill and it really wasn't rough for me. It was stupid for the park to put in two Wild Mice in the first place[/quote]
Not to mention they were about 200 feet away from each other
I love going on the Dark Knight with my nephew. He is just starting to go on the coasters and he appreciates a ride like TDKC. It is perfect for him. Even I enjoy it - because he does.
I cannot believe it will be 3 years since X Flight was added. Seems like yesterday. Best possible addition to the park when we badly needed one.
Guy_With_A_Stick wrote:^Do you have a link? From what I remember, they were to get a woodie, a B&M hyper and an Intamin Impulse. I have no recollection of an X-Flight clone.
Markings are already showing up where the Impulse coaster is supposed to go.
Really interesting to see how varied people's opinions are on X-Flight. Some people have it as their number 1 or 2 at the park and others seem to generally not care for it too much.
My opinion: It's not the BEST coaster in the park, but a solid one for sure. I use to think it was short but with Goliath and now The Joker recently added, that thought no longer crosses my mind. Really neat layout and the wing-over drop has always been a favorite of mine. Not to mention the thematic elements and awesome safety spiel and music. It's currently tied with Batman for my #4/#5 coaster at the park. I'll never understand why having a bit of a "Rattle" is a big deal for some people. :p
Turning the water jets back on is still near the top of my SFGAm wishlist, however. Adds alot to the experience
Side Note: X-Flight celebrates it's 5th anniversary next week
Though when X-Flight was built, I thought it would be the next Batman: The Ride, but it must not have done as well as they wanted or thought. Odd for Cedar Fair to pick up the direct clone though.
Favorite @ SFGAm - Eagle ~ Favorite Steel - Skyrush ~ Favorite Wood - El Toro 35 Rides on Eagle in 2015 68 Rides on Eagle in 2016 102 Rides on Eagle in 2017 9 Rides on Eagle in 2018