Official Goliath Thread

[Iron Wolf 90-11]

http://abc7chicago.com/news/eyewitness- ... 81/128837/
From ABC, talking about how now Goliath is new and there is a video from 1981 when American Eagle was new. Just thought it was pretty cool and worth a watch.

[Jodon]

I'm at the park right now and it has closed with Goliath's line at 2 hours. And they just announced that there is only one train for the rest of the night. This could take a good long while to clear the line. Gonna be a late night.


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[UWW-10]

^Yikes! Seems to be some issues with the trains (or maybe a certain train in particular??).....at the rate these issues tend to be popping up, there's a long bumpy road ahead of the park.

Not being able to run the ride at full capacity....or only being able to run in spurts....makes me wonder if RMC will be back out making adjustments (if the park isn't already in communication with them)

[Jodon]

Fwiw, the red train is in operation while the orange train is under the break run.


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[BURTONxBLUNT]

Orange train had another /blowout/ with one of the wheels.....

[scottydoesknow]

I almost went for a 3rd ride tonight, glad I didn't with the breakdown. I was getting cold and hungry, haha. Although that last ride would've been a night ride...

[Sporlo]

Rode Goliath for the first time tonight (Sunday 22nd). Got in line ~7:30, waited ~2.5 hours to ride. Overall? Amazing. Every part of the ride is FUN, and each part of the ride is distinct (which creates the excellent pacing). Short? Sure, you notice it a bit, but nothing you can't peg on X-Flight or Batman or Superman too.
I rode 2nd to last row (an op was manually sorting us), which probably contributed to my amazement at all the negative G forces.

Favorite element? The drop. It just keeps angling downward! Next favorite was the dive loop. It has an incredible transition (smooth), and taking the plunge is so fun, ESPECIALLY with the head choppers all the way down. Next favorite would be the inverted stall. I gotta say the stall's CRISPNESS is incredible. Hats off to RMC for making it so clean and sharp (sharp in a good way, not a rough sharpness).

So I guess even if Goliath is short-ish, there is definitely no wasted space.


Now, as much as I think the ride itself is really really great, I found that the PARK'S handling of the ride seems less professional than X-Flight's opening. Goliath's logo seems amateurly put together (and put on things), and the signage looks a bit lame. I have no idea why a large chunk of the queue was unused (the square with the black shader), but perhaps they drained it late at night before we got there). Obviously dispatch times are terrible even at top speed, but I guess they're forced into that with the seatbelt/lapbar system. I'm not sure what's up with the constant train issues, and either way I guess it's not the park's business (yet at least).

I like the train design pretty well. I followed the advice and I didn't cut my legs under the seat, and they are pretty darn comfortable (I let myself hang out on the stall and it it felt great, no discomfort). The side padding IS really loose, as has been pointed out.

Now I just have to wait till the lines shorten up so I can ride it again in front row and during the day. However, I was super happy to ride it at night first. It was great hitting the elements with nothing visible at all except the wood lattice!

I almost forgot: are the boarding pass numbers only for the same day? I was 20k something, entering around 7:30, but the capacity all day was really low, so I wondered if the numbers had started earlier. So it seemed too high for just Sunday, but it seemed way too low for all the way back on Thursday.

Second question: are Goliath's train cars trailered or not?

[ChicagoCoasterGuy]

^Yikes! Seems to be some issues with the trains (or maybe a certain train in particular??).....at the rate these issues tend to be popping up, there's a long bumpy road ahead of the park.

Not being able to run the ride at full capacity....or only being able to run in spurts....makes me wonder if RMC will be back out making adjustments (if the park isn't already in communication with them)

Orange train had another /blowout/ with one of the wheels.....

Confirmed?


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[RobSFGAm]

Yes it was a right rear wheel (from the perspective of if you were ridding it). You could hear it as well as smell it as well.
When i got off you could see the polyurethane streached a bit and hanging off the rear wheel as well on the transfer track.
Took them 15 minutes to get the train into the transfer track and it re-opened again at 9 pm w/1 train.

[Jodon]

I was at the park yesterday and got to the park at 10 and there was no rope holding people back. I walked immediately to Goliath and they were already queuing people and handing out tickets. When I finally got into the queue block, I was at the end off the permanent block by the entrance. Once the park opened the wait was just about an hour.

Does anyone know if this is going to be Great America's MO at opening? If I would have known that they wouldn't have a rope drop, I would have tried to get to the park earlier. I will say that yesterday was Catholic Family Day and they had a mass in the picnic grove at 9:30 so they might have had the walkways open for that reason.

Anyone know if they will continue to queue before the park opens at 10:30? If so, how early do they allow people to queue?


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[CoasterMike]

If you guys aren't aware, Outlaw Run had many of the same wheel issues that Goliath is having when it first opened. It also had a lot of down time as well.

[DejaVu2001]

^ Um, no. Outlaw Run did not have the same wheel issues as Goliath when it opened, because Outlaw Run did not run polyurethane wheels. Please do not pretend to have any inside information about any ride and then be wrong about a basic fact.

[Jodon]

I doubt it had the same issues as Outlaw Run uses steel wheels not the polyurethane/nylon covered wheels of Goliath. Not to say that there weren't issues with both coasters wheels just not in the way Goliath is experiencing issues.

I also noticed on Media Day and yesterday that there are having a very difficult time keeping the padding on the coaster. They even have a roll of Velcro up by the control panel to use when an issue comes up.


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[kossdude1]

Velcro is a horrible way to keep this padding on in my opinion. It almost seems like using snap on buttons would be much of an improvement. Like, attached one end to the train and the other to the back of the padding, then just snap them together...

[CoasterMike]

I want to apologize about saying Outlaw Run had wheel issues. Someone mentioned that on Facebook and I guess they don't know what they were talking about. I trust you guys a lot more.

[stockboy300]

Simple just change to steel wheels Goliath is deep in the park. The Eagle will still be louder.

[Jodon]

^^
No worries. Everyone makes mistakes here and there including myself.


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[ilrider]

Simple just change to steel wheels Goliath is deep in the park. The Eagle will still be louder.

I wondered last week if this might be the solution too, but keep in mind there are houses just north of the park, near Goliath, so I wonder if the increased noise might be a factor.

[Coaster Justin]

Simple just change to steel wheels Goliath is deep in the park. The Eagle will still be louder.

I wondered last week if this might be the solution too, but keep in mind there are houses just north of the park, near Goliath, so I wonder if the increased noise might be a factor.

Just go the CGAm method and install tunnels on the turnaround. C'mon you have to admit that it would be cool. Especially at night.

[ilrider]

Simple just change to steel wheels Goliath is deep in the park. The Eagle will still be louder.

I wondered last week if this might be the solution too, but keep in mind there are houses just north of the park, near Goliath, so I wonder if the increased noise might be a factor.

Just go the CGAm method and install tunnels on the turnaround. C'mon you have to admit that it would be cool. Especially at night.

And the first drop too, in true CGAm style? lol

[aesthyrian]

^ Um, no. Outlaw Run did not have the same wheel issues as Goliath when it opened, because Outlaw Run did not run polyurethane wheels. Please do not pretend to have any inside information about any ride and then be wrong about a basic fact.

What's the benefit of using these polyurethane wheels? They seem more dangerous. Is the only benefit really a quieter ride? I rather have banshee's screeching in my ear than a quiet coaster with wheels flying off. And really, isn't the true source of noise all the people screaming as they ride?

Is this the first ride RMC has done with polyurethane wheels? Any reason to not just use steel wheels before more polyurethane wheels end up failing, leading to a potential accident/lawsuit?

[DejaVu2001]

^ Just about every steel coaster runs polyurethane wheels. Steel wheels are a wood coaster thing. New Texas Giant and Iron Rattler run polyurethane wheels.

[CoasterMike]

How much longer will Goliath have that overflow queue line?

[DejaVu2001]

^ The mob will dictate that

[Sporlo]

I'm going to guess steel wheels would also affect the speed somewhat.

Another question: during normal operation, a man was painting what might have been oil or some other lube or lacquer on the track turn from the station to the base of the lift. Anyone know what/why?