X-Flight new for 2012

[Iron Wolf 90-11]

Friday was very crowded because of physics day. At one point X-Flights line went all the way to kidzopolis even after all of the queues were used.

[Sporlo]

After all my plans fell through for the last two weeks, I finally got to ride X-Flight yesterday.
I only got 1 ride in by getting in line before 10am, because by the time I got off, the line wasn't massive just yet, but the rate of growth was very high.

I'll try not to give a speech about what I thought, but...

I rode far right, back row, not by choice; a guy was manually splitting the line. Now, nothing about this ride is intense at all (relative to other SFGAm rides). Sure, the helix was cool, but it definitely was not comparable to anything on Bull. What I really appreciated about X-Flight is just the uniqueness of its elements. Of course, you'll find all these elements on other rides, but NOT at SFGAm. It's FUN, not INTENSE. I'm perfectly ok with that, and I don't imagine the ride will get old anytime soon, especially considering the diversity of seating locations. I also agree that the misting caution-themed support is more fun to pass through than the control tower itself.
Regarding the people who were complaining about the bumping around: you can see it clearly visually from the ground, but after feeling it myself, I honestly don't think you can do much about that. The vibrations are very low frequency, so it's not painful at all, but the fact that you're sitting on the edge of a cantilever, those low frequencies are just being amplified. From a design perspective, I'd imagine that you'd have to add unnecessary weight to the wings to dampen the vibrations.
As for the vests, I think if you just keep it loose at the beginning when they're locked into place, it's not too tight.

[Patch]

Saw xflight on good morning america yesterday! Really good coverage and funny how one of the newscasters was scared out of his mind to ride

But on the newscast they said "Its xflight. The currently most intense ride in the country"

Most intense? I beg to differ.

[SFGAm Viper]

It's a tv show. They always hype things up like that.

[Galvan]

X-Flight is a tale of 2 rides depending on which side of the train you sit on.

The side closest to Raging Bull for example, is less intense then the side nearest the course of the ride.


The "X-Flight" side is far more intense then the other side and makes for a dramatically different ride.

[Falcon]

^ I would have to agree. The Right side is better than the left. But honestly each row gives a different ride.

[CoasterZ]

^ I would have to agree. The Right side is better than the left. But honestly each row gives a different ride.

see i disagree.... i sat far back left and far back right... both on the outside seat. I found the demon side MUCH more intense and also the fact i didnt get shot in the face with water bullets. But a friend of mine rode it yesterday in the second row and said it is really tame and she was disappointed...

i loved the ride. its a good addition and belive it or not the capacity is not to bad. The crew on wed was flying people in and out of that station and did a really great job overall.

[Falcon]

That just shows how different all of the seats are. Next time I go I'll have to try some new ones.

[mikedoyleblogger]

A little late to the party...but yesterday I decided to head to the park after work to give x flight a go and I must say I'm pleasantly surprised. Only complaints I had was the "lagging" feeling of the second zero g from the front rows and the relatively low speed on the barrel roll. I suppose thats part of the gimmick, but the whole knocking around feeling I feel will get old and hurt the ride in the long run.
As for the restraints, I saw no issues and if anything found them quite comfortable. I got a good chuckle out of a really big girl that waited for row 1 and was forced to switch out with the people in row 4. When the crew told her why, she came off offended like she didn't know she was big.
The crew is doing a pretty good job already, and if anything will get even better with time. The GP will eat this ride up for years to come.

It's not cool to take pleasure in someone ending up ridiculed in public over their weight, and it's even less cool to brag about it here.

[ilrider]

I've never had them measure my kids with their shoes off. If she is at 54 inches with shoes, she should be good to go. If she is a bit short, as a parent, I would say just wait. It's a safety issue. They may not even measure. It is pretty hit and miss on any ride. My kids are all crazy coaster riders at young ages too.

Ok thanks for the response. . I'm hoping she goes through alittle growth spurt this summer so i'll just wait and see how tall she is once September comes around and go from there. . we went to the Mall of America last friday and I couldn't get her off the Rock Bottom Plunge and she has seen all the xflight and other coaster videos. . i was alittle nervous the first round on that coaster but once we kept riding it I got less paranoid but I'm with ya i'm alittle worried just cause they are a lot bigger coasters so I want to make sure she will be safe. . she is a very petite girl as well but as long as she is tall enough she should be ok? she has no fear with coasters LOL

As long as she meets the minimum height requirements and her restraints are secured tightly enough, roller coasters are one of the safest methods of transport that exist! My 3-year-old son is already riding Demon and also has no fear on coasters. We didn't let him on Demon until he asked one day, and he loves it!

That Rock Bottom Plunge is a fun coaster.

[TunaSled]

A little late to the party...but yesterday I decided to head to the park after work to give x flight a go and I must say I'm pleasantly surprised. Only complaints I had was the "lagging" feeling of the second zero g from the front rows and the relatively low speed on the barrel roll. I suppose thats part of the gimmick, but the whole knocking around feeling I feel will get old and hurt the ride in the long run.
As for the restraints, I saw no issues and if anything found them quite comfortable. I got a good chuckle out of a really big girl that waited for row 1 and was forced to switch out with the people in row 4. When the crew told her why, she came off offended like she didn't know she was big.
The crew is doing a pretty good job already, and if anything will get even better with time. The GP will eat this ride up for years to come.

It's not cool to take pleasure in someone ending up ridiculed in public over their weight, and it's even less cool to brag about it here.

Being directed to switch to a row that is compliant with her size is being 'ridiculed'? On almost any other coaster she wouldn't have had a seat at all. I call this being accommodated, not ridiculed.

[Patch]

Why is everyone saying the back row is the best?

At media day, I rode in every row except the first row. I heard poeple saying "Back is so awesome!" So i decided to ride there. The drop seemed anticlimactic aswhen sitting in the back you speed through the drop. Only real good parts are the lag you get on the zero g rolls and immelman (or however you spell it).

When sitting in the front, or near the front, you get a ton of lag going through the drop and your hung upsidedown for longer. So I say front > back

Also whats up with the queue? I pictured it to be much much bigger but from what I saw on media day it's pretty small.

Any thoughts?

[CoasterNick3157]

They got this in that one open spot that was a good viewing area.

[CoasterDemon]

Also whats up with the queue? I pictured it to be much much bigger but from what I saw on media day it's pretty small.

Any thoughts?

I say go with a small queue. They may have finally got it close to 'right'. The need/argument for a HUGE queue complete with a thousand back-and-forths, its that it's needed to keep people off the midway. There is something about the psychology of a HUGE queue. At some point, the quotient of amount of folks you piss off compared to your queue length... ehhh.. I don't know how to explain it

Anyone remember the American Eagle queue under the circus tent? That was fine with 6 trains with drop bars, but not so good for 4 or less trains with 4 restraints per seat.

I vote for short queues. If the ride is popular and the line is long, let it run out along the midway. People will say it's too long and come back later. There are some not so complex mathematical quotients involved with amount of switch-backs you have, queue time, number of people per hour, number of people in line, etc., etc., and the psychology of it all.

[Iron Wolf 90-11]

I remeber the American Eagle queue that went under the circus tent. It was always fun to just walk through all of them even though they weren't used.

[RagingFanatic]

Quick question:

By early June, do any of you think/know if there will be a Flash Pass entrance? My friends and I are getting one and we wanted to know. Thanks!

[jwlnroe]

Quick question:

By early June, do any of you think/know if there will be a Flash Pass entrance? My friends and I are getting one and we wanted to know. Thanks!

hopefully someone else can also answer this but this is what I found on the flash pass page

**X Flight is only available on Platinum THE FLASH Passes. You will only get one ride on X Flight and your ride time must be reserved when you pick up your THE FLASH Pass at the park.

[CstrFan512]

Rode it yesterday for the first time. My friends and I were the first ones to ride it that day. And I've got a video to prove it But overall great ride. Theming, line, and just the look of the coaster are all very good. Six Flags did a great job.

[Stoogie]

A little late to the party...but yesterday I decided to head to the park after work to give x flight a go and I must say I'm pleasantly surprised. Only complaints I had was the "lagging" feeling of the second zero g from the front rows and the relatively low speed on the barrel roll. I suppose thats part of the gimmick, but the whole knocking around feeling I feel will get old and hurt the ride in the long run.
As for the restraints, I saw no issues and if anything found them quite comfortable. I got a good chuckle out of a really big girl that waited for row 1 and was forced to switch out with the people in row 4. When the crew told her why, she came off offended like she didn't know she was big.
The crew is doing a pretty good job already, and if anything will get even better with time. The GP will eat this ride up for years to come.

It's not cool to take pleasure in someone ending up ridiculed in public over their weight, and it's even less cool to brag about it here.

Being directed to switch to a row that is compliant with her size is being 'ridiculed'? On almost any other coaster she wouldn't have had a seat at all. I call this being accommodated, not ridiculed.

The one thing that I did notice on the trains is that when the train enters a hard transition fast like thread thru the tower, each set of wheels has a large gap between them and the tubelar track, so when the train flips over, you can feel the wheels hit the track as the train rotates around the track. I wish I could film it and show you what i mean.

[rct2wizard360]

The one thing that I did notice on the trains is that when the train enters a hard transition fast like thread thru the tower, each set of wheels has a large gap between them and the tubelar track, so when the train flips over, you can feel the wheels hit the track as the train rotates around the track. I wish I could film it and show you what i mean.

Interesting you say this because I thought B&M was the only manufacturer who has all three wheels touching the track at once. Or was that some stupid lie I was fed at the age of fourteen?

[Stoogie]

no matter where I sat on the train, if i could see the wheels, I noticed it everytime.

[FParker185]

The side wheels and upstops are "spring" loaded and remain on contact with the track pretty much at all times, though with the weight suspended from the upstops at certain points they will spring back and create a gap. I personally didn't notice it, but I think it'd be pretty expected.

Also as for the queue, historically SFGAm builds the queue for roller coasters to hold a one hour line based on the theoretic capacity. Since the capacity on X Flight is quite low, the queue wasn't built very big, though on media day it felt like the queue was bigger than it probably should be, even without the overflow that they threw together. It doesnt always work out especially on a ride like Deja Vu where the best hours they ever had ended up being approx 1/3-1/2 of the theoretic which was around 1000 an hour, so they ended up with a 3 hour queue block, and of course Superman which simply reused Shockwave's queue.

[BURTONxBLUNT]

Quick question:

By early June, do any of you think/know if there will be a Flash Pass entrance? My friends and I are getting one and we wanted to know. Thanks!

hopefully someone else can also answer this but this is what I found on the flash pass page

**X Flight is only available on Platinum THE FLASH Passes. You will only get one ride on X Flight and your ride time must be reserved when you pick up your THE FLASH Pass at the park.

This is true only platinum flash passes can be used on xflight and starting price for one person is $90 and for a second person is $170 so if you only go once a year than its a good deal but not worth it if you go more than once

[CoasterDemon]

Also as for the queue, historically SFGAm builds the queue for roller coasters to hold a one hour line based on the theoretic capacity

That explains the redunkulous queue built for Little Dipper. A related complaint - good lord could they stop the train a few more times before coming into the station? It would have been nice to keep the hand brake when they moved it. OR add a second train for busy days. And why has the ride still not broken in? Did they build the gauge THAT tight? Man, that thing flew at Kiddieland....

I think it's GREAT they rebuilt it at Great America, but the operation is pathetic.

(Edit - I apologize in advance for once again getting off topic. If it offends or annoys anyone...)

[FParker185]

I think it runs relatively similar to how it ran at Kiddieland. I'm positive they changed it's operation due to insurance, no SF ride is ever manually run, if a PLC can't monitor the ride then they can't run it. It's definitely not ideal, but better than nothing. Also after a bunch of collisions on Thunderbolt at SFNE, basically if a ride has skid brakes in the Six Flags chain, then it's doomed to single train op. With skids, all it takes is a light mist to cause a collision with an untrained ride op or a PLC that expects the exact same results every time it cycles. I hate it, but it's def a give and take kind of situation.