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Official Goliath Thread

Talk about anything that has to do with Six Flags Great America and Hurricane Harbor here.
Postby stockboy300 on October 16th, 2013, 11:48 am
Don't get me wrong I'm excited about Goliath but what's the big deal about making wood coaster do what steel coaster has been doing for years! It has to be way cheaper to build. It has to cost more to maintain wood then steel. I would of liked a little more of a creative name. Did they have a name suggestion contest?

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Postby GoBears on October 16th, 2013, 1:41 pm
stockboy300 wrote:Don't get me wrong I'm excited about Goliath but what's the big deal about making wood coaster do what steel coaster has been doing for years! It has to be way cheaper to build. It has to cost more to maintain wood then steel. I would of liked a little more of a creative name. Did they have a name suggestion contest?

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They chose Goliath because it was fitting with the first drop being the biggest of any wooden coaster in the world and they already have that name trademarked. I do agree that I wish it had a unique name but in the end, it's the coaster experience itself that matters, not so much the name. Wooden coasters are cheaper to build initially but can be much more costly to maintain each season compared to steel coasters. However, since this uses topper track, that should reduce the cost to maintain this significantly compared to a traditional wooden coaster.

Just because this has a couple elements that are found on steel coasters (like the dive loop) I'm assuming this will feel entirely different than a steel coaster. Also, just because it has inversions doesn't necessarily mean it will feel like a steel coaster, even though it does have topper track. Plus, they can market this ride to death since it breaks 3 world records. SFGAm loves that. :D
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Postby FParker185 on October 16th, 2013, 7:14 pm
Only RMCC so far uses pre-cast footers, though they are cast at the park. I'm told there are 2 rows of forms somehwere in or around the employee lot.
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Postby Sporlo on October 16th, 2013, 10:08 pm
FParker185 wrote:Only RMCC so far uses pre-cast footers, though they are cast at the park. I'm told there are 2 rows of forms somehwere in or around the employee lot.

You mean RMC? If anything it would be RMCG.
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Postby Goliath72165 on October 17th, 2013, 10:41 am
I honestly think that Goliath will be VERY underrated like X Flight & Superman Ultimate Flight
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Postby x-flight on October 17th, 2013, 10:51 am
Goliath will be an okay ride really intense but that's about it not much hang time just a very fast intense

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Postby CoasterMike on October 17th, 2013, 10:53 am
[quote="x-flight"]Goliath will be an okay ride really intense but that's about it not much hang time just a very fast intense

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It seems like Raging Bull and Viper are the only two roller coasters that are not underrated.
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Postby x-flight on October 17th, 2013, 11:06 am
My favorites will always be AE and Shockwave R.I.P.

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Postby CoasterMike on October 17th, 2013, 11:26 am
Well one thing is for sure, when Goliath is completed, it will put SFGAm on the map. SFGAm really doesn't have a ride that really stands out. Goliath will stand out because it will be the fastest wooden coaster, have the steepest drop on a wood coaster, and will have the tallest/longest drop on a wood coaster.
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Postby GoBears on October 17th, 2013, 1:24 pm
I think I'm looking forward to the first drop more than the zero-g stall element. Both look insane though!
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Postby AirTimeDaz on October 17th, 2013, 6:45 pm
GoBears wrote:I think I'm looking forward to the first drop more than the zero-g stall element. Both look insane though!


The stall seems interesting. I hope the sensation is a pleasant surpise, and I'm looking forward to the 1st drop too, but I'm also looking forward to the zero g float. With the speed of the train going over that small hill, That thing has to pull some serious out-of-your-seat neg g's! :shock:
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Postby Sporlo on October 17th, 2013, 6:49 pm
I think the dive loop will take the cake.
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Postby Iron Wolf 90-11 on October 17th, 2013, 7:03 pm
New Goliath Merchandise
Image
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Postby GoBears on October 17th, 2013, 7:24 pm
Iron Wolf 90-11 wrote:New Goliath Merchandise
Image


I can't see the photo but they have merchandise for it now? I checked Sunday at the gift shops but I didn't see anything.
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Postby DeathbyDinn on October 17th, 2013, 7:26 pm
Image

Looks like the shirts the ride ops have been wearing.
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Postby GoBears on October 17th, 2013, 7:31 pm
^Is that in Carousel Gifts, Flags, or another place? I checked CG and Flags this past Sunday and saw nothing unless they added this Monday or today.

Edit: Never mind, I just saw SFGAm's tweet. I guess I just missed the mark. Oh well, I'll have to pick up a shirt next season. :)
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Postby Sporlo on October 23rd, 2013, 4:19 pm
Convenient webcam:
http://live30.truelook.com/index.jsp?js=yes&name=/sixflags/webcam&width=1&height=1&ptz=yes
If you would like to use Flash for a few extra features, change the "js=yes" to "flash=yes".

As far as I can tell it's impossible to get the nice feature we had with X-Flight where you could just go to a URL and it would return the latest image without all the viewer bloat.
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Postby DeathbyDinn on October 23rd, 2013, 7:29 pm
^ You can get that by clicking save image.
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Postby Sporlo on October 23rd, 2013, 11:51 pm
Nope. I meant get the latest image WITHOUT relying on the viewer. The last webcam gave you the ability to get the latest image without even using the viewer. The URL that you get from the Save Image button is just an archived image, and there's no predictable way to get future images without revisiting the viewer.
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Postby CoasterMike on October 27th, 2013, 10:37 pm
I have a feeling that the track and supports are both going to sway/move ALOT under the stress/weight of the trains and the riders. I think the track is going to sway the MOST in the top hat, the inverted loop and over-banked turns. I also heard that the more the track sways, the rougher it gets. I would honesty not be surprised is the track moves as bad as the old Rattler's at SFFT.
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Postby Goliath72165 on October 27th, 2013, 10:47 pm
CoasterMike wrote:I have a feeling that the track and supports are both going to sway/move ALOT under the stress/weight of the trains and the riders. I think the track is going to sway the MOST in the top hat, the inverted loop and over-banked turns. I also heard that the more the track sways, the rougher it gets. I would honesty not be surprised is the track moves as bad as the old Rattler's at SFFT.


I honesty don't think it will sway as much as Rattler's track however, I could be wrong. It is perfectly normal and safe (which a lot of people don't think so) for the track to move as the train/car passes by. ALL roller coaster tracks are designed to say/move. If the track didn't sway, the track would snap. Try to think of it like your elbow. Your elbow bends up and down. If I were to drop a 50lb weight on it, your elbow would bend down. If your elbow didn't bend and I were to drop a 50lb weight on it, it would snap/break. Same concept. I hope that helped.
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Postby CoasterMike on October 27th, 2013, 10:51 pm
Goliath72165 wrote:
CoasterMike wrote:I have a feeling that the track and supports are both going to sway/move ALOT under the stress/weight of the trains and the riders. I think the track is going to sway the MOST in the top hat, the inverted loop and over-banked turns. I also heard that the more the track sways, the rougher it gets. I would honesty not be surprised is the track moves as bad as the old Rattler's at SFFT.


I honesty don't think it will sway as much as Rattler's track however, I could be wrong. It is perfectly normal and safe (which a lot of people don't think so) for the track to move as the train/car passes by. ALL roller coaster tracks are designed to say/move. If the track didn't sway, the track would snap. Try to think of it like your elbow. Your elbow bends up and down. If I were to drop a 50lb weight on it, your elbow would bend down. If your elbow didn't bend and I were to drop a 50lb weight on it, it would snap/break. Same concept. I hope that helped.


I knew that all roller coasters are designed to sway however, I did not know that if the track didn't sway, it would snap. Thanks for sharing that interesting fact with me. I'll know next time I witness/see any roller coaster track move I'll know why and why it is a good thing. Thanks again.
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Postby Goliath72165 on October 27th, 2013, 11:01 pm
I think another section of Goliath where the track will probably sway the most is the inverted zero-g stall. Yes, the more the track sways, the rougher it gets. I'm sure if the ride gets really bad, they would refurnish the track like Holiday World did with the Voyage in 2011.
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Postby CoasterMike on October 27th, 2013, 11:14 pm
Goliath72165 wrote:I think another section of Goliath where the track will probably sway the most is the inverted zero-g stall. Yes, the more the track sways, the rougher it gets. I'm sure if the ride gets really bad, they would refurnish the track like Holiday World did with the Voyage in 2011.


Also I heard that wooden roller coasters actually adjust to the environment. In the morning the ride would be different than the afternoon, if its raining the wood will expand and if it is in a period of drought, the wood will contrast. Another effect is temperature, when it is hot outside the wood expands and when it is cold outside, the wood will contrast. That is one of the reasons why I love wooden roller coasters so much is because the track and supports itself are both a living structure.

This is going to be off topic however, V2's spiral sways like CRAZY! If you stand at the exit line and watch it very closely, you will see how bad/much it actually sways. The spiral even sways in the wind.
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Postby JimPanky on October 28th, 2013, 6:51 am
Ride AE in day, night, and rain. Completely different rides. I prefer it at night or in rain.
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