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Today I had the opportunity to ride Six Flags New England's Wicked Cyclone. I must say it blew away my expectations in terms of thrill and was overall an amazing ride. In other words, we were only able to ride the coaster twice. This was mainly because there were many problems with the make shift 'Ride Cam' and it caused the Ride Op's to have to re-position and reattach the device many times. For the first half of the preview, this caused the ride to only dispatch every 20-40 minutes or so. Still, the ride was worth it and made for a really nice addition to the park. Without further a-do lets got on about the ride itself!
The Ceremony
The Ceremony was really good! At the start, they introduced several important people, where they gave their opinion and viewpoint of the ride and the details that went into creating it. After that, Jennifer Mcgrawth (I believe she's a president?) talked about the scenery and the work put into the ride. As the Ceremony went on, the word about the ride being intense was getting much more noticed. After this Jennifer talked about how several meteorologists were onboard and ready to conquer the storm. Near the end the of Ceremony, the mic cut out into a radio broadcast. The broadcast was about a major storm hitting New England, as this was said they made it clear that the Storm Chasers were dispatching. At this point you would see the riders leaving the station and going around the turnaround into the lift. As the ride reached the top, confetti exploded throughout the area and the ride was confirmed open. This was my first Media Day Ceremony, and in the end I really enjoyed the suspense it held before we boarded ourselves.
Theming
This was the biggest flop of the ride. In pictures, articles and even news reports, there was talk about 'great' theming throughout the ride. This was supposed to give the riders the idea of walking through a storm (as we know already). Even during the Media Day Ceremony, they talked about the theming as if it was one of the biggest factors of the coaster. This made me hopeful for cool scenery and quality stuff to look at while in queue. This was widely not the case, there was about a total of 5 sets of scenery throughout the ride. A small boat, a plane with its tip inside the station building, the Storm Vehicle, A small satellite and some station theming were the best of what I can find. Besides this, the queue line was almost identical to the old Cyclone, besides another queue area near the section between the two rolls. Overall, the whole theming aspect was a flop and made little to no impact on the ride itself.
Trains
To those who have never ridden an RMC, the trains are a big piece of the ride. These in particular caught my attention from the detail put into them. It may not seem like much but I truly thought they looked great. Though the real question most of you are wondering is, Are they comfy? The answer is yes. Saying 'yes' doesn't really cover it, as they are REALLY comfy. It's almost like sitting in a car seat, the shaping of the seat is pretty spot on to how you would normally sit so it almost feels natural. The lap bars were really nice as well. Like the seats, the lap bars were good enough to sit firmly on your legs without being uncomfortable, and throughout the ride it felt as if it wasn't there. Even the airtime hills (which were very forceful) were rather comfortable even in the more extreme portions. The only bad thing I can say is that the 'Shin Guards' Or 'Leg Holders' were a bit uncomfortable, but then again, I barely noticed them after the ride started.
The Ride
This will be the longest portion of the review, and I will try to split it up into sections explaining the sensation of all the elements. First, let me say that this ride was incredibly smooth, I've never ridden an RMC before, but this was by far the smoothest roller coaster I have ever ridden. It felt more like gliding on ice, rather than on a track. There were no pumps, although there were sections that threw you around like crazy. The ride starts out with a turnaround into the lift hill. Something I didn't notice until now was that the lift hill was really steep! It had you facing the sky and definitely added to the anticipation of the ride. After reaching the top, you would plummet down the 78 degree drop into the overbank. Sadly, I didn't find the drop as thrilling as the rest of the ride, same with the overbank as you were basically glued to your seat throughout it. Then we went over the first airtime hill and at that split second I knew the ride was going to become much more bezerk!
The first airtime hill was really forceful, and the Zero G stall that followed it was just as great. The extra 20 degrees on the stall were unnoticeable, although it was nevertheless surprising and fun. The overbank / turnaround following it was pretty exciting, and definitely hauled into the double down. This was the first moment of intense airtime, the first down was sharp and quick. But the second down definitely had sustained negative G's. The hill that followed it was just as insane, as well. Overall I feel that these two hills held around -1 G's, although I may be wrong as I am not very good at measuring G's. The next turnaround was also very intense. The turnaround started with a 'whip' to the left (I'm calling it that because you are literally thrown into the turn). This was followed by the train banking in the opposite direction, giving another insane airtime hill, then back in the original direction. This turnaround was followed by the first full Zero G Roll. What I liked about this element was the sustained Zero G's. To me it felt like hangtime, but I couldn't really tell. Nevertheless it was still intense and led up to what I think is the most extreme portion of the ride.
The next portion was the turnaround, the double reversing airtime hill ( lets call it DRAH), and the 2nd Zero G roll (Which felt more like a barrel roll). In my opinion, this section was the most extreme bit of the ride. You seemed to haul over the airtime hill and directly into the turnaround. The turnaround itself wasn't that extreme, but it felt fast. The most intense part of the journey was the DRAH by far, (Again, in my opinion). When we were riding, we expected it to be sort of tame, but because of the speed and forgetfulness, we forgot about the element in all. When we reached it, it felt like the car was beginning to bank in the other direction, before sharply (and quickly) whipping us in the complete opposite direction, then throwing us back into the normal set course. This gave us insane airtime but the 'whip' itself was what made it really intense. This was followed by the final inversion, a Zero G roll (Which again felt to me like a Barrel Roll). Similar to the other Zero G roll, it had some sick hangtime but was quick enough to not feel like it was crawling through the element. The final turnaround was pretty tame, and to me felt like a breather compared to the rest of the ride. This does not mean that it isn't crazy, because it is. The second outward banked airtime hill was just as intense as the first and the fact that it was followed by another airtime hill gave it the 'constant intensity' effect throughout the course of the ride. Finally as a side note, the head choppers were really intense in some parts (especially through the airtime hill on the first Zero G roll).
The brakerun was smooth too.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this ride was really awesome and I very much enjoyed riding it during Media Day. It was no where near as slow as I thought it would be and definitely met up to my expectations. This ride definitely hits my #1 for various reasons, and I can't wait to spend my whole summer riding it. Lastly, I give a big thanks to Oscar, The Owner of CoasterCrazy for inviting me to go, it was really a blast!
Here are some pictures of the event:
The entrance to the ride was just as expected, although it still makes a nice touch with the train flying above it.
As I said, the scenery as not that great. Although either way it was a nice touch to the ride.
The Storm Chaser's Vehicle was in the same area as well, pretty cool!
They put everyone in the middle area where the Satellite and the Van were located, this is where the Ceremony took place.
Something I didn't know until I rode was that the lift was INSANELY steep!
Beauty Shot of the Zero G Stall.
When I saw this the first thing I thought was: 'Nolimits Auto Wooden Supports?'
The first time riding, we got right up to the stairs. Guess you can say we were pretty close to the first public riders!
A nice look into the station, the walls were detailed with what seemed to be storm accidents and reports of different events, all pointed towards the 'Wicked Cyclone'.
Another view of the station.
I was also able to get a good shot of the shop merchandise. Really cool shirts, I might buy one this year.
Another beauty shot of this amazing ride.
One of the more extreme parts of the ride, a 'Whip' into the Zero G Stall.
This was my attempt at getting a good picture of the train going over an airtime hill. For comparison, my phone has a 2 second delay when taking pictures, I tried several times but the train would come way too fast!
If you look closely you can see the Emblem on the Lift Structure, it also lights up at night for those who didn't know, Cool!
Another Beauty shot from the top of the stairs.
Here is also a couple of quick videos I took of the ride.
Those are all the pictures I have now, but I promise to take much more, as well as constantly updating this thread the more I ride.
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