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Gardaland / Raptor

Jake

Strata Poster
I'll start off with Raptor, as that's probably the only thing anyone is interested in, then I'll do the rest of the park...


Firstly, I'll start off with the major problem I have with this ride.

The seatbelts.

OK, I'm not exactly a size zero, but I had to take my wallet out of my pocket in order for the seatbelt to do up, even though the restraint was locked comfortably. The seats and restraints are great, sort of like air, where there is a seperate bit that moulds to you.

However, the seatbelts are only about 5cm long and are not adjustable. When you combine this with the fact that the restraints (like Colossus) head straight for the tops your legs, I saw several people who I wouldn't class as fat having to do the walk of shame simply because they had chunky thys/big hips. More annoyingly, I saw a couple of old men with big beer bellies coming off the ride fine simply because they had skinny legs.

Is there a reason for this? Why should such a major ride with large, comfortable seats that could accomodate even the largest of people, and lock safely, eliminate so many people because it doesn't have a bloody seat belt that you can adjust a couple of inches?

I really hope they learn from this, and the one at Thorpe is different, because in the UK especially I can see tons of people not being able to get on it, let alone in the states. Anybody who is planning on going here and feels like they need to lose a bit of weight, start now, as you may be in for a shock! It's for sure given me a kick up the arse, being that close to being rejected from a major coaster really worried me.

Anyway, apart from that, i'll give my review of the ride, followed by photos.


So,


It's pretty dull. It was walk on all day and I only rode it twice (front and back, inside and outside). The back is better, as you actually get a *bit* of a drop, but to be honest, it never feels like you're going above 30mph because there is such a drag on the huge trains. It honestly feels like you're going a constant speed throughout the entire ride, apart from the first drop in the very back.

Regarding roughness, I thought it was fine. It was slightly bouncy, but not like on rides such as Baco that give you a headache, more of a gentle bounce. It kind of feels like there's suspension or something. Plus, with the restraints, even if roughness does develop there won't be any headbanging at least.

That's really all there is to say really. It's quite meh, but at least it's pretty smooth and an 'easy' ride. I didn't find it very fun, because I felt that I was always expecting some sort of acceleration or something, but (especially at the front) you just feel like you're dragging the burden of the rest of the train around with you the whole time.

However, the GP seemed to like it, and it's a good addition for the park blah blah.

If anyone has any more questions, feel free to ask.

Photos:

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Messed up...

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So yep, that's it. I'll post the rest of the park later, just thought I'd get this up ASAP :).
 
You didn't mention anything about the interaction/close calls or theme on Raptor. Were those really not that noticeable?
 
Ahh yeah.

I think because you're revolving as you go through them, they're not as noticable as you'd think, but it's still a pretty cool effect. Although, I was fed up of barrel rolls by the time I got to the end, haha.
 
Do you think the main issue with the ride being dull is how drawn out everything is, or is it just not that great of a ride? In regards to the seat belts, I am assuming its something they could fix with relative ease if there are a lot of complaints about it. That really doesn't make much sense that it would have that problem because generally, B&M is big guy friendly.
 
I've just had my toast without butter, and now I'm drinking my coffee with skimmed milk. This is going to be a long 3 months, and better be worth the effort!
 
Hmm, you've been on many coasters, Jake, so obviously you know what's good and what isn't. However, people like coasters for different reasons so I'll make my own judgment when I visit in July.

I'm disappointed to hear it's pretty meh. Looks like I better start a diet, too!
 
Looks like I will be going on diet as well as I have problems on rides due to my legs :(

Cheers for the report Jake :)
 
I can see what your saying about it being meh, B&M smoothness combined with a relatively low speed, and then, drawn out elements due to seating position could perhaps be a bit meh.

I will pass proper judgement in July however, but my expectations are still the same, I expect nothing :)
 
Thanks for the report, by the way Jake!

Coastermaniac94 said:
^So does it lack intensity?

I'm not sure why you're directing that at me as I haven't been on Raptor. :) However, the video footage I've seen of it certainly looks like it's taking the elements very slowly.

I think LC12 could be a huge disappointment, but will still attract monster queues for years.

I think with B&M you need the intensity to go with the smoothness, you sort of get away with gentleness on Air because of its unusual ride position, but even though the wingrider is a new style for them, I don't think it's going to be enough.
 
Yeah, by all means don't take what I've said for fact. I usually try and forget what other people have said about a ride and make my own mind up when I ride it, for example Thirteen which I quite like.

Another thing I forgot to mention was the seating arrangement. Kind of like a Floorless, you're very aware of the gimmick when you first get on, but by the time you're half way up the lift hill you've forgotten about it. Also, because there are barely any forces, being on the end doesn't make a huge difference either. It works a LOT better on Baco because of the sheer speed of the ride.

Is there a chance it'll speed up over a few months? I seem to remember several coasters getting new wheels, and people were saying that it would take a while to 'break in'?

I think the main problem is that Raptor doesn't really do anything for me. I like speed, and if the speed isn't there I like some forces or crazyness instead. I quite like the final twist on Raptor, but the rest of the layout is just too samey. Turn, twist, turn, twist, turn, twist, each slower than the last.

I'm not totally slating the ride - It's a solid investment that will (hopefully) age gracefully and bring the Iti's in in droves. I'll let it off for being a Prototype too. It REALLY reminds me of Air in that respect. I think if you like air you'll like this (and vice versa). Also like air, without the trains it would be absolutely nothing.
 
So basically it's going to be like Air is, loathed by many for being forceless, but in reality is a decent enough ride that is fun...

Awesome... Still looking forward to this...
 
OK - Rest of the park.

My camera battery was playing up so I didn't take that many, but Raptor was the main focus of the day, of course.

From the nearby station there's a free shuttle bus to the park, yay!

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It was quite empty.

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Firstly we did Raptor, which had a 5 minute wait (one train). See previous page!

After that we did the SLC, Blue Tornado:

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It was well presented, but of course it's just an SLC. It did have the extra helix though :p

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I found it very rough. Not the worst, but far from the best.

We then did the Mine Train, Mammut, which was fab <3. Although, we had to wait 10 minutes because they only had one train running, which is silly for such a long ride (3 lift hills), but I guess they didn't need the capacity.

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You can't really get any photos of it because of the theming, but it's hugggeee.

Then we had some lunch, and proceeded to the other 'cred corner':

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I'm not ashamed to admit that I like Vekoma loopscrews. The ones I've ridden have always been fairly smooth, with this one in paticular having fab restraints that made headbanging impossible!

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It was walk on, and like I just said, it was fairly decent.

I was quite excited about the Screamin' Squirrel, not because I thought it was going to be good, but because it's so strange.

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It wasn't as uncomfortable as I was expecting, paticularly the hang time, which wasn't as bad as I expected. I really don't understand why they crammed it in where it is, possibly because of it's height? It's not like the park don't have any space...

But yeah, it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't exactly good. Some of it was rough (the bit where you go back up hill slightly), which is an achievement of S&S I must say!

The Log Flume was nice... not much else to say really.

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The park is gorge <3

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As we were in the Area, we did the kiddie cred (which I neglected to take photos of) and the girls rode the Top Spin, which I bag ladied for because they're vile.

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I think after that we did the shooting dark ride and the walk through, both of which were decent. I had no idea they had either of these!

The drop tower was fabulous, even though it's tiny. I was suprised by the willy lift, but it might just be because I haven't done a drop tower for ages.

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I <3 Flying Islands

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A non-park view:

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This made us venture over to the other water SECTION:

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The rapids were fab, but Fuga had died, was testing, but didn't open again. Gutted, it looks fab and it's SUCH a cred too :(

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When they finally spited it and turned the water off, we minced into the kiddie section to the fab excessive tree:

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I'm glad the girls forced me in, as there's an actual Vekoma madhouse inside! Well, underneath it, but make sure you check it out.

Then we did Raptor again, and left.

Oh, and is this real coaster track? :p

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Well, I really like the way the park looks, it definitely doesn't look junky or anything. Seems tidy and well themed! As for Raptor, it's a shame you didn't like it, but I'm not going in expecting much from it anyway. It looks quirky but I don't think it looks like such a thrill. Really odd about the seatbelts though, I'd imagine a lot of people have had to do the walk of shame, but I don't think obesity is much of a problem in Italy :p .

Nice report, Jake.
 
A ride that I rode that took a while to break in was Prowler, which was good, now great in my opinion. Hopefully this ride ages well, but prototypes are not entirely supposed to push the limits, it takes a few models to reach the pinnacle of a design.
 
What you've said about Raptor matches exactly to how I thought it looked, just quite boring and 'meh', I really haven't been that excited to ride it and now I'm even less excited. Obviously I'll make my mind up after I've been on it but I've never expected much from it in the first place.

It looks like such a fun park! I love Vekoma loopscrews too and that one looks amazing! And Fuga is definitely a cred, it's going to spark a lot of discussion of the live I think ;]

Edit: Coaster-count counts it as a cred, therefore <3
 
To me, the first drop and turn before the zero-g look a lot lower than the rest of the layout, which could explain the slow pacing I guess.

And why was the kiddie cred neglected??
 
I've been trying to avoid looking at any of the parks we're going to, but gave in and had a look.

It looks like a really nice park; the volcano looks great. Not sure about the CRED though. It's blatantly more of a CRED than Hydro (or whatever it's called now), but not quite a water coaster. Hmmmmmmm...
 
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