SFMM | Wonder Woman Flight of Courage | RMC Raptor | 2022

[Hixee]

GoPro mounts don't seem to do these coasters any favours in terms of 'rattly-ness', do they?

It looks cool. I'd like to give it a go, but I have a hard time getting particularly excited about it.

 

[JoshC.]

This is basically the same as Jersey Devil, just a bit extra at the end. And I can say that the POV of JD does not do the ride justice (like many POVs of course), and you do not get a feel for how weird and enjoyable many of those elements are when on ride. I'd also be surprised if there is a rattle on this considering JD was smooth as.

Saying that, these RMC single rails aren't for everyone, and the sameness between them means it won't win over anyone with concerns about them. But if you haven't ridden one yet, I truly truly recommend not forming any judgements about them. You just can't get a feel for them until you've experienced them.

 

[John Knotts]

I'd gander to say these rides are growers. The more you ride them the better they get.

 

[rideguy70]

I rode it about 7 times today during the media event, from back to front and in-between. IMO, it's a fun, fast, solid, reridable coaster. Will it crack any enthusiast's Top 10 list? Unlikely... there's not really anything super distinguishable about it. Will it probably be a hit with the GP? I think so.

Same sort of thing happened with FT. Enthusiasts weren't/aren't super impressed, but the GP can't get enough of it.

One credit I do have to give it is some of the headchopper effects on the final leg are insane. On the first overbanked airtime hill (again, on the final leg), you could swear you could reach out and touch another section of track.

I also did enjoy the fact the park got female first responders to be the guests of the first "official" ride.

Side note--because of the recent cell phone incident on TC, they were very adamant about making sure pockets were empty, and put in lockers just before boarding. They were free today, but probably won't be once it opens. The ride does have a small zipper pouch like FT and WCR, but they were being pretty strict about leaving phones in the lockers. Glasses with a strap seemed to be okay. It'll be interesting to see how this policy will affect wait times once fully open.

And the ultimately, the building that's going up will become retail and a common exit to both WW and Batman.

 

[Ethan]

I'd gander to say these rides are growers. The more you ride them the better they get.

The potential this post has to be taken out of context for a cheap pun, but I digress...

Is it just me and/or the videos of these Raptors, or do the original layouts that came before Jersey Devil seem to have more bite to them? I know JD apparently rides very well, but I remember seeing the speed and pacing of the first one at SFFT and thinking it looked obscene. Yet this coaster and Jersey Devil don't seem quite as snappy? Would be interesting to hear from someone who's ridden both.

 

[Crazycoaster]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that they weren’t expecting the original raptors to plough through their layouts as quickly/viciously as they do, and have adjusted the ones built since to be a bit tamer.

 

[rideguy70]

The potential this post has to be taken out of context for a cheap pun, but I digress...

Is it just me and/or the videos of these Raptors, or do the original layouts that came before Jersey Devil seem to have more bite to them? I know JD apparently rides very well, but I remember seeing the speed and pacing of the first one at SFFT and thinking it looked obscene. Yet this coaster and Jersey Devil don't seem quite as snappy? Would be interesting to hear from someone who's ridden both.

I would agree... I've been on Railblazer, and that thing is really snappy. And as fun as it is to have a major ejection seat feeling, it could be borderline too much. Like, I don't think I'd marathon Railblazer, as fun as it is. And it can really hurt some people in the shoulder because of that intensity.

This one does lack that snap... but it terms of rideability, I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing, though many enthusiasts would surely disagree. But I doubt the GP will.

 

[opivy028]

It’s been interesting, I was more of an adrenaline junkie when I was younger, and now the last two years I’ve had significant chronic fatigue/long COVID symptoms. Before I definitely would’ve been in the “excited but don’t think this’ll be top ten for me” crowd to “this is kinda exactly what I want” should I manage to recover well enough to handle coasters again. Like this and West Coast Racers look like exactly what I’d want, plenty of interesting forces but in smooth and less intense formats. It’ll be interesting to get back to SFMM since my last trip was 2018 and X2 immediately became my number 1, and I loved Twisted Collosus but even then the intensity of the airtime was almost too jerky/painful for me.

All that being said, how awesome is it to be an enthusiast these days. We’re spoiled to the point where stalls and off axis airtime hills are “meh” when they weren’t possible/built not that long ago.

 

[John Knotts]

^ Same. Which is why rides like Cheetah Hunt, Hagrid's, Time Traveler and Copperhead Strike are some of my favorite rides. As I've gotten older, I prefer fun over sheer forces.

 

[Aaron Smith]

Side note--because of the recent cell phone incident on TC, they were very adamant about making sure pockets were empty, and put in lockers just before boarding. They were free today, but probably won't be once it opens. The ride does have a small zipper pouch like FT and WCR, but they were being pretty strict about leaving phones in the lockers. Glasses with a strap seemed to be okay. It'll be interesting to see how this policy will affect wait times once fully open.

Great Adventure is very serious about this at JD. I've seen them, numerous times, stop the train right before the lift hill if they notice something in a pocket during the final restraint check and make the person get off the ride so they can store the item.