Have a Fear of Heights?

[madmonkeygirl]

Hell no i'll stick to solid ground thank you very much and only $80 heck if i liked heights i would pay that in a heartbeat but since i don't no way. Ain't gettin me out there on that thing.

[CoasterMatt]

I got to slowly ride to the top of Supreme Scream in maintenance mode, and it was pretty groovy.

blueerica, if you like the skycoaster at Lagoon, you should do the 300 ft. model in Florida - you fly out over water and it's got an amazing amount of freefall.

[Kevy Baby]

OK - getting a little off topic, but in a search for more info about Supreme Scream (I honestly did not know it was at Knott's), I came across this entry about a roller coaster called Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ:

On May 21, 2005 Six Flags Great Adventure introduced Kingda Ka, the tallest, fastest roller coaster on the planet to the public. This $25-million Swiss designed "rocket coaster" uses hydraulic motors to launch the trains along a horizontal section of track from zero to 128 mph in an impressive 3.5 seconds. The trains then begins a vertical ascent up a steel tower that peaks at 456 feet or 45 stories. Crossing over the apex the train enters a vertical descent plunging through a 270-degree spiral twist again reaching speeds in excess of 100 mph. One final surprise comes before the brake run, a 129-foot tall camelback hill, that offers plenty of negative G's also known fondly as "airtime".

I would be surprised if CM has not already been on this (and has appropriate commentary), but the description alone scares the heebie jeebies out of me

[Ghoulish Delight]

That's a smidge taller and a smidge faster than Knott's Xcelerator. And I guess Xcelerator doesn't have the helix. (eta: actually, looking at photos of the two, I can't really tell if Ka has more of a helix or not. Matt?)

Funny thing is, I'm more willing to go on either of those (would have ridden Xcelerator last time I was at Knott's had it been open) than on Goliath, which is over 100ft shorter. It's all about the slow climb, getting to heights at speed doesn't really bother me.

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

That's a smidge taller and a smidge faster than Knott's Xcelerator.

I am going to assume that this was said with tongue in cheek:

HEIGHT:
Kingda Ka: 456 feet
Xcelerator: 205 feet

TOP SPEED:
Kingda Ka: 128 MPH
Xcelerator: 82 MPH

LENGTH:
Kingda Ka: 3,118 feet
Xcelerator: 2,202 feet

Source for Xcelerator stats
Source for Kingda Ka stats

[CoasterMatt]

Goliath at SFMM is actually 30 ft taller than Xcelerator, and although Kingda Ka is taller than Xcelerator, Xcelerator's initial acceleration (from 0-82mph) is actually quicker - just about 2 seconds.
Kingda Ka has a really nasty "shake" to the trains as you roll down the launch track, and it's really just a big climb over a tower, an airtime hill, then brakes.
Xcelerator launches, goes over the tower, then does two overbanked curves before braking. Xcelerator is the prototype Intamin Rocket coaster - it's initial test run clocked in over 114mph (the first run on this video).

I seriously love Xcelerator (So far, I think Xcelerator is the nonDisney coaster I've ridden with the most LoTters - I lost track of how many times Chernabog and I rode it).

[CoasterMatt]

There's a plaque inside the motor room for Xcelerator that has slightly different numbers from the press release numbers.

My favorite thing about the Xcelerator hydraulic motor is that it generates 10,000 horsepower (ARR ARR ARR!!!)

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by CoasterMatt

Kingda Ka has a really nasty "shake" to the trains as you roll down the launch track, and it's really just a big climb over a tower, an airtime hill, then brakes.

Hmm... that is a very different description than the one I quoted. That and Kingda Ka is about 50% longer.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Weird, I saw completely different stats for Xcelerator. Guess I read something wrong. Post retracted.

ETA: Ah, I see what happened, the site I was reading mentioned Top Thrill Dragster in the next sentence, those were the stats I saw.

[CoasterMatt]

There's no helix on Kingda Ka or Xcelerator - on Kingda Ka, you do a full twist as you're going back down the phallic symbol.