Subject:
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Off Topic, Briefly: Delirium
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lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto
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Date:
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Mon, 14 Apr 2003 23:47:12 GMT
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431 times
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I had been asked so many times over the last 4 days "So which is better?!"
that I thought I'd write up a little report on my experiences with Delirium,
the first Giant Frisbee by HUSS residing at Paramount's Kings Island. :)
The which-is-better coment comes from my obsession with the 2002 machine
"Psyclone", Revolution by Mondial at Paramount Canada's Wonderland. I had
riden it more than 200 times last year and it was easily the most
influential device in my life.
I had the good fortune of being able to spend a good chunk of this past
weekend at Paramount's Kings Island, primairily to try out their new
machine. After the underwear stunt on Thursday I got my first ride. There
are so many things I want to say but I'm not even sure how to put it. I
took a fair number of pictures and video; perhaps those speak better than I
could put into words about the machine itself.
Media for Delirium (Images, Video):
http://members.rogers.com/militaryduckjock/delirium.html
The first thing I have to say is about the floor. The floor rocks. I'd
been excited to see how the floor was going to be done ever since hearing
more about it at No Coaster Con in Chicago in February; it didn't
dissapoint. The part that is amazing about it is perhaps how mechanically
simple it is. Each panel (there are 8 panels/modules) has just 3 moving
parts, including the floor section itself. A intrinsically-locking toggle
style mechanism which is pneumatically actuated (read: silent) quickly and
smoothly lowers and raises each section. All the sections are ported off
the same line so they rise up more or less together, but some popping up a
bit earlier than others (the cylinder with the least "stiction" is going to
actuate first).
A common misconception during the weekend was that the floor was the main
cause of trouble; in fact, it is more a case of the floor in some instances
was not permited to raise by the control because the pendulum was not
centred over it properly. And that was the only issue that ever kept coming
up (and seemed to dissapear altogether after a bit of a sticky start Sunday
morning) - was the pendulum not quite finding itself home at the end of some
cycles. This happens ocassionally on Psyclone when there is a load
imbalance (such as at the end of the evening when there are few people, and
they're all on one side), but after resetting the ride and presumably
sending the ride into a homing sequence, all is well and back up without too
much trouble. At least one HUSS employee was onsite; he reminded me a bit
of the Matag Man, standing with his arms folded, leaning against a wall,
emotionless; bored with the fact that nothing was going wrong and there was
little for him to do.
The ride experience itself I can sum up in one word: Powerful. That is not
a word I would use to describe Psyclone, I don't think. The emotion of
"Power" is really the only thing that you can come to mind with when you are
on board Delirium. The 6 50 kW drives spend little time geting the arm and
disc up into the air, even the noises of the ride let you know just how much
work is going on here to get things done. The forces coming through the
station are powerful and remind me of the strength of that same sensation
you can get on the KMG-built Afterburner. That is a sensation I don't ever
remember feeling so powerfully on Psyclone. The visuals are nothing short
of stunning and you really can feel those extra 6 metres in height that the
Giant Frisbee offers. The force at the top of lifting out of the seat is
about the same on both machines - perhaps a bit longer on the Giant Frisbee
because of it's slightly larger size.
It's for this reason that the forces on the Revolution, Psyclone, are much
more managable I think. Repeated rides on Thursday left me feeling quite
nausious; so much so that Sean's driving to the restaurant afterword made
me wonder if I was about to throw up! I had never felt nauseious on
Psyclone before, besides having a slightly less than desiriable restraint
(the Mondial shoulder bars are extremly large, and for my body size apply
most force right on my stomach. The HUSS seats I prefer, as they are
shorter and fatter - allowing me better visuals, and restraining me by my
legs, and not my stomach).
The last thing is the aesthetics. Visually the disc on Delirium is more
attractive to me than Psyclone, but beyond that I still prefer the structure
on Mondial's machine much better. Delirium's colouring, as most people
know, is not my cup of tea - it is very bright. Psyclone is mostly
grey/silver, with yellow and navy accents. Delirium is BLUE! YELLOW! and
RED!!!!! It is definately attention grabbing but that is not what I like in
a ride. Also, Psyclone has two more things over Delirium - lighting and
location. While Delirium offers views of the Freefalltower, Son of Beast,
and the Eiffel Tower - Psyclone offers a view by night that is completly
unrivaled. Looking over at the mountain with the sun setting behind it, or
on the next swing seeing nothing but the lights of Toronto stretching out as
far as you can see, is unmatched. The lighting is another - both machines
are underlit by large white lights, but Psyclone has 40 spotlights - one
under each seat - plus seatback lighting that creates an impressive
lightshow at night. The Giant Frisbee has no on-board lighting.
http://members.rogers.com/militaryduckjock/psyclone/psyclone009.jpg
The only other thing visually is that it is unfortunate (well, not really,
but..) that so many of the other nearby attractions are so large. The
slingshot ride, Son of Beast, Freefall tower, even the Eiffel Tower, are all
very large and somewhat overshaddow Delirium. Psyclone stands on its own in
the middle of a plaza that has nothing even remotely similar in height, and
this gives it a very impressive appearance. Of course, this year that will
change with its new neighbour, also from HUSS, the Jump2.
Media for Psyclone (Images, Video):
http://members.rogers.com/militaryduckjock/psyclone.html
So I guess in conclusion I'll have to wait until I get back to Wonderland
next month to figure this all out. Which machine I prefer is going to
depend on my mood at the time, both are incredible, both offer similar, but
very different sensations. Psyclone gives you an epic, chill-out style
ride, in the cool night air you can just feel like you've left earth.
Delirium gives you a powerful, full-out symphonic climax that is completly
unique to that machine.
Oh, and yeah, the LEGOLAND parks should get one of these each, and theme it
to Technic. :)
Iain
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