Anaconda

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UncleDuncan said:
I'm genuinely curious how it rides for you because I absolutely hate this ride. These 90s Arrows, every one I've been on, leave me with a pain in my back that lasts for days. No hyperbole. Days. When I go to KD these days and friends ride Anaconda, I wait for them at the exit.
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Still in Doswell for day two, but yes, it is a monstrosity of a coaster. There are obvious problems with it after one ride, which was halted before loading for maintenance problems and delayed for 10 min. Not to mention it didn't open yesterday till after noon I think. But returning to the station, you can see why it has so much jarring and bumps. The tracks looked out of alignment and it was obvious to the naked eye, followed by a cu-chunk! Passing over that spot. It certainly isn't in the shape Nessie is and has some kind of tolerance issues between train and track. No other coaster I've been on bounced back and forth so violently between rails. I've not been on many yet, but this is by far the worst steel coaster yet. This was a front row ride too. I may attempt again today, but will have to see.

EDIT: second ride was a bit better in about the middle of the train. Didn't seem to be as bouncy between the rails. Maybe the front row is the worst on this one. Still rattled the head a little but definitely not as bad. Could be a lot better with some maintenance and track work maybe.
 
It actually surprises me that this ride is still there. If I remember, it received a repaint a few years ago. It needed it; but this also gave us the thought that it may be staying here for a little while. I made the suggestion that the land could be used for newer water attraction; but we have to think long term. Water attractions are not used during the fall. What kind of coaster would you put in Anaconda's spot? If not coaster; maybe a small indoor attraction? Something like Journey To Atlantis at IOA.
 
MikeLovesKD said:
It actually surprises me that this ride is still there. If I remember, it received a repaint a few years ago. It needed it; but this also gave us the thought that it may be staying here for a little while. I made the suggestion that the land could be used for newer water attraction; but we have to think long term. Water attractions are not used during the fall. What kind of coaster would you put in Anaconda's spot? If not coaster; maybe a small indoor attraction? Something like Journey To Atlantis at IOA.
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Journey to Atlantis is at SeaWorld.

If you want an "Atlantis" themed ride there I'd prefer they put in something like Intamin's Atlantis Adventure in South Korea.

 
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My mistake. I meant Poseidon's Fury. Something along those lines would be good. It's indoor, so it could still be used for the fall season. If not that; I'd say knock down the ride and fill the space with some good flat rides, food stands and a good show.
 
Anaconda is far from the roughest Arrow looper out there. Behind Nessie, Anaconda is one of the smoothest Arrows I've ridden. It also still seems quite popular, with decently long lines on most weekends- even with a solid capacity and almost always two train operation.

That said, if KD/CF really wanted to "improve" the ride, the new open Vekoma trains with vest restraints reportedly work wonders to improve the ride experience. That said, new trains can cost well upwards of $1 million, and unlike an RMC conversion, new trains don't bring the marketability of a "new" ride.
 
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Recently Vekoma has taken to retrofitting older trains with the new restraint system. I don't know how this would work with Arrow trains, but Vekoma trains were nearly identical to Vekoma's trains up until a point.
 
MikeLovesKD said:
My mistake. I meant Poseidon's Fury. Something along those lines would be good. It's indoor, so it could still be used for the fall season. If not that; I'd say knock down the ride and fill the space with some good flat rides, food stands and a good show.
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Poseidon's Fury is more of a show/walk-through attraction than an actual ride and the only interesting part of it is the water vortex. I feel Anaconda's location is better suited for a coaster or a collection of flats. I think they should also get rid of whatever is left over of Lake Charles. It's nothing more than a smelly pond now. If they do put another water attraction there they should just use a clean water base like Escape from Pompeii rather than trying to go au naturel.

Joe said:
Anaconda is far from the roughest Arrow looper out there. Behind Nessie, Anaconda is one of the smoothest Arrows I've ridden.
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Sorry, Joe. But I absolutely disagree with this. Anaconda is horribly rough. The last time I rode it almost two decades ago I thought it was gonna decapitate me and give me a herniated disk. I've since sworn off from ever riding it again.
 
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I always end up on it once or twice per year, and if it's second behind Nessie, then it is a very distant second. I'm thinking like a 'two laps down' second. I rode the arrow looper at Carowinds recently and it wasn't any smoother. Although I've never ridden it, Tennessee tornado gets some good reviews and I would imagine that it is much better than anaconda. Two decades ago, it carried a lot more speed through the MCBR and felt much rougher to me than it does now. That being said, the thing is still just plain rough.
 
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^I rode Tennessee Tornado yesterday and I found it far shakier than Anaconda. Granted, it holds its speed better than Anaconda, but its rattle was brutal.
 
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I have to think that the majority of members of this forum have not ridden very many Arrow Loopers. I'm thinking people need to start providing links to their CoasterCounts if they're going to make sweeping statements about a type of ride or a specific manufacturer. It's like saying Vanilla is the best kind of ice cream if you've never tried any other flavors ever. But feel free to look at my, CoasterCount, it's in my signature.
 
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Best arrow I have ever been on hands down is, viper at darian lake. But that was twenty eight years ago.
 
They did rebuild one of the trains during the off season, and it supposedly made the ride smoother than it was. I haven't personally ridden Anaconda this season so I can't attest to that, but the park is still putting money into the ride. So I think it's safe to say the ride will be around for a bit longer.
 
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I think the biggest problem with the ride is those horrid turns after the mcbr. Like wooden coasters, Arrows are made with gap tolerance on the running wheels, a tolerance that is very noticeable when you are going through those turns and slamming the whole weight of the train from one side to the other. Anaconda, will never be smooth, regardless of trains. The track tolerance just isn't up to snuff.
 
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I'm currently stuck on Anaconda. Lift chain not catching car. Train on anti-rollback. Both trains stuck.

Engineers have tried a few times to restart the lift and are met with some real ugly noises. Sounds almost like the chain is grinding on something under the train.

Looks like they're starting to evacuate us into the catwalks.
 
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