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I thought Nessie got Vekoma trains a few years ago, just didn't opt for vest restraints?
Nope, they were Arrow design built by S&S.

Otherwise, since Anaconda's inversions aren't particularly high speed/forceful, I'm wondering if a lap bar retrofit into the existing trains would be acceptable? Or would that actually make it worse?
I honestly don't know the requirements for this but I think the bigger issue is that no one (that I'm aware of) makes a Arrow/Vekoma/Chance train that is lap bar only that is suitable for inversions so it would require an entirely new design. The only possibility is the RMC train that Chance has on Lightning Run which I'm honestly curious to see if they use the same train on the Hot Wheels coaster.

Either way, I think it's a much easier, and cheaper, for a park to just get the Vekoma since the Arrow Custom Looping and Vekoma MK1200 coasters are virtually identical. I also think it would keep the classic Arrow feel of the ride as well.
 
I thought Nessie got Vekoma trains a few years ago, just didn't opt for vest restraints?
Actually, no, though I do wish they had. The current rolling stock was from S&S. They provided new train bodies, much in the style of the newer arrow loopers. They have the assets from arrow so there is that. I think part of the keeping with classic body design is, imagine the MK1212s on Nessie? There’s no iconic stripe, and on top of that there’s even less leg room than there is on the current rolling stock.
 
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Anaconda came out in 1991. I was 1 inch above the height requirement, and psyched, because I still couldn't ride the shockwave yet, which was the only other coaster with a loop at the park. I figured out after that first ride that to enjoy it, you need to firmly keep your head pushed against the head rest. That's it. IT's not a head banger if you do that. I never understood the hate for this ride as a "head banger." If an 8 year old can figure it out, there is no reason why the rest of the world can't! I love the hang time in the slow corkscrews. The drop into the lake (which in which I remember feeding fish only the year before) was so cool. So for all of you folks who want to get rid of the coaster, I implore you. Push your head back against the headrest, and stop advocating for yet another coaster removal. KD owns so many unused acres, they should never remove another working ride again after the stretch we've endured that kicked off with the Hypersonic XLC debacle .
 
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Anaconda came out in 1991. I was 1 inch above the height requirement, and psyched, because I still couldn't ride the shockwave yet, which was the only other coaster with a loop at the park. I figured out after that first ride that to enjoy it, you need to firmly keep your head pushed against the head rest. That's it. IT's not a head banger if you do that. I never understood the hate for this ride as a "head banger." If an 8 year old can figure it out, there is no reason why the rest of the world can't! I love the hang time in the slow corkscrews. The drop into the lake (which in which I remember feeding fish only the year before) was so cool. So for all of you folks who want to get rid of the coaster, I implore you. Push your head back against the headrest, and stop advocating for yet another coaster removal. KD owns so many unused acres, they should never remove another working ride again after the stretch we've endured that kicked off with the Hypersonic XLC debacle .
Kids tend to love Arrows.... I think it's possibly because they're short enough to not have the horse collar have much of the effect that taller people have.
 
I have tried everything to avoid the neck-banging (because that's where the restraints hit me, not my head) on Anaconda and nothing works.
 
I was able to brace myself last season and it was enjoyable - basically, don't expect the restraints to keep you comfortable and put a little effort in to lean with the direction of travel and you'll be fine... Unless your body proportions prevent that.
 
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There is a 40-year history of people saying about Arrow loopers, "Just do thing x and you'll be fine."

Unfortunately, the reality is there is no prescriptive thing x that works for everyone.

And for many people, there is really no thing x, y, or z that works particularly well at all.

@Crunchewy captures it well, just a couple of posts up. My experience exactly.
 
And a 20 year history of the exact same thing with B&M. The parallels between the two companies are nearly spot on.
Funny you’d mention that. I was about to mention B&M stand-ups specifically in my post above, as those rides in particular drive the widest gulf in rider testimonials of any, ever, in my personal experience.

I have never ridden a B&M stand-up I didn’t either like or love. For me they are a joy, easily re-ridable. (Riddler’s Revenge in particular is incredible.) No issues at all with leg fatigue, etc. And some of my friends feel precisely the way I do about stand-ups, solidifying in my mind that this opinion is not exactly unheard of.

Many others in this nerd-o-sphere can’t tolerate B&M stand-ups at all, though, citing discomfort horror stories of various kinds. I would find their tales almost impossible to believe, given my experience… yet the alternative to believing them would be to conclude that these people are all unreliable narrators of one kind or another. I’d rather stick to reality and simply acknowledge that for reasons physical, physiological, psychological, whatever, there are just huge person-to-person swings in the reaction of mind and body to the B&M stand-up experience. Their stories are largely as legit as mine.

What I don’t do is toss around reassurances that “you just have to do thing x, aka just know how to ride it.” That’s an untrue and often counterproductive oversimplification for a great many people, dismissing their issues as solvable if only they did what I do, and at this point in my life I understand that. They’ve probably tried all the tricks to riding, many of these folks. The tricks just didn’t work, because in the end they aren’t wide ranging cure-alls to be spouted repeatedly in response to criticisms of rides we respectively like. It’s frustrating to read so many accounts of rides I enjoy being put down, but that’s the reality of the thing for many.

I also wouldn’t limit it to Arrow or B&M, at all. To a significant degree, this is true for every manufacturer of higher-speed rides. Intamin, Premier, RMC… there are a couple of Good Things To Know about riding each of their ride systems, but they only go so far. Even Zierer seems to be able to achieve moderate discomfort for some critical mass of riders at barely 50mph.

I do personally reserve a special tier for Arrow, admittedly. You can just watch some of those janky ride systems operate from off-ride, and both see and hear how approximately they were designed and built. Dragon Mountain at Marineland is one of my favorites for this, hunting and left-right shuffling on straight and level track so badly that you can clearly spot it from a ground level walkway dozens of feet away. And Dragon Mountain is just one among many. Little wonder that the Arrow looper ride systems do such a good job of setting the scene for widely varying ride experiences.

Anyway.
 
I'm firmly in camp tear down Anaconda. If CF still wants to get something out of it, they can use it for spare parts for other endangered Arrows in places like CGA or Valleyfair. That will keep all the other good Arrows running smoothly so we don't lose another historic ride.
 
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I'm firmly in camp tear down Anaconda. If CF still wants to get something out of it, they can use it for spare parts for other endangered Arrows in places like CGA or Valleyfair. That will keep all the other good Arrows running smoothly so we don't lose another historic ride.
CGA’s arrow is getting ready to head out from that park soon with the announcement of the park’s closure. I’d send the parts down to Carowinds to use on Carolina Cyclone if they do close Anaconda.
 
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Funny you’d mention that. I was about to mention B&M stand-ups specifically in my post above, as those rides in particular drive the widest gulf in rider testimonials of any, ever, in my personal experience.

I have never ridden a B&M stand-up I didn’t either like or love. For me they are a joy, easily re-ridable. (Riddler’s Revenge in particular is incredible.) No issues at all with leg fatigue, etc. And some of my friends feel precisely the way I do about stand-ups, solidifying in my mind that this opinion is not exactly unheard of.

Many others in this nerd-o-sphere can’t tolerate B&M stand-ups at all, though, citing discomfort horror stories of various kinds. I would find their tales almost impossible to believe, given my experience… yet the alternative to believing them would be to conclude that these people are all unreliable narrators of one kind or another. I’d rather stick to reality and simply acknowledge that for reasons physical, physiological, psychological, whatever, there are just huge person-to-person swings in the reaction of mind and body to the B&M stand-up experience. Their stories are largely as legit as mine.

What I don’t do is toss around reassurances that “you just have to do thing x, aka just know how to ride it.” That’s an untrue and often counterproductive oversimplification for a great many people, dismissing their issues as solvable if only they did what I do, and at this point in my life I understand that. They’ve probably tried all the tricks to riding, many of these folks. The tricks just didn’t work, because in the end they aren’t wide ranging cure-alls to be spouted repeatedly in response to criticisms of rides we respectively like. It’s frustrating to read so many accounts of rides I enjoy being put down, but that’s the reality of the thing for many.
I agree although one thing I do think is common on stand ups is a misunderstanding of how they are supposed to work. This isn't a "do this or that" but more how to use the restraint properly. It seems like the majority of people don't understand that they are not supposed to sit on the seat and I think a lot of discomfort comes from them doing that rather than adjusting the restraint so the "seat" is slightly below them. My issue with B&M standups though is headbanging just like all of B&Ms other horse collar restraint rides.

I'm firmly in camp tear down Anaconda. If CF still wants to get something out of it, they can use it for spare parts for other endangered Arrows in places like CGA or Valleyfair. That will keep all the other good Arrows running smoothly so we don't lose another historic ride.
Right.... to hell with anyone else that enjoys it because they must just be stupid or something.
 
If Anaconda gets left alone with all the Jungle X revamping, would a Mack power splash or anything else fit on the lake? Or if they knocked down the chicken shack, would a sit down restaurant, or just fancier outdoor seating, be feasible on the lakefront by the barrel rolls?

It’d be nice if they found a way to make the lake more than just the setting for Anaconda. If there were a reason or a way for them to run nice wooden walkways over the water just like BGW - that be even cooler. And after seeing how the park disguised the maintenance for Tumbili, I bet they would think of a fun way to dress up the maintenance walkway out to Anaconda’s MCBR
 
Only way that makes sense for guest pathways is if they connected to Soak City... Though the optimal connection would likely be to the side of the wave pool under R75, connecting to I305.
 
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I would like Anaconda if it weren't for a couple neck banging points on the ride. The corkscrew is especially fun. If they could switch to a non-OTSR system that would make all the difference, but I don't know if that's feasible.
 
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The absolute worst sequence on Anaconda is the dip at the bottom of the spaghetti bowl before the corkscrews that part is BRUTAL. The rest of the ride I usually don't have a ton of issues I've noticed to the point that I don't mind occasionally taking a lap on Anaconda but yeah that part on the spaghetti bowl I always dread.
 
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Only way that makes sense for guest pathways is if they connected to Soak City... Though the optimal connection would likely be to the side of the wave pool under R75, connecting to I305.

I really like your idea of connecting i305 to Soak City, just to give i305 some more interesting paths to get there by. I wonder if i305 was as successful as originally hoped, if we would have seen some ride additions to the Earnhardt plaza.

Honestly, walking over the lake, instead of behind the drop tower, would be a much prettier way for guests to make their way into Soak City - walk over the water to get to the water park. But looking at a map, it seems like that current entrance by drop tower is way more accessible to the main arteries of the park, way more than an entrance deep inside JungleX would be. I just wish that damn lake wasn’t so far off in the left field of the park and instead a bit more centrally located.
 
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The absolute worst sequence on Anaconda is the dip at the bottom of the spaghetti bowl before the corkscrews that part is BRUTAL. The rest of the ride I usually don't have a ton of issues I've noticed to the point that I don't mind occasionally taking a lap on Anaconda but yeah that part on the spaghetti bowl I always dread.
For my first arrow looper (yes I’m a new enthusiast, shut up) I kinda enjoyed it(the ride itself)
Don’t get me wrong it ain’t good but it wasn’t bad
 
There is absolutely no need to be self conscious about being a new enthusiast! There's always fun roller coaster stuff to discuss that enthusiasts love to talk about and teach other enthusiasts. You need to go ride Loch Ness Monster! But yeah Anaconda is definitely the worst adult coaster in the park but beyond that one horrible transition at the bottom of the spaghetti bowl the ride is enjoyable to take a lap on.
 
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