The New Revolution coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain, which was undergoing renovations to celebrate its 40th anniversary as the world's first steel looping coaster, will get a storyline where riders are piloting fighter jets in a battle against alien invaders. From Six Flags' announcement:
Taking in the view around them, riders will see other aircraft in an underground secret bunker. As the aircraft moves to a landing pad, it begins to launch its thruster engines, lifting the craft straight up through the roof. During the ascent, riders can test fire their weapons using the world’s first-ever interactive gameplay technology on a roller coaster. As riders clear the roof, they realize they are on top of a skyscraper and about to launch off the edge of the building diving straight down on the first drop of the ride. The aircraft races through the city until reaching the edge of the skyline where riders see the mother ship hovering above. The mother ship is heavily protected by drones and the mission is to get past the drones, fire on the mother ship and destroy it.
The New Revolution will open to season passholders for a sneak preview on March 26. The alien invasion story line also will appear on five other coasters:
In addition, Six Flags is adding VR to three of its Superman roller coasters. In this story line...
[Riders] will be fully immersed in the 360-degree comic-book world of Metropolis. Guests will be taken on a leisurely (or so they think) tour of the city of Metropolis, courtesy of Lex Corp Sky Tours. Just after departing the station riders encounter Lex Luthor who uses an anti-gravity gun along with his army of Lex Bots to create chaos throughout the city with cars, taxis and buses floating in mid-air around the rider’s vehicle. As the Lexbots continue shooting at the vehicle, Superman uses heat vison to destroy the anti-gravity gun, causing all objects to suddenly fall, including the train as it takes the first giant drop of the roller coaster. Riders then soar alongside Superman as he battles the evil Lexbots through hairpin twists and turns, loops, dips and dives before ultimately defeating Lex and the Lexbots, and returning safely back into the station.
The three participating coasters will be:
On all nine coasters, riders will wear Samsung Gear VR powered by Oculus headsets. The nine will be the first virtual reality coasters in North America, according to Six Flags.
Let's put this idea to a vote:
Update: I went up to Magic Mountain this morning to try out the VR headsets and take a look at the current status of the track and new trains.
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Will it make me nauseous?
Because the visuals on the virtual reality screen are synched precisely with the coaster’s drops, twists and turns, there is no motion sickness as some might expect. As you see the 3D movements through your headgear, your body experiences the identical motion of the coaster, creating an unbelievably thrilling experience. Unlike watching the visuals while standing still, there should be no adverse effect.
Can children wear the headsets?
As with any of our rides and attractions, we follow manufacturer's guidelines. In this case, their policy states that the headgear should not be used by children 12 years of age and under. Typically Gear VR users are in front of gaming stations for extended periods of times while connected to the internet, so there are privacy issues to consider. Users might also be walking around in their homes, while wearing the headsets, which is not recommended. While use on our ride is completely different, we are adhering to the manufacturer's policy. Guests 12 years or under may still enjoy the coaster, without the Gear VR headset, as long as they meet the minimum height requirement.
Are the headsets cleaned?
Yes, all parts of the headset that touch a rider’s face and head will be covered with an anti-microbial leather and cleansed between every use with anti-bacterial wipes. The coaster will have multiple sets so that as a trainload of guests ride the coaster, others can be adjusting their headsets and preparing to board, while additional headsets are being sanitized.
This a great idea - that Six Flags will probably execute horribly!
They need to keep putting their limited I&M funds into family dark rides and increase attendance the smart way. I just don't see how this is going to attract more people/families to their parks as it would appeal mostly to the teenager set who are already well represented in their parks.
In order for VR headsets to "feel" right with an operating roller coaster, the imagery you see needs to be in perfect sync with the motion of the ride. But I have doubts that Six Flags can get the picture you see in the headset to sync correctly with the forces you actually feel on-ride. Even if it's slightly off, that could cause issues.. so even a moderately thrilling roller coaster like New Revolution could induce nausea or dizziness because you can't see your physical surroundings.
VR tech is exciting and flashy and "the new thing" right now but I'm skeptical about how it will work with an outdoor coaster.
The other main problem with VR is motion sickness. Unfortunately, I will not be able to try these VR coasters at all because of how sick I get.
I go to a park to see the Park, not wear a f-ing head piece.
They will break and cost $$$$$...
Take more time to load folks on ride...
What if you wear glasses?
At least Six Flags is being talked about for once....hahahhaha
How does the anonymous third poster know all that?
I guess this is a (relatively) cheap way of theming their coasters. But aren't coasters thrilling enough?
Here's a question: Would we have the option of not wearing the VR goggles?
The same company that can't seem to scrape the chewing gum off practically any surface of their roller coaster queues is going to be responsible for sanitizing the VR headsets between users?
Forgive me for my cynicism - and I am a fan of the Six Flags parks - but in this age of MRSA and other sanitizer-resistant bacteria, I think I'll pass on this opportunity.
As for whether it is a great idea or terrible idea, that depends 100% on the execution. I could see this being an excellent way to breathe new life into an older or unpopular coaster, but I think it should be kept away from any that are low capacity or still very popular as capacity will be reduced a bit with these. Some of Six Flags's choices make perfect sense (Ninja, Shockwave, the Superman rides), while others are quite questionable (particularly Goliath and Dare Devil Dive). New Revolution is an okay choice, but I would think Scream would be the best option at SFMM for this. If the image quality is good and the syncing is perfect, this could be a really budget friendly way to plus a basic coaster. As for me, this is something I will probably try once or twice, but even if it is free I don't think it will become the new way to ride a roller coaster.
On the other hand, Six Flags Saint Louis is a filthy, ugly park (Tim you are spot on with your gum comment), so virtual reality will provide much better scenery.
Going to be SO MUCH FUN to see this play out.
Whoopie!
Yes former Disneyland president now current cedar fair CEO matt ouillet was considering this concept.
Therefore it wouldn't completely shock me if Seaworld Parks and Entertainment considers this concept next
https://m.box.com/shared_item/https%3A%2F%2Fsixflags.box.com%2Fs%2Fztztgnpx60oyalbbvplwtj9s0je53ldo/view/55492420478
How about a motion simulator ride using these? Like a Minion mayhem simulator.. Now that would make sense..
Here are some of my other reservations about this...
1. Coaster experiences are not identical every single time (or in every seat), so their claim that the images projected in the headsets will always be perfectly synchronized with the coaster is going to be pretty hard to meet unless they plan on installing sensors along the entire length of the coaster track.
2. They're installing this technology on some pretty popular attractions that already carry sizable lines on busy days without having to rig up guests with headsets. In the case of Six Flags America (my home park), Superman: Ride of Steel is the only coaster in the park worth re-riding, and with typical single train operation, lines can exceed 30 minutes on busy Saturdays. The load times on these coasters will be affected dramatically unless they completely reconfigure the queues.
3. What if guests want to ride without the headsets? Will they be given that option?
4. These headsets will break, just like everything in a theme park, so will there be techs on site from Samsung and Oculus to quickly repair or replace the tech as it dies?
5. There are the obvious safety issues noted by just about everyone above. Again, it would make sense if they were trying this out on one or 2 rides in the chain, but Six Flags is going for the all or nothing approach here, which could very easily lead to a complete disaster.
6. This is Six Flags we're talking about here. Sure, they were pretty successful last year with their Justice League attractions (even those had some serious technical issues throughout the season), but I have ZERO confidence that Six Flags can pull of something this complicated across the entire chain successfully.
7. Considering the above, how long until they make this an upcharge? As I stated before, I'm shocked they're not advertising this as an upcharge (they haven't said it isn't), but inevitably, Six Flags will find a way to monetize this because the shear cost of maintaining and running these systems is going to be significant.
I would like to try this out to see what it's like, but I just don't think it's necessary on the best coasters in the chain. It might be a good way to improve an aging coaster that is slated for SBNO in the near term, but hypercoasters seem like a bad choice here.
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Several other issues I foresee:
-The phones powering Gear VRs get overheated very quickly - how will they deal with that when a guest's screen goes black in the middle of the ride?
-Potential of the headsets flying off and injuring other passengers or guests. How will they be secured?
-Since I'm assuming they'll be cleaning each of these after each ride, I would think riders per hour would plummet pretty quickly.
I just think this is way too early in VR's lifespan to be good for the theme park industry or the VR industry. We'll see more and more of these pop up, but I see too many problems right now.