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Consisting
of the 'skeletal' triangular cross-section track and the sleek,
tiered trains that are typical of this new-generation of Intamin
coasters, Goliath cuts a dashing figure. This is the
overwhelming view you get from the car park as you drive in.
Unfortunately, it's not quite so accessible from within the
park, consisting of a 15-minute walk from the entrance to very
nearly the back of the park before doubling-back on yourself to
finally arrive at the entrance to the ride.
And
what about the ride itself? Well, everything I said about
Superman: Ride of Steel applies here too. This is an
absolutely stunning coaster and was by far the best of the trip.
A straight drop after the lift hill gives that light and floaty
feeling that is very familiar by now. Then a parabolic hill into
the second drop, lifting front seat passengers way out of their
seats as the front of the train is pushed unmercilessly over the
apex. Superlative airtime in all seats actually, but much more
pronounced in the front of the train.
A
little banked turn at the bottom of
the second drop leads nicely into the unique 'Stengel Dive'
element. This is another element that is subject to the 'is it
an inversion or not?' debate. It's a mini-overbanked corner, or
a mini-cutback, but neither of these describes it well enough.
The train heads skywards and turns upside down but not
completely upside down and it then rights itself again.
Entering this element feels like a corkscrew, but coming out of
it you feel as though you're going to fall out and ends up
feeling more like a heartline and you get some major zero-G.
Down
and into a high-speed helix, where riders experience the
greatest positive-G of the ride, and then a hill introducing
another Intamin special - the 'twisty' apex. Then it drops into
another helix, and for me this was the only dead-spot on the
ride as the rest of the helix is upwardly-rising and the train
gradually loses speed. Another twisty apex leads into a series
of three bunny-hops, again giving front seat riders the best of
the airtime. The train then twists abruptly again into a
high-speed and highly-banked 180° corner at ground level before
the magnetic brakes at the end bring the train to a swift but
smooth stop. Now you can catch your breath.
I
am incredibly impressed with the
way Intamin are designing their coasters. Along with B&M, they
design around the heartline, i.e. they work out what path they
want the rider's body to take and then work out where the wheels
of the train must go in order to achieve that movement. If you
look at the
second picture above, you will notice that the bottom of the
drop looks strangely warped to one side. However, consider that
the rider sits a couple of feet above the track and you'll
realise that the motion the rider takes is in fact a smooth
rotation about the heartline. If the track itself looked
straight, the riders would get jerked to one side as they enter
the banked corner. |
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