https://www.sixflags.com/national/vr/overview

I think one day Id like to try it, just so that I can know what it's like.. but I feel like Im going to prefer not having a VR headset over having one.

How do they know these won't fall off? Or be taken off?

I kinda knew that SIX was going to go WAY to far with VR! Who wants to ride Ninja with a VR headset is my question 

And Superman at Fiesta Texas? The gorge is so beautiful to fly right next to! Diving off of that twice? Awesome location.

As somebody with an an almost comically large nose, those headsets look incredibly uncomfortable, not to mention unsanitary.

 

Call me a reactionary, but if this is the future of roller coasters, I'd like a one-way ticket to the past, please.

Dispatch times will be a nightmare for sure no matter what Six Flags says. I will try it once at my home park at SFNE. I'm sure we will get passes at ACE Nor'Easter the first week in April, I'd be surprised if we don't, but there are several things that concern me. First is how many times will the train stop on the lift hill because someones headset or goggle is not secured properly, and at 70 plus miles per hour how many people will take them off during the ride. If they fall off I see lawsuit city coming.

 

LIke I said I will try it and see what happens opening day.

at 70 plus miles per hour how many people will take them off during the ride.

 

Bingo! Never underestimate the stupidity of the general public. That single issue, I predict, will put a permanent end to this concept after no more than one season.

I'm planning to a trip to St. Louis ( Eureka) for either May or June, so I will test this out and report back.  Should be interesting.  If it becomes popular, maybe FUN will jump aboard too. (if they can hawk $1 "3d" glasses for Boo like they did a couple seasons ago, a small upcharge of a buck or so for this wouldn't be out of the question).

If I end up going to SFSTL, I definitely know which coaster I'm skipping on the way to 100!!! 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/experience/america/2016/03/03/six-flags-virtual-reality-roller-coasters-2016/81224838/

 

The VR will actually begin before the trains leave the station. Once passengers get into their seats and don the headsets, they will have a fully realized, 360-degree, 3D view of the alternate reality. It won't be a fixed video. It will be a virtual landscape that will be linked to the trains' motion and will respond to the passengers' head movements. According to the team working on the rides, the headgear will not include audio, but there will likely be external sound effects blasted from speakers set up around the coasters.

 

So you turn your head to explore the environment. That alone is just asking for trouble - turn your head the wrong way at the wrong time and you could end up with serious whiplash or possible even worse injuries. I don't see this lasting very long at all. Sadly, a serious injury is likely what it will take for parks to realize this is a bad idea.

But.. I think it'll be a fun couple months. I'd like to try it out at least.. then wash my face haha

"But calakapepe, your hands touch all the restraints already!"

But it's my face, close to my mouth and eyes and I can make myself not touch my face when there's grease and oil on my hands.

More thoughts after reading the articles about this...

 

I'm glad you can opt to ride without headsets, but for Fiesta Texas, New England and Magic Mountain, I'm like, why??? for their respective VR coaster choices. Interesting choice choosing Steamin' Demon at Great Escape, though! And this might make Six Flags America a better place (maybe?). The only VR coaster that might be remotely cool would be Dare Devil Dive at Six Flags over Georgia, but I think I want to try without goggles first!

 

at 70 plus miles per hour how many people will take them off during the ride.

 

Bingo! Never underestimate the stupidity of the general public. That single issue, I predict, will put a permanent end to this concept after no more than one season.

 

As I read on another board some people get sick after VR simulators. I'm also waiting for the barf bags to be handed out at the exit.

Do I have to wear the headset?

You have the choice of riding with or without a headset.

<sigh of relief>

 

cleansed between every use with anti-bacterial wipes.

I can only imagine how thoroughly these things will be "cleansed" each cycle with that process.

If a guest drops and breaks one of these, I wonder whether he/she will be held liable.

Only a court of law can hold someone liable. A park can make demands, but likely won't.

 

Do I have to wear the headset?

You have the choice of riding with or without a headset.

<sigh of relief>

 

cleansed between every use with anti-bacterial wipes.

I can only imagine how thoroughly these things will be "cleansed" each cycle with that process.

If a guest drops and breaks one of these, I wonder whether he/she will be held liable.

 

With my luck the person in front of me probably has pink eye.

Or malaria.

Pink eye can also be transmitted via lapbars, seatbealts and other "bugs" can come from the seats.

 

I don't think I would use these, but I will never say never.  After all, I rode Vortex and went to Kentucky Kingdom in 2015, two choices I am VERY glad I made.

 

(This is coming from a germaphobic nurse, BTW.)

 

Edit:  I had put 2016 instead of 2015.

Edited March 4, 201610 yr by jtro223

You went to Kentucky Kingdom in 2016?

DO tell.

Funniest post about this I've seen yet, courtesy of mobile tech site pocketnow:
 

 
(Link to the article: http://pocketnow.com/2016/03/03/six-flags-gear-vr-roller-coasters)

The most interesting thing about this to me is that they appear to be testing it in two very different ways: first, on "The New Revolutions," where we could make the assumption that it's meant to attract people back to one of the parks' older and simpler rides that could use a boost in popularity. The others are on Superman: Rides of Steel, and even though they're very different, they're major headlining coasters that probably don't need an extra "gimmick" to boost ridership.

 

So as these VR coasters evolve, I wonder if the technology will tend toward older, simpler coasters in need of a boost OR major coasters being plussed even more. We'll see. 

I would hope it would evolve to the trash can.

If I want to play VR, I can stay home or go to a FEC.

There are a lot of questions I have about this stupid VR stuff on coasters, but I have one that's not been discussed yet. Depending on the weather, temperature, new wheels, weight of passengers, etc... Some of these coasters actual ride times can vary by a significant amount. I know Gatekeeper has like a 10-15 second sway of ride time depending on all those factors. Same with Griffon and Alpengeist. If the VR is not matching up with where you are in the ride cycle, it's definitely going to make everyone sick.

People get sick on Forbidden Journey all of the time and that ride always matches up perfectly with the visuals being shown on the screen. Put this on actual coasters with a lot of variables and I don't see this making it to the end of the season.

If when there is a protein spill on this thing, any riders in its path might not know until it hits their face at 60mph. Hopefully people ride this with their mouths firmly closed.

I have been vomited on on a coaster. Comet at The Great Escape. Before it even opened to the public. An ACEr's kid in the front seat threw up on the last entire 2/3 of the ride, nonstop. All of us in the train were covered.

It was nasty. It was foul.

If this happens very often, SIX is going to have unbelievable problems.

If it happens very often, this "feature" will likely quietly disappear without any mention from the park.

According to the FAQ (https://www.sixflags.com/national/special/new-2016/faq), "gyros, accelerometers and proximity sensors synchronize all of the action" and "the visuals on the virtual reality screen are synched precisely with the coaster’s drops, twists and turns, [so] there is no motion sickness as some might expect."

 

From that, I would assume that those gyros and other sensors are used to compensate for speed variations on the fly.

And everything will be fine.

Until it isn't.

You guys are really negative

We're not being negative, just realists.