Alpine Bobsled Review, Great Escape Intamin Bobsled | World's Most Difficult Coaster to Ride?
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- čas přidán 25. 07. 2024
- Alpine Bobsled is the Intamin bobsled roller coaster at Six Flags Great Escape. The coaster previously operated at Six Flags Great Adventure as the Sarajevo Bobsled and Six Flags Great America as Rolling Thunder before finding a long term home at this Queensbury, New York park. While this is easily the park's best steel coaster, it is an extremely difficult attraction to ride since it can close for a myriad of reasons- weather, mechanical, or noise.
Video Credits
Alpine Bobsled Off-Ride (psyclonesteve)- • Alpine Bobsled, Great ...
Alpine Bobsled POV (The Great Escape)- • Alpine Bobsled at The ...
Flying Turns POV (JohnYChen)- • Flying Turns Roller Co...
Great American Scream Machine Off-Ride (psyclonesteve)- • The Great American Scr...
Rolling Thunder (Menachem Piekarski)- • 1995 video rolling thu...
Background Music
Infraction - Surf Music /Background Music (Royalty Free Music) (No Copyright music)- • Infraction - Surf Musi...
I'm a ride operator at Great Escape and Bobsled is always a hit or miss on any given day. It is a great ride, but very problematic as stated in the video. Operations were better in 2021, so hopefully 2022 even gets better!
I'm glad it ran better in 2021 and I hope it can stay that way.
Coming back to this after the news. RIP to an incredibly unique ride. I'm gonna do my best to ride it before it goes.
Best of luck. It is tough to get on.
as of yesterday(august 4th), great escape announced that Alpine Bobsled is going to be closed permanently on September 4th. i was very fortunate to ride last week. it is definitely starting to show its age throughout the ride. it’s still a great ride, very sad to hear of its quickly approaching closing date.
Lucky you got on it considering how unreliable it is.
Fun fact: the upgraded trains it got at Great America were B&M's first independent coaster design!
I stopped at this park for my first time on a Sunday this summer, and while I was only there for a few hours, I was able to ride this coaster with a 10 minute wait. I definitely consider myself lucky!
That is very lucky!
You were faster than I, ha! Great fun fact indeed
You are right about Walter and Claude designing new sleds when they moved it from Great Adventure to Great America. Robert Mampe was head of maintenance at Great America and asked for the new sleds. Robert had worked with Walter and Claude on the Z-Force at Great America when Walter and Claude worked for Giovanola (Walter and Claude did the Z-Force and Intamin stand-ups and bobsleds when they worked for Giovanola, and Intamin sub-contracted those projects to Giovanola). Walter and Claude left Giovanola after a change in management and formed their own company B and M before designing the new sleds. After the new sleds, Mampe had Walter and Claude do their first roller coaster Iron Wolf in 1990 (on the old Z-Force site) and Batman the Ride just 2 years later in 1992 (as the first inverted roller coaster in the world). So, this small bobsled literally put B and M on the world map (first when they designed the ride when they worked for Giovanola as the sub-contractor for Intamin, and second when they designed new sleds after they broke from Giovanola and formed their own company).
The only one I've ridden was La Vibora described in the video which, I think, was previously the Sarajevo Bobsled at Magic Mountain. Sometime around 1986 it was relocated to Six Flags Over Texas and renamed Avalanche Bobsled. Later on, they painted it and renamed it La Vibora. If you ride the train, you can get a good view of the supports and footers. Some of the concrete footers are unusually tall due to the steel supports wouldn't all reach the ground. This would be a consequence of relocating the ride from a hilly location to a place that is a bit more flat.
Makes sense the supports had to be adjusted.
I was in the Lake George area with family in July 2019, and spent some time at Great Escape. This ride had a lot of downtime, and I thought getting on was a lost cause. Then, I heard the trains rumbling through the course and saw the ride test. I managed to get two rides on it, and got to stay in my seat! I even met some fellow enthusiasts while on the ride. This remains my most elusive credit to date
Lucky!
This is honestly one of my rarest credits besides Roller Soaker at Hersheypark
Roller Soaker was a rare one for me too given it's low capacity and tendency to breakdown when I was there.
R.I.P Alpine Bobsled 1984-2023
I am not surprised given all the downtime.
@@CanobieCoastereven though la vibora does not have that problem
Yeah I agree that drop profiling is so fun and aggressive, it’s something no one talks about but I love it, and when I went in 2016 there was a sign that said that the back row of each train was closed due to whiplash, so I’m not sure when they started not to say what the issue was
I remember riding in the back row in 2013. I think it coincided with a rumored incident I heard with one of the brakes.
People say Lightning Rod is hard to get on but wow this is something else. As much as it is closed though, I still wish it can stay as long as possible cause how rare these bobsled are. When it is open, it's a fun ride that feels like a water slide but a coaster. A scary fun feeling.
Lightning Rod is probably more frustrating since that's an elite ride. But I think that ride has higher uptime.
You did a great review. I've been on that ride many times throughout the years, but like everyone knows it is definitely hit-and-miss. It's sad to see how many times in a week that ride is down. There's been times when the ride is working and then you go and now it just goes down.
Thanks!
I honestly love this ride, I only been to the great escape twice. On my 2007 visit it was open all day and I was able to get two or three rides. On my 2015 visit, the coaster was closed most of the day, I believe due to staff issues, but it did open later in the day where I was able to score five rides.
Glad you eventually got on it.
I finally got to ride this today. It was faster and more intense than I thought, but I still consider it to be a family coaster. The wait was about half an hour most of the day. I got 4 quick rides once it opened and then one later in the day, for a total of 5. Hopefully it is open more regularly in 2022.
Lucky!
Ty for doing my home theme park, love this ride but is very old.
You're welcome!
have not gotten this credit but intamin bobsledes are fun rides and i'm happy a lot are still around.
Not many of the Intamin ones are left unfortunately.
I rode it when it was in Great America as a kid. Always loved how cool looking it was.
It does look neat with that massive trough.
I rode the Bobsled in Efteling before it was removed... to be honest I thought that the Intamin Bobsleds are far worse then the Mack ones, even if they are a little smoother. The layout seemed boring and the capacity was a nightmare. Plus, the ride just doesn't have any pacing at all due to the many MCBRs. Both "Schweizer Bobbahn's" at Heide and Europa Park are actually pretty cool family rides, and the helices have the nice sway that you explained.
I rode Bob as well and I prefer them to Europa's bobsled. I like the one at Heide Park better though.
My visit was on a Saturday, and in line with what you said, it opened an hour late. But I was nearby when I heard it, so I jumped in line and waited less than 10 minutes to ride. It quickly built a line, then broke down quickly. I didn't ride it a 2nd time, since it had a huge line later on. I like the seating on this far more than La Vibora, on which I have learned how to avoid having my body slammed around. La Vibora is usually open, sometimes even an hour before park open, so I don't know what they're secret is.
At least you got on it!
There was a bobsled coaster in the netherlands (simply called "Bob") but they closed and demolished the coaster to make room for a powered coaster :( . The park stated that maintenance was a nightmare and spare parts could not be ordered any more.
Bob was similar to this ride, just with a better setting.
This and VF's Excalibur are the two coasters that are always rumored to be on the chopping block, but seem to have no intention of going away any time soon. With only two of the Intamin models left, I do hope TGE can keep it around a while longer.
I hope so as well.
aged poorly, rip alpine bobsled
@@itsrobloxhere It was nice while it lasted. Very fortunate that the coaster gods opened Alpine Bobsled, and recently Klondike Gold Rusher, for Canobie Coaster so we could have this archival footage.
Did you hear it’s closing on September 4th! I was there yesterday and it was thankfully open for 30 minutes. So glad to have ridden this problematic coaster, but sad to see it go!
Yes I just heard. I am not surprised given its downtime.
I finally got this credit this year. It's a fun ride.
It is.
It was
weird question, but how would this compare to the defunct bob at Efteling if you have ridden that?
I rode Bob once. I remember the ride experience feeling similar except the setting was much better being in the woods.
@@CanobieCoaster ah ok i was just curious cause thats the only intamin bobsled ive ridden
I know this probably makes no sense, but I think it would be really interesting to have Vekoma come in and simply lay regular coaster track in the troughs and then put in trains like Seven Dwarves Mine Train. It would still be a Bobsled-y experience but with a much more reliable (and higher capacity) ride system. It would also reduce noise by quite a bit, which I’m sure the neighbors would appreciate.
That would be interesting.
CANOBIE!! My Man.... WOOOOOOOOOOOO! Love ya, brotha
Thanks!
I rode the bobsled at Magic Mountain way, way, way back in the day, and while I really can't remember how good or bad the ride was at the time, I do remember how damn loud it was. At MM it was located back in the corner were Apocalypse is located now, so noise was not an issue for residential homes. How or why anyone would place this thing anywhere near a "neighborhood" is beyond me, as it's probably the loudest sounds I've ever heard from any ride.
Was it worse than Riddler’s Revenge and Superman for noise?
I grew up in the 90s and early 2000s I was an enthusiast from the point Great Escape added Comet. That was when I started getting season passes for my birthdays so I saw Premier Parks adding coasters to my local parks but my home park got Boomerang then Bobsled then Nightmare. Talk about a capacity nightmare between Bobsled and Nightmare. Both of those coasters were such terrible additions and you would wait forever for a pretty terrible ride. I'm amazed Bobsled is still around, Nightmare looked amazing and they removed a mountain to build it but it's sat empty for a decade only being used for Fright Fest. That's what has always bothered me about GE, there is plenty of space for potentially awesome coasters but the locals fight every new ride and Six Flags doesn't want to hit a traffic threshold so they don't have to redo the traffic around the park but it could be amazing. It's so strange that they have invested big in the hotel and indoor waterpark and even Hurricane Harbor but they are always labeled the red headed stepchild of Six Flags. Even Steamin Demon is pretty lousy.
The indoor water park was a smart decision given the touristy location and it offers a yearround revenue source. I agree they sorely need another coaster.
@@CanobieCoaster I just think it's strange they stopped doing the hotel and water park thing after Great Escape. I'm pretty sure only Darien Lake has lodging but that was there before premiere. I guess it must not have worked out so well for Six Flags since they haven't done it anywhere else.
I was so pleasantly surprised by how violent La Vibora was and that was a much easier alpine coaster to get on
Sure is.
September 4th, 2023 is the last day for the Alpine Bobsled. I rode it again today, for possibly the last time. I hope they replace it with something good.
I hope they will, but I fear the plot will stand empty next year.
@CanobieCoaster And luckily, you're wrong. I'm super excited for the new coaster.
The new coaster isn't as fun as the bobsled but I guess it's good that great escape finally built another coaster. Hopefully they will build more intense ones after this
Seems like every time I'm at SFOT, La Vibora opens up pretty quickly (like less than an hour) after it rains. There must be better drainage on it.
Possibly. Or they staff that one better.
Local here, the worst thing that could happen to you on this coaster is if, erm, heavy people get in the back 2 rows, the very final corner has a barrier the sled could slide into that funneled it into the starting area.
Well anyway, the rearend came out a bit first in that corner due to the added weight, and we _slammed_ into it with all that momentum, it felt like a car accident.
You can kind of see how jarring it is normally here, I swear we hit that barrier with at least twice the force. I've been on it several times since and it was never that bad.
Oh no! That sounds uncomfortable.
I rode the bobsled with my cousin and other family and it worked fine for us. But then, my mom and dad and other family rode it after us and it stopped working near the end. They were stuck for about 10 minutes before they were told get off and walk to the exit. At least it was at the end so the still got to experience it.
Consider yourself lucky it was even open.
There was also one in the Netherlands. But it was a problem with noice and maintenats and fore the reason is scrept
I rode Bob. I'm not surprised those were issues too, especially since that one was in the woods.
The only bobsled coaster I ever rode was Avalanche Run/Disaster Transport at Cedar Point.
I never rode that one.
I rode Disaster Transport (never rode it when it was Avalanche) at Cedar Point in 2002 and 2004. I rode the Great Escape bobsled when it was at Great America (I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, and so we went to Great America regularly).
Rode it a few more times for the last time this season. I'll miss it but I know this thing was a pain for those operating it.
Yeah, it had a ton of downtime. The Bobcat coaster replacing it should be even better.
I just rode Alpine Bobsled for the first time yesterday. I’m very lucky I was able to ride it, because it was closed on my other visit in 2019. I am a bit sad that it’s going, but Bobcat looks like a much better ride and definitely a worthy replacement.
Glad you got on it, but Bobcat looks better.
I was just 11 in 1984 at Great Adventure when it opened and remember how different it was.
Wow!
It had different Giovanola in-line sleds at Great Adventure (like you see on La Vibora). B and M designed the ride when they worked for Giovanola, which was sub-contracted by Intamin to do the ride. Walter and Claude later left Giovanola after a change in management and formed B and M and designed the side-by-side sleds for when this bobsled was moved from Great Adventure to Great America (before it went to Great Escape).
Im 0 for 2 with intamin bobsleds, la vibora and alpine bobsled were both down for maintenance during my visits
La Vibora seems to be down less, but that's a bummer.
@@CanobieCoaster it's ok in the end as both parks gave me a good experience so while it's unfortunate it definitely didn't cause me to enjoy myself any less!
I've never been able to ride this. All the times I have been to Great Escape, it has been closed. That's hilarious that they list it as closed on the app by default, even if it's open.
That shows just how unreliable it is.
What are the differences between the Intamin bobsleds and the Mack bobsleds in smoothness or roughness, what do you think?
Macks have slatted troughs, so they're bumpier. Intamins have rougher entries into brake runs.
10:28 For anyone who hasn’t ridden this, it’s 100% true. I’m around 5’10 and I swear to god that that thing felt more cramped than an airplane seat. It’s seat is also really low and not padded.
It's surprising how cramped they are.
@@CanobieCoaster oh couldn’t agree more. Also I still remember months later the “jumping the track” feeling as I got super caught off guard over the fact that I was feeling airtime.
Are these the same cars that were on disaster transport? Cause I'm 6ft 4 and fit in that fine. I actually enjoyed that coaster, I remember reading all the hate, and I had a ball.
Yes
I've always dreamed that this plot of land would get a Vekoma suspended thrill coaster themed to a ski lift ala alpengeist
They had an old SLC onsite for a while, but it was sent elsewhere.
Great Escape is my home park and I feel like the Bobsleds will close within the next 5 years or possibly sooner
I have a feeling you're right.
@@CanobieCoaster yeah its sad I enjoy the ride but I’m also open to what they might put in to replace it, hopefully a new roaster of some type maybe
Has RMC figured out yet how they can spice up Bobsled coasters?
Not yet!
Literally anyone could if you modeled the physics and better-shaped the midcourse guides. That's the low-hanging fruit on these. Clean those up and they instantly improve.
Also shocked they haven't added surfaces that water can pass through for faster drying. I'm certain there's a solution that would feel as bad as a Mack.
What means "a royal pain to ride"?
It's difficult to get on.
In your first visit to Great Escape in 2000, did you like all rides and coasters that were at the park at the time?
No, I particularly hated Nightmare.
Is it more or less fun than La Vibira?
Better because of the seating arrangement.
Are you sad about this ride closing?
The coaster replacing it should be a far better and more reliable ride.
Just use one length system and put a conversion in the video. Saves time
Others seem to appreciate both units being included, but thank you for the feedback.
Are you going to the new roller coaster at the Great Escape this year?
Yes
Canobie Coaster would say in the list of roller coasters in New York:
Alpine Bobsled at Great Escape. Alpine Bobsled is one of the most...
A) painful roller coasters in the world
B) unreliable roller coasters in the world
C) underrated roller coasters in the world
B
Those are the most arrow transitions ive seen on a non arrow coaster
Except they ride smoothly here...well outside of the ones into the brake run.
I’ll miss this ride it’s shutting down cause It keeps jumping the brake run
I heard it had issues in the past with the brake entry. Did it happen again?
Sere-YEH-vo, not Sere-HEY-vo. It's not Spanish, it's Bosnian. It's where a Winter Olympics was held in the 1980s.
Ah ok, sorry!
I miss Disaster Transport
I never rode that one.
@@CanobieCoaster It was an Intamin Bobsled coaster that was enclosed with full trains, originally started as Avalanche Run before it was enclosed
GCI! GCI! Please come replace this, or else I might just cry!
This park could use any type of new coaster.
Intamin bobsleds are very fun
I agree.
@@CanobieCoaster i rode the one at efteling a lot in my childhood, kinda sad it got removed, it was very different from other roller coasters rough and smooth at the same time and overall a pretty out of control feeling
I would like to see a video of most unreliable coasters you've ridden in the world
I already made that.
Fun fact, the only reason Alpine Bobsled hasn't been removed is that it is too expensive to.
I can see that.
I had like 15 rides on that
Nice!
It’s a shame this coaster is so loud
Honestly their super loop sounds louder to me.
@@CanobieCoaster well those rides are already loud
"Rolling Thunder" has probably an appropriate name for it, though the true "Rolling Thunder" was Great Adventure's now defunct wooden racing coaster.
La Vibora at SFOT is near the entrance next to the parking lot making it a cool attention getter when entering the park with the guests hearing and seeing the cars go round. A very popular ride there. To me no louder than being in a bowling alley.
"Be warned if you're over 6 ft tall"
Noooooooo
You can ride. Your legs will not have much room though.
Nice 😎 - I say knowing I'll probably never get up there regardless
A girl said that a girl fall from the bobsled
I haven't heard that.
Didn't happen
Not true
what?!
i hate this ride, its also constantly breaking down. Non the less i got to ride it several times when i was younger, now my legs don't even fit in the sled lol Also the only reason to go to great escape is the comet
I use my membership skips for this ride if by some chance it is open.
This coaster looks really fun, but it's a shame it's so unreliable.
The uptime and capacity put a dark cloud over this ride.
well now you cant ride it at all so HA
It has just a few days left (assuming it doesn't rain or have technical issues).