What's Better, TOTC or The Demon?

All about the rides at Marriott's GREAT AMERICA and post-Marriott rides, too

What's Better, Turn Of The Century or The Demon?

Poll ended at Thu Aug 04, 2005 4:53 pm

Turn Of The Century!
3
100%
The Demon
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 3

User avatar
kiwigoodkid
Buzzy Bee
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2005 7:38 pm
Location: Aurora IL,
Contact:

Post by kiwigoodkid »

jonrev wrote:What causes all the head banging anyway?
The way in which the track is formed. If the track has a lot of quick turns and the train takes them fast, your head will want to keep on going in one direction, but the tracks bend makes sure the car and your head follow the track. Some times this motion is viloent and it causes your head to bang agenst teh restrain.
A new, bigger and better Nation!
www.thrillnationusa.com
User avatar
RLAiello
Tidal Wave
Posts: 207
Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2005 8:23 pm
Location: Chicago, IL USA
Contact:

Post by RLAiello »

I have to go with the Demon, only because I never rode Turn of the Century. I was too little. :-(
Rick Aiello
SFGAm Employee 1988-1999
User avatar
Shockwavegirl
Yankee Clipper
Posts: 55
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2005 3:53 pm

Post by Shockwavegirl »

twixmix0303 wrote:Could you explain more?

T 50-60 mph, do three vertical loops, and come to an almost complete stop, before doing the butterfly (two half vert. loops back to back, hard to describe) and two corkscrews before the ride was over.
That inversion is called a boomerang, but the best way to describe it would be a pretzel, because if you look at it from the station POV, it looks just like a pretzel twist.
User avatar
PGA ROCKS
Tidal Wave
Posts: 173
Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2005 4:04 pm

Post by PGA ROCKS »

Demon (I wasn't born when TOTC was at the park.)
I miss Tidal Wave
User avatar
m11stephen2
Yankee Clipper
Posts: 68
Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2005 2:02 pm
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Contact:

Post by m11stephen2 »

Shockwavegirl wrote:Irony..yes ,as ShockWave and Demon were both Arrow coasters, the track was the same, the trains were the same.........how can one bang your head, and the other not.......at least the Demon doesn't force your neck into unnatural positions like Shockwave, but Shockwave is still different than Demon, it had 7 inversions, where Demon only has 4.

I don't know about TOTC....I wasn't born yet , let alone tall enough to ride it before it changed....that and I was chicken little for coasters until I was 16 and worked at SFGAm. Sounds different though, and different is better, in exchange for all these theme parks just getting faster/taller versions of the same ride.
At least demon had better themeing, not the parking lot theme. Lol
User avatar
that_guy
Tidal Wave
Posts: 482
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2005 9:10 pm
Location: Pacific Grove, California

Post by that_guy »

lol, yeah, but I was wondering why was it called shockwave, it doesn't go with Orleans place…(at this time why didn't they name it the Hurricane)
October77
Buzzy Bee
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2012 12:15 pm

Re: What's Better, TOTC or The Demon?

Post by October77 »

I first rode TURN OF THE CENTURY in October of '77 and loved it. The first drop was fun, but those two small bunny hills provided great airtime! THE DEMON is alright, but the vertical loops can't hold a candle to those bunny hills. And as for the theme making a difference, it's cool to look at but doesn't affect the ride.

Bunny hills beat vertical loops. TURN OF THE CENTURY wins.
OldSchoolGAFan
Gulf Coaster
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 5:21 pm

Re: What's Better, TOTC or The Demon?

Post by OldSchoolGAFan »

Unfortunately I was too small for TOTC when it existed and have only riden the Demon. I have to say if it wasn't for the theming package used for Demon it would just end up being an run of the mill looping coaster. From what I've seen of TOTC and heard of people's experince on the airtime hills I would've loved to have ridden it.
User avatar
RandyV
Willard's Whizzer
Posts: 131
Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2005 10:46 pm
Location: Denver, CO

Re: What's Better, TOTC or The Demon?

Post by RandyV »

Man -- tough call. You have to think about and put this ride in historical context.

TOTC was great for the air time and the corkscrews were "the" inversion when the ride was originally built. TOTC was basically a "super" Arrow corkscrew.

When the Demon opened in '80, the addition of the two "true" vertical loops were an amazing feature. Truly amazing for the time. Yeah, the Tidal Wave had the one loop (forward and backward) but two consecutive loops and two corkscrews were something not really found anywhere else.

That said, and having ridden both, I think the Demon gets the call. 32 years and still going. If Marriott had not modified TOTC and added the loops my opinion is that the ride would have been removed a long time ago.

Sure, the Demon is not as smooth as it was when it was younger (what Arrow is?) but it's still one of my sentimental favorites.
Randy V.
Gurnee will always be my home park...
User avatar
txcrew
Buzzy Bee
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri May 22, 2009 4:15 pm

Re: What's Better, TOTC or The Demon?

Post by txcrew »

Sorry to unearth year old threads but the topic seemed compelling enough to do so :D
[quote="RandyV"]That said, and having ridden both, I think the Demon gets the call. 32 years and still going. If Marriott had not modified TOTC and added the loops my opinion is that the ride would have been removed a long time ago. [/quote]
Very well said and including the themeing, I would have to go with Demon as well.
Post Reply