Iron Dragon VR

Not sure what the picture is showing exactly, but supposedly it shows some Oculus VR testing on Iron Dragon. Thoughts? Should be an interesting addition in my opinion. It will very likely be an optional thing too so it's kind of win-win. Adds a fun spin on a otherwise tame ride and those who aren't interested don't have to participate.

Source: https://twitter.com/MontanaRusa/status/741021272985894913/photo/1?r...wsrc%5Etfw

I would welcome this add-on. Hopefully the experience isn't too expensive.

Supposedly Six Flags doesn't charge for the VR experience on their rides. I feel like Six Flags would be more likely than CP to charge for this sort of thing so hopefully it's free at CP as well.

Rode Dare Devil Dive yesterday with the VR headset. It was cool while in the station. But as we were going up the lift my headset took a crap and I rode the whole ride in the dark. I guess daytime night rides aren't too bad. ;) This happened to 3 people total on my 6 person car on the ride and a fourth's headset would only work if he looked to the right the whole ride. Not sure if this is a common occurrence or not but it seems to have a way to go to work properly from my one experience. Now they did offer re-rides to anyone who's headset didn't work during the ride.

Another observation was how much it slowed down operations. I didn't take any photos but there was a sign saying "60 min wait from this point" and that was at the top of the ramp inside the station! Now I've heard online horror stories about Dare Devil Dive's horrendous capacity but.. jeez. That ride loaded two cars at one time, one was loaded for VR one wasn't. I hope they would do something similar at Point and offer say the last 3 cars of the train for VR and the front portion for non-VR riders. That may help a little if you limit the amount of VR riders per train.

Say goodbye to decent capacity. I'm sure CP could make it work better than Six Flags but it already sounds like a nightmare for them. Who was the genius that decided to put it on Dare Devil Dive?

And as I type this, it has just been mentioned...

They allow these, but not GoPros?

Maybe they would make it so you get your headset before you board the ride. If you got your headset while still in the station and before you got on the ride, that should make the loading process with these faster, and create very little, if any impact on loading.

At SFoG the headsets were given to the people in line who chose VR before loading. It still doesnt help much cause you can't really put it on until you're in the train and loaded. Or you're literally walking blind.

The set's Six Flags had were comfortable and had a lanyard looking strap for around your neck. Then a strap for under your chin and the the straps that go around your head (above your ears) and over your head. Each strap could be tightened and velcro'd down. Its a pretty slow process for 6 riders at a time as the ops need to check each strap to make sure it's secure.

I would think designating say the last 3 cars on the train for VR could help. A host pre-loading guests could demonstrate how to put on the headset to each group (something that was not done at SF) also, maybe queue videos constantly playing on how to wear the headset could help as well. Additional ops assigned to these cars so the front portion of the train can be checked while ops are securing headsets. Little things that could help.

This really sounds gimmicky and I hope the fad is over soon.

Won't all those straps get all sweatty? I cringe just putting my face up to the vision checker at the BMV.

The question of hygiene does occur to me. Plus how are they compatible with eye wear? If not at all, some of us will get more of a blurry experience.

Anyway, I remain open minded until I try it.

I don't understand why parks are doing these. I could see if you were charging but to lower capacity and make wait times a nightmare, I just don't get it. Especially putting it on Superman the Ride and Dare Devil Dive. Why in the world would you slow down your capacity, almost to a halt, on Six Flags best (arguably) rides in there respective parks in those two. Especially Superman which is Six Flags best ride and one of the best in the world. It needs no gimmick whatsoever. They get high capacity all the time as it is. If they were going to use it, put it on they're crappy vekoma's and old loopers. Literally makes zero sense to me.

Got a set of these for the kids, they are ok for use with glasses. There is an adjustment wheel for focusing them. I agree on the sweaty headbands and around the eyes though, even after just a few minutes of use they start to get hot. They have a foam rubber gasket for around the eyes that would soak up the sweat. Maybe they will replace that with a leather type material that can be cleaned after each use.

The Valravn VR isn't the greatest starts to lose it's heading after a short time on the ride. The first hill and loop is good then it starts to wander off the view. Very cool up to that point however.

I'm using it with the Samsung gear VR and have to use the google cardboard app for it to work. There may be some compatibility issues causing the tracking to fail.

I've seen videos of what goes on during the ride in the VR sets. It just seems like I'm playing a video game. I personally just like watching the track, scenery, and theming, if there's any. That's part of the experience of a ride. Iron Dragon has some of the coolest scenery in the park, with how it maneuvers through trees and over ponds. What if Beast got the VR treatment. Beast at night wouldn't be special. The only way I would choose the VR headset would be if it was a walk on ride or a very short line.

Smh! Was hoping this wouldn't come to CP. there goes capacity on that ride. I don't go to amusement parks for VR, especially Cedar Point. The atmosphere is amazing.

Still shocked superman ride of steel got this. Of all rides, that doesn't need it.

If the ride needs this to "make it better" ....just remove it and put in something better

Oh well, Just my opinion

I can definitely understand the concerns about capacity. To my knowledge Six Flags is the only other park to have attempted this so far. I really don't think they're a good example in terms of capacity. Hopefully CP has plans to have minimal impact on capacity. Aside from the capacity concern there really should be no other reason for people to be against this. It's optional. If this type of thing is not up your alley and you prefer the trees and scenery of the ride then don't participate.

darkrider68 said:
The question of hygiene does occur to me. Plus how are they compatible with eye wear? If not at all, some of us will get more of a blurry experience.

Anyway, I remain open minded until I try it.

I'm near sighted and don't even wear glasses with these headsets. Technically, what you're seeing is close to your face. It's just an illusion of things being far away. So no glasses needed. Now if you're far sighted, you may need your glasses but they're very comfortable to wear. The adjustment someone talked about earlier is not to correct blurriness from vision but to adjust the lenses for the differences in the distance apart of individuals' eyes. Now that being said, I have had some people experience severe nausea just wearing these in the living room. I can't imagine these people wearing that on a roller coaster. Definitely a recipe for vomiting if you have this problem with VR.

vwhoward said:. Now that being said, I have had some people experience severe nausea just wearing these in the living room. I can't imagine these people wearing that on a roller coaster. Definitely a recipe for vomiting if you have this problem with VR.

Actually VR sickness is caused by what you're seeing not syncing up with the rest of your body. So take a VR coaster for example (in your living room, not on the actual coaster). You're seeing the environment move around you and you're doing crazy flips and whatnot. You're body however is sitting or standing still, there are no G forces felt so your brain detects a mismatch and this causes nausea. Same goes for even tamer experiences like walking around a virtual environment without actually moving your body.

Now with a VR coaster they sync what you're seeing to the G forces you are feeling on the coaster. This means any motion sickness you would be feeling would be just from the ride itself and not the VR.

TLDR: if you don't get motion sick on Iron Dragon without VR and the company contracted to produce the VR experience does a good job with syncing the video to the ride there will be no motion sickness at all.

Besides capacity issues, I have only heard good reviews of the VR experiences at Six Flags.

Other than having other people's sweaty headsets sitting on your face.