Millennium Force starting to show it's age??

So, I visited the park this weekend, rode Steel Vengeance for the first time and ABSOLUTELY loved it. But, I did notice something about Millennium Force. I was sitting in the 3rd row, and I felt a good bit of a rattle throughout the ride. I have never felt a rattle on Millie before...is it just the seat I was in, or is Millie starting to show it's age? It IS nearly 20 years old, after all.

How does one feel a rattle? I've never felt a rattlesnake, but always hear a rattle shake.

All roller coasters can feel drastically different from seat to seat, row to row, train to train, day to day, morning to night. One of those factors didn’t give you a silky smooth ride, but MF is usually one of the smoothest rides in the park.

Maybe it’s a subconscious thing.
Example- you remember when Magnum debuted, right? Ok, even if you don’t, trust me- the word on everyone’s lips was “smooth”. And what did we have to compare it to? Mine Ride and Corkscrew all of a sudden felt “rough”.
Then along came Millenium Force, which was so fast and smooth. I know for myself, after a few rides on it that my old favorite Magnum felt very rough and shaky. In fact it didn’t seem at all like the same ride I remembered- same layout, yes, but a very different feel compared to the new ride.
So now you have ridden Steel Vengeance, admittedly a dynamic ride but butter smooth in the way it tracks. Is it so much smoother that we seasoned riders might identify a “rattle” in MF that perhaps we never noticed before?
Maybe.

They change the wheels on rides like Millennium Force often. Maybe you got a seat with some wheels due for replacement.

Or maybe the wheels weren't put on right.

I blame the lemon chill guy.

On an unrelated note, was anyone there when it went down around 9 or so?

What color train was it. I always felt the yellow train was the roughest of the three.

I was on the red train when it went down. Yes, Al, I'm on your same boat about the yellow train(or the past train) being the roughest. Honestly Millennium is only rough around the drop and first overbank. Otherwise, it's rather smooth.

I don't think Millennium is rough at the overbank, it's just a very intense part of the ride that I know I and others have nearly or have grayed out at.

I've felt a noticeable vibration on Millennium Force for years. No matter which train, seat, day, it's been there.

It's always had a little rattle, not to say that it isn't a smooth ride. I noticed last year during halloweekends that the rattle was quite pronounced. I don't recall what color train that was on though.

Everyone just needs to read what RCMAC said. Read it again. Read it to your kids as they get sent off into their hour of slumber.

MF has not changed, but you have.

Rode several times this weekend. Felt the same as ever to me. But then again I've been riding Magnum since 1998 and that also feels the same to me, but everyone insists it's gotten rough. I think it's more of a perception thing because newer rides are designed more precisely, have better suspensions on the trains, etc.

Ever since I can remember, even when the ride was just a few years old, you would have times where it would be glass smooth (most of the time…) and other times in a specific train or seat there would be heavy vibration, due to wheel condition or wear in the wheel assembly.

While unusual, the ride is just fine. Just needs a little TLC! You could ride in that same train and seat next week and it could be the smoothest ride you ever had on it.

MDOmnis said:
But then again I've been riding Magnum since 1998 and that also feels the same to me, but everyone insists it's gotten rough. I think it's more of a perception thing because newer rides are designed more precisely, have better suspensions on the trains, etc.

Anyone who gets off Magnum complaining of roughness likely sat in the third row of a car. The ride the first two rows gives comparing to the third is night and day. Rides in the back row of a car can be horribly rough, but were the same two decades ago. And rides in the middle and front rows are fantastic, just as they have been since 1989.

That said, 1-3 is still my favorite seat in the house.

I will remember that. The girl and I really enjoy that ride.

Millennium Force is running about the same as it has for the last decade or more. The rattle has been there for a while. Its worse some days than others. My best guess is that the rattle primarily comes from the black restraint mechanism covers.

What I will say is that some days I feel airtime on the first hill better than others. It could be heat, maybe better later in the day, where I sit it's tough for me to pinpoint. A few times I feel the most awesome floater airtime going over it, a few times I feel hardly any airtime, majority just a bit of airtime. I'm pretty sure it's a case the faster it is going the better the airtime I would feel.

The laws of physics agree with that hypothesis.