Six Flags Over Texas (SFOT) Discussion Thread

Here is some pics I took at SFOT this afternoon (05/17) of the renovation of Texas Giant. There was a lot of construction workers hanging around on the coaster today using chainsaws to cut away the old wood. I haven't been to SFOT in a few years, but it didn't disappoint! The park was beautiful, not very crowded, and a lot of fun (as if I doubted it would be) All in all I had a Six Flags Day! YAY

Overview of Texas Giant from the Oil Derek Obeservation tower

Some construction workers using their chainsaws to cut away the old wood.

Some of the new track installed directly across from the train station

The New Track on the lift hill

I'm a couple weeks behind in posting updates here. They have placed the track down the brake run and station. Note though, I did say placed, not installed. The finale is gone now, and they didn't even have to disturb the structure it was running through to remove it. Very surprising. The drop off the midcourse however still looks to have a section of track on it. ON TO THE PHOTOS

View from the tower was pretty hazy today buy at least the thing was open for a change.

This entire part of the ride was one of the last sections to get stripped down, and I have to say it's pretty gone. Lots of structure missing. New profile perhaps or just replacement? I'm very anxious to see if we get the double up back.

Is it a coincidence that this structure was removed in the shape of a very steep drop?

The hill at right center in this shot was fully in tact less than a week ago.

And alas, the beloved finale of the ride is all out. You can see it's gone on the other side from Titan's lift but I can't get pics form there of course.

Been meaning to show this for a while. Anyone who might have been curious as to how they actually got all the old track out and the new track into the station and brake run they rigged up and overhead beam and hoist system to bring it all in. You can see this coming out of the front end of the station as well.

Nothing new up high yet

However there are some new pieces that look so be the top and bottom of a hill.

And here is the latest graphic diagram. Pretty much nothing left to do but build I'd think.

in other news, this stuff happened

That's all for now

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haha the Oil Derrick sort of got a wrap too. anyways thanks for the updates Gre... er i mean Zingoman

Wow, those ads are hideous!

I'm just glad they didn't plaster the ads on the elevator walls or on the bobsleds themselves.

Jordan, the announced projected budget is $10 million...

But yeah, I had no idea the rehab was going to be this extensive. I'm very anxious to see the finished product!

Wow, let's encourage everyday idiots to take their cell phones on rollercoasters to take pictures of themselves. Was SF and MetroPCS on crack when they thought of that ad campaign?

Thanks for the photo update! Great stuff!

^ Haha! I didn't really think about it that way but it does seem like they are promoting that with the ads on the Oil Derrick doesn't it? I wonder if any employees will get that as an excuse.

Wow, the more this goes along and the more clear it is just how much is going to be different the more intrigued I am about what the final product will be. When this is done I do believe I will be making my first trip to SFOT.

^ As will I, hopefully.

Is this the first time when all the track's been removed? It seems to be coming along slowly, which might end up being a major con when thinking about trying this on other coaster (SoB, perhaps?). Anyways, very excited to see the finished product and hear reviews about this somewhat "prototype" method of preserving a coaster.

Really isn't as much a "rehab" as it is a "replacement".

To me, I think that Texas Giant is an all-new coaster.

Look at what they're doing... It's now a steel coaster, it's somewhat using the supports that were there originally, it's a new ride. So why say that it's an "upgrade"? I think they did that because the Texas Giant is so well known and so popular. I know lots of people would be pissed if Six Flags said "We're tearing down Texas Giant and putting a new coaster there!" Texas Giant is a classic and so many people love that ride. It makes sense to partly use the structure that was there and just make a new coaster and market it as Texas Giant.

I believe it's a new coaster. New stats, Pretty much all track replaced, new trains, new supports in some sections, taller, faster.

Uhhhh, It would be a HUGE misunderstanding if you call it a rehab. I would more-or-less call it as an Attraction Replacement. ;D

I agree. This really will be a whole new ride. Nothing about the actual ride experience will remain so you can't call it the same. It's like if they were to melt down Shockwave, and recycle the steel and build a new coaster in the same spot without changing the name. Yes, parts of the Giant will be in there, but only structure, and structure does not make the ride what it is. Only way they can justify calling it the same name anymore to me is if the profile remains but we already know some it will be changed but who knows. I'm ready for a rendering to see what this will be!!

Found a video about the rehab

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/texas-giants-dollar-10-million-renovation-rolling-along/1d2lujrd1

Perhaps like Hollywood does, they could call it a re-imagining of the original?

To anyone who may be interested, they topped off the ride already. I'll post pics soon.

^Sorry Zingo

Crest from below

About to start the descent!

And the whole kit-kaboodle

I'll be heading to Over Texas sometime this week to take better pictures

doesnt look that much taller. Now the Giant might have been 165 ft tall but the drop didnt go to the ground. I wonder if this drop is going to be steeper and go all the way down.

Well I think that maybe because it's steeper, it will probably go as far and still go to the same place the original drop did, and it would still reach the estimated speed of 65 mph.

doesnt look that much taller. Now the Giant might have been 165 ft tall but the drop didnt go to the ground. I wonder if this drop is going to be steeper and go all the way down.

The Texas Giant wasn't 165 feet tall. It was 143 feet tall with a 137 foot drop. Most coaster drops don't go all the way to the ground as there is structure holding the track up, so the bottom of Giant's drop wasn't unusually high off the ground.

The lift is only being raised 10 feet for the remodel, but the drop will be much steeper at 79 degrees.

I can't wait for this to be finished! When I was at Cedar Point this week, Mean Streak couldn't be mentioned in a sentence without the mention of a torch or the Texas Giant no matter who I was talking to, so it seems everyone is watching to see how this winds up, as it will be a major breakthrough for the industry. *EXCITEMENT*

Are we still clasifying this as a wooden roller coaster, or is this just going to be another El Toro or Balder?

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What would you classify the Gemini at CP? I consider that to be a steel coaster.......