GoBears

The park has said that to their knowledge the trains won't have any seat belts. I haven't heard anything recently though. Speaking of the trains, I wonder when they will arrive. I'm guessing next month.

Beautiful morning and the workers are hard at work as usual.

Was Powder Keg running at all? I heard somewhere else that it tested at one point but didn't open. I also heard this was common for the ride at the beginning of the season. I hope it's running this coming Thursday and Friday because I'm visiting the park for the first time then. Also, with the addition of the seat belts, did they enable it so larger guests can ride again? I don't think I should have a problem with or without seat belts, just wondering.

That rumor floating around about SFGAm charging a $5 up charge fee to enter Hurricane Harbor unless you are a pass holder seems to be true. Looks like there will be a fee of some sort this year. This was posted on their updated website in the FAQ's...

Exactly. It's pointless to remove the trims or buy 3 brand new expensive trains only to please a few coaster enthusiasts. Removing the trims won't bring more people to the ride. The general public doesn't care about Bull's trim brakes. There's a reason why Raging Bull has been the most popular ride in the park since the day it opened in 1999. It's not the most thrilling ride in the world (or even the park) but it's just overall a very fun ride that keeps people coming back again and again. The park will continue operating the ride how it is because it brings thousands and thousands of guests there daily. As far as Bull's design goes, they had no intentions building outwards into the parking lot further (where Hurricane Harbor is now) at the time so Raging Bull was created to fit into the space between American Eagle and Viper where Southwest Territory had opened just a few seasons before. Even some of that space where Bull sits was parking lot that they had removed. Raging Bull is a very compact coaster for the type of ride that it is. There's not really any long stretches that they could've used to add 3 or more consecutive air time hills. I think the layout works perfectly for the space they used.

The overbank turn has reached max height.

Goliath isn't using any of the former spot of Ragin' Cajun. They never gave an exact reason why but there may be a few reasons. For one, it was really low in capacity and they already have a wild mouse in TDK Coaster. Another possible reason is that they might already have something planned for that location. The park president, Hank Salemi, said a month or so ago at No Coaster Con that we should keep our eyes on Cajun's spot for future expansion. He also mentioned that they were planning an interactive dark ride but ultimately decided on building Goliath for this year. He is pushing hard to acquire a dark ride so maybe they will build one there in Mardi Gras. That space could also be used for a flat ride of some sort in the near future.

M-Porium was an actual store that you walked into, not a stand. I should've worded my post better. I was referring to the new Thrillseekers store they are adding for 2014. I originally thought they were renovating the M-Porium and turning it into Thrillseekers, but from what the park said, it sounds as if Thrillseekers will be a whole new store outside of Goliath. I just didn't know if it would be an actual store or a stand outside the ride.

Almost 2 pages filled over a banner. To clear up what I said on the other page again, I'm just saying the new website that was released has the majority of their photos from their actual park instead of using photos from other parks. This is one banner about a ride that isn't operating yet. I'm sure once Goliath opens, they'll show an actual photo of the ride and not one of NTAG and IR. I wonder how long until the park starts building the new Thrillseekers outside of the ride. Apparently it'll be right by the exit instead of replacing the M-Porium like I originally thought. Is that an actual store they are building or just a stand like Leather Xcessories? It looks like they are going to start raising the bents for the dive loop at the other end today.

Photos from SFGAm's FB page... Looking up at the overbank turn... Twisty... A look at the 125 foot overbank turn and 70-75 foot overbank twist & shout... Airtime anyone?... Bents for the dive loop next to the station are already being assembled and will be lifted into place soon... A look at the station and first turn...

You know what I meant. I'm not talking every single photo. At one point years ago, they used Wicked Twister on their site for V2. It seemed like each park on Six Flags' site was using photos from other parks and not their own. Not that it makes much of a difference, but it's nice to actually see photos of rides that are actually from that park. I just hope Six Flags starts using correct merchandise. There was an American Thunder shirt at SFSTl last year with Viper from SFGAm on it.

They cropped out a photo of Goliath's front car from a rendering (or from the car they showed off at IAAPA) and placed another photo of guest riding a different coaster behind it... I agree that with the website changes for the different Six Flags parks, I'm glad each park is actually showing off images from THEIR park and not others.

Does anyone know why a crane is over at Camp Cartoon? Are they moving something over there or is it just parked there?

Got it. Muah ha ha ha! Clever for this page.

Correct. I'm just calling it a floater because that's what RMC and the park has labeled that drop on the ride.

I love how much smaller that floater hill is right after the 125 foot overbank turn. There's about a 60 foot difference between the two which means you should fly over that hill at a great speed!

8 weeks from today until Six Flags Great America opens and 11 weeks until Goliath opens!

Mt Olympus. Do I need to even say why?

Yeah, the two top parts of the twist and shout are about 70 feet. The overbank turn is about 125 feet according to the height board they presented at the Gurnee meeting before the ride was announced.

Up bright and early lifting more bents.

I've ridden it almost every month (May-October) since 2004 each season and to be honest, it seems to change every month. It doesn't seem like there's ever a good year or a bad year, it just has good days and bad days. Some of the best rides I've ever had on it are when it's really cold outside, like during Fright Fest. Maybe that's just me.

I really dislike coasters that slow down half way through the ride, but Eagle is an exception for me. I might be one of the biggest American Eagle fans out there and one of my favorite parts of the ride is the start of the giant helix. It slows down almost all the way at the top of the big helix but you really gather a lot of speed by the end of it which sets up a nice little series of smaller airtime hills (mainly the red side). The helix is only really fun when it's racing though and you get to trash talk to the train beside you. I do agree that the big helix and the smaller helixes on both sides need to be re-tracked. Definitely the roughest parts of the ride. The airtime hills are shaky but nothing horrible and you really get that classic wooden coaster feel on the drops. American Eagle also needs a renovated station and new paint. The park said last year during Goliath's announcement at the end of August that they are looking into repainting Eagle entirely in the near future, but it will cost a lot of money. The station is also in poor shape with chipped white paint and it feels very bare on the inside. I would love if they kept the original station (I love the outside and roof of it) but repaint it and maybe add some red, white, and blue lights and paint. Make it feel more Patriotic. Also, if RMC ever did work on Eagle, I think red and blue topper track would be cool. Obviously red topper for the red side and blue topper for the blue side. I would love new trains as well.

I'm visiting SDC for my very first time in 2 weeks from today and I found a really good deal on SDC's website through a resort called Still Waters Condo Resort. They have newly remodeled rooms so hopefully it's nice. It includes SDC tickets into the cost.

The twist and shout should be finished up in the next hour or so.

I think there's just as much wood in American Eagle's helix as the entire ride of Goliath. \