coasterkid124

I agree. I'll take this domino effect all the way back to Revolution. After the first loop, parks needed 2, then 3, then so on. People as riders wanted more extreme rides (The majority at least), and parks can receive more profit and visitors with bigger things. Let's say that there are two big parks a half an hour away. Park A installs a new ferris wheel this year. Park B installs a new roller coaster. People will visit park B more often because of the big attraction. This of course is considering that the parks are pretty equal and its not like Cedar Point vs SF Great Escape.

That building was teal originally. These poles were sky blue and new, I don't know if they were important, but it only reminded me of this picture from Skyline Attractions: I could be way off, and they may just be a sign holder for the Scrambler, but those parts are in the main maintenance bay, and the part was by Predator's maintenance bay. I would imagine that Predator would need to close soon if they want to do this for next season.

Just some thoughts on my trip to the park today... The General Store looks nice this year. They painted it inside and moved around the shelves. It looks more open and modern inside now. The only bad thing is that they raised the prices. The cheapest you will pay for a bottle of soda at the park is now 3 bucks from the store. Scrambler update: 3 Point Shootout is still open. Next door, paving is done for the new game. As for the ride itself, parts are showing up organized by the maintenance buildings. The ride may only be open starting in late August or by Fright Fest. Maintenance this year is much better. The only thing closed today was the Ranger. Mind Eraser and the Moose on the Loose were fixed quickly and were up by 12. Thunder Rapids and Motocoaster are very underrated rides. I had a fun time on both today. I only wish that you would get wetter on Thunder Rapids. Don't be surprised if Boomerang shuts down early this year. The hydraulic unit has had its door open lately, and the ride has been struggling to haul a full train up the hills. The ride hasn't suffered much down time, but the only time it closes, the train is usually stuck on the first lift. Viper has been looking nice lately, but the queue and station really need to be freshened up to complete the restoration. Finally an update on Predator. Now lately, I have been very skeptical whether or not next year is the year for Lake Monster. I do not believe that it will be an RMC anymore, at least short term. RMC has only been able to do two coasters a year since their debut. 2011: NTAG 2012: n/a 2013: iRat and Outlaw Run 2014: Medusa and Goliath 2015: Most likely Colossus and SFNE Cyclone 2016: Wildfire Although RMC just built a new facility, they would need to hire more workers to complete more jobs. Right now, they are pretty much booked up for the next two years. The park's only other option would be GCI, or Skyline attractions. As the rumors say, GCI wants to build a looping woodie to compete with the new big gun RMC, and this may be their chance. Today I seen two sky blue colored wood pieces in Predator's maintenance bay. I couldn't get a picture because the only way to see it is while on the ride. The sky blue color sort of matches the color on Skyline's Facebook and Twitter teaser. I don't know what they could before, but my best guess would be a sign holder. But now that I think, it could be for the Scrambler too. We will know what Skyline's plans are Friday, so let's keep our fingers crossed.

Overall for Thunderbird, the coaster may have only cost 15 million dollars for design and material. That is a major construction operation with many workers to pay. Contractors bid in a reverse auction where the LOWEST bidder wins. Plus the cost of the electronic components and theming do drive the cost up quite a bit.

Well here's the way I would break it down: First you have to pay B&M for the track and train design. Next you have the steel plant who makes the track. There you need materials, cost of welding and finally painting the track. On the job site you need workers to clear the land including cutting down trees, concrete workers for footers, and contractors to build the buildings. You need to pay for shipping of the track and parts for the ride. Construction crew and machinery rental to start building the ride. Parts such as drive motors, PLCs, LIMs, braking devices, gates, fencing, proxy switches, motors for transfer tracks need to be purchased. Then you need electricians to hook everything up right. Inspection costs to the state, permits, substations, etc. Concrete workers for paths, theming costs, landscaping, etc. Maintenance workers and ops for thousands of test cycles. I probably forgot something but all of this put together is very expensive and all the little things add up to a big amount.

Silver Comet and Crazy Mouse at Martins Fantasy Island. If the initial stops aren't bad enough, the ops usually have fun tapping the brake button making the cars stop and go quickly. It's terrible. I've also had a few bad experiences on Schwarzkopfs. Mindbender and Shockwave a while back were pretty bad.

^ There are other factors to consider. The construction site is going back into the trees which will take a lot of time to move. Then the whole power issue with the new substation was addressed. Overall the cost seems about right with me.

Oh, right cause you went to the future and rode it already? People on here complaining have a lot of nerve. Can everyone quit bitching already? This ride looks fantastic. Thank you. I cannot agree more. This actually exceeded my expectations by a long shot. People can say what they want but this is truly a beautiful addition. My favorite part has to be the barn theming. Everything looks perfect. Thanks to Paula and the rest of the HW crew for making this announcement very special.

Hmm the official website says lsm technology, but the video mentioned flywheel. I wonder which is true

That was definitely worth waiting 66 days for.

Looks like park employees now doing interviews. There were some flashes and now a guy with a large camera.

I'm wondering that myself. It doesn't look like a construction crew. Maybe it's a group from the media or something.

^That wasn't a wish list, it is everything we know so far about what could be a new attraction

As I've said before I don't really know the whole backstory behind it, or why it was written, etc. I just remember it being mentioned awhile back in the thread. But if this email is truly real, it was from two years ago going on three so it possibly isn't too much longer before we start to see some bigger things once again. We all see that it never stated anything about not building thrill rides, but it didn't say they would, which in reality they wouldn't spill out their plans like that. So in my point of view, I don't believe anything said should be even taken seriously. Sorry for starting this, it's just been a long time and the email was something that stuck in my head from awhile back.

All the lifts have now moved behind the building. I'm guessing that they are starting with footers there now. I just wanna get myself one of those little bobcats. Those things are cool.

This is exactly what I was going for. All Six Flags cares about is hitting the 20 coaster mark. Not that it's a bad thing, because it is impressive, but they really don't do a good job with the rest of the park. Magic Mountain only has 13 other flats that aren't upcharge. Plus, look at some of the buildings. Paint is falling off and nothing is repaired. Ninja's station is a great example. It looks more like a demolition site rather than a roller coaster station.

Well, maybe this will open some eyes in the corporation. They try to penny pinch every year, and at the same time make the guests angry. Maybe those guests are just saving money and going elsewhere like Cedar Fair or Herschend parks. I don't believe that this whole conspiracy theory about weather and schools and blah blah blah is true. Let's look at how the company has skimped on people in the past. - SkyScreamers are being put in multiple parks - Used Boomerang to SF St. Louis - Poor scheduling - Lack of Variety at SFMM - Parking and ticket costs rising - Unfriendly staff and poor ops - Overusage of names and company ads in park Theres so many more that I can go on about. It's not a bad thing that they recycle ideas, but not every park needs a SkyScreamer. Unique attractions such as SFGAm's Goliath and Full Throttle will keep people coming back.

Here we go. I searched the thread and dug up the email that I was talking about. I remember this because at the time I wasn't a member of the forum yet, but I was interested in the speculation going on for last year's new concepts. Again, I highly doubt this should mean much of anything, because it wasn't much time after this post that the Lake Monster concept was released. It's also a little fishy to me because of this whole "a friend of mine wrote to the park" situation. I'm sure it isn't that hard to make something look official especially a forum post. I would believe it more if the park themselves posted this on their FB page.

This email was mentioned a long while back in the thread. I was still sort of a lurker while the discussion was going on. If I remember correctly, the park never said that they definitely weren't gonna build a coaster, they were just more worried about fixing the infrastructure of the park. It might have been about two years ago because I believe Wild Eagle was installed around then. Edit: I agree with Dark Maxim on this. The park would not spill out there plans like that. I just mentioned it because I remember it being previously discussed here.

We'll here's what we know so far for future rumors. I'm not trying to throw fuel in the fire rather just list the facts we know: The park told someone in an email that a coaster being built from scratch isn't likely in the next 5 years at least. Lake Monster would be a rebuild of Predator not a new coaster. RoS plaza is one of the next likely areas for a refurb. Sidewinder concept could be the next flat. UFO's pad is still vacant, no signs of construction. If Lake Monster is being built, Predator would have to be closed soon. Skyline Attractions is announcing their first project August 1st. The Cuda Falls area is about 3 acres, or roughly Maverick could fit (thanks to Dark Maxim for info). Locker building was just repainted meaning it may stay. UFO's status still unknown. There is room for expansion behind the to karts. Attendance is a main factor in a new attraction. No signs of any construction or new shipments in the park. Ideas of a new restaurant and circus have also floated around. The park has not teased anything yet unlike parks such as Carowinds, Hershey, or Holiday World. Fell free to add anything that I may have forgotten.

I could be wrong, but since the wheel itself is driven by rubber tires, when the rim gets wet the tires lose a lot of traction. The park wouldn't want to take any risks of riders getting stuck. Another time you can see this sort of thing happen is on RoS. At the brake run when the kicker wheels get wet, they struggle to pull the train back into the station. This can actually shut down the ride too.

The sad thing is, it probably won't. Amusement parks are starting to come fewer and fewer. The baby boom of the industry is over and land is now more valuable for real estate now. The parks that are left will continue to grow, but as many new ones will open. It's too bad that the park had to die that way, but maybe there is still a little hope if cedar fair ever sells the water park.

The way I see it, if they lower the price for the Slingshot and Sky Coaster, more people will ride and the park would make more money. But I've been on board with removing the go karts for awhile now. There is a ton of room behind it for new expansion and could house a whole new area larger than the Cuda or RoS plots.

How would this make a park more crowded? It would just boost profit and guest happiness. If I'm an owner of a theme park, I can't bring in more people by saying that I built a hotel. But, for tourists who have to travel to come to my park, they will be happy because they can stay longer. So it's not gonna bring more people in, but it will help them be able to come maybe more often land stay longer. With all the extra profit, the park will be able to do major overhauls to the areas that need work. Besides Six Flags has done hotels before at Great Escape and Darien Lake (while it was still owned by 6f). If they stay longer and come more often, wouldn't that result in the park being busier? I'm not saying the hotel would be bad, but it would sure bring more people in wit that logic. Not exactly, but I can see what you're getting at. I'm just saying if you have a family that stays for two days at the park, the attendance would be the same, there wouldn't be an increase. Maybe it would boost attendance a lot, I could be wrong but building a hotel won't bring in more people than a new coaster or area.

How would this make a park more crowded? It would just boost profit and guest happiness. If I'm an owner of a theme park, I can't bring in more people by saying that I built a hotel. But, for tourists who have to travel to come to my park, they will be happy because they can stay longer. So it's not gonna bring more people in, but it will help them be able to come maybe more often land stay longer. With all the extra profit, the park will be able to do major overhauls to the areas that need work. Besides Six Flags has done hotels before at Great Escape and Darien Lake (while it was still owned by 6f).