Goooose

The problem isn't really Goliath, everyone loves Goliath. A lot of people, even people on this site (myself included) consider it the best coaster in the park since Bizarro is a shadow of it's former self at this point. Goliath is a great ride which always has long lines and it's a coaster that I think is really underrated. The problem is that Flashback is still there even though Goliath is much better, but to be fair it's still really popular even though it's a horrible ride. I love Goliath too. It was a crowd favorite at Great America as Deja Vu. But I question why the chain would take it out of three parks and gift it to a fourth, given the headaches it causes. SFNE surely had to spend money on it and I am pleased to see they are giving it new trains. Hopefully you guys will be able to enjoy it longer than we did, but to be safe, enjoy it while it lasts. I am not too familiar with SFNE's bizarre/superman situation. Though it may have already been talked about to death, can you shed some light in one quick paragraph on why the coaster is a shadow of its former self? Is it slower? Did new theming interfere with the ride experience in some way? Thanks!

Track exiting the dive loo visible from the webcam! And I didn't drive right by it, but I was on I-94 north yesterday and exited at Belvidere road, the exit before grand ave, and the overbank looks gorgeous from there. The dive loop is also visible and the distance between the two is quite grand. The coaster will look great when finished!

Two boomerangs? Really? Is this how we treat a park with one of the best coasters on earth!? and by donating a low-capacity, maintenance nightmare? A max-air would fit perfectly where flashback is but I noticed in one of the pictures that there is already a revolution-type ride in there (I forgot what the make is called).

I came here to comment on the test video that was shared. I... don't know what to say. It looks like there is a free fall for about 1.5 seconds, maybe covering 100 feet, then a 100 foot speed stabilization phase, a 50 foot break run, and then the car coasts down another 50 feet before coming to a halt. Compare this to Giant drop at Great America, and the second generation intamins free falls, which falls for 3-4 seconds at free fall and decelerates right into the station, only coasting about 10 feet to its final resting place. It seems like this thing is just 100 feet taller but not any faster or longer. I understand there are limitations because of the vertical drop and this is just a test run that could be very different from the final product, but still.

The architecture of the ride is literally unprecedented. The design of the wood and steel supports are entirely unique so it will be great to watch in action and stare at. Even the track is rare- only one other example in the US of this type of track configuration. Cant wait to stare at it. It will be very photogenic because of this but the problem now is that the majority of the ride is hidden from view because it is so far from the midway. Which is an appropriate Segway into sharing my next idea, which would allow for the ride to be one of the most photogenic and frequently photographed coasters imaginable: I thought of this before but never shared. They really ought to build a photo op over the first drop tunnels! The path toward the wilderness theater could be extended and a walkway could easily be built right above the drop offering similar photo opportunities as splash mountain. It would be an impressive way of allowing people great, daunting views of the ride that currently is hidden in the back of the park and it would provide the park with so much free social media marketing for years to come via instagram, facebook and vine uploads. People would love it and nonriders would be able to wait for / watch their friends and family there. If the roof they have in mind to cover the tunnel isnt strong enough to support people, they could build a bridge over it, firmly planted in the ground. SIX FLAGS, please deliver!

. Lift hill is going up FAST! In front of the dive loop!

A SINGLE RIDER LINE? Are they serious?!!?! Is this a Six Flags frst??? SO EXCITED. I was getting tired of yelling TWO RIDERS AT RANDOM PEOPLE IN STATIONS AFTER WAITING AN HOUR. All caps for EXCITEMENT. This ride will have great capacity now and all of us nerds can get more rerides in with strangers.

AGREED! I've driven by and the track is installed on the other side. It looks really nice from the ground, with the curvy red track as the highest point on the structure. Photos with my iphone from off property look terrible though so hopefully they will get out there and give us an update. I was expecting one Friday but maybe they are waiting for the overbank to be 100% finished?

Also, they are reinstalling the track between the overbank and the floater hill for the 3rd time at least. I'd like to look back and see if maybe the track has been smoothed out/modified? or perhaps they just needed that space to be track-free for construction access?

Is anybody else perplexed that the overbank structure looks nothing like the structural concept art? There's so much boxy steel at the top and the base of the overbank doesn't widen like in the concept art.

Look how long that ascent is!! Its going to be going SOOO FAST

omg each new piece takes my breath away

Based on the video I'm guessing a vertical tilt drop tower like falcoln's fury but one whose tower is surrounded by a tunnel a la oblivion so they can have darkness, fire, fog effects. Like a plummet to hell.

Look at it go!

http://cache.rcdb.com/5e5001rsu08000cgeojf90.jpg http://cache.rcdb.com/n17g00001687k9nkg00gtr.jpg http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=110+Degree+Angle&FORM=RESTAB I'll meet you half way at 110, but it looks pretty steep and it could be more. Wish we had a perfect side elevation perspective

I can't find any official number but it looks about 120 to me.

Tracks up to about 80 feet

I cant say with 100 percent certainty but it looks like they are placing track into the overbank now! Look at the horizontal pieces on the cabin nearest the camera, where the track exiting the tunnel for the first time ends. AND check out all the shiny red track on site ready to go at the base of the work site, where they used to build bents!

I am actually shocked to see progress already this morning. I didnt know they worked in the rain.

I think they're starting to work overtime to make up for lost time. Typically the cranes are down by 5pm but they're still up. Dive loop is still growing. I'll post a pic when the cranes are down for the day.

Dive loop as of 3pm. I think the upper half of the dive loop went up really fast. About 2 weeks. And you can tell they are always weaving more wood and steal into existing structures, even after the bents add height to the structure. After this dive loop all that is left is the lift and the zero g stall which are the same structure.

Thanks for this. Gives me something from which to clarify my thoughts. I don't think Bull has been neutered. I think its design has been proven unnecessarily tame by later installations. What bull has over other B&M hypers is its sensation of flight and speed, thanks to its twister layout. What it totally lacks are those repetitive floater hills that accentuate the sensation of height, let them relive the first drop (which we also dominate in the category with since the back of the train isn't dragging behind on the lifthill and the front of the train is allowed to gain speed sooner) and also provide airtime. My argument is that the maintenance argument must be false or that designers in 1999 were overly cautious. I mentioned new trains, if and only if the problem is with wear and tear on the trains that Raging Bull has, if there have been some design modifications that have allowed for more airtime on later installations. All other B&M hypers, focused on airtime rather than the twister layout style, are full of hills that are not neutered. Yes, each ride has a trim break in it somewhere, but on one of 8 hills, not 1 of 1 hills! Its a confusing argument to make but the foundation of it is this: I don't buy the maintenance/wear and tear argument. I don't understand how a train can sustain positive G's of up to 5 numerous times throughout the ride, at the bottom of hills and in helixes, sustains a resting rate of 1 g while stationary, but is too WEAK to be allowed to experience less than HALF of a G force on a floater hill. That hill might be designed as a perfect zero-g float, but we would never know because the speed is reduced before it enters it. Or that hill is negative, but I doubt that. But in an actual ride, you are lucky if you are in a row that allows your but to lift off your seat at all! Honestly it feels like a half a G, like my butt is firm in my seat while my stomach gets a slight tickle in it, and in that case, it isn't negative, and the stress on the wheels is essentially shared between the top and bottom, thereby reducing the stress on the top row of wheels. My final blow to the maintenance argument (if it is pertaining to stress on the train, not on the structure). Why would this hill so urgently need to be neutered to save on maintenance costs when the first drop provides several seconds of gut-wrenching ejector air? So this is why I don't buy the maintenance argument. It is for speed control, so that the ride is rolling along at a predetermined pace, one that is in direct conflict with gravity! If left alone, the ride would hit its mark better on that hill and through to the mid-course break run. Don't worry, I'm not gonna argue that they should turn that off too. The hill is poorly engineered, with or without the break, and all you need to do is ride another mega coaster to know that. Its ineffective in delivering the sensation riders want. My argument is that it has nothing to do with maintenance and everything to do with design flaws and that is why I think that turning off the trim could help in some small way.

double post

My point exactly. It was designed/built with the trim break 15 years ago and now they are building mega coasters that deliver much more speed and airtime than raging bull, with the exact same trains and track configuration. If there have been train modifications perhaps the park could purchase new trains and kill the trim. It is beyond unnecessary.