Password121

^My initial reaction was the Golden Kingdom shortcut, but that actually makes more sense. It would be really strange to re-open that entire area, given not one of the rides is operating, and I presume they are years beyond proper, working condition. Hmm...

Yeah it's an entirely separate chassis that is shipped from park to park for backwards operation, they can't just simply reverse the train. It was shipped away well before it opened at SFOG last week.

If that is what I think it is, the 2015 season is a success in my book. I'd even call this an infrastructure upgrade

I've had mixed feelings about Great Adventure over the past few years. On one hand, they've really shifted their focus from only thrill coasters all the time towards a more well rounded park with a little more for non-coaster riders to do. On the other hand, I honestly can't say they've done a great job of it. The individual investments they've made the past few years have been pretty good. Green Lantern is nothing special at all, but a decent replacement for the Scream Machine. Adventure Alley was probably what they needed most, and was well executed. The Safari is fantastic and is very popular once again, and it is a unique attraction for those that don't do thrill rides. Then we get to Zumanjaro. On one hand; the ride is OMFG insane and is something the park needed, as well as getting a new, record-breaking thrill ride, which is great every once in a while. On the other hand, they removed a piece of the park's history in Rolling Thunder, created a HUGE empty area with a false promise for baboons in the queue and "future expansion" (as of this point), and killed the capacity of the coaster that draws the longest lines and those from beyond the region to the park. Combined with the abysmal construction timeline, if this figure is correct, there are far superior options to spend almost $10,000,000. I'm completely fine with the park taking an "off-year" after such a mess, spending so much more than they intended. El Diablo seems like a perfectly fine flat ride to me; other than the marketing of the ride, I honestly don't see why so many complain about this. And no, it is not a valid argument to say it is a better investment to clean up the park than to add this ride. It's a SF policy to add a new ride each year, and new paint will draw no more than zero guests. That's where my issues with the park continue, though. Movie Town needs tons of work. El Toro's been plastered with a banner and ads. Kingda Ka is operated like crap and the Golden Kingdom in general isn't, well, the Golden Kingdom. Bizarro's ops didn't have any reason to run three trains in 2014. The park is desperately lacking shows. The midways are cracked to pieces in some areas. The water tower looks like Batman theming, not in a good way. The parking lot is borderline illegal, and it seems they have absolutely no intention of fixing it. The park seriously could use another water ride. The opening procedures/gold pass entry is a mess and I hate every part of it. I don't ride Superman anymore because of its operations. Nitro's queue bars are one foot tall, and the ride looks like crap. It's junkyard themed. I don't mean to rag on the park at all; I rarely do because I love the park to death. There are just countless things the park needs to improve on before it should ever consider becoming a resort destination. This park has SO much potential to be the best park on the east coast and one of the best parks in the world, but I seriously question if they realize that and if they really do have a "Master Plan."

From my experience, while BGW isn't nearly as consistently crowded as Cedar Point, it can still draw some large crowds on busier days. Keep in mind, however, that Cedar Point has almost three times as many coasters as BGW, and Wicked Twister probably isn't even in the top third in popularity at the park. Its train also carries almost twice as many riders as Tempesto's.

I heard the number 36.5 degrees tossed around sometime before the ride was announced last summer. Can't say for sure if that is correct, but I think it seems realistic.

Considering this (as well as Leviathan and Banshee) is the only Cedar Fair new coaster for the year, I would sure hope it has the best sign. This ride is really looking better and better as it gets closer to opening. I wasn't too sure how "complete" the area would look being right on top of Hurler's turnaround in a massive pit of mud all the way around the entrance, but in recent Cedar Fair fashion, they've really made a nice looking area and staged it well to look like the destination of a $30 million dollar investment (which still blows my mind). In the words of Rob Decker, they've created a "sense of place."

^ Maybe that's exactly why they're starting so early? It may be easier to remove it this offseason before they become limited on time and schedule. With a construction site from the beginning of the season, guests will take notice; perhaps this is what they want. Make it obvious something major is on the horizon to spark some more interest and make people talk about it and want to come back. Free, almost unintentional marketing for an unbuilt future attraction. *cough cough BGW*

That almost lives up Banshee's sign. Huge, deliberate, and stylized. Just like the coaster it represents. I like it.

The general consensus is that the Scream Machine will remain a traditional wooden coaster for the long haul. A combination of reasons for this... the layout probably isn't ideal for an I-box makeover, it maintains a "classic" type of reputation with its appearance and history, it has been fairly well maintained in comparison to the previous SF coaster revamped by RMC, etc. Many argue Cyclone is a better candidate for an I-box revamp, for that matter, and I would agree. That said, its Six Flags. You never really know what's on the chopping block these days; both Colossus and Cyclone were believed to be either safe or set to be scrapped until pretty much mid-summer.

Ahh, you're right! I bet everyone's going to be confused and unsure about the theme of the coaster because the definition of a variant of the name is comparable to that of multiple coasters in a 3,000+ mile radius. How could they not have thought of that? Disappointing, I'm certainly not going to Busch Gardens this year after this.

I like that the queue/entrance is right by the finale/brakes. Surely coincidental, but almost like a nod to Millennium Force. Although this brake run is ridiculously longer than MF's. It almost seems like another bunny hop could have fit in without issue.

You just said it yourself... airtime is a borderline opinion. You cannot compare (in many cases) two coasters for "amount of airtime." You get into ejector vs floater, zero-g vs negative-g, etc. But the point is, it does not matter. It was an advertising technique. Not one person in the entire world is going to call them out saying, "Hey! This has less airtime than Bizarro! False advertising!" And NO, they are not going to suddenly change an element because they think they aren't delivering on their "promise." That's not how it works. Just with Twisted Colossus, which for some reason people refuse to understand, it's a rendering. If you don't know what a rendering is, look it up before you post about how the rendering is "wrong" or something. Not all that difficult; there are slight tweaks that are made before any track is manufactured. Sorry, how do you know precisely how much "airtime" Wicked Cyclone has, compared to some made up number you say it was supposed to have? I don't mean to be rude at all, but you've got to understand that marketing, SF in particular, should be taken with a grain of salt. You haven't seen SF sued to continuing to call Kingda Ka the fastest coaster, so why would it be any different for WC (and this is before the coaster is even built)?

It's hard for people to give input when all you really have is a parking lot and most of an entrance. Get the park layout started with some rides... then you'll get more comments, views, credibility, and success. You can only look at infrastructure for so long.

Seems to be the new Cedar Fair style map (Kings Dominion, Kings Island, etc). Functional, easy to follow, not a work of art, but it doesn't need to be. Looks fine to me.

Jeez you Carowinds locals better really appreciate having a park like this. Six Flags has done a much better job in the last few years, but you're not going to get anything to the level of Fury, with such a vision for where the park is going. Even the details like the lift lights and tunnel lights. Really jealous and I look forward to seeing more impressive stuff at Cedar Fair parks in the future.

^ I'm sure final designs were decided soon after initial announcement. I don't think they would just change a piece of the layout halfway through construction. And no, I dont think its to make up for lost airtime. Honestly I don't even know what you're talking about; and what record is this? Very confused on this one.

Just nitpicking, but I-box track is steel track. Goliath, Outlaw Run, and Wildfire (pending delays) use topper track, which is a steel plate on a wood stack, which is the source of all controversy whether or not these coasters classify as wood (and wheel type). RMC topper track is also used to refurb old/rough wooden coasters. RMC hybrid coasters are steel coasters, through and through, as it is determined by the track type.

Haha! Too late!

Just because you think they are redundant doesn't mean they aren't sound investments. From all I've heard Leviathan is a fantastic ride and very different from Behemoth absolutely not, leviathan is very boring (at least for me) camelback curve, curve, camelback, end. I much preferred behemoth. then I do not understand, there are dozens of types of coaster. why build the same thing? (Just a little bit higher) Cedar Fair has a great relationship with B&M from what we've seen, and a giga coaster is easiest to market among the general public, being their target audience. Enthusiasts make up such a small part of their attendance that they don't take into account their opinions when buildig a new coaster. Just because you find it "boring" doesn't mean it's a bad investment, and in all honesty, if you find a 300 foot tall, 93 mph roller coaster "boring," you need to find a new hobby. You're not going to find many coasters more exciting than Leviathan.

I know some people in high places in the park, and I can tell you that attendance is a few hundred thousand off from the "glory days." By no means is the outlook for the park poor, but attendance is still not exactly where it needs to be. In fact, 2014 experienced a small dip in attendance. Ever since a private off-season tour, Six Flags America is actually a park I'm looking forward to visiting this summer. I have a knack for finding redeeming qualities about places many people like to criticize. Clones in all, SFA does offer a nice variety of coasters that aren't all found in parks nearby. Exactly; it's important to take the park as it is without expecting something like a Great Adventure or even a Kings Dominion. As for the attendance, by "glory days" I assume you mean around the turn of the millennium when SFA was expanded far too rapidly. Considering what they must've invested then and what they have the last few years, I'd say it's perfectly reasonable to expect attendance won't quite be there yet, though I think it could with a few more solid additions. What I meant was the last couple seasons versus the rougher days, the mid-late 2000's when the park was absolutely ignored. This park has done a fantastic job is improving what they've had and filling in holes where they're lacking. Their coaster line up is very diverse for a park with almost exclusively clones and only nine coasters. An RMC coaster, however possible it may be in the future, could put this park on the map for sure, along with continued improvement and a few more quality additons/upgrades. I'm excited for the future of this park.

Youre referring to Wicked Cyclone, correct? I'm not sure that would be accurate, considering the track is just over halfway through after months of construction. Then again maybe I'm wrong and they're picking up the pace with some decent weather.

Just because you think they are redundant doesn't mean they aren't sound investments. From all I've heard Leviathan is a fantastic ride and very different from Behemoth, and I expect no less from Fury. Cedar Fair wouldn't spend $30 million on Fury if Leviathan wasn't a good investment. If you don't like it, don't ride it. Simple as that. I also don't see how anyone in the world would be against the idea of a giga coaster for a park like Kings Island. If you're against park development, that's different, but this is a major corporate park that must keep on top of trends to attract millions of visitors, and they're going to do what they think will bring in the most visitors. MF =/= Magnum Leviathan =/= Behemoth Fury =/= Intimidator And for most people, these giga coasters are superior to their hyper counterparts. I see nothing to complain about here.

If they're doing anything noteworthy, coaster or not, they likely hit the drawing boards before the 2014 season. It takes years of planning for a coaster, it's not something that can be ordered up with a few months' notice.