RollerManic

Here's the deal guys: I'm new here, but I've been following this thread for a long time (at least the past year or two). Recently, the Ninja has assumingly been the candidate for removal, but it's not true. When I spoke to the director of rides, he told me that the Ninja has one of the best riderships in the park. It's simply because it has a very steady flow of people riding it. I remember back in '04 when I first ride the ninja, the line would go down the stairs. Flash forward 10 years, and there is usually someone in the station, always. Now I haven't had the pleasure to visit the park like I used to before I moved, but the past couple of times this was the case. My observations tell me that someone is always waiting for it. I haven't seen it on busy days in many years, but I'd be interested to know. All in all, he said himself that it will be here for a little longer. Tidal wave, he quotes, could hit the chopping block much sooner. And yes, I did ask him what new coasters are in store for us. At the time of inquiring(Sept 2014), he said that a new coaster is included within around three more years of their five year plan. That put us in for 2017, and 2016 would be the off year. I'm not surprised we will have an off year after JLBFM. EDIT: v That's great and all, but the GP seems to really still enjoy the ride. Shelf life or not, it's still popular (and most likely with first-time visitors). If they hadn't built boomerang, Tidal Wave would be another great fit. He did say though that any expansion (including a larger ride in Tidal Wave's current footprint) would require quite a bit of new utilities. I'm not against the 4D free spin, I just cant cant see it happening soon. SFSTL also wants to keep it's "Coaster Capital of Missouri" title, considering the advertizing for it these past years. Their best interests would be to add, not replace.

You know, this could all just be jibberish, like how CP likes to tease enthusiasts. LOL Are there any others yet? I'd assume we would see a "secondary" if ^ is correct. Isn't each marker color suppose to mean something? For example: water, electrical, gas, survey, etc?

This was last season, at Dredevil Daze. i remember talking to the operator in the back, and he was from TPR. Maybe it wasn't you?

I've found many underrated roller coasters, and I'd love to take the time to mention them, but for tonight, i'd just like to name quick few surprises: 1. Nitro, front seat left side: first hill, the banking was incredible, paired with some nice floater airtime! sitting inside that banking made me feel like i was hanging off a ledge! Absolutely my favorite hyper for this one element. 2. El Toro, magic seat: last hill. Can you say: awesome (to the point of painful) ejector airtime? 3. Great Bear: helix before main drop. It was the most forceful B&M helix yet. 4. The Boss: double down first drop. Being the park i most often visit, I always make sure to ride The Boss. I really love this element. The first two are form my long-awaited SFGADv trip; I'm very satisfied after 10 years of wanting to go to this park. After my first ride on Nitro, I re-ride in the same front seat because of an available spot - thanks groups of three! Also, I had made a run to El Toro first thing the previous night and got five rides in the magic seat before there was a line! Our train had a blast staying on - and it was a great way to start my first day ever at SFGADv.

Six Flags thought you said "build over" The cost of adding in new utilities, lights, pathways, etc to open new areas is quite expensive. SFSTL, for example, won't expand much because of these costs. Everything adds up to be a lot before rides are even installed. However, if cooperate gives the park a large budget, it may be feasible then.

From the sounds of SFMM's poor maintenance, combined with operating year-round, I'm surprised. Although it could be said that Apocalypse suffers less extreme differences of seasons. Can water seeping into cracks and freezing expand those cracks like in concrete? Obviously, this would have to be a fault in the lamination or wearing of it. Just a thought, as if true, many seasonal parks may have to put up with it. Happening during the off season, it could easily be replaced with the other retracking work, but it ultimately still is more $$.

Unless I visit my homepark of SFSTL between now and July, it'll be BGW and Kings Dominion! Really pumped for some i305 intensity!

I really would rather see custom RMC than an iron horse at this point. Honestly, why do SFSTL keep hiring GCI/RMC (or in-house) to retrack The Boss in sections? Company to company, it's really all the same wooden track. Let's be honest, this retracking will be great, but it wont offer the lifetime of Topper Track. I love wooden coasters, but sometime's I feel that we are ignoring the purpose of history - to not repeat our mistakes. Ok, sure! The return? I don't know. But the guarantee of less maintenance will make up for that return. And honestly, what return does regular retracking seem to have? its never as effective. But the less maintenance of Topper Track would sum a larger savings over a long time. The problems I see are the length of the ride, and the reputation of RMC. Though Six Flags is gambling to instal as many of these rides as possible, we really don't know of their longevity yet. Is it a safe bet? Yes, it seems certain that their products will preform better longer. Retracking the entire ride would coast a lot, but what if it were just to be the more intense and rougher spots? I'm referring to the helix (which I've noticed has seen the most work year-to-year, and must be because of the extreme forces) and the valleys (first drop and double down, two parallel turns between the first turnaround< and maybe some points after the MCBR.)? All this may be a long shot, but it's only my two cents to the speculation.

l'll counter anyone who says the Boss is rough. The only thing that bothers me are the restraints and how the car turns turns. If shuffles laterally very sharply one most turns (including the one after the drop, and the one parallel to it) , bringing an incredible smack to my legs each time. In general, I hate the Gerstluar trains, but the U-bar is definetly causing problems for me. Otherwise, I love the beast! At the end of last season, I marathoned it 6 times in the back for ERT while it ran cold, with no headache afterwards. I only left so I could go experience other ERTs. By the way, thanks to TNT's (I believe) team for incredibly fast dispatches on The Boss ERT.

Im curious to know where the extra 200 feet went? Plus, we have less cars than SFOT, so I'm assuming the station (maybe) is a little shorter. Was it distributed amoungst the ride? Or was it here and there, like one scene would be more expanded than another? Also, do you have pictures of the single rider lane? I know Texas has one

I'm shocked that nobody in this thread has brought up that next year is the 45th anniversary (1971-2016). I'm expecting to see a 45 Seasons of Thrills similar to SFGAm, especially since we know the park at a minimum dropped over 9.5 mil on this ride.

How well does GCI's retracting hold out? While there isn't a new US GCI this year, Timberwolf @ WOF is getting entirely retracted by them over the next few years. I don't recall that I've ridden any rides they worked on retracting yet.

Solar farm on the parking lot? Hell no, they're not going to do that! Where would you park considering the size of the project? This is also an opportunity for Six flags to get some return on all that extra land. Wow, NJ is bad (but they have a really good six flags! ) I hate to come off hostile, but this just wouldn't make sense. Not with the current size of it.

I have a hard time believing that Tatsu was $25 mil. Where did it go? Earthquake proofing too? Speaking of earthquake proofing, what kind of effects does it have on a wooden coaster's smoothness?

It has been done, and more than just increasing the lift height (which has been added to most of their conversions). Take the double up on NTAG: it wasn't even remotely there before.

What I love about these new additions is how clean they look. They're truly some permanent carnival-like flats.

I can confirm that Evil Knievel (aka American Thunder) is a little bit more jittery now than it was when it opened in 2008, but still delivers an amazing ride. The jitteriness hasn't detracted from any comfort - and the airtime is still the hot sauce of the park. Thunderhead was pretty good too, but I believe I remember it being somewhat rough.

According to Guinness, Expedition Everest is the most expensive at $100 mil

I didn't see how that first turn into the Cobra was outside banked at first! I thought it was 90*, and that the cars would flip to face upwards into the mouth. I can't wait for the rest of the layout. Why doesn't BGT reveal full layouts, unlike Mako?

I understand Excalibur is a Frankenstein of a coaster, but how bad is it?

If they were to build an S&S free spin out of chiller's station (which IMHO, would be a perfect fit), with the lift on the Musik Express side of Old Country, could the larger model thread through the observatory several times? They also should name it Nightwing!