Shane's Amusement Attic

[montezooma]

I rode Zonga/Thriller in all three of its incarnations. As it originally was, Thriller, it was an incredible ride. Probably in my top 5 of all time coasters. I rode it in Stuttgart when it did the travelling fairs. I next rode it at Astroworld before the modifications were made to the restraints, I still liked it. Once it was modified for Marineworld it was pretty much a different ride. Most of the forces the ride produced where mellowed and it was just uncomfortable.

 

I wonder where that ride will show up next. I hope it does not get scrapped because it is still a good ride. Only 4 days left of brochures and then onto something new...or old I should say.

[Homer]

"Mmm... Mindbender," sums up my feelings and is one of my top 10 coasters. I have yet to ride a Schwarzkopf that was NOT fun.

[ebl]

I thought Zonga was scrapped by SFMW, but maybe it did go into storage somewhere. When it arrived in the U.S., I wanted to ride it, but never got to, even right up the state in its last park.

 

Mindbender (and its cousin, Shock Wave at SFoT), thankfully, have kept their original lap bar only configuration. I've never ridden them, but I've always wanted to. I always got a kick out of how Mindbender was billed as a "triple loop" coaster, when in fact it only has two vertical loops and what is basically an inclined helix.

 

Eric

[astroworldfan1]

Let's all say it proudly no OTSRs!!!!

 

I have a question, what was Mindbender originally called? RCDb doesn't have it.

 

-Tatum

[ebl]

^ It has always been called "Mindbender" to the best of my knowledge.

 

Eric

[ernierocker]

^^It comes up for me. Doesn't matter if you type in "Mindbender" or "Mind Bender".

 

It's Mind Bender by the way.

[montezooma]

I thought Zonga was scrapped by SFMW, but maybe it did go into storage somewhere. When it arrived in the U.S., I wanted to ride it, but never got to, even right up the state in its last park.

 

I believe Zonga was sold back to a German Showman and will be traveling the German fair circuit again.

Let's all say it proudly no OTSRs!!!!

 

I have a question, what was Mindbender originally called? RCDb doesn't have it.

 

-Tatum

 

It has always been called Mind Bender although when I was working in the Six Flags design department there was talk of changing the name to Enigma when Batman:the ride was added and that section of the park was converted to Gothem circus.

[astroworldfan1]

But wasn't Gotham City previously Pirate Themed? Wasn't it called Jolly Roger or something?

 

By the way Shane, do you have any Conneaut Lake brouchures?

 

-Tatum

[coasterking2981]

Its amazing to see how far Magic Mountain and Six Flags have came from those days. Back then coasters around Collosus's size were considered monsters. Now looking at rides like Kingda Ka, Top Thrill Dragster, and X, Collosus is nothing more than a classic, I'm-going-to-hurt-your-sides-so-badly wooden coaster, even though its still an ok ride where old wooden coasters are concerned. Its funny to see how they boasted the Collosus was the greatest coaster of its time back then lol.

 

Thanks for the pics!

[Dr. Voodoo]

Got any Brochures for Dorney Park, SFNE(Riverside) or Silver Dollar City?

[Homer]

But wasn't Gotham City previously Pirate Themed? Wasn't it called Jolly Roger or something?

It was called Jolly Rogers' Island. The ride was always named Mind Bender.

 

...although when I was working in the Six Flags design department there was talk of changing the name to Enigma when Batman:the ride was added and that section of the park was converted to Gotham circus.

I thought it was going to be renamed Riddler's Revenge. Intriguing. Thankfully it was just a repaint and that's about it.

[Erik Johnson]

Enigma would have made perfect sense since the Riddler's name is, Eddie Nigma.

[montezooma]

Tatum I don't have anything from Conneaut Lake. Back in the 70's theme parks were very new and exciting. There were new attractions and parks opening that would make national news. The traditional older parks where somewhat uninteresting at the time. So as a kid I was focused more on these new theme parks. Also because parks like Conneaut, Dorney & Riverside were smaller they didn't put out new material each year or I may not have even known that they existed. You have to remember that there wasn't a great network of how to find parks. As a matter of fact it wasn't until the 80's when there was a magazine published called "Roller Coaster Fever" that I learned about many of the smaller traditional parks.

 

As far as Dorney & Silver Dollar City go, I do have brochures from them but they are from later years and I focused on the year 1979 in this series. They will show up in some other posts.

 

Riverside will be it's own post coming up soon. I have all the press stuff and photos from the announcement of the Cyclone plus more.

[montezooma]

SIX FLAGS over MID-AMERICA

 

New for 1979- New shows and a bigger Disco. (Mid-America was the Six Flags park that got "looked over" during the 80's)

What the hell is that pink thing with boxing gloves on????

[crazyrider06]

Thanks for that Shane. i loved the pics, keep adding more its very interesting to see things back in the day

[coastergeekhal]

all the racing greats are gone now. they all alternate loads. WHY GOD WHY!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

[Holtskee]

The original Six Flags parks were so beautiful and well-landscaped back in the old days...it's almost depressing to think about what has become of them.

[ebl]

Most people don't know that Six Flags itself only built three parks: Six Flags Over Texas in 1961; Six Flags Over Georgia in 1967; and Six Flags Over Mid-America (now Six Flags St. Louis) in 1971. All other properties were acquired through purchases of existing properties.

 

Unfortunately, over the years, Six Flags expanded too quickly---especially after its buyout by Premier Parks, which changed its name to Six Flags because of the more well known name. This means that today's "Six Flags" is not really the original company, even though they tout themselves as having provided "45 Years of Thrills" or whatever.

 

In my opinion, the organization was much better when they only owned about eight or nine theme parks. Expansions/additions were done at a more reasonable pace. At SFMM, for instance, a coaster every two to four years wasn't so bad.

 

Eric

[doublex98]

freaking awesome. Thanks for posting!

[thrillgeek]

Wow, I love all those classic pictures of Revolution and Colossus. Just wish Revolution still had only lap bar restraints like in the olden days

[montezooma]

^Here is an old one of the Revolution you will love, it is actually before the ride even opened. The rendering of the Ride!

 

Magic Mountain's Revolution it'll knock your socks flat off!

[montezooma]

SIX FLAGS over TEXAS 1979

 

Well 79 must have been an off year all that was new was the "Sensational Sense Machine".

[montezooma]

The Shockwave has had several different color schemes, some of them good, some of them not so good. I think the white scheme with the blue trains shown here in the brochure was the best. What do you think?

[astroworldfan1]

What other colors did Shockwave have? Besides white, blue and neon green?

 

-Tatum

[thrillgeek]

Wow just look at those closing times for Six Flags Over Texas!! I'm not sure what they are now, but compared to how late Discovery Kingdom is open till it's kinda sad.