Jason Maier Posted August 18, 2018 Share Posted August 18, 2018 Well, I got stuck on Apocalypse for several minutes on the break run today One of the maintenance guys actually had to PUSH the train into the station, which earned him a well deserved applause from me. Afterwards I commented to the attendant "I can't wait for this ride to be scrapped!" and she nodded in approval Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill_s Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 There are many things they could be doing. My initial thought was that if they got a new coaster, that would justify announcing a different day than the other parks and considering it a bigger announcement than for any ride anywhere else, because it would mean that every thing you ever believed might not be true: the sky is actually green, the grass actually blue etc. .. However in further consideration it might merely be "UNBELIEVABLE" in press release language. Six Flags knows how little the park has received and it could be time to throw some money into it. Stranger things have happened. Its competition is stepping up its game, it no longer has the only coaster with ejector air in the region like in 2009 or the only one with lapbars 2008-2017. They might even have an interest in putting more pressure on Seaworld parks, though obviously it would be limited by being SFA. I previously analyzed the parks as SFA looking much better with the addition of a floorless, however I don't think they can make a good one out of Apocalypse. It might be a relaxing ride by SFA standards though, though unimpressive. It's more a case they'd have a floorless equal to their invert, instead of a standup comparable to their inverted coaster. While it's wishful, it would be logical to also give Mind Eraser new trains if the new ride is a Raptor -- to compensate for capacity -- or anything else not a regular coaster including a 4D. Removing a coaster and replacing it with a smaller flat is not out of the realm of possibility. Even Kings Dominion did that recently with Shockwave/Delirium. With all the extra space they put a nice lawn around it. Maybe the same thing will happen here. Oh who am I kidding, its SFA, they ain't putting in any grass. KD removed a standup that had been in the park 29 years -- OK that's not that much different --, 2 years after putting in a $25M coaster -- WAY different. I've never ridden a flat ride I'd even take over what's there right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterBrow Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 Rebrand Apocalypse as Thunderbird with different trains is what I want most and I confuse that with what Six Flags is likely to do because I don't understand how business works. Fixed that for you. Huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ytterbiumanalyst Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoinItForTheFame Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 Rebrand Apocalypse as Thunderbird with different trains is what I want most and I confuse that with what Six Flags is likely to do because I don't understand how business works. Fixed that for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrd64fan Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 ZOMG GUYZ IT'S NOT GETTING SCRAPPED IT'S THE FIRST B&M AND THEY WOULDN'T SCRAP THE FIRST B&M GUYZ BECAUSE EVERYONE KNOWS THAT EVERYONE CARES IT'S THE FIRST B&M AND NOT JUST US ANNOYING COASTER ENTHUSIASTS WHO DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW THEME PARKS OPERATE GUYZ. (If you're too dumb to understand it's sarcasm. Also honestly I think going floorless is a distinct possibility because it seems like such a Six Flags thing to do, (I.e. Ride the "new" coaster that isn't technically either new and/or a coaster) but this argument makes me cringe every time I hear it.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boldikus Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 What's funny about people saying converting it to floorless is a Six Flags thing to do - only Cedar Fair has done floorless conversions. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ytterbiumanalyst Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 What's funny about people saying converting it to floorless is a Six Flags thing to do - only Cedar Fair has done floorless conversions. lol Hahahaha! So true. Maybe Six Flags will get into it, who knows? They were the only ones making their crappy old wooden coasters into awesome RMCs for a while, and now Cedar Fair is getting into that game. I think at least part of that, though is that RMC had very limited resources at first and Six Flags flooded them with orders so that no one else could get in the game. So my argument might be total crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yubstep101 Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 They could easily market it as a new experience, seeing that Blue Hawk and Mr. Freeze Reverse Blast exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djackson Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 (edited) Your mentioning of Blue Hawk reminds me that even in the unlikely case that Apocalypse does get converted, which I doubt, we may see something else added in the park. Edited August 21, 2018 by djackson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyUD06 Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainUnknown Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 What's funny about people saying converting it to floorless is a Six Flags thing to do - only Cedar Fair has done floorless conversions. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alilstronger Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 I will be at the park on 8/30. Seems perfect to be at the park the day they are releasing whats new. I have no hopes to give up because this park doesn't get any of my hopes anymore. Anyway... in reality anything they do will be a good thing for the park. I just like that Six Flags Corporate has been showing more and more interest in the park as of lately. Even though I enjoy that the past has been focused on the water park more, I am ready for the dry side to get more love. They did a decent job with the Mardi Gras section, even though I would have liked to see more New Orleans themed buildings since to me the architecture is a huge part of New Orleans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bert425 Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 they desperately need to fix up that Carousel. it's an embarrassment, and right near the front of the park too! (and made worse by being across from the gorgeously painted Flying Carousel). Missing horses with tape on the ground, no carousel music, tacky covering tent. . just shameful. best things I can say about this park: Joker's Jinx is amazing, Wild One, and Rajun Cajun both gave very rides, and the cycle on the Scrambler (called "Cyclone" I think?) was really, really excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElvisLuv Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 I can see them shipping off Apocalypse to Frontier City in either the original Stand Up form or floorless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boldikus Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 What's funny about people saying converting it to floorless is a Six Flags thing to do - only Cedar Fair has done floorless conversions. lol Hahahaha! So true. Maybe Six Flags will get into it, who knows? They were the only ones making their crappy old wooden coasters into awesome RMCs for a while, and now Cedar Fair is getting into that game. I think at least part of that, though is that RMC had very limited resources at first and Six Flags flooded them with orders so that no one else could get in the game. So my argument might be total crap. It totally is a Six Flags thing to do, I totally get why everyone is saying it. However, they haven't converted any of their stand up coasters yet, just pointing out the irony. I still think they are going to scrap this thing. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's been my feeling since that little sign went up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alilstronger Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 they desperately need to fix up that Carousel. it's an embarrassment, and right near the front of the park too! (and made worse by being across from the gorgeously painted Flying Carousel). Missing horses with tape on the ground, no carousel music, tacky covering tent. . just shameful. best things I can say about this park: Joker's Jinx is amazing, Wild One, and Rajun Cajun both gave very rides, and the cycle on the Scrambler (called "Cyclone" I think?) was really, really excellent. I agree about the carousel. But I am someone who feels every park should have a grand carousel. Also, I do not think this is in the front of the park by any means. Its off to the side in between the antique cars and looney turnes land. You almost miss it walking right by the swings, which is another ride that needs an over haul. The weird machine noises it makes sometimes is not pretty for the first ride you encounter. before deciding to go left or right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterLover Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 However, they haven't converted any of their stand up coasters yet, just pointing out the irony. Well, there really aren't many good options for converting other Six Flags B&M Stand-Ups. Riddler's Revenge is still running pretty well, and even if it wasn't, SFMM already has another floorless so doing the floorless conversion would likely not happen. Green Lantern would be a good choice, but again, SFGAd already has a floorless coaster. GA Scorcher doesn't have a floorless coaster to compete against, but it's running pretty well and not as in need of the conversion unless they felt the conversion would really drive up attendance. I guess the best "other" options they would have for converting Stand-Ups would be to convert LaRonde's Cobra or possibly rebuild Batman the Escape in storage at Darien Lake as a floorless. My biggest concern with the floorless option is return on investment. Rougarou was converted in 2015 then Cedar Point turned around and built Valravn the following season. Patriot was converted in 2017 then Great America turned around and built RailBlazer the following season. In both cases, I don't know how much attendance the conversion actually brought, but in both cases it doesn't seem that the attendance was sustained (or anticipated to be sustained) as both parks built pretty major coasters the year immediately following. Coaster trains aren't cheep, new paint isn't cheep, and the station conversion wouldn't be insignificant. The conversion project alone could easily be in the range of $4-$5 million and given that cost, my personal opinion would be that it would simply be a wiser return on investment to just demo the attraction in favor of something like a Raptor (which are said to be relatively inexpensive). The floorless conversion is my least favorite option right now, but as a long time follower of SFA, I've grown accustomed to accepting that the park won't always get my more preferred options. If it is a floorless, even if it is just as rough, I think the fact that you are seated will make it a bit more re-ridable, but again, I'm just concerned that the ride has such a bad reputation as it is that unless they did MAJOR work to make the ride butter smooth, it will never get lines that justify the cost of the renovations. Maybe they struck up some sort of deal with B&M... Six Flags has only added one B&M coaster to a Six Flags park since they built three for Six Flags in 2006. Maybe doing some big overhaul to keep Apocalypse running was rolled up as part of a larger contract to add some new B&Ms at various SF parks over the next couple of years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alilstronger Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 ^ I personally do not think its about attendance as much as just keeping the park relevant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ytterbiumanalyst Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 What's funny about people saying converting it to floorless is a Six Flags thing to do - only Cedar Fair has done floorless conversions. lol Hahahaha! So true. Maybe Six Flags will get into it, who knows? They were the only ones making their crappy old wooden coasters into awesome RMCs for a while, and now Cedar Fair is getting into that game. I think at least part of that, though is that RMC had very limited resources at first and Six Flags flooded them with orders so that no one else could get in the game. So my argument might be total crap. It totally is a Six Flags thing to do, I totally get why everyone is saying it. However, they haven't converted any of their stand up coasters yet, just pointing out the irony. I still think they are going to scrap this thing. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's been my feeling since that little sign went up. That seems most likely to me as well. But never apologize for giving enthusiasts sh*t about anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterBrow Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 ^ I personally do not think its about attendance as much as just keeping the park relevant. I agree, it's just about being able to bill it as a "new" ride. If we give any credit to the deja vu hint demoing it doesn't fit. And, since they consider the Larson Loop a "coaster" I wonder if they would be so eager to decrease their coaster count- and demo costs money too (cost without profit). Furthermore, the carousel and antique cars are the worst of any park. (Although it seems that making the yearly announcement a carousel or new antique cars will break the internet) I think the floorless idea got legs from Screamscape which posted: "the trend lately has been to transform B&M's old stand-up coasters into new Floorless coasters by adding new trains and modifying the station. With all this in mind... perhaps this is indeed Apocalypse's "last stand"." Either way: I would have been there today if there wasn't a 100% chance of rain, I'm still buying a season pass during the flash sale, still want a meal plan burrito, and restroom by Superman, a few more trees, and if they used Apocalypse as a FF maze next year and soda refill spot during the season it will never be Millennium Force with free beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lotologist492 Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 They could easily market it as a new experience, seeing that Blue Hawk and Mr. Freeze Reverse Blast exist. When SFoG transformed Ninja to Blue Hawk in 2016, it was not the 'new for 2016' attraction, but rather a bonus extra project in addition to what was added for that year. Hence Blue Hawk was NOT considered a 'new' coaster since the track did not change. Similarly, converting Apocalypse to floorless will not make that coaster 'new' but it will change up the ride experience a bit. So I guess it will be a wait-and-see if SFA is really bringing in a 'new' thrill like they have been teasing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rougarou Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 The Last Stand Sept 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rougarou Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 Dead and buried?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alilstronger Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 Just seems like a lot promo in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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