Six Flags America (SFA) Discussion Thread

[Jason Maier]

The map of Six Flags America as of today:

Yeah, they chopped off the whole Coyote Creek area so no Mind Eraser, Rodeo or Rapids Ride; and no Whistlestop Park kids area.

I'm assuming those will open up in the summer when staffing is better, etc. Then again, if Mind Eraser goes away .... let's celebrate!

edit: Also looked on their site and saw about Superman "Soaring again later this spring"

And I think they're making Hurricane Harbor a separate gate.

[MisterBrow]

Crank up RCT!

 

Select WhistleStop rides are moving to the Looney Tunes area. That’s a good idea. Maybe some interplay with the antique cars? This funnels the youngest from the main entrance to the right.

_______________________________________________

Next, relocate the Bumper Cars and Rodeo to the former Whistlestop (Gotham Main Street?) The area is already level, turn the bumper cars up to Knoebels’ speed and those two fit nicely as intermediate rides. Batman and Robin Mobiles and BatCows?

 

Then, good-bye Mind Eraser, the rapids are now the end of Coyote Creek. Move Penguin to where it connects CC to the waterpark at the former Rodeo location. This funnels the waterpark crowd from the main entrance and left.

 

A waterpark only entrance would send swimmers to the second parking lot. Families with little ones and guests doing the whole park would park in the first lot. Extend the 3rd parking lot to a dry park only entrance between ROAR and Superman at Gotham Main Street. Easier access to night time events at the arena walking between four coasters.

 

Goodbye Batwing. Hello the long awaited hybridization of ROAR. Renamed to connect FireBird to the Chesapeake area.

 

The arena. No reason this area is not used daily: Concerts, movies, marching bands, Cheerleading, pro wrestling, tournaments, festivals, fan fests…

[ilyf15]

you forgot that then the park closes

[Jason Maier]

On 5/17/2023 at 1:26 PM, MisterBrow said:

Crank up RCT!

 

Select WhistleStop rides are moving to the Looney Tunes area. That’s a good idea. Maybe some interplay with the antique cars? This funnels the youngest from the main entrance to the right.

_______________________________________________

Next, relocate the Bumper Cars and Rodeo to the former Whistlestop (Gotham Main Street?) The area is already level, turn the bumper cars up to Knoebels’ speed and those two fit nicely as intermediate rides. Batman and Robin Mobiles and BatCows?

 

Then, good-bye Mind Eraser, the rapids are now the end of Coyote Creek. Move Penguin to where it connects CC to the waterpark at the former Rodeo location. This funnels the waterpark crowd from the main entrance and left.

 

A waterpark only entrance would send swimmers to the second parking lot. Families with little ones and guests doing the whole park would park in the first lot. Extend the 3rd parking lot to a dry park only entrance between ROAR and Superman at Gotham Main Street. Easier access to night time events at the arena walking between four coasters.

 

Goodbye Batwing. Hello the long awaited hybridization of ROAR. Renamed to connect FireBird to the Chesapeake area.

 

The arena. No reason this area is not used daily: Concerts, movies, marching bands, Cheerleading, pro wrestling, tournaments, festivals, fan fests…

Those are all interesting points. 

Now which do you think would be the best makeover for Roar: RMC Iron Horse or GCI Titan Tracking/MF trains?

[MisterBrow]

On 6/1/2023 at 10:18 PM, Jason Maier said:

Those are all interesting points. 

Now which do you think would be the best makeover for Roar: RMC Iron Horse or GCI Titan Tracking/MF trains?

Chocolate with my peanut butter or peanuts butter with my chocolate? I will not complain about either, I feel like for SFA they would do whichever is cheaper.

[Zand]

SFA is so premium they are now offering ZERO TRAIN OPS!

Figured a couple Superman laps would be a good way to get out of DC traffic for an hour or two.

 

Not much to report on as I only stopped in for 2 hours and honestly that's enough for this place. 1 train ops on everything and they're not exactly quick about it. Thankfully Superman had almost no one at it so got two back row rides. The air on that 3rd hill blows my mind every time and then the landing nearly blows my back out...sure comes down hard from that airtime.

Attempted to ride Wonder Woman and was seated and checked before they dumped the ride for technical difficulties and the ride went down as long as I was in the park.

Joker was deserted so hit that real quick. Enjoyed this a lot more than Flight of Fear...seemed smoother but more intense at the same time. It's more fun being able to see these twisted layouts as you go through them.

Hit Voodoo Drop for a quick walk on. Fun enough although I spoiled myself earlier this week by marathoning Atmosfear at Moreys which is probably the best drop tower I've ever been on.

Last ride was Wild One which had about a 20 minute station wait due to one train ops (and that one train cycling about once every 6 minutes). I loved this in 2020 but for some reason today it jackhammered a lot and I got stapled which made it even worse. Still lots of airtime for sure, but definitely disappointing after I gloated over this a few years ago.

Missed out on the Rajun Cajun credit again, it has been closed the last 2 times I've been. Also missed out on the Two Face credit the first time I ever went to this park because it was closed that day. This spot is cursed I think. Batwing was also closed while I was there. Skipped the lame GCI and the world's worst B&M so at that point I headed out.

[Jason Maier]

From the Six Flags America FB page:
 

Six Flags America in celebration of its 25th Anniversary year, will get a newly-themed SteamTown – where the past meets the future.

This redeveloped steampunk realm coming in 2024 will include:

A whole new storyline

The all-new SteamWhirler family thrill ride

Three re-imagined attractions

Return of the award-winning stunt show

New food and retail offers

Plus, more surprises to be announced

Okay I was not expecting this. Perhaps Mind Eraser is getting re-tracked.

And it was strange not having a stunt show this year.

[ericthewanderer]

I surprised simply that SFA is finally getting a brand new flat ride and finally doing something about Mind Eraser.

[FlyGuy]

Mind Eraser and Superman will both be getting new trains.

[DoinItForTheFame]

18 hours ago, FlyGuy said:

Mind Eraser and Superman will both be getting new trains.

Really?? - That is much needed! 

[Jason Maier]

On 2/25/2024 at 2:57 PM, FlyGuy said:

Mind Eraser and Superman will both be getting new trains.

About time. Will the new ME trains have the vest restraints and the new Superman trains still have the Intamin T bar restraints?

edit: Where did you find this out?

 

[DannySixFlags]

On 11/14/2022 at 2:30 PM, coastersandhockey said:

Sorry for double post but I did see that Superman wound up opening this weekend. However, Adventure Park USA was able to open their coasters for a couple hours on Sunday and we made the trip there instead since we've never been there. I grew up riding Wildcat at Cedar Point and although this isn't the exact same ride, it was nice to get back on basically the same coaster again. Wild West Coaster is an interesting little ride too! We also chatted with who I believe was the owner for a little bit. You can tell the pride he has in his little park. I highly recommend a quick stop on your way to or from Six Flags America if you come from Northwest of DC. The park is located right off I70.

 

Some pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plus their arcade has Nicktoons Racing! :3

Anyway, I went in September 2022. No Looney characters were meeting at the time (they were preparing for Fright Fest), and Mind Eraser was SBNO. It's finally reopening. Dear God. I have to get that freaking credit this year. At least there'll be no line...

[Jason Maier]

I'm wondering if the Steampunk Area will be ready for Opening Day weekend.

And it'll be interesting to ride the new trains on Superman: Ride of Steel and whatever Mind Eraser will be renamed.

[DannySixFlags]

On 10/14/2009 at 9:51 AM, alilstronger said:

Then they took away Krypton Komet (Chaos). Which I understand why but that ride was sooo fun!!!

Sorry for replying to an old post, but Krypton Comet is one of my special interests, and we need videos of the ride (not just photos.)

[MisterBrow]

Parking is now $40. 40. Dollars.

 

Coyote Creek got new fences, paint, signage. The rapids got some dinosaurs and the bumper cars got some strobe lights (no music and just 6 cars). Some random gears and pipes make it steampunk I guess. The metallic gold paint on the pathways is nice.

How were the new trains? The ride was closed running occasional test loops. What about the new ride? Still closed. 

The flume ride is boarded up. Zinger and Fireballs areas are empty. 

More than half of the dry park was closed.

[BitterOldHag]

You know, I wonder what people think is a better look.  Something like Holiday World, where parking is free, but admission is a bit higher.  Or this model of "Welcome to Six Flags. Now give us $40 just to get into the parking lot"?  

Also wonder which is the better business model for the park.  

Regardless, I'd rather spend that $40 at Waldameer where I can get a ride all day pass (minus the waterslides) for less than that... 

[Jason Maier]

So I finally made it to my home park on the 25th. Light summer crowd. 

One train operations on everything. Batwing/Blizzard River/Shipwreck Falls (it may be getting removed)/Ragin Cajun all closed. Zinger and Fireball removed. Future doesn't look bright for this park.

But SkyWinder was tolerable with new trains.

Some photos.

[abovethesink]

Trip Report - Road Trip Day 3

Day 1 was King's Dominion. Day 2 was Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Both reports are in their respective threads.

On Tuesday the 16th, we arrived in the Six Flags America lot slightly early, maybe 20 minutes before open. I had forgotten to pre-purchase parking and had a minor sticker shock at the price. It was $40. We paid $29 each for our tickets, but $40 for parking. Okay then. We had driven there, so I paid.

Anyway, it was both my and my 13 year old son's first time in the park. Knowing the very poor reputation of the place, I was pretty apprehensive about how our day would go given that my car was reading 100 degrees at 10 AM. The forecast was calling for it to reach 104 and this would be our third straight day in extreme heat. Nevertheless, we went in.

Firebird -- The walk into the park was pretty nice as the main street area looks good, but it became clear pretty quickly that there would be no shade under the fireball sun. Our initial route took us up to Roar, but it was closed as befitting of the Six Flags America reputation. Firebird was next door, so there we went. I had cautious optimism here. Off memory, my experience with the standup to floorless converts is just Rougarou and I liked that better than its reputation. Well, I was wrong! This was such a handbanger that I couldn't even begin to take in the layout. Firebird is an atrocious ride, or at least our ride was, and we weren't about to re-ride after that. This was the worst B&M I have ridden, passing even Vortex at Carowinds for the "honor".

Joker's Jinx -- After having ridden Flight of Fear at both King's Island and Dominion, it was neat to see one of these outside. I was also surprised as to how long the launch track appeared on this ride. Surely this must be shorter on the indoor versions, right? Anyway, this was an enjoyable ride and a nice palate cleanser following Firebird. After the initial burst of excitement post-launch, the model does sort of meander around a bit doing very little, so this isn't some great ride, but it is good and I love the comfortable restraints. I do want to briefly mention the area less positively, however. We passed under a sign saying we were in a DC Comics area before getting to Joker's Jinx. That was the greatest joke of all. There was a batmobile and some cardboard cut outs, but there wasn't a real bit of theming in the area beyond that and the ride names. Pretty sad.

Superman: Ride of Steel -- What was not sad was how this thing was running in the extreme heat. I am very familiar with the original at Darien Lake. Though a couple others were closer, we treated Darien Lake was our home park when I was growing up and visited every summer in the very late 90s to the early 00s. I know when the model is hauling and this was one was hauling to an extreme level in the triple digit heat. The airtime was outrageous and while the ride no longer tracks super well, at least at these speeds, the bit of roughness did not distract at all from the fun. The few rides we got on this thing were among the best we found on the entire road trip. The only negative on the experience was the fact that the extreme speed wasn't cooling at all. Instead, it felt like you were flying into a hair dryer. That is hardly the fault of the ride though.

Wild One -- We found Batwing unsurprisingly closed, so we switched the "Mardi Gras" area of the park. I'll give that a big LOL. There was a New Orleans style fountain, a themed drinks stand, and... and... I will also note that at this point that any water based rides in the dry park we had walked by had been closed too, a nice Six Flags America touch on a 104 degree day. They did have some water spraying onto the midway at a few points at least, which we gladly walked right through. Anyway, Wild One was a nice credit to get given its original age and classic origins, but it was kind of an unpleasant ride. I think it was running too fast given the heat. It wasn't terrible or anything, but it wasn't good either.

Roar -- Ragin Cajun was opening and by far the next logical stop, but I insisted on skipping it for now under the assumption that I wouldn't feel well in the heat after the ridiculous spinning. On our way over the newly re-themed area with the SLC, we found Roar had been opened up. Quickly, we wished it hadn't been. This absolute piece of garbage was a horrific ride of non-stop jackhammering and violent, painful laterals. Terrible ride, even worse than Firebird. I don't know if the new chain will continue to work with RMC, but if they do send them here ASAP. The layout doesn't even seem worth preserving with something like Titan Track either, at least from what I could tell during our triangle wheeled ride. The ride op recommended riding Batwing at the end (they recommend another one on most rides in this park, we noticed), so at least were notified that it had probably opened up while on Roar.

SkyWinder -- Hey, the new Steampunk area is nice! It is actually pretty well themed by amusement park standards, though it and the rest of the park could use some shade. We found the SLC had new trains too, but unfortunately it was tracking really poorly. While they were undoubtedly an improvement and surely saved us a lot of pain, they did not elevate this particular SLC to the level of say Riddlers Revenge at SFNE, let alone anywhere near the one we would ride the following day on the Jersey Shore. It was an okay ride, but not as good as I was hoping when I saw the new trains. As with basically everything on this day, I do have to add the disclaimer though that it might have been running insanely fast due to the heat and a little rougher for it. Maybe it is better on a sane temperature day. I can't say.

Batwing -- We marched back in the heat to Batwing and took a ride on the rare Vekoma Flying Dutchman model. I was a bit nervous for this one as I had a terrible ride on a super hot day on the one at Carowind's (after having a pretty good one on a cooler previous day), but I think this was the slightly better model. It isn't a particularly good ride at this point, but I remember Nighthawk having some awful corkscrews at the end that Batwing did not have. I didn't love or hate this. Well, I hated laying on my back and baking in the extreme sun, but that is not the fault of the ride. My son really hated it though. Good on the park for getting every coaster open on an extremely hot, dead day, by the way. I've given it crap up until now, so we should acknowledge that much.

Ragin Cajun -- Our last inefficient march of the day would be to the car, but first I had to go through hell. I don't ride many flat rides because I don't like spinning at all. It was clear just looking at it that this coaster would spin insanely, like many flats, once it dropped down to its second level. It did just that. My son loved it and anyone who likes spinning will love it. Ragin Cajun does its job very well. It also has an unexpectedly huge jolt of air time on the bottom level on a little bunny hop that I didn't see coming due to my closed eyes. I just don't like the job this thing does and did not like the experience. I am going to call it a good ride even though I hated it because it is just a personal preference thing for me.

With that, we were through all eight credits available to us and back to our car in under 2.5 hours, including several rides on Superman. This park has many problems and mostly did live up to its terrible reputation, but it isn't all a loss and the place is worth at least one visit on a trip like this. Superman was great and a few others were good supporting coasters. If they were to ever RMC Roar, the place would have a great one, two punch and we would gladly return. The new area is a big step in the right direction. With all the population bases around, albeit also with a lot of regional competition, my hope is that the new Cedar Fair management team sees some potential here and continues improving the place in the direction of the new area.