Six Flags New England (SFNE) Discussion Thread

[Canobie Coaster]

That was short lived. 2 of the towers just broke down so they're down to one.

[coasterbill]

That was short lived. 2 of the towers just broke down so they're down to one.

 

[Canobie Coaster]

I knew it was too good to be true.

 

Other than the usual Six Flags things (ride breakdowns, head scratching policies, dorm-like food), I had a good day. The park did a good job with their Halloween theming and wasn't overly crowded. My highlight of the day though was not having assigned seating on Wicked Cyclone. I haven't seen that before and it finally allowed me to get both front and back seat rides. The front was fantastic, but the back is definitely the best seat on this coaster.

[CanobieFan]

I'm going to get hate for this but oh well

 

I love Wicked Cyclone, it's easily the best coaster at SFNE, and I'm sure all the other RMC Hybrids are unbelievable, but it's getting kind of ridiculous how many wooden coasters are being demolished. There's a certain charm and thrill factor incorporated in a wooden coaster a steel coaster just can't duplicate. On a wooden coaster, the ride will be different each visit. A steel coaster is neutral and doesn't change with the weather. I don't know maybe it's just me.

 

I understand some of the rides. Mean Streak, Rattler, New Texas Giant, etc. Those were unbearable. Cyclone was a little rough but even then all it needed was its original drop restored and new trains, not a total make over. That ride was built intense and should've stayed in it's true original form. Crowds would still eat it up today. Colossus may have had an average layout, but it was an icon and a decent ride. I was a lttle confused with that one, but understand the purpose as it was much more marketable and that had another wooden coaster in the park. Roar, however, was absolutely ridiculous. It was a GCI. No need to redo that. Plus, that park no longer has a wooden coaster.

 

Just my two cents, but Wicked Cyclone IS unbelievable.

[Fooz]

I think the ridership just doesn't justify the maintenance load in a lot of cases.

[Vonni]

^^ When you really think about it, there have not been that many wooden roller coaster losses. Just a few scattered across the country and one in Mexico. I know its subjective, but those coasters had lived out their lives and were so expensive to maintain. Ridership was down and just throwing down some new wood and buying new trains would not have brought ridership back up that much at all. I do agree that some classics need not be touched by RMC Iron Horse. But for the most part, any subpar or rough wooden coaster deserves an RMC treatment.

[coasterbill]

Aside from the Beast, wood coasters built in the 70's, 80's and early 90's before CCI really hit their stride are / were pretty much all mediocre at best (somebody's about to show up and pretend that Racer or Rebel Yell is awesome but seriously... shut up ). I have no issue with any of them being RMCed and for the most part those are the coasters that are being converted. Honestly my favorite wood coaster built during that time period besides the Beast might actually have been be Mean Streak. The pickin's are slim.

 

No, the Phoenix, Wild One and Comet don't count, smartass.

[Vonni]

Aside from the Beast, wood coasters built in the 70's, 80's and early 90's before CCI really hit their stride are / were pretty much all mediocre at best (somebody's about to show up and pretend that Racer or Rebel Yell is awesome but seriously... shut up ). I have no issue with any of them being RMCed and for the most part those are the coasters that are being converted. Honestly my favorite wood coaster built during that time period besides the Beast might actually have been be Mean Streak. The pickin's are slim.

 

No, the Phoenix, Wild One and Comet don't count, smartass.

 

 

I would like to add Screamin Eagle to the list of leave it be lol!

[xVicesAndVirtues]

I think the only coaster I've been the slightest bit disappointed to lose to RMC-ification is Roar at SFDK.

 

The rest, as has been said before, were mediocre at best or completely terrible. Cyclone was fun sometimes if you got it immediately after a re-tracking and sat in the front row. I rode it in the back once and I think I lost some years of my life to this decision.

[TyRush]

UGH all this Wicked Cyclone talk makes me miss it even more right now. Just an incredible design

[Canobie Coaster]

I think the only coaster I've been the slightest bit disappointed to lose to RMC-ification is Roar at SFDK.

 

The rest, as has been said before, were mediocre at best or completely terrible. Cyclone was fun sometimes if you got it immediately after a re-tracking and sat in the front row. I rode it in the back once and I think I lost some years of my life to this decision.

 

Roar was enjoyable, but as good as it was I'm betting Joker is better. Sad to see a coaster go in order to get the RMC but ultimately it's an upgrade.

 

I actually preferred the old Cyclone in the back to get the intensity of the first four drops. I never found it unbearably rough. The ride was more slow and jerky.

[coasterbill]

I'm not surprised to hear random people here and there try to find a coaster from that time period (70's, 80's and early 90's) that stands out, but of all the ones mentioned none of them were overly popular as a whole. Sure we all can find a coaster that we like more than most people (like me with Mean Streak), but nobody goes to Six Flags St Louis to ride Screamin Eagle (a ride that still comes off as mediocre despite the mediocre coaster lineup of the park that it's in). I didn't hate the New England cyclone either but it was always a near walk on despite the long ride duration, slow ride ops and one train operations that were standard every single day for decades. The only time I ever say them use 2 trains was in the last few days of the ride's existence.

[Blind Idiot God]

NE Cyclone was okay at first but got rougher and rougher as the years went on; by 2010, the thing was legitimately painful to ride. I do recall having one of the wildest rides of my life in the very back during a rainstorm, however. Once it got Topper Track, it became a hell of a lot smoother but also seemed to slow down to a positively glacial pace in parts.

[Vonni]

I wonder if HITP will be brought to SFNE in the near future. I wasn't aware it didn't already have one. I've never been to this area of the country. What does the holiday weather usually intail?

[coasterbill]

This park's layout is tailor made for Holiday in the Park, sadly the climate isn't. It gets brutally cold there. It's a shame though... it's so easy to section off and both kids areas are easily accessible from the main gate. Goliath can't run in the cold, but their other coasters should be able to (I'll leave Superman out of this because given the location it would be closed).

 

If we want to play this game, there are so many ways to do it. I love fake Holiday in the Park planning so let's ignore reality for a minute and play.

 

This is the most ambitious thing they could realistically do. I honestly don't think any of the coasters in this area would have an issue with weather. Goliath can't run below 40 degrees because it's an unreliable dumpster fire POS so it's labeled accordingly.

 

 

You could get more conservative though if you want... like something like this. I'm taking care to cut paths off in places where it's really easy to do so.

 

This is another option, I cut Mind Eraser and Batman for staffing along with the dumb Thomas Town thing because nobody cares. This would get people to the Joker which proved last Sunday that it's incredibly resistant to winter weather, plus it's the new ride.

 

 

There are a few other moves you could do too. You could cut the path at Rockville Theater (any reasonable solution would have Rockville Theater itself open though for their main stage show since it's their only heated indoor venue), they could easily cut the Kontiki path for staffing. They could cut Crackaxle Canyon but they probably wouldn't because it would look awesome with lights and Houdini is their only indoor, heated attraction.

 

This is what I would consider the bare minimum but I don't see them cutting this much.

 

 

I don't think this would happen unless they pulled the trigger on Great America and it went well so they started feeling ambitious. There would be no real competition in the area which is nice (there's a drive through light thing in Springfield and Lake Compounce does some dumb Holiday Lights thing but it's sort of far to drive for lights). I think Jen said something about Holiday in the Park not being a consideration a few years ago but I don't listen to anything that comes from SFNE's PR team and plans can always change.

 

I don't really know if HITP is a realistic possibility in this climate but it's fun to speculate anyway...

[Vonni]

^ Is the winter weather in Agawam similar to the winter weather in Chicago?

 

 

Assuming that a HITP event (I've yet to attend one. I will be attending SFStL HITP in a few weeks) is good enough to hold up even without rides, I could see people braving the cold for the festivities and it ending up being successful for SFNE (and SFGAm).

[sfkk]

They already tried Holiday in the Park at Great Escape in 2009. They said that while the event was well received by the public, it did not end up being profitable enough for them to do another year. Great Escape if a family park that has the perfect demographics to support a HITP, so if it did not work there, it likely will not work at SFNE either. Of course, Great Escape was also Mark Shapiro's favorite park, so it could have just been cancelled when the new management came in, but i've got to imagine that if it was making any real money at all, it would have been kept.

[coasterbill]

They already tried Holiday in the Park at Great Escape in 2009. They said that while the event was well received by the public, it did not end up being profitable enough for them to do another year. Great Escape if a family park that has the perfect demographics to support a HITP, so if it did not work there, it likely will not work at SFNE either. Of course, Great Escape was also Mark Shapiro's favorite park, so it could have just been cancelled when the new management came in, but i've got to imagine that if it was making any real money at all, it would have been kept.

 

The two parks are not at all comparable in any way. Lake George is a popular summer destination with a very small year round population of about 4,000 people to support Holiday in the Park compared to a summertime population exceeding 50,000 people, Queensbury's population is larger at around 27,901 but that's still not overly impressive. Six Flags New England is located within a few minutes of Springfield which has a year round population of over 150,000 people, a few minutes from Hartford which has over 125,000 year round residents and is the largest major theme park to Boston, a city of 646,000 people with densely populated suburbs.

 

To add to this, Holiday in the Park at Great Escape followed a different format from what they do now and I don't believe it included any coasters or major rides.

 

You can absolutely question whether or not Holiday in the Park would be successful at Six Flags New England due to climate, but don't compare it to the area surrounding Great Escape. The demographics of the area are nothing alike.

[Vonni]

^ Do you think that in the current format, HITP could be successful at The Great Escape?

[coasterbill]

Not really, I could be wrong and it might benefit the Great Escape lodge which makes it an appealing idea but the population this time of year is so low that there's just not much to work with.

[Vonni]

^ And aside from that, the area around the Great Escape isn't metro is it? Or not a touristy area?

[larrygator]

^ And aside from that, the area around the Great Escape isn't metro is it? Or not a touristy area?

 

coasterbill already referenced these points in a post that you already responded to (scroll up a few posts)

 

Although Albany is not too far away, Lake George is not in a big metro area. It is a big touristy area from Spring to Fall, but not in the Winter

[Vonni]

^ Apologies. I over looked it.

[Blind Idiot God]

"Brutally cold" by your standards, maybe. Odds are that it'll be in the low to mid-forties around the time that it would happen, which, while definitely not balmy by anyone's standards, aren't what anyone from New England (let alone the Great Lakes or the northern Midwest) could reasonably call "brutal". Definitely hoodie weather, but if the ground is free of any major amount of snow and the skies are clear, it should be just fine.

[BoulderDash]

I think it is likely that SFNE will do a holiday event in the future. I just got back from LC's holiday event and the park was mobbed, more busy than it was the first two weeks of the graveyard. I can't imagine them not wanting to steal some customers away from LC. Also I hope that SFNE would open a few coasters so that maybe LC would cave and open a coaster like Wildcat or Phobia. It was really cold today though and I can't see any major coasters being open at SFNE if they were to do it. But I think they will do it within the next few years.