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Six Flags Great America (SFGAm) Discussion Thread


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Just left the park about 20 minutes ago.

 

Namtab is amazing! So much better backward than it was forward. We got in line at 10:52 and was on in 45 minutes. We chose row 7. Wanted to ride again, but the line was sticking out and down the midway. No queues inside were open.

 

Namtab is now my number 2 inverted coaster, knocking Talon to number 3. (Montu is still my #1)

 

Will edit this post and get more into it when I get home tonight.

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I'll keep my fingers crossed that they will be running Batman backwards thru the remaining season. I kind of want to try it, and we'll be there in August. Oh well here's hoping they decide to extend the run time of it. This just looks so wrong and incredibly disorienting. How do the guests seem to be taking it? Is it making many people sick at all?

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As much as I hate the trend of turning roller coasters backwards, I have to admit, I would like to try Batman backwards.

 

I still stick to my guns that they ruined Freeze for me. It was one of my favorite of the 140+ coasters I've ridden, and I no longer enjoy it.

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I still stick to my guns that they ruined Freeze for me. It was one of my favorite of the 140+ coasters I've ridden, and I no longer enjoy it.

 

I enjoyed "Reverse Blast", but I prefer the original version, and I just wish I could ride it that way again.

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Am I the only one who thinks that SF is overusing this "let's turn the coaster car backwards and call it a new attraction" gimmick? Won't this start losing its effect if it becomes overdone?

 

Also, just to clarify, the ride is only operating with one train now? Or are there two trains total, only one backwards train?

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I'm confused - What is the point of a backwards launch anyway? I've only been on a forwards-launch, so what's the advantages of the backward launch?

If you ask that, you'll have to question everything! Come on

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I'm confused - What is the point of a backwards launch anyway? I've only been on a forwards-launch, so what's the advantages of the backward launch?

If you ask that, you'll have to question everything! Come on

Okay - It just seems silly to me (Isn't it better to have the air in your face?).

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Am I the only one who thinks that SF is overusing this "let's turn the coaster car backwards and call it a new attraction" gimmick? Won't this start losing its effect if it becomes overdone?

 

It seems a bit over-done to us because we get information from parks from all over the country - but a coaster or two that runs backwards at each park can be a really cool thing for the locals. Riding Batman Backwards was totally insane/surreal - I'm thrilled Six Flags has tried this; I'm really eager to get more rides on it, but I'm also glad it's not permanent.

 

Also, just to clarify, the ride is only operating with one train now? Or are there two trains total, only one backwards train?

 

There is currently only a single train on the track, and it's backwards. There were no other trains visible - so I'm not sure if a second backwards train will be added, or if there will just be only one. A second backwards train would be nice, but given the amount of work it must take to flip everything around, I can excuse them for only running one train. The crew in the station was really moving, getting the train dispatched quickly - it was great to see.

 

There were lots of problems at SFGAm this weekend, but Batman was certainly not one of them. Just the opposite actually: Batman was a genuine highlight.

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This summer I'll be working there on the Whizzer, come say hi!

 

Certain coaster nerds (like me!) consider you lucky to be working on Whizzer. As boring and mundane as the job can get, it's still a classic ride. One of my favorite rides anywhere. And yup, I'm old enough to remember 4 and 5 train operation, no seat belts and no air gates. Hop in (with your stuffed animal, or backpack, whatever!) and GO! Even thought things are MUCH different now, the crews still manage to do a good job with 2 or 3 trains. The full queue under the station was a 20 minute wait in the old days. I think it's about an hour or so now?

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Looks fun but I'm not sure I could handle this. Even riding XLR8 backwards at Astroworld made me a little sick to my stomach so I'm not sure what this would do. I'd ride once and that would probably be it.

 

I ended up sitting out on this myself. While I think it was really neat to see in action, I knew that I would not enjoy the ride at all because it would have made me sick. I was perfectly fine to take a bunch of pictures of everyone enjoying the ride. I did ride everything else that day and I can say that I did enjoy X-Flight. Lucky for me that I already had the Batman credit.

Edited by Erik Johnson
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Looks fun but I'm not sure I could handle this. Even riding XLR8 backwards at Astroworld made me a little sick to my stomach so I'm not sure what this would do. I'd ride once and that would probably be it.

 

I get bad motion sickness on all rides these days but survived namtaB yesterday! I take Dramamine a couple hours prior to arriving, so that helps. I was really dizzy for the first couple steps after getting off the ride, but it was a lot of fun, and I recovered pretty quickly. Ride felt even more intense than going forwards. I definitely could only do this once or twice a day at the park.

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Also, just to clarify, the ride is only operating with one train now? Or are there two trains total, only one backwards train?

 

There is currently only a single train on the track, and it's backwards. There were no other trains visible - so I'm not sure if a second backwards train will be added, or if there will just be only one. A second backwards train would be nice, but given the amount of work it must take to flip everything around, I can excuse them for only running one train. The crew in the station was really moving, getting the train dispatched quickly - it was great to see.

 

There were lots of problems at SFGAm this weekend, but Batman was certainly not one of them. Just the opposite actually: Batman was a genuine highlight.

Great America actually had to buy new train chassis from B&M to run it backwards. Not sure if they have a second backwards train, but I can see why they wouldn't buy another one because of budget issues. Then again, cutting the ride capacity by more than half seems a bit dumb to me.

 

What other problems were going on at SFGAm?

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^ Simply put, they weren't ready. Limited capacity on most rides plus the crowds that $20 tickets and good weather brings are not a good mix. Orbit, ERC and HTFM were still in pieces, AE blue was closed, and only AE Red, Demon, Viper and Bull had two trains. And then on top of all this you have new employees who are still getting used to the job. It was still an enjoyable day, but they've still got a ways to go to be ready for summer.

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^ They were running only one train in X-Flight for one! Also Superman and Whizzer were only one as well. Lines were over 90 mins to two hours for both X-Flight and Superman. Thank goodness for the guy above me winning those exit passes. Otherwise I probably would not have been able (or willing) to wait in the 75 minute line to get my Dark Knight credit. I understand that it was opening weekend, but not having two trains on X-flight was pretty inexcusable.

Edited by Erik Johnson
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I should be there on June 6 after coastermania. I do remember riding XLR8 backwards in Astroworld and that actually got me a little sick. Hopefuly namtaB won't be as bad.

 

Hope most of the other coasters will have more than one train operations by then.

 

I actually like Mr. freeze reverse blast better. It is far more exciting looking straight down on the spike than looking up in the air. Same with Superman at Magic Mountain.

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