Six Flags Great America (SFGAm) Discussion Thread

[ThemeParkFan08]

^I'm probably in the minority but I hope they never touch it.

[Mstankow]

The RMC rumors started with Eagle being retracked and I would have been very angry if that had happened. I would be fine with a retracking with the same profiles, but any actual change to the layout would be so upsetting. I mean there are years where Eagle runs awesome and then there are years when the ride is super rough. It could use something to keep it running smoother longer. Another thing I would be fine with is new trains.

[gerstlaueringvar]

Does Intamin provide treatment to their rides? Eagle could be great with pre-fab track and Intamin trains as well.

[raptor6]

American Eagle is a good coaster, but that helix turnaround can really kill the awesome pacing of the ride's first half. I've been on the coaster about 5 or 6 times and every time the trim brakes activate and make the train meander around the ridiculously large helix. If the park ever decides to replace the helix with something better, I would not complain at all.

[tribar]

I hate the banking on AE. It's banked at such an angle that you don't get any laterals or or positive gs. I'd love if they re tracked that and change the banking of the turns. The helixes before the station need to be retracked too especially the Blue side

[Rollercoaster Rider]

I hate the banking on AE. It's banked at such an angle that you don't get any laterals or or positive gs. I'd love if they re tracked that and change the banking of the turns. The helixes before the station need to be retracked too especially the Blue side

 

 

Thank you for saying that. I don't know if it's the trains or what but those helix's are worse than the big helix.

[Goooose]

Lets say RMC gets to retrack American Eagle sometime in the future. They ought to be able to retrack, put in new trains and a new ride operating system, treat the straight stretch at the top of the helix as a MCBR to operate 3 trains, speed up the lift possibly, and finally, correct the end of the ride. Those break runs could become 2 bunny hills each, and the helix could be sharpened, smoothened, and allow for some fast positive g's before the break run.

 

Other more significant alterations would be controversial and challenge the role in the marketplace filled by Goliath. BUT if they had to IBOX or retrack and had the opportunity to redesign, I'd love to see:

1. a steeper and slightly taller hill, so that the first drop can happen sooner

2. in the extra room allotted by the first drop nearer the station, an El Toro-style negative G hill could be installed. High banking up, quick transition over and ejector air, and a steep drop out. Then this hill could enter the existing low-lying negative g floats. If the first drop and hill are designed correctly, the trains could hit the two bunny hills at exactly the same speed and continue the rest of the ride as it used to be.

3. a double up into the helix

4. No trims at the top, but with retracking and new trains, the lateral G's in the helix that give way to positives as it banks inward could be more comfortable.

[GoBears]

American Eagle is a good coaster, but that helix turnaround can really kill the awesome pacing of the ride's first half. I've been on the coaster about 5 or 6 times and every time the trim brakes activate and make the train meander around the ridiculously large helix. If the park ever decides to replace the helix with something better, I would not complain at all.

 

I really dislike coasters that slow down half way through the ride, but Eagle is an exception for me. I might be one of the biggest American Eagle fans out there and one of my favorite parts of the ride is the start of the giant helix. It slows down almost all the way at the top of the big helix but you really gather a lot of speed by the end of it which sets up a nice little series of smaller airtime hills (mainly the red side). The helix is only really fun when it's racing though and you get to trash talk to the train beside you.

 

I do agree that the big helix and the smaller helixes on both sides need to be re-tracked. Definitely the roughest parts of the ride. The airtime hills are shaky but nothing horrible and you really get that classic wooden coaster feel on the drops. American Eagle also needs a renovated station and new paint. The park said last year during Goliath's announcement at the end of August that they are looking into repainting Eagle entirely in the near future, but it will cost a lot of money. The station is also in poor shape with chipped white paint and it feels very bare on the inside. I would love if they kept the original station (I love the outside and roof of it) but repaint it and maybe add some red, white, and blue lights and paint. Make it feel more Patriotic.

 

Also, if RMC ever did work on Eagle, I think red and blue topper track would be cool. Obviously red topper for the red side and blue topper for the blue side. I would love new trains as well.

[Goooose]

Ooo If only RMC could get some LIMS on the straight track at the end of the helix and then vastly improve the second half of the experience. Think about an overbank on blue approaching its final run or even an outerbank, some sideways bunny hills, turn the final helix into a figure 8 or double helix. We could dream all day. As important as this coaster is to preserve, one issue I have is that it takes up the best real estate in the park. And since the park is so short on real estate, it is basically one of only two people eaters/high capacity rides. The park is always packed and all of its popular attractions are low capacity/2 train operation. American eagle runs 4 trains at a time and if the coaster were even more popular or renovated, they could run 6 trains at a time and stay relevant in the coaster world. Another coaster's track could easily run alongside of it or take up the maintenance/employee access road by the railroad. They couldn't mess with the access road under goliath because it feeds the entire interior of the park and I doubt they would want to touch this one too but they really ought to consider it. This is where any desire to improve it comes from, and the precedent set simply be the existence of RMC. We know anything is possible. Whether or not its a good idea right now or ever is a different question. I think they've recently retracked some of the coaster. Its my impression though that this is a constant necessity in wood coaster maintenance so I'm unsure if this was an expensive improvement out of the ordinary or just minor touchups.

[thedirtyspaniard]

If I had to be completely honest -- I love eagle's rickety feel -- it does get a bit out of control in the helices, but at the same time it's a ton of fun. Eagle to me was never meant to be as smooth as glass or anywhere near that, half of the fun of the first few airtime hills is the mixing of the shaky, positive g's at the bottoms of the hills and then the smooth flotation over the tops of the hills.

 

I have only thing to suggest that would improve the ride experience on eagle -- turn off the trims after the huge turnaround helix. Every time I'm waiting for the front row on either side.. I always peer into the ride op booth and look at that knob labelled "trims" with positions 1,2,3 and all. And I always try and ask the ride op if it would be at all possible to just turn it to the 1 or 2 position... but alas.. I will continue dreaming, or just getting lucky when I go on days in the early/late season where the trims are off.

 

As for Goliath, it looks like they didn't do much vertical construction aside from adding more track on the ascent into the large overbank that you can see in the foreground of the picture.

[cal1br3tto]

American Eagle looks STUNNING.

This! Visually, it's always been one of my top wooden coaster designs. It really stands out even among racers. I'm not sure if it's the added height contributing to the massiveness, or just its position in the park allowing for easy access to some great views of the first drop versus it being hidden.

 

As for the ride experience, last year it went from being by far one of my least favorite full-sized wooden coasters (I know I was in the minority there) to merely a low average. It didn't seem quite so forceless; there were definitely at least hints of airtime, but nothing to write home about. The red side often gets massive praise, and it did seem better, but not amazing. I guess it was just the wrong day/time of season/year as I've heard the quality does vary.

 

I do like the station as well--it may not be the most overwhelmingly charming, but it does have a nice classic feel.

[yay101]

^ The classiness is what makes American Eagle American Eagle.

 

I think American Eagle is more of a local icon than a major coaster for coaster enthusiasts. From my perspective, it's that roller coaster you really should ride when you go to SFGAm because it's a classic Americana-style ride (even though it's not American-made ). When I went last year with a few of my sister's friends, they told me how much they hated American Eagle and how rough it was and all, but they went on it because it's a classic. I don't think it's meant to be a "great" coaster. It's just supposed to be notable, probably locally. At least that's how I see it - others could see it differently.

 

Personally I really like American Eagle - it's not an "amazing" roller coaster and it's not on my top 10 wooden coasters, but it's a ride I enjoy every single time I ride it!

[tribar]

Just an FYI, If Eagle is ever removed SFGAm can't build anything on that plot of land. Too close to Washington Street and the tollway and the houses across the street

[G$ Kurt]

^What is this based off of.

[thrillrider]

I'm pretty sure you could fit a fairly large coaster in that spot. The structure of AA is mammoth. With that being said, I hope the coaster never leaves the park.

[tribar]

^What is this based off of.

 

I remember hearing it somewhere, I think on another forum

[anewman35]

^What is this based off of.

 

People bring this up sometimes, but nobody ever seems to be able to cite proof. Personally, I don't really buy it - MAYBE it's true for the part near the station that's closest to Washington Street, but the rest of it doesn't totally strike me as plausible - I don't think the village would care that much about the few houses right across Washington Street, and as for being close to the Tollway, there's a fairly recently-built building across the Tollway that's closer to the road than the Eagle is.

[DanM64]

Count me in as one who thought Eagle was awful last year. It hasn't ridden this bad in a long time. When the track is in good shape and they run it with the trims off it's a blast. It needs a LOT of work now though. I'm pretty sure there's practically no chance of it ever getting an RMC makeover with Goliath and all. I'd love to see AE get some work, but if they did decide to take it out that'd be ok, too. I'd miss it just because I've grown up with it in the park, but if it doesn't get any work soon there's really no point to keeping it there.

[goatdan]

I don't think it's meant to be a "great" coaster. It's just supposed to be notable, probably locally. At least that's how I see it - others could see it differently.

 

Maybe now, but when it opened it was the tallest and fastest coaster, and it remained the fastest wooden coaster I believe until Son of Beast opened 20 years later, so while I think it never got the recognition that it deserved, it should have been a pretty notable coaster, not just locally. I understand it isn't that great of a ride now compared to, well, a lot of other stuff.

 

As for the thought the park couldn't build anything else if it was torn down, are you really telling me that if you went to these houses that people are claiming wouldn't allow it and said, "Hey, we're going to tear down this SUPER LOUD wooden coaster and replace it with a silent other than the screaming giga coaster that the people wouldn't be okay with that? Eagle, especially if you manage to be close to it when it's running, is a LOUD coaster.

[ilrider]

^I assume it is due to modern building code not allowing the structure to be built so close to Washington St., not seeking permission of the neighbors.

[The Great Zo]

When I rode it last year, I thought Eagle was pretty smooth for a woodie -- and I even put it in my top 10 wood coasters (a small list, to be fair) -- but I should probably disclose that I was at Mt. Olympus the day before...

[GoBears]

I've ridden it almost every month (May-October) since 2004 each season and to be honest, it seems to change every month. It doesn't seem like there's ever a good year or a bad year, it just has good days and bad days. Some of the best rides I've ever had on it are when it's really cold outside, like during Fright Fest. Maybe that's just me.

[Goooose]

Although I love entertaining the idea of renovating it, even redesigning it, doing an iron horse or just topper track treatment so we never have to discuss how rough it is ever again, I would never advocate for its demolition. Other than colossus there is a white wooden coaster in Japan that I have a photo of in an old roller coaster book somewhere... and then there is eagle. It is a behemoth. There are three major white woodies (of this scale) left so keeping the structure is important for the coaster world and especially for the park, whose seen Iron wolf, shockwave, and deja vu go recently... as well as tital wave, z force, etc.

 

A topper track treatment would really be the best bet. It would respect the intamin design and preserve it while cutting maintenance costs and improving guest experience. I honestly hope that this route is a serious consideration by the park and I know they've had time to think about it over the past year, spending so much time with RMC andor dealing with this project.

 

If we were to consider a redesign, I think it would be fun to give one side to RMC and another to Intamin and have a contest of sorts. Shoot a documentary about the original coaster, the records it broke, the memories that were formed on it, and the challenge of restoring it-updating it-making a contest of it with the two best wooden coaster manufacturers in the world. It would be unprecedented. The ride would get so much attention around the world and they could air the documentary on Travel channel.

[GoBears]

Up bright and early lifting more bents.

 

[ilrider]

That top overbank element is going to be quite a thrill! It is amazing how tall that structure is, to see it in real life after only seeing renderings. The energy coming out of the tunnel after the first drop is going to be awesome.