Six Flags Great America (SFGAm) Discussion Thread

[coasterchitchat]

What do you think Six Flags Great America will get in 2015?

 

A SkyScreamer (well.. they haven't applied for a height variance yet.)

A Tsunami Soaker in Ragin Cajuin' spot? That'd be nice

I don't now anything else.

 

The other half of Goliath

 

I personally hope Hurricane Harbor gets a new addition such as a Proslide Tornado Wave or even a King Cobra type slide at SFGAd HH. Don't get me wrong, Hurricane Harbor is great as it is, but Im hoping for a new addition since Riptide Bay in 2011.

 

They already have a Proslide Tornado.

[Zcev5454]

 

They already have a Proslide Tornado.

 

The Tornado Wave is the single wall you slide up with a completely different experience, and in my opinion is much more thrilling than the original Tornado.

[Woodie Warrior]

I have just a few questions about my visit to the park next Thursday:

-How should crowds be on a Thursday?

-Will Flash Pass be needed? (Will most rides have around an hour wait?)

-Is Goliath's single rider line open whenever it's line gets long? Or is it just whenever the ride ops feel like opening it?

 

Thanks

[JamesMC]

Last time I was at the park, Bull was running three trains, but always stacking two.....not the best dispatching I've ever seen. No one in the station seemed to be that concerned, which is a shame. This ride is a people eater if loaded/dispatched correctly.

[Jodon]

The only times I've seen Raging Bull ops run efficiently is after the park closes and they have a finite number of people to get through. It's amazing how fast they can dispatch when it has an impact on when they get to go home.

[michaellynn4]

^ Sounds like Nitro's team recently.

[SingleRiderWill]

I know this probably isn't the place where I should be asking this, but I'm getting flash passes for Hurricane Harbor, and I see "atomic slides" under the flash pass list. But on the park website I don't see any waterpark ride under the name "atomic slides", can anyone help me with what slides they're talking about. My best guess is Hurricane Mountain.

[Iron Wolf 90-11]

I know this probably isn't the place where I should be asking this, but I'm getting flash passes for Hurricane Harbor, and I see "atomic slides" under the flash pass list. But on the park website I don't see any waterpark ride under the name "atomic slides", can anyone help me with what slides they're talking about. My best guess is Hurricane Mountain.

These are the atomic slides. Its a slide complex that consists of six different slides, and it is just called "atomic slides" by proslide.

[WildStangAlex]

Don't waste your time or money on flash pass in the water park. It will only get you to the bottom of the towers. You still have to wait the entire staircase in line...

[SingleRiderWill]

Don't waste your time or money on flash pass in the water park. It will only get you to the bottom of the towers. You still have to wait the entire staircase in line...

 

Just another reason to love six flags . But really, that's just horrible. The fast passes have really been a disappointment so far. I bought platinum Flash passes so I could ride Goliath, surprise surprise, you only get one ride. I was counting on buying Hurricane Harbor flash passes so I could skip all the lines, LOL NOPE, you only get to the bottom of the tower.

[Atter]

Just wondering, does the park allow guests in before 10:30, but have things roped off and stuff, I'm assuming it does, but wanted to make sure. How early should I arrive at the park? I've gotten gold flash pass, but gonna need to run to goliath right away!

[GayCoasterGuy]

Got up to the park late in the day yesterday. My friend and I used exit passes to get on Goliath and I couldn't believe how the thing was operating. Everything seemed very organized with the queue. Every single seat was taken and every train went out as the other was coming off the brakes. There were 4 ride ops checking restraints - one seemed to be a supervisor. This was late in the day, and I figured by then they'd be taking a breather, but nope. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it at a Six Flags park. Ever.

 

The crews at Demon and Whizzer were sending trains out faster than normal; a very odd sight to see - especially after 9pm. But a ride on Raging Bull showed the same YOLO-ish stacking of 3 trains every single time. Except for Bull, I couldn't believe what I was seeing at the other coasters. I mean... Goliath is the new hot ride, so it makes sense, but why were trains being sent out so fast on the 2 oldies? Strange. Maybe there is some sort of new program at the park. Whatever was going on last night, I hope it continues. I never thought I would see anything like that at a SF park.

 

This was my first time in the park since media day, and Goliath has surprisingly broken in very nicely! The 2 inversions don't let you hang out of them anymore (which is great for me; I like a zero-g inversion here and there, but the "hang-time" stuff that people seem to rave about isn't for me.) The turn to the lift is still squealing badly. It's too tight and the poly wheels sound like they are tearing apart around it.

 

Goliath is fun, but it's just too short. Sorry guys - I'm a fanboy of my home park... Goliath is a good 1,000 to 1,500 feet too short for it's height and the energy at the end. It was never a space issue. You can build a coaster over, under and through anything. It's a money issue. I almost think of it as a sort of testing grounds or test track for RMC.

 

Don't get me wrong, I still had fun on it and I look forward to future rides (especially in the front seat, which I've heard is awesome). I'm sure at the end of the day, the park has a winner (especially in terms of ROI, etc...).

 

Night rides on Whizzer Pure bliss. It only improves with age. So dark and cool under those trees on a summer night. Zen rides, for sure!

[El Toro_Ryan]

Got up to the park late in the day yesterday. My friend and I used exit passes to get on Goliath and I couldn't believe how the thing was operating. Everything seemed very organized with the queue. Every single seat was taken and every train went out as the other was coming off the brakes. There were 4 ride ops checking restraints - one seemed to be a supervisor. This was late in the day, and I figured by then they'd be taking a breather, but nope. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it at a Six Flags park. Ever.

 

The crews at Demon and Whizzer were sending trains out faster than normal; a very odd sight to see - especially after 9pm. But a ride on Raging Bull showed the same YOLO-ish stacking of 3 trains every single time. Except for Bull, I couldn't believe what I was seeing at the other coasters. I mean... Goliath is the new hot ride, so it makes sense, but why were trains being sent out so fast on the 2 oldies? Strange. Maybe there is some sort of new program at the park. Whatever was going on last night, I hope it continues. I never thought I would see anything like that at a SF park.

 

This was my first time in the park since media day, and Goliath has surprisingly broken in very nicely! The 2 inversions don't let you hang out of them anymore (which is great for me; I like a zero-g inversion here and there, but the "hang-time" stuff that people seem to rave about isn't for me.) The turn to the lift is still squealing badly. It's too tight and the poly wheels sound like they are tearing apart around it.

 

Goliath is fun, but it's just too short. Sorry guys - I'm a fanboy of my home park... Goliath is a good 1,000 to 1,500 feet too short for it's height and the energy at the end. It was never a space issue. You can build a coaster over, under and through anything. It's a money issue. I almost think of it as a sort of testing grounds or test track for RMC.

 

Don't get me wrong, I still had fun on it and I look forward to future rides (especially in the front seat, which I've heard is awesome). I'm sure at the end of the day, the park has a winner (especially in terms of ROI, etc...).

 

Night rides on Whizzer Pure bliss. It only improves with age. So dark and cool under those trees on a summer night. Zen rides, for sure!

 

That's good to hear. The Raging Bull crew sounds a lot like the Nitro crew this year. SLOW. haha

[Atter]

Just rode Goliath for the first time, it was really awesome!!

Goliath from X-flight station.

[rcjp]

This was my first time in the park since media day, and Goliath has surprisingly broken in very nicely! The 2 inversions don't let you hang out of them anymore (which is great for me; I like a zero-g inversion here and there, but the "hang-time" stuff that people seem to rave about isn't for me.)

Me too. I'm not a really big fan of hangtime. I'm okay with heartline rolls but I feel that's pretty much the only inversion that "should" have some.

[Atter]

Had a great day at the park today, rode Goliath for the first time. Around 8 the park had a power outage to half of the park, causing Superman,Batman,V2, and I think X-flight to shut down. Since this was late in day I got on all the rides I wanted still. The park even gave out free tickets to return because of the power outage.

[nolimits]

I went on a trip to Chicago a few weeks ago and finally got to ride Goliath. The ride is a great addition to the park but as an airtime fan I was disappointed. There was only one major pop of airtime and it was too short overall. The other RMC that I've ridden (NTAG) is a much better ride.

[batmanfan80]

I was there the sunday before the 4th along with the 4th and last night. Got there around 6:15. Lines galore for everything around 6:45. Worse than 4th of July. Probably 20 some buses out there. Everything except Demon, Bull, and Whizzer went down by 8:30. After we left X-Flight it took about 15 min to see a train go on Goliath and V2. Everything else but Demon was dead. Those were the last trains that ran and then walking out, all that we saw running was Whizzer. Both Whizzer and Demon had lines just overflowing at this time.

 

Eagle Blue got stuck on top of the lift hill again like it did one of the previous two times I visited. X Flight should be renamed Flash Pass. It's obscene how many flash passers go by whenever I ride it. Hundreds. Would not be surprised if it doubled the wait time. Batman is like that too. I really don't recall there being tons of flash passers a couple years ago. Seems that the more they raise the price, the more people buy it. Why not raise the price, limit it, and then throw some ads all over? The consensus seems to be that the park's operations get worse as time goes on, and I'd gladly take a bunch of ads everywhere if it meant a better experience. The stridex ads on the Demon looked kinda cool I thought. Gave the ride some color. The upsurge in flash passers could be due to Goliath. Maybe not as the most common thing I see are groups of 4-6 who don't look like they'd be shelling hundreds of dollars for platinum passes.

 

Flash Pass is a worthy idea that should be an option, but when you sell ridiculous amounts of them coupled with the oft-mentioned operational issues, visiting the park can be a big waste of time. It's almost better just to arrive at 7 or 8 PM on days when it's crowded and full of flash passers. Batman is another flash pass magnet. Bull ran well that last sunday I went. 3 trains. Line was out to the test seat but they didn't fill the queue so wait time wasn't too long. Maybe a half hour.

 

The Train is back up and running. Watching the fireworks with X Flight/Flash Pass in the background is stunning. I bet it's even cooler if you're on the ride. Angelo's is running well now. Lines move at a reasonable pace and no cold food. Time will tell if Goliath has staying power. Once upon a time Shockwave and Iron Wolf drew huge crowds. I never got to ride them but I've heard their ridership decreased due to reps of roughness? Wonder if the internet emerging had anything to do with that. Goliath may eventually get the rep of being half a ride. Pretzelman still draws though, so, who knows.

 

Eventually theme parks will be competing with virtual reality versions. Might be a couple decades away. Can they put in another new coaster without removing anything? Doesn't look that way. I'd like to see more non-thrill rides and more of an effort to feel like a theme park. It often feels like Six Flags goes for cheapest cost options and tries to attract lowest common denominator people. I was reading some forum post about how County Fair doesn't feel like a county fair anymore. It's true that a big coaster will draw more people than the raceway or Splash water falls, but then it's more like a coaster park than a theme park. You're drawing people who want thrills above all else. Instead of selling the overall experience the way I see it marketed in the Marriott commercials, it's being sold based on thrill seeking almost exclusively.

 

I figured out some approaches to limit the car crash feeling on every drop and inversion on Demon. Seems that adjusting your neck position throughout the loops seems to stop it from being slightly whiplashed as happens when you try to keep it steady. It doesn't reduce all of that whiplashy feeling, but gets rid of most of it. On the first drop you kinda need to lift the knees up a bit like if you were out of your seat in a car crash because it does slam with pretty good impact when you go down that hill. I'm tall enough not to have any real problems with the corkscrews.

 

Last time I went on Batman it was feeling awesome again. Maybe because I sat on the right side. I do get floater type airtime on the loops(if only we could get 2-4 more of these here). If someone doesn't fit, having one person hold and push the harness while another person pushes and puts the buckle in seems to give a couple extra inches of room to fit someone in who would have a lot of trouble if they tried to get in with just one person helping.

[coasterchitchat]

I went on a trip to Chicago a few weeks ago and finally got to ride Goliath. The ride is a great addition to the park but as an airtime fan I was disappointed. There was only one major pop of airtime and it was too short overall. The other RMC that I've ridden (NTAG) is a much better ride.

 

I rode it a while ago and was disappointed in the airtime. I think this was a rush job and they went a little too fancy/overboard as well.

[Atter]

^I thought Goliath was a great ride and it met my expectations, I expected it to be short so I wasn't let down by that. The airtime was great! This was my first RMC, so I can't compare it to others, but I thought it was perfect. The design perfectly fits in the compact area it's in

[DirkFunk]

I must have missed this discussion already, but how is El Toro the tallest wooden coaster on earth if it isn't even the tallest wood coaster in the chain? Or if Colossos' claimed height is 30+ feet taller?

[ilrider]

^The drop is bigger on Goliath than the other two. The other two just have taller structures, but shorter drops. Goliath is boasting the tallest drop as its record.

[DirkFunk]

I get that, but that doesn't mean that Steel Phantom or Apollo's Chariot are taller than Raging Bull. It just isn't true. It has the longest drop, definitely...I guess its just a matter of semantics though.

[ilrider]

^The park has clearly stated "tallest drop" in a lot of their literature, so while people keep trying to complain it is not the tallest wooden coaster, the park is well aware of that. I would rather have the tallest drop than the tallest structure any day. When they use the phrase "tallest, steepest, fastest," that's because it's purely a marketing phrase and is a nice, grammatically parallel structure. There is no way to add "drop" to that phrase and not make it sound awkward. Since it does have the tallest drop, why wouldn't they market that?

[HARLEYGUYJB]

Flash Plass is must have at this park... No way in hell I'd wait for hours in a line for a roller coaster.. Last year my wife and I got the Flash Pass platinum and we took turns using it while the other stayed with our kids.. Best $100 we spent all year.