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Six Flags Great America (SFGAm) Discussion Thread


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I just wanted to bring these questions up again, as I think they may have gotten lost in the rest of my lengthy post, especially since the weather discussion gained the most traction. Thanks again in advance!

 

One thing I was wondering, as I prepare for the trip, is how forgiving are the various coasters' restraints for guests with a little extra weight to them? I know I couldn't get on Wicked Twister last year, and I've gotten bigger since then, so I'm sure Vertical Velocity is out. But are there any other coasters I should be aware of being tight fits? Maxx Force, for instance?

 

Another question I had was regarding the Skip the Line Passes that we are getting with our Memberships since we got them during the Flash Sale. How do they work, and where do you pick them up? Do you actually skip the entire line, or do you just go through the Flash Pass queue? Are there certain coasters that you're not allowed to use them on? Thanks for any info on this, as it's something I'm curious about, and hoping we can use to skip a long line on either Maxx Force (if they allow it), or Goliath!

 

Also, the invite to join us there on either Saturday or Sunday, and get in free if you don't have a SF Pass or Membership already, is still open!

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I had to do the "walk of shame" on Goliath, although my friend thinks it was actually him triggering the "not ready" light or whatever it is that tells them to check restraints. I was able to fit on Twisted Cyclone at SF Over Georgia, though it was easier in the morning than it was in the afternoon just after eating a funnel cake. Then again, RMC coasters have always been a tighter fit.

 

I had to do the walk of shame on X-Flight as well, but that was because my stupid boobs are too big for those over-the-shoulder restraints. If you've got a flatter chest, you'll probably be fine.

 

Sadly, I can't report on Maxx Force because it was down for hours both days we were there and we just couldn't fathom waiting in line for 3 hours for it.

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I'm also going to the park with DILinator. It's been 5 years since I've been there. Goliath was open that year and it was my first RMC. I've since been on many others and Goliath has fallen down to the bottom of my list, but maybe a reride will remind me how much I liked it. I missed some coasters last time and of course the rides built in the last 5 years, so I'm excited to complete my Coasterdex for SFGAm (minus kiddie coasters). Can't wait to ride Maxx Force!

 

Also, as always, say hi if you see us! I still have orange hair and I'm sure at least one, if not all, of us will be wearing coaster clothing so I'm sure we wont be hard to miss!

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For anyone interested, here is my trip report from our visit. I didn't participate in the Fright Fest stuff, but I did get some pictures of the theming and the park at night!

 

Also, has Raging Bull removed trims since 2014? I remember my one or two 2014 rides on it being way more trimmed than our rides last weekend.

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For anyone interested, here is my trip report from our visit. I didn't participate in the Fright Fest stuff, but I did get some pictures of the theming and the park at night!

 

Also, has Raging Bull removed trims since 2014? I remember my one or two 2014 rides on it being way more trimmed than our rides last weekend.

 

Nope. It's just the technical side of it. Colder weather = train moves slower = trims don't have to brake as hard to keep the train's speed in check.

 

Some people will **rave** about getting trimless rides on Diamondback but in reality it was a morning ride with a half empty train and the trims don't have to activate because the train is already going at the speed it was designed to be going at. Which sometimes can result in a little bit more airtime, but in general it's all the same. You just won't notice the sound or pull.

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^ I got several trimless rides on Diamondback last October. I think even rode the Beast without the trim. Now I was there on a very windy day though which was probably why I got the trimless rides. But I n all my years going to my home park I don’t think I’ve ever got a trimless ride on Bull.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Heading to SFGAM for HITP 12/27. I believe this is the second year for HITP. I was trying to find out what rides/attractions would be open, but the website does not have the info. I'm thinking Max Force will be open but anybody have any idea what else may be running? What did they have open last year? Looking forward to another visit at one of my favorite Six Flags Parks!

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Batman the Ride, Dark Knight, Joker, Raging Bull, Sprocket Rockets, Superman, V2 and X Flight were open for the event last year. I’m interested to see if Maxx Force runs too. Remember that Whizzer was closed for Maxx Force construction so it may be a wildcard as well.

Edited by coasterbill
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^ I got several trimless rides on Diamondback last October. I think even rode the Beast without the trim. Now I was there on a very windy day though which was probably why I got the trimless rides. But I n all my years going to my home park I don’t think I’ve ever got a trimless ride on Bull.

 

Unless you rode the Beast the first few weeks it was open, you did not get a trimless ride. There were always skid brake trims that didn't turn off which were replaced with magnetic brakes that do not turn off a few years back. Just sayin'.

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Its possible that the train was already traveling less fast already heading into it, thus you wouldn't see as much slowdown. The magnetic brakes the ride has installed now slow the train to speed X, not reduce speed by a set amount, so if it's already traveling at or below X, they don't do anything.

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Unless you rode the Beast the first few weeks it was open, you did not get a trimless ride. There were always skid brake trims that didn't turn off which were replaced with magnetic brakes that do not turn off a few years back. Just sayin'.

 

Either way, I had a few frighteningly fast rides on the Beast 1987-1989 (including during the Beast 10th anniversary party in March of '89... in the rain and snow!)

 

People argue endlessly about how the Beast used to be (which usually includes the 1979 POV of the ride, fresh and tight, running very slow during a test run).

 

The discussion is usually ... "well, you were young and you just remember if faster!" No. It was definitely faster on a regular basis. If you got a brakeless Beast ride back then, you knew it. If it went past half-way up the 2nd lift, you got what was (back then) considered a brakeless or near-brakeless ride.

 

1989 was my last fast ride on Beast. By 1992 (we would drive over from Cedar Point on days off), it seemed Beast lost all it's bite. Forward to the 2000s, and another big step-down in speed.

 

Still fun, and will always be special to me, but not but a shade of what it used to be. Bummer to me, but it's life.

 

Since we are in the Great America thread... there is the case of a brakeless American Eagle! What a treat that was. When the track is in top condition AND the brakes are off, I call that "Voyage meets Phoenix." True magic. You could get a taste of that around 2009-2010 when Shapiro was in charge. Eagle was his favorite coaster in the chain, and made sure it was kept in good condition and ran fast, albeit for a short period. It's back to it's usual self, but I still love it. Late 80s was horrible as the wooden track on the out run made it nearly un-rideable. Then they added the hybrid track; it's got that vibration, but it still runs fairly well.

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Unless you rode the Beast the first few weeks it was open, you did not get a trimless ride. There were always skid brake trims that didn't turn off which were replaced with magnetic brakes that do not turn off a few years back. Just sayin'.

 

Either way, I had a few frighteningly fast rides on the Beast 1987-1989 (including during the Beast 10th anniversary party in March of '89... in the rain and snow!)

 

People argue endlessly about how the Beast used to be (which usually includes the 1979 POV of the ride, fresh and tight, running very slow during a test run).

 

The discussion is usually ... "well, you were young and you just remember if faster!" No. It was definitely faster on a regular basis. If you got a brakeless Beast ride back then, you knew it. If it went past half-way up the 2nd lift, you got what was (back then) considered a brakeless or near-brakeless ride.

 

1989 was my last fast ride on Beast. By 1992 (we would drive over from Cedar Point on days off), it seemed Beast lost all it's bite. Forward to the 2000s, and another big step-down in speed.

 

Still fun, and will always be special to me, but not but a shade of what it used to be. Bummer to me, but it's life.

 

Since we are in the Great America thread... there is the case of a brakeless American Eagle! What a treat that was. When the track is in top condition AND the brakes are off, I call that "Voyage meets Phoenix." True magic. You could get a taste of that around 2009-2010 when Shapiro was in charge. Eagle was his favorite coaster in the chain, and made sure it was kept in good condition and ran fast, albeit for a short period. It's back to it's usual self, but I still love it. Late 80s was horrible as the wooden track on the out run made it nearly un-rideable. Then they added the hybrid track; it's got that vibration, but it still runs fairly well.

It's kinda impressive how wrong every paragraph is.

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^ I got several trimless rides on Diamondback last October. I think even rode the Beast without the trim. Now I was there on a very windy day though which was probably why I got the trimless rides. But I n all my years going to my home park I don’t think I’ve ever got a trimless ride on Bull.

 

Unless you rode the Beast the first few weeks it was open, you did not get a trimless ride. There were always skid brake trims that didn't turn off which were replaced with magnetic brakes that do not turn off a few years back. Just sayin'.

 

I don't even think it was first few weeks: IIRC there was video from before Day 1 and it had it then too. But you still see people claim that they rode it without one to this day (like in this thread). People tell all sorts of stories and it's always easier when they happened a long time ago. I've heard stories about ops riding Montana Rusa at Chapultepec standing on the side boards with seat belts strapped around their wrists. I heard about people getting nosebleeds from riding Weiner Looping, Mindbender, and Thriller, as well as that only Thriller's accordions came down on riders hard when it moved to Texas (ie when people started to ride it en masse) but the other Schwarzkops were all perfect (LOL). Colossus at Heide Park was the # wood coaster in the world until everyone rode it. Same with Tonnere De Zeus. Aska (which was literally a duplicate of Viper at Great America) was supposedly a top 3 coasters. There's always always always nonsense.

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Got on Eagle red on Saturday. Glorious as always, bummer the break is on at the bottom of the barrel, but still fantastic airtime throughout. Sure it's not quite as good as Viper, but good lord easily in my top 20 wooden coasters. With all these rumors of it being Iron Horsed, I really hope they don't. Granted Viper is an incredible wooden coaster, it would suck for SFGAm to only have one wooden coaster. It would be cool if they ever decided to run blue backwards again. One can hope.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Unless you rode the Beast the first few weeks it was open, you did not get a trimless ride. There were always skid brake trims that didn't turn off which were replaced with magnetic brakes that do not turn off a few years back. Just sayin'.

 

Either way, I had a few frighteningly fast rides on the Beast 1987-1989 (including during the Beast 10th anniversary party in March of '89... in the rain and snow!)

 

People argue endlessly about how the Beast used to be (which usually includes the 1979 POV of the ride, fresh and tight, running very slow during a test run).

 

The discussion is usually ... "well, you were young and you just remember if faster!" No. It was definitely faster on a regular basis. If you got a brakeless Beast ride back then, you knew it. If it went past half-way up the 2nd lift, you got what was (back then) considered a brakeless or near-brakeless ride.

 

1989 was my last fast ride on Beast. By 1992 (we would drive over from Cedar Point on days off), it seemed Beast lost all it's bite. Forward to the 2000s, and another big step-down in speed.

 

Still fun, and will always be special to me, but not but a shade of what it used to be. Bummer to me, but it's life.

 

Since we are in the Great America thread... there is the case of a brakeless American Eagle! What a treat that was. When the track is in top condition AND the brakes are off, I call that "Voyage meets Phoenix." True magic. You could get a taste of that around 2009-2010 when Shapiro was in charge. Eagle was his favorite coaster in the chain, and made sure it was kept in good condition and ran fast, albeit for a short period. It's back to it's usual self, but I still love it. Late 80s was horrible as the wooden track on the out run made it nearly un-rideable. Then they added the hybrid track; it's got that vibration, but it still runs fairly well.

 

I'm too lazy to look it up, but there's actually a video that has been shared which compares vintage footage from Beast compared to modern footage. The speed is nearly identical. The one big change that has been made is that the skid pad has been replaced with a magnetic brake. The magnetic brake slows the train more abruptly, but not any more than it used to.

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I'm too lazy to look it up, but there's actually a video that has been shared which compares vintage footage from Beast compared to modern footage

 

Yes, I thought I mentioned that (but it's gone now?). That 1979 video was shot during break-in. One day a good video will pop up. No matter what I say on the subject, people who weren't there are going to argue against it, so it's probably in my best interest to make this my last post.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Hey guys. Was curious if any of you went to HITP last season and know anything about the coasters opening. Did they try to open some of the coasters no matter what (like Great Adventure) or were most closed during the event? Looking to try to go this weekend.

If it's on the list they'll try to open it.

 

If it isn't, then don't expect it to be open. They likely won't have the staff to open more, and there's a chance the trains are already removed and the ride is being prepared for 2020.

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  • 1 month later...

Going back to this park for the first time since I was about 7 so 25 years ago. That is the last time I had been to any Six Flags park.

 

Give me any and all information you can regarding tickets (where I can get the cheapest), game plan for rides, and how does their skip the line system work.

 

We have to go on a Saturday. We are going to see Rammstein in Chicago and decided to add this day on so we will only have one day.

 

Thank you in advance.

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Holy shit! You guys are only 5 hours away. I can't believe you haven't been to the park in the last 25 years.

 

There are people who are a lot more experienced with this park than I am. If I were to go right now, I'd make sure to get to the park early and hit Maxx Force immediately. The other main rides I would prioritize after that are Goliath and Vertiical Velocity. They're close to each other. If you're interested in going to Justice League, you'll have to ride that early, too. X-Flight and Raging Bull lines should always move pretty quickly. Superman is always packed when we go. Demon's line is always reasonable for us, but we never ride it.

 

This park has two of my favorite first drops between Goliath and Raging Bull. You'll have to sit in the very back on Raging Bull and experience the pre-drop ejector airtime dive into the tunnel. The back few cars on Goliath are always good.

 

Don't forget to go to Malnati's, since you're in the area...

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I'm not very experienced with the tickets vs season pass vs member so I'll let someone else speak to that.

 

You'll definitely need a Fast Pass and there's info about how that's tiered on the SF website. So I'd say go to Maxx Force first, pick your Fast Pass up on the way to Goliath and maybe do Whizzer on the way, then go to V2 and Dark Knight/Joker/pick your poison on slow moving lines.

 

Don't miss the log flume or the rapids if you have any interest in either of the two rides.

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  • 2 months later...

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