Six Flags Great America (SFGAm) Discussion Thread

[RandallDuell]

This may only be interesting to me, but I was wondering what "some" of the Wilderness Theater meant (when they talked about having to take out some of it -- so I checked in the archives, and here you can see how they literally chopped of one end of the seating area. Again, sorry if I'm the only interested in this....

 

And here's an updated look at the site:

[Guy T. Koepp]

Actually, that's very interesting. Doesn't look like they had to take out too much. In the grand scheme of things, it looks like they took out a kidney. Is it a chunk? Absolutely. But they have the whole other side to make up for it. No big loss. That side probably wasn't functioning to it's fullest potential anyway.

[GayCoasterGuy]

That first drop is going to project some crazy screaming. It's not too close to the neighbors, but you never know. Maybe we'll eventually get a drop top/tunnel like Ghost Rider or Gold Striker

 

(On second thought, maybe not. Shockwave didn't need any sound blocking, but it's fun to imagine isn't it!)

[GoBears]

They are placing more track down into the tunnel right now.

 

[mark549]

Intamin's way.

 

You say being stuck with Intamin's way like that would be a bad thing. I love RMC but there's nothing wrong with this either

 

 

Didn't RMC build El Toro (the construction, not the design)?

[DJeXeL]

Yes, RMC erected El Toro

[GoBears]

Intamin's way.

 

You say being stuck with Intamin's way like that would be a bad thing. I love RMC but there's nothing wrong with this either

 

 

Didn't RMC build El Toro (the construction, not the design)?

 

Yes, RMC helped with the construction of El Toro. Did RMC help on any of the other Intamin prefabs? I thought they did one outside of the US too.

[Guy T. Koepp]

Yes, RMC erected El Toro

 

You said erect. tee,hee

[DJeXeL]

^^Only one they have worked on is E T as far as I know and according to RCDB.

[DAT_OG_ROLL]

Goliath number.. 6? Looks awesome, but it looks like those top parts of the lift are hardly supported and could easily collapse under alot of pressure.(this may sound stupid)

[crazywolf88]

On RMC's website they say that they worked on T-Express as well.

[DJeXeL]

^I stand corrected. I was going off of what RCDB was listing.

[GoBears]

On RMC's website they say that they worked on T-Express as well.

 

That's the one I'm thinking of.

[Philrad71]

I have got to make it to Chicago this year to ride this craziness.

 

We are pondering doing a Chicago to Texas tour this summer with stops at SFGA, SFFT, SFOT, SDC, Sea World and Schlitterbahn and perhaps some parks in between.

 

Think of all that RMC yumminess!

[Mrlittle]

We are pondering doing a Chicago to Texas tour this summer with stops at SFGA, SFFT, SFOT, SDC, Sea World and Schlitterbahn and perhaps some parks in between.

 

Do it, you can't go wrong with that many RMC coasters.

[gerstlaueringvar]

I have got to make it to Chicago this year to ride this craziness.

 

We are pondering doing a Chicago to Texas tour this summer with stops at SFGA, SFFT, SFOT, SDC, Sea World and Schlitterbahn and perhaps some parks in between.

 

Think of all that RMC yumminess!

God I want to join you!

[tarheel1231]

I have got to make it to Chicago this year to ride this craziness.

 

We are pondering doing a Chicago to Texas tour this summer with stops at SFGA, SFFT, SFOT, SDC, Sea World and Schlitterbahn and perhaps some parks in between.

 

Think of all that RMC yumminess!

ARGH!!!! I'm so jealous! Four RMC coasters in a row. Gosh, why won't they build anything on the east coast?

[Vonni]

^ I still have not given up the possibility that one will go to SFGAd, and I also think one will go in SFNE by 2018.

[ZeroGravity55]

If anybody has ever disputed whether or not Goliath is wooden, it's due to the construction of the track and the wheels. I don't believe we've ever had a topper track coaster with polyurethane wheels before. That's the difference between this and Outlaw Run.

 

All of the Intamin coasters have polyurethane wheels. So does a GCI coaster over in Germany. So there isn't really a wheel argument to be made IMO. Outlaw Run will probably be a bit more out of control feeling, but I think this coaster is going to move through the track so fast that you'll never notice the difference.

 

Are the wheels even going to be touching wood, at any point? Or is it seriously polyurethane wheels running on a thick cement-filled steel beam that happens to be mounted on several layers of wood? If that's the case, then you'd have to be crazy not to admit there's an argument to be made. I'm not even making it, I'm just saying it's there.

 

No wheels on any wooden roller coaster ever touch the wood. All traditional wooden tracked coasters run on a thin steel rail attached to a wooden running board, but the wheels never come into contact with the wood.

[GoBears]

In addition to the response Brandon Bruce sent me, Six Flags Great America confirmed today that Goliath's steel structure for the lift and part of the drop and Zero-G stall was planned all along. It was not changed. The original artwork was created based off the track layout, not how the actual structure would be. In other words, this was not changed based on money or time. It wasn't changed at all. This was how the finish product was going to look all along.

 

Hope that clears that up. Also, they added more track to the other side of the twist & shout and the tunnel today.

[yay101]

Why did they not use the original layout and scare the crap out of everyone earlier?

[Blue Turbo]

Track for the beginning of the twist and shout was added today

[glouthan]

Looking good! Quick question: the track being installed is for the banked turn at the end of the ride not after the first drop - right?

[Goooose]

The highly visible track that you see that was installed today and yesterday, to the right, is the second exit from the tunnel. It will not be under ground as long as the first drop track and will emerge sooner into the structure. They did, however, also install some of the track for the first exit from the tunnel into the overbank top hat. That structure is only about half its final height so we wont see that top hat finished for about a month I'm guessing. In this attachment I have colored red the existing track, as well as the steel pieces that future track will be attacked to. It was more visible yesterday so either this screenshot above was in unfriendly lighting or they lifted more wood into place that is making it less visible.

[Goooose]

Out of boredom and curiosity I quickly threw together on photoshop a graphic just to demonstrate what I think the final height might look like. The overbank tophat is 125 feet, and the inside of the last turn is 60, while the twist and shout and dive twist area each about 65. Assuming that the first round of bents are 60 feet, I doubled them using the clone stamp tool and added a bit of wiggle room. They already have a shorter set of bents on top of the original 60 foot bents, and in normal construction cam shots, you can see the separation.. there's a bit of a gap. I'm guessing that stack is about 20 feet tall and we will see 1 more round of those shorter bents and then 20 feet of a modified structure supporting and wrapping around the track at the top.