Six Flags Great America (SFGAm) Discussion Thread

[thefatman22]

the Ride got delayed by a week and will open to the public May 31

[GoBears]

the Ride got delayed by a week and will open to the public May 31

 

Yep, the new media date they are sending out to media is May 29th so it looks like they are aiming for May 31st. They must be pretty confident in finishing this up in the next couple weeks to start testing.

[aLFREd_25]

Looks like it's coming along great. I planned to road trip to the park after doing Coasting for Kids, Valleyfair. If the date holds true, I'll get to ride this beast!

[gerstlaueringvar]

Cool pictures! Goliath looks huge

[GoBears]

Spacely's Sprocket Rockets is in motion on the Goliath webcam as a private event at the park is going on right now. Someone's who attending the event said that all coasters are running at full capacity except Raging Bull, Demon, and Whizzer which are running 2 trains and X-Flight which is running just 1 train. It's nice to see everything else running 2 trains, especially Eagle red, Viper, and Superman. Eagle blue isn't running today.

 

[glouthan]

Anyone know what the qualifications to attend Goliath's Media Day are?

[NAMTABSFGAm]

^Be in a coaster club or part of the media.

[willthegolfer]

Will club tpr members be invited to go?

[NAMTABSFGAm]

Probably a very limited amount.

 

I am very mad though cause I have finals on Media Day so I won't be able to attend.

[Intaman]

^They did not start really working on the coaster until the park closed for the fall, so yes, they absolutely could have taken advantage of some better weather before winter hit and to get a jump on construction. That is SF for ya'.

 

Yeah, I should have remembered that it's Six Flags. Cedar Fair has their new attractions ready by opening day 90% of the time, whereas Six Flags just seems to take their sweet time for construction. I guess you could also say that about their dispatch times and customer service.

 

From a financial standpoint, any park would prefer to open their attractions on-time since it costs money. Remember, Six Flags is a company that wants to take in more money than it spends. Delays, weather, etc., are typically built into the budget, but if not, delays can have heavy financial ramifications/impacts from project costs to lost revenues from smaller attendance e.g. the infamous Miller Park construction in Milwaukee. SFGA will miss the all important Memorial Day weekend due to the later opening, which is something I'm sure the park did not want; however, the delay is hardly surprising given the brutal winter Chicago has had this year.

 

I could be wrong, but I think that X-Flight did open on-time.

Edited April 27, 2014 by Intaman

[Intaman]

Will club tpr members be invited to go?

 

I'm sure Robb will let everybody know as soon as he finds out the information. Here, patience is the proverbial virtue.

[redfoot12]

I'm not a big construction nerd or ride speculation theorist, but as we get closer to Mini New Hotness, I thought I'd check in this thread every now and then.

So do most people on here think Goliath with surpass Outlaw Run, be about the same, or fall short? I haven't ridden Outlaw Run, btw.

[anewman35]

From a financial standpoint, any park would prefer to open their attractions on-time since it costs money. Remember, Six Flags is a company that wants to take in more money than it spends. Delays, weather, etc., are typically built into the budget, but if not, delays can have heavy financial ramifications/impacts from project costs to lost revenues from smaller attendance e.g. the infamous Miller Park construction in Milwaukee. SFGA will miss the all important Memorial Day weekend due to the later opening, which is something I'm sure the park did not want; however, the delay is hardly surprising given the brutal winter Chicago has had this year.

 

I'm just guessing on all of this, but I doubt they care all that much - if the weather's decent, it'll be packed all weekend anyway. I can't imagine there's a very big percentage of people who are not going to go to the park just because Goliath is not open yet (and those people would just probably go later in the year anyway, so it's not as if the park loses money on those people. If Six Flags really really cared about being open for Memorial Day, they'd have started the project earlier (or scheduled more employees on it).

[willthegolfer]

From SfGam instagram.

[GoBears]

Here's some interesting photos that Goku1910 from SFGAm World posted from today's private event. There are interesting markings around Demon, especially on the pathway that crosses under the brake run...

 

Photos by Goku1910

Edited April 27, 2014 by GoBears

[NAMTABSFGAm]

Does anybody know where the bottom picture was taken from or is by?

[Intaman]

From a financial standpoint, any park would prefer to open their attractions on-time since it costs money. Remember, Six Flags is a company that wants to take in more money than it spends. Delays, weather, etc., are typically built into the budget, but if not, delays can have heavy financial ramifications/impacts from project costs to lost revenues from smaller attendance e.g. the infamous Miller Park construction in Milwaukee. SFGA will miss the all important Memorial Day weekend due to the later opening, which is something I'm sure the park did not want; however, the delay is hardly surprising given the brutal winter Chicago has had this year.

 

I'm just guessing on all of this, but I doubt they care all that much - if the weather's decent, it'll be packed all weekend anyway. I can't imagine there's a very big percentage of people who are not going to go to the park just because Goliath is not open yet (and those people would just probably go later in the year anyway, so it's not as if the park loses money on those people. If Six Flags really really cared about being open for Memorial Day, they'd have started the project earlier (or scheduled more employees on it).

 

I'm pretty certain they care when there is a bottom-line. Six Flags is a publically traded company, which means investors, not just some park operating on a whim and yes, holiday weekends are major revenue generator for parks. Delays are a potential reality for any project despite the best attempts to keep it on-schedule. Projects require that financing is in place before construction can begin and adding more workers/labor cost more money, so these projects are a little more complicated than simply starting earlier or adding more labor.

 

Anyway, it's not the people who already go there; it's those that rarely or seldom go. Banshee had a five hour wait its opening day, so yes new attractions can be major revenue generators, even by just one day. New attractions are not merely built for exiting customers. They are built to attract new customers or those who have not visited the park in several years i.e. growing the company. Memorial Day weekend is attractive since may companies that operate on Saturdays will close and the additional day gives people the change to travel further distances.

 

So, yes, SFGA will attract a large crowd that weekend; but it is likely they would have attracted more people, especially those that are located at the farthest reachest of the park's intended market e.g. Wisconsin, Iowa, NW Indiana, and western Michigan. It's those customers that may plan to take a chance on a park visit that weekend, especially if there is a new attraction.

[Intaman]

New Ride Giving Amusement Park Super Headache

 

June 21, 1996|DAVID WHARTON | TIMES STAFF WRITER

 

VALENCIA — It's a bird, it's a plane, it's . . . not ready yet.

 

With their new high-tech roller coaster called "Superman--The Escape" performing more like mild-mannered Clark Kent during recent test runs, Six Flags Magic Mountain executives say they remain weeks away from opening the attraction that was supposed to debut in May.

 

Touted as the world's first 100-mph roller coaster, Superman has so far reached speeds of only 50 to 70 mph as engineers take longer than expected to grapple with fine-tuning the mechanism.

 

Park officials insist the ride will eventually reach top speed, but in the meantime cross-town competitor Universal Studios is scheduled to open its $110-million Jurassic Park attraction today.

 

For Magic Mountain, the delay comes at an inopportune moment. Last month, a worker was killed by another Magic Mountain roller coaster. Amusement industry analysts say the park could use some good news.

 

"The thing has been hyped for almost a year and people want to know what's going on," said Dr. Lisa Scheinin, a regional officer of American Coaster Enthusiasts, a national fan club that had planned to meet at Magic Mountain this week. "I've gotten calls from as far away as Minneapolis saying 'When is this thing going to open?' "

 

The timing is significant, analysts say. The profitable vacation season is ticking away.

 

"Missed days are missed days," said Ray Braun, senior vice president at Economics Research Associates, a West Los Angeles company that advises amusement park executives. "You don't get June days back in September."

 

In the business of amusement parks, a new attraction can increase attendance by 10% or more, which can translate into millions of dollars in revenue. But the technology required to fuel modern rides, Braun said, "doesn't always follow the calendar."

 

Disneyland spent seven months de-bugging Splash Mountain in 1989. And the new Jurassic Park ride missed the industry's optimum Memorial Day opening date by three weeks. "But both [Jurassic Park and Superman] are really complicated technological breakthroughs," Braun said. "They are trying to push the envelope, and doing things that haven't been done before."

 

Superman represents a ticklish problem because it employs technology that has never been used in an amusement park. Unlike conventional coasters that tow cars loaded with riders to a great height and then let gravity take over, this ride is powered by a synchronous linear motor.

 

Its six-ton cars are equipped with large magnets that pass over electromagnetic elements placed every few feet along the track. Split-second timing is crucial as the cars' magnets are first pulled toward each element, then pushed away and forward toward the next.

 

^^ I did a quick search to just capture a feel for the importance of Memorial Day and came across this article, albeit an old one. So, yes, delays are serious, but sometimes inevitable aspects of any project. As long at revenues increase, however, this can be somewhat tossed aside.

[Intaman]

Here's some interesting photos that Goku1910 from SFGAm World posted from today's private event. There are interesting markings around Demon, especially on the pathway that crosses under the brake run...

 

These pink identifiers look like temporary survey markings. Perhaps they are looking to repair the broken pavement.

[OrlandoGuy]

From a financial standpoint, any park would prefer to open their attractions on-time since it costs money. Remember, Six Flags is a company that wants to take in more money than it spends. Delays, weather, etc., are typically built into the budget, but if not, delays can have heavy financial ramifications/impacts from project costs to lost revenues from smaller attendance e.g. the infamous Miller Park construction in Milwaukee. SFGA will miss the all important Memorial Day weekend due to the later opening, which is something I'm sure the park did not want; however, the delay is hardly surprising given the brutal winter Chicago has had this year.

 

I'm just guessing on all of this, but I doubt they care all that much - if the weather's decent, it'll be packed all weekend anyway. I can't imagine there's a very big percentage of people who are not going to go to the park just because Goliath is not open yet (and those people would just probably go later in the year anyway, so it's not as if the park loses money on those people. If Six Flags really really cared about being open for Memorial Day, they'd have started the project earlier (or scheduled more employees on it).

 

I'm pretty certain they care when there is a bottom-line. Six Flags is a publically traded company, which means investors, not just some park operating on a whim and yes, holiday weekends are major revenue generator for parks. Delays are a potential reality for any project despite the best attempts to keep it on-schedule. Projects require that financing is in place before construction can begin and adding more workers/labor cost more money, so these projects are a little more complicated than simply starting earlier or adding more labor.

 

Anyway, it's not the people who already go there; it's those that rarely or seldom go. Banshee had a five hour wait its opening day, so yes new attractions can be major revenue generators, even by just one day. New attractions are not merely built for exiting customers. They are built to attract new customers or those who have not visited the park in several years i.e. growing the company. Memorial Day weekend is attractive since may companies that operate on Saturdays will close and the additional day gives people the change to travel further distances.

 

So, yes, SFGA will attract a large crowd that weekend; but it is likely they would have attracted more people, especially those that are located at the farthest reachest of the park's intended market e.g. Wisconsin, Iowa, NW Indiana, and western Michigan. It's those customers that may plan to take a chance on a park visit that weekend, especially if there is a new attraction.

 

Or you could look at it from a different perspective...Memorial Day is going to draw large crowds anyway, but the weekends after arent necessarily going to be as packed; therefore, by opening it later, you attract a "Grand Opening" crowd to a typically dull weekend while also attracting the normal annual Memorial Day crowd...kind of spreads the crowds a little more evenly through the summer to keep flows consistent rather than consolidated strictly to holiday weekends and mid-summer. I mean, look at Banshee, there have already been reports of KI being dead despite their new headliner. Had they held off on the Banshee opening, they couldve had a sizeable opening weekend crowd in addition to some opening ceremony hype for the typically dead times (of course, CF wouldnt do this because they actually give a crap about customer satisfaction unlike Six Flags )

 

Just another way to look at it...I obviously dont run theme parks, but delaying the opening of Goliath isnt entirely a stupid decision.

[Intaman]

Or, they just attract more of their season-pass holders/current customers on one-single day.

 

In any case, while Memorial Day was missed, this is the risk taken with any project, especially one that faces what was a brutal Chicago winter. I'm sure July 4th attendance will be even stronger with Goliath open. As for Banshee, if KI has one or two "Black Friday" type days in addition to their typical park attendance and revenues, I'm sure they'll be happy.

[glouthan]

^^They did that plan with X-flight a few years ago. Opening Day was on the 5th (Saturday) and X-flight opened on the 16th - it was a Wednesday, though... Not sure it drew much crowds for a weekday in May.

[GayCoasterGuy]

Woohoo! The last pieces always go up quick Looking good:

[glouthan]

Looks like there are only a few pieces left to be installed for the lift. The piece that went into place recently is the last support before the apex. The crew might start installing pieces from the other side now so the middle of the lift with no supports doesn't collapse on itself.

 

There are currently 4.5 weeks until Memorial Day. If the crew can finish the lift off this week (the remaining pieces are already complete waiting in the parking lot, right) then that will give them 3.5 weeks to start testing - assuming the trains come soon. I heard somewhere that Outlaw Run tested each train 300 cycles, so I'm sure Goliath will be somewhere near that number. The number of test runs per day will be around 25 considering Goliath has two trains (seems reasonable). We could be looking at this thing opening around Memorial Day or on Memorial Day if the crew starts working in high gear.

Edited May 1, 2014 by glouthan

[GoBears]

Looks like there are only a few pieces left to be installed for the lift. The piece that went into place recently is the last support before the apex. The crew might start installing pieces from the other side now so the middle of the lift with no supports doesn't collapse on itself.

 

There are currently 4.5 weeks until Memorial Day. If the crew can finish the lift off this week (the remaining pieces are already complete waiting in the parking lot, right) then that will give them 3.5 weeks to start testing -assuming the trains come soon. I heard somewhere that Banshee tested each train 300 cycles, so I'm sure Goliath will be somewhere near that number. The number of test runs per day will be around 25 considering Goliath has two trains (seems reasonable). We could be looking at this thing opening around Memorial Day or on Memorial Day if the crew starts working in high gear.

 

There's still quite a bit to do. They have to finish the lift and drop as you said, plus complete the arch for the zero-G stall (which is technically apart of the lift structure), and add track to the zero-G stall and remainder of the lift and drop. Once all the track is in place, they will fill the topper track and then place the final pieces of the top layer (orange section) of the topper track throughout the ride. Hopefully the majority of the structure and track will be finished this coming week. I wonder if the trains will arrive on site this week or next.