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Schwarzkopf's Thriller up for sale


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Looks like the rumors of it heading to the scrapyard were false.

Then again, if no one buys it...

 

 

 

 

  • ---------------------------------------------
    En venta: MONTAÑA RUSA
    For sale: ROLLER COASTER
     
    Más información en:
info@globalrides.es
More information: info@globalrides.es
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Edited by BDG
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Wasn't this ride badly modified while here in the States...

Yep.

...and has the ride been fixed to correct those modifications?

Nope.

 

I've never ridden it, but it seems like the new Wieland trains and their massive shoulder harnesses made the ride "badly modified" more than the raising of the first two inversions.

 

Why can't this coaster run with only lap bars? I've never understood this.

When it was Thriller and Texas Tornado, it didn't have only lap bars - it had the lap bars with the accordions. Also, at the time, it pulled 6.5Gs, super quickly! You have to have something on your upper body to keep the coaster from jerking you forward and nearly breaking your back. Even now with the raised loops, I've heard that the first drop is still pretty intense.

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The ride as Zonga was the worst coaster I have ever been on. Just send it to the scrap.

 

I mean, how is it Olympia Looping has been so successful for so long but this ride couldn't last on the fair circuit owned by arguably the most famous German showmen? It's like it's cursed...or just never actually lived up to it's hype. Did anyone here get to experience it as Thriller?

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The ride as Zonga was the worst coaster I have ever been on. Just send it to the scrap.

 

I mean, how is it Olympia Looping has been so successful for so long but this ride couldn't last on the fair circuit owned by arguably the most famous German showmen? It's like it's cursed...or just never actually lived up to it's hype. Did anyone here get to experience it as Thriller?

I know people who have ridden it and they far prefer it to Olympia Looping without exception. Both have/had horrible accordion restraints, but Thriller had the more intense, exciting layout. I know one person who rode it both as Thriller and Zonga and said it felt like a totally different ride

 

As for Olympia/Thriller and why Olympia is still travelling, it's a different comparison to make because they were owned by different showmen who made different decisions.

 

I might be over simplifying things, but Thriller was replaced by Eurostar and this was done at a time when showmen almost always were looking to sell their coasters to get the next big thing. Eurostar was that next big thing and had Barth had the chance to sell Olympia then I'm sure he wouldn't have looked a gifthorse in the mouth either because there were constant rumours that he wanted a new multi looping coaster or at least wanted to extend Olympia Looping to include more inversions.

 

Unfortunately the German fair market has changed and it seems Barth missed this opportunity as there just isn't the market for these huge coasters any more. Bruch managed to sell on Eurostar and hasn't really replaced it with anything, and Barth apparently wants to sell Olympia Looping too.

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^I get that...just seems like a showmen would have snapped it up and put it back on the circuit if it was worth it. Like Laser.

 

Just seems like the ride was too big and has too many problems to every be feasible to be saved.

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^I get that...just seems like a showmen would have snapped it up and put it back on the circuit if it was worth it. Like Laser.

 

Just seems like the ride was too big and has too many problems to every be feasible to be saved.

I don't think it's as easy as that because the showmen wouldn't have anywhere to take it because the major fairs would already have had their quota of big coasters as Thriller was replaced by Eurostar, plus Olympia and Magic Mountain (as it was) were all touring. The ride never had problems on the fair circuit and it is no bigger load-wise than Olympia Looping. Laser has bit of a different timeline in that there are fewer coasters travelling now.

 

I might be wrong, but this has always been my understanding

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Does anyone have photos/videos of the ride before the modifications?

Well, it wasn't modified until it moved to Marine World. So anything you find of Thriller or Texas Tornado is of the original ride.

 

 

Before modifications:

 

thriller.jpg.b1b1dbf51b086f400042f0acc1f1b3aa.jpg

(1986) opening year

 

ESthriller08.jpg.b59b109642a89d2605674a5f81b0b8a9.jpg

late 80s

 

ESthriller06.jpg.725e17205c6e95cced999a947ca093e5.jpg

early 90s

 

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late 90s

 

texas_tornado1.jpg.4698594b6175b9e1c4ff4bc9d8b489f7.jpg

(1998-2002) at Six Flags Astroworld

 

 

After modifications:

(the bottom of the first drop is higher off the ground, and as a result, the loops are also higher placed)

 

1973285577_Zonga05.jpg.0a0db144fe1b96e1b9218e7ebcf24dfd.jpg

(2003-2004) at Six Flags Marine World

 

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(2008-present) at Isla San Marcos

 

 

 

And some video of the ride in its natural habitat...

 

 

^ nighttime footage from 2:35 onwards

 

 

^ POV on-board from 9:25

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I can't help but think (even though I haven't ridden it) that if they had kept the original trains on Zonga, it would have still been a kick-butt coaster, even with the raised loops.

 

Everyone's ridden certain roller coasters "in their prime" - such as Intimidator 305 in 2010 and Alpengeist before they turned up the mid-course brake, among others. Were the raised loops really that much of a change for the ride? Is 6.5 Gs down to 5.X Gs really that much of a difference?

 

I'm not finding fault here, I just want to get a sense of the situation, because I love hearing about all of the big Schwarzkopf loopers.

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I can't help but think (even though I haven't ridden it) that if they had kept the original trains on Zonga, it would have still been a kick-butt coaster, even with the raised loops.

I've not ridden the 'new' Thriller but that is my gut feeling too. I think as with a lot of rides the train is a big part of the problem although the accordion restraints were really horrible but could be easily fixed by having them lock in place so they don't get tighter.

 

I will not be surprised if the ride gets scrapped. There simply arent many buyers for a ride this old...

It's a very small market, for sure. Hopefully a park in Mexico or somewhere like that can give the ride a new lease of life like they did with Bullet. Problem is if you are a small park who wants a big coaster, you have more options nowadays such as Gerstlauer who can give you a pretty large coaster for a small price rather than take on what will be a very difficult ride to maintain.

 

PS, thanks GeorgeT

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