The Great Escape (TGE) Discussion Thread

[Twisterfan1995]

On 10/5/2023 at 6:25 PM, MoreyMan said:

Great Escape has their planning board meeting for Bobcat on 10/17. Here's a rendering they submitted. They'll be reusing the Bobsled station, but demolishing the current entrance and queue and relocating them. The queue will now run underneath the Bobcat lift into a new switchback. Reconfigured ramps for the entrance/exit as well.

Here's one of the site plans as well. Their submitted documents say there will be lights on the handrails on the lift and drop as well so that will be a nice addition. Increased landscaping too.

Hopefully the entrance actually comes close to the rendering - if so, this should look really nice. Seems like it will be a nice addition to the park. One that's long overdue.

If anyone wants to peel through all the documents, here's the link: https://laserfiche.queensbury.net/WebLink/browse.aspx?id=785660&dbid=0&repo=TownOfQueensbury

Not bad. Theming looks a bit simple but nice. Only wish would be that they made it more Bavarian/Alpine themed - but it should fit into the area reasonably well. 

[CNYCoasterguy11]

18 hours ago, Twisterfan1995 said:

Not bad. Theming looks a bit simple but nice. Only wish would be that they made it more Bavarian/Alpine themed - but it should fit into the area reasonably well. 

I think it works well for the area it is in, yes its the "Fest Area" but outside of the fest house there really isn't any theming to that. And with the Rapids ride getting an overhaul, it will fit in very nicely as they added more animal statues and Adirondack theming to it. This will look nice complementing that.

[abovethesink]

They revealed the front car for The Bobcat and it is beautiful. Personally I would have put a Bobcat on it instead of whatever that weird hybrid cat is, but it is still an awesome front car regardless. Again they exceed my expectations with what the chain would ever do at Great Escape.

 

[CNYCoasterguy11]

On 11/28/2023 at 8:58 AM, abovethesink said:

They revealed the front car for The Bobcat and it is beautiful. Personally I would have put a Bobcat on it instead of whatever that weird hybrid cat is, but it is still an awesome front car regardless. Again they exceed my expectations with what the chain would ever do at Great Escape.

 

 

That is a bobcat

 

[abovethesink]

Haha yeah, I was being facetious. Obviously it is a stylized, cartoony Bobcat. They just don't have stripes like that all the way through their outside of their fur. Just hints of them as you can see from your picture. They also aren't orange. They basically hybridized a Bobcat and an exotic cat like a Leopard/Jaguar/Tiger/whatever for effect. 

[DannySixFlags]

Comet was my first big kid coaster in 2015. I rerode it in 2021 and it still delivers.

[CNYCoasterguy11]

Visited today for opening weekend and I have to say, easily one of the worst openings we have ever done. We've been coming for years and it's one of our home parks but we barely stayed more than 3 hours. Many major rides were not open. I expect the log flume and rapids to be open later but Condor, Eagles Flight, Pandemonium and the Comet were all closed for the day with no notices ahead. I knew Comet was getting some track work but most guests would have no idea.

I also knew the Bobcat would not be ready which is understandable. However several other rides also broke down for significant issues (Flashback, Blizzard and Canyon Blaster broke a wheel off). Hopefully they can get their act together or they will lose a lot of business. I can't remember the last time so many rides were down or closed at one time. 

[abovethesink]

14 hours ago, CNYCoasterguy11 said:

Visited today for opening weekend and I have to say, easily one of the worst openings we have ever done. We've been coming for years and it's one of our home parks but we barely stayed more than 3 hours. Many major rides were not open. I expect the log flume and rapids to be open later but Condor, Eagles Flight, Pandemonium and the Comet were all closed for the day with no notices ahead. I knew Comet was getting some track work but most guests would have no idea.

I also knew the Bobcat would not be ready which is understandable. However several other rides also broke down for significant issues (Flashback, Blizzard and Canyon Blaster broke a wheel off). Hopefully they can get their act together or they will lose a lot of business. I can't remember the last time so many rides were down or closed at one time. 

That's too bad! Bummer. Great Escape is usually pretty good at delivering what the park has to offer, old ripped out Bobsled not withstanding.

Anyway, I remember the original target for The Bobcat was Memorial Weekend, which is next weekend. Have we seen any indicators that this is still on the table? We are only a few days out. 

[CNYCoasterguy11]

On 5/20/2024 at 7:45 AM, abovethesink said:

That's too bad! Bummer. Great Escape is usually pretty good at delivering what the park has to offer, old ripped out Bobsled not withstanding.

Anyway, I remember the original target for The Bobcat was Memorial Weekend, which is next weekend. Have we seen any indicators that this is still on the table? We are only a few days out. 

Some have been saying the first weekend of June which would be the following week, that honestly seems generous but I do not know what kind of testing needs to be done before opening. It should be good to go by the end of school season though.

[COMET FAN]

ACE New England  posted a call for riders on The Bobcat for a video shoot on May 29 so I would think it would be opening soon

[abovethesink]

June 1st will officially be the opening day of The Bobcat.

Also, there is no cat on the front car in any of the pictures. 

[MoreyMan]

Bobcat soft opened last night - they were letting people on later in the day and sounds like that will continue for the rest of the weekend. Sheesh, that was a quick test period. 

The cats have also been mounted to the trains. I’ll be interested to hear what people think of the ride. 

[ricklap77]

Great news!! I can't wait to catch a ride on it in a few weeks.  Such a wonderful family woodie and the best choice for a new coaster IMO for Great Escape.  I hope other parks will notice and do the same.

[abovethesink]

I got to the park on Sunday and took three laps on The Bobcat, two in the back and one in the front. Very good ride. This was our third Gravity Group family woodie with the other two being Wooden Warrior at Quassy and Kentucky Flyer at Kentucky Kingdom. The Bobcat ranks well against both of them. I think Wooden Warrior is my slight favorite by an ever so slim hair still, but The Bobcat is a very fun ride that is right on its heels at worst. Excellent addition to the park. I preferred the back compared to the front too if anyone cares, but it wasn't by a lot. Some of the mid-ride airtime was stronger in the front, but the double down and first drop were worlds better in the back. We also marched back to Comet for a back row ride and that thing was hauling to say the least. Still a super solid classic.

Mostly we were there for our two year old twins though, so we spent time in the kiddie area. They loved most of the rides, but I don't think they liked their first credit very much in Frankie's Mine Train! It was the only ride they didn't try to demand to get right back on. Before we even went over to Great Escape, we went into Lake George Expedition Park (formerly Magic Forest) too. That place is great. It is full of classic flats from the 50s and 60s, mostly for little kids, all with displays on what park they came from and details on their origins. Very cool and very charming place. The mile long dinosaur walk was impressive too with the towering animatronics in a "realistic" wooded setting. The littles loved it. My 13 year old son and I also were pleasantly surprised to find that they had thrown up an SBF Visa in the offseason too. We had no idea and left with a bonus credit. 

[CNYCoasterguy11]

We were there Sunday as well, and I agree on the Comet, we rode 4th row and back row, and the back was definitely where it is at. Its better than years previous, can't really tell where they did any real track work other than the lift but its not too terribly rough to begin with.

I would rank Bobcat third of the Gravity Groups I've done, just ahead of Wooden Warrior but behind both Wacky Taxi and Roar-a-Saurus. I just feel like the airtime is so much better on those models that are tight and compact than the more sprawling ones for some reason. Honestly though they are all very close and are great rides, although I may put Roar-a-Saurus a bit ahead of the pack. We get to ride that later in July so I will have a good comparison among most of them in the same season.