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.

[Zand]

I was at a wedding over the weekend in Albany and figured I should take a ride up to Great Escape today to check out the new hotness. I went into the day with a splitting headache and therefore didn't ride much (it was already building before the wedding and I can assure you the open bar did NOT help cure it ) but we still had a really nice day.

Arrived around 1:00 and it was clear that mother nature was going to take Oktoberfest literally. While the forecast for most of the area was mid 60s and sunny, anyone from Northern New England or the Adirondacks knows a sunny but cool day in the fall really means it's probably going to rain anyway, and there were no less than 3 heavy showers that blew through with strong winds and would immediately drop the temp to the low 50s when they hit. So it was pretty much late October feeling in the park today, which to me just added to the festive atmosphere.

After hanging out in the shops up front during the first heavy shower of the day, we headed up to Bobcat which was only running 1 train and had about a 15 minute wait at that point (and would grow longer through the day) and rode in the 2nd to last row. Like all family Gravity Groups, this thing is an absolute blast and glass smooth. It's zippy, has a few good ejector hills, and is just a total home run for a park like Great Escape. Kudos to them for being the only Six Flags park that managed to open their 2024 coaster in 2024. The ride and entire area looks great and I can't wait to go back on a random weekday next summer when 4 people are in the park so I can reride it over and over.

Dodged the next shower by having lunch in the Festhaus, and then headed back to Comet. Running 1 train here also, but only about a 4 train wait for the front. Last time I was here I think I zen-rode this solo 4 times in a row, so it was weird riding with a full train. It rode a lot faster with some decent airtime and some pretty significant positives in the valleys. Even though the ride is perfectly smooth, it brought my headache back with a vengeance but what a great ride. Not sure why it says "world's best roller coaster" on the front of the train but it is really damn good and it's great that this park has two awesome wooden coasters now.

Kind of moseyed around for a while, trying to get my headache to go away. We got some Oktoberfest food offerings and dodged yet another rain shower before walking towards the front. We hopped on the Skyride which was almost a downright cold ride in the whipping wind behind the rain shower, but is a nice ride over the pathways and I really started to appreciate just how much this park oozes charm.

We further appreciated the charm by getting a zen ride on the Swan Boats next. This part of the park is absolutely gorgeous and it's such an unreal feeling knowing you're in a Six Flags park. Headed out after this as my head wasn't going to allow me to ride any of the thrill rides and it was hurting just to walk around at that point. Sad I missed ADK outlaw, rerides on Bobcat, and some of the other flats but we had a great day anyway.

I would love to have this place as a home park. While there isn't much for thrillseekers and the place has the worst assortment of steel coasters anywhere, it's just such a relaxing and peaceful park and it's the kind of place that nice to just walk around and take in the atmosphere, which is in stark contrast to my home park SFNE and its blacktop pathways and lack of shade. 

[prozach626]

Sounds like a fun day. It seems like parks are really starting to push the envelope of what is considered a family coaster.

Drink a Gatorade next time. It's full of chemicals and refined sugar, but the electrolytes may help. I'm assuming you don't carry magnesium, zinc, sodium and/or potassium supplements, like almost no normal person does. (I do at work. lol) I used to think drinking my weight in water would help get rid of headaches, but that can actually flush out your electrolytes.

Anyway... just a tip. 

What's up with the boat ride? That looks pretty chill.

[Zand]

It's motorized swan boats that go up and down a small creek. There's a miniature train on the riverbank next to you and the Skyride crosses overhead. It's funny that Great Escape still has a Skyride considering that the incident that led to some other parks closing their Skyrides happened there. But yeah, the place was totally dead so we got a boat to ourselves and it's just a really peaceful experience and it feels like there's no way you're in an actual Six Flags park.

Like I said, this park sucks from a thrill standpoint (aside from having two good woodies and an awesome skyscraper ride) but it's a park I would love to have as a home park as it's just a great place to have a relaxing day for a few hours. You almost experience withdrawal not having to deal with roving groups of teenage douchebags acting like idiots everywhere.

For example...

Fully operational freestyle machines right out in the open with no employees nearby to monitor them. Meanwhile, 200 miles to the south at Great Adventure they took all their freestyle machines and had to move them to where only employees can access them. Because New Jersey.

I would love to see this park take out Steamin Dump and replace it with some kind of family launcher like SFNE is getting. But otherwise it doesn't bother me at all that their lineup is what it is. It's a nice family park.

[ricklap77]

I went to the park last July to experience The Bobcat and wow such a great addition.  Goog layout, zippy and smooth glass.  I wish some parks in the Northeast would order a larger Gravity Group woodie!

[prozach626]

Sounds like a really great spot, especially for the child/family range as well. I could see myself being persuaded into ride that swan boat all day.

(By persuaded, all it takes is, "Dad, can we please ride the swan boats again?")