Shockwave--Six Flags Magic Mountain

[DenDen]

Shock wave was one of the worlds first stand up coasters, ...

 

I never knew it was a Giovanola! Just some tidbits...the firsts in North America belong to TOGO, and PCW's SkyRider. The first in the world is Standing and Loop Coaster in Japan.

[Guy T. Koepp]

I loved this ride @ MM. I remember standing in line in the dark just listening to it roar through the night. It was awesome!

 

Guy "Memories of my Dad standing in line with me talking coaster dynamics. " Koepp

[3rdShiftCM]

I loved Shockwave! My freind's and would wait until 10-11pm to ride Roaring Rapids 4-5 times and then run down the hill and ride Shockwave until closing . We would freeze our butts off but, hey we were stupid teenagers, good times.

 

I loved the roar of the train as you waited in line.

 

Damn, that was a long time ago. The whole world has changed since then .

[Captain Jack]

This has probably been questioned before, but it's obvious in the Intamin Stand-Ups and in Flashback that they share the B&M style track and train set-up (4 across rows). I also know B&M once worked with Intamin and then fled to create B&M (the company). Is it possible that Bolliger and Mabillard (the people) had a big design task in these projects?

[GAcoaster]

/\ Not just possible...it happened. There is a two-part article in Roller Coaster magazine (the current and next issues) telling the story of the founding of B&M, which details the whole early history working with INTAMIN on those rides before going out ion their own.

[Guy T. Koepp]

^ Yeah, by the by, great article. As it reads both the B and the M had alot to do with the creation of all the first non TOGO stand ups.

 

They essentially pioneered the standup as we know it today.

 

Guy "Not that I am the expert or anything. I just like to read crap." Koepp

[Csr14]

Here's some information on it from rcdb

[scifitoy]

Track Layout for the Shockwave

[gerstlaueringvar]

[attachment=0]Shockwave.JPG[/attachment]

Pretty sure it's Revolution.

[boldikus]

I remember riding Shockwave exactly one time, in the front row, with my mother, at SFGAdv sometime during its run there. I was probably about 12-13 yrs old and remember it being pretty awesome.

[Mrlittle]

[attachment=0]Shockwave.JPG[/attachment]

Pretty sure it's Revolution.

 

Correct. I rode Shockwave aka Batman The Escape plenty of times and that's not the layout above.

[boldikus]

http://www.greatadventurehistory.com/shockwave.htm

[coasterbill]

That's a great read... thanks for sharing.

[michaellynn4]

Shockwave was closed at SFGAdv before I was able to ride it (I was seven when it left), but I have plenty of distinct memories of it. We would visit the park almost every Sunday when I was a kid and occasionally whatever adult family members came with us would take turns riding it while others hung with the children. Based on how I feel about standups in general, and after riding Apocalypse two years ago, I'm not shedding any tears over not riding it. The Skycoaster is a better addition.

[Mr.Peabody]

Is this the same Batman the Escape that's currently rusting away in the field across the street from Darien Lake?

[AllenA07]

Is this the same Batman the Escape that's currently rusting away in the field across the street from Darien Lake?

 

Yes.

[VCXfreak]

WOW, takes me back. I remember riding Shockwave on opening day, it was great. My mom dragged me on it and I was so scared. The long walk to the station and watching the trains scream bye made the wait even more nerve racking. I love the whole black color scheme and the black & red trains. I know YouTube has a video showing the old commercial and some ride footage. La Ronde has a replica of this ride, check it out

[Duff]

Shockwave was featured on the VHS "Roller Coaster Thrills" (1988). As a child, I watched this so many times that I nearly wore-out the tape. Take note, kiddies: there was no Google or YouTube back then. Aside from a few books, this was all we had.

 

On a "corny" scale of 0 to 10, this was at least an 8. The video opened with a young kid who was too short to ride SFMM's Colossus, so he sat on the bench while his older brother got in line. Meanwhile, a creepy ice cream vendor in a white suit & white hat approached the kid, and boastfully told him that he's ridden "all the top-rated coasters across the country." (Way to rub it in, jerk.) The video cut to POV's of Colossus, Shock Wave, PKI's Vortex, The Big Bad Wolf, and others -- all set to horrid music that varied from guitar rock to full-blown orchestra. All the while, the kid and the creepy ice cream vendor closed their eyes and imagined riding the coasters together. In reality, they never left the bench.

[robbalvey]

^ That video had several names. It was also called "Go For A Ride" and sold at Six Flags parks.

[VCXfreak]

DANG........................ I remember that video. Yup the biggest thing for me, was to pick up a book at each park we visited with pictures of the rides and other attractions.

[chrguy606]

I totally remember that video and taking it to show and tell in 2nd grade, haha. I didn't realize that they edited some segments to repeat over and over, which was why I thought Vortex went upside down over 20 times instead of 6.

[booink]

Is this the same Batman the Escape that's currently rusting away in the field across the street from Darien Lake?

Yes, it's still rusting away and having ridden Le Cobra at La Ronde, so I hope for DL that it will continue to rust. However, I have to say that I never had an occasion to get that upclose to a coaster than this, so when I visited Darien Lake this summer I went to check out the tracks and it was pretty cool!

[fraroc]

I wonder why Darien hasn't even thought about building it....

[Duff]

It looks like Shockwave is still laying in pieces right by Darien Lake. I think they may as well sell it as scrap steel. It's a dated coaster design that hasn't aged very well. Re-building it and marketing it as a "new" coaster in this day and age would likely disappoint many of the people who ride it.

[coasterkid124]

It's to my understanding that Batman is only sitting in that field because it's an "asset" and it is worth a little something. There probably weren't any plans to assemble it at Darien Lake, or anywhere, but Six Flags sold the park before anything could be done. I've also heard from close sources that it was potentially damaged when removed from Astroworld.

 

Darien hasn't used the ride for anything besides for Halloween displays, where they put spider webs and skeletons in the cars. Seeing that DL could be sold soon, as it's parent company is liquidating their properties, they won't scrap Batman because it is worth something. They also put an older slide complex in the same field after they removed it, likely for the same reason.

 

With DL being my home park, I am happy that they decided against trying to build it. It was a bad ride while in operation, even when it was new. And with the coaster drought we've been in, I would rather see the park go with another coaster that would last longer and be a better ride.