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Shane, do you think maybe Stealth wasn't a success because of all the mechanical issues they had?

 

It wasn’t necessarily a flop although there were many mechanical issues. The public liked it but capacity was horrible and it was a very expensive piece of equipment and it was decided that PGA just wasn’t a big enough park to justify the cost. The GP liked the ride but the return on the investment was not the same as going after the family market.

 

PKI and PKD did not have a contract for two other coasters but Paramount did own the rights to the ride for an extended time. With all the problems of Stealth they decided not to continue with the exclusive contract and that is why Six Flags was able to buy the “off the shelf” rides and get them installed so quickly.

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Well it has been a long waterpark season and I am taking a few days off to treat myself to Kings Island, HolidayWorld and Cedar Point this weekend, those of you that will be at any of those parks keep an eye out for me and say hi. See you at the parks or back here on Monday when we will take a look at the Morgan Hyper/Elevator coaster that was slated for PGA.

 

Shane

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The pictures of the 'Concept Corkscrew' are definitely pretty neat. It looks like Arrow did quite a bit of testing before releasing their rides to the public. The CGA 'Park Entrance' looked like a good concept as well.

 

I've wondered for a while what Hypersonic XLC would've been like at CGA and how they would've managed it. And now that I've learned that CGA had plans for other thrill rides, it seems like the park was pretty close to being a completely different place than it is today!

 

I'm excited to see that hyper-coaster concept and learn more about the CGA!

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Hi Shane,

 

Thanks for sharing your "attic", great stuff! I thought you might be interested to know that I have a promotional VHS tape from Arrow Dynamics - you may already have it? It showcases around 12 of their coasters (from memory (since I havent watched it in a long time as I dont have a VHS player) it shows Drachen Fire, Big Bad Wolf, Loch Ness, Gemini, Shockwave, Great American Scream Machine, Magnum XL200, Adventure Express, Vortex, Anaconda, The Ninja, The Steel Phantom, etc). It was given to me when I was around 13yo on a visit to a roller coaster manufacturer here in Melbourne, Australia. I've also got heaps of other Arrow Dynamix brochures too (like the "we've been around" one you have).

 

I'm happy to get more info for you if you're interested?

 

Cheers,

 

Evan

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Great America's long, lost Morgan Hyper Coaster

 

I know a lot of you have heard the rumors about a elevator lift coaster that was to be built at Great America. Well those rumors were true. As the creative director for the park during the development phases of this ride I am thrilled to be able to share with you the concepts, ideas, and actual drawings of the ride. It was initially pitched with a generic theme and given the name "Speed Coaster"...I know, not to great of a name but the concept and theme of the story would have been awesome. It was then directed to us that it must tie to a Paramount property so the first concept was trashed. Keep in mind the properties that were big at the time were "War of the Worlds" a Brady Bunch sequal, Frasier and Beavis and Butthead. This post will give you an insight as to how concepts were created, pitched and eventually test marketed. In the end it came down to the city of Santa Clara and unfortunately they took the side of those pesky dot com neighbors.

 

Here is the PGA Elevator Morgan Hyper Coaster that never was.

196648659_teaserspeed1.thumb.jpg.15dd8fd166c2fd5ce75cc15f61ce16bc.jpg

speed1.thumb.jpg.08c69e937db337fb480e7a982aced42d.jpg

speed2.thumb.jpg.547959efa32f5484e29ccf18a50b03b3.jpg

speed3.thumb.jpg.e67d040aac765e4d5ba9fab30aca7beb.jpg

speed4.thumb.jpg.b62b1418ece742fa486378c8e58fd3ee.jpg

speed5.thumb.jpg.a59e6e38daeb80007ec535596e87ac3c.jpg

speed6.thumb.jpg.6897b67f2705da7fa606e42c436d3bfc.jpg

speed7.thumb.jpg.a4aed510bde2943b7c263a51b3b9dd86.jpg

speed8.thumb.jpg.0bbf94daadf31da1e96d21b6468212ad.jpg

speed9.thumb.jpg.b7be540ff1877a938a7116469450b415.jpg

speed10.thumb.jpg.0df8a899c03cb37a4e5f6ddfa1f809bc.jpg

speed11.thumb.jpg.8491afc4197e5b71c35cb58397133eff.jpg

speed12.thumb.jpg.7c73880ba3a59bfa3c9e00862a9f0b4e.jpg

hyper8.thumb.jpg.f027c8f1550cb3305ba8e6fda41e8f2d.jpg

1544444342_hyper1.thumb.jpg.3393b8a532d487f2611ca174fe28978e.jpg

hyper10.thumb.jpg.75343b951c2c036061482714c0c16c3c.jpg

685071971_hyper2.thumb.jpg.00783a1958a7faaa19494fa729a9f59d.jpg

1145020258_hyper7.thumb.jpg.a8e220c8b1063972ce3ed4af33f37c52.jpg

1370949729_hyper3.thumb.jpg.979a5af06c7fd3b95178f98796a117f3.jpg

885002521_hyper4.thumb.jpg.62d46fbb9fe6c08faa9efb719334f3dd.jpg

1434904187_hyper5.thumb.jpg.17f6a3524e3cd6cb2cac77d34fb4ca29.jpg

245899188_Hyper6.thumb.jpg.243dea804b380a7213010c21c3fb24df.jpg

639706934_PGAsiteplan1.thumb.jpg.632db0b5a62d0af5485ec0b66fb13d1b.jpg

1047704427_PGAHyperPlant.thumb.jpg.624478ea110bdd8ea626e2eec8dff889.jpg

435620791_PGAMorganSitePlan.thumb.jpg.f1316214b81da994ada8f1555d8ebeb2.jpg

238129830_PGAHyperHeight.thumb.jpg.74f6efb009a9a6ca0aee7bf3e6748b28.jpg

1576295964_PGAMorgan.thumb.jpg.44874823fb52c33be380cb4e66ad0e8e.jpg

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That's the craziest/coolest thing/batch of photos I've ever seen.

 

So what time period are we talking here? A hyper-sized elevator would have been HUGE as far as coaster technology goes!

 

 

One of the drawings states "1998 Rollercoaster" So it certainly would have shaken up the coaster industry at that point!

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That looks like it would have been an impressive ride. I'm still curious about what size the train would have been if it was an elevator style lift. It just seems like it could have been enormously heavy and seems like the elevator could be slow to cycle.

 

How many ride concepts get developed to this extent and then shelved? Is this fairly common or quite rare?

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That is one of the most interesting ride concepts I've seen in quite a while. Despite the lame name of Speed Coaster I actually preferred the ode to the traditional park concept better than the movie/TV tie ins you eventually had to create. It would have been a nice fit for County Fair.

 

I would have never thought the station would be as high as it was. Reminds me of the old Arrow horizontal shuttle loop but I guess with the interaction with Demon and other attractions there was no other way of getting it to fit.

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I Think it was cancelled cause they got Stealth in 2000. So they sent it to KD.

 

Plus if a 104ft wooden Coaster wasn't good, a Premier Rides LIM Launch & A Hypersonic Wouldn't have worked either there.

 

Actually, the story I heard (and I tend to believe) was that Stealth was not the huge success they had thought it was going to be. When Paramount saw that such a big thrill ride didn’t bring the crowds in that they had hoped they put the brakes on thrill rides and decided to go in a completely different direction…the direction of the family market. Hypersonic was then shipped to PKD and Stealth was given it’s walking papers. Since the market they decided to go after was families instead of thrill seeking teens the land that Stealth once occupied was developed into a family friendly water park.

 

Not exactly Shane.

 

The problem with Stealth was in the design & poor engineering on vekoma's part,hence the reasoning behind why Paramount cancelled the exclusive contract for the flying dutchman coasters they'd originally signed with vekoma,who helped co-develop the ride concept at the last minute leaving two completly fabricated rides (x-flight & batwing) with nowhere to go that is until six flags picked them up....SFA for instance had planned to install a 140 ft. tall,3,000 ft. long B&M standup coaster for 01(attraction # 37 on their detailed site plans) but that got cancelled & batwing took it's place with hypersonic going to KD as the replacement for the flying dutchman coaster instead of going to CGA,which recieved a mouse in 01 as a result of that last minute change.

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Hmmm...that's not the way I remember it. I was actually part of the paramount design team that worked in development if stealth. I flew to the factory several times during the development and actually was strapped into the prototype harness and put on a simulator that allowed us to test the restraints in any position the coasters movement would put you in. Yes there were problems with it but that is not the reason it was shipped off to carowinds. PGA strategically made the decision to not challenge marineworld in the thrill department and to go after family friendly attractions instead.

 

The year that wild mouse opened was also the year that Thunder Raceway opened which was part of plan to offer family friendly rides. The go-karts were a concession that was owned by none other than me. So I was privy to their marketing plans and directions.

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Shane I think I mentioned it last year, you are the master. I always look forward to when you clean out the attic each season and show us things from yesteryear. A Brady Bunch coaster, that's so bizarre!

 

Thanks again man, I might not post much in your thread, but I for sure read it!

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Hmmm...that's not the way I remember it. I was actually part of the paramount design team that worked in development if stealth. I flew to the factory several times during the development and actually was strapped into the prototype harness and put on a simulator that allowed us to test the restraints in any position the coasters movement would put you in. Yes there were problems with it but that is not the reason it was shipped off to carowinds. PGA strategically made the decision to not challenge marineworld in the thrill department and to go after family friendly attractions instead.

No, Shane...you're WRONG! You were only on the design team...what exactly would you know?

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Wow! All of this is very interesting. I can't imagine what the park would be like if they actually followed through with those plans. It sure would be different! I too liked the original plans for the "Speed Coaster". It sounded really elaborate and well thought out. Too bad. I guess we'll just have to stay positive that there will be some great things in the future!

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Hmm--theming a coaster to Frasier's love life would've made sense. Too bad they never built that hyper.

 

Again, it's cool to see all this "Great America that never was" stuff, Shane.

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It is a shame that a lot of these potential concepts never came to life. Like I said before, if Paramount had invested a bit more in these projects, the park might have been in a different state than it is now. As much as the park didn't want to compete directly with SFDK, a major thrill ride every once in a while would've been cool for the park.

 

I really prefer the original Coney Island theme over the movie/TV show tie-ins (as much as I do like the names - Speed Coaster is too generic for me).

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This is museum-quality material. Just awesome. Thanks so much for sharing all this.

 

Personally, I think the "Beavis and Butthead Do Great America" concept is hysterical and brilliant, and considering that new episodes are coming soon (can I get a HELLYEAH?!), it would have held up well as a theme. But that's just me.

 

Burning question: Was "Stealth" ever really intended to have a "Mission: Impossible" theme, as has long been rumored?

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It makes me sad that my home park, CGA, could've had awesome rides put in but never did, such as:

 

-This Morgan Lift coaster

-Hypersonic XLC

-GCI Wooden Coaster

 

Though, it seems Invertigo "replaced" the Morgan Lift coaster.

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This is museum-quality material. Just awesome. Thanks so much for sharing all this.

 

Personally, I think the "Beavis and Butthead Do Great America" concept is hysterical and brilliant, and considering that new episodes are coming soon (can I get a HELLYEAH?!), it would have held up well as a theme. But that's just me.

 

Burning question: Was "Stealth" ever really intended to have a "Mission: Impossible" theme, as has long been rumored?

 

It was discussed for Stealth to be a Mission Impossible theme. As a matter of fact "Stealth" was the name given to the project while negotiating was done to get the license. Tom Cruise is a major partner in that franchise and he is the one that killed the deal not Paramount.

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