Iron Wolf Last Rides/Removal Thread

[BLADE]

^ Good point. It just should be changed from it's current configuration. Bring the stairs up in the middle, so the people waiting for the ends are not in the way.
Busch Europe just reused the BBW station.
It would depend on if the old station meets current evacuation/fire codes and ADA. Not likely it could be grandfathered.
It could always become a restaurant or store too.

[Iron Wolf 90-11]

Depending on what ride goes in the spot next, the Iron Wolf/ZForce station could be useful. The station can easily be used for a floorless, sit down or Eurofighter coaster quite easily amongst other rides. Other than that station being way high up in the air to accommodate Z Force's vertical transfer track setup, it can accommodate quite a few different ride types, and any manufacturer can design around that. Why pay money to tear it down, and then build a new one, when a perfectly good one already exists?

It would have to be a floorless like Bizarro or Kraken because Griffon's and Sheikra's trains would be way too wide.

[onyxhotel08]

Because it might as well be another several good years before another ride gets put in. We waited 5 years for a ride to replace Splash Water Falls and it looked bad without anything except the queue lines. Now with Wolf gone and that station left, it is nothing but a eyesore and quite honestly I do not think a coaster will replace iron Wolf. I think the park is not gonna get a new coaster until Whizzer or Demon go away. Demon first I think.

[BLADE]

Given Six Flags current financial situation, I think they still will have to take it easy for a few years on installations. The IW space should be filled first. I think both Whizzer and Demon will still be running in 2020. They need those ride heights. There is other room for coasters. The park just has to get more creative with it.

[FParker185]

Nearly complete.

[CoasterDemon]

Looks... kinda...ok In a Kraft cheese and macaroni sort of way, minus the grey.

I saw a while back, some pics posted of the repainted trains. I sure hope they are doing something to those trains, otherwise they are in for a brutal surprise over there.

[FParker185]

The trains got a fresh coat of paint. That's about it. Sucks for them.

[CoasterDemon]

If that's the case, I think Apocalypse will loose popularity fast.

[DejaVu2001]

New harnesses and seat padding too, but still nothing that will make any difference in ride quality.

[onyxhotel08]

Remind me again why this ride is so rough? It is the trains fault only?

[FParker185]

I don't think anyone actually knows the answer. However up until the early 00's, the ride was butter smooth except for the top of the flatspin and one of the turns on the back end.

[onyxhotel08]

Does anyone remember when Wolf was actually popular? When it wasn't a 10-15 minute wait during peak summer days?

[Sporlo]

New harnesses and seat padding too, but still nothing that will make any difference in ride quality.

I'm just making guesses here, but I can't believe that there wouldn't be *something* on the trains that they could tighten or reinforce or whatnot.

[DejaVu2001]

^ Every train on every coaster gets rehabbed every year. So if anything loose were the cause of Iron Wolf's roughness, it would at least be smooth opening day.

[CoasterNick3157]

Does anyone remember when Wolf was actually popular? When it wasn't a 10-15 minute wait during peak summer days?

in it's first 5 years probally

[CoasterDemon]

I remember a full queue (the old "Z-Force queue) when the ride opened and for a few years after.

The ride was so damn intense, yet not very rough - for those first years.

When it opened, I actually went to the park in crutches (sprained ankle). I figured that was a good time to ditch the crutches. I hobbled a bit, but had to ride the new coaster. That s-hill/curve thing after the corkscrew was one of the best parts. It picked you up, swung your legs out from under you, then dropped you back down. The high turn and subsequent drop after the loop was a great moment, too.

There was a rumor at the time that the ride was cracking it's foundations. I thought (at the time) it was cool that there was a place for a trim brake (after the circle turn through the loop, before the drop into the corkscrew) - but the park never put it in.

That also reminded me of when Shockwave got some brackets and wire work to get it ready to put in a trim brake after the first loop. It's 2 sister coasters - Viper at Magic Mountain and Great American Scream Machine at Great Adventure, had received the brake in the same spot. Shockwave's brake was never put it...

Seems Great America really wants its coasters to run fast. Shockwave also ran full throttle for at least part of the first year it was open.

Back to Iron Wolf. I think the ride just aged poorly. Stuff gets loose and starts to wear out. Wheels change and tend to get rough. It's really ashame, the ride was dyno-myte when it was new. I figured a change to sit down trains and over the head lap bars (B&M is a very short step away from that; it's about time) would make an outstanding ride.

[lord soth]

Does anyone remember when Wolf was actually popular? When it wasn't a 10-15 minute wait during peak summer days?

I recall actually using the queue under the tent instead of just rocketing past through it in the past few years. This was back in the 90's. I still enjoyed the ride even until the end, even though I had a way to ride it best (first train, feet along the floor and all the way back, and leaning my head out from the restraints only AFTER the corkscrew). I think the train rattling people's heads against the restraints after the corkscrew is what led to many complaints as I heard the yelps every time. Hopefully through the disassembly/reassembly process of relocating to to SFA, they can realign the track/train to not be so rough going through the elements.

[CoasterNick3157]

To CoasterDemon-- then they trimed bull to death. They should one time for one day turn off the trims and have people see what the ride would be without trims but I wonder if it would screw the ride up.

[CoasterDemon]

^I hear ya. I don't remember riding the brake-less Raging Bull that I've heard many raving about - but if I did, I wouldn't have remembered. Just not a big B&M fan. Of course, If I got a brakeless ride (or even less-braked) on it nowadays, I would recognize that.

I wonder why the brakes on the Eagle's barrel exit were turned on at the end of the year last year. After Blue opened backwards. The ride ran like a bat outta hell for the past few years on the run back, but was the 'old Eagle' (of the late 80s and 90s) for Fright Fest last year. That was kind of let down to feel those brakes again...

[Sporlo]

Aye, I've been dying to get another ride on a trimless/low-trim Raging Bull for years.


Here are some crappy-sized pics from Screamscape:

[Stoogie]

To CoasterDemon-- then they trimed bull to death. They should one time for one day turn off the trims and have people see what the ride would be without trims but I wonder if it would screw the ride up.

The wife and I rode Bull this past Fright Fest and It was unbridled! No trims whatsoever. I recognized that too and my wife even said it was a total blast and she's not into coasters like I am. Normally the trim going up is tight, but I was off my seat. I mean my butt had no contact until I hit the downward crest. It was at night. I know you guys are going to say at night it's just naturally faster but it was so intense that it kind of got me. I loved it! I've always been a Bull fan but dang..lol.

[Sporlo]

Screamscape passed on a rumor that the Apocalypse opening will be delayed by a few weeks, and that the reason is an issue with the station construction. They should've taken our station with them

[onyxhotel08]

I second that. No way will they reuse a station over 20 years old for future projects there. it might be as much as another 2-4 years before anything replaces Wolf. We waited how long for SWF?

[Iron Wolf 90-11]

http://content.sixflags.com/news/americ ... 2012-04-25 I
f you read it, it talks about theming on Apocalypse and besides the station this could be why it is opening later than originally announced.

[Sporlo]

"This year’s new coaster at Six Flags America, Apocalypse, reflects the magic touch of Les and his team. “The theme needed to be edgy to match the intensity of the ride experience,” he says. To reinforce this theme, “radioactive” paint and several crashed planes, including one colliding with the 70-foot rock-face backdrop, are essential elements. In addition, fire explosions and mist fog create an apocalyptic landscape."

Several crashed planes? Fire explosions? Iron Wolf's getting a real makeover! I always thought SFA was just going to plop it down with just the new paintjob.