Hi all, I rode Eagle red a couple weeks ago and the helix has gotten so rough and violent that it's really close to being as bad as Mean Streak was 4 years ago. Parts after the helix were worse than I remember, but there were definitely parts of the ride that are still awesome. Did anyone else experience this? How's the blue side? My last time on it was trimmed to death. Before all the trimming, it was much more violent than the red. Seems like the ride needs some serious work.
It needs GCI retracking and newer trims that are more consistent. One ride it'll be trimmed to death and another the trim won't even work...
Keep in mind that I love american eagle. Its one of my favorites in the park, and about a year ago coaster studios rated it as the 3rd best coaster in the park (possibly will change because he recently visited the park)
It's a great classic with a few nice pops of airtime. But even just a retrack would do the ride wonders. The helix of Death at the end is terrible, probably the worst part of the ride. If they retracked it, gave it modern trains, repainted it, and reprofiled the hills, it would be one of the best rides in the park.
Guy_With_A_Stick wrote:It's a great classic with a few nice pops of airtime. But even just a retrack would do the ride wonders. The helix of Death at the end is terrible, probably the worst part of the ride. If they retracked it, gave it modern trains, repainted it, and reprofiled the hills, it would be one of the best rides in the park.
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I couldn't agree with you any more! Millennium flyer trains?
^Absolutely not. I am against putting flyers on because I feel it removes part of the experience. I think they should put on the new PTC trains w/ 2 rows per car.
No, not Millennium Flyers. I like the 3-row PTCs b/c the last row gets 'whipped' a bit more, giving it more forces and airtime. Modern PTCs, like the ones Thunderhawk at Dorney are getting, would be perfect. Same with Viper. The current trains are pretty nice, but a retrack would do wonders to it. Just a retrack though, the layout is great as is.
I am not sure a full rehab would bring in enough foot traffic to justify the cost. Maybe a little paint and minor track work over the next few years. I would prefer if they remove it completely in 4-5 years and replace the eastern portion with a new GCI woodie. Then, remove Demon a couple of years later and use the combined space for a 300-310 ft B&M Giga or maybe a Mack or RMC Giga by that time. See the below image complete with zoning restrictions.
staticshadows wrote:I am not sure a full rehab would bring in enough foot traffic to justify the cost. Maybe a little paint and minor track work over the next few years. I would prefer if they remove it completely in 4-5 years and replace the eastern portion with a new GCI woodie. Then, remove Demon a couple of years later and use the combined space for a 300-310 ft B&M Giga or maybe a Mack or RMC Giga by that time. See the below image complete with zoning restrictions.
I like your thinking, but I feel that gigas at six flags won't happen for a while. Every park only has a 20 million dollar budget. And there was a public outcry when the whizzer was trying to be removed, so removing the demon and the eagle will have an outcry.
American Eagle is fine as is. It's a 35 year old wooden coaster, what do you expect? A butter-smooth ride? Granted, it's not the smoothest ride in the park, but it's still not bad.
Unless it gets violently rough, nothing "needs" to be done. They could still do a re-track, or even new trains if they wanted to, but it's not necessary right now.
It is violently rough in the helix that makes up the middle of the ride. It gets worse and worse until you get back on the hills. I've heard the ride was really rough even back in 1988. In 4 years, I've never noticed different levels of trimming on the red side. It's been very consistent, just getting progressively rougher in spots, mainly in the middle of the ride in the helix.
So has anyone ridden blue multiple times this year?
I think American Eagle is fine. The final helix is rough and sometimes the end of the giant helix is rough, so I would say those are up next for the common retrack. After those are retracked, something else will be rough. It's just a never ending cycle. I think it was Hank that said you're never done building a wooden coaster.
I went in the back of the red car three times today, and it has decreased in quality. The helix is almost jackhammering as it goes around, and the final turn is very bad. The ride gave me a headache in the back on the blue side which was worse when I rode in May.
I rode 3rd row on Blue today, and seems to be the same as it's always been. Final helix still rough as balls, big one still bearable, but still kinda rough.
SFGAM_Hog wrote:What did Coaster Studios (Taylor) think of it when he went?
Idk. He had A LOT of fans. And apparently they all occupied one train. That's all I know. And from the description from his vlog, he seemed to like sfgam
Idk. He had A LOT of fans. And apparently they all occupied one train. That's all I know. And from the description from his vlog, he seemed to like sfgam
Sent from my SM-G920R6 using Tapatalk[/quote] Well, he's a good youtuber, but I didn't like that he talked about the people in the group rather than stating his opinion about the park.
[/quote]Well, he's a good youtuber, but I didn't like that he talked about the people in the group rather than stating his opinion about the park.[/quote]
Yeah agreed. He will come out with a park review though