Minor Updates, Rumors, and Happenings

[CoasterRiderSC]

New paint job on the Whizzer trains this year.

Love the paint job! Thanks for posting. Did the track get a repaint also?

[JaminOut]

Yes. There were employees on the tracks pressure washing and painting yesterday.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[_FuryBull_330_]

Yes. There were employees on the tracks pressure washing and painting yesterday.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh wow Whizzer is getting repainted, I hope it will look very nice. If only some other rides actually got a repaint *cough* Superman *cough*.

[Sven18]

Yes. There were employees on the tracks pressure washing and painting yesterday.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh wow Whizzer is getting repainted, I hope it will look very nice. If only some other rides actually got a repaint *cough* Superman *cough*.

Hopefully, they paint and fix up the station and queue, it was looking worn last year.

[Iron Wolf 90-11]

All thats left of the Pictorium. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1679718 ... 824246869/

[Jodon]

Not sure if it's permanent, but when I rode Viper today, the lift chain didn't slow down at the top of the lift.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SFGAM_Hog]

Not sure if it's permanent, but when I rode Viper today, the lift chain didn't slow down at the top of the lift.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In the morning when I ride it first it doesn't slow down. Does it depend on weight?

[Whizzer Whiz Kid]

For the first around half hour of the day, it doesn't slow down at the top.

[_FuryBull_330_]

Not sure if it's permanent, but when I rode Viper today, the lift chain didn't slow down at the top of the lift.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In the morning when I ride it first it doesn't slow down. Does it depend on weight?

Yes it does depend on weight. Weight is a factor in every coaster and it effects the maximum speed coasters go on. When I road Whizzer with my little brother earlier today there weren't much people and the train went pretty fast for me. Hopefully this keeps up and Whizzer could be in my top 5 coasters at Great America .

[Guy_With_A_Stick]

O o f

Sent from my VS501 using Tapatalk

[RollingCoasting]

https://www.facebook.com/JiggidyNDG/pos ... 4397910752

Jiggidy uploaded some pictures of Pictorium deconstruction, along with Sprocket Rocket's sign

[astucks18]

Not sure if it's permanent, but when I rode Viper today, the lift chain didn't slow down at the top of the lift.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In the morning when I ride it first it doesn't slow down. Does it depend on weight?

Yes it does depend on weight. Weight is a factor in every coaster and it effects the maximum speed coasters go on. When I road Whizzer with my little brother earlier today there weren't much people and the train went pretty fast for me. Hopefully this keeps up and Whizzer could be in my top 5 coasters at Great America .

This is all kinds of wrong, the train would go slower if there was less weight because the train carries less momentum, and Whizzer was not even open haha

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

[CoasterDemon]

Whizzer is a world-class ride and one of my favorite coasters - even when it's running slow Speed is overrated. Those new Whizzer train front are freaking awesome! Is Whiz open today? I was thinking of heading up later for some spins on it and Demon... and Lobster, Fun Machine and Triple Play. ...And Eagle if I'm up to walking way the heck over there!

[SFGAMNUT9302]

Whizzer is a world-class ride and one of my favorite coasters - even when it's running slow Speed is overrated. Those new Whizzer train front are freaking awesome! Is Whiz open today? I was thinking of heading up later for some spins on it and Demon... and Lobster, Fun Machine and Triple Play. ...And Eagle if I'm up to walking way the heck over there!

I think it's still closed for painting! Agreed 100% though. Whizzer is awesome! I remember back in 2002 when they were supposed to close it, and all the dooms day people were proclaiming that it was "Falling apart" and "Far too costly to maintain".... Here we are almost 20 years later, and it's still standing and as great as ever! Too many people underestimate Six Flags and our park specifically.

[CoasterDemon]

^As much as I complain about our home park - particularly how Six Flags chooses to run it, etc. - I still say it's the best park in the chain.

Sure, we don't have X2, Mind Bender (both of which are in my top 5) and El Toro (didn't care for it myself)... but we have the best all-around park. The most variety of types of rides. As horrible as the operation can be, it's so much better than the rest of the Six Flags I've been to (all in North America).

I was at Magic Mountain last July for 2 days. LOVE Revolution (lap bars baby!) and X2... and Ninja and Viper... FThrottle is ok too... but gosh darn, I was so happy I have Great America as a home park and not that place. Shame, too... it's a dream location and is screaming with potential. I wish someone would buy it and "flip that park."

[SFGAMNUT9302]

^As much as I complain about our home park - particularly how Six Flags chooses to run it, etc. - I still say it's the best park in the chain.

Sure, we don't have X2, Mind Bender (both of which are in my top 5) and El Toro (didn't care for it myself)... but we have the best all-around park. The most variety of types of rides. As horrible as the operation can be, it's so much better than the rest of the Six Flags I've been to (all in North America).

I was at Magic Mountain last July for 2 days. LOVE Revolution (lap bars baby!) and X2... and Ninja and Viper... FThrottle is ok too... but gosh darn, I was so happy I have Great America as a home park and not that place. Shame, too... it's a dream location and is screaming with potential. I wish someone would buy it and "flip that park."

No doubt about it! Great America is an amazing park! I used to be a member of Coaster Buzz back in the day, and people were CONSTANTLY underestimating our park.... "Demon has just a few years left (2001)".... "Whizzer is falling apart(2002)".... "Little Dipper will never come to Great America(2009)"..... "Expect a kids section to replace Iron Wolf(2013)".... Wrong Wrong Wrong! It seems that our park is constantly being underestimated by naysayers who have been wrong every step of the way.

[CoasterDemon]

^I'm still on Coasterbuzz, but don't post very often... definitely a tough crowd.

Looks like I'm all about flats and Demon if I go today. Seems everything else is closed or one train ops... BUT luckily, I love Demon. I've only EVER (since 1980) seen Demon run one train once... I hope that ain't today!

[_FuryBull_330_]

^As much as I complain about our home park - particularly how Six Flags chooses to run it, etc. - I still say it's the best park in the chain.

Sure, we don't have X2, Mind Bender (both of which are in my top 5) and El Toro (didn't care for it myself)... but we have the best all-around park. The most variety of types of rides. As horrible as the operation can be, it's so much better than the rest of the Six Flags I've been to (all in North America).

I was at Magic Mountain last July for 2 days. LOVE Revolution (lap bars baby!) and X2... and Ninja and Viper... FThrottle is ok too... but gosh darn, I was so happy I have Great America as a home park and not that place. Shame, too... it's a dream location and is screaming with potential. I wish someone would buy it and "flip that park."

No doubt about it! Great America is an amazing park! I used to be a member of Coaster Buzz back in the day, and people were CONSTANTLY underestimating our park.... "Demon has just a few years left (2001)".... "Whizzer is falling apart(2002)".... "Little Dipper will never come to Great America(2009)"..... "Expect a kids section to replace Iron Wolf(2013)".... Wrong Wrong Wrong! It seems that our park is constantly being underestimated by naysayers who have been wrong every step of the way.

Probably people who are from other parks and don't want this park to be better than their parks. I'm looking at you Cedar Point fanboys .

[Jodon]

Ummm...SFGAm isn't even close to Cedar Point anymore. You might have been able to make the argument about a decade or two ago, even then it likely wasn't close. Today, Cedar Point runs circles around SFGAm in almost every way.

People need to stop hoping that SFGAm will rival CP. Unless SF corporate drastically changes their strategy, SFGAm will never directly compete with CP again. The amount of resources Cedar Fair has poured into CP the last decade is unrivaled in regional theme parks. CF is trying (and successfully) to make CP into a resort destination, SFGAm is a good regional park and SF corporate doesn't want to put in the resources to make it anything more than that.

[Sven18]

Probably people who are from other parks and don't want this park to be better than their parks. I'm looking at you Cedar Point fanboys .

Cedar Point runs laps around GAm. The gap was huge and got bigger with the addition of Steel Vengeance. GAm nor any SF park can compete with CP. The investment strategies of each chain are divergent. No SF park is getting a 20 to 30M coaster nor a hotel/resort, which CF is spreading around the chain.

[staticshadows]

Probably people who are from other parks and don't want this park to be better than their parks. I'm looking at you Cedar Point fanboys .

Cedar Point runs laps around GAm. The gap was huge and got bigger with the addition of Steel Vengeance. GAm nor any SF park can compete with CP. The investment strategies of each chain are divergent. No SF park is getting a 20 to 30M coaster nor a hotel/resort, which CF is spreading around the chain.

I mostly agree with you on that, but hotels have been mentioned as a future possibility for Magic Mountain and Hurricane Harbor Oaxtepec.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/e ... 591662001/

With Magic Mountain's bid for destination park status, might a hotel be in its future? As part of its long-range plans, Weber says the park is looking at a number of options. There is available land on-site to build a hotel and other resort amenities. The company might also try to develop Six Flags-branded accommodations at a nearby off-site location with a third-party hotel partner.

http://attractionsmagazine.com/six-flag ... -now-open/

The redevelopment of Six Flags Hurricane Harbor in Oaxtepc, Mexico, included a new layout connecting preexisting portions of the park to the newly constructed side, an updated filtration system throughout the park with on-site treatment facilities, and new electrical systems. Future expansion plans call for adding more rides and an on-site hotel.

[_FuryBull_330_]

Probably people who are from other parks and don't want this park to be better than their parks. I'm looking at you Cedar Point fanboys .

Cedar Point runs laps around GAm. The gap was huge and got bigger with the addition of Steel Vengeance. GAm nor any SF park can compete with CP. The investment strategies of each chain are divergent. No SF park is getting a 20 to 30M coaster nor a hotel/resort, which CF is spreading around the chain.

Does Cedar Point have a quality wooden coaster....um no. The only woodie they have is Blue Streak which doesn't even compare to American Eagle, Viper, or Goliath. Does CF have good woodies around the chain, yes but we were mostly the chain to get a bunch of firsts which then makes Cedar Fair's a little more not unique. But then again I shouldn't say anything because we have a bunch of clones in the chain.

[Jodon]

You are correct, SF does prioritize being the first to most things in the US, however, that hasn't shown to be a great thing. Do you think that people care that X-Flight was the first B&M wing coaster in the US? Take WW:GLC at SFFT. They are opening up a Raptor clone the same season as CAGAm. Do you think the public really cares which one opens up first? The target audience for each park is excited for their coaster to open. I can't imagine a fan of CAGAm queuing for Railblazer and think..."Man, I wish Railblazer would have opened up 4 weeks earlier to be the 'World's first single rail coaster'"...I just don't see it from the public's point of view.

I get that parks are always looking for unique marketing angles for their rides. I think that SFGAm still advertises Raging Bull as the Worlds First Hyper Twister Coaster in current tv spots, which is odd to me, but whatever.

Lastly, Cedar Point has been installing differentiating rides over the past decade. A wooden coaster is not a differenctiating ride. I like wooden coasters, but look at their last 3 additions:
Gatekeeper, tallest/fastest/longest wing coaster (1 of 4 US B&M Wing coasters)
Valravn, tallest/fastest/longest dive coaster (1 of 3 US B&M Dive Coasters)
Steel Vengeance, tallest/fastest/longest/steepest/most-inverting RMC Hybrid (1 of 9 US RMC hybrids)

All of their most recent additions have been top-end, fairly-unique ride types. I think that CP will eventually get another quality wooden coaster, but they likely don't see the need to add one because they have the money to buy large scale unique rides at the moment and want to build up their unique experiences.

[_FuryBull_330_]

You are correct, SF does prioritize being the first to most things in the US, however, that hasn't shown to be a great thing. Do you think that people care that X-Flight was the first B&M wing coaster in the US? Take WW:GLC at SFFT. They are opening up a Raptor clone the same season as CAGAm. Do you think the public really cares which one opens up first? The target audience for each park is excited for their coaster to open. I can't imagine a fan of CAGAm queuing for Railblazer and think..."Man, I wish Railblazer would have opened up 4 weeks earlier to be the 'World's first single rail coaster'"...I just don't see it from the public's point of view.

I get that parks are always looking for unique marketing angles for their rides. I think that SFGAm still advertises Raging Bull as the Worlds First Hyper Twister Coaster in current tv spots, which is odd to me, but whatever.

Lastly, Cedar Point has been installing differentiating rides over the past decade. A wooden coaster is not a differenctiating ride. I like wooden coasters, but look at their last 3 additions:
Gatekeeper, tallest/fastest/longest wing coaster (1 of 4 US B&M Wing coasters)
Valravn, tallest/fastest/longest dive coaster (1 of 3 US B&M Dive Coasters)
Steel Vengeance, tallest/fastest/longest/steepest/most-inverting RMC Hybrid (1 of 9 US RMC hybrids)

All of their most recent additions have been top-end, fairly-unique ride types. I think that CP will eventually get another quality wooden coaster, but they likely don't see the need to add one because they have the money to buy large scale unique rides at the moment and want to build up their unique experiences.

*Sigh* I wished our parks could have gotten off-seasons where we just got a few minor updates. That means every park can actually top notch attractions each year.

[Sven18]

[quote="staticshadows"]
https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/e ... 591662001/
[quote]

I looked up what SF actually owns a few years ago and it's not much just what it listed as SFMM. All that vacant line around the park is owned by Newhall land & farming.

https://portal.assessor.lacounty.gov/ma ... 3516385,16

See parcels Numbers by clicking on them

AIN: 2826-008-028 - though zoned recreations, amusement is Newhall's. I sent a request in to the assessor in 2016 when the topic of expansion was on another board b/c many thought SF owned those small plots.

AIN 2826-008-040 which is the massive swath is also Newhall's