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2019 rumors, thoughts, speculation

Talk about anything that has to do with Six Flags Great America and Hurricane Harbor here.
Postby Jodon on May 14th, 2018, 10:09 am
I believe that it will be one of the two most discussed options; either a water park expansion including a water coaster and making HH a separate gate, or a Raptor clone. Like many of you, the enthusiast in me wants to see SFGAm get an awesome front gate roller coaster, however, the realist in me knows that is not going to happen.

Oddly enough, the most likely way for SF corporate to start adding large scale roller coasters again is for attendance and revenue to start dropping. Like Sven has been saying over the last page or so, SF corporate has a distinct strategy that has been very successful and have no need to change their approach unless attendance figures and revenues decrease.
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Postby _FuryBull_330_ on May 14th, 2018, 12:18 pm
Jodon wrote:I believe that it will be one of the two most discussed options; either a water park expansion including a water coaster and making HH a separate gate, or a Raptor clone. Like many of you, the enthusiast in me wants to see SFGAm get an awesome front gate roller coaster, however, the realist in me knows that is not going to happen.

Oddly enough, the most likely way for SF corporate to start adding large scale roller coasters again is for attendance and revenue to start dropping. Like Sven has been saying over the last page or so, SF corporate has a distinct strategy that has been very successful and have no need to change their approach unless attendance figures and revenues decrease.

So a decrease of 50% attendance will get any SF park a huge coaster. No wonder any parks haven't got anything big in a while. However it seems like our attendance can go down easily if we keep getting small rides. If that happens we can see another B&M, maybe RMC AE, or a 7 inversion coaster.
How come Lightning Rod is never open when I go.

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Postby SFGAMNUT9302 on May 14th, 2018, 12:51 pm
The cap expenditure formula that BBD is obsessed with, is there to prevent Six Flags from going bankrupt again. It's just a restraint that says we can only spend "X" amount a year on new rides. It in no way allocates "X" amount to each park or rules out major attractions. If he had paid attention, none of my posts even remotely suggested lifting the cap, but stated the obvious, that you can easily install an expensive coaster ($25 Million is just a random number I picked) and stay well within the cap, and actually reduce your expenditures....... Corporate invests heavily into Six Flags Great America more so than Six Flags America because they see growth potential! This isn't "Enthusiast fantasy" it's what they've been doing for the past 8 years now. The parks attendance clearly hasn't plateaued yet! There's a reason why Disney wanted to buy this park back in the 90's, not because they saw a dead end, but because they saw an enormous opportunity for further growth (AKA more money) Great America is in one of the richest Collar Counties, and in between two major cities. It's a gold mine!

But back to the topic. I have no idea what the ride is going to be! Hopefully teasers will start coming in late June.
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Postby Jodon on May 14th, 2018, 2:02 pm
_FuryBull_330_ wrote:
Jodon wrote:I believe that it will be one of the two most discussed options; either a water park expansion including a water coaster and making HH a separate gate, or a Raptor clone. Like many of you, the enthusiast in me wants to see SFGAm get an awesome front gate roller coaster, however, the realist in me knows that is not going to happen.

Oddly enough, the most likely way for SF corporate to start adding large scale roller coasters again is for attendance and revenue to start dropping. Like Sven has been saying over the last page or so, SF corporate has a distinct strategy that has been very successful and have no need to change their approach unless attendance figures and revenues decrease.

So a decrease of 50% attendance will get any SF park a huge coaster. No wonder any parks haven't got anything big in a while. However it seems like our attendance can go down easily if we keep getting small rides. If that happens we can see another B&M, maybe RMC AE, or a 7 inversion coaster.


I'm not saying that the decrease has to be that drastic, but their current model of annual small capitol investments is increasing revenue and attendance right now. I think that SF corporate would have to see several years of consecutive decreases to alter their model. The evidence that SF corporate is seeing is that the majority of visitors to their parks are happy they are getting a new ride every year and don't care that it won't a massive $25 million dollar Giga.
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Postby UnclePennybags on May 14th, 2018, 11:27 pm
SFGAM_Hog wrote:Sadly, idk if that will happen. It will probably be an exact clone of Wonder Woman.

Well, all of this talk about T-Rex and Raptor tracks got me interested in the new Wonder Woman coaster. Honestly, I didn't think the Pictorium space was big enough for a coaster, but WW is an incredibly compact design. A T-Rex would need a bigger footprint, but I don't see this as an issue given the amount of free space available if a Raptor was installed instead. I'd really be interested in seeing one or the other installed over a waterpark expansion.

As mentioned before, Raptors have capacity issues. For example, from observing several online videos, it appeared that Fiesta Texas was running an efficient Wonder Woman operation. Even so, I was seeing dispatch times of between 1 minute, 11 seconds and 1 minute, 34 seconds per train. At eight riders a train, that's a capacity of about 300 to 400 riders an hour. I'm pretty sure that's bad.

The ride is just over 30 seconds from the time you leave the lift hill until hitting the brake run, but it is jammed with more elements than I've ever seen over such a short track. So, I decided to overlay Wonder Woman with the Pictorium space. At first, I laid it down to use the newly cleared area behind Hometown Fun Machine:

Image

In the picture above, the yellow lines bound the potential area I could see a coaster using. They extend past the ones drawn by jmanporty7 because I assumed coasters can overhang pathways. The green box is the Wonder Woman station. The transfer tracks are to the lower left of the station. The assumption was that this would be a clone, so there's a lot of theming and water-features to the left of the tracks. The ride itself has a smaller footprint than everything shown above.

There was a problem with this layout. Because Wonder Woman is so dense, there's no room for the Scenic Railway to pass under it. So, I rotated the ride to see how much space it'd consume:

Image

The point of this exercise was to demonstrate to myself that there could actually be a lot of space for a custom T-Rex or Raptor. I couldn't see it before. Now I do. Alternatively, if a Wonder Woman clone were installed instead, you could conceivably have space left over for something else as well.
Last edited by UnclePennybags on May 14th, 2018, 11:58 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Postby B&MGuy35 on May 14th, 2018, 11:30 pm
UnclePennybags wrote:
SFGAM_Hog wrote:Sadly, idk if that will happen. It will probably be an exact clone of Wonder Woman.

Well, all of this talk about T-Rex and Raptor tracks got me interested in the new Wonder Woman coaster. Honestly, I didn't think the Pictorium space was big enough for a coaster, but WW is an incredibly compact design. A T-Rex would need a bigger footprint, but I don't see this as an issue given the amount of free space available if a Raptor was installed instead. I'd really be interested in seeing one or the other installed over a waterpark expansion.

As mentioned before, Raptors have capacity issues. For example, from observing several online videos, it appeared that Fiesta Texas was running an efficient Wonder Woman operation. Even so, I was seeing dispatch times of between 1 minute, 11 seconds and 1 minute, 34 seconds per train. At eight riders a train, that's a capacity of about 300 to 400 riders an hour. I'm pretty sure that's bad.

The ride is just over 30 seconds from the time you leave the lift hill until hitting the brake run, but it is jammed with more elements than I've ever seen over such a short track. So, I decided to overlay Wonder Woman with the Pictorium space. At first, I laid it down to use the clearing behind Hometown Fun Machine:

Image

In the picture above, the yellow lines bound the potential area I could see a coaster using. They extend past the ones drawn by jmanporty7 because I assumed coasters can overhang pathways. The green box is the Wonder Woman station. The transfer tracks are to the lower left of the station. The assumption was that this would be a clone, so there's a lot of theming and water-features to the left of the tracks. The ride itself has a smaller footprint than everything shown above.

There was a problem with this layout. Because Wonder Woman is so dense, there's no room for the Scenic Railway to pass under it. So, I rotated the ride to see how much space it'd consume:

Image

The point of this exercise was to demonstrate to myself that there could actually be a lot of space for a custom T-Rex or Raptor. I couldn't see it before. Alternatively, if a Wonder Woman clone were installed instead, you could conceivably have space left over for something else as well.


My bet is on a custom Raptor. Alan Schilke has stated they have plans for a 200 foot model so anything is possible in that plot of land!


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Postby jmanporty7 on May 15th, 2018, 12:40 am
Am I the only that would rather have a premier launch coaster built here? Just curious...
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Postby _FuryBull_330_ on May 15th, 2018, 7:23 am
jmanporty7 wrote:Am I the only that would rather have a premier launch coaster built here? Just curious...

You're not the only one. A full circuit launch coaster is one of our needs to have a really strong coaster lineup. If we got something like Full Throttle than we can expand our lineup and the attendance may increase
How come Lightning Rod is never open when I go.

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Postby SFGAM_Hog on May 15th, 2018, 7:24 am
I cant even believe a T-Rex can be built as a tall as 200 feet or higher in the air. I personally dont see us getting one that big and tall. Cedar Point will probably do that and need to break 10 records :lol:
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Postby Goku1910 on May 15th, 2018, 8:56 am
_FuryBull_330_ wrote:
jmanporty7 wrote:Am I the only that would rather have a premier launch coaster built here? Just curious...

You're not the only one. A full circuit launch coaster is one of our needs to have a really strong coaster lineup. If we got something like Full Throttle than we can expand our lineup and the attendance may increase
How about a full circuit launched coaster that's nothing like Full Throttle?

I'd like to see a Mack Launched like Helix.

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Postby AirTimeDaz on May 15th, 2018, 9:05 am
Well, sans the capacity problem, raptors intensity looks balls to the wall insane! And I imagine it to be a cool new unique experience to ride inline on a 15.5 inch track. I haven't ridden Full Throttle, and sure, FT has a big loop and a launch, but from the pov the ride looks kinda "meh".. since it has a brake run halfway down the only "airtime hill" so nah, I wouldn't go crazy over FT, but I wouldn't b*tch and moan about it either. *shrug* Maybe something similar can replace V2 eventually? I would like something more original for our park. I'm rather sick of the copy+paste strategy, though. I wish Six Flags had top executives that actually love roller coasters just as much as they love making money and getting their 250m windfall stock options or whatever else :roll:
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Postby Tardis1972 on May 15th, 2018, 9:49 am
I'd be fine with a RMC Raptor clone or a full circuit lunch coaster. Having a Raptor clone would mean I wouldn't have to go out to CGA or SFFT to ride one.
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Postby B&MGuy35 on May 15th, 2018, 10:04 am
Funny thing not to change the subject
But the wiki page for Great Adventure says they’re getting a T-Rex for 2019 called The Riddler.

And yes I know anyone can update wiki so it’s not accurate at all but I just find it funny.

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Postby benneluke on May 15th, 2018, 10:19 am
UnclePennybags wrote:Because Wonder Woman is so dense, there's no room for the Scenic Railway to pass under it. So, I rotated the ride to see how much space it'd consume:

Image

The point of this exercise was to demonstrate to myself that there could actually be a lot of space for a custom T-Rex or Raptor. I couldn't see it before. Now I do. Alternatively, if a Wonder Woman clone were installed instead, you could conceivably have space left over for something else as well.


The only problem I have with any coaster going in this spot is that the view would be blocked by Carousel Gifts. There really isn't any other ride/coaster with a blocked view (except Superman, but once you are out of the first queue block, you can see it). I can only assume that SF would want a great vista for a new coaster they demolished a huge building for. I guess you could queue up behind Sky Trek instead of the old Pictorium entrance, but Im not sure how traffic would work with STT's exit being right there. I'm still thinking its going to be a waterpark expansion with the train now going into HH.
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Postby staticshadows on May 15th, 2018, 10:46 am
Take this with a grain of salt, I heard some parks might be getting a Zamperla Air Race for 2019.
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Postby Goku1910 on May 15th, 2018, 11:05 am
Must have been the Dippin Dots guy that told you that.

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Postby staticshadows on May 15th, 2018, 11:18 am
Goku1910 wrote:Must have been the Dippin Dots guy that told you that.

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Nah, just some California locals. I did say take with a grain of salt.
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Postby Goku1910 on May 15th, 2018, 11:30 am
Hmm, odd. I met some Cali locals on my visit Sunday, makes me wonder if you ran into the same people.

The ones I met didn't seem super knowledgeable so.....

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Postby Ilovthevu' on May 15th, 2018, 11:36 am
jmanporty7 wrote:Am I the only that would rather have a premier launch coaster built here? Just curious...


Absolutely, the park should get a Premier coaster, but the best option for the park with what it has (what it needs), and what it should replace should be getting the Backlot Stunt (family) Coaster to get rid of the demon roller coaster. They don't need all that theming at Kings Island or Kings Dominion, but the layout of it. If I'm greedy, I want ALL the Premier rides. I love Premier coasters, but with what the actual park should get (sort of needs) is another family coaster to replace the aging black Arrow coaster that has long surpassed it's time at the park.

staticshadows wrote:Take this with a grain of salt, I heard some parks might be getting a Zamperla Air Race for 2019.

Just what these parks need (not), another smaller inversion - version of a Larson Looper. It would only make sense to me at Magic Mountain because they don't have an inversion, actual flat ride. To me, all Six Flags parks in the flat department should receive a Chance Alpine Bobs. That's what all these parks need. The only Six Flags park that has one is Six Flags New England.
Kontiki at Six Flags New England (If you remember, Hay Bailer at Great America, it's the same type of ride - Cedar Point has Matterhorn. Michigan's Adventure has Thunderbolt, etc.)
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Postby benneluke on May 15th, 2018, 11:53 am
staticshadows wrote:Take this with a grain of salt, I heard some parks might be getting a Zamperla Air Race for 2019.

Actually, that looks pretty cool. I think we are long due for a nice "showstopper" flat ride for our park. They add a lot of movement to the area that a coaster doesn't.
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Postby _FuryBull_330_ on May 15th, 2018, 12:14 pm
benneluke wrote:
staticshadows wrote:Take this with a grain of salt, I heard some parks might be getting a Zamperla Air Race for 2019.

Actually, that looks pretty cool. I think we are long due for a nice "showstopper" flat ride for our park. They add a lot of movement to the area that a coaster doesn't.

Hmm, I'm intrigued. But I would really like to see something like Sledge Hammer at Canada's Wonderland here. It just seems more unique for us.
How come Lightning Rod is never open when I go.

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Postby SFGAMNUT9302 on May 15th, 2018, 12:44 pm
I'm skeptical that it would be a raptor, at least a Wonder Woman clone. Because we already know that exact layout would fit perfectly in Buccaneer Battle's plot of land, and Buccaneer Battle is ripe for demolition, lol. That is a really big plot of land that they are clearing, and now that they're clearing land behind the Home Town Fun Machine, it makes me think that this will not be a water park expansion or a cookie cutter coaster. Hopefully we'll start seeings signs soon for a zoning meeting, if it turns out to be a large coaster.
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Postby AirTimeDaz on May 15th, 2018, 7:21 pm
There's a planning & zoning board meeting on the agenda tomorrow. Probably normal gurnee business as usual so not making a claim one way or another. Could be about anything. I don't know how that works.

http://www.gurnee.il.us/residents/conne ... rd-meeting
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Postby staticshadows on May 15th, 2018, 7:29 pm
Here is the page where the agendas are posted.
http://www.gurnee.il.us/government/planning-zoning-board/schedule-agenda-minutes-videos

They shouldn’t need a zoning approval for this area of the park unless they are going above 200 ft tall.
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Postby Goku1910 on May 15th, 2018, 7:30 pm
There are usually signs put up for residents near Great America to notify that they are on the agenda.

If they're not, then that makes it a first that SFGAm will be attending without those signs up.

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