I just had a thought. Now, i know that SFGAm is among one of the better parks on the chain, but don't you think it should be even more valuable than what people are saying it is now? Think about it, we have a lot of firsts for the amusement park industry.
Batman: The Ride- first inverted looping coaster
Iron Wolf- First stand up
Raging Bull- First Hyper twister
American Eagle- best of it's kind when it was built
Whizzer- first spiral lift coaster (i think, i could be wrong about that)
Carousel Columbia- first double decker carousel
Pictorium- world's largest indoor movie screen
And those are only a few things of all of the grand list we could say about the park. I'm sure if you looked, SFGAm has a lot of the things that helped turn the industry into what it is today. We also have a lot of ACE landmarks.
SFGAm definitley "has a good thing going" right now:
Being the only theme park in the Chicago/Milwaukee area makes it a tremendous asset to SF, as it is one of the very few parks in the chain that actually made money this year.
Not only is it a park, its a large destination now with all it offers, unlike most other parks (Cedar Fair parks) for example that are midways with rides/very little entertainment.
In terms of "value" from a guest perspective: SFGAm also has a good thing going there. The large park with all the rides, shows, and waterpark included with one admission/one season pass; $54.99/$90 is not bad at all.
^Eagle was for a short period of time the tallest and fastest coaster (wood or steel) when it opened. Obviously it held some records in the wood category for many years after.
Iron Wolf wasn't the first but it was the tallest and fastest standup when it opened and obviously B&M's first solo project.
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A coaster named Shock Wave was the first stand up. And that's definetely not the blue and white looping structure overlooking Orleans Place. I think it is in a park in Texas, maybe SFOT. I honestly can't remember. But it was built sometime in the 80s.
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A coaster named Shock Wave was the first stand up. And that's definetely not the blue and white looping structure overlooking Orleans Place. I think it is in a park in Texas, maybe SFOT. I honestly can't remember. But it was built sometime in the 80s.
The SFOT Shockwave is a Schwarzkopf looper, not a stand up.
There were 2 Shockwave stand up coasters, one at SFMM and the other at PKD.
Mr. D.T. wrote:A coaster named Shock Wave was the first stand up. And that's definetely not the blue and white looping structure overlooking Orleans Place. I think it is in a park in Texas, maybe SFOT. I honestly can't remember. But it was built sometime in the 80s.
It was the first stand-up in America, but the first stand-up was built in 1979 in Japan.
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pretty sure the first stand up coaster in N. America was King Cobra at PKI.
And also I doubt anyone cares about the very obscure records like say tallest and fastest racing coaster, Eagle was the fastest wood coaster in the world til SOB opened and the park didnt even advertise that fact, first Hyper Twister is a stretch as Fujiyama has a pretty similar twisted layout, though much taller than bull. Also I'm positive no one in this universe is going to recognize records divided between 2 and 4 across stand up coaster, say you will never see in park literature, "Worlds tallest 2 across Stand Up coaster".
Most records today that people/parks care about are tallest, fastest and longest overall in the wood and steel category, and fastest doesnt cut it unless it has another record to compliment it.
Favorite Wood Coasters: The Voyage, Ravine Flyer II, Thunderhead, Balder Favorite Steel: Voltron Nevera, Steel Vengeance, Expedition GeForce, Olympia Looping Parks visited: 232, Coasters Ridden: Steel: 894, Wood: 179, Total: 1073