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Six Flags St. Louis announces wood coaster: Evel Knievel
Wednesday, September 26, 2007 10:55 PM ET | contributed by Jeff

The legendary daredevil no longer jumps canyons, but daredevils everywhere may soon be able to still feel his kind of excitement. Six Flags has announced that it is committing $7 million to add an eighth roller coaster dedicated to Evel Knievel's thrill-seeking career. The ride will start out with a stomach-churning 80-foot drop as the ride takes a 90-degree left turn and another 55-foot drop. The 2,700-foot ride hits speeds of 50 mph. It has 16 hills and multiple high-banked turns at up to 67-degree angles. The coaster criss crosses 14 times.

Read more from The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

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kpjb (Edit)     9/26/2007 11:38:37 PM
Seriously? Evel Knievel? What is this, 1978?
Goliath Freak (Edit)     9/27/2007 12:00:57 AM
Sounds like a solid ride, a little on the short side, but a fun ride no doubt.
Willh51 (Edit)     9/27/2007 12:13:55 AM
Nice! Can't wait to see some pictures. This kind of ride sounds like a good move for Six Flags, as it should please lots of families and thrill seekers alike. It's kind of funny that SFStl. also has the Boss, which hasn't been there for that long.
Mamoosh (Edit)     9/27/2007 12:30:16 AM
Word on the street is that it's a near-clone of this:

http://www.rcdb.com/ig2955.htm

Acoustic Viscosity (Edit)     9/27/2007 1:01:33 AM
Looks like a fun ride. SFStL just keeps getting better and better. THREE woodies plus Freeze, Batman, and a great mine train (heck I even like Chuck Norris The Ride, aka Ninja Kick to the Head)...very nice collection they'll have, yes.

Now if only they'd build my suspended coaster on that hilly terrain. It might be my favorite Flags.

kRaXLeRidAh (Edit)     9/27/2007 1:20:28 AM
There's a rendering of the ride here:

link
*** This post was edited by Jeff 9/27/2007 9:54:54 AM ***

J7G3 (Edit)     9/27/2007 1:46:26 AM
$7 Million! Wow! You get cheese fries with that!?

Way to go though... I mean how cool is that. An 'avg' sized woodie, that will kick total butt. Someone is thinkin!

Geewhzz (Edit)     9/27/2007 2:11:23 AM
Well this should be enough to get me back in 2008...I haven't been yet in 2007, Tony Hawk just doesn't seem like a good enough reason to go even though Spinning Dragons was an awesome ride.
Agent Johnson (Edit)     9/27/2007 3:54:04 AM
I remember Evel Knievel. I like him. I had the toys. He was in Maxim Magazone last year as one the America's top 5 tough guys.

Anyone gots a problem with that?

wahoo skipper (Edit)     9/27/2007 8:05:22 AM
Unless this ride ends in a violent crash (which probably wouldn't be good for business), or has a lot of alcohol in the queue prior to boarding...this ride is misnamed.
tigellinus (Edit)     9/27/2007 8:29:20 AM
It's cool when any new coaster is built, and great for the park, but c'mon...no pre-fab Intamin?!?!
PerrysburgGuy (Edit)     9/27/2007 8:48:05 AM
Do you get to break every bone in your body?
kip099 (Edit)     9/27/2007 8:57:19 AM
Agent Johnson ***Anyone gots a problem with that?***
Chuck Norris?

PerrysburgGuy *** Do you get to break every bone in your body?***
No - that would be the Boss...

The "theme" for this just doesn't seem right... It will be going in the "1904 Worlds Fair" section of the park. What does EK have to do with that? What does EK have to do with a wooden coaster for that matter. Now, if this were one of those Vekoma motorcycle coasters, I could see that...

As for the coaster itself, I couldn't be happier.

eightdotthree (Edit)     9/27/2007 9:29:17 AM
Bizzare about the theme and the coaster, doesn't seem to fit into Six Flags' long term goal of becoming a more Disney like.
Rob Ascough (Edit)     9/27/2007 9:44:08 AM
Except maybe it does. What other company would try to theme a wood coaster?

If Six Flags really wants to build wood coasters and install some flat rides while maintaining some level of theming, they should install "boardwalk" areas. A lot of Six Flags parks have some kind of body of water, so why not build a small area alongside it that mimicks an old seaside amusement park. That way, the existance of wood coasters and other hard-to-theme rides are justified. Call it Bug's Great American Boardwalk or some crap like that.

SFGAdv lover (Edit)     9/27/2007 10:44:02 AM
Renegade cost $6.5 million. EK cost $7 million. But Renegade is 400ft longer and 20ft taller. Did wood suddenly go up in price, or is GCI ripping off SF? Is the theme even family friendly?
SLFAKE (Edit)     9/27/2007 11:36:59 AM
If they really want it to have an EK theme, they should put Gerstlauer trains on it... guarenteed to break every bone in your body.
Rob Ascough (Edit)     9/27/2007 11:48:40 AM
^^ This might be one of those deals where the building/improving an area of the park and any associated infrastructure is rolled into the price of the ride. Didn't The Voyage cost $6.5 million?
Beauregard Lemeiux (Edit)     9/27/2007 12:42:43 PM
1st, I heard that Mr. Knievel went back to school to get his doctorate and now likes to be called "Dr. Evel" (ba-dump-pa)

2nd, they should install a new element on the coaster-to-be --- The mid-air jump. The coaster would 'jump' in the air from one part of the track to another. If you remember the old Hot Wheels tracks, they would have this element.

(If they do decide on the jump element, I ain't riding it!! - seen too many RCT crashes trying to accomplish this!)

boblogone (Edit)     9/27/2007 1:01:39 PM
Maybe they can put one where Psyclone was next.

http://www.rcdb.com/ig2955.htm?picture=7

http://www.rcdb.com/ig27.htm?picture=3

*** This post was edited by boblogone 9/27/2007 1:05:05 PM ***

RatherGoodBear (Edit)     9/27/2007 1:03:46 PM
"Evel Knievel is battling a lung disease. He no longer performs stunts." Was this quote really necessary in that article?

Maybe they're going to put it out in the parking lot and have the coaster jump over 19 cars! Will save them 100' or so of track.

Agent Johnson (Edit)     9/27/2007 1:06:32 PM
We all should get helmets when we board the trains. And white jumpsuits. And ABC's Wide World of Sports theme music should play loud. Sounds like we done gots a theme here boys.
*** This post was edited by Agent Johnson 9/28/2007 1:34:07 AM ***
WildThingNative (Edit)     9/27/2007 1:39:37 PM
One would think that this coaster could be place in front of Cesars Palace. Or going over the Grand Canyon.

And wouldn't it be more accurate if the ride was one of those Vekoma cycle coasters?

I'm at a loss for the connection. Is he from St. Louis?

It does look fun though. I'll have a new reason to get down there.

StLCPfan (Edit)     9/27/2007 1:47:33 PM
^^^ Recent rumor on the SFStL fansite is the moon cars are possibly going to return to the area once EK is constructed, possiby going through the structure. I suppose they could call that a car jump.
Vater (Edit)     9/27/2007 2:14:36 PM
"Evel Knievel is battling a lung disease. He no longer performs stunts."

I nominate this for the most bizarre way to conclude a news article covering the announcement of a new roller coaster ever.

kpjb (Edit)     9/27/2007 3:39:28 PM
Maybe SuperDave Osborne would've been a better choice.
Audioslaved (Edit)     9/27/2007 4:03:29 PM
Hey maybe SF has got it right now, you can add a butt load of coasters a year as long as they arent all 10-20 million.
Paul Drabek (Edit)     9/27/2007 4:39:40 PM
As of Saturday there was a sign out in front of where the Moon cars used to be saying that they will return for 2008.

Oh and EK didn't jump the Grand Canyon...he tried to jump the Snake River Gorge.

Have Fun

Paul

kip099 (Edit)     9/27/2007 6:11:37 PM
Did EK *ever* successfully complete a stunt???

They should so make the ride ops wear the red white and blue jumpsuits!

RatherGoodBear (Edit)     9/27/2007 10:26:59 PM
At least they're not calling it Robbie Knievel.
F5Twister (Edit)     9/28/2007 3:06:31 PM
IF this is really a clone of the Power Park coaster, everyone is in for a real treat- that is a GREAT ride, the best coaster of the recent Scandi trip, IMHO. Despite being smaller, it gives Thunderhead a run for its money as the best GCI woodie.
Audioslaved (Edit)     9/28/2007 11:14:58 PM
^^ He loose a finger relatively recently?
Intamin Fan (Edit)     9/28/2007 11:37:45 PM
I just read his Wikipedia entry, and all I can say is that the man has suffered through a lot of pain in his quests to complete stunts. The average theme of his story has him completing a stunt on one ocassion, only to fail at two or three following that. And every failure came with multiple broken bones and fractures.
PCWCoasterBoy (Edit)     9/29/2007 11:54:32 AM
Did anyone else notice the aritcle mentioned the ride would open "mid-summer 2008". Does that mean a late opening?
FLYINGSCOOTER (Edit)     10/1/2007 2:27:49 PM
PerrysburgGuy said

Do you get to break every bone in your body?

Twice even!

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