RIP Coastermania

Coastermania has sent it's last passengers on a cruise.

I hope you're a morning person...because if so, you're in for a RUSH!

https://www.sixflags.com/ce...rning-rush

The highlights:

$95

7:30 AM - 11:00 AM ride time on select rides

June 5th:

Siren’s Curse (7:30 – 9:00)
Millennium Force (7:30 – 9:00)
Iron Dragon (7:30 – 9:00)
Rougarou (9:30 – 11:00)

All-Day Dining, a T-Shirt, and a single Fast-Lane voucher. Idea is to have multiple "Morning Rush" events throughout the season.

I am not a morning person. Nor do I think of this as a replacement for CM. That's dead, and this is the new non-equivalent thing. Even suggesting this is a replacement for CM is like saying Shoot the Rapids was a replacement for White Water Landing.

And on the second day, Coastermania rose again

https://www.reddit.com/r/ce...ony_clark/

I think it needs to be said, people are hurting both financially and emotionally in the current world environment we are living with all the chaos and dysfunction. What do people gravitate towards under such circumstances? Traditions and value. Now is NOT the time for major change and what was clearly a cash grab.

I would beg the corporate office at Six Flags to listen to the good folks at Cedar Point about any future plans. One thing I am not seeing and feel is a HUGE missed opportunity was support for celebrating Corkscrew’s 50th birthday celebration this summer. It easily could have been connected to the 250th birthday of America featuring red/white/blue theming throughout the park, the Corkscrew station banners and decor, commemorative pins, historic photographs of Corkscrew’s construction, its original name before it was changed, Arrow Dynamics role in the era of coaster wars, red/white/blue food items, 70’s pop music hits played in the queue of Corkscrew, etc. People of a certain age(who are now at their peak income generation!)LOVE nostalgia and remembering those exciting times in the 70’s and 80’s at CP while younger generations have an opportunity to learn the role CP has held for decades as a leader in the amusement park industry.

It’s only May 13 and there is time to run an idea like this for the summer. Who doesn’t love a celebration?

Gunkey Monkey:

its original name before it was changed,

What was its original name?

(Didn't occur to me that this was the 50th year. I still remember seeing a physics poster about it when I was in elementary school.)

According to Wikipedia:

Corkscrew was originally announced in 1975 as The Great Lake Erie Roller, a name designed to tie in with the nearby Lake Erie, the action of rolling, and "roller coaster".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wi...dar_Point)

I didn't know that until now. Remember the year it opened very clearly. Bicentennial was a big deal that was discussed/shown for a long time. Seemed like it was a year long celebration. 250th seems much less of a focus. At least in part based on changes in the country since then.

The Great Lake Erie Roller was indeed the original name for Corkscrew. The name was announced and then over the winter the board demanded a change so Robert Munger complied and Corkscrew was born, America’s first triple looping rollercoaster. Thus began the days of one-upping each other with superlatives of taller, faster, longer, more inversions, etc.

Many don’t know that prior to opening day in 1976, Corkscrew had a braking failure and one train crashed into the back of another. Overnight, parts of the undamaged trains were pieced together and Corkscrew opened the following day. It was so popular the line filled the queue that exists today but then snaked down the pathway by Jungle Larry’s African Safari and often reached the corkscrew inversions. From that point it would be a 1.5-2 hour wait. Back in those days of standing behind the yellow safety line, no airgates, no exit gates, no safety belts and 3 “pedal kickers” to lock/unlock restraints, trains could and needed to be dispatched every 30-40 seconds. It was magical and set the standard for ride operation efficiency in the industry, all while operating safely.

I love Claude! Even it knows in these difficult times people are seeking tradition, value, community, etc.

I think the honoring coaster aniversaries is a huge issue chain wide. There are a few local to me that are missing any sign of 25th, 20th or 5th year signage

A celebration is such an easy special event that can generate a sense of urgency to participate/attend, especially if limited-edition items are available.

This is where I challenge the qualifications of Six Flags board members. Arik Ruchim, Marilyn Spiegel, and Chieh Huang are former SIX board members who have remained post merger under FUN. They need to be called out for their failures, from the financial distortions of the value of legacy SIX properties and the financial underperformance of these properties to supporting the disastrous decisions of the 2025 season to the loss of deep talent that worsened the problems that were created by this merger. They must go and be replaced by industry veterans, yet in the case of Arik he’s a significant investor.

Reports of Coastermania's death are greatly exaggerated.

https://www.sixflags.com/ce...astermania