Six Flags Great Adventure announces 382-foot tall Bakunawa spinning roller coaster

Jeff:

But the spinning, I'm not sure how to feel about that.

Yeah. I was totally jazzed for this ride until I saw that it spins. When even the off-ride rendering turns my stomach, I have reservations.

PhantomTails:

I have zero experience in marketing, but my inclination is that if guests can't remember, spell, or pronounce the name of a new ride then it's not a good name

Bah koo nah wah? How is that hard to pronounce?

As for my thoughts, I like the trains as I preferred Top Thrill Dragster's open feel over Kingda Ka giving my neck a hard whack on the 270 downward spiral. As for why they changed it seems it was right about the time all the Intamin lap bars were in question so they were a no go on Kingda Ka.

The seats and restraints here look reminicent of Copperhead Strike which I loved.

Never done a Mack spinner but I can guess that this will have less spin than Barrels O Insanity.

That upside down launch while spinning along with the spinning at the top are going to probably be the signatures of the ride.

I do think this might get higher than the 520 riders per hour that most are quoting as that ride time seems to include the switch track move time.

Yeah, really rolls off the tongue, amirght?

I have no issue saying it...

They built a back story for how it got where it is which is something Six Flags rarely did.

I remember debating how bad Kingda Ka was from a "General Public" marketing perspective when that name came out. In hindsight, it worked out just fine. I imagine there have been other debates about AB era names like Kumba, Alpeingeist, etc.

I love the it's not Kingda Ka locals losing their ever loving minds on socials.

Why not Kingda Ka 2?

I didn't know what a Rougarou was.

Now I know what a Bakunawa is.

The Bakunawa, also called the Philippine moon-eating dragon, the Philippine moon dragon, moon dragon, or the moon-eating dragon, is a dragon-like serpent in Philippine mythology. It is believed to be the cause of eclipses, earthquakes, rains, and wind.

When I first hear the rumors of spinning I had hoped they were only that... rumors. Just another instance of coastertools trying to talk their world into existence like a 3 year old. Spinning on a ride like this just isn't logical to me.

I'm really hoping the park does something like lock at least one of the cars in a stationary position. Give riders a chance to choose a non-spinning ride facing forwards or backwards. (Mack does have the backwards car on that Hyper in Australia, right?) I am so exited about the upside down launch! That truly looks to be unique and amazing. As does the outward spiral at the top. But if the only option is spinning, I'm afraid it will be a one and done last ride of the day credit grab. Like those gawdawful Batman/Joker S+S tumblers.

I wonder if I write to the park if they will consider my request.

I have a feeling that this new coaster will be a flop.

By what metric?

It's Bakula to me. Or Scott to its friends. The Quantum Coaster.

I hope it has on ride music. Then you could listen to Bawitdaba while riding Bakunawa.

I’m not one who typically complains about coasters names, but…

Sucks.

So does Kingda Ka. And Rougarou, and a host of other names. If 100% of the public doesn’t know what it means without Google, it’s dumb.

The local public definitely knows what Bakunawa is. The park has been playing teasers during the week leading up and has been playing the announcement recording that explained the name in park.

Vater:

If 100% of the public doesn’t know what it means without Google

…or the park explaining it over and over,

it’s dumb.

I liked (I mean, I still do) Rougarou because of its uniqueness. The heartline is still screwed up, but I love the unique name.

I would personally put this in the same boat.

Now, where Cedar Point dropped the ball with Rougarou was the complete lack of any theming, because no where in the line do you learn about what that means. Werewolves make for a great theme, and all we got was a roar near the bottom of the loop that works every other Tuesday.

Hopefully SFGA adds some theming that at the very least tells the story, because how cool is a dragon-like serpent that "eats moons"?

That apparently spins.

I don't see this layout giving the spinning cars a reason to spin. It's pretty much a straight line, and then a really slow long turn. Which is why I think the spinning cars is an unnecessary gimmick.

And I don't like coasters to hang you upside down for long periods of time. I could just sit upside down on my couch if I wanted that sensation.

Yes, but could you launch yourself across the family room from that position?

Seems like a lot of crapping on the ride and its name here on Coasterbuzz, but I think the name and its tie in with their new Shoreline Pier/re-imagined Boardwalk area are just fine. It's better than "Phantom Spire" or "Gargantuan Vertical Vengeance!"

"The Bakunawa is a giant, serpent-like dragon from Philippine mythology known as the moon-eating dragon, the bringer of eclipses, and a sea-dwelling monster."

The shape of the ride literally looks like the creature it is named after.

I hate to say it, but this is about as good as you're going to get from Cedar Flags with naming, back story, and theming. C'mon guys - some of the same people crapping on this probably had a boner for "Gatekeeper."

I also think the ride looks unique in terms of the floorless/spinning/lapbar only trains, the long stall, the upside down launch, the outward banking while spinning 350+ feet in the air. I have no idea whether it will be a vomit inducing suck machine or will offer a unique and thrilling experience that hasn't been seen before. I'm sort of leaning toward the latter the more I look at it, but we'll have to wait and see. Some of Mack's other rides like Time Traveler and The Ride to Happiness seem to be pretty well liked. I haven't experienced either one.

ChatGPT is way off base on the capacity (or more likely, wasn't prompted with all of the needed information). That 137 seconds is probably the entire time from when you sit down to when you stand up. ElToro Ryan did an analysis based on POV timings and came up with a theoretical capacity of 920 per hour with the capability to dispatch a train every 77 seconds yielding just over 46 twenty passenger trains per hour. Real world probably won't hit that due to people being stupid, but it should be much better than what ChatGPT suggested. The ride might also have features like automatic/self checking lapbars meaning physical checking is unneccessary.

Needless to say at this point, I'm intrigued by a bunch of things about this ride and am looking forward to seeing how it goes.