Deja Vu - Two Down, One To Go?

Received an email confirmation from Magic Mountain's spokeswoman Sue Carpenter -- Deja Vu is not being removed from the park.

While it's not going to be taken out this year or next year, I personally don't think it'll stick around for that much longer.

So all you credit whores start planning your trips! You still have some time to do your rounds on the last Giant Inverted Boomerang in the States.

Are the removed Deja Vu's being sold, or simply dismantled? I was thinking that that if they are just removing them, they will end up sending the spare parts to CA.

Based on what was said by some fulltime employees at SFGAm during the final rides, Deja-Vu has been sold to an overseas park.

I know have made this point before, but does anyone else think it is a HUGE MISTAKE to remove these rides? I was just over at youtube and googled Deja Vu--virtually every response is extremely positive- "awesome, scariest ride, super intense" --pages and pages. The 90 degree lift on the towers is such an awesome experience, and it is truly the only thing on a coaster that has scared me at all in the last decade or so. It was very sad to experience the on-ride video and realize I'll never ride the Vu again.

My question is: How much expense is too much to maintain a ride that is truly a huge crowd pleaser and maybe the most frightening coaster out there? I wonder how extra it was costing to maintain this ride, I sure hope it was a lot. Any park employees shed some light?

Oh..also...you have to wonder if there will be some public anger when people get to the park next year and the big green giant is gone. Now that the ride had been around for six seasons I think people were finally starting to get familiar with it. It is unquestionably one of the park's premier attractions.

Yeah...I'm gonna have to disagree with you Kevin. From the non-enthusiasts I have talked to, they all seem to think that Deja-Vu is the biggest piece of crap in the park. Typical comments include the huge wait time and the fact that it almost never runs.

There might be a lot of people saying that the ride is really awesome, but there are more people saying, "I don't want to wait two plus hours to ride that thing, er, that is if it is even open."

I think Six Flags is doing the right thing by removing the ride. It doesn't do anything to solve the problems that the park has with capacity. The space it vacates can be used for something that might improve overall park capacity.

How do you replace the ride and the huge amount of fanfare that it has???

You build a new one! But have Intamin do it. Or B&M (I didn't say that...) - at least they would be reliable, higher capacity and much more rideable... Intamin could and would build a real nice Deja Vu, I think.

What "huge amount of fanfare"? The only fanfare I've ever heard about one was people saying "Hey look....that thing is actually open today!"

*** Edited 11/3/2007 6:51:00 PM UTC by Peabody***

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Peabody said:
What "huge amount of fanfare"? The only fanfare I've ever heard about one was people saying "Hey look....that thing is actually open today!"

*** Edited 11/3/2007 6:51:00 PM UTC by Peabody***

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I meant that with a little sarcasm and little truth I guess. Seems from reading this topic, lots of people say it's their favorite ride at the park.

It was a good ride, but just too tangled up, awkward, nearly dangerous (my knees!) and totally unreliable.

"That being said" (always gotta love that), it was a great idea, and would probably be a great ride if a nice reliable 'clean' (by clean I mean wheels that actually touch the track, a better seating arrangement and restraints, etc.) version was built - preferably an Intamin.

"Nearly dangerous".....I totally forgot about knee and leg clearance. That's the only coaster I've seen with a warning about not extending your legs. Crazy!!

When I experienced that train for the first train all I thought was "What the hell were they thinking?!" :)

Following a busy season at SFGAm, this news has hit the hardest. While Splashwater Falls and Space Shuttle America will also be leaving the park, the removal of Deja Vu holds the most impact.

This ride is known for two things: Being the most-unreliable ride in the park; and also being the biggest worth-your-wait thrill.

Deja Vu replaced Sky Whirl, which, for twenty-somethings like me, accellerated the thrill rating. Yes, Sky Whirl was a nice family ride, with a version featured in "Beverly Hills Cop 3", but Deja Vu nicely filled that small amount of space.

What will make better use of this area come next season?

Deja Vu's fans will note the waiting time in the queue, or the ride's "will not operate today" status, but those true fans will say the ride is indeed worth it all. Surprisingly, Deja Vu ran at SFGAm almost the entire year, including throughout Fright Fest.

I say almost. My brother Joe and I were in line for the last row, and when we were slowly lifted up the first tower, we stopped and slowly descended down again, as if the ride was finishing. So we got the slow up and down, but without the ride. We waited and it worked the next shot.

I've read that Deja Vu overheats because it is in direct sunlight. More complicating, the parts necessary for repairs must be direct-ordered from Switzerland. No spare parts are on-hand, thus the closure for weeks or months.

All of this is hindsight now, as SFGAm will probably be removing Deja Vu as I type, but the real coaster enthusiasts, like myself, will be thankful they either waited patiently for the ride or were brave enough to conquer it.

Think of all the people who say "It's never open!" If you go once all season, sure, you may pick a bad day; but you can't base your assessment and place judgment after only one visit all season.

How many of those who complain have visited SFGAm 24 times for the 2007 season as I have?

R.I.P. Deja Vu, the prototype and first of its kind

People wouldn't be grumbling about the ride always being closed if it wasn't a good ride. Otherwise, they wouldn't even care.

James, you're a man after my own heart. I agree that it's worth waiting in this line longer than others because it's a better ride. Kick the Sky, to say that the line is 2 hours is a wild exaggeration-- on a typical day it's not more than 45 minutes, often less. And the ride was open almost the entire year this year --it was almost "always closed' from 2001-2003, I agree, but over the past 4 seasons a visitor had a pretty good chance to ride the thing if he/she came on a day betweem June and October. Sure, it has its five minute breakdowns

I guess it's just surprising that they keep junk that nobody rides like Space Shuttle America and Iron Wolf for decades and then pull the plug on the ride that delivers arguably the most wicked thrill in the park.

To the poster who argued that they should simply replace the ride with a B&M or Intamin-- whatever they put in there, it won't have a slow, 90 degree, 178 foot facedown lift that scares the crap out of you. I'll miss that thrill--a thrill that, despite what other posters might say, really makes this a unique product that cannot be easily replaced.

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Kevin Max said:

To the poster who argued that they should simply replace the ride with a B&M or Intamin-- whatever they put in there, it won't have a slow, 90 degree, 178 foot facedown lift that scares the crap out of you. I'll miss that thrill--a thrill that, despite what other posters might say, really makes this a unique product that cannot be easily replaced.

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I think that was me. I think Intamin could build a great version of Deja Vu. B&M probably wouldn't do it - it's too daring for them. But if Intamin built the ride I think it would be much more reliable - the wheels would also actually touch the track - and you probably wouldn't have to worry about a knee get taken out.

SFMM released information about the 2008 play pass. It the release it advertises Déjà Vu, so it looks like Six Flags is giving SFMM Vu at least 1 more year.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/LATH07708112007-1.htm

^ I find it funny how they don't even mention the new Thomas Town kids area, but go on to boast about the Bugs Bunny World area for children.

^^Yeah, Deja Vu is staying for a little bit at least.

My name is Donald Spiller and I am the Assistant Manager of Admissions at Six Flags Magic Mountian. Thank you for taking the time to write us with your questions.

The new Thomas Town will be placed next to Bugs Bunny World, in the space currently occupied by Granny Grand Prix. Deja Vu is not being removed, although I'm sure you're aware that Psyclone was removed earlier this year. Including Canyon Blaster and Goliath Jr. in Bugs Bunny World, we will continue to have 15 roller coasters. Thanks for bringing our
attention to the fact that the website states 14 coasters, which is incorrect.

Hope to see you at the park soon!

Donald Spiller
Assistant Manager of Admissions
Six Flags Magic Mountian

I skimed the thread and didn't see mention of this, so here it goes. It's just an assumption. But, is this

http://www.italintl.com/detail_page.php?record_id=1036

Georgia's Deja Vu? I know they don't always use the exact picture that corosponds to the ride. But, there are only 4 of these and only 2 are currently closed. Who know's if they even got permision to use the photo. It's the same one shown on RCDB here

http://www.rcdb.com/ig1040.htm?picture=18

What happened to Great America's Deja Vu? Did it get dismantled, scrapped, or is it just SBNO? *** Edited 11/13/2007 7:43:25 PM UTC by Jason Hammond***

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Jiggidy James said:

Think of all the people who say "It's never open!" If you go once all season, sure, you may pick a bad day; but you can't base your assessment and place judgment after only one visit all season.

How many of those who complain have visited SFGAm 24 times for the 2007 season as I have?

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Okay, and what percentage of GAm's income is made up of people who go 24 times a year and what percentage is made up of people who go once or twice a year? I'm guessing well over 99.5%

I had to go back to my 2002 trip reports diary to read my initial thoughts as that was my first and only trip to SFGAm.

Overall, I liked Deja Vu. The slow lift up the spike facing down creeped me out and I felt the rest of the ride was pretty fun.

But I did complain about the capacity and the fact they'd only opened it for 5 hours a day...between noon and 5 pm. I waited for 45 minutes outside the queue before it's noon opening with not that many people in front of me, but still ended up waiting an additional 45 minutes. Trains were launched every 5 minutes.

My son, who was 16 at the time and hanging with local friends his age, didn't even attempt to ride it. His friends told him it wasn't worth wait.

The only reason I waited? It was our only trip to the park as we aren't local. If I were local? No way I'd wait the average 2.5 hour wait for it. That's a huge chunk out of one's day at the park.

Frankly, I had more fun on Raging Bull.

^^^They are both up for sale. Try http://www.irmpri.com/product.htm

You are dreaming if you had to wait an average of 2.5 hours for it. That's only on the most packed days. For me, it averages about 40 minutes to an hour. *** Edited 11/13/2007 10:10:00 PM UTC by Spinout***