Rumors of the removal of GL's X-Flight

What happened:

Ride was closed down due to a strange noise and when maintenance tested the ride empty, the joint that holds two cars together (the ball joint), became disconnected or loose and send the fins that guide between the LIMS and magnetic brakes sideways causing an extreme mis-aligning, which in turn, destroyed some LIMs, brakes, and the chassis and frame of a few rows.

Yay to venom!

The only park moving Venom too making sence is MIA IMHO. Dorney or WOF for X flight.

Im told they are already clearing land behind Racer and to the left of FOF for PKI's 2008 attraction.

Chuck

Chuck, you just may be on to something... :)

Rob W.:"I'm not going on Steel Venom 1, it isn't safe!"

The landclearing is just some minor tree removal next to the service road, there are some utilities there.

There is some soil stability foundation testing going on directly behind the old helipad next to Flight of Fear.

I rode X-Flight back in 2002 and thought it was a great ride. I felt that it and Dominator were the only two coasters at the park that measured up to the quality coasters over at Cedar Point. If it is true, and there is nothing new coming in 07, then I feel this park may be on it's way out.

I hope I am wrong but with the recent addition of PKI, I don't think GL really fits into the Cedar Fair business plan any longer. All we have been seeing is the removal of rides, events, shows, downsizing of the water park plans, etc... If you put two and two together you get a bleak picture for GL.

Thing is Mr. Lurcker, Theres people like me who consider Big Dipper and Villain better than anything at CP :)

Chuck, who loves Dominator too.

I too liked Big Dipper. I did not get a chance to ride Villian, due to single train operation and a huge line. However, Big Dipper had the feel of a traditional park coaster, where as X-Flight and Dominator felt like rides that the GP lines up for at parks like CP and SFGAM.

I felt upon leaving WOA that day that X-flight and Dominator were rides that that park could build on if it wanted to be a player in the overall Ohio market.

Wasn't it said somewhere that Geauga Lake might be going to be turned into or better off turned into a traditional park to differentiate it from Cedar Point? Well with Cedar Fair now also owning Kings Island this might be the time to do it. Look at what it leaves them in Ohio. Three parks with distinct identities. Cedar Point come for the latest and greatest, Kings Island a park for the whole family, and Geauga Lake a traditional park with a waterpark for the price of one park.

Step one clear out the easy to remove rides Steel Venom, Hyde's Nasty Fall and X-Flight. Then step to is to clear out the two by the lake.

Also I wouldn't move X-Flight to Dorney. It's to close to Great Adventure. Send Steel Venom there and prove what a LIM coaster is ;)

I believe the rumor is possibly a premature fact on this one. You can never have enough parking. ;)

So you're saying Blue Streak at Cedar Point is out of place? ("Traditional park coaster")

Rides like that may not draw the massive lines, but they definitely serve a purpose -- they spread the crowds around a bit more, and give people who aren't ready for the big ticket attractions something to do.

Geauga Lake has a fine lineup of coasters, one that in some ways I actually prefer to Cedar Point. If only they would get Villain back into shape.

I wouldn't really care if they removed X-Flight, but I hope Steel Venom stays put.

I don't think X Flight is going anywhere. Besides Dominator, X Flight is the only other unique coaster there.

The point I was trying to make earlier, was summed up perfectly by Coasterbuzzer. X-flight and Dominator are the two coasters that differentiate GL from CP. Perhaps they are the reason some of the GP decide to go to GL over CP on any particular day.

The rest of the GL offerings have a similar ride at CP. Big Dipper - Blue Streak, Venom - WT, Villian - Mean Streak. IMHO, if I were to go back to GL it would be to ride X-Flight/Dominator. If I wanted to ride any other type of coaster, I would go to CP.

I don't hear anybody mentioning Raging Wolf Bobs. Since the rehab, that is one great ride. If CF could get Villain into line, GL would have the sweetest lineup of woodies this side of Kennywood.

While I agree with trimming the fat on the rides side of GL, I'd rather see X-Flight stay, and the impulse and boomerang get sent to other parks. Let the two overlooked parks get them (Steel Venom to PGA, Boomerang to MIA) or something like that. Fill the area back up with flats, a dark ride, maybe even a show or two, and a Gerstlauer spinning coaster. Heck, build a new theater on that side of the park, and just move the show leftovers from Sea World to it), and expand the water park on that side.

The thing is, Geauga Lake is a blank slate right now. They can play with the park all they right now, since it's cheaper entry fee and waterpark make up a larger draw for families.

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pkidelirium said:
Factoid: Paramount Parks originally purchased X-Flight for PKI. It was to replace the Antique Cars in 2000. When they started the SOB project, the plan was scrapped and Six Flags bought the ride.

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Factoid my ass. Jeff Siebert said that PP funded the R&D for the Flying Dutchmen and after Stealth turned out to be such a pain in the ass, they agreed to license it to other parks (namely Six Flags).

^ Would be a different scenario if Vekoma had Stealth running like it should have been in that first year...but it WAS new and cool in its first year...and despite all the *hating* about the flyers, I still like the original Vekomas as far as RIDE EXPERIENCE...

Reliability, obviously, is an *entirely* different concept... ;)

Ensign Smith, Lurker and I were talking about the coasters that are unique over CP and KI. Raging Wolf Bobs is running great and is a fun ride, but what is unique about it that you can't find at CP or KI?

^Gerstlauer trains!

How many Bobs-type layouts do CP and KI have? Other than Mean Streak, which is a vastly different experience from Raging Wolf Bobs. RWB is fairly unique, IMHO. I would call it a signature ride.