SFGAm riddle
MrHaroldG said:
"They have childhood memories of the coaster. They have memories of the first time they rode it. They may have met their future girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse aboard it. They may have even gotten married aboard it. You may take away a coaster, but you cannot take away these people's memories of it. Those memories are meant to last a lifetime."
Umm .. just to remind you: IT'S JUST A ROLLER-COASTER!! ;)
Besides, you left out ".. their first concussion, their first trip to the emergency room, their first time swallowing an advil without breaking it into little pieces first...." ;)
Swimmerkev, you say that Whizzer had maintenance problems ... Where is your evidence (other than all the flapping 13 year old lips on the coaster boards)?? Whizzer runs quite well .. In fact, in the 4 years I've been going to the park, I can't think of any times when it hasn't run ... especially extended downtime. In fact, Whizzer has run far better than both Deja Vu, and V2, all year (and last year).
The decision to remove Shockwave instead makes perfect sense .. NOBODY WAS RIDING IT! Even if it costs half as much to maintain than Whizzer, that's still throwing money away since it was easily the most unpopular coaster in the park. Besides, it was initially a completely retarded decision to replace a family ride with a thrill ride. Replacing Shockwave with the flyer is infinitely more sensible.
It doesn't matter whether or not YOU like it .. You were in the minority. (I liked it too .. but I could always see that the GP stayed away from it in droves..).
Whizzer, on the other hand, is nearly always packed .. even with three train operation. Whizzer is a far more appealing, broad, and unique ride, which complements the coaster line-up perfectly .. Shockwave may have put Six Flags Great America on the map, but Whizzer is keeping it there.
Shockwave will be missed by so few people, that it's really not worth the park keeping it. You can't please everybody, so you might as well please as many as you can. Removing Shockwave pisses off far less people than removing Whizzer.
And as for supports and land etc .. I agree that little (if any) changes would be necessary .. but even if they are, then new supports can be made.
Face it .. Shockwave's time is over. It's time to move on .. like it or not.
Cam.
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Cameron Silver
You have no hard evidence that "Shockwave's removal pisses off far less people" than Whizzer's
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SFGAm: 1)DV 2)V2 3)AE Blue 4)Viper 5)Bull
Hmmm Let's see..
1) Lack of news coverage
2) Lack of newspaper coverage
3) Lack of 'public outcry'
4) Lack of people lining up to ride it
A non-inverting family ride will pretty much always be liked and ridden by more people than a VERY intense thrill ride. Height requirements aside, you had to be a pretty serious coaster-rider to enjoy Shockwave, and ride it repeatedly .. and it's pretty obvious that only a small number of people like rides which are that brutal.
I am one of them! I had no problem with Shockwave (admittedly, it wasn't my favorite .. but I liked it) .. I will miss it, and I am sad that it's going. However, I can't fault the park for their decision ... The park needs MORE things that younger kids ( 7 - 10 year old ) can ride, not less. Replacing Whizzer with a thrill ride would have be a monstrously bad move.
Cam.
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Cameron Silver
"You have no hard evidence that "Shockwave's removal pisses off far less people" than Whizzer's
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I think that the (i hate to use the term) "General Public" has spoken quite loudly on this issue already. Early in this season, before rumors that either coaster was going anywhere, and on Saturdays when lines on most lines stretched into the midways, Shockwave was consistantly a walk-on. Meanwhile a 45 minute wait would be greeting you when you arrived to ride the Whizzer. The public has spoken. They prefer the Whizzer. They want the Whizzer. I have spoken to many people that I know that are not enthusiasts and all of them are happy to see the blue giant going. Not one of them was sad to see it go. When I told them earlier that Whizzer was going, every single one of them was shocked and said that it was too bad such a nice ride was going.
You wanted proof, there's your proof...
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Bob Hansen
A proud CoasterBuzz Member
Operation Wicked Twister - Goal: Lose 50 lbs by next season to ride it! (updates soon)
Whizzer had lines nearly all of the time. Shockwave barely ever had lines. If you were six flags, which would you pick for removal based on these facts?
Okay, my extended family (in Chicago) is made up of 1 coaster enthusiast (me), two people who like coasters a lot, three who like most of them, and one who doesn't like many coasters at all. When the news of whizzer;s impending doom was broken to these individuals, they (including myself), all gave the same response: "The Whizzer!? No! Why?! If they have to take something out, couldn't they take out Shock Wave instead?"
Yes, Whizzer has some meachanical issues. I have often seen it broken. But the fact remains that a lot more people want to ride the Whizzer than Shock Wave. In fact, Shock Wave's demise is what most people immediately asked for upon hearing of Whizzer's fate (I got that same reaction out of most of my friends, too). In a park full of thrill rides, the painful, unpopular thrill ride is a much better candidate for the axe than a family ride. Particularly whne that park is a tad short on family rides, and the one in question is one of te best family rides ever made.
*** This post was edited by (SF)Great American on 10/3/2002. ***
I visited Chi-Town in 99' and had the opp. 2 go 2 SFGA and was lucky enough 2 ride Shockwave, hate 2 see it go. i rode every coaster in the park except "The Wizzer", since it broke down around noon and was down for the rest of the day. SFGA is a great park with great coasters, and although i personally loved SW, and hate 2 see it go, I can see why they are sending it elsewhere, even when i was there there was no line(We walked on2 the front the first thing in the morning). SW is still the most inversions i've ever went through, but i'm hoping it will bost some other park(i kinda hope that the scarce rumors of it going 2 SFA are true, since i'm close 2 there),
Hey, look on the bright side, It's not going the way of Drachen Fire(which i never got 2 ride)
Long Live Shockwave(or whatever name it may end up as)!!
TeknoScorpion,
Just a question for (4) you (u). Does it take that much less time to (2) hit the number instead of typing the word?
Check the TOS...
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Le roi est mort. Vive le roi.
Thanks Great America!
(SF)Great American said:that park is a tad short on family rides,
Well MY family thinks the opposite of your's. We al consider the park a thrill park, not a family park. For those of you who would do this "(Sob)Why Whizzer? (sob) The park (sob) has no family (sob) rides." if Whizzer was removed, GO TO DISNEY.
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"The password is, 'Nice rack,', and I'll reply 'I forgot my bra,'."
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Sworn Whizzer hater because it took Shockwave down
Hey, I go to parks to have FUN. Now, I consider shooting down a steel tube at excessive speeds to be the most fun possible. But right up there is just hooting and hollering with family or good friends on rides that don't exactly get my adrenaline pumping. A day at a park that consists of only major thrills would be, I think, wasted. There's got to be some balance. Whizer is nice because it's got the non-thrill aspect, with one or two thrills thrown in there, too.
And as for what Great America thinks, they will be a thrill park or a family park, depending on what draws in the largest crowds. Ever since Six Flags took over, they've found that being both is actually the biggest draw. From this perspective, it makes a LOT more sense to take out an unpopular thrill ride as opposed to a popular family one, especially when the replacement will be another thrill ride.
When SW removel was announced there was no line for it becuase it was closed. I think if they annouced its removel and the ride was open the line would be long. Why do you people want Whizzer to stay. Whizzer is just a waste of space that the flier could have been in. If i could pick either SW or Whizzer I would pick SW because it is a lot better then Whizzer.
MrHaroldG said:
My take (again) on Shockwave's removal: whether you liked the coaster or not (and personally, I had a love/hate relationship with it), you can't help but be saddened by the deconstruction photos. After all, Shockwave gave SFGAm so much life. Its debut in 1988 put SFGAm on the map. Also, it is much more than just a coaster—it goes much deeper than that. People have fond memories of Shockwave and will forever cherish those memories. They have childhood memories of the coaster. They have memories of the first time they rode it. They may have met their future girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse aboard it. They may have even gotten married aboard it. You may take away a coaster, but you cannot take away these people's memories of it. Those memories are meant to last a lifetime.
Also, I find it odd that SFGAm's motto for the 2001 season was "Record Breaking, History Making." You don't make history by erasing an old piece of it. They almost learned that lesson the hard way with Whizzer. They've now made a far worse mistake by sacrificing Shockwave. They already had a rather impressive, yet somewhat under-rated, collection of roller coasters. They very easily could have increased that collection by building the B&M Flyer without having to take anything out. We may come to fall in love with this new coaster, but the sacrifice of Shockwave will leave a very bad taste in our mouths.
Even more people have cherished memories of the whizzer.
I agree with (SF) Great American, in the fact that I go to a park to have fun. I, for one, do not find getting a splitting headache for the remainder of my day fun. Now I'm sure a more enjoyable, less headache-producing ride will be put in its place. So, just let it go. There's going to be people complaining for any ride you take out, even the crappiest of rides have a few fans here and there.
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-Bob (formerly Coaster Jedi)
Do any of you know how to build a sundial out of a pen and a donut?
uh oh, sounds like someone has a case of the mondays.
Well MY family thinks the opposite of your's. We al consider the park a thrill park, not a family park. For those of you who would do this "(Sob)Why Whizzer? (sob) The park (sob) has no family (sob) rides." if Whizzer was removed, GO TO DISNEY.
Aw man, I can't believe you just said that!. First of all, for the average SFGam guest, Great America is in their backyard, Disney's in FLORIDA. Not exactly somewhere you can go on a July afternoon. Using that line of thinking you could say that ShockWave fans should "go to AstroWorld (or wherever it's actually moving to).
Secondly, the park is a family park, as is all amusement parks. look at the attractions at SFGAm. You have a dozen or so thrill rides and the rest are family oriented. If it wasn't a family park, Yukon would not sport 2 children's areas. They wouldn't waste the money for the various shows they put on, and there would be no use for the Pictorium. Families are the bread and butter of the Six Flags parks. Do you think all those teenagers are the ones dropping all the money on food and merchandise? Most kids have no money!! I used to work in the games dept. there. Teenagers would spend $5 on a game and move on. It was the dads that would drop a cool hundred to get their kid a teddy bear. Next time you're at the park, look around - there's a lot more families there than you might realize. Not only that -not everyone likes the mega thrills. In almost every group that I go to the park with, there's always a couple that would rather ride flats and water rides, rather than Raging Bull.
Plus- Shock Wave has been rumored to be getting the axe for at least 3-4 years. This is not a sudden surprise that it's being taken down. Even if Whizzer was removed, Shock Wave would be likely saying sayonara in two years anyway. As was mentioned, the ride has been a regular walk-on for a good part of the last decade. There's still plenty of great rides at SF, c'mon give the kiddies/ non-thrill ride fans a break and let them have one coaster. Think about it this way... If they removed Whizzer and found that indeed the park did need a mild coaster, SW might have been replaced with a wild mouse...imagine the talk back that would receive!!
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p.s. contrary to popular belief i am not an idiot nor i am i a child.
Closed topic.
