Shockwave leaving Six Flags Great America, headed elsewhere
Posted
Six Flags Great America announced yesterday that Shockwave would be dismantled and sent elsewhere to make room for their 2003 attraction. Shockwave was chosen to take the fall after public outcry forced them reconsider the removal of Whizzer.
According to posts in the CoasterBuzz forums, B&M track has arrived at the park and sits waiting in the employee parking lot. The most popular rumor is that the track is for a flying coaster.
Read more from the Daily Herald.
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No, they wouldn't. Of course the corporate office naturally tried to palm it off on Astroworld, but fortunately it's footprint is just too stinking big. Keep in mind that Astroworld has kept Texas Tornado closed for two years because it's too much of a head-banger, you think they are interested in bringing another ride like that in? Further the management of the park is tired of being sent scraps from other parks and one reason we haven't gotten anything in a three years in because the general manager of AW is resisting more used attractions (about as strongly as corporate is resisting giving us new ones, hence nothing comes in at all).
Really, no park in their right mind would want Shockwave, but SOMEONE'S going to get it forced on them.
On the revamp of the ORLEANS themeing, here's the problem. The area only has 4 rides: Roaring Rapids, Condor, Rue Le Dodge and the new coaster. It wouldn't be that difficult to retheme everything in the area since their isn't much their anymore. Turn the Rapids ride into a Blizzard River, The Condor could become General Zod's Birds of Terror, along with the Superman coaster. Anything is possible.
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BMCOASTER
bmcoaster@wi.rr.com
Yup, everything points to this being a GREAT move for the chain, save one thing. GASM-II is just up the road! Too bad, I'd have loved to see Shockwave follow me to DC (it was once one of my top two coasters, along with Magnum....)
jeremy
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"To get inside this head of mine, would take a monkey-wrench, and a lot of wine" Res How I Do
Now im confused...from past town meetings ive always understood different on the land that the park owns. I knew that there was a small part of land across the street that they owned other than whats already used for the parking lots. As for owning all the way down to Exit 20, your telling me Six Flags owns the land that the restaurant and businesses are built on that DawgByte posted about then??
As for Jungleland, I know that alot of that area is wet...but there is also a good amount of dryland there...ive walked around it. Ill be coming up to the park sometime soon...i would come this weekend but now with the rain i wont be. so ill def. check out that haunted marsh within the next few weeks.
If your there and could take a few mins out of your time, and point out whats what on the land to me in person real quick that would be great. let me know if thats possible. thanks!
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John
Albany Entertainment:
http://home.nycap.rr.com/albanyent
Six Flags Arizona!! Oh yeah, baby!! We'll take Shock Wave and send Desert Storm to a proper burial in the middle of the Sonoran Desert. *Awakens from the dream*
Shockwave will not fit in the Great Escape. A coaster of that magnitude would only fit in the park if it were built custom for the shape, and terrain of the park (remember, there are a lot of hills).
tGE was not supposed to get LaRonde's floorless. They were only slated to get the money that was used to purchase the floorless coaster. The money will come some other year.
The GE is in the market for something big--- maybe not a big coaster but a big addition to the ride count. Let's not forget that SF wants a 70% increase in the attendance. That won't happen with a drop tower and a show starring dancing clowns.
If you do the process of elimination, NewYorkSuperman... The Great Escape is a front-runner for the "Shockwave" ride.
I'm wasting my time, now. As someone who works full time for the park, I'm here to offer factual public information. I'm telling you that 1) It won't fit, 2) We don't want it, and 3) It's not coming to The Great Escape!
They DO want to get some major thrill rides. They want to bring back yearly tourists that visit the park. They want to bring back the locals that live in nearby Albany, Glens Falls, up to Lake Placid... as well as others.
Yes, they want to bring back the FAMILIES from that area. They're not marketing themselves as a large thrill park. Who are you to say what the park wants to get? Do you work there too? Have you seen the plans? Do you know the marketing scheme? No, no, and no
If you read the article that John (CalvinJ23) posted, then you can clearly see that The Great Escape got boned big time with the Six Flags purchase of La Ronde, and the floorless that was going to go at The Great Escape, wound up at La Ronde as a last minute decision!! So The Great Escape WAS going to recieve a major thrill ride to brag about, and that explains the clearing that was haulted half-way through last year during the off-season.
1) The CAPITAL that was meant for The Great Escape was directed toward La Ronde instead... The Great Escape wasn't planning on getting a major thrill ride this year, and CERTAINLY not a B&M! They were going to spend the money on the new bridge and front entrance improvements.... NOT a coaster. EVER.
2) The coaster that La Ronde received was an Inverted. The Floorless went to New England. Neither coasters were slated for The Great Escape, EVER.
NewYorkSuperman... where do you get that The Great Escape own so much land across the street? To the immediate right, there's a nice restaurant... to the left, you got many other businesses. Are you telling me that's all owned by Six Flags inc?
Yes. Six Flags owns and The Great Escape manages everything from the Old Zoo near Pirate's Cove, including Martha's Ice Cream and Hotel, The Coachhouse (remember when it used to be the Coachman? Charlie Wood used to own it...), and The Samoset. They also have houses on the property that you can't see from the road which house internationals and other employees.
Now im confused...from past town meetings ive always understood different on the land that the park owns. I knew that there was a small part of land across the street that they owned other than whats already used for the parking lots. As for owning all the way down to Exit 20, your telling me Six Flags owns the land that the restaurant and businesses are built on that DawgByte posted about then??
YES! They own the land and manage the hotels and restaurants.
If your there and could take a few mins out of your time, and point out whats what on the land to me in person real quick that would be great. let me know if thats possible. thanks!
As long as it stops these faceless, blantantly false speculation and rumors!
This news is turning into a Great Escape talk...I think that Great Escape very well might get Shockwave...I was thinking that if they moved Giant Wheel they could put a path right to the cleared land to the left of Picnic and Comet.
Shockwave might not be new but it will draw a crowd. There are no other rides like it around other than GASM at SFGAdv. Face it people, no one knows and I dont care New York Superman if you work for the park cause someone that worked for the park told me that Skycoaster was going to get remodeled to be 350 ft. tall and Nightmare was to be remodeled. No one knows! All these decisions are made by top execs right now so no one will know until the announcement is made.
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I like my Eclipse but I like Force more....
No one knows! All these decisions are made by top execs right now so no one will know until the announcement is made.
...except those of us who have seen the plans!
;-)
This is my last post on the topic due to conflict of interest. Enjoy living your fantasies, guys.
I love how everyone thinks they know what they're talking about when they talk about the Great Escape. The only person who isn't talking bull is CalvinJ23.
People people, I KNOW! I am very close to someone who is ON the Queesbury town planning board. I have and always have had the right information. I knew when the bobsled was going in, when the Nightmare was going in and when the Sky coaster was going. Now I know that NOTHING is going in at the Great Escape.
Yes, the environmental report has been finished. The Great Escape is supposed to start a big expansion this year but NOT in rides. They're going to build they're hotel, pedestrian bridge, new roads, sewage treatment plant and larger entrance (where the rainbow is) before rides are put in.
The Great Escape was never getting a ride. The only ride the Great Escape was supposed to get but didn't were those waterslides a few years back. The coaster at La Ronde was NEVER going to the Great Escape. The land cleared behind Ghost Town IS NOT for a new coaster. Just keep waiting...
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Oh yea? You saw the plans?
And what does this include, may I ask? Or are you under the CIA not to spill the beans? ;)
Ummm..... did you not just read what I wrote? I just said what the Great Escape is doing and I'm not writing it all over for you.
And no, I have not seen the plans. I am very close with someone who HAS seen them though. It would be foolish not to believe me. All of the information I give about the Great Escape is very accurate. If I were going to lie I would say something like the Great Escape was getting a 7 inversion B&M Inverted coaster...
trust me
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Whatever happened to intertwining or stacking on new rides? Morey's Piers & Blackpool PB come to mind.
Therefore WHY would they need to do this??
SW ain't a minor coaster & this would really affect the park's line up.
rentzy387 wrote: "I love how everyone thinks they know what they're talking about when they talk about the Great Escape. The only person who isn't talking bull is CalvinJ23. "
Thank You!!! :)
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John
Albany Entertainment:
http://home.nycap.rr.com/albanyent
Sorry DawgByte II
Your Welcome CalvinJ23
Once again, you don't HAVE to believe me. But you will see...
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I have been reading all the posts for the last hour and here is just what I saw yesterday while I was at the park.
-Shockwave is going, and it is sad, but it was a very rough ride.I would ride it 4+ time a trip if the lines on the other coasters were just a bit too long. Not to mention, being right by the front was a nice way to get me warmed up for the bigger stuff.
A friend of mine who works at the park stated that even they are being kept in the dark. He said that part of this might be due to the fact that some of the ride ops were at the forefront of leaking the bad press about DejaVu's late opening last year.
-Three rides have been removed from SFGAM. Cajun Cliffhanger due to the accident, Shockwave, and Power Dive is out of operation as of now. The "Plane" has been removed entirely. I am not sure if they are just fixing it, but I don't believe it is coming back. all three rides are generally on the same area of the park.
I would love to see some new themeing over in that area, but all we can do is speculate. I would guess we won't hear a thing about the truth till january or february.
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