Six Flags America - 20 Oct 01

Associated parks:
None

On Saturday my girlfriend and I went to Six Flags America, which is a little under an hour from our house. We got there shortly after it opened and went on the big swings right away - they're the first thing you come to as you enter the park, so we seem to be making them our traditional first ride.

Next we headed for Twoface: The Flip Side. I thought it was rather tame as coasters go, but my girlfriend (who is normally quite adaptable to coasters) wasn't warmed up yet and felt ill, so she kept her eyes closed the entire time. The seats are arranged so you're facing each other, and I watched her - I didn't enjoy the coaster as much as I could have because I could see her eyes were closed and I was worried! She was still happy to go directly to another coaster, though, and as with Twoface there was no line yet for The Wild One. After the first ride there was still basically no line, so the operator let us stay on for another go - we were about in the middle of the trains for every ride we went on. We had said we weren't going to, but after The Wild One we decided to go on Tower of Doom after all. It turned out to be rather uninteresting: by the time you realize you're falling and think "hey, I'm falling" it's already over.

We went back into the "Gotham City" section next, which wasn't there when we'd last visited Adventure World - it was added when Six Flags bought the park. I was really disappointed that Joker's Jinx wasn't running that day - it's the park's only LIM-launched coaster, and I find those a lot of fun...I couldn't find out why it was closed, though it turns out to have been because the OTSR weren't enough and people complained of a rough ride. So we went on Superman: Ride of Steel instead, which we had seen from The Wild One. I know it's a clone of the other two at SFDL and SFNE, but it's just cheaper to clone coasters...designing new ones is expensive, so I don't mind. In fact it lets people ride a coaster without having to travel far, though SFDL is in New York and SFNE is in Massachusetts...it would have been better to put the clones in parks across the country rather than all right nearby. Anyway, after a few minutes in line and then the ride, we got something to eat and tried another little ride before heading for the next coaster.

The walkway approaching Batwing is really long...there are little Batman-themed displays along the way, and my assumption is that in peak season the line stretches all the way along the path. Batwing's was the first line we encountered, but we were just outside the covered portion wth rails when we got in at the end of the line. We'd been there for about 20 minutes when we realized they were running it empty a few times, and then sure enough they announced a technical problem and delay of unknown length, we were "welcome to wait in line or enjoy the other rides at Six Flags America." A lot of people left but I convinced my girlfriend to stay; we moved up in line a lot and then only five or ten minutes later they let people back on the ride. Too bad for the people who left the line! We still had another 45 minutes or so to wait, so we practiced fingerspelling together - my girlfriend has just learned the letters, and I'm learning tactile reception so she spelled words into my palm while we waited. After finally finishing on Batwing - which was neat, it's not a particularly interesting coaster but being face-down is a novelty, and also I was distracted because my girlfriend had left her glasses on, which is against the rules, and I was afraid she was going to lose them - we wandered around for a bit. I had seen someone try the Sky Coaster and was all set to go on it myself...until I realized there's an additional $25 charge for that. No wonder nobody else was going on, either.

At first I thought the line for Roar was really long, but that turned out to be the line for the haunted house - there was almost no line for Roar. So we trotted up to it and would have had to wait maybe one or two trains - but then we realized it was stuck. One train was just approaching the station and the other just beginning to climb the lift hill, but they weren't going anywhere. Sure enough, they announced a delay, and the people in front of us all left and we waited right next to the airgates. They finally got the trains moving, offloaded the first one, and when the second one returned they offloaded that one too. Then they kept running them over and over without passengers while the mechanics worked on it - this was maybe 15 or 20 minutes worth of empty runs - and we finally got to go on. Roar has a good view of the Typhoon Sea Coaster...one of these days I will have to try braving peak season at SFA so I can give it a try!

We ambled toward the next coaster but I wanted to run ahead...I'd been feeling that way all day. Unfortunately only little kids can get away with that! There wasn't much of a line for Mind Eraser, so we made it on fairly quickly, but didn't like it very much. The restraints are too close to your head, so you really get banged around a lot - it made my girlfriend's headache worse, and gave me one. There are identical Mind Erasers at four other Six Flags parks - Darien Lake, Worlds of Adventure, New England, and Elitch Gardens - and I don't understand why nobody has complained about having their head bashed around.

We tried to go on Twoface again after that, but decided the line was too long; we didn't want to wait in the long lines for the Fright Fest activities (having gone there for the coasters anyway) so we checked out the gift shops (didn't buy anything) and left.

*** This post was edited by Etoile on 10/26/2001. ***

Etolie, please do your research on Superman Ride of Steel. The only two that are clones of each other are SFDL and SFA's, and they are mirrors of each other. SFNE has a totally unique design. As for why Joker's Jinx has been down for Fright Fest, who knows?
I was wondering. If you look at this aerial photo of S:RoS, there's a huge empty spot next to the helix. Does anyone know why this area was already cleared?  
I heard Joker doesn't run well in the cold and is rougher then ever in the cold. It is probably going to be sent for lap bars anyway.
That sure looks a heck of a lot bigger than it did from the ground.I think they probably could fit a mid sized B&M in there.
I always thought it was a fiar sized plot. But if you zoom out a bit, that plot is about the same size as the plot for Batwing. Maybe one of those small "SFNE floorless" sized coasters could go there?
jeremy
--who'd rather see a small stand up than a small floorless
That's exactly what I'm thinking.
Yikes, sorry about that, Intamin Fan.  I must have misunderstood what I read earlier; I took a look at RCDB's stats and saw the length and height were the same for all three so I assumed the difference in the other stats was because of placement issues or something like that.  I have a slow connection so I don't usually load pictures and couldn't know of any difference that way.  But if you'll forgive my mistake I'll forgive your calling me Etolie!
(I'm surprised nobody caught me on calling all of the Mind Erasers the same ride - turns out the one at SFWoA is a Vekoma Boomerang rather than a Vekoma SLC like the others.)
As for the empty space between Batwing and the helix on S:ROS, I agree that it looks the right size for another coaster.  I'd heard Python was in "a field near S:ROS," perhaps that's where they're keeping it for now.  (I don't see any other "fields" in the area, in any case.)  But I hadn't seen MapQuest's aerial photography before, that's really neat!

*** This post was edited by Etoile on 10/30/2001. ***

I've heard rumors that there's already neon green B&M track somewhere on site but this cannot be confirmed because when I was there on the 27th I didn't see any signs of new track at all.I guess we'll all just sit tight and wait for the official announcement.
From what I understand, I have been hearing people way that there is some green B&M track hidden back in that area somewhere. Here is another picture of the cleared land.  On the masterplan for the park, there is another coaster listed.  Its supposed to be a stand-up.  There is also rumor that SFA will get one of the three Impulse coasters that Six Flags bought and will probably get SFoG's old viper.  There's a lot of rumors going around the park, and its not even the end of the season yet, so something must be going on. 
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So...you can't handle a rollercoaster huh? Well...you ARE the Weakest Link! Goodbye!
Number 1 Batwing Fan!

Etoile said:
"(I'm surprised nobody caught me on calling all of the Mind Erasers the same ride - turns out the one at SFWoA is a Vekoma Boomerang rather than a Vekoma SLC like the others.) "

Oh I noticed all right (seeing as though I've been on SFWoA's boomer). I just didnt think it a big enough deal to "try and sound superior" about and let it go.

As for the "field" where Python is, take the above mentioned 'MapQuest' photo and move one click east and two clicks north and you will see the Python pieces directly above Batwing. It was right there all along, you just had to know where to look.
lata,
jeremy
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A Nigerian Muslim sharia court sentences a pregnant woman found guilty of adultery to be stoned to death, but only after she has finished weaning her baby.
This is known in some parts of the Muslim world as compassionate conservatism

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