Six Flags New Stuff - CoasterBuzz

ColumbusCoaster said:
I agree they do sound like wild mouse coasters, but the Euro-Mir also has hairpin turns so I don't think you can completely rule out a spinner. (Though I tend to agree with halltd that they would have mentioned the spinning in the description.)
Anyone else think they kind of skimped on the Thomas Town for SFoG? The Thomas ride will be a huge hit, no doubt, but I would have thought a Bertie the Bus and/or Harold the Helicopter would have been included as well.
I think the Wiggles World will be a smash at the Great Escape. (I know my son would love it!)
Anyone else surprised there wasn't a single waterpark attraction announced given the trend of the past couple of years? Kind of shocked there weren't a couple of new slides here or there.
- Aaron K

They did mention it.

"The Dark Knight Coaster will use storytelling, physical movement, video, sound and special effects to bring guests a one-of-a-kind dark ride experience. The $7.5 million coaster will be located in the Movietown section of Six Flags Great Adventure."

See notice the Physical Movement

Rob Ascough said:
I'm guessing that people called the floorless coaster simply "Batman"

Yeah. I've never heard it referred to as anything else, not even by staff.

^^^Physical Movement doesn't mean spinning. It's just means it's moving. *** Edited 9/27/2007 5:24:43 PM UTC by Spinout***

They wouldnt have put physical movement if all they ment was the ride.

Looks like SFMM got skipped this year as well! And it's either 2nd or 3rd in chain attendance. Can't even get a Thomas Town (too close to SDFK?). Ouch. No Dark Knight theme to anything, with Warner in the same area! No Tony Hawk, is it too close to Knott's Sierra Sidewinder?

Not even Hurricane Harbor made the cut, which would have been nice. It's going to be a challenging year for the new GM and how they are going to market the park; same attractions, higher prices. Disney and Universal will have huge new marketing campaigns for their new attractions, so maybe it's in their best interset to not attempt to launch any family attraction against Simpsons and Toy Story.

Looks like SFMM will try to get by on brand loyalty for 2008. Good luck to the new GM, he'll need it.

^Why should SFMM get anything. They just got Tatsu last year, and that was expensive. I don't even think they needed that ride at all. They should worry about there flats instead, and actually dismantling Flashback.

I think that park is the best in the chain, and I still think that getting another roller coaster is not really what they should be going for. These capital expenditures are more about the big pricey rides, and sections. That doesn't mean that they can't still retheme the Metro to Thomas train. Who knows? These parks could still get added flats rides. Those aren't as important as these other rides to them.

I also don't believe SFGAdv deserves yet another roller coaster. They just got El Toro, and Kingda Ka. Isn't that enough for awhile? *** Edited 9/27/2007 5:41:28 PM UTC by Spinout***

Well if theres any good news coming from these Dark Knight coasters its the 7.5 million price tag which we all know is a bit excessive for a mack mouse. Simply meaning the themeing hopefully wont be traditional Six Flags.

As for the name, The Dark Knight, It is the same name as the new Batman film coming out July 19th http://thedarkknight.warnerbros.com/. This is the first time that I can think of that a ride is launching with a major motion picture instead of after. Think of the possibilities...

^^Well SFMM has been spoiled rotten for years with new rides so it won't hurt them to go a couple years without one.

Tatsu opened May of 2006. If they are indeed adding nothing in 2008 and potentially add in May of 2009, that's a 3 year gap between installations of any new marketable attractions for SFMM. HH received Toronado in 2004!

They do need an attraction for 2008, it doesn't have to be another 21 million ride or a coaster at all, just something to promote.

^Off topic, but does your Yo-Yo (swings) tilt?

majortom1981 said:
They wouldnt have put physical movement if all they ment was the ride.

Still doesn't mean the cars will spin. Maybe it will be a Mack E-Motion coaster, with the cars that have movement but don't spin. Or they could be talking about animatronic scenery. Whatever it may be, it seems like spinning vehicles is something they would probably hype instead of just saying "physical movement."

- Aaron K

Yes but if there were animitronics or E-motion rides then the ride wont be as bad as everybody is saying. Everybody is saying that it will basically be a wild mouse stuck in a building. If it has any animitronics or moves or spins then it will not be what everybody is saying it will be.

UBRhino said:

The Great Escape announced a water park attraction: "Wild Wedgie" *** Edited 9/27/2007 5:15:17 PM UTC by UBRhino***

I stand corrected!

Gotta love this description:

The Wild Wedgie, an entertaining waterslide with a whimsical name, will debut at The Great Escape & Splashwater Kingdom in 2008 to provide thrill seeking guests with an exhilarating water ride!

It's expected to generate even more excitement in 2008 than its predecessor, Tornado, did in 2007. This new waterslide will be fun for everyone who loves an exciting waterslide experience.

Uh, ok, but what is it? Based on the name I'd guess one of those half-pipe type slides, but who knows.

- Aaron K

Spinout said:

All these roller coasters are kind of cheap now. I don't see tons and tons of people pouring in for any of these rides except maybe Fiesta Texas. And this is supposed to be the thrilling year (not the Kid Year). I really doubt that attendance will increase by a lot in 2008 based on these rides except maybe Fiesta.

Yes, they're cheap and that's the magic behind Shapiro's plan.

The old Six Flags regime relied heavily on very large roller coasters that drew people in with their crazy gimmicks and impressive ride specifications. Each of these rides usually ran upwards of $15 million a piece.

Shapiro is taking relatively affordable fun roller coasters of small to average size --- and using powerful and highly recognized branding to market the coasters to guests, not the coasters themselves. The Dark Knight is the sequel to the Batman Begins film and believe me, that alone has a high appeal to youth despite the ride itself being a small indoor mouse coaster. Same said with Tony Hawk. It's all brand appeal and the cool factor --- rather than "oooh that ride is so big and has so many loops."

That's 2 Gerstlauer spinning coasters, 1 GCI wood coaster, 3 indoor mouse coasters.

Six new coasters together that cost the company less than what was spent on Tatsu alone.

Trust me, people WILL be pouring in through the gates. The only thing that irks me about any of this is naming Fiesta Texas' inverted coaster Goliath. It's not even close to being the largest ride in the park. :)

Spinout said:
Over Georgia: New Thomas Town

So this is going where Deja Vu stands?

coasterimage - lordgonchar

^ Yup.

In the news announcement for Over Georgia, they stated Thomas Town will be replacing Deja Vu next year.

Wonder where it'll be going (IF it is moved)...

It'll be interesting to see whether or not Great America and Magic Mountain have any plans to do the same with theirs.

I do know that Over Georgia's Deja Vu was the least operational out of the three in the states.

The three Dark Knight coasters are indeed standard Mack mice, enclosed.

Well, could be worse...

So SFKK isn't getting ANYTHING? I thought Shapiro liked our park.....:(. Please, at least some type of flat!

Something like Sierra Sidewinder would be better, seeing we at SFGAm already have a PAINFULLY LOW CAPACITY wild mouse coaster, at such a big park that needs capacity rides (esp, since were only allowed one track to run on Eagle, most days...).

Well, hell, better than a kick in the butt. It will have higher capacity that Deja Vu anyways...