Speculation continues on Six Flags Magic Mountain's true intentions for Colossus

Travis - I would say that Lightning Racer(s) may not be top-10 coasters on their own merits, but I very well might call the *ride* a top-10 attraction...esp. at night.

I'd say Lightning Racers is(are?) one(two) of the best coaster(s) at Hersheypark, which is not saying much. lol

The cyclone at sfne will be closing on july 20th.

I've never been to SFNE, so please forgive my ignorance, but Cyclone only opened in 1983. Why are they closing it? Does it suck?

People call it "Sucklone," so I suspect that it does in fact stuck.

Suck is way too nice of a word for that piece of crap.

https://www.sixflags.com/newengland/special-events/celebration/cyclone-retires

Here's a tribute video the park just tweeted

Cycloneretiring on July 20 is official. Check out the clip below as we say goodbye to an icon.

Just curious - those of you with bad opinions of SFNE's Cyclone....have you ridden since RMC came in and worked on the ride? We were there about 20 months ago and Cyclone was running quite smoothly. When Jill proclaims a fairly agressive wooden coaster to be re-rideable, that tells me it's doing well...

Captain Hawkeye said:

I've never been to SFNE, so please forgive my ignorance, but Cyclone only opened in 1983. Why are they closing it? Does it suck?

It has definitely not been a great ride in the last decade. I never had a chance to ride it in the 80's or 90's, but many enthusiasts hold that time period in high regard for the ride. Despite running Morgan trains for the majority of that time it was considered to be a great ride (it opened with PTCs but they were replaced after the first year).

When the park was branded to SF, they put on new PTC trains (2000) and the coaster essentially tore itself apart in that season. My first ride was at the end of the 2000 season with Moosh and it was one of the worst wooden coaster experiences I've ever had. The following year, a massive reprofiling of the first drop and a series of trim brakes were added pretty much neutering the ride. (The backseat at the beginning of first drop was still one of the scariest moments I will ever remember on a wood coaster, even after the reprofile, but the rest was yawnsville). Over the last few years, the coaster has received additional reprofiling, topper track, etc.

As much as I hate losing a wood coaster, the SF/Riverside Cyclone is just a shell of what a great ride it apparently once was. With the Iron Horse/RMC solutions that SF has been doing to their problematic wood coasters, this seems to be their best way to rebrand/reinvent a failing ride.

rollergator said:
Just curious - those of you with bad opinions of SFNE's Cyclone....have you ridden since RMC came in and worked on the ride? We were there about 20 months ago and Cyclone was running quite smoothly. When Jill proclaims a fairly agressive wooden coaster to be re-rideable, that tells me it's doing well...

I ride it every time im there and i just rode it on Saturday and its as smooth as its ever been. Its the 2nd best coaster in the park behind Bizarro

I personally loved it.

My wife and I rode it last fall for the first time in the back. It felt like I broke my back on the first drop. Have never experienced that before. I was in so much pain the rest of day.

My first lap on Riverside (SFNE) Cyclone was with the Con-Tour group in 2003 that included Dawn, jimvid, Moosh, Bass, and the gang from Hee Haw. Bass sat with me in the back row and he and Matthew chatted with me casually as we went up the lift....good thing I was younger then. BAM!

I bet if the new coaster is announced to open in 2015, it won't open until June or July. lol

And yet both rattler and giant opened in time. HOW DID THEY MANAGE THAT! OMGSIXFLAGSSUXORZ!

As long as it opens by December 31st, it opened in 2015.

No harm, no foul.

For some reason, I don't think Universal said to M-S, "Y'know, it did open during the correct year...so we're all good."

By the same token, Universal's relationship with M-S is *completely* different than their relationship with, say, me.... ;~P

Ya know, the year 'round parks get an automatic pass with a lot of this deadline and delay stuff. Any time of year the visitors can see a new project start and progress to the finish, whenever that may be. Sometimes it's a refresh and a few flats that take a couple of months. Sometimes it's a Cars Land or a Potter Land that can take years in the process. While guests would like to see it open and running when they get there, if it's not they just say "Hey, well yeah, it wasn't open yet. Next time." And the parks do the smart thing by not being too precise in their promises. "Coming in 2015" or "Spring/Summer of Next Year!" is usually all we get.

The seasonal parks, however, are at a real disadvantage. They might be supplying a new flat that is no problem to install over an off-season. Or they may be installing a mega coaster or a new land that requires months of building and decent weather to finish it. Regardless, the ads and the publicity say "new for 2014" so when John Q Enthusiast gets there on opening day he says "Hey, it's 2014 already! Where's the new ride you promised, huh? HUH?"

The Six Flags parks in Texas, while seasonal, fare a little better as far as weather delays and hardships go. In the case of Giant it was closed for a full season for the remodel. Rattler, I can't remember. But I'm certain they tried very hard to be late with both of them but found, sadly, that they just couldn't. :-)