The Six Flags Ride Rotation Program

Does anyone else find this old Six Flags method odd but intresting?

Not really. If anything, it saved the company a lot of money at the time of practice by rotating attractions among parks rather than building permanent rides.

Yeah. It seemed pretty logical to add a new ride to a park to gain attendence and once the ride lost its popularity or whatever to move it to another park to gain attendence at that park and so forth. I actually find this practice clever buisness wise, as a way to save and gain some money.

I dunno. I'm not a business expert or anything but if it was really that fantastic a system I think it would be more popular today with the chains. I think in a few cases removing a ride and sending it elsewhere is a sound desicion but creating a whole rotation program may just be overkill. Maybe there was something about the inudstry back then that made it more viable but it certainly didn't last very long. *** Edited 11/10/2006 12:58:21 PM UTC by matt.***

How many rides have been moved? I think the term 'program' is subjective b/c to me, I don't recall hearing about the movement of that many rides in the last 7-8 years, that I've been paying attention to anyways. Granted the only 6Flags park I go to is SFOG, but do try to keep up with the goings on. Regardless, it's better to move a ride somewhere else, rather than it ending up in a trash heap.

Didn't Paramount do the same thing on a smaller scale - the flying coaster from CA to NC. Maybe others??

Well back in the 80's and early 90's Six Flags went through a phase where they would install a ride at a park for a few years and move it somewhere else. Most notable rides are Shockwave(Stand-up) that was moved from to SFMM to SFGadv to SFAW, Z-Force(Flashback) that was moved from SFGAM to SFoG to SFMM and of course the Condor rides. There was more rides but I forgot. Im however not a 100% if this was an official laid out program back that they had.

Where did this mythical "program" come from? I seem to recall reading about it on Usenet and various other places, but it was never attributed to the home office.

I think they just reallocated assets if it made sense, something the other chains did as well.

"Phase" seems to be a better word than program. Hat tip As Tro World 2k.

If there's a business case to move a ride from park to park then they probably made the move. But I agree that there was never a formal 'program' in place. If there were, I think we would have seen more rides move.

Duh - Greezed Lightning would be another one that was moved a few times. Ninja, currently at SFOG, was either moved, or purchased from another park.

I don't know if it was officially a program or not, but it was something Six Flags did for the purpose of putting "new" rides into parks for a low price. There did seem to be a systematic approach to it- a number of rides made three year stays before moving on, and many of those rides seemed like temporary installments at the time (like Great Adventure's Shockwave).

I don't think the word "mythical" applies here, I am pretty sure SF did have this as a *program*....maybe didn't publicize it too much since it meant your new favorite ride (or the one you want to TRY) at your local SF might not last too long...

RIP Z-Force, LOL.... :)

coasterfreaky, Niinja doesn't count, it came from the Jersey shore...

Z-Force, Shockwave, Rolling Thunder are the first ones to come to mind...

But again, a bunch of enthusiast who are "pretty sure" doesn't make it real. I'm not trying to be argumentative, it's just that a lot of things like this (like the B&M three-ride CP contract) get talked about until they fester into "fact."

I have old amusement industry publications from the 80s that mentioned the "ride rotation program"....fairly sure it was a genuine program, just not one that would be advertised as such to the public.

I can see the ad campaign now: "They hated Z Force in Illinois, now you can hate it in Georgia too!" ;)

LOL, I was kinda thinking that I had read about it somewhere *official* as well, but without sources I can locate (and with no helpful search results, and all my coaster stuff still in boxes) - all I got is "pretty sure".

This is where I'm more than a little jealous when AV Matt pulls the '94 Waldameer RF2 layout out of his butt an an appropriate moment... ;)

Of course, the only truly good rides that got relocated were the bobsleds....shoulda just BOUGHT more... ;)

All my stuff (mostly my dad's old stuff) is in boxes as well. :)

Maybe they didn't advertise it because nobody wants to feel like they're getting somebody else's hand-me-downs, even in rides. (All we get are the rides that Great Adventure doesn't want anymore!!!) Talk about feeling like Jan Brady! :)

Even if they did advertise I dont think that it would make them much profit because of how little the rides would stay some people save money to go and when they go its gone...

I think, if it existed, it was stopped because they ended up pissing off a lot of people who actually liked the rides they relocated at the "original" parks.

It's one thing to remove something from a park in the name of progress, but to move it to another park? It's almost like a slap in the face, or like saying "you're not good enough to keep it." Like you did something wrong, and this is your punishment. "No, GAdv, you've been bad. Now let NE play with your frisbee!"

Ok, so I'm a little bitter that my favorite non-coaster from GAdv was unceremoniously yanked out and moved North. (Although I do have to admit I like NE's program better.. lol.. I still wish it were a closer drive for me)

SFNE did not get SFGAdv's Frisbee. SFGAm got it.

Anyone know if rides were specifically purchased for the rotation plan(Condor,Looping Starship) or were deemed rotatable long after their original installation(Z Force,Shockwave,Bobsleds).

The strangest story I heard was that Sfog's Looping Starship was part of the program and that there was an instalation at the park for one year. That model was rotated somewhere and the ride was missed so much that they purchased another that operated till last year. Any locals know more.