Thoughts on SF coasters in storage

Thoughts on SF coasters in storage,

If you look, you can see: (old indiana)

Black Widow

Chaos

Little Twister

Rockin-Coaster

Screamin Delta Demon

Wabash Cannonball

------Frontier City

Excalibur

------- SFA

Python

Is it possible that SF might move these to different parks (Don't flame me, but specificaly sfmm)?

Or might Six Flags fly over Indiana?

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CP! Still the coaster capital of the world in 2002!
My fellow Americans; Let's Roll!
WoodenCoaster.com

I'm not sure.I do know that Rockin roller coaster will be heading to SFA,it will become the park's mine train coaster.As for Python who knows whats gonna happen with it maybe SFA has plans to rebuild it.One would think if SFA no longer wants Python then why is it still sitting there collecting rust?

Ironically, Big K, I posted a rumor about a year ago aptly named "Six Flags to Fly Over Indiana" I had gone to the site to see some grass mowing and really not a whole lot else in terms of maintenance. I know for a fact that the trains to those coasters at O.I. are being stored indoors.

The park wanted to open a few years ago, but the project never got off the ground....
I think with SFWOA, it may never. I would like to see these rides operate again...somewhere.

John, I know, that's where I got the name :)
http://www.coasterbuzz.com/rumors/rumor.asp?NewsID=504

*** This post was edited by bigkirby on 12/8/2001. ***

Wouldn't it be weird if SF opened a small park with all those coasters in storage into a small park? It seems a waste to have that many coasters lying around.

It just seems to me that all those coasters are pretty tame if not mediocre compared to the new ones being built today... would you really want any of them at your park?

Well, if you put a corkscrew or launched loop at a SF park, then it would be complained about in being boring (Double Loop) and removed, while the same ride would be a major attraction at a small park (Conneaut Lake).
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CP! Still the coaster capital of the world in 2002!
My fellow Americans; Let's Roll!
WoodenCoaster.com

I wrote SF corprate office sometime ago asking about the Old Indiana Fun Park land, and got a response that they could not discuss the future of the land or the rides. I, being from Indiana would love to see another park come to the state!

How many of the coasters mentioned are beyond saving? I remember some posts indicating Excalibur's structural pieces may have been damaged during disassembly. How much damage is done just having track and supports 'stored' outside?

I'll take the Bobsled ride....seriously, though, it is VERY sad and disappointing that so many rides, (LOTS of others out there), are sitting "in storage". Some are actually in very good condition, while others are left on the ground. I'd love to see some smaller parks have the opportunity to rescue some of these rides. (You know, a coaster is truly happy only when there's screaming riders enjoying its thrills...;~)! Perhaps there is a better way to sell rides once the big themers are done with them...the used rides sites are cool, but more often than not, the rides are left to rust away...The asking price has got to be reasonable - anybody want DF for $4.5M?
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PoTP acolyte - remove fear to reply
Son of Drop Zone - PKI CoasterCamp I Champions!!!

Wasn't Chaos an indoor, themed coaster that was suposed to be pretty good? If I remember it cost about $8 million back in the eighties, which was a lot of money. So, I would like to see that one pop up somewhere. I also heard that the Screamin' Delta Demon was one of the better bobsled coasters out there.

www.rcdb.com has pics of the Old Indiana theme park rides sitting on the ground!

Chaos was an indoor coaster. It was interesting in that it's single train had 40 cars and held 80 passengers. I think it was a Vekoma, but not positive. The theme didn't last too long. I used to work at Opryland and I had heard that the movies that they ran inside the ride were somehow destroyed. They tried to create another theme, but it wasn't that great. They added some disco lights and a laser or two, but overall was just dark and very hot in the summer time. The ride consisted of a circular lift upward and then you traveled in circles down the outer part. The length of the train created some pretty good speed, but you didn't miss much.

Screamin Delta Demon is almost identical to Disaster Transport without being indoors. The cars were designed so that passengers sat in a row, rather than side-by-side, also the same way on Chaos.

Wabash Cannonball is a very small version of Corkscrew at CP minus the first loop. I think theres a clone of it at KBF, or there was one there anyway.

Rockin Roller Coaster is a traditional mine ride. The second part was pretty good. It climbed a larger lift and went into a vortex.

Too bad Opryland never caught on to the idea of having 'thrill ride'. They were more interested in music and other things. It's a shame.

But the old Oprland rides would probably not be considered for puchase by a larger park, but perhaps a smaller one would be interested??

I doubt Six Flags thinks it is their civic duty to help out their smaller park competition. Perhaps they would rather see the rides rust away rather than making a few bucks selling to a potential competitor. I suppose there's always a chance they could move them to their own 'smaller' parks such as FC, EG, etc. They could sure make a difference in these parks!

Does anyone know in general terms how much it saves a park to re-hab and relocate an existing ride? If a new ride of a particular type is $8 million as mentioned for Chaos, could it be rebuilt and relocated for half that amount? I'm just looking for a general idea how reasonable it is to expect old steel coasters to be given a second chance. Shouldn't it make more economic sense to rebuild and relocate steel coasters than wood coasters?

The public sees a wooden coaster as something more "personal" than a steel. I really belive this. It starts in the heart.
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CP! Still the coaster capital of the world in 2002!
My fellow Americans; Let's Roll!
WoodenCoaster.com

Just trying to answer my first question, could any of these rides be used as a surprise attack to help pump up the attractions at a smaller park (or regain a certain record)?
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CP! Still the coaster capital of the world in 2002!
My fellow Americans; Let's Roll!
WoodenCoaster.com

Based on the photos I've seen, I'd wager that those rides won't be good for much of anything. There doesn't appear to be any attempts to catalog or organize the peices. Also the physical condition of the metal doesn't look very good. Maybe someone more familiar with the site (Althoff?) could chime in.

Big Kirby...I doubt that a small park would have any 'ammunition', as you put it, towards attracting guests to a park with the caliber of rides that you mentioned. For a guess to your question I'm thinking it would not be beneficial to a park to have a large ride quantity record if all the rides are tame. For instance if little known park X sends out a news bulletin that it has reconstructed all those rides I'd not think twice about going there with other parks with good coasters being so close - it's a bang for your buck thing IMO. Look at what ultimately happened to Opryland - those were considered the 'fun' rides by me and my friends at one time. They were 'trainer' coasters for me (pardon the pun). I'm all about a CP-level coaster today.

But with that said - I do support smaller parks and perhaps one day might even be a park proprietor, but on a business level I have to realize that those rides aren't going to be bringing in lots of guests or revenue on their own accord.