Tony Hawk's Big Spin

Just announced for SFFT 2007:

http://www.sixflags.com/parks/fiestatexas/ParkPress/BigSpinPressRelease.html

One down, one to go!

I'm sure it'll be fun but a low capacity ride like this isn't enough to get me back to SFStL soon.

Great additions (the Guerstler spinning coasters)

I hope more parks get these in the future.

That actually looks like a pretty cool ride, and it seems to be right in the range of what Shapiro was looking for with "family-friendly" roller coasters :)

Good deal. Looks like Shapiro really might be on to something here. Two family-oriented roller coasters at two of his parks appealing to a wide range of guests without breaking the bank.

I don't see these two spinners costing over $8 million COMBINED. With the money spent just alone on Tatsu or SFoG's Goliath, Six Flags could've dropped 5 or 6 of these in a bunch of their parks.

And, their hella-fun! I rode WoF's Spinning Dragons more than any other coaster in the park and couldn't get enough.

Countdown until SFStL's is announced starting in: 3-2-1

With the money spent just alone on Tatsu or SFoG's Goliath, Six Flags could've dropped 5 or 6 of these in a bunch of their parks.

As fun as Tatsu it I would have rather seen a spinning coaster at SFMM. They wouldn't have to worry about capacity...they never are!

It totally makes sense that a business deal went down after the tour over the summer. But, I totally agree with the business article about these coasters a little ways back that said that Tony is well, getting old.

Will Tony Hawk's name still mean anything to kids say in ten years? I think that'll be iffy. There comes a point where what you can physically do doesn't match up with how old you are anymore. Therefore, I see him being less and less in the spotlight.

I recently saw a skateboard-oriented commercial that turns out to be an ad for Jeep. You see a bunch of kids doing railslides, and then Tony Hawk comes down the same railing in a Jeep. I seriously doubt that a majority of the skateboarding demographic (mostly teenagers) could even afford the Jeep in the commercial.

Anyway, congratulations to SFFT for getting the spinner. The drought is finally over! Bummer though about the loss of the Sky Scraper. I wonder where that's going?

Judging from the video on SFFT's site, it looks like a mirror image of the three other Gerstlauer spinners that have been built. I enjoyed SFNE's Pandemonium, but I was hoping for an original layout. I wonder if this'll become another coaster that is cloned many times over in the future?

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kRaXLeRidAh said:
With the money spent just alone on Tatsu or SFoG's Goliath, Six Flags could've dropped 5 or 6 of these in a bunch of their parks.

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But with the money they spent on those two rides, they also could have made a Super Goliath.

My only complaint is that I would like to see some non-cloned versions of these spinners. Or at least clone one of the European spinners.

I find it amusing that the ride that appears to be specifically created to fit into MoA has become the rule and not the exception.

Regardless, I'm looking forward to giving the one coming to SFStL a spin. :)

But the original SLC design worked much the same way...built for a specific space, then copied cause it worked..:)

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Intamin Fan said:
Tony is well, getting old.

Will Tony Hawk's name still mean anything to kids say in ten years?

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Will Italian Job or Drop Zone still mean anything in ten years? What about The Mummy or Shrek? The truth is, license deals like this aren't for the long-term. In this case, in ten years, they could just re- or de-theme it, or keep it named "Big Spin" (ala SFNE's Pandemonium).

In fact, out of all the park chains, Disney does the best with keeping franchises and characters in the public eye. I'm sure Pixar's creations will be known 50 years from now, the same as Snow White and Cinderella are to today's children.

Interestingly enough, every time Disney does something with a celebrities in the theme parks, it gets old real fast (Ellen Degeneres/Universe of Energy, Michael Jackson/Captian EO, B-list actors/Superstar Limo).

ok gator, then give me an extra helix and call it a custom. :)

^ Extra helix on a spinner? Cool!

Extra helix on an SLC? Just let me off early... ;)

:)

Shapiro really enjoyed the SFNE version of this ride, I knew it wouldn't take him long before he put an order in for a few more.

This would be a great addition to Geauga Lake, as well

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Arson said:
Will Italian Job or Drop Zone still mean anything in ten years?

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Maybe I'm missing something and at the very least I suppose I'm proving your point, but I'm 19 and until you insinuated it just now, I have never thought that Drop Zone was anything more than the name commonly given to Paramount Parks' drop towers. :) *** Edited 12/8/2006 11:14:37 AM UTC by BBSpeed26***

Drop Zone was the name of a (popular?) movie starring, among others, Wesley Snipes (see imdb's Drop Zone listing). The movie has *something* to do with skydiving, which made it good fodder for drop rides.
lata, jeremy
(who has never seen said movie)