Vegas: Speed-The Ride Gone Forever?

Spped the ride at the Sahara in Vegas has a big sign outside the ride entrance that states it is closed for the season. Something that has not happend since the ride opend as it was usually open year round.

They also ripped out all the cash registers and when an employee was asked, they have no idea if it ever opens again

With new owners transforming the property into more high end, a family coaster probably is not something they want/need to deal with. If you check out this rendering of the new Sahara, you will see that there is no coaster to be found

http://www.vegastodayandtomorrow.com/saraha.htm

The ride should be easy to relocate, so let the speculation begin.. Hard Rock anyone? I know they could use it if they only had the cash

yea  and name it REO Speedwagon or RUSH.

I'm glad I had a chance to ride it

Shame, that was the best coaster in Vegas. Silverwood should have waited another season to buy "used steel coaster with inversion 1". ;)

Noooooooooooooo! I was finally gonna get to ride it over Thanksgiving! Noooooooooooo! :(

So glad I got a couple rides on this thing.... the float time on that spike is(was) AWESOME after the second launch.

Yes, the ride is being removed.

SBE of Los Angeles (owners of Hollywood nightclubs like Area, Hyde, and Foxtail) along with Brent Bolthouse Productions (a division of SBE) bought out the Sahara Resort months ago.

The resort is being transformed into another plush, upscale, and modern resort to appeal to the young adult market. With that, the whole NASCAR thing is being phased out, as is the roller coaster.

Speed was certainly a fun ride while it lasted. I have fond memories of it's opening year. We had a blast.

In about 2 years, that part of the strip will no longer be the bastard step child. There is an explosion of construction and restructuring happening over there. It's actually exciting to see this area finally joining the more upscale south end.

If you want Nevada thrills, you're going to have to drive out to Primm. Rumor has it that joining Desperado, will be most of the rides from the recently closed S&S park.

That was a cool ride, and the casino has been a dump for as long as I've been going out there. That end of the strip blows.

Nascar does not say "upscale" to me. I don't blame them for taking the ride out, it never seemed to get that busy anyways.

The only thing I liked about Nascar Cafe was the $3.00 blackjack tables. Speed was a fun ride but to expensive for how short it was. The funniest thing about Sahara was in the parking garage. If you have ever been in it and looked up you can see where people have taken off their shoes and slapped them against the cement ceiling. Its quite comical. I did add my own feet to the wall when I was there too.

I felt that that Speed was one of the best deals around. I think it was $17 for the all day bracelet in 2003.. They had a policy that they dispatched every three minutes even if you were the only one aboard. Vastly better than Desparado at Buffalo Bill's where you had to wait for 10 people to dispatch. On a slow day there you could turn gray waiting.

We got the Speed bracelets, rode a bunch mostly without having to get off, went and gambled a bit, came back rode again, went to dinner, came back and finished with some night rides. Great deal, sorry to see it go.

Wow that sucks. I havn't been there in a few years but dollar blackjack tables, sorta free beer and occasional rides on Speed were good times. Sahara was a dump but it was fun break from the rest of the strip. With the exception of the Nascar area the rest of the property was like a late 70s time capsule.

It was a great ride, definitely my favorite Premier launched coaster, even with the OTSRs. Too bad, although I will admit that was the only reason we spent any time at the Sahara. Not a very nice casino, and the location at the north end of the Strip (beyond most everything else) didn't make it very compelling.

Well that sucks. That was my favorite ride there!

-Tina

this was literally the only reason myself or anyone i traveled with ventured to the sarah. its a shame. really was a super cool ride.

Like Jeff said, that end of the Strip currently sucks. I was in Vegas 4 times this year, and didn't go there once in spite of how much I like Speed. Now there's even less incentive...

I am sorry to see it go. At least I got to ride it a few times. We usually stay on the south end of the strip and just went up to the far north end to ride this and take our kids to the Adventure Dome. It was my daughters first "big" coaster.