Whizzer to be saved, Shockwave takes the fall

YES!!! Thank god! That Shockwave ride sucks! The Whizzer is a KIDS RIDE PEOPLE.

Let's hope there will be a B&M floorless or flyer. :)

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"Duff Man Says... Ohhh Yeah!"
Current Favorite Coasters:
1)Raging Bull 2)Millennium Force 3)Medusa (SFMW) 4)Vertical Velocity (SFGAm) 5)Dueling Dragons (Ice)

redman822 said:

now a (possible) dose of reality...I just called Guest Relations at the park (847-249-1776) (I know, not much more reliable than the Lemon Chill Guy...) but the person there said that they are going to remove the Whizzer and he did not know anything about Shockwave closing instead...

hmmm...scratching head in confusion..

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Yeah, but did you notice when you called that the Whizzer statement at the beginning of the recording was not there?

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Ric Flair was hitting on the female host, he told her - "Space Mountain may be the oldest ride in the park, but it has the longest line." WOOOOO!

I'm super psyched about the Whizzer being saved because Bond keeps asking "whizzer...again...more" and now I'll be able to give it to him! Personally I'm a little sad to see Shockwave go because it's first drop turned me into a raving enthusiast but I think it's look nicely at SFKK!

Have Fun!

Paul B. Drabek

www.negative-g.net

I guess my sticker that says "1976-2000 Whizzer Thanks For The Memories" is now a collectors item?

Yes, this is a great day! That's all I have to say... I went today(the 8th) thinking it was the last time i was going to see that ride in action but i came home to a pleasent surprise. :)

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Don't Fight It, Ride It, RAGING BULL!!!!!!- SFGAm

Blink3020. Was the temporary banner sign saying Bon Voyage to the Whizzer still there?

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Ric Flair was hitting on the female host, he told her - "Space Mountain may be the oldest ride in the park, but it has the longest line." WOOOOO!

Chitown, yes it was but Shockwave was closed....

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Don't Fight It, Ride It, RAGING BULL!!!!!!- SFGAm

Yeah, well, I guess there's no big ride closing extravaganza at SFGAm. To those that didn't ride it, you didn't miss much.

In fact, the best memory I have of Shockwave was from earlier this year. There were about 10 people in line for the ride, including a friend and I. We sat in the back, got beat up really badly, and got back into the station. We saw no one waiting in the queue for our train.

The friendly ride op came over and said, 'hey, if you guys want to ride again, you can just stay on.'

'Amazing!' I thought. All throughout the year, we'd hoped we'd be able to reride other coasters when there was no one in line. Always shot down. Then our better instincts kicked back in.

'You're serious? Lord no!' I told the guy.

Good Job! Six Flags on your marketing ploy. I am still sad about Shockwave. I loved that coaster and didn't think it was rough at all. It was the most intense coaster there causing my to grey out everytime. We are losing our intense coasters and a smooth, forceless B&M will be put in its place. SFGAM has plenty of room they didn't need to remove anything. Also they might have some problems with the neighbors there building a coaster in the spot of Shockwave. I hope that Six Flags is smart enough to reuse Shockwave whether it be in Mexico or another small park. I am hoping they fit a nice B&M flyer in that spot and maybe add a few flat rides to create a whole new area. There is plenty of room thats for sure but they will have to fight the neighbors.

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Mike
Favorite Wood: Viper at SFGAM,Shivering Timbers
Favorie Steel: Magnum and Raging Bull

"a smooth, forceless B&M"

If by forceless you mean not painful, yes.

Oh wow, that was unexpected. All I can say is yay!

EDIT: Its going to be weird without the Shockwave at the front of the park, it will feel very different. Oh well, its going to free up A LOT of space for a new ride(s).

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The ice age killed the dinosaurs, we killed ourselves.
*** This post was edited by CobraRoller on 8/8/2002. ***

Shockwave gets the boot, huh (evil laugh...)

I rode Shockwave when I went there in June. There was a 1 hour (yes... I actually was convinced to wait one hour for Shockwave) wait. It was extremely rough and the harnesses killed my shoulders (that ride IS NOT made for tall people) , and talk about a headache afterwards!!!. It seriously was the only time I was more excited to be off a coaster. I vowed I would never ride the thing again. Now, I guess I'll get my wish. Yeah Whizzer!!! I know a few people who will be thrilled by this.

I have to wonder if this wasn't planned all along too... I mean, almost every ride in the Orleans area was shut down this year save the Condor and the Bumper Cars. Something tells me they've been planning on giving that area a makeover since day 1...

Just got back from our trip to SFGAm. We were there Tuesday evening and Wednesday (7th). I was disappointed that Shockwaves was down. A ride Op on Whizzer on Tuesday said Shockwave "would be down for a while", but also said this was Whizzer's last week.

I was disappointment not to be able to ride Shockwave at my first visit to the park. Guess now I won't be riding it at all.

I'll be posting my trip report, and the pic I got of the Whizzer sign. Hey, guess that picture will be an interesting memento.

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead

Busta Rhymes sent a shout out for Whizzer:

-Yeah! Whizzer is stayin', pass the Courvoisier

-And Shockwave is goin', pass the Courvoisier

-We're livin' the good life.......... so let's pass the Courvoisier-/-/-/-/yeah, yeah, sooooo pass the Courvoisier....

Ok enough with the alcohol, now I'm staggered not with the fact that they'd made a good decision by keeping Whizzer, but that Six Flags is removing such a big coaster. To remove something that big, it has got to be sold.... the question is where? Astroworld? Holiday World, no, they should stay awayfrom junk like Shockwave. I'd wonder if.....well, mabye.....Wyandot!!!! Ok bad idea..... What do you guys think? Would Six Flags really send something as big as Shockwave to the graveyard? Isn't this like the biggest coaster ever removed?

Hey, where's Coaster Playa? I wanna' here what he has to say aobut this.
[url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/clipserve/B000063UMO001003/002-4300267-9960019]Click here to to listen to how I feel about this

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Lake Compounce-So Fresh and So Clean Clean

Boulder Dash-I'm just so happy to have you babe'
*** This post was edited by Vertigo on 8/8/2002. ***

Wow.

Now, this might make me look like a hypocrite, because I started a thread earlier this summer about the incredible roughness of Shockwave, and I also paid heavy tribute to Whizzer earlier this week, but..... I don't agree with this decision. My thinking is definitely in line with Joe Carroll's...the thrill-seeker in me is disappointed, as I would rather ride Shockwave than Whizzer.

1)Shockwave is an awesome looking coaster, particularly from the parking lot. It's a painful blow to the skyline.

2)In an age when some coasters are getting boring, Shockwave is a link to the intensity of the past. When the ride isn't running insanely fast, I can actually find it enjoyable.

3)Shockwave is arguably a more historic coaster than Whizzer...first coaster with 7 inversions, tallest (I think), etc.

4)Whizzer cannot last forever. I'm sorry, it's sad that it was leaving, but really, we need to move forward.

5)Why not remove Demon?

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SFGAm: 1)DV 2)V2 3)AE Blue 4)Viper 5)Bull

Part of the problem there Vertigo is finding a place that:

A-Has enough room.

B-Doesn't already have a arrow coaster that is similar.

C-Wants to buy it.

I agree, it would be strange to see something that big go to the scrapyard.

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1)Shockwave is an awesome looking coaster, particularly from the parking lot. It's a painful blow to the skyline.

2)In an age when some coasters are getting boring, Shockwave is a link to the intensity of the past. When the ride isn't running insanely fast, I can actually find it enjoyable.

3)Shockwave is arguably a more historic coaster than Whizzer...first coaster with 7 inversions, tallest (I think), etc.

4)Whizzer cannot last forever. I'm sorry, it's sad that it was leaving, but really, we need to move forward.

5)Why not remove Demon?

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1) A ride isn't worth keeping just for the sake of the park's skyline

2) Guests can still resort to American Eagle, Demon, and even some of the park's modern thrills such as DéjàVu and V2.

3) Being the first with 7 inversions isn't that big of a deal. Now, Whizzer is the only Speed Racer left in all of America. Now that's something worth keeping.

4) Neither will ShockWave

5) Hmm. Well, ShockWave is set up on a larger parcel of land. Now unless you want a considerably small coaster for 2003 in place of Demon, then ShockWave is the better candidate for removal. Plus, Demon isn't painful, or not as painful to the extent where low ridership is noticeable, as in ShockWave.

It happened with drachen Fire didnt it? That was bigger than shockwave, i think or close. But, DF was far more original than shockwave, because of the whole loops on stilts thing.

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1. MForce 2. Volcano 3. S:Ros(new england)

It's great that Whizzer is staying but I'll miss Shockwave. I loved that first drop and the intensity of the three vertical loops from the back seat.

I guess I'll have to go look at my few pictures I took of the ride a few years ago.

BTW, where was all this support when the park decided to get rid of Sky Whirl? Either you loved it (like me) or hated it, it was considered a "family ride". Now you're stuck with a sometimes working Deja Vu.

X Factor

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SFWoA: An Unofficial Guide
http://sfohio.tripod.com

Fox news in Chicago just reported that the Whizzer is being saved and that an article would be in the Chicago Suntimes tomorrow.

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Ric Flair was hitting on the female host, he told her - "Space Mountain may be the oldest ride in the park, but it has the longest line." WOOOOO!

Now here's the strange thing...according to the Village of Gurnee's zoning of the Six Flags site, anything over 125 ft needs a variance. I found this information from the meeting when V2 was proposed...

"Such structures are permitted by right up to a height of 125 feet. Those portions proposed to exceed 125 feet must follow zoning procedures for a variation including a public hearing, pursuant to the Conditional Use Permit in effect for the theme park. Structures may not exceed 310 feet in height, i.e. height of the Sky Trek Tower. "

http://www.gurnee.il.us/zoning_board/zba_minutes/10-25-00.html as well as for the approval of DejaVu http://www.gurnee.il.us/zoning_board/zba_minutes/09-27-00.html

Now given that, the park would need a variance to go forward with construction of anything over that height...but they have not as of yet appeared before the board to get approval for anything requiring a variance...

But...here's the interesting thing...it appears that the city is lax on getting their site updated since according to http://www.gurnee.il.us/zoning_board/zba_schedule.html their last meeting was on 7/24...just a short while before they announced the removal of anything. Would they have to ask for a change if they changed the location of the ride from Whizzers location to where Shockwave is - especially since SW is closer to residences?

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Posting, "Me too" like some brain dead AOLer. I ought to to the world a favor, and cap you like old yeller...