Zonga from SFMW

Whats up with it I know it got dismatled has it been scrapped? is it going somewere else for 2007 season? (SFMM I hope :P but not likely) any info?

I really hope the SFMM thing was a joke. From what I heard it isn't very popular and brings many headaches to the maintenance staff.

I rode it at SFMW and really liked it.. but i like looping coasters. the last thing SFMM needs is more unreliable coasters..

Uh. The last thing SFMM needs period is ANY coaster, reliable or not. The park is on the pending list to get junked by Six Flags...hence the reason why gomez hoped you were joking.

I wouldent put it on the pending list just yet... anyway back on topic whats the deal with Zonga?

I know people won't want to hear this, but I have a feeling that the ride is done. The parts will be used where needed, and the rest of the coaster will be scrapped.

*Sigh* Another rare coaster... gone...

Interesting enough, Zonga parts will only work with a few other coasters, which is probably why is hasn't been parted out yet. As far as I know it is still for sale. Probably not for much longer, but one thing is pretty sure, it won't be showing up at a Six Flags near you.

Hopefully it gets sold.

^ That would suit ME just fine too, Rob, Thriller/Taz/Zonga is "the one that got away", the only steel coaster in the US I really NEEDED to get that I never got. Seems HIGHLY unlikely now. Surprising too, because most of the "buzz" surrounding the removal indicated it was being done with such care that a re-install seemed likely at the time...*sigh*.

That's the impression I got. I find it hard to believe that a ride like that can't find a home. If an old Arrow loopscrew did, why not one of the most legendary (or once-legendary) steel coasters of all time?

Three weeks ago it was still sitting in the parking lot. The train was sitting there on a piece of station track uncovered rusting away. Too bad this is the one that likely got away for me too.

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rollergator said:
Surprising too, because most of the "buzz" surrounding the removal indicated it was being done with such care that a re-install seemed likely at the time...*sigh*.

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Way back when there was a used ride site that had it listed, so far no takers I assume since it's still sitting in the parking lot.

I'd have to agree with DWeaver, after leaving TX, SF made such a disatrous mess of it, I just don't see how anyone now would want to inherit all the costly headaches and reliability issues it now has. Or spend the millions it would cost to restore it back to the way it was so it can operate the way it was intended.

It used to be at Astroworld, which was moved from two years before the park closed. It wasn't running at AstroWorld for a long while because of a missing part. They got it running at Marine World, but yet again this coaster is on the move. Why can't they keep it running and why can't this coaster find a home? I can't say I've heard bad reports about how this thing rides.

It doesn't seem to like the weather in any of its new homes.

Didn't the ride go from the extreme humid heat in Texas to the extreme wet climate in Northern California? Those two places don't have the best climates.

I missed it by one year at astroworld, and now i've missed it by one year at Marine World.

(with fist clenched and raised in the air) Damn you Zonga, how do you continue to elude me. ;)

gomez,
I would not say Northern California is extremely wet. It's not at all like the Pacific Northwest. The only time Zonga couldn't run because of weather was in the early Spring, but then weather wouldn't be too much of a factor. In fact, Vallejo can get pretty warm in the summer.

What was interesting was how they constantly "improved" little things about the coaster while it was at Marine World. They changed the traditional lift times to bigger tires that had more surface area to help it up the lift. They also installed some sort of dampers on the lift the quiet the anti-rollbacks. Anyone who was there opening year (when it was running, heh) how loud the lift was. It's last year of ops it was much quieter. They also finally got two trains to run on it at the end of 2004. It was just interesting to watch the ride because right when you thought they had got it to run reliably, it would go down for a week.

There are a couple mechanics who are probably glad it's gone. I don't think many parks would want their "new" attraction to have such high demands, so I doubt it will sell. :(

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rc-madness said:
I can't say I've heard bad reports about how this thing rides.

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You want a bad report? That thing was the most horrible, awful, painful, uninteresting, unfun, and stupid steel coaster I have ever ridden. I had more fun sitting on the park bench next to it recovering than I did on the ride. From the moment I got in, there was so little room thanks to the completely un-necessary bulky OTSR I got claustrophobic, the lift hill was painfully slow, the thing is yanked to a stop every 5 seconds, it finds some way to shift violently side-to-side (and therefore bang your head against the massive OTSR) even on the LIFT HILL let alone during the course of the ride. The loops were unnoticable, there was no speed, there was no thrill, there was no reason to save this coaster. I will be happy when it's gone for sure.

... and yes, I'm bitter. Get a better idea of why they removed it now?

*** Edited 9/23/2006 3:20:53 AM UTC by Impulse-ive***

Considering Zonga had the fastest lift in the park for the adult size coasters, I'm not sure where you are coming from with that. Also I'm not sure how you could hit you head on the lift. The midcourse brakes were not abrupt, although the final brake was. I can understand why you didn't like the ride, I'm just one of the few that did.