1st listing is Deja Vu from SFGAm and SFOG, listed in excellent condition. The next listing is an O.D. Hopkins Shoot-The-Chutes. No park mentioned, but the model pictured is SFOG.
Next listing, 2 Intamin 1st gen freefalls. SFMM and SFOT. Obviously outdated because SFOT's got blown up
Next up, 2 more from SFMM. Flashback. Listed as "Good Condition". Yeah, right Also listed is Circus Wheel, their Tilt-A-Whirl.
The final listings are Catapult, Double Trouble, and Rodeo from SFNE, and Fantasy Fling from SFGAdv (their Round-Up).
Well that just 100% confirmed Deja Vu's removal. Good find!
http://themeparkcritic.com/scripts/profile/ViewProfile.asp?ViewID=2909 A furious storm once roared `cross the sea, catching ships in its path, helpless to flee. Instead of a certain and watery doom, the winds swept them here to Typhoon Lagoon!
I'm willing to bet that a lot of Smaller park and companies will buy some of these rides.
Kind of bites that Flashback is being sold, weren't they going to rebuild it where Psyclone was for 2008? It also stinks that Magic Mountain is loosing technically two flat rides, and two coasters in two years only to add a Themed Thomas ride. Guess a Train Ride themed to Thomas will bring in a larger audience than a completely refurbished smoother coaster will. SARCASM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just realized this, about a week after the X2 10 Million upgrade, Flashback goes up for sale. Does anyone think that they were going to spend around that much on Flashback but they ran into relocation problems and cancelled the idea.
CoasterBoy wrote:It also stinks that Magic Mountain is loosing technically two flat rides, and two coasters in two years only to add a Themed Thomas ride. Guess a Train Ride themed to Thomas will bring in a larger audience than a completely refurbished smoother coaster will. SARCASM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It will.
Thomas & Friends is a huge brand, a lot of parents will bring their kids for Thomas Town area, parents buy food for themselves and their kids while in the park, they buy Thomas Town/other park merch, play games, buy autograph books for the costumed charectors to sign, etc.
Thomas Town will be a huge asset for SFMM.
Also, unlike X, ZForce is not worth spending money to refurbish. First off, its in terrible condition, corroded, electrical is shot, hasnt operated in four years. Also nobody would care to ride it.....even when the ride was open it always had mostly empty trains even on busy days, its overall boring /excessively rough ride leads it to the same fate as Psyclone, good riddance.
If your sersioley going to complain they lost 2 coasters, Psyclone and ZForce, and hasnt gotten a new one, your a tool. Its not worth the money to maintain those 2 extremely unpopular pieces of crap, they just ruined peoples day anyway....
Last edited by BP317 on November 5th, 2007, 4:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Coasterboy, you seriously think that they were going to relocate and rehab Flashback?
Theres this thing called reality...
X2 is just a ride rehab thats being heavily marketed pretty much. Theres no way that Flashback would have even seen a penny, even if it wasn't touching X.
I'm just saying they have removed more than they have added.
Removed:
- Psyclone : Not Replaced
- Flashback : Not Replaced
- Freefall : Unknown
- Circus Wheel : Unknown
- Granny Grand Prix (Rumored) Replaced with Thomas
Added:
- A Train Ride themed to Thomas
I just think that if Shapiro wants families and wants to reduce spending, then he should replace some of the rides that he and Premier Parks took out and replace them with newer, better rides. Plus admission has risen considerably and when you remove alot of rides and only add one, the General Public gets worried. (Remember, the same thing happend to Geauga Lake) If I owned Magic Mountain, to make it more family friendly, I would do the following over an 8 year period:
Psyclone : New Full Blown Kids Area themed to Thomas
Flashback : Sally Interactive Dark Ride
Freefall : Nothing
Circus Wheel : Huss Top Spin
I would have also removed:
- DeJaVu would be replaced with S&S 40 Passenger Screaming Swings
- Viper would be replaced with a Balder Clone (rcdb it and you'll see why) and a Huss Giant Frisbee
- Scream would be replaced with a full blown family area similar to Silver Dollar Citys "Grand Explosion Area" with kids and family rides
That way, I get teens, families, and kids and give them all something new to do in that time frame.
Trailblazer Tony wrote:Isn't OUR Splashwater falls a Hopkins one? Maybe it's ours that's for sale...
If I am not mistaken, that is the Splashwater Falls at SFOG.
http://themeparkcritic.com/scripts/profile/ViewProfile.asp?ViewID=2909 A furious storm once roared `cross the sea, catching ships in its path, helpless to flee. Instead of a certain and watery doom, the winds swept them here to Typhoon Lagoon!
Its a good thing that SFGAdv is getting rid of that round up. I remember they would always have to E-Stop it because people would, sit, turn around, kneel, ect during the ride.
I read that they were going to relocate Flashback on wikipedia.org and didn't park officials say that the ride could be rebuilt in 2008?
I just feel sad that Magic Mountain is getting rid of 2 of their flats when really, they could use about 15-20 more flats.
Great Adventure is the same. Really with the exception of Tango, the last flat ride was in 1999 and since then many from 1999 and previous years have been removed. The 48-54 inch crowd's choices keeps getting reduced as more of these leave the park. The kids are fine with 4 kids areas and the teens and adults are fine with 13 coasters.
Mark Shapiro, if you are reading this. Have more diversity in your additions, Things are falling into a pattern now with Thomas Town, Wiggle's World, and Tony Hawk. There are tons of things you can add that will probably cost less then some of these additions like:
- S&S Screaming Swings
- Huss Giant Frisbee
- Huss Topple Tower
- Zamperla Disk O Coaster
- Vekoma Mad House
- 3DBA Splash Battle
- Sally Interactive Dark Rides
To be honest, if Great America recieved an S&S Powers 40 Passenger Screaming Swings instead of Dark Knight coaster, I wouldn't be upset. At least we would get something new that isn't already found about 200 yards away. Also, it would lighten the blow of Loosing a coaster and two additional rides. By the way, the Screaming Swings would cost less than Dark Knight but be just as marketable.
Screaming Swings = 6 Million
Dark Knight Coaster = 7.5 Million
^You know why they bought a bunch of the same thing?
Buy things in bulk, and get a discount.
Dark Rides are not cheap either, Disko Coasters, I personally believe aren't rollercoasters at all, and I think Topple Towers are boring.
Anything with the word rollercoaster attatched to it automatically scores big points with the GP. Seeing a big swing dosent seem that extreme to them, they would just the make the connection that it's Revy and dosen't spin, they do that at CP all the time.
I personally feel that next year will be really empty in the park, but I know it will pay off in the long run, and I mean PAY OFF.
At least SFGAm is not taking Deja Vu to be scrapped. It would've been utterly nonsense to put millions of dollars into repairing a coaster only to throw it in the trash. Let's hope the next buyer doesn't have the same problems we did.
R.I.P. Splashwater Falls and Space Shuttle America. Deja Vu, enjoy Idaho.
Hear ye, hear ye: "After 45 years, Six Flags has stopped smoking."
^ I couldn't agree more! That is the main thing I was worried about when I heard that Vu was being removed! I didn't want him to turn into another Shockwave! Now that I know he's up for sale, I feel so much better!
One thing that I dislike is Magic Mountain and Great Adventure adding coasters during the Premier Parks era. Trip reports always say "They are so crowded, the lines are nightmarish, they need more coasters." NO THEY DON'T!!!!!!!! What could be contributing to the Long Lines you ask? Let me explain:
- Slow Ride Operators at Both Parks.
- Removal of flat ride after flat ride which reduces park capacity.
- Adding Major Coasters which although great, shows what parks are the favorites.
- Not Enough Coasters that run at Full Capacity.
- Many rides in the parks closed for almost no reason (Rehab's don't count)
Six Flags St. Louis and Great America should be the rolemodels in my opinion. Let me Explain.
- Moderate to fast ride operators (I remember the employees for Viper once raced to see who would check the restraints first and they did it in under 3 minutes total)
- Adding non-coaster attractions which is actually less expensive and appeals to a larger audience (Superman at St. Louis, Deluge at Kentucky Kingdom, Hurricane Harbor at Great America)
- Adding major coasters when the park has proven itself worthy of a coaster.
- Unless Impossible (V2, Deja Vu) or on low crowded days, can you remember the last time a SFGAm coaster ran with only 1 train that has ridden with more previously (Spacely doesn't count)
- At least for the most part, rides operate as much as they can, unless for low crowded days or weather.
So to sum it up, Great Adventure didn't need Dark Knight, thats going to be horrible with the attendance they get. S&S 40 Passenger Screaming Swings would almost be better in my opinion. I have said this to my family "I don't want to go to Magic Mountain because i'm worried that some of the coasters will be closed." If they had a better reputation for Operations and Capacity, I would be there next summer. I could have gone to Great Adventure this year but I didn't trust the park to have Kingda Ka and El Toro open (That and I was on a tight schedule and would have chose to go to Hershey and Dorney instead of GAd).
Mark Shapiro Shoutout: For Magic Mountain and Great Adventure, spend about 3-4 years adding just flat rides, hotels, and waterpark additions. Seriously why hasn't Six Flags built more hotels; they only have one; and hotels can bring in alot of revenue. Parks that should are Great Adventure, America, Magic Mountain, and St. Louis. Remember Cedar Fair has them and I think they do well.
^ What is it with you, you have like an almost perverse love for "40 seat S&S Swings"
Every 5th post is "This park needs to add a 40 passenger S&S Swing."
Additionally, you really need to stop with the This park needs to add....... posts.
Especially in one thread where you "suggested' Mt. Olympus added a Rocket,Hyper and Floorless coaster.
As for why SF hasn't added anymore hotels, They are expensive, VERY expensive. And a Company that is 2.5 Billion in debt cant undertake this heavy load.
Last edited by Galvan on November 8th, 2007, 3:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I just thought that a Hotel with like 1000 rooms would bring more revenue year round so they don't have to rely on Theme Park tickets as much, increase ticket sales with multi day tickets aka Season Passes, increase attendance because the guests stay on property, and make the parks complete packages. Why do you think Disney has like 30,000 hotel rooms in Orlando alone?
They might cost alot (125-200+ million) but in my opinion, they would pay off.
To anyone who says hotels cost alot, Johnny Rockets and Dick Clark Productions cost alot as well (500 Million for JR?, 175M for DCPro) (I know RedZone purchased them but RedZone also owns Six Flags) and they would fit with the family image (I don't know how, I just think they would)
The reason why I keep mentioning S&S Screaming swings is that I haven't been on one and they look really cool. That's All.
Sorry Everyone, I'm going to crawl into a ball now.
^SF isn't Disney. People travel from around the world to visit WDW and stay for a long period of time. Most people travel 1-3 hours just to visit SFGAm for one day. SF would never be able to build a hotel and keep the costs for rooms low anyway. There's plenty of value hotels around the park, and the new hotel with an indoor waterpark, even though that won't be cheap.
SFGAm wanted to build an entertainment village a few years ago, includig hotel and waterpark to make Six Flags Chicago a vacation destination year round....Village of Gurnee didnt agree and eventually that extra land was sold off.
A Six Flags hotel with park perks in Gurnee would be a huge asset/money maker to the company, unfortunately Gurnee didnt like the idea and SFGAm no longer has that land, so I dont see it hapenning.
CoasterBoy wrote:I just thought that a Hotel with like 1000 rooms would bring more revenue year round so they don't have to rely on Theme Park tickets as much, increase ticket sales with multi day tickets aka Season Passes, increase attendance because the guests stay on property, and make the parks complete packages. Why do you think Disney has like 30,000 hotel rooms in Orlando alone?
They might cost alot (125-200+ million) but in my opinion, they would pay off.
To anyone who says hotels cost alot, Johnny Rockets and Dick Clark Productions cost alot as well (500 Million for JR?, 175M for DCPro) (I know RedZone purchased them but RedZone also owns Six Flags) and they would fit with the family image (I don't know how, I just think they would)
The reason why I keep mentioning S&S Screaming swings is that I haven't been on one and they look really cool. That's All.
Sorry Everyone, I'm going to crawl into a ball now.
Here, bud, i'll help you out a little bit......
I think a hotel is a great idea to consider with Magic Mountain in the future! If you think about it, the three hotels that Disney offers at their California Venue aren't anywhere near as family attracting as the ones in Florida. If Magic Mountain were to focus their energy on adding new family rides, then add a Family themed hotel (like a DC Comics Hotel or something), they could easily start to convert the Disney market over. I think a hotel would be an incredible way to bring the families to Magic Mountain...and it would be no where near as expensive to build as a 10 million dollar rehab of an existing coaster.
RIP: Trailblazer and Deja Vu...heck, even Alien Encounter
Thank you Trailblazer Tony, that means alot to have someone say good things about me.
Yeah the hotels might cost alot (Keylime Cove = 125 Million for Example) but with a hotel and a theme park and +/- a Seperate waterpark would help and support each other (1 would help the other 2). Yeah, Great America probably can't build it despite probably having another 90 or so unused acres, Other parks with alot of land could add 700-900 room hotels (Six Flags America, Six Flags New England, Six Flags Great Adventure, Six Flags St. Louis, etc.)
If you think that Six Flags isn't in the position to build hotels, I do remember hearing that they were going to add 500-700 room hotel to Six Flags Great Adventure in 2007.
If you also think that Six Flags Parks are parks people go to for a few hours or drive a few hours to, that might be correct, however WDW : Magic Kingdom when it was built in 1971 had two hotels and according to wikipedia, Orlando's population in 1960 was 86,135 and now its over 220,000. Now Disney has like 20 hotels on property and nearly 30,000 hotel rooms. Why? Probably because Attendance was rising, profits were down, and hotel occupancy was probably very high. (Sounds similar to another amusement park company we all know)
Disneyland added their first hotel when the park opened in 1955. Wikipedia says Orange County's 1950 population was 216,224 and now is estiamted at 3 Million.
Actually, I think Six Flags is one of only 2 major companies that doesn't have multiple hotels on property (Busch is the other one)
Think about what companies do : Cedar Fair, Paramount, Disney, Universal, Merlin Entertainments.
What do they all have in Common : They are all companies that were either successful or are successful in either attendance, profits, or both.
I rest my case.
Thanks Trailblazer Tony, at least someone here doesn't seem to dislike me. You Rock.
