Gordon Bombay

Not necesarrily, they could alter the current Premeir trains to make them lighter and save money. It has been done before. However, I would love new trains.

Before you believe this load of crap keep in mind this is the same guy who said PCW is getting Survivor the ride for 2007 and that they had a big display set up there in June of 2006 displaying all the concept art for the ride. None of that was true.

Actually it could, its not like the cherry picker you see mounted on the back of a van inspecting your power lines, it is quite large and can hold up to 6 men at a time plus additional weight.

^Coming from the same person who said if we flew over PKI we would see definite changes on SOB

^Google actually is in the process of updating, certain parts of the world have been updated but certain areas are not.

If the loop came down it came down awful fast... Pictures taken December 3rd show absolutley no equipment back or near the entire ride, not even one truck. Then 3 days later on December 6th we get the first word from shman and cyoung that its gone. Shman actually delivers what might be proof where as cyoung is just claiming that its gone. The next day on Dec. 7th shman returns to get more pictures, still no loop. Now look at it this way...Theres absolutely nothing but som tarp on the 3rd and within 3 days theyve gotten a crane in there and removed the loop but by the time shman goes on his lunch break the crane is not in view anymore and on Dec. 7th no crane or equipment anywhere around the park is seen. They must have done that awfully quick. Not that I dont think it is a possibility the loop is gone but two new trains from PTC would cost probably close to two million dollars and I'm sure Intamin, millenium flyer, or any other quality trains are not cheap either.

And why exactly is that?

Unfortuanently while I hear SFGAdv is a fantastic park, it has an awful reputation concerning the fact that you can never go on one day when EVERY ride is working.

Ahhh the new flag ship of the Six Flags chain. I'm glad to see this park marketing to families yet again, Six Flags really seems to be really doing what Shapiro's been promising....more focus on the family. They install two major coasters back to back (and a new kids are along with one of those coasters) then immediately install yet a 4th kids area the next year. I'm glad to see such a wonderful park get so much attention but what about the rest of the chain? How is SF affording all this and are the other parks suffering because of it? I've long heard that GADV is a great park with quality landscaping, entertainment, and a family friendly staff but have never heard more than 4 good things about SFKK.

^So why dont you point us in the direction of it?

^Why "should" it have been visible? Where were you in the car considering you cant get in the parking lot. The picture where I had a pic of the loop from last year was taken deep into the parking lot at the bottom of the slope. You had to be IN the parking lot, not by the tolls or pick up drop off area. I had permission to be there last year and was even with security when I took them. That was the only angle I got the loop in. Not that I dont appreciate your efforts kiwi, I do but I think its safe to say that the loop can only definently be seen from one close angle of the parking lot, and to get to that angle you must have permission to be in that patking lot. I was able to get some pictures friday night from Kings High School and the great wolf lodge, I did not tresspass on anyone property and I will post them soon.

^Thats because their grand opening is this thursday! Kiwi to share your pics please go to www.imageshack.us, upload the pics then when they are finished uploading copy and paste the link it gives you next to the words "hotlink for forums" and paste it into your post. Then, when you post the image will appear. If you need to get the pics off your phone to your computer send a pixture message to an email adress, I'm not sure how this works with other companies but when I do this on my Verizon phone only my standard txt plan applies. Hope that helps.

Thanks for the updated pictures Shman! This is very interesting indeed and yes, you were at about the exact same angle. Did you take them from the park and ride? I took mine from within the parking lot, like you said, so that may be why, but considering that the parking lot is not on a steep slope or anything I dont see why the distance between our spots would make that much of a difference. I wish I would've gone up today but I didnt want to brave the weather and traffic so thank you for going up. I'm gonna try saturday afternoon.

Myself, Dane, Ryan, and Bill plan to form an investment group to purchase Americana and get it re-opened, if any one wants to spot us the money we'll buy one of these and put it in, oh and if you could loan us the money for the park too that would be great.

I have to work up in the area saturday so maybe I'll try again then. I could barely keep my head up during my government teachers lovely presentation on obscenity laws so I dont know how I'd manage to stay awake in all that stop and go traffic.

^I want to but heres my dillema, I could leave right from school adn take I-75 to tylersville straight to KI then hop on I-71 back to my house but with how awful the weather and road conditions were I;m warry of having to travel through mason during the school rush and then on I-71 and I-275 during rush hour. I don't think I will have time to take them today, I would do it tommorow but I have to work.

One theory I heard from a supervisor at SOB one time is that the loop could be removed to get rid of the necessity of a "hybrid" train. This would allow the ride to be able to support trains similar to traditonal wooden coasters allowing for a smoother ride. However, since the track actually stays the same, the only thing that changes is the support structure, why would this idea be feasible. Once again, there has been no definite proof that the loop has been removed nor any real substantial reason presented as to why it would be removed.

Great pictures man! Thanks for sharing! What kinds of camera did you use? I wanna say 1990 - 1991? One of those two.

Excellent point, also those other parks raptor guy mentioned have different staffing conditions and policies. Folks think about it, Cedar Fair just spent 1.2 billion dollars, they're going to want to try and make up for their aquired debt now. Winterfest was not profitable last year, Cedar Fair wants profit and really isnt in a postition to try and gamble again with another winterfest and also has their hands full with assimilating 5 new parks and making it one big family. They'll probably try winterfest again in the future when they have the money to risk on it.

Even if you posted the pic theres no way to prove it was your friend who took the pic, getting him n trouble. If you're so intent on spreading the rumor why not back it up? If your friends in the picture just use mspaint to black him out and to make sure we cant even see the model number of the camera, open the picture in paint, then save it as something else. We wont be able to read the original exif data thereby not getting your friend in any trouble. Not that I'm calling you a liar, I've worked with you a few times and it was certainly a pleasure, I know your a good worker and one of the best employees at the park, but if its a secret thats not supposed to get out then telling that a friend told you is just as bad as posting the pic. Maintenace personel at PKI are not restricted from keeping cell phones on them while working so what possibly could he get in trouble for?

^hahah thanks for the compliment on the camera shman, and thanks for taking the time to take the pics. I actually dont shoot with the fuji anymore and now shoot with an Olympus E-500 DSLR. I'll try to get up there tommorow and get some pics. Once again, thanks for reporting shman.

Woah guys, I think we're all jumping the gun a little bit here. While checking the exf data from shmans photos I could tell that they are in no way edited by photo shop or any other program. They're genuine photographs. While I thank him for the effort he went to to take them lets compare them to some photos I took a year ago during the offseason using some of the same angles: As you can see, you know the loop was obviously there, these pictures were taken back in March before the park opened for the 06 season but from the angles I used here you werent able to physically see it. I was able to see the loop but only from one angle... While Shmans pictures are genuine, I dont think he was able to see the loop from his angles. Tommorow I do have some business a few exits down I-71 and IF i get the time I will stop by KI to try and see if anything has changed. No one can possitively say the loop on SOB has been removed.

I wouldn't be so sure about that.

^Sure they can say Maverick is family friendly but a ride with two 70mph launches and 4 inversions is obviously geared towards enthusiasts. Not that I'm not excited to ride it next season, but its in no way geared towards families despite what their marketing says.

They certainly do have some interesting things in storage for their planned museum, they have one of the track pieces from the Cyclone that used to stand at SFAW.