McSalsa

I kind of agree...still, the video said "Starting with The Mayflower"...so, while this could be all there is in 2014, there could be more to come in 2015 or something? This doesn't look too expensive, so perhaps they are saving up for something...

Well, Holiday World has announced, at 2AM nonetheless ( ) their new-for-2014 attraction... It's a swinging boat ride, like Viking Fury. Hey, at least it isn't yet another waterpark addition...also they will have Fireworks on Friday nights now, apparently, and ticket prices will not increase in 2014.

Hmm...I originally voted Timberwolf, but changed my mind a few minutes later to Action Theatre. From what I've heard, it's just not popular at all, so removing it would make some sense. In fact, most of these would make sense to be removed, save Boo Blasters...that ride, from what I understand, is actually pretty popular.

^ I seriously doubt it...Mine Train coasters from the 1960's are still running strong at other parks, and AE opened in...1991. It gets nearly 1 million riders every year, and is very popular among park guests as a ride that fits well in between the kids coasters and the larger scream machines like Beast, Diamondback, or Vortex. The fact the line is usually 15 minutes or less isn't because it's unpopular, it's because it's a line muncher with awesome capacity...something Kings Island values greatly. AE very likely isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Hmm...a Mega Lite at Kentucky Kingdom...hey, that could work. And as elyk just said, there are none in the US- hello, easy marketing- "Insert Ride Name Here @ Kentucky Kingdom, the USA's only Mega-Lite Coaster!" (though Intimidator 305 is kind of a "Giga Lite" coaster in a way, and SkyRush is also somewhat similar as YoungStud mentioned). While I don't think it would "steal" the announcements for 2014 (Mega-Lites would not wow on paper, and it's a ride in a small park- stuff added at Kings Island or SFGam pretty much automatically will get more attention) it could pull a major upset when the 2014 coaster polls are released by beating all the new larger coasters, and it would attract hardcore coaster enthusiasts who have been wanting to ride a Mega-Lite, but haven't been able to go out-of-country to ride one. And if the rest of the park is run well (Clean, Friendly, Efficent- Ed Hart, this is very important stuff!), Enthusiasts and the Local Louisville market will talk about it...thus attracting more people to the park, along with the large 2015 supposed-to-be-a-B&M coaster and the re-opening of T2 and whatever Twisted Twins turns into in 2016. If Ed Hart does this right, by then, KK will be in great shape. I'm kind of pulling for a Mega-Lite now. For around $7 million, nothing else seems to be able to compete with that. Also, I had a crazy idea...the park has suggested they want to add a Star Flyer, and this section of the park is the only spot they can go 200 feet...200' star flyer in middle of a Mega-Lite?

Hmm...I think I did a topic like this once, but eh, oh well- you're new here (under 100 posts) so I can just deal with it. I typically think of the old classic wooden coasters, actually...or if I think of specific coasters, The Beast pops into my head. For steel, an image of the old-fashioned arrow looping coasters is usually the first thing that comes up. And that's it for me...

OK, something I just had to think of...looking at the logo for it, instead of using the name Goliath, couldn't Six Flags Great America have called their new-for-2014 woodie...here's my name pitch... The Gladiator. But hey, I'm not the one naming this ride...Six Flags is.

Zumanjaro looks AMAZING and I'm glad I'll get to ride it since I go to Great Adventure every year. As for Rolling Thunder, I think many people saw this one coming especially with the latest rumors and messages sent out by the park advising people to get last rides on the coaster. It's sad, but here's why I think it will be removed. For 2015 the park will get an X-Flight clone and it will be built in Rolling Thunder's location. I don't see why the park didn't just wait until next year to remove it (if this is the case), but maybe they just wanted to get it out of the way now as to not worry about it later. Unless the park plans on building an even larger coaster than an X-Flight-esque wing rider, so intead of closing Rolling Thunder only a month or two into the season to demolish it next year the park just wanted to get rid of it now. I personally don't think the removal of RT has anything to do with Zumanjaro, but rather a future expansion/coaster. Time will only tell... That actually makes a lot of sense...yes, I had heard the Rolling Thunder rumors as well and this was kind-of seen coming...I'm guessing that while Six Flags didn't add any major new steel coasters for 2014, 2015 will likely have some...mainly this rumored wingrider. Heck, SFGadv already has nearly every B&M model avaliable so far, save the Wingrider and Dive Machine...so it would make sense.

Thanks to CoasterForce, I found this animated POV of the new wooden coaster, Goliath, at Six Flags Great America... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4CmYqmeWk8 Yeah...this video re-enforces my thoughts on this being this most interesting of all of Six Flag's new-for-2014 additions.

Hmm...I'll do a 1-by-1 breakdown: Goliath @ SFGam: This one, for the most part, looks awesome. 165 feet tall, 180 foot drop, 72mph...the animation made it look a bit too much like a Iron Horse coaster though, which confused me, but apparently it is topper track...I kind of at least hope that the track isn't painted orange-ish like the video and is natural-looking like Outlaw Run's track. The inversions and overbanked turns here look crazy...it does look a wee bit on the short side, and I am not a huge fan of the name (too many Goliaths already, Six Flags, come up with something else next time!) but overall this looks like probably the most interesting of the 2014 Six Flags additions. Wait a second...72mph...it has inversions...are we working our way back towards another SOB-sized wooden coaster with inversions? If so, hope it works the second time around... Medusa Steel Coaster @ SF Mexico: OK...the name for this one is just horrible...they just took the old name and added "Steel Coaster" to it. Lame. Alas, this will be the 3rd "Iron Horse" coaster in the Six Flags chain, following Texas Giant and Iron Rattler, and the first that was formerly a CCI creation...in fact, so far, no company has had 2 of their coasters turned into Iron Horse coasters- we have 1 Dinn, 1 RCCA, and now 1 CCI...as for the ride itself, it should be great, given the reputations of the first 2 Iron Horse coasters for ride experience...with 5 coasters now under their belt, it is safe to say RMC is making themselves known in the world of wooden and steel/wood hybrid coasters... Hurricane Harbor @ SF Over Georgia: Wow, they are adding an entire waterpark to this one. Alas, it makes me wonder- will this waterpark possibly hurt White Water, the nearby waterpark that is out-of SFOG? We will have to wait and see... New Mardi Gras Area @ SF America: Well, looks like the rumor I heard of Ragin' Cajun may have some truth to it- this is one I overlooked at first, but seeing Ragin' Cajun show up here makes me wonder- is the SFGam ride really being relocated, or is this a new ride by the same name? (If anyone knows, please tell) New England Skyscreamer @ SFNE: OK, this is supposed to be record breaking at 400', but doesn't it just tie with Texas Skyscreamer, or is it just a wee bit bigger? Anyway, these Skyscreamers are just crazy...and to think this is a ride Cedar Fair rejected in favor of the problematic WindSeekers...well, Six Flags really seems happy with them, I expect one of these will soon be in EVERY Six Flags park. Tsunami Soaker @ SFStl: OK, fun-looking family attraction, but I'm not super interesting so...moving on. Bahama Blaster @ SFFT: New waterslide complex- looks like fun, but again not a "huge" addition so, moving on... Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom @ SFGadv: Holy cow, the SFGadv Drop Tower rumors were true- this 415 foot monster, attached to Kingda Ka, is sure to be one the most terror-inducing drop rides ever built. Along with Busch Gardens' Falcon's Fury, Drop Tower @ KI, once the most fearsome drop ride ever, has lost that status...I do like how they added a 3rd Drop Tower to increase capacity compared to Lex Luthor @ SFMM, too...but there is one complaint I have with this ride, and no, it's not the name- that actually is pretty good... Rolling Thunder had to die for this WHY? I don't see how Rolling Thunder was possibly in the way of this attraction...the q-line? I just don't know...perhaps Six Flags is just BS'ing and using this as an excuse to remove a ride with declining popularity. Sigh...well, I never knew ye, but since O'Terpy liked ye, RIP Rolling Thunder... Bonzai Pipelines @ SF Hurricane Habor (LA): Another new waterslide complex- again, I'm not wasting much time on this though. Kid's Area Expansion & Reverse Coasters @ SFMM: Nice that they thought of the kids, and 4 kiddie coasters is a record to me since I don't see Surf Dog type rides as coasters. As for the backwards coasters- good for Colossos, but after reading some reviews of backwards Batman, I have to wonder if this will continue too much longer as I heard that at SFGam, it made people sick to ride it... Extreme Supernova @ Great Escape: MINI Delirium!!! Great fit for this small park. That is all here. Tsunami Soaker @ SF Discovery Kingdom: See the one @ SFStl. Same here. Kid's Area Expansion @ SF Over Texas: OK...not what I was told via rumors (was expecting a B&M Wing Rider here) but again, nice to see the kids getting something new. Demon @ La Ronde: Top Spin...makes me think of what we could have in Crypt...anyhow, not a bad fit for this park. OVERALL IMPRESSIONS Well, it's clear as day now what Six Flags likes- RMC wooden coasters and hybrids, waterpark expansions, and SkyScreamer rides. Nothing on this screams "I WAS SUPER-DUPER EXPENSIVE!" (no new large steel coasters here, and wooden coasters are generally cheaper than steel) the way a large steel coaster like Banshee, Gatekeeper, or Leviathan does but it's nice to see Six Flags spread their money around on cheaper investments to all their parks. Goliath @ SFGam is the most interesting of the bunch to me, since it is reasonably close and adds what should be an epic wooden coaster to that park- it's likely going to be a serious contender for best-new-ride 2014. (Not that there seems to be much competition this year in the USA, outside Kings Island's Banshee...) Zumanjaro is next on my "interesting..." list, simply because you cannot ignore a 400+ foot drop ride. I do wish it could have been added without killing Rolling Thunder though. Next up would be Medusa: Steel Coaster, then the NE Skyscreamer...after that, it starts to get hard because these other additions as I'm just not that interested in them (too far away and mostly waterpark rides).

Hmm...very interesting...also, I was reading some of the comments, and one stood out. Someone said "Exciting, but then I can no longer say I've ridden the tallest Drop Tower anymore... " (Assuming they visited SFMM and rode Lex Luthor's Drop of Doom) and SFGAdv responed "Then come ride it!"...hmm, I'd say with the colors of these supports and all, that the rumored Kingda Ka-attached Drop Tower at SFGadv could be coming true... At least we won't have to wait too long to find out...

Robin: HOLY EPIC PICTURES, BATMAN! Batman: Robin, we cannot approve of these pictures, we are liscenced to Six Flags. Robin: Whoops...HOLY HORRIBLE PICTURES, BATMAN! Batman: That's more like it...huh...AAAAHHH!!! (Batman and Robin get abducted into the night sky by a screaming Banshee) Sorry, couldn't resist, the joke just made itself in my head. Anyhow, awesome pictures...and what great quality they are too!

Ironically, that promo for Banshee forgot Bavarian Beetle & Scooby's Ghoster Coaster. They are dead Kings Island coasters too. (I'm guessing it was just going with big, "adult" oriented coasters though...so BB, a family coaster, and SGC, which was for kids, don't really count...)

Awesome Trip Report and Awesome Pictures...SFGadv is yet another of those parks I do hope I can visit some day...

About the Raging Bull death, from Wikipedia (not the best source, but it's all I could find ATM): On May 3, 2003, an 11-year-old girl from Gary, Indiana collapsed after riding the Raging Bull coaster. She died after being taken to the hospital. While initial reports said that she died from choking on taffy she had been eating while on the ride, the coroner's report later stated that she died due to an "enlarged" heart condition, and had been seeing a cardiologist for treatment. Sounds like something that wasn't a problem with the ride or anything though- any thrilling roller coaster, be it a B&M or anything else- could do this. (Moral of story: Do NOT ride roller coasters of any manufacturer if you know you have any sort of heart condition!) PS: Sorry about the blue link text stuff. It appeared as I directly copied that part of this post from wikipedia. ^^: WHAT!?!? Raging Bull @ Six Flags Great America is a B&M! http://rcdb.com/535.htm

I kind of thought that was a bit iffy, too...so perhaps this new wooden coaster isn't for 2014 at all...in which case we are already speculating something that may be for 2015 or later. (Though SFGam could well get something in 2014, even if not this) Which is very...interesting... Well, we should find out come the Six Flags new-for-2014 announcements on August 29th.

OK, an update on the SFGam wooden coaster- On Coasterbuzz, a used named Tekwardo posted these blueprints for the new coaster: Well, there goes some of my hype- this thing looks pretty short. I saw an overlay image of it and the park, posted by LordGonchar, and it looks like it's not a super-long ride at all: Well, just felt this update was worth posting...oh, and the coaster is supposed to be 165 feet tall (as was stated before) but it does go 13 feet "below grade", so the drop is 178 feet if that is true... Any thoughts/comments?

Just a FYI, Holiday World has been doing this since 2011. If they can do it, why not Cedar Fair? (Granted, Cedar Fair's parks are usually much bigger and more crowded than Holiday World...)

Hmm...I find this story interesting. Six Flags Great America, from what I have seen & heard, is actually a great park. The park looks great from photos I have seen, has won awards for cleanliness, and this Six Flags actually seems to have a good balance of roller coasters and flat rides. The coaster lineup is good-looking, but none of them really leap out at you the way a Beast, Millennium Force, or El Toro does- most are clones or have been cloned, or have been overshadowed by other rides at other parks. So, what do I think a big new wooden coaster would do at SFGam? It would, if it is anything like El Toro or any of the recent RMC creations, make SFGam a park very high on my must-visit list. The new ride would likely mesh well with the existing woodies (Viper & American Eagle) and would give SFGam a true stand-out roller coaster. If it is an Intamin Plug-N-Play, then that also means I would not have to go for a multi-day car ride just to ride one, too. This would combine with the steel coasters, good flat ride collection, and fun-looking waterpark to make Six Flags Great America a must visit park in my eyes. Granted, I kind of already wanted to visit this park...it is within a somewhat reasonable distance and one of my friends has family nearby. Also, anyone heard of that other rumor? Apparently Ragin Cajun, one of SFGam's wild mouse coasters, will be re-located to another park and a SkyScreamer swing ride will go in its place... FUN FACT: If this new wooden coaster at SFGam is an Intamin (could also possibly be a RMC, I'd rule out GCI though because of the 165-feet height and Gravity Group has never worked with Six Flags) it would be ironic as their first big coaster project ever was American Eagle, a wooden coaster that opened at Six Flags Great America in 1981 and is still the world's tallest and fastest racing wooden coaster. So it would kind of be a "homecoming" for Intamin Wooden Coasters...

Hmm...2 new rides by 2015? That is possible. Banshee would count as one, in 2014, then we could possibly see something small like flat rides or something in 2015...so yeah, 2 new rides possible. 2 coasters though...ehh....Not likely, unless we are getting a wild mouse or something in The Crypt building in 2015...and those are low capacity and thus not a good fit for Kings Island.

I found it interesting myself for 2 reasons: #1-El Toro is an Intamin, so this does connect with the recent closing of Intimidator 305 (another ride having issues with its cable lift) and the Shoot The Rapids accident. Dumb Luck or not, 3 well-known attractions down is not a good thing for Intamin's image ATM. #2-Perhaps more interesting is that this attraction was voted #1 wooden roller coaster in the world in both the Amusement Today Golden Ticket Awards and Mitch Hawker Wood Coaster poll in 2012...and it's won or tied for 1st in the Hawker poll 3 years running now, so it was going for a 4th straight Hakwer Poll title in 2013- something no ride to date has done. Will this breakdown affect its chances? If so, what rides will take advantage of El Toro's stumble? (My guesses, if this does in fact effect El Toro: Phoenix @ Knoebels or Voyage @ Holiday World for the Golden Ticket Awards, and T-Express @ Everland for Hawker's poll...though Outlaw Run could show up as an unknown x-factor, but I haven't heard too much about that ride yet as suddenly it got kind of quiet after the early reviews came in)... Just some random thoughts...

Yikes. According to Screamscape, Six Flags Great Adventure's #1 ranked wooden coaster, El Toro, is closed and apparently the lift hill motor blew out. If it cannot be fixed, El Toro will be SBNO for the rest of the 2013 season as a new lift motor is installed: http://www.screamscape.com/html/six_flags_great_adventure.htm This has not been a very good year for Intamin. Intimidator 305, Shoot-The-Rapids, and now El Toro have all had problems and all 3 could be down for some time.

Ouch...this could be bad news for The Voyage's long-term future. The PTC trains have already been shown to be tearing the track up, to the point where re-tracking is only a temporary fix to a larger problem the ride seems to have. The Timberliners were hoped to fix this problem, but now they appear to have kicked the bucket. What happens now when Holiday World can't afford (or refuses) to re-track The Voyage every single year? It will get rougher, and rougher, and fall from grace...this is reminding me a lot of what happened with the original Texas Giant- it started out as a world-class coaster, winning numerous awards, but as time went on it tore itself apart and eventually became notorious as one of the roughest wooden coasters out there. In it's case, thankfully, Rocky Mountain came in and was able to transform it into a world-class steel coaster, New Texas Giant...although the recent death on the ride has put another stain on it. It seems that, for most cases, giant wooden coasters do not work- not counting Intamin's prefabs or possibly Rocky Mountain topper tracked rides- as while they are awesome their first few seasons, the high speeds and imperfect trackwork (which is normally a trademark feature on smaller wooden coasters) eventually cause them to become incredibly rough and painful. Son of Beast, The Rattler, Hercules, Old Texas Giant...all examples of giant wooden coasters that failed in the end, and either needed heavily modified or demolished. The Beast at Kings Island has only worked because it's unique design uses long straight sections, underground tunnels, trim brakes, and large swooping curves to handle the increased speeds. Voyage's future is iffy now- if it continues running as-is, it's only a matter of time before it turns into a overly rough wreck unless the park takes drastic measures to save it. There are possible options, however... #1- Dan Koch regains control of the park and re-starts Timberliner testing, and this time they work. #2- Rocky Mountain Coasters is brought in and gives the entire ride topper track. #3- Rocky Mountain Coasters is brought in and gives the entire ride the "Texas Giant" treatment, turning Voyage into a steel coaster. In this case, it would actually be all-steel...and would be quite the weird steel coaster, to be honest, as it would basically be a steel coaster that tries to look and act like a wooden coaster, but with steel supports and track. #4- Somehow, GCI's Millennium Flyer trains are used, and they end up working. (Not likely though) Sigh. While I enjoyed my visit to Holiday World this year (a lot, in fact), this current management could possibly ruin this small park. Ironically, this is coming at a time when Kings Island's management seems to know what it is doing and is adding a huge new steel coaster, and another possible competitor, Kentucky Kingdom, is emerging. Not to mention Dollywood (whom also competes with Holiday World) is also poised to add something they are saying is "big". Holiday World is not in a great spot right now.

I agree with deviarous- Magnum XL200 was, for what it's worth, a more influental coaster to Cedar Point than TTD, in spite of being only around half as tall, as it was what put Cedar Point itself on most coaster fans maps for the first time, and the style of coaster it was (200'+, no inversions, lots of airtime hills) paved the way for the modern hypercoasters and gigas from Intamin, B&M, and various other manufacturers. Magnum is credited as a major factor in the coaster wars of the 1990's and 2000's as parks tried to one-up it by building even larger steel coasters, which eventually led to the Giga coasters and finally the Stratas like TTD and Kingda Ka- where ironically the coaster wars for height ended for now, as major issues started to come up with the height and speed the coasters were reaching. Magnum only broke the record by 36', but what it started was unreal- and the particular style it created, the hypercoaster, is now one of the most popular types out there even today. I can think of several other coasters that were more important to the coaster world than TTD as well...Racer @ Kings Island saved wooden coasters from certain death and started the coaster battles of the 1970's. Early modern coasters with inversions like Revolution & Corkscrew's got us infatuated with going upside down. Beast shattered tons of world records and created a huge buzz, kicking the the coaster wars into high gear for the 1980's. Batman: The Ride gave us the first inverted roller coaster, which has turned out to be another very popular style today. Millennium Force's hype was unreal when it first opened. All of these rides seem more important to how modern coasters ended up than TTD...at least in my book.

^ Actually, just a FYI, Chang was added under Ed Hart's original management of Kentucky Kingdom. So Mantis was one-upped by a "small park" that was not connected in any way yet to a major park chain (this rarely ever happens as most small parks lack the budget to build rides like Chang & stuff).