Losantiville Mining Co. Posted September 6 Share Posted September 6 Batwing, the 2001 Vekoma Flying Dutchman roller coaster at Six Flags America, has taken its final flight. The park put out a sign earlier today announcing the ride's permanent closure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoomPlague Posted September 7 Share Posted September 7 RIP Vekoma Flying Dutchman Outlived...by the SLC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReedObsessor Posted September 7 Share Posted September 7 From what I have been hearing from various people on social media, the ride has been fixed and is able to operate for the 7 or 8 weekends it has left. But corporate has refused to even consider reopening it. I don't understand why; it's not like the front plate is going to fall off again. If Batwing did reopen, would it have increased attendance enough for the final weeks of the park to make it worthwhile? If so, then it creates the feeling (in my mind) that Six Flags isn't that serious about fixing its financial problems. ------------------------------------- I've had a bad time lately with roller coasters being closed down, dating back to last August. In fact, I've had eight times this has happened (twice with TT2, being a week early with Siren's Curse, the Christmas Day Anaconda removal news, and between the 3 near DC parks this year , being denied Darkoaster, Pantherian, Superman, and Batwing). This count could still go up; I went the Gold Pass route given the deals offered, and I may try again at CP soon. Hearing this with Batwing is just more salt in the wound, even with the fact that I rode its clone at both Kings Island and Geauga Lake (and it's one of my most missed coasters). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Losantiville Mining Co. Posted September 7 Author Share Posted September 7 2 hours ago, ReedObsessor said: From what I have been hearing from various people on social media, the ride has been fixed and is able to operate for the 7 or 8 weekends it has left. But corporate has refused to even consider reopening it. I don't understand why; it's not like the front plate is going to fall off again. If Batwing did reopen, would it have increased attendance enough for the final weeks of the park to make it worthwhile? If so, then it creates the feeling (in my mind) that Six Flags isn't that serious about fixing its financial problems. I have my thoughts about how much corporate wants to fix things vs. how much they want to declare bankruptcy at the first moment it's possible. If the ride was fixed but is being forced into SBNO status, I'd be torn on whether it could be sold and go live out a few more years at another park, or whether this was another bad decision from corporate. Why spend the money to fix it if you knew there was a big chance it wouldn't reopen? Six Flags probably doesn't want to spend the money to let any part of this park have a big last hurrah so I'm not counting on anything. No matter what the "right" thing to do is, I think SFEC is posed to do the opposite. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJSkyFoxx Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 If Batwing really did get fixed and is able to safely operate, what a disservice it is to let it sit there not operating while loyal park fans/Vekoma FD fans don't get a chance to say goodbye or earn that now rare credit. And if this truly could be salvaged...common Indiana Beach...you know what to do! Imagine riding this over the water! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyGuy4KI Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 1 hour ago, DJSkyFoxx said: And if this truly could be salvaged...common Indiana Beach...you know what to do! Imagine riding this over the water! Do you think IB could keep up with the maintenance on one of those? At a KIC event years ago, this maintenance guy told us these were the most complex trains in the park (obviously at that time) with the number of sensors for each seat. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReedObsessor Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 If Indiana Beach really wanted a Flying Dutchman at their park, they would have bought Firehawk at the end of 2018. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodVengeance Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 Indiana Beach already has enough trouble with All-American Triple Loop. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJSkyFoxx Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 I was just saying it as a dream scenario. Not that it would or could actually happen. Everyone takes this stuff so seriously Chill. Also Apex was running the park in 2018 and doing a horrible job at it so they definitely wouldn't have been interested in purchasing Firehawk. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion-XL200 Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 Plus, Firehawk had "reached the end of it's service life" meaning it was likely not for sale. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnjniehaus Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 4 hours ago, Orion-XL200 said: Plus, Firehawk had "reached the end of it's service life" meaning it was likely not for sale. Firehawk was more reliable than batwing! I think batwing is at the end of its service life and has been for the past 3 years just six flags America hadn't pulled the plug on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Losantiville Mining Co. Posted September 11 Author Share Posted September 11 I fully believe the plan to close SFA was not in the works until early this year once the Cedar Fair people saw just how bad of shape everything from Six Flags was in. They might've been eyeing it for eventual closure, but not this fast. Batwing being past the end of its service life was likely another nail in the coffin for the park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion-XL200 Posted September 12 Share Posted September 12 5 hours ago, johnjniehaus said: Firehawk was more reliable than batwing! I think batwing is at the end of its service life and has been for the past 3 years just six flags America hadn't pulled the plug on it True...but I don't believe Cedar Fair or Six Flags at the time knew what 2025 would have instore for the companies....nor did Cedar Fair feel like they could sell it, despite reliability with the service life being at or toward the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReedObsessor Posted September 12 Share Posted September 12 X-Flight...erm, Firehawk debuted in late May 2001, with Batwing opening a few weeks later. Unless the relocation of the former shortened it's service life, then the latter was 7 years past its service life. Firehawk may have only seemed more reliable due to the fact it was scrapped much sooner than the others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Losantiville Mining Co. Posted September 12 Author Share Posted September 12 There might also be a case to say that Legacy Six Flags didn't take as good care of their coasters than Legacy Cedar Fair did. Over at Carowinds we saw Stealth Borg Assimilator Nighthawk stay open longer than Batwing despite being the model prototype. At Great Adventure we saw Kingda Ka running at least a little worse than Top Thrill Dragster. Those probably aren't the best comparisons, and my perceptions are probably tinted, but I have to wonder what Great Adventure would look like if Ka had started the TT2 treatment instead of total demolition. If only they'd let it sit SBNO until Cedar Point and Zamperla could work out the final issues with TT2. I don't think the L-SF rides were unsafe, but it seems that their maintenance work generally followed a course that led to more long-term wear and tear than coasters at L-CF parks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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