Rumor After the Boardwalk Renovation & Coaster

[northdetective]

My demands so far. Wild One is at the correct scale and very conveniently fits parallel to Ph*nt*m Sp*r*. The path under the zero-g stall could then head under the Wild One lift hill and into whatever the Golden Kingdom becomes beyond. Also I just don't think the rapids have much time left, it's not that I want them to go. I do want Joker to go away so my train can fit though

 

[AmyUD06]

My demands so far. Wild One is at the correct scale and very conveniently fits parallel to Ph*nt*m Sp*r*. The path under the zero-g stall could then head under the Wild One lift hill and into whatever the Golden Kingdom becomes beyond. Also I just don't think the rapids have much time left, it's not that I want them to go. I do want Joker to go away so my train can fit though

View attachment 41786

I like it. If anything I'd shift Wild One so the helix/station "leg" replaces the Right Stuff/Go Karts area, and have the entire boardwalk path cross under the lift/return.

 

[northdetective]

I like it. If anything I'd shift Wild One so the helix/station "leg" replaces the Right Stuff/Go Karts area, and have the entire boardwalk path cross under the lift/return.

Ooh that'd be incredible for the boardwalk atmosphere

 

[harry580]

I felt six flags great adventure should get a new entrance maybe revive the old 1989 entrance plan but themed to the Main Street area instead of the world expo theme

 

[RDL]

I felt six flags great adventure should get a new entrance maybe revive the old 1989 entrance plan but themed to the Main Street area instead of the world expo theme

The entrance appearance is nice but I wish they opened it up a bit more and that it wasn’t covered in so many trees. I’d love to see a Carowinds style entrance

 

[jscll]

The entrance appearance is nice but I wish they opened it up a bit more and that it wasn’t covered in so many trees. I’d love to see a Carowinds style entrance

Too many of the oak trees were cut down to install Flash. The park needs more trees and shade, not less.

 

[Nitro230]

My demands so far. Wild One is at the correct scale and very conveniently fits parallel to Ph*nt*m Sp*r*. The path under the zero-g stall could then head under the Wild One lift hill and into whatever the Golden Kingdom becomes beyond. Also I just don't think the rapids have much time left, it's not that I want them to go. I do want Joker to go away so my train can fit though

View attachment 41786

As much as I want it to happen I just don't see Wild One getting a new lease on life. Pretty sure they already sent the trains to another park in the chain for spare parts. I just don't think Six Flags can justify the cost of relocating a wooden coaster.

 

[sharpr1]

As much as I want it to happen I just don't see Wild One getting a new lease on life. Pretty sure they already sent the trains to another park in the chain for spare parts. I just don't think Six Flags can justify the cost of relocating a wooden coaster.

It's also a limiting option. I would love it, though. I can think of a bunch of areas of the park for a coaster, including the lakefront and other underutilized areas with things on it now. But if you're locked into an existing coaster layout, like Wild One, there's really only one place it can fit -- the Ka AND Rolling Thunder plots because of the shape and length. And maybe they have other plans for using more of that large area for multiple things. I would. I think if a woodie does come, it'll be new and, hopefully, catered to GAdv's specs. Much as I hated the regime, I do love the abandoned Giga along the lake by the log flume concept. The lake is so forgotten now when it should be a feature like it once was.

 

[Nitro230]

Right now I'm looking at this with a kinda 5 year pan in mind, think this could realistically happen....

Know:
2026: Shoreline Pier at the Boardwalk
2027: Phantom Spire

My 5 year plan:
2028: New transport ride: this is desperately needed, think everyone here can agree on that. I would prefer to have a new cable car ride but if not the idea for a train like @northdetective just proposed is really interesting. However I likely wouldn't bring the train all the way to base camp for the 2029 addition....
2029: Relocate the safari station to Golden Kingdom. I think there is a way this area can be rethemed to have a more African adventure theme than Asian. The safari doesn't make much sense in Frontier Adventures so let's just move it over here so you can have a more complete safari experience while in the park.
2030: Vekoma Tilt Coaster: These things are huge GP attention grabbers in the same way the Dive Coaster is. Dorney has a Iron Menace so Great Adventure gets a tilt. I'm finally demolishing the Lone Star Theater and the Safari station for a massive custom layout tilt coaster. Probably not quite the size of Iron Rattler but larger than Siren's Curse. I'm also giving Medusa ANOTHER major face lift, new sign, new paint job, removing the noticeable remnants of Bizarro so it actually fits in with Frontier Adventures.
2031: I'm calling this the year of the repaint because I'm giving Mine Train the repaint it needs, and Nitro finally gets the facelift it deserves for it's 30th anniversary. I actually really like the military theme talked about earlier that would allow it to fit in better with the Pine Barrens and keep the Nitro name. A Military green track with a light grey support combo would be really cool imo.
2032: Drop Tower: I waited for this because I'm hoping Intamin and Six Flags can improve the relationship because I really want a Falcons Fury style drop tower. If not it'll probably be S&S unfortunately but either way I'm also putting this in Frontier Adventures with a mine shaft theme to fit in with the area and round out this side of the park.

 

[northdetective]

As much as I want it to happen I just don't see Wild One getting a new lease on life. Pretty sure they already sent the trains to another park in the chain for spare parts. I just don't think Six Flags can justify the cost of relocating a wooden coaster.

If this were to happen (unlikely already) I assume it wouldn't be a "relocation" in the strict sense. I think it'd be more like a Zippin Pippin situation where it gets rebuilt very faithfully but has a new structure and hardware entirely. It would bring that "northeast history" vibe Ryan Eldredge was talking about with authenticity. Plus I was happy to see a good number of Maryland license plates in the parking lot this weekend, it'd be nice to throw them a bone

 

[sharpr1]

Right now I'm looking at this with a kinda 5 year pan in mind, think this could realistically happen....

Know:
2026: Shoreline Pier at the Boardwalk
2027: Phantom Spire

My 5 year plan:
2028: New transport ride: this is desperately needed, think everyone here can agree on that. I would prefer to have a new cable car ride but if not the idea for a train like @northdetective just proposed is really interesting. However I likely wouldn't bring the train all the way to base camp for the 2029 addition....
2029: Relocate the safari station to Golden Kingdom. I think there is a way this area can be rethemed to have a more African adventure theme than Asian. The safari doesn't make much sense in Frontier Adventures so let's just move it over here so you can have a more complete safari experience while in the park.
2030: Vekoma Tilt Coaster: These things are huge GP attention grabbers in the same way the Dive Coaster is. Dorney has a Iron Menace so Great Adventure gets a tilt. I'm finally demolishing the Lone Star Theater and the Safari station for a massive custom layout tilt coaster. Probably not quite the size of Iron Rattler but larger than Siren's Curse. I'm also giving Medusa ANOTHER major face lift, new sign, new paint job, removing the noticeable remnants of Bizarro so it actually fits in with Frontier Adventures.
2031: I'm calling this the year of the repaint because I'm giving Mine Train the repaint it needs, and Nitro finally gets the facelift it deserves for it's 30th anniversary. I actually really like the military theme talked about earlier that would allow it to fit in better with the Pine Barrens and keep the Nitro name. A Military green track with a light grey support combo would be really cool imo.
2032: Drop Tower: I waited for this because I'm hoping Intamin and Six Flags can improve the relationship because I really want a Falcons Fury style drop tower. If not it'll probably be S&S unfortunately but either way I'm also putting this in Frontier Adventures with a mine shaft theme to fit in with the area and round out this side of the park.

Nice plan. I'm thinking let's re-theme Medusa entirely and call it Viper, to honor the storied other, because it fits the western theme better anyway, and the ride moves snake-like enough that it makes sense.

 

[Nitro230]

Nice plan. I'm thinking let's re-theme Medusa entirely and call it Viper, to honor the storied other, because it fits the western theme better anyway, and the ride moves snake-like enough that it makes sense.

If they wanted to they can definitely keep the Medusa name but the retheme back to Medusa was.....to put it nicely, poorly executed

 

[Zachary]

If this were to happen (unlikely already) I assume it wouldn't be a "relocation" in the strict sense. I think it'd be more like a Zippin Pippin situation where it gets rebuilt very faithfully but has a new structure and hardware entirely. It would bring that "northeast history" vibe Ryan Eldredge was talking about faithfully. Plus I was happy to see a good number of Maryland license plates in the parking lot this weekend, it'd be nice to throw them a bone

This, but even more flexible.

These ancient woodies are already Ships of Theseus. Wild One has already gone through multiple SUBSTANTIAL layout changes—it has burned down (twice I think?), it was dramatically redesigned early in its life, it has already been relocated with notable changes, it definitely doesn't run its original trains, and even its PTCs seem to differ vs Paragon Park's—there's a VERY good chance none of the existing parts on the ride today are original. Despite all of this—despite the ride experience on Wild One at SFA in 2025 being comically far afield from Giant Coaster's in 1917, we still consider it the same coaster because you can clearly trace its evolution through all of these steps. Six Flags Great Adventure can simply be the next step in that evolution. Photos showing two of the previous iterations of Giant Coaster can be found below.

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To be Giant Coaster/Wild One/however it lives on, I think you need the same height, about the same speed, a similar track length, an out-and-back layout with high lateral turns and a very similar sequence of hills. The final helix and station area on Wild One at SFA were unrecognizable from earlier iterations—all of that is very flexible. The angle and direction of the mid-layout bend is also flexible if you ask me.

My point is that a park can modify Wild One's layout pretty notably to make it fit in its new home and, like @northdetective said, it can be a full fresh build and, despite all of that, it can still be Wild One—it can still deliver a similar experience and carry forward the legacy of one of the industry's oldest and more storied coasters.

 

[RDL]

I expect the drop tower to happen a year or two after Phantom Spire

I agree on the park needing a transport ride badly. Would love to see some kind of monorail

 

[DWNitro]

Personally love the train idea. Is SFA’s in salvageable condition/parts of it usable?, or would we need a new one? I never went on it when I was there.

 

[nyxmike]

Here's my thoughts, and I agree I would love for Medusa at some point in the next few years to get the re-do it really deserved b/c what old management did was half-assed and cheap. At a minimum remove all the old Bizarro theming/structures, re-do the station (the colored paint was a bad choice), and a completely new sign. This can be done during any off-season.

2026: Shoreline Pier
2027: Record breaking launch coaster, Boardwalk renovations completed including Superman re-theme, Nitro paint job? (one can dream)
2028: New kids area, potentially consolidating into one large kids area (TBD if Looney Tunes or Camp Snoopy theme) b/c right now there's Bug's Bunny National Park and Jr. Thrillseekers which is disjointed
2029: New drop tower in Movietown and the area gets re-themed to DC Universe
2030: New thrill coaster either in the former Golden Kingdom or Frontier Adventures

 

[Zachary]

Personally love the train idea. Is SFA’s in salvageable condition/parts of it usable?, or would we need a new one? I never went on it when I was there.

You'd definitely need a new one. Don't know if SFA's (very few non-trashed) carriages could be salvaged, but they were down to a single, old, industrial, diesel locomotive that already felt like it was on its last legs.

I know it doesn't sound the most charming but, for the long-term health of the investment, an electrified (probably automated?) system would likely be optional if a rail line is the answer.


Personally I'm definitely on the skyride team myself just because the previous right of way still exists, we know it's financially viable, and it plays to the park's recent history.

 

[sfgatim06]

I think 2028 should be park improvements and a massive kids area, potentially largest in the US. I say keep BBNP where it is and as is. I say take Jr. Thrill Seekers and completely retheme it to camp snoopy (fits in with pine barons), and expand it big time. There's plenty of space back there for it.

2029: Sky ride and drop tower
2030: Alpen Fury style coaster in GK to bring that area back to life. Maybe a thrilling new large flat so its not a solo attraction.

All of this feels like wishful thinking. lol

 

[RDL]

I absolutely agree that the park has needed a new kids area forever. It was by a mile the most requested addition over at the GreatAdventureHistory forums after JDC was announced, but the pandemic hit and we never got to see anything from that JRA regime again.

I agree with @sfgatim06 and the idea to go all in on that Jr. Thrillseekers area. Revamping that area could also incentivize fixing Nitro and its theming issues.

The BBNP can stay where it is so long as they give it a bit more love. They don’t need to add any new rides, just clean the area up and give it more life.

 

[sfgatim06]

I absolutely agree that the park has needed a new kids area forever. It was by a mile the most requested addition over at the GreatAdventureHistory forums after JDC was announced, but the pandemic hit and we never got to see anything from that JRA regime again.

I agree with @sfgatim06 and the idea to go all in on that Jr. Thrillseekers area. Revamping that area could also incentivize fixing Nitro and its theming issues.

The BBNP can stay where it is so long as they give it a bit more love. They don’t need to add any new rides, just clean the area up and give it more life.

Yes, I forgot about Nitro. You're absolutely right, this would be a great opportunity to bring it back to life a bit since its close by.