I will say, I do find it a bit concerning that we haven't seen any surveys from parks lower on the pecking order... relocations used to be the main way those parks got rides, now all the big parks are going to get relocations and the smaller parks will get nothing.
I suppose I should've seen the signs when Great Adventure got basically everything they could salvage from Six Flags America.
Seriously. Gold Striker as your new eye candy as you walk into Carowinds would be amazing. And then kill vortex and hurler as no one really likes either of those two rides.
RMC it. Six Flags just bought (and is likely working with RMC to modify) a used I-Box and they're surveying for a Raptor (probably a relocation, but still, point stands). RMC is a domestic manufacturer (sidesteps all of the tariff issues) and reportedly they're relatively affordable to build. I think any mediocre-to-bad woodie left in the Six Flags chain is back on the RMC menu.
Pretty surprised that they’re at least considering relocating coasters from this park. Skeptical anything comes of it, but I wouldn’t mind seeing most of these live on. I wonder if they’d sell to Enchanted or another operator.
I can imagine another six flags park would pull a wild one or zippin pippin or comet and move gold striker and or the grizzly but with steel supports but keep the wooden track
RMC it. Six Flags just bought (and is likely working with RMC to modify) a used I-Box and they're surveying for a Raptor (probably a relocation, but still, point stands). RMC is a domestic manufacturer (sidesteps all of the tariff issues) and reportedly they're relatively affordable to build. I think any mediocre-to-bad woodie left in the Six Flags chain is back on the RMC menu.
I tend to agree - and as much as I'm not much of an RMC superfan, I am very intrigued at the prospect of 6F working with them in earnest again. They redesigned their I-Box trains for Walibi Belgium and although we haven't seen those yet, there is nowhere to go but up LOL.
I was bored tonight, so since it seems CGA relocations might be in play, I decided to chart out a first order guess as to which parks in the chain could benefit from which coasters. My methodology for this was as follows:
1. Of CGA's nine coasters, I consider six to have relocation potential. Three of them (Demon, Grizzly, and Woodstock Express) I consider to have zero relocation potential.
2. For this, I am looking solely at whether an attraction makes sense within a park's lineup, either in addition to existing coasters or replacing a similar sized ride, and did not consider physical fit. At larger parks, most of these were treated as supporting attractions as they're on the smaller side even for their type, while at smaller parks they were generally considered as a new headliner.
3. Given the apparent financial state of Six Flags if they're considering relocation of 30+ year old B&Ms, I'm making the assumption that receiving one of the thrill coasters would likely be the biggest investment at the park in the next five years.
For the chart below, I am using a simple green-yellow-red color coding system...
-Green indicates a ride that would be a natural fit at the park as they are lacking anything similar to this attraction.
-Yellow indicates a ride that would have some benefit to the park, but isn't what I'd consider a top choice for a new coaster.
-Red indicates a ride that might make sense in specific circumstances but generally wouldn't be a great fit.
-An empty cell indicates putting that ride in that park would be nonsensical.
So, after spending three hours analyzing everything, here are my thoughts...
A few takeaways to wrap this up:
-Gold Striker is probably the coaster that makes the most sense to save from CGA, which likely isn't a surprise to many Unfortunately, it's also probably the most expensive one to relocate. On the flipside, Psycho Mouse would probably be the cheapest one to relocate (other than the kiddie), but there's only a couple parks in the chain that I really see making sense for the ride.
-The B&Ms only really make sense to save if they can be used at park that currently is lacking a B&M. Unfortunately, all three of those parks are quite challenging to build new rides at, which might make moving them difficult. Surprisingly, the smaller and less praised Patriot is probably more valuable as it can fill the role of a starter looping coaster, something quite a few parks are lacking.
-RailBlazer is a particularly tough one because the capacity on the attraction is so low (I've heard from CGA ops that it's under 400 riders per hour). That means it basically needs to go to a park with attendance levels on par with CGA or it needs to go to a really large park where it's more of a novelty not everyone is going to seek out.
-Overall, Darien Lake, Frontier City, and Mexico are the parks that probably stand to gain the most from a CGA hand-me-down, but there's at least one coaster that could benefit almost any park in the chain in some way. Dorney Park, Great Adventure, and Knott's Berry Farm are really the only ones where I can't see anything making sense.
I definitely welcome any thoughts or counters from those interested in this discussion. This is purely my own analysis and speculation, so it's undoubtedly not meant to be objective fact.
-RailBlazer is a particularly tough one because the capacity on the attraction is so low (I've heard from CGA ops that it's under 400 riders per hour). That means it basically needs to go to a park with attendance levels on par with CGA or it needs to go to a really large park where it's more of a novelty not everyone is going to seek out.
Why not have RailBlazer listed for Discovery Kingdom or Dorney? Both parks definitely get lower attendance than CGA, and everyone's been saying it would be a great fit at Discovery Kingdom in particular.
Why not have RailBlazer listed for Discovery Kingdom or Dorney? Both parks definitely get lower attendance than CGA, and everyone's been saying it would be a great fit at Discovery Kingdom in particular.
Why not have RailBlazer listed for Discovery Kingdom or Dorney? Both parks definitely get lower attendance than CGA, and everyone's been saying it would be a great fit at Discovery Kingdom in particular.
Discovery Kingdom is only about 60 miles from California's Great America, so adding a coaster that many guests have ridden already is probably not a great way to increase or sustain attendance. Additionally, every other non-family coaster at the park features inversions, so to the public I question how much a small footprint ride that features several inversions will really stand out amongst their lineup. The park also has significant limits on development, and to me it just doesn't make sense to use one of a very small number of coaster spots for a ride like RailBlazer when what they really need is something that better bridges the intensity levels between CGA's collection and their existing rides.
Dorney would actually be a really good fit for RailBlazer under many circumstances, but there is one reason that really gave me pause: Iron Menace. Dorney's first major coaster in nearly 20 years came in the form of a shorter ride starting with a vertical drop followed by several inversions. Given that, a short ride starting with a vertical drop followed by a few inversions might be seen as a little too similar, and if that's going to be the only coaster Dorney gets for at least five years, I'm not sure that's the direction they should be going.
Discovery Kingdom is only about 60 miles from California's Great America, so adding a coaster that many guests have ridden already is probably not a great way to increase or sustain attendance. Additionally, every other non-family coaster at the park features inversions, so to the public I question how much a small footprint ride that features several inversions will really stand out amongst their lineup. The park also has significant limits on development, and to me it just doesn't make sense to use one of a very small number of coaster spots for a ride like RailBlazer when what they really need is something that better bridges the intensity levels between CGA's collection and their existing rides.
Dorney would actually be a really good fit for RailBlazer under many circumstances, but there is one reason that really gave me pause: Iron Menace. Dorney's first major coaster in nearly 20 years came in the form of a shorter ride starting with a vertical drop followed by several inversions. Given that, a short ride starting with a vertical drop followed by a few inversions might be seen as a little too similar, and if that's going to be the only coaster Dorney gets for at least five years, I'm not sure that's the direction they should be going.
I admire you @GASM as you are an active contributor with excellent sound knowledge, but I have to respectfully submit a contrary opinion on this one . I just visited Carowinds last week and rode Vortex for the first time and I must say it was the smoothest standup I've done. Granted the only other three stand ups I've ridden are all defunct; Green Lantern at Great Adventure, La Ronde's former Intamin Stand up and Iron Wolf. But out of those it was the best.
I'm thinking Patriot at CGA is done-zo and think Vortex will out live that.
I’ve been on Scorcher, Mantis, Vortex, and Lantern, and I’d rank them in that order. That said, Scorcher is the only one I’d call a decent ride, and even then, I would not be all that upset if it was removed (though maybe a bit if it went before Rougarou and Vortex). As far as the other three go, I think it’s a “shit vs poop” type of comparison.
. I just visited Carowinds last week and rode Vortex for the first time and I must say it was the smoothest standup I've done. Granted the only other three stand ups I've ridden are all defunct; Green Lantern at Great Adventure, La Ronde's former Intamin Stand up and Iron Wolf. But out of those it was the best.