News Project 2026: Shoreline Pier (Boardwalk Phase I feat. Barrels O' Fun & More)

[amperedragon]

Anyone expecting a massive drop tower (or even a standard size drop tower) to be opening this year has no concept of how much work is required to build a structure like that. That's a 6-9 month project once shovels go in the ground, and we likely would have seen permits and approvals for such a thing well before that. Best case scenario would be 2028 for such an attraction, and realistically 2029-2030 is probably more likely to let the new coaster breathe a bit.

Yes, the boardwalk project opening this year is going to consist of a few smaller rides relocated from SFA that can be put together in a few months (I'm assuming anything that can't be ready by early July isn't worth trying to put up this year). No, it's not a glamorous addition that is going to make it worth planning a special trip to SFGAdv for those out of area that weren't intending to visit this year. But that isn't the point behind it. This is a quick, budget friendly way to increase attraction capacity and fill in a fairly empty area of the park with a few rides that will appeal to a wide range of visitors. It doesn't really matter that they're used, or that they're stock models, or even that they'll likely be minimally themed...as long as the presentation of the area is nice, they'll do the job. It also can't be understated that SFGAdv is getting back to back to back additions while the company is deferring projects at many other properties in the chain, which should be evidence of a favorable outlook on this park in the future.

 

[DWNitro]

I mean I think there’s two sides here and I get both.

- Ragin’ Cajun in it’s current age + the flat rides do not make up for what has been lost the last few years (this is fair and I would say is true)
- Ragin’ Cajun and the flat rides are a good addition and will help what has been a dead area for a few years find some reason for foot traffic and give the younger crowd more to do

I don’t think there’s a firm side to take in it. These are rides that can be quickly and easily moved and if they aren’t a fit in 2-3+ years they can be rid of and moved on from. Yes something like BBM @ DW would be a great fit for the park - and it seemed Ryan Eldridge hinted at that in his most recent podcast appearance as something SFGAdv is looking at, but something like that or even Penguin Trek/Phoenix Rising/BBWR are not walking through that door any time soon. What is though are a multitude of improvements that help round out the park and start to get the ball moving in the right direction.

 

[Zachary]

It also can't be understated that SFGAdv is getting back to back to back additions while the company is deferring projects at many other properties in the chain, which should be evidence of a favorable outlook on this park in the future.

Damn, this is a good point. A bunch of Six Flags parks had 2026 additions pushed back—even big names like SFGAm and Carowinds. The children's area at SFMM and Phase I of the Boardwalk project at SFGAdv are the only instances we know of with last-minute projects that have been fast tracked to fill the gap left by other, delayed cap-ex for 2026. Gives some idea of where the chain's focus is at the moment for sure.

 

[northdetective]

Damn, this is a good point. A bunch of Six Flags parks had 2026 additions pushed back—even big names like SFGAm and Carowinds. The children's area at SFMM and Phase I of the Boardwalk projects at SFGAdv are the only ones we know of with last-minute projects that have been fast tracked to fill the gap left by other, delayed cap-ex. Gives some idea of where the chain's focus is at the moment for sure.

This is an opportunistic addition that costs the chain only whatever shipping costs. it is not a coveted attraction in limited supply. This demonstrates no special favor for the park and just continues the tradition of substandard (and low capacity of course) rides being "good enough" for Great Adventure. I wonder if some people think their county fairs have a special relationship with their rides supplier the year they manage to swing a portable wacky worm

 

[DWNitro]

Damn, this is a good point. A bunch of Six Flags parks had 2026 additions pushed back—even big names like SFGAm and Carowinds. The children's area at SFMM and Phase I of the Boardwalk project at SFGAdv are the only instances we know of with last-minute projects that have been fast tracked to fill the gap left by other, delayed cap-ex for 2026. Gives some idea of where the chain's focus is at the moment for sure.

Just from reading SFMM’s thread - their Vekoma thrill glider at one point was expected in 2025, no? I know there’s a ton of variables with permits, filings, and such, but have they even broken ground yet there?

vs. here where we’re having Project 2027, El Toro retrack 2026 + 2027, Ragin’ Cajun(?), multiple flats, improved and new food and beverage options, new animal experiences in the park, etc. all being worked on at once. I know we’re in a much more dire spot in terms of new things to do at SFGAdv but it’s the first time I’ve felt this park is a top priority in a while in the chain (just my opinion, I know others feel the same and I understand why).

 

[Suspense]

Northdetective, the point is that they could’ve chosen to send these rides anywhere in the chain, since many parks had delayed additions. But they chose GAdv, a park that had a major attraction open last year. You’re not wrong that they are cheap in general but it shows the type of core prioritization that you are constantly analyzing. Also at least they are trying to address capacity by adding multiple rides

 

[northdetective]

Northdetective, the point is that they could’ve chosen to send these rides anywhere in the chain, since many parks had delayed additions. But they chose GAdv, a park that had a major attraction open last year. You’re not wrong that they are cheap in general but it shows the type of core prioritization that you are constantly analyzing

Anything But A People Eater. God Forbid

 

[YachtyLogs]

If a wave swinger is part of the deal that'll at least eat me for a lot of the day

 

[amperedragon]

This is an opportunistic addition that costs the chain only whatever shipping costs. it is not a coveted attraction in limited supply. This demonstrates no special favor for the park and just continues the tradition of substandard (and low capacity of course) rides being "good enough" for Great Adventure. I wonder if some people think their county fairs have a special relationship with their rides supplier the year they manage to swing a portable wacky worm

The fact that SFGAdv was chosen as the home for these attractions when there are probably a half dozen parks in the chain where they would have been just as good of a fit (if not better) despite the park getting a major coaster last year and a major coaster next year says a lot to me about how the company views the park, especially given their decisions elsewhere in the chain.

Just from reading SFMM’s thread - their Vekoma thrill glider at one point was expected in 2025, no? I know there’s a ton of variables with permits, filings, and such, but have they even broken ground yet there?

Demolition on the site took place beginning in 2024 for the attraction's original plan of debuting in 2025. Currently it is a dirt hillside awaiting the installation of footers, which should begin after everything dries out (SoCal had a very wet winter this year). The ride theoretically could have opened in 2026 despite the permit delays, but corporate is deferring it to a spring 2027 opening for marketing reasons.

 

[Zachary]

Anything But A People Eater. God Forbid

You tell us all right now what ultra-high-capacity, people-eating attraction Six Flags could have possibly had designed, manufactured, shipped, installed, tested, and open by late spring 2026 following the Shuttle Strata Spinner delay.

It doesn't exist. It isn't a thing that could have happened.

This is why people often find engagement with you on these topics so enraging. You only deal in ideals and never work within the realistic constraints of conditions on the ground in the industry. Everyone in this thread can agree that in the land of unicorns and lollipops we'd all love a brand new, custom, huge, high-capacity coaster delivered and installed at SFGAdv each and every year. That's not a controversial position. It's just also not a remotely interesting, simulating, or useful conversation to have. The rest of us want to talk about what can be realistically achieved within the practical realities of our present situation. We don't care about bubblegum and cotton candy world where there's no problems, no suffering, no inconveniences, no fiscal realities, unlimited manufacturer availability, no red tape, no delays, etc, etc, etc.

SFGAdv and SFMM are the only parks with "make-up" attractions this season. SFGAdv's apology letter seems a lot better than SFMM's—and that's despite SFGAdv just recently opening a coaster and being on the verge of opening one of the most insane coasters in the world. Here in reality-land, most all of us can see that this is an obviously good indicator for the way Six Flags is thinking about SFGAdv. I sincerely think anyone who can't see/concede this specific point is just lost to their own spite against the park completely.

 

[DWNitro]

As a big hockey fan sometimes I like to equate a people eater ride to a high energy fourth liner who’s gonna dig in the corners, get the puck, and cycle it. Same as an effective bench player in basketball. Would a Vekoma Tilt/Intamin Multi Launch/etc etc. be awesome at SFGAdv be amazing after Phantom Spire? Absolutely. But I think Ragin Cajun is unironically a “4th liner” we could use right now.

 

[northdetective]

You tell us all right now what ultra-high-capacity, people-eating attraction Six Flags could have possibly had designed, manufactured, shipped, installed, tested, and open by late spring 2026 following the Shuttle Strata Spinner delay.

That comment was obviously not about the flats or the wild mouse in isolation lol. More of a commentary on where the priorities of the park are more generally: queue extension.

Here in reality-land, most all of us can see that this is an obviously good indicator for the way Six Flags is thinking about SFGAdv. I sincerely think anyone who can't see/concede this specific point is just lost to their own spite against the park completely.

 

[RDL]

Just from reading SFMM’s thread - their Vekoma thrill glider at one point was expected in 2025, no? I know there’s a ton of variables with permits, filings, and such, but have they even broken ground yet there?

vs. here where we’re having Project 2027, El Toro retrack 2026 + 2027, Ragin’ Cajun(?), multiple flats, improved and new food and beverage options, new animal experiences in the park, etc. all being worked on at once. I know we’re in a much more dire spot in terms of new things to do at SFGAdv but it’s the first time I’ve felt this park is a top priority in a while in the chain (just my opinion, I know others feel the same and I understand why).

The thill glider has been teased since early 2024 I believe. They didn’t announce it that summer, and didn’t announce it the year after either. It was delayed more than Flash was.

 

[sfgatim06]

If we do in fact get the wave swinger from SFAm, I just hope it will be named Flying Wave

EDIT: Right after saying this, I saw this on FB.

 

[ski4ever5]

People in general underestimate how complex foundations for large structures can be. There’s no way that they would be able to design and build a 400 foot drop tower in time for this season without substantial work being completed already.

As a side tangent, an under-discussed reason for the 2027 coaster to mostly avoid Ka’s footprint is that the large underground parts of the footers for Ka’s tower were probably abandoned in place rather than being fully removed. It’s much easier to build the foundation of a very heavy tall tower in undisturbed earth than to have to work with existing concrete abandoned underground. It was probably realized early on in the ride’s design that cost could be reduced by offsetting slightly from Kingda Ka.

I agree that the foundations for such a large drop tower would be substantial and complex, but I do think the example of Falcon’s Fury is misleading, since Florida is way softer and sandier than the northeast on average.

 

[MaxxForceFan]

I wonder if the park will move Buccaneer to the Boardwalk with Swashbuckler. It would fit the area, but it is old and Intamin.

 

[ski4ever5]

That comment was obviously not about the flats or the wild mouse in isolation lol. More of a commentary on where the priorities of the park are more generally: queue extension.

I know you’re concerned about the park intentionally creating and environment to incentivize the sale of Fast Passes, but anecdotally, I’ve never encountered any wait over ~30 minutes at the park except for that period where Jersey Devil’s OPs were screwed or The Flash, and both were still easily rideable earlier in the day. I do think high capacity rides are a great addition down the line as the park (hopefully) increases attendance, but an assortment of lower capacity rides (RC+some flats) isn’t going to cause the major coaster lines to increase, they’ll spread lines out across the park.

 

[jessebell1]

Hey all!

Long time lurker.

I was on Instagram this morning, around 8 am, and saw a post from Force Concrete. It was pictures of a mostly done path of poured concrete that was stamped to look like wood like a boardwalk. The "wood" was diagonal along the path and going towards superman. I wished I took screen shots of the pictures since this sounds fake lol. Since I saw no one here posted anything about it, I went back to their page and noticed they took the post down, . Definitely the social media person posted it too soon lol. The path looks looks really good and I can't wait to see it in person!

 

[DWNitro]

Hey all!

Long time lurker.

I was on Instagram this morning, around 8 am, and saw a post from Force Concrete. It was pictures of a mostly done path of poured concrete that was stamped to look like wood like a boardwalk. The "wood" was diagonal along the path and going towards superman. I wished I took screen shots of the pictures since this sounds fake lol. Since I saw no one here posted anything about it, I went back to their page and noticed they took the post down, . Definitely the social media person posted it too soon lol. The path looks looks really good and I can't wait to see it in person!

Saw someone on Discord post about this too. Wish someone got screenshots! Ugh

 

[Great Adventurer]