News Project 2027/Purple: Delayed “World Record Breaking Coaster" (Phantom Spire?)

Register or Login to Hide This Ad for Free!
It honestly sounds like they’re REALLY concerned about getting the theme and the story right (no more parking lot coasters!). Really intrigued by what other announcements they have on the queue about the 2026 season in terms of potential additions or other things coming.

I like that he said that 2027 is what they’re aiming for but “miracles can happen” 👀 If it really is a haunted lighthouse theme, what better time to get it open for passholder rides during Frightfest.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ziva, Mushroom, joeg918 and 8 others
DWNitro said:
It honestly sounds like they’re REALLY concerned about getting the theme and the story right (no more parking lot coasters!). Really intrigued by what other announcements they have on the queue about the 2026 season in terms of potential additions or other things coming.

I like that he said that 2027 is what they’re aiming for but “miracles can happen” 👀 If it really is a haunted lighthouse theme, what better time to get it open for passholder rides during Frightfest.
Click to expand...
I thought that a few weeks back. The "stars aligned" scenario, to me, is they get the new coaster done and landscaping done (enough) that they can soft-open during Frightfest. Maybe it's just Halloween weekend (Fri-Sun) as a special treat or "the first 500 fans" or a lottery or something to not have it be a full-on opening but an operational teaser.
 
  • Like
Reactions: desardes, Coasternerd, Great Adventurer and 1 other person
The TRACK LENGTH will be longer than Ka... Interesting.

Great job with the interview @Coaster Chall! Ryan Eldredge always gives an excellent showing in these settings too—and this is no exception. He's one of the few park-level marketing people in the industry I can point to at the moment who I actually have some real confidence in. He was stellar around Iron Menace and I'm excited to see how he handles this attraction too.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: mattkopp23, Mushroom, RollyCoaster and 8 others
Zachary said:
The TRACK LENGTH will be longer than Ka... Interesting.

Great job with the interview @Coaster Chall!
Click to expand...
Either this is an intentional misrepresentation of the "distance traveled" stat or there's a lot more footers that have yet to be poured.

Overall, one assurance I'm happy to have is that there will be an emphasis on getting rides back into the park. It's also great that Eldredge is aware of the "depressing skyline" and other popular perceptions of the park, I just think guests shouldn't have to seek niche coaster content to be aware that there will be efforts at rebuilding.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
  • Dislike
Reactions: Ziva, Thrills & Chills WQAQ, desardes and 3 others
Zachary said:
He very explicitly said "track length." I can't imagine how he could have meant something different with how deliberately he phrased it.
Click to expand...
Yeah, we've previously talked this out after the ACE event. I think we could argue about what exactly he means by "track length" but it can't be literally the amount of track because we know it's a shuttle and we've seen probably all the footers and now tower footers. Quick and dirty measuring on maps shows that from the station to the tower and assuming a 400'ish tower, the track length traveled will be further than the full-circuit of Ka. It's technically accurate if a little weaselly, but I personally don't care since the experience will be the same as a rider. I'm traveling the same distance whether it's on new track or the same track.
 
  • Like
Reactions: joeg918, Coasternerd and Great Adventurer
Zachary said:
He very explicitly said "track length." I can't imagine how he could have meant something different with how deliberately he phrased it.
Click to expand...
I hope his statement is accurate, and he seems like a nice guy and all, but I don't think it's beneath Six Flags to be careless at best, or malicious at worst, with wording.
 
  • Dislike
  • Like
  • Eye-Roll
Reactions: melodrama, Bring Back Questor 87, CoasterBroCam and 3 others
northdetective said:
I hope his statement is accurate, and he seems like a nice guy and all, but I don't think it's beneath Six Flags to be careless at best, or malicious at worst, with wording.
Click to expand...

Yeah, in my book, at this point, it's either true, an absolutely brutal misspeak, or an intentional attempt to misrepresent the coaster.

I'm confident he knows the difference between ride length and track length.
 
  • Like
Reactions: melodrama, GASM, AlpenChariot and 1 other person
Zachary said:
Yeah, in my book, at this point, it's either true, an absolutely brutal misspeak, or an intentional attempt to misrepresent the coaster.

I'm confident he knows the difference between ride length and track length.
Click to expand...
Maybe it's an evolution of the S&S 4D theory where multiple lengths of track are stacked on top of each other vertically, thus not requiring more footers? /s
 
  • Haha
  • Like
Reactions: farfeather, DE_Creative, Mushroom and 6 others
AmyUD06 said:
Maybe it's an evolution of the S&S 4D theory where multiple lengths of track are stacked on top of each other vertically, thus not requiring more footers? /s
Click to expand...

Oh god, that's the big plot twist! It's actually a racing coaster! Two of the same ride stacked atop one another! 🤯
 
  • Haha
Reactions: AmyUD06
The s&s 4d free spin and racing coaster made my mind think... What if they made the 2 sides of a 4d free spin dual. Then I realized they're attached.
 
DWNitro said:
It honestly sounds like they’re REALLY concerned about getting the theme and the story right (no more parking lot coasters!). Really intrigued by what other announcements they have on the queue about the 2026 season in terms of potential additions or other things coming.

I like that he said that 2027 is what they’re aiming for but “miracles can happen” 👀 If it really is a haunted lighthouse theme, what better time to get it open for passholder rides during Frightfest.
Click to expand...
Always better to say we think it's '27, and then open early if everything lines up; than to say fall '26 and have to slip the deadline. Ka's launch slipped quite a bit, and we all know what happened with Flash.

If they're trying to work on the whole area and have a nice theme and associated flats/food, they might be waiting so all the pieces line up rather than opening an area half finished.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DE_Creative, MaxxForceFan, sharpr1 and 2 others
A new coaster like this will need a huge marketing push, a big media day, and a campaign that drives season pass sales for 2027. No way are they just going to open it in Fall, like just for kicks. They didn't do it with The Flash, I don't think they will this time either.

(Not ruling out some testing during the Fall, maybe for invited media to watch, but I can't see it getting NJ ride certification and opening this calendar year. It's possible they may program the ride to test with one train, while holding off opening until they can run normal 2-train ops for the Spring - that's a way more plausible scenario to me.)
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Bring Back Questor 87, Fiender and wasteman
northdetective said:
They're so close to learning a lesson. But the fact that Flash exists and that the DC theming survey even went out makes me very nervous that the park doesn't even have a concrete decision about which direction they're going in yet, which is not great this late in the game.

I agree that the lighthouse theme would be perfect, but the added cost of constructing a ~400 ft tapered cylindrical façade or even a skeletal tower would be quite large. And if it were to be the latter, it'd probably be integrated into the support system in a way we'd already be seeing in the footers.
Click to expand...
About the DC survey, I wonder if it was spurred on by rumors of WB being in talks with Universal to license DC characters/IP to their parks. If that's the case, I believe this survey would have just been to evaluate whether competing with Universal for rights to the characters is worth it. No point in needlessly taking on a larger contract if the public doesn't get excited by the 20th Batman coaster.

I doubt they would dare to use a DC theme for this new ride, though. Despite all evidence to the contrary, they're not entirely stupid in the C suite, and know how much backlash a shitty, lazy theme for the new coaster would cause.
 
  • Like
Reactions: desardes and SweetBabyJames
Ryan in that interview seemed really excited about the theming of attraction which was nice to see. If this is going in the boardwalk section, than why did the recent surveys talked about retheming the boardwalk. Shouldn’t they already know what they theming that area with?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Great Adventurer, desardes and Zachary
You must log in or register to reply here.
Consider Donating to Hide This Ad