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

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AmyUD06 said:
SWSA just went from "first footer dug out" to "testing the ride" in around 5 months with Barracuda Strike. This ride is still over a year away from the targeted opening date. Anything can happen.
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amperedragon said:
It's not a complete impossibly, but logistically doesn't make a lot of sense. Let's take a look at how this would play out...

The project timeline for building a major roller coaster, especially one requiring custom design work, is typically in the 3-5 year frame. It's reasonable to assume that everything related to this project happened after the merger was finalized, so even if the first call made was to Mack it's very likely they would have been given a delivery date of 2029 for a custom Xtreme Spinning Coaster. However, it's also reasonable to assume the tower concept was already in development by Cedar Fair for one of their properties, so let's say they'd contracted with Mack for a delivery of that ride in time for the 2026 season. Under that timeline, it would have been pretty close to the point where things need to be committed and can't be easily adjusted at the time of the merger in mid 2024.

Let's say Six Flags called up Mack and said "Hey, we've just finalized the merger and we'd like to take that tower coaster and rework it for another property. Instead, we'd like to do a more traditional spinning coaster, but we still want it to break records. Do you think you can do that for us?" Most likely, the response would be something along the lines of "Yes, but because we're going to need to essentially start over, we can't commit to the original timeline and it's going to be at least 50% more than we previously quoted you." Now, you're looking at adding years onto the timeline for replacement of a very iconic roller coaster. Thus, we'll counter with "Well, we really need this ride asap as it's going to be replacing the biggest attraction at the park and we've already committed to tearing that down at the end of the season. What can you do to enhance this and give us something even more special?" Mack might then respond with "Well, we could probably scale it up for 20-25% extra, and while we'll try to meet your original timeline, if there are delays they'll be in months rather than years." Six Flags asks "Can you go double the size to make it over 400 ft." Mack replies "Ja." Contract signed. I'm not going to say I know that's exactly how this played out, but I'd hazard a guess it's probably in the ballpark.

Now, let's pretend Mack said they could do a normal Xtreme Spinning Coaster for the same price and on the same timeline that Six Flags wanted. They're still using it to replace North America's tallest and fastest thrill ride. Which of these sounds more likely to bring in the public?

Option #1: Coming to SFGAdv, the world's tallest and fastest spinning coaster. Featuring 3,500 ft. of track, this coaster will launch you twirling through five inversions at speeds of over 60 mph and heights up to 150 ft. It's the first ride of it's kind in the northeastern United States!

Option #2: Coming to SFGAdv, the world's tallest and fastest spinning coaster. Accelerate to over 100 mph on the world's first upside down launch, then rocket nearly 400 ft. into the sky whilst twirling like a top the whole way through. It's the first ride of its kind in the world!

Personally, the second sounds like it has a lot more of a wow factor, especially for someone not widely coater literate but who knows the scale of Kingda Ka.



Yes, it bears some similarity to Kingda Ka, but I think the ride experience is likely to be so different that any point of comparison is negligible in the eyes of the public. This is not a Top Thrill 2 situation, where a mild swing launch was installed to replace an aggressive hydraulic launch and the rest of the coaster remained largely the same. This is a brand new ride of a very different design that just so happens to incorporate a very tall tower into its layout.



I think there is a valid argument in favor of the dive, namely that it would give SFGAdv a giant record-breaking coaster with much better capacity and a more well rounded experience. The difficulty in marketability is that between NJ, NY, and PA, there are already seven different coasters that utilize a vertical/beyond vertical drop as a major marketing point, including the world's steepest coaster just up the state. However, these rides are known crowd pleasers that do well in almost any market, and particularly if Six Flags didn't have long term interest in Dorney there wouldn't be too much downside to the ride. That said, you only get one coaster...you don't get a dive for Green Lantern and a second coaster for Kingda Ka (at least not before the end of the decade).

For the record, I think a dive like Tormenta would be a strong addition for SFGAdv. Despite the park's already impressive collection of B&Ms, I think it would have a very realistic shot at being in the top four for many and would absolutely draw locals back to the park. However, in this day and age, it is not the type of attraction that can make a park into a destination. I feel this spinning tower coaster is something that can probably do that, as it really is something that doesn't exist anywhere else on Earth and should provide a one of a kind experience. Plus, I see very good odds of it getting the silver or bronze among the park's coaster collection among most.
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but I know SF is cooking up a full circuit because they heard northdetective is upset
 
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Part of me won’t mind if it’s not full circuit as long as they have a dual loading station and they theme it well. Likely a switch track into the first launch section. If it’s fully indoors, having the train disappear into the dark would add to the experience so much and get me hyped before riding.

So much of the coaster experience is presentation. It’s the reason I’d rather ride Rock N Rollercoaster than a LOT of other better coasters. This can surpass Ka for me with the right presentation.
 
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the_pantsmith said:
Part of me won’t mind if it’s not full circuit as long as they have a dual loading station and they theme it well. Likely a switch track into the first launch section. If it’s fully indoors, having the train disappear into the dark would add to the experience so much and get me hyped before riding.

So much of the coaster experience is presentation. It’s the reason I’d rather ride Rock N Rollercoaster than a LOT of other better coasters. This can surpass Ka for me with the right presentation.
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We are all our own kind of thoosies, but the technological sublime that the height of the Kingda Ka tower and the speed of its train evoked was so raw. It was central to the experience of not only the park but the wider locality, a poignant contrast to dullness of the piedmont and the sleepiness of the farms that occupy it. It was an undeniably magnetic spectacle simply due to the feat of its existence. I truly hope that the stylization and theming of the new ride will be done with the consideration of both mitigating the "depressing skyline" by providing something nicer than the Cheetah Hunt tower to look at, as well as offering a compellingly themed experience to accompany/make up for what may or may not be a layout of limited length. Part of why Eldredge being "gun-shy" makes me nervous is because this inherently is an attempt at redefining iconography and setting the stage for the Cedar Flags Era of Great Adventure, and is unfortunately sandbagged by the death of the Parachutes (as the most visible of losses) as well.

There's just so much to make up for. The loss of the actual ride, the loss of its atmospheric effects, the decline in relative appeal of the park, the subsiding of the mythos and the pride, a history intentionally disappeared from customers before they got a chance to fight for it, etc. I am looking forward to a future I can look forward to, and this ride defines that. But I also hope its theme is cool
 
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So the video was taken down, but Northeastcoasters on TikTok posted a video yesterday shot from a drone on property that showed the footers and supports currently on site basically from directly above where the ride is gonna be. They were speculating that there may be a spike on this ride.
 
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DWNitro said:
So the video was taken down, but Northeastcoasters on TikTok posted a video yesterday shot from a drone on property that showed the footers and supports currently on site basically from directly above where the ride is gonna be. They were speculating that there may be a spike on this ride.
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If this gets built in a way that does not involve a 400 foot Navesink Twin Lights inspired building with distinct octagonal and quadrilateral towers clad in period masonry I'm suing
 
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DWNitro said:
So the video was taken down, but Northeastcoasters on TikTok posted a video yesterday shot from a drone on property that showed the footers and supports currently on site basically from directly above where the ride is gonna be. They were speculating that there may be a spike on this ride.
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It would be very surprising if it’s “not what exactly what we think” and if they add a spike to it, I wonder if it can change the skeptical opinion of this coaster to the coaster community. Yes, the current layout suggests it identical to the survey model. However besides that coaster survey, we really don't know 100 percent what the layout is and I can see the actual coaster being built to be different than the survey. A huge spike with this coaster would absolutely be stunning and would help make the layout more unique and well rounded.
 
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I think a lot of the general opinion is depending on the actual height of this thing, if it actually hits that 400 ft mark I think enthusiasts will get over themselves and it'll be a hit. If it comes up short of that 400 foot mark.....we might never hear the end of it even if its a good ride.

I definitely think this can't be the only major addition of the next few years though, a big part of the argument for Ka's removal was how much it's maintenance cost. I feel like it's pretty well known that the later additions to the park under legacy Six Flags were smaller because Ka and Toro were costly rides to operate. Well now they've removed Ka for a much more cost effective option, that excuse is gone, there has to be more to come after this addition.
 
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DWNitro said:
So the video was taken down, but Northeastcoasters on TikTok posted a video yesterday shot from a drone on property that showed the footers and supports currently on site basically from directly above where the ride is gonna be. They were speculating that there may be a spike on this ride.
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Anyone grab screenshots...? 👀

Alternatively, anyone have contact with this Northeastcoasters guy? He's very free to post the images here. We don't care about keeping the park happy. 😋
 
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Zachary said:
Anyone grab screenshots...? 👀

Alternatively, anyone have contact with this Northeastcoasters guy? He's very free to post the images here. We don't care about keeping the park happy. 😋
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I shot them a message. Also, they posted a video of Ka and Lantern’s trains sitting dormant
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Alright I’ve got the goods.

To be clear, these are credited to Northeast Coasters but they did not take the pictures or video (and for legal purposes clarification, I did not either obviously). Check out their content as well, I’ve been a fan of it for a while and they were really gracious in sending these over: IMG_2020.png IMG_2022.jpeg IMG_2021.jpeg IMG_2023.jpeg
 
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Hi guys, I’m trying to figure this website out but it’s northeastcoasters. Yesterday my friends flew the drone over the park and got some pretty incredible angles of the new for 2027 coaster construction.
I posted them on TikTok but deleted them swiftly after to avoid a ban from the park in case they thought it was me. With this cleared up, I’ll post them here. If anyone would like to use these please just add credits to northeast coasters for the footage but otherwise go ahead and do whatever you need to do.
 

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northeastcoasters said:
Hi guys, I’m trying to figure this website out but it’s northeastcoasters. Yesterday my friends flew the drone over the park and got some pretty incredible angles of the new for 2027 coaster construction.
I posted them on TikTok but deleted them swiftly after to avoid a ban from the park in case they thought it was me. With this cleared up, I’ll post them here. If anyone would like to use these please just add credits to northeast coasters for the footage but otherwise go ahead and do whatever you need to do.
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This is great! Thanks very much for sharing the raw footage here! Nice to see the second presumed tower footer poured in the parking lot, a helpfully clean (thanks snow!) view of all the footers poured so far, and how many supports have already been delivered. A two-point tower configuration is interesting, especially spaced so far apart (unless there are still more footers for Force Concrete to pour.)
 
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Is there a footer behind the presumed station area and would they even have room for a spike if they added footers around that area?
 
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