I LOVE almost any reason to hate the slopcoaster but I just don't really see where the outwardly banked pieces are going if there's only a vertical spike
News Project 2027/Purple: Delayed “World Record Breaking Coaster" (Phantom Spire?)
- Thread starter Zachary
- Start date
To tell you the truth I forgot that those pieces existed
Feel free to ignore what I said earlier
Changing the tower structure to a 4-legged design (as we now know there's 4 remaining *large* footers, presumably for the tower), this is about what I'm expecting. I feel more confident about the track itself, structure TBD.
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There are two big pros I see with @CoasterMac's current theory vs the more spiral-type theories:
- Less time spent circling the tower means less cycle time overall which means, with a good crew, higher capacity
- This design ends up with a real, proper, giga-sized drop—it doesn't flow up into a helix—there's a VERY distinct drop—the airtime in the front of the train both on the accent and decent could be insane, especially with these heavy, five car trains
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Changing the tower structure to a 4-legged design (as we now know there's 4 remaining *large* footers, presumably for the tower), this is about what I'm expecting. I feel more confident about the track itself, structure TBD.
Pic
And if that's close to reality, maybe it's 10 ft or so short of the 375 top. They could call this Phantom 365 or Phantom 360°.
This drop could be incredible maybe better than KA if made right like with lap bars and great air time this drop would be 5/5.
It also means short. I really think everyone's lost the plot as far as what is enjoyable about roller coasters and bending over backwards to be positive about the binary choice presented by Six Flags between the apparently mutually exclusive options of short line and good ride, and Zachary is probably the least egregious offender. The children on Reddit saying "remember when u all hated this a month ago???????" have well and truly forgotten about my work. PR masterfully done. Slopholm Syndrome has set in.
Anyways I fully anticipate if there's any braking in the stall on the return it will be vomit-inducing for me personally. That's my new concern. Whatever happens at least I'll feel powerful knowing neither train can run until mine is cleaned
There’s one really big positive that no one’s talking about with the addition of project purple ….
GAdv won’t be getting another shuttle coaster for a really really really long time after this
Anywho,
I like that straight shot up into the outer bank at the top of the tower. That’s going to be a surreal feeling going backwards and forwards through that while spinning
GAdv won’t be getting another shuttle coaster for a really really really long time after this
Anywho,
I like that straight shot up into the outer bank at the top of the tower. That’s going to be a surreal feeling going backwards and forwards through that while spinning
You mean I've gotta let go of my dream of getting Batman and Robin the Chiller back from that field in Brazil?
I wish there were any reason to believe this. If anything the precedent is set for back to back shuttle additions and people try to "invoke history" by making lightning loops/chiller comparisons (see:"Chiller roll" on flash, a stock design) but that rings entirely hollow to me. This is a test to see whether the public will tolerate slop of this magnitude, both physically and philosophically. There may never be a reason to build full circuit again after this, especially from a corporate perspective. Throughput and reliability are the enemies of upcharging
I mean what actually happened was Great Adventure wasn’t supposed to get anything for the 50th anniversary and ride fell into their lap. Considering the rumors that they were planning a Giga and it got cancelled because the new CEO believed the best way to revitalize parks was to no longer build thrill rides, they took what they could get. Then, corporate realized that destroying Kingda Ka meant the park needed a tall replacement and they weren’t willing to spend money on a 350ft+ coaster that was full circuit, since with inflation and tariffs this coaster will probably cost about the same as Ka did. I doubt they are just deciding to build only shuttle coasters in some grand conspiracy.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but project purple will actually be the only extreme shuttle coaster Six Flags or Cedar Fair have purchased directly from a ride manufacturer in the last decade or so (aquaman and gold rusher were both originally purchased for other parks if I remember correctly)
That being said, I am kind of rooting for the next addition to be a family boomerang in a revitalized kids area because it would be pretty funny
Yeah no this is definitely the last shuttle. Flash was a last second addition, bought from a failed park in Asia, to celebrate the 50th anniversary (which it missed because it was so last second). It wasn't hand chosen for great adv and if the same decision was being made today I honestly doubt Flash goes to Great Adv because it really just doesn't fit at all. Phantom Spire also wasn't initially design for great adv but it was intended for a large park unlike flash so it doesn't get the pass in that aspect. My guess is that Mack came up with this design themselves, its so out of the box for Cedar Fair to just ask for. Great Adventure needed a large, unique, and gimmicky ride to get people's attention and even if you don't like the ride you have to admit its doing exactly that. The shuttle aspect is purely to make the ride affordable, its not ideal and if the cost of steel (let alone importing it over seas) wasn't nearly as high it would likely be a full circuit ride.
It's two unique sets of circumstances that caused this to happen, it just looks bad because its back to back additions at the same park. If every park in the chain was getting a shuttle coaster then yeah I would agree, but so far the only other examples I can see are the vekoma family boomerangs and the other last second legacy SF addition: Georgia Gold Rusher. This year we have Tormenta, last year we had Rapterra, Alpen Fury, Siren's Curse, and Wrath of Rakshasa. Not to mention Alpen Fury and Rapterra are the most telling additions because they were made by the current Six Flags management team not legacy SF. The way I see it shuttles are outliers, not an overall the overall trend. I've definitely said it a few times but the up charging on fast lane really is such a minor part of their overall profits. In park spending (what fast lane is considered) makes up about a third of their profits based on what Six Flags tells us, and I would imagine merchandise and food make up an overwhelming percentage of that. I can't imagine Fast Lane being more than like 5% of their total business model, and if they put so much focus on "lets make everyone wait insane wait times so they buy Fast Lane" then you loose the merch and food spending because people are stuck waiting in line.
This isn't me trying to be rude or anything (I know you're really passionate about this topic) but objectively when I look at the situation this is my takeaway
SFGAdv has been dealt a bad hand this decade, which has resulted in them getting additions that are (relatively) fast and (relatively) cheap instead of the El Toro and Nitro sized rides enthusiasts feel the park should be opening every few years (even though they haven't gotten something on that scale since Green Lantern). But the reality is that the public cares a whole lot less about the origins of a ride and just wants something they consider fun to ride. Flash may be a low capacity shuttle, but it brought something to the park's lineup that's very different from anything else offered at the property, and thus while it may not be a top coaster it was still a very positively received attraction. Shoreline Pier and Phantom Spire are in the same vein...they may not be the end all, be all best coaster on the east coast that enthusiasts want the park to receive, but they both bring unique experiences to the park that guests couldn't get before they were added. I do not think this should be read as Six Flags going after nothing but shuttle coasters and stock models these days, but I also think that we should expect to see more additions such as these at parks where it makes sense to add a ride of that nature. If you're choosing between two options and the smaller one is projected to get 80% of the attendance bump of the larger for 50% the cost, that's probably going to win out.
It’s funny, after I hit post on my comment about GAdv not getting another shuttle, I put my phone down and was like “oh F**k, a family boomerang exists…. We’re doomed”
Attributing observable patterns to intention rather than happenstance is not conspiracy theorizing
By this logic the park should be thriving this year with its cloned freespin, cloned Raptor, its first of two low capacity shuttles, and a relocated wild mouse.
Well in my opinion it makes absolutely no sense at Great Adventure, and yet we're still seeing low capacity shuttles two additions in a row. Again, not happenstance.
Exactly. I just can't believe we're applauding it when "smaller" and "less steel" inevitably means "low capacity shuttle." The only way continuing to nerf throughput for "uniqueness'" sake makes sense to me is if the low-throughput aspect is actually a monetary incentive. So that's what I claim
Right. Can't imagine thinking a park being singled out for two of them is good, especially when one came at the cost of 2 (two) full circuit roller coasters
mhm. u can call my skepticism of this conspiratorial, that's fair.
It’s a basic scientific concept that correlation does not equal causation, and the burden of proof shows a different story you are deliberately ignoring even when laid out right in front of you to fit your narrative
Flash quite literally replaced nothing. Green lantern was terrible. Kingda Ka ran 2 trains during the later years of its life pretty consistently, and it had less elements than this shuttle will have as a full circuit
To be clear I don't think the fact that the last two additions were shuttles is good.....but I understand why it went this way.
Speaking of cost though I would love to see someone try and come up with an estimated cost for this thing, obviously it wasn't cheap but I would love to see exactly how much Six Flags was willing to invest in Great Adventure.
Unless they announce a number, we'll never know. Even if they do announce a number, we'll never know what it does or doesn't include so it will never be a useful point of comparison.
I think we can reasonably assume that they spent a lot, but not a fortune. Probably about as much as they're spending on Tormenta? It's a lot, but it's almost certainly not breaking the bank.
That's fair to assume, that seems to be the way that the Cedar Fair management group seemed to go about business. Spend a significant amount on single attractions every few years (in contrast to the cheaper/more frequent addition strategy of legacy Six Flags) but never breaking the bank. Closest thing I can think of to Cedar Fair going all out on a coaster addition was Fury 325 but even that ride was only 30 million.
Not only does a claim not have to be quantifiable and/or statistically significant to be true (don't really know what data you're suggesting someone would use either), a "burden of proof" cannot itself show anything. I think you're trying to say the "burden of proof" would be on me to "prove" my "conspiracy"? Anyways Slopspire is replacing two full circuit roller coasters, unsure what's disagreeable about that truth
The endless apologia has the same effect either way. Defending whatever this is as "good enough under the circumstances" just means "circumstances" will continue to arise to prevent full-circuit additions because they're more expensive upfront and make satisfied customers too efficiently. What suggests that the shuttle streak is at all likely to end with the addition of next thrill coaster? Why would Great Adventure get something full circuit or custom designed if they've successfully sold cheaper drag-and-drop alternatives to their customers?