News Project 2027/Skyland/Purple: Bakunawa (Mack Giga Shuttle Xtreme Spinner)

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I don't know that these letters we're getting have any relation to the name or theme. But if we do want to play that game, R, P, S, E could be stretched into something like SPIRE or SERPENT if you rearrange them a bit. Personally, I lean towards that they don't mean anything. At this point I think they're more likely just in-universe designations (+more red herrings) than hidden clues to the ride name.

I think something that's being overlooked is the full moon. It's been in every single teaser so far. It was even in the Project Purple partnership banner; besides the coaster itself, it's the only major visual element in that artwork. It's in the It's Rising poster. It's been in both video teasers. Jeffrey Siebert's post today about the Project Purple media event also very prominently features the full moon. At some point I think we have to stop treating it as set dressing. If the same visual keeps showing up in every piece of marketing, it's absolutely intentional.

We've all been focused on the shipping company, the patrol vehicles, the crate, and the sea monster; what if those are just the vehicle for the story? Whether it's tied to the tides, an awakening, an eclipse, or some original mythology they've created, I have a hard time believing the moon has been featured this consistently by accident. It's one of the only constants across every teaser despite the setting and events changing.
 
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xenithwav said:
I don't know that these letters we're getting have any relation to the name or theme. But if we do want to play that game, R, P, S, E could be stretched into something like SPIRE or SERPENT if you rearrange them a bit. Personally, I lean towards that they don't mean anything. At this point I think they're more likely just in-universe designations (+more red herrings) than hidden clues to the ride name.

I think something that's being overlooked is the full moon. It's been in every single teaser so far. It was even in the Project Purple partnership banner; besides the coaster itself, it's the only major visual element in that artwork. It's in the It's Rising poster. It's been in both video teasers. Jeffrey Siebert's post today about the Project Purple media event also very prominently features the full moon. At some point I think we have to stop treating it as set dressing. If the same visual keeps showing up in every piece of marketing, it's absolutely intentional.

We've all been focused on the shipping company, the patrol vehicles, the crate, and the sea monster; what if those are just the vehicle for the story? Whether it's tied to the tides, an awakening, an eclipse, or some original mythology they've created, I have a hard time believing the moon has been featured this consistently by accident. It's one of the only constants across every teaser despite the setting and events changing.
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On Reddit someone brought up Bakunawa which is a mythical sea serpent/dragon from the Philippines that eats the moon causing eclipses.
 
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If the pin is off on the map either someone made a mistake….or could we be looking at multiple announcements?
 
I hate that this announcement isn't open to the public. Great Adventure has theater spaces large enough to host a grandiose public announcement event, the park has the attention of more than enough people to draw a huge crowd to such an event, and I think it would do a lot to show an interest in communicating to all park fans, not just the "influencer class." Hell, I think it would do a lot of good for the park with the legacy media that's invited out too—imagine if you're a mainstream journalist and you experience the announcement alongside thousands of cheering park fans—that wins the park points for sure.

Honestly, making this exclusive to invited media and influencers just feels... really unnecessary and almost cliquish. We're not talking about a hard hat tour or something that needs to be limited access. An announcement can and should be widely accessible to any and all people who care about the park and its future if you ask me. They'll probably say "but we'll livestream it!" or whatever—but it's not even remotely the same. The sense of hype and community that can be not only displayed, but captured and capitalized upon through an event like this is immense.

SFGAdv should call up John Reilly and ask him about his days as the BGW Park President and the enormous crowds those early 2010s-era in-person announcement events turned out. Ask him about the Verbolten announcement where the entire Oktoberfest hamlet was packed shoulder to shoulder with fans and the standing room only Das Festhaus crowd he presented in front of. There's real money to be made by bolstering a sense of community around your park and I think letting an opportunity like this essentially go to waste is, frankly, a bit of marketing malpractice.

SFGAdv is doing a great job capturing free/earned media, but they're really not doing as great job capturing free/earned fan attention IMHO.
 
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MikeGS6789 said:
View attachment 43810
That logo is giving me either a total 1980s vibe or like a Fury 325.
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This is giving off an alien vibe to me, even though it is likely for a sea creature.
Zachary said:
I hate that this announcement isn't open to the public. Great Adventure has theater spaces large enough to host a grandiose public announcement event, the park has the attention of more than enough people to draw a huge crowd to such an event, and I think it would do a lot to show an interest in communicating to all park fans, not just the "influencer class." Hell, I think it would do a lot of good for the park with the legacy media that's invited out too—imagine if you're a mainstream journalist and you experience the announcement alongside thousands of cheering park fans—that wins the park points for sure.

Honestly, making this exclusive to invited media and influencers just feels... really unnecessary and almost cliquish. We're not talking about a hard hat tour or something that needs to be limited access. An announcement can and should be widely accessible to any and all people who care about the park if you ask me.
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I wholeheartedly agree with this @Zachary.
 
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Zachary said:
I think it would do a lot to show an interest in communicating to all park fans, not just the "influencer class."
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I don't think said interest exists. I am fully expecting this to have rider cams with recordings for purchase. The whole machine was tailor made for low throughput and superficial appeal, maximum FOMO.
 
Jessica the Theme Parkette with the first update from Ryan & Stephen in over two weeks.

They hope to have it commissioned (tested/inspected) before the end of this season.

382' is the total height. How high the train goes will be explained on July 28.

Name and train unveiling on July 28.

Ryan joked about GVV and PS name possibilities, seeming to say they aren't and everybody thought they would be.

3-4 weeks until load station construction starts.

"Spiritual" but not literal successor to Ka.

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Zachary said:
I think it would do a lot to show an interest in communicating to all park fans, not just the "influencer class."
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northdetective said:
I don't think said interest exists
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Honestly sorta my first thought too. I mean I absolutely agree with Zachary here; I would love for some actual fan communication, I think it would do wonders for the park's reputation in the long run, and I could imagine enough fans showing up to an announcement like this but also (as far as I am aware, feel free to correct me) BGW doesn't have a "Ka Closure" level stain (lack of a better, not as strong term) on the park's reputation that they are still working though. Only allowing media and influences to the announcement lets the park control the narrative a little better and forego the risk of there not being an audience during the announcement, which could potentially send mixed (at best!) signals about the park as a whole. That's probably a risk they don't wanna take, I'd guess.


On another note, the main thing I'm hoping for is a non AI logo. Which is going to be a tall ask for six flags (honestly the project purple psudo-logo already looks slightly suspect considering the two ps aren't the same, but the serif/lack of serif is symetrical on both sides of the "purple" so maybe it was intentional? Then again if they are already not hiring designers for some of the official logos, I don't imagine they care that much about the one time use logo beyond "generate me a logo that looks kinda like fury 325 at carowinds" or whatever. Or maybe they just had the fury typeface lying around somewhere? If the latter's the case and they gaf enough to open illustrator for that then maybe thats a good sign? lol). A krill can dream tho, right?
 
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I honestly like the Bakunawa theory. The biggest question for me becomes the name. In a weird way, it reminds me of Kingda Ka. Not because the themes are similar, but because it's a unique name that most people have probably never heard before. Once you hear it a couple times though, it sticks. It has a similar rhythm to it.

The only thing I'm not sure about is whether they could (or want to) make Bakunawa the actual ride name. Since it's already an existing mythological creature, I don't know what that looks like from a trademark standpoint. That makes me think one of three things happens:
  • The creature is (or inspired by) the Bakunawa, but the ride has a completely different name.
  • The ride is something like Bakunawa's ____ or ____ of Bakunawa (I think there's a point of diminishing returns with this convention where it just becomes a mouthful)
  • Or they just go all in and call the ride Bakunawa.
It makes sense within the story they've been teasing. You've got a shipping crate arriving from presumably overseas carrying some mysterious cargo. The creature itself originates from overseas mythology. That's a pretty clean way to introduce it into the story without having to invent a whole new legend.

The one part I'm not completely sold on is the whole moon-eating/eclipse aspect of the mythology. It honestly feels a little corny to me if they leaned into it too hard. I can't really picture Six Flags making the story about a giant sea serpent literally trying to eat the moon. It starts sounding more like the plot of a Despicable Me movie than a coaster theme. That said, I don't think they necessarily have to use that part of the legend. Maybe the full moon is just the breadcrumb pointing us toward the inspiration behind the theme/creature.

If the monster is loosely inspired by the Bakunawa rather than being a direct adaptation of the mythology, that would explain a lot. They get to use an ancient sea creature tied to the moon while creating their own original story around escaped cargo, containment failure, and whatever happens once "it stirs." I'm not convinced it's actually called Bakunawa, but as far as the creature itself goes, I think it's one of the strongest theories we have right now.

Something else to keep in mind: another name for Bakunawa is sometimes referred to as Naga. They went the Hindu mythology route on Rakshasa, maybe they double up :) Definitely pairs better with something along the lines of a "Curse," "Revenge", "Wrath", or "Fury" attached to it.
 
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So seeing the crate is back with claw marks all over it. Don't think we're getting a Kraken/tentacled sea monster. But I think I've figured it out. We're getting Fluffy the Crate Beast!

adrienne barbeau horror movies GIF by absurdnoise
 
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