News Six Flags Great Adventure Project 2025: The Flash: Vertical Velocity (Vekoma Super Boomerang)

[Zachary]

I think we should blame the six flags & cedar fair merger for screwing things up

Massively disagree. Cedar Fair is really good at opening attractions on time. Six Flags is horrible at it. This opening timeline isn't a surprise given the rest of the construction timeline. Six Flags is responsible for that construction timeline.

ALSO, even if the coaster could open immediately, Cedar Fair is wise not to open it. Coaster openings aren't a constant thing and should be capitalized on as much as reasonably possible. That means opening them during otherwise slow periods with a long season of operations ahead of them to maximize their marketing value. This is one of many places Six Flags has spent many years actively shooting themselves in the foot. I'm glad to see Cedar Fair management taking the bull by the horns and course correcting.

 

[CoasterMac]

As easy as it is to slam them over this, I am willing to cut them a [little] slack on the delay suffered here. It was almost a year ago to the day that the earnings call occurred where the past regime said that they "had the opportunity to add a ride real late in the game [for the park's 50th anniversary]", meaning they probably weren't even planning on adding a 2024 ride until June/July 2023. I am far from an expert on construction logistics, but I can't imagine all that (permitting, land clearing, ground construction, erection crews, commissioning, etc.) is an easy thing to scramble together. I would assume the same thing happened with Georgia Surfer (another 'cancelled and reacquired' project). I think even Rookie Racer a similar deal.

That said, I would be stunned to see the "new" Six Flags make these same decisions and totally whiff on a ride opening like this. Gotta be able to get your ride open in a reasonable amount of time, or you should wait until you know you can.

 

[harry580]

look, im sorry for making that comment, I just angry at six flags & cedar fair merger and I didn't know it, sorry

 

[GAcoaster]

I think we should blame the six flags & cedar fair merger for screwing things up

This is ALL on Six Flags pre-merger. Flash, Giant Wheel & Log Flume refurbs are all on the park and Six Flags management.

I really, sincerely hope that the new leadership from Cedar Fair turns things around for Great Adventure. There was a time when Great Adventure outdid Cedar Point in attendance. Cedar Point and Great Adventure should be running similar numbers for yearly attendance. The two parks have many parallels in their history and hopefully Cedar Fair can bring the park back from where it is now with proper investment, consistent management and vision, and a proper focus on maintenance.

 

[warfelg]

This is ALL on Six Flags pre-merger. Flash, Giant Wheel & Log Flume refurbs are all on the park and Six Flags management.

I really, sincerely hope that the new leadership from Cedar Fair turns things around for Great Adventure. There was a time when Great Adventure outdid Cedar Point in attendance. Cedar Point and Great Adventure should be running similar numbers for yearly attendance. The two parks have many parallels in their history and hopefully Cedar Fair can bring the park back from where it is now with proper investment, consistent management and vision, and a proper focus on maintenance.

Agreed on it being on SF pre merger - and I'll expand a bit on your second point.

Living in Amish country there was always the debate of longer drive to SFGAdv or Hersheypark. That used to be a very legitimate argument to make. Most people I know in that area don't even debate it anymore. In fact they go to Dorney before SFGAdv. I really believe that Legacy Six Flags really dropped the ball on the development of this park. They could have really had a huge competition with HP and they decided to for some reason pull back on the big improvements of that park.

Hopefully the new Six Flags with CP C-Suite running the show can recognize the opportunity that they have of recapturing the audience they have just west of Philly and invest heavily in SFGAdv. ESPECIALLY when you know how much land they have around it. Hell they could do 2 resorts and a 3rd gate there and really be able to pull something few other parks in the North East would be able to do.

 

[The Master]

The merger could still be compounding preexisting issues. Mergers can be messy before things get straighten out. It seems that most of the theme park industry has gone downhill. I stopped going to HP a couple years back because I was no longer having a good time there between the large crowds and declining operations, same for Dorney.

 

[Great Adventurer]

Even though this won't be completed in 2024, it's nice to see progress picking back up. Some fun new perspectives now that the path underneath the coaster has been reopened.

 

[Fenrihr]

Was there on Friday, station roof frame was getting installed.

Sorry, no pics.

 

[Great Adventurer]

Station roof frame:

 

[CoasterAuditor]

Does that mean Cyborg Cyber Spin is open now?

Also, I too blame the Six Flags/Cedar Fair merger for the delay. Reminds me of the old Chiller days...

The merger is not the reason for the delay. The former legacy Six Flags chain has precedent and an established track record for the last several years of rides taking a long time to get open, often resulting in delays. West Coast Racers, Aquaman, the Kid Flash rides, Dr. Diabolical opened in August. A corporate merger has little to nothing to to do with ride construction timelines that are currently in progress or already delayed. Cedar Fair taking over running things will likely fix this problem as unless a ride has mechanical issues it’s typically open the first day of its operating season.

 

[Danny2002]

The merger is not the reason for the delay. The former legacy Six Flags chain has precedent and an established track record for the last several years of rides taking a long time to get open, often resulting in delays. West Coast Racers, Aquaman, the Kid Flash rides, Dr. Diabolical opened in August. A corporate merger has little to nothing to to do with ride construction timelines that are currently in progress or already delayed. Cedar Fair taking over running things will likely fix this problem as unless a ride has mechanical issues it’s typically open the first day of its operating season.

OK, got that.

 

[bill s]

The New Six Flags is going to look really good with all these new rides opening next year, to those who don't know the history behind some of them anyway. Not saying that's the logic or they could have done anything different, but still true.

 

[Mr. Porkchop]

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[Great Adventurer]

Since visible progress is probably going to be a little slower at this point and things may not look all that different from week to week, I figured it might be best for me to try out more of a monthly update time frame to avoid spamming the thread.

With that said, some items from September:

9/13 + 9/15 - Continued work on station ramp, crane relocation


9/21 - Material movement, station ramp extension, preparation for incoming ride vehicle


9/28 - Train added


Bonus: The newly added promotional sign for the ride features Green Lantern and simultaneous Kingda Ka/Zumanjaro operations in the rendering (presumably this was art from last year). How accurate will that be when the ride opens?

 

[GoHokies87]

I wouldn't read into that

 

[Great Adventurer]

Definitely not worth reading into! Just a fun thing to point out. Even if the ride had opened this season, there wouldn't have been much (if any) opportunity to see a view like that, since the last time Zumanjaro operated was when El Toro had its manufacturer mandated downtime (late May/early June if memory serves).

Images like these will almost always have some mild extravagance/exaggeration in their backgrounds too.