Register or Login to Hide This Ad for Free!
I'd like to nip this terrible mentality right in the bud.

Multiple people have clearly been hurt on X2. The media coverage will help hold the park accountable for that in a way that benefits everyone if safety issues are addressed and remedied.

That's not bait or anything to be demeaned, that's a public service. Otherwise, if Six Flags had its way, it would want to sweep this under the rug for as long as possible through quiet court settlements.

If your first thought in this is "I must protect Six Flags," I would suggest your priorities are out of order.
I will say that I do think there are two sides of this story and neither is completely in the right. The ride has issues, they need to be addressed, its good that six flags is being held accountable for it. HOWEVER, the media is clearly also trying to sensationalize this to generate more attention because thats what they do. I've seen a few articles leave out the fact that these riders had pre existing conditions and PROBABLY shouldn't have ridden X2. It's kinda similar to what happened with Stardust Racers, although here Six Flags is more at fault than Universal was because its clear that this ride has been in need of serious TLC and Six Flags kicked the can down the road.

It really does remind me of El Toro's derailment. The difference being nobody died on Toro and the previous management was clearly more willing to spend money to keep their iconic coasters in operation. Had Toro had its accidents under the current management team I don't think it would still be in operation. And given the current financial situation of the company this is really the last thing they need, they'll do whatever they can to try and scrub this from their record. Time will tell what happens but if I had to place a bet X2 is done. Too much bad press, and because half the parks carry the Six Flags name it'll have ripple effects across the chain.
 
It really does remind me of El Toro's derailment. The difference being nobody died on Toro and the previous management was clearly more willing to spend money to keep their iconic coasters in operation. Had Toro had its accidents under the current management team I don't think it would still be in operation.
The current administration did commit to doing a full Intamin retrack of El Toro despite that being a costly endeavor that is not the most marketable to a general audience. To me, this does show a commitment to park icons. I don't think it's completely out of the question for them to do a full retrack/refurb of X2. It doesn't really get more iconic than that coaster when it comes to Six Flags coasters. Heck, if they altered the last 1/3 of the ride to remedy the volleying issues and make that part of the layout more interesting they could brand the coaster X3 and get a lot of attention.

A retracking is not cheap but a coaster with the same uniqueness and draw as X2 would cost a lot more than a full retrack of their incredibly popular existing ride. It's definitely not a given since the complexity of the ride makes it very maintenance intensive (same reason Ka was removed), but there is a valid argument for it.
 
The current administration did commit to doing a full Intamin retrack of El Toro despite that being a costly endeavor that is not the most marketable to a general audience. To me, this does show a commitment to park icons. I don't think it's completely out of the question for them to do a full retrack/refurb of X2. It doesn't really get more iconic than that coaster when it comes to Six Flags coasters. Heck, if they altered the last 1/3 of the ride to remedy the volleying issues and make that part of the layout more interesting they could brand the coaster X3 and get a lot of attention.

A retracking is not cheap but a coaster with the same uniqueness and draw as X2 would cost a lot more than a full retrack of their incredibly popular existing ride. It's definitely not a given since the complexity of the ride makes it very maintenance intensive (same reason Ka was removed), but there is a valid argument for it.
I do see your point, however I do feel like we have to point out that retracking woodies and steel coasters are fundamentally different. Wooden coasters need to be retracked at some point, it's not a choice when you buy one it's just something you have to do. The fact that they decided to go with Intamin is interesting because they could've just put titan track on it and called it a day, but they put in the extra effort.

With X2 the cost to repair the ride properly will be immense, the original ride cost 45 million to build originally, then went through a 10 million dollar reno after to become X2. The other 4D coasters were more in the 30 million range but with inflation that number would no doubt be higher if there were to be another built today. There's no avoiding the fact that it's going to cost a pretty penny because the ride system is so complex. Full retrack is probably out of the question, the really big question is how much will it cost to fix the last 1/3 of the ride.

The cost to fix the ride has to be substantially less than building a new coaster outright because they would be taking a risk reopening the ride. Like it or not the ride has a reputation for being unsafe, and it's effecting any park with the name "six flags" right now. Even if they market it as "X3" to the average guest it will look like the same exact ride and carry that same reputation. As bad as Toro's reputation was it only caused minor injuries, it was salvageable.

I'm not saying it's impossible but I just don't see it happening unfortunately. This company has shown they have no problem taking an axe to problematic rides and I just don't see X2 getting special treatment. I hope I'm wrong.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ThoosieTube
HOWEVER, the media is clearly also trying to sensationalize this to generate more attention because thats what they do. I've seen a few articles leave out the fact that these riders had pre existing conditions and PROBABLY shouldn't have ridden X2
Care to provide some evidence that these riders had pre-existing conditions that could've plausibly caused traumatic brain injuries?
 
  • Like
Reactions: MaxxForceFan
🤔:
View attachment 44527
what if this is not ai slop but rather a concept art for six flags to change the coaster to just a sit down ride and not a free spin ride disguised as ai slop *the x (no pun intended) files music plays*
I am quite honestly sick of AI. Please bring back creative originality made by humans! It's not even close to reality in some of this AI crap!
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheCoasterNerd
🤔:
View attachment 44527
what if this is not ai slop but rather a concept art for six flags to change the coaster to just a sit down ride and not a free spin ride disguised as ai slop *the x (no pun intended) files music plays*
Ambulance-chasing lawyers give actual lawyers a bad rap... to the point where I would trust a Golden retriver to represent me in court over someone like them
 
😝 Should be the new name (IIRC that’s the emoji that was X3 in the past).
 
NBC ran a huge story on evening news about the extra lawsuits filed for brain or other injuries.

They were saying 3 new suits were filed and about 100 more pending.

Even if they're all proven to not be caused only by the aggressive nature of the ride, I don't see SF wanting to spend the time and money investments on once again reviving an already kinda old Arrow prototype. But who knows... Obviously nobody would be interested in keeping a ride that actively hurts riders.
 
Consider Donating to Hide This Ad