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Six Flags: General Discussion

I have ridden Lex Luther at Magic Mountain last October which is not much shorter, while is terrifying while going up, is not that bad and is a great ride, drop seems to last for ages. Went on it three times during the day, the scariest part is the ride wobbles when the superman coaster launches and flies up the tower!

Looking forward to trying the new drop tower at Busch gardens latter this year (if it opens!!)
 
Maelstrom said:
I have ridden Lex Luther at Magic Mountain last October which is not much shorter, while is terrifying while going up, is not that bad and is a great ride, drop seems to last for ages. Went on it three times during the day, the scariest part is the ride wobbles when the superman coaster launches and flies up the tower!

Looking forward to trying the new drop tower at Busch gardens latter this year (if it opens!!)
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I'm of the same opinion when I went on it last year. As high as the ride is, you do kind of lose all perception of just how high it is once you get over a certain height. The drop is great, but agree totally that if you catch it on a Superman launch, the swaying from side to side is brilliantly worrying!
 
Six Flags have announced that they plan to open multiple parks in China over the next decade as part of a new strategic partnership with an investments group.

Six Flags said:
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas, June 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (NYSE:SIX), the world's largest regional theme park company, and Riverside Investment Group Co. Ltd., a leading real estate developer in China, announced today a new strategic partnership to build multiple Six Flags-branded theme parks in China over the next decade.

"Our international expansion strategy is focused on finding the right partners in the right markets, and Riverside Investment Group will be the perfect strategic partner for us in China," said Jim Reid-Anderson, Chairman, President and CEO of Six Flags Entertainment. "We are honored to be working with this world-class organization as we continue taking the Six Flags brand to growing markets outside North America."

"We are honored to enter this strategic relationship with Six Flags and expand the entertainment offerings in China," said Chairman Li of Riverside Investment Group. "We are confident this world-class brand and unique form of entertainment will attract millions of guests to our parks."

Terms of the arrangement were not disclosed.
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It's certainly exciting times for Six Flags, announcing this after they also announced that they plan to open a park in Dubai. I'd imagine this is a lot more risk free than their last crazy expansion programme. If it's successful it will be interesting to see if Cedar Fair will follow suit although I think they've said that they have no plans to do so in the near future. The Asian theme park market is certainly very lucrative at the moment.

If an investments group from the UK would like to team up with Six Flags then I wouldn't say no to a Six Flags park here for some more competition! Make it happen! :p

:)
 
@Rob I was thinking the same reading the article!

The most sense would be to buy out an existing park with infrastructure - I did think about Blackpool but like it or not, it does still have family park charm and I wouldn't want to see that lost.

I think another big park would provide competition to Merlin yes, but I fear the small parks would ultimately be the ones that suffered, so which one would you allow Six Flags to cannibalise?

Parks with classic attractions like PBB and Lightwater I'd rather they didn't unless they kept the existing classic rides.

To be honest though, I think they'd be more likely to open somewhere in mainland Europe than the UK anyway.
 
Would Six Flags (after selling Walibi Belgium and Holland) want to return to the European market though?

Considering the battle of quality they'd have, I can't imagine they'd jump at the chance... China is a much more open market too...
 
I think the general outlook in Europe is much better than it was when Six Flags ended up selling up. They were in mountains of debt, and coupled with the issues after September 11th and the downturn at the time it was understandable. That said, I agree that Asia will be the place to expand at the moment. I can't see anything Europe based for a long long time yet for chains like Six Flags or Cedar though. Paramount and the expansion and increasing awareness of European parks are our only hope of injecting any sort of competition into the UK at the moment.
 
Indeed, Six Flags as a company were in big trouble back when they sold their European parks. They had mounted up massive debts and managed to raise $345 million from park sales in 2004. They even almost sold Magic Mountain in 2006 but decided against it at a later date; Cedar Fair, Busch and Hershey all reportedly made offers that fell short of the valuation. Yet they still continued with large investments throughout the early to mid 00s, especially at Magic Mountain and Great Adventure. Their rapid expansion really did come back and bite them.

They are clearly being a lot more sensible this time aroud. They have a very good structure in place and it appears that their new international ventures are all with other investment groups. So it is not impossible that one day they attempt to make a return to Europe. I persoanlly don't see it any time soon. If they could somehow open up a park in the UK though it would add some much needed competition to the market as I'm sure Six Flags could compete with Merlin in terms of thrills. It's all just wishful thinking at the moment though.

:)
 
Today is Six Flags Day! Expect lots of lovely announcements later on! :D
 
Six Flags Magic Mountain - Colossus RMC reboot - Actual interesting concept


Six Flags New England - Cyclone RMC reboot - World's SMOOTHEST Coaster


Six Flags Feista Texas - S&S Free Fly Concept
 
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Wow, Colossus look amazing; with the dueling inversions especially. This video has made me so excited to ride it. This really looks excellent..

Cyclone, meh.

Personally I can't imagine it being as smooth as some B&M's anyway, air, kraken, sheikra, manta? What a rubbish tagline regardless.
 
I'm a massive fan of RMC coasters and really think these two plans are also excellent, and maybe as good, if not better than, the previous RMC coasters which have been built. Colossus looks like its got an insane layout, full of airtime and general RMC craziness. I just hope the ride ops don't mess up the dispatching so it duels- as the mobius loop concept without a second station could bring difficulty in timing it correctly, looking at the Smiler's failure to duel.

I wouldn't personally say Cyclone looks meh, as I'm sure like with Medusa it'll actually prove to be a fantastic coaster, despite not looking as visually impressive in construction as other RMC coasters. The head choppers, especially, in the second half look brilliant. The world's smoothest coaster, though, should definitely be ignored completely, as it's clearly utter BS.

Now, the Free Fly concept has intrigued me for a long time now; it could be fantastic, or it could be complete balls. I still feel like a layout reminiscent of the Intamin 4D offering isn't the right way to go, and there should be a proper layout like the X2 and Dinoconda, but we'll have to see how the reviews are before commenting.
 
Colossus looks incredible, especially the duelling inversions.

Cyclone looks like a really good, solid coaster, the 200 degee flip is a bit token and gimmicky though.

Batman is the new S&S take on the Zac Spin which we saw a while ago, but it'll be interesting to see what effect those fins have.

Can't wait for full POV renders are up.
 
I've never really "got" RMC coasters, or at least the hype. They look good coasters, but they're just steel coasters with wooden sticks attached?
 
Colossus looks fantastic, a massive improvement on what's there now. A 4 minute ride time is ridiculous, and it's another thing that's really convincing me to get back to California in the future :).

Disappointing that 4 parks are getting these Larson Big Loops though, which are essentially a bigger version of a ride which has been on the fair circuit in the US for decades. Seems some of the smaller parks in the chain have got a bit of a raw deal really.

As for Batman in Texas, I have concerns over how this one will ride. Intamin Zacspins are hideous machines, with the free spinning actually being quite a nauseous experience and at times quite painful. Free spinning is great in theory, but if the weight isn't even, the ride soon loses it's re-rideability. Maybe S+S have took this into consideration, we'll have to see but my ride on Green Lantern has really put me off these types of coasters!
 
First time since they came out that the Hybrid coasters have intrigued me. Finally it's done what done of the others have done with Colossus and made me WANT to ride it! Before I felt it was a bit gimmick and kinda finding their point to exist almost. This time though, that looks what every coaster should be at it's heart... FUN! FUN FUN!

Cyclone also looks brilliant, the twisting in and out of itself makes it feel like a coaster in it's own right, rather than trying to be a woodie with inversions. None of them thus far have really made me feel excited, but both of those do.
 
Craig said:
Maybe S+S have took this into consideration, we'll have to see but my ride on Green Lantern has really put me off these types of coasters!
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From what I recall of the video of it testing, they're going to be magnetic strips to help control the spins and spin them at the right time, so it will still free spin but there will be things in place to make sure it actually spins at certain times.

I really don't like the look of them.
 
Craig said:
Hmm bit of a mis-sell on "free spinning" then :p
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Yes and no hahah! I actually think the idea is to ensure a minimum number of spins per ride depending on balance of the occupants etc, so technically no, but it's still for good reason... IF you want to be span around like that, which I don't, remotely.
 
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