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Six Flags Great Adventure: General Discussion

That's a shame if so, but not particularly surprising. They're expensive rides to maintain and operate. Six Flags has removed a number of them from other properties in recent years.

This one in particular is historic because it came from the World's Fair in Flushing Meadows (but it uses different gondolas). That said, that also highlights its age (built 1963).
 
A great shame if they are removing the Skyride. It's quite iconic at SFGrAd, featuring in the must take photo of El Toro behind the lake, with Kingda Ka in the background.
 
Skyscraper said:
How can the fins be damaged by the train rolling back when that's what it's designed to do? 🤔
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The fins are spring-loaded and held down using electromagnets. Any failure will cause them to reset to their up position.
 
zeock said:
The fins are spring-loaded and held down using electromagnets. Any failure will cause them to reset to their up position.
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Isn't the up position what they are supposed to go to once the train has passed, in case of a roll-back? The train rolling back shouldn't have damaged them, they are designed to be there in the event of a roll-back to stop the train safely.
 
dazza4783 said:
Isn't the up position what they are supposed to go to once the train has passed, in case of a roll-back? The train rolling back shouldn't have damaged them, they are designed to be there in the event of a roll-back to stop the train safely.
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You are right; I can't explain that, to be honest. Maybe someone else can.
 
dazza4783 said:
Isn't the up position what they are supposed to go to once the train has passed, in case of a roll-back? The train rolling back shouldn't have damaged them, they are designed to be there in the event of a roll-back to stop the train safely.
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Yeah that's why I'm confused, unless the snapped cable knocked the fins out of alignment before the train went over them? Intriguing.
 
When the cable snapped on Dragster in one of its early seasons, as I recall, it was the catch car that damaged the fins. I guess the cable could do a lot of damage to the fins and riders too.

There's no doubt that this launch system is one of the most exhilarating things ever brought the market, but it's pretty scary how it works and what can happen if it breaks (and it does!). The whole thing just feels like it has too many moving parts in it.

They've been taking their time fixing up El Toro. Depending on how broken it is, it'll be interesting to see if they have the will and the budget to fix Kingda Ka anytime soon.
 
Rick said:
There's no doubt that this launch system is one of the most exhilarating things ever brought the market, but it's pretty scary how it works and what can happen if it breaks (and it does!). The whole thing just feels like it has too many moving parts in it.
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I agree.

Makes me weirdly nervous queuing under the Stealth launch.

I'd like to think the >200ft models will still be around for a good number of years as they dont need to generate as much power. But it seems the whoppers like Dragster and Kingda Ka have maybe been pushing their luck over the years.
 
RicketyCricket said:
I agree.

Makes me weirdly nervous queuing under the Stealth launch.

I'd like to think the >200ft models will still be around for a good number of years as they dont need to generate as much power. But it seems the whoppers like Dragster and Kingda Ka have maybe been pushing their luck over the years.
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Kinda Ka does 0 to 128 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds. Stealth is 0 to 80mph in 1.9 seconds.

If you doubled Stealth is would be 160mph in 3.8 seconds - with that in mind. My crude maths suggests that the acceleration and thus the strain put onto the launch equipment such as the cable. Is at a minimum, the same as Kinda Ka, possibly even slightly more forceful.

Even though the speed is lower, it reaches that speed at roughly the same rate of acceleration, so the cable potentially would have the strains placed up on it, but just for a slightly shorter time frame.

I think Stealth's cable would be just as likely to break, if not maintained properly. That is the key. Cables are made up on many, many smaller strands within smaller strands, this is why suspension bridges use them. There is plenty of redundancy built into them. The cable should just not snap out the blue with no warning signs, strands would break over time before a total failure.

As long as the cable is maintained properly and replaced in line with Intimin's recommended maintenance schedule, it makes a snapped cable an extremely rare occurrence. But a risk is still there of course.
 
"Waiting for the King" was the go to line for ops on Zumanjaro when they couldn't run them together.

Sounds like the wait might not be too long for it to reopen.

“The ride will reopen soon after its state inspection which is scheduled to happen following this weekend and the Juneteenth holiday on Monday,” spokeswoman Staci Wheeler said.

www.nj.com

Kingda Ka closed at Six Flags Great Adventure after ‘rollback’ malfunction

Kingda Ka, the world's largest roller coaster, will be closed until the cause of the malfunction can be identified, New Jersey officials said.
www.nj.com www.nj.com
 
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So at the Six Flags earnings call they mentioned Great Adventure will be getting a coaster for 2024. Said it was a late decision, sounds like they've been able to swoop in for a coaster that another park had initially ordered.

The parks twitter account was hinting at something going over the main entrance to the park ala gatekeeper or fury 325.
 
John_P said:
So at the Six Flags earnings call they mentioned Great Adventure will be getting a coaster for 2024. Said it was a late decision, sounds like they've been able to swoop in for a coaster that another park had initially ordered.

The parks twitter account was hinting at something going over the main entrance to the park ala gatekeeper or fury 325.
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Speculation is that it will be a Vekoma Super Boomerang coaster.
 
dazza4783 said:
Speculation is that it will be a Vekoma Super Boomerang coaster.
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Super Boomerang confirmed
The-Flash-Vertical-Velocity-Logo.png
 
Some more details:



Exciting addition, but needless to say that if this can only run one train (which seems likely) the capacity is going to be completely inadequate.
 
Right by the entrance of the park as well? From one horrendous queue to get into the park through to the horrendous queue to ride this thing. Ouch. I'm sure it'll be a fantastic coaster in its own right, but I suspect the overall experience getting onto the damn thing is going to be miserable.
 
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