Six Flags : 2006

[Buckstah]

I have a very very very good insider telling me that Six Flags will be adding 3 new B&M Coasters for 2006. The deal has been finalized, but I don't have the locations yet.

I know there has been a rumor for Six Flags St. Louis to get a new coaster themed to Superman in 2006, but it's unknown if it will be a flyer or a hyper. Maybe B&M will build a flyer for SFStL! Who knows :\.

[BorisTheFish]

nothing to get exicted about really, it won't like nobody would have ridden an almost identicle version at another Six Flags park

[RollerC]

yea,its probably just 3 clones of a coaster...you know, the Six Flags way of doin things

[Buckstah]

Yeah I agree that it will be a clone of another ride, and being that Superman the ride isnt in very many parks, its my first guess to be cloned.

[SFA PKD Fan]

It's way too early to speculate on who'll get any coasters for 06 within the SF chain just yet.

I'd suspect it to be SFSTL:rumored hyper,SFMM: but what B&M can they get? & SFOG or SFGRAM.....perhaps maybe La ronde as well.


SFA can probably be ruled out because they're expanding/retheming the waterpark this season( the official announcement comes on the 24th) & they always take at least a year off between additions so I'm not even gonna get my hopes up only to have them dashed for the 5th year in a row.

[Squid2]

www.screamscape.com has also heard a rumor that SFoG has been on a short list to get a B&M hypercoaster for some time. The current rumor puts the station in the USA section of the park, and will probably take the place of Freefall. From my own experience with SFoG, and what I've heard, this coaster may have the deepest tunnel section of any coaster in the world. This is due to the height restriction of 200' at SFoG. As I was told once by a SF exec... "Yes, the restriction says how high we can build. But it says nothing about how deep we can dig."

So, imagine a coaster with a 200' high lift hill and a 200' drop with a 100' deep tunnel. I'm so hoping that this is true. It would be such a unique coaster for the park.

And, speaking of cloning rides... you know, Disney does the exact same thing. After all, how many Space Mountain rides are out there? Jungle Cruise? Tower of Terror? Haunted Mansion? Rides are cloned because they are successful. Besides, SF has always been a regional theme park company, not a national or international one.

Squid2

[BorisTheFish]

you use space mountain as an example, but there is a difference between cloning the names, and cloning the track layout

[Harpo]

Originally posted by Squid2
[BAnd, speaking of cloning rides... you know, Disney does the exact same thing. After all, how many Space Mountain rides are out there? Jungle Cruise? Tower of Terror? Haunted Mansion? Rides are cloned because they are successful. [/B]

Actually, it's one of the interesting things about Disney...

I've been on 3 of the Space Mountain rides -- Orlando, Anaheim, and Paris. They are all distinctly different, although built around similar (but not identical) themes. (I liked Paris' version the best.) Same can be said for the other rides with the same names. The Haunted Mansions are quite different, although the casual observer may not notice just how different they are. Tower of Terror is significantly different. (In some ways, I prefer the new one in California, although both have some interesting unique features.) I've not been on Jungle Cruise enough to say how different they are.

Even things like It's A Small World have significant differences between the versions.

So, in some cases, the differences are subtle where most people wouldn't notice them -- that's pretty close to cloning. In many cases, however, the differences in Disney's attractions by the same name are rather obvious.

You can also look at the fact, however, that Roy Disney is not at all happy with the current management of the Walt Disney Company, and wants to get rid of Eisner. Disney has stated the opinion that there isn't enough creativity going into the parks these days. If Roy Disney was running Six Flags, I suspect there wouldn't be the great amount of cloning going on!

[Squid2]

Okay.... I've obviously made a mistake. They actually have different track layouts? How different are they? (I've heard that SM has loops in it, for crying out loud.)

Tower of Terror has a random ride experience, set via computer. I believe all of the TT rides have it. Now, do they have different layouts as well?

And regarding SF cloning rides... well, if we're saying that minor differences make a different ride, then several of SF's cloned coasters are different rides. A few of the Batman: The Ride coasters are reversed, some have slightly different track elements due to terrain... you get the idea.

So, here's the question: What makes a cloned ride?

Squid2

[BorisTheFish]

WDW has two coaster in the dome (which are mirror images of each other), DL California has just the one track, no inversions (i think it is still one track no inversions), DLP is launched and features 4(?) inversions, i don't know about the other two, but you get my drift.

[SFA PKD Fan]

SFSTL's B:TR is mirrored,all the others are the same both in terms of layout & size....the only difference is the color scheme.

Other mirrored SF coasters include SFDL's & SFA's superman hypers....both rides are exactly the same except for the direction they take after the initial drop,last but not least Medusa east & Scream are mirrored clones as well.


Now just because screamscape says any given park may get a coaster doesn't mean it's confirmed,the site master there will take nearly any rumor submitted by readers (no matter how far fetched) & post it on the site without first trying to verify the credability of such rumors,coaster-net does the same thing as well so the best thing to do is take most rumors you hear with a grain of salt because most are not true.

[Buckstah]

Just want to clear something up, if you don't mind. My 3 B&M Coatsers for Six FLags 06 is NOT a rumored. It's verified through my sources at B&M.

[SFA PKD Fan]

^OK so which exact SF parks are getting them then & what type will each one be(ie. floorless,invert,flyer etc.)?

SF does sometimes buy in bulk & then decides at the last minute where each ride will go.....that's why we lost the proposed floorless to SFNE in 02,or so I heard from maintenance this past season & it would also explain B:TDK's purple/blue /black color scheme as Batwing is yellow & purple.

[Buckstah]

I don't know the types or locations yet, trying to pry that out. I may not be able to get the location yet though, because the parks getting them may not be picked yet.

I'll try my best to get the types of coaster that they are planning to build. Hey, by the way, checkout my B&M hate, signed by Walter Bolliger! One thing I was suprised by though, was how basic the hat is. It's so plain.

http://www.enternetcoders.com/bandm/hat1.jpg
http://www.enternetcoders.com/bandm/hat2.jpg

[Squid2]

PKD... I have to interject something here. I am one of the contributers to Screamscape, and I know for a fact that he doesn't just post up any odd rumor he hears... the rumors he hears are verified by other sources, if he can. If he can't confirm, they don't go up. How do I know? I've had several rumors that didn't get posted because he couldn't confirm them. They later turned out to be false.

In case you're wondering, I'm the guy who went to the focus group for SFoG. While I was there, I talked with someone who was very high up in SF, and he's the one who told me about the planned hypercoaster for SFoG. We discussed several things regarding SFoG... one of them was the hypercoaster, one was replacing Monster Plantation with something else, (probably a new Scooby Doo and the Scary Swamp interactive dark ride,) ways to beat the heat, (more indoor rides, more water rides,) etc. Also discussed was ways to make the park more family friendly, which the park is currently in the process of doing.

Now, I've heard some crazy rumors from SFoG... one was 3 coasters in the same year for SFoG. However, I'm beginning to wonder if they meant that SFI was going to buy 3 major coasters from one manufacturer in one year. I heard more flat rides, with a thrill ride, for this year. Obviously these rumors haven't come true. But I'm certain that there's a hypercoaster on the way to SFoG... I just don't know when. I'm sure it's going to be in the next few years.

Squid2

[Harpo]

Originally posted by Squid2
Okay.... I've obviously made a mistake. They actually have different track layouts? How different are they? (I've heard that SM has loops in it, for crying out loud.)

Tower of Terror has a random ride experience, set via computer. I believe all of the TT rides have it. Now, do they have different layouts as well?


Besides being one track at Disneyland and Paris, and two tracks at WDW, the train styles are different at all three parks. Paris does have inversions, and a launched lift hill. (The coaster "shoots" out of a "canon." It's intended to be a coaster version of a Jules Verne novel. In my opinion, it's very well done and really neat to watch and ride!) The trains at WDW are single-row, while Disneyland's (at least before they shut it down for major renovations!) was two seats per row. The train style between Disneyland's Matterhorn and WDW's Space Mountain are actually closer than between Disneyland's Space Mountain and WDW's Space Mountain. So, the three coasters are distinctly different. I can't say for versions outside of those three parks.

For Tower of Terror, they do run a different course. There's quite a bit more horizontal movement in WDW's version than in Cal Adventure's version, and the visuals are different in each version. I actually preferred the visuals in Cal Adv's version.

If a ride is a mirror image, I don't generally consider it a clone, although it's not as unique as I would like, either. For example, if I remember correctly, Superman at Darien Lake is a mirror image of Superman at America. (I liked Darien Lake's better simply because, when I rode it, it was in a far better state of repair than the one at America, which was in a disgraceful state.)

If the difference is merely cosmetic, such as color of the ride, or if it's just very minor manufacturing differences, then I view it as a clone. Most of the Batman rides fall into that classification. (So does Great White at Sea World San Antonio, although it was in far better condition -- running smoother and faster -- than any of the Batman rides.)

[SFA PKD Fan]

Nice try with the hat but you could've made that signature yourself as well as superimposed the B&M logo on it after the pic was taken,now if you can get a pic of yourself with Walt or Claude then I'd be more willing to believe you.

Aside from media day events debutting a new B&M coaster the only other place they can usually be found outside of Switzerland is at IAAPA & they don't allow just any average joe public fan to attend the IAAPA trade show that goes on each fall.

[leonardofury]

If I remember correctly Magic Mountain doesn't have a flying coaster so that would be my suspision for a new B&M at Magic Mountain

[Buckstah]

Originally posted by SFA PKD Fan
Nice try with the hat but you could've made that signature yourself as well as superimposed the B&M logo on it after the pic was taken,now if you can get a pic of yourself with Walt or Claude then I'd be more willing to believe you.

Aside from media day events debutting a new B&M coaster the only other place they can usually be found outside of Switzerland is at IAAPA & they don't allow just any average joe public fan to attend the IAAPA trade show that goes on each fall.

Contact me, I have some proof. Next time Walter comes in town, ill try to get a picture of me with him.

[Hyde244]

Well, I personally think that we shouldn't quite already be talking about 06 installments. I mean, th 05 season hasnt even started!

[SFA PKD Fan]

^I agree & besides it's all based on how well SF performs this year as well as the fact that they have a nasty habit of cancelling or changing where new rides are to be built at the last possible minute.