Therefore, I have decided that I will attempt to create shorter posts from here on out. Hopefully that will encourage me to post more often as well. A lot has happened in the past year, so I should have a lot to talk about in retrospective. Today's post, however, will be about current events.
As part of their business strategy, Six Flags Entertainment has committed itself to bringing a new attraction to each of its theme parks every single year. Sometimes those new attractions are small, flat (or carnival-type) rides, and sometimes they are large scale coasters or shows. Six Flags introduces these new attractions every year on a certain date through a company-wide press release video, showcasing the new rides for the coming season. If you are curious to see exactly what the upcoming attractions are for 2015, check out their official video below:
If you watched the video, you might have noticed a few things. First of all, Six Flags apparently likes that looping thing A LOT. Don't be deceived the change in names across several parks, it will be the same ride at all the parks. Secondly, two existing coasters will be getting the Rocky Mountain Construction makeover: Cyclone at Six Flags New England and Colossus at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Lastly, a new type of dark-ride shooter will be heading to Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags St. Louis.
If you know me, you can probably guess what I'm most excited about. Additionally, you probably also know how I feel about the ridiculous cookie-cutter looping rides. I understand that not every park can get a new coaster every year, but to literally build the same ride at 4 parks all at once is disappointing. Hopefully the rides will not be very popular, or we can expect all other parks to be getting swarmed with loopers as well (coughskyscreamercough).
Anywho, back to the hype. The RMC rides look pretty sweet. I've actually never been to SFNE (Six Flags New England) and I never had a chance to experience the classic wooden Cyclone. The re-designing looks promising though, especially with those zero-g rolls that are reminiscent of another RMC product, Outlaw Run. Twisted Colossus also looks like an interesting ride, although I feel like the track layout is fairly bland compared to recent projects such as Goliath and Medusa Steel Coaster. The ride is unique though in that it has the appearance of a hybrid racer, but it is actually a single-track coaster. You can't really tell how this works from the promo vid, but check out the extended ride animation video:
Once the first half of the ride is complete, you actually go right back up the lift hill on the other side. Both halves of the ride are nearly identical, but it will be nice to have a new coaster with a long ride time. My one concern is that the "racing" and "high-five" elements of the ride will not always line up, since that would mean possibly delaying the next train's dispatch which leads to longer lines and upset guests. Hopefully they've already got a system planned to make it an enjoyable experience.
My home theme park, Six Flags Fiesta Texas, is also getting a new coaster; Batman: The Ride. This exact brand of coaster has technically never been built before, but similar attractions can be found at other parks. It was sad to hear that most of the Rockville area of SFFT will be removed or re-themed for the construction of this ride, but hopefully they will be doing more with the area in the coming years. The ride looks interesting, although I personally was hoping for something with a larger surface area like a wing coaster. It just seems unnecessary to have closed down such a large plot of land to build something with a relatively small footprint.
Another odd feature of this ride is its name. "Batman: The Ride" was first used back in 1992 when the first looping B&M invert opened at Six Flags Great America, following the success of the Batman movie. Copies of that coaster were placed at nearly every single Six Flags park, with the same name and themeing. To bring back that same name, logo, and color scheme more than 20 years later for a new attraction seems very out of place, especially since Six Flags has rights to other Batman-themed ride names like "The Dark Knight Coaster" and "Batman: The Dark Knight." It would seem more appropriate to name this ride after a more recent movie instead of just doing a straight throwback to the early 90s. But in the end, I'm not going to be able to change their minds and the ride name, type, and color will all stick.
To finish up, Six Flags is also putting two new dark-ride shooters at two of its parks. Not a lot was said or shown in regards to these rides, but I'm excited to see how they integrate 3D effects into these rides. While they may not be on the same level as Toy Story Midway Mania, I'm sure the Justice League themeing will be something enjoyable.
That's all for now. This post actually ended up being a lot longer than I expected. So, you're welcome? Like I said, I will try to go back and cover interesting news/events over the past year such as the completion of New Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom and the opening of Diagon Alley at Universal Studios. Thanks everyone!
