Six Flags New England (SFNE) Discussion Thread

Went to SFNE on the second day of the season. It was a pretty good day all though we didn't stay the whole time. It was cloudy and rainy in the morning but then cleared up. The only long lines were Bizarro (but moved pretty fast). Pandaemonium and Cyclone which has the worst ride ops in the park. Bizarro was only running okay today. Better than the end of last season when it was running awful. Hopefully all it needs is some warming up. I also saw the new New England Sky Screamer which is pretty cool. This is my first trip report so enjoy!

View from the parking lot of the beautiful sky screamer

Goliath the GIB

Walking over the bridge toward the park.

Here is the new biometric system using your finger print. Unfortunately the guy yelled at me when i tried to take a picture.

heading on main street.

Waiting in line outside of the que. There were problems with Bizarro for a while.

They put the audio back on both trains. It was removed from one last season. but was only playing on one train.

Tiviloi model and the side of a SLC.

The hang and bang. It was a walk on line.

The secret to a enjoyable ride is try to keep your head in one place against one side of the restraint.

In case you forgot what you were riding.

Off to batman B&M floorless.

It was also a walk on.

The circuits on this ride get shorter and shorter each season.

They removed the twister as most people were expecting.

The closed goliath and the sky screamer

Thunder bolt rocking that new paint job from last year.

It's been like 2 years and I still have not gotten this credit.

Most people don't know that the cyclone is only 2 years older than the flashback.

The sky screamer down the mid way.

Hard to see, but they are working on the train.... again

The only sports bar at a six flags.

Scream. Got to love S&S

Here is the original tower which was originally painted red. May be time for a new paint job.

Intamin godness.

Here is more of mostly the sky screamer and bizarro

The NESS and pandemonium.

I thought it would look like an eye sour but I really adjusted fast.

A new portal for the north end.

A nice water fall.

All of the gondolas are attached.

Cyclone. I didn't get to ride it because of the long line, Terrible ride ops, and they were only running one train.

The gondolas are further down from where they attach than all of the other Sky Screamers.

The paint fading pandemonium with the now finished lighting system on it.

Thunderbolt.

I am the first and only person ever to get this view of the ride!

Brake run

Bizarro was only running okay today.

Anyone else hear anything about the rumor of turning it back into superman?

Air Time!

NESS down the mid way. Pretty American picture.

They repaved and did some brick work in some spots.

It really is tall i saw it miles away on the Connecticut river.

Ended they day early. Today was really just to register the season passes.

^ A sports bar opened at Great America in 2013, so That is definitely not the only one. Nice Trip Report, however. I look forward to my first visit to this park in June.

Nice report, I was there too. You can actually see my head when waiting for bizarro to open. I gotta disagree, Bizarro was running awesome today, especially in the afternoon when the audio turned on. Goliath is opening this friday.

I decided this year to go on Opening Day. Bizarro was running a bit sluggish; I found a group of ACErs in front of Pandemonium who were discussing the possibility of a RMC Cyclone; and (worryingly) I found a loose metal floorboard on Bizarro. The thing was coming up and hitting the restraints on every hill. The ride-op wouldn't listen to my repeated pleas to have someone take a look at it until it came completely loose (I was right next to it, and I ended up holding it down on the more intense hills). I picked it up, walked up to the ride supervisor with it under my arm, handed it to her, said, "I believe this belongs to you", and explained where it had come from. Unfortunately, I left soon after, so I did not get to see what, if anything, they did about it.

I did not have a camera on me at the time (because I don't usually take photos), so I don't have any pictures of the floorboard. It did not appear to be structurally integral to the train; it covered what appeared to be a thicker metal plate below it. It was steel, with rhombus-shaped protrusions of the type usually seen on steel plate. Anyone know about the design of the Bizarro trains enough to explain what the heck was going on there?

Will be interesting how the new Goliath train will compare to the new Vekoma trains with vest-style OTSR.

I decided this year to go on Opening Day. Bizarro was running a bit sluggish; I found a group of ACErs in front of Pandemonium who were discussing the possibility of a RMC Cyclone; and (worryingly) I found a loose metal floorboard on Bizarro. The thing was coming up and hitting the restraints on every hill. The ride-op wouldn't listen to my repeated pleas to have someone take a look at it until it came completely loose (I was right next to it, and I ended up holding it down on the more intense hills). I picked it up, walked up to the ride supervisor with it under my arm, handed it to her, said, "I believe this belongs to you", and explained where it had come from. Unfortunately, I left soon after, so I did not get to see what, if anything, they did about it.

 

I did not have a camera on me at the time (because I don't usually take photos), so I don't have any pictures of the floorboard. It did not appear to be structurally integral to the train; it covered what appeared to be a thicker metal plate below it. It was steel, with rhombus-shaped protrusions of the type usually seen on steel plate. Anyone know about the design of the Bizarro trains enough to explain what the heck was going on there?

Thats Crazy! But I did see some welding on the train some time in the day.

I found a loose metal floorboard on Bizarro. The thing was coming up and hitting the restraints on every hill. The ride-op wouldn't listen to my repeated pleas to have someone take a look at it until it came completely loose (I was right next to it, and I ended up holding it down on the more intense hills). I picked it up, walked up to the ride supervisor with it under my arm, handed it to her, said, "I believe this belongs to you", and explained where it had come from. Unfortunately, I left soon after, so I did not get to see what, if anything, they did about it.

While I am surprised to hear that this happened, I'm not surprised to hear about how they handled it. This park has a serious issue with their staff and they have for the last few seasons. We usually go to about 20 different parks each year and SFNE consistently has the worst staff of any of them. They're extremely inefficient, inattentive and usually flat out rude. They also ignore all posted park policies and make up their own.

How you don't even go over and glance at the ride vehicle in question when someone brings this to your attention is beyond me. It could be a serious safety issue if it detaches when the ride is going over 70 MPH.

Unfortunately the guy yelled at me when i tried to take a picture.

Yup... sounds like they're in mid-season form.

In all honesty, I think they should fill the Twister spot with another flat, because as mentioned before, the park is anemic in terms of flats. Also, Flashback needs to go. It's definitely started to run its course. It's been through the product placement phase of its life, and I don't think any amusement park needs two boomerang coasters at once. Fill the Twister spot with a flat, and the Flashback spot with another flat, perhaps one that is intense enough to make up for taking out a coaster.

Just thinking about riding that Sky Screamer scares that crap out of me.

Thank you for the trip report. I really like this park, its really pretty and they have some awesome coasters.

In all honesty, I think they should fill the Twister spot with another flat, because as mentioned before, the park is anemic in terms of flats. Also, Flashback needs to go. It's definitely started to run its course. It's been through the product placement phase of its life, and I don't think any amusement park needs two boomerang coasters at once. Fill the Twister spot with a flat, and the Flashback spot with another flat, perhaps one that is intense enough to make up for taking out a coaster.

You have some great ideas but this is Six Flags New England we're talking about here. They don't usually replace flats, they just remove them or replace them with a flat they already had and then they leave that ride's old pad empty.

Rodeo, Time Warp, Colossus (this one really is unforgivable), Spider, Double Trouble, Chaos, Nightwing and now Twister have yet to be replaced with rides. Colossus was replaced with a swing ride we already had and that ride wasn't replaced... Nightwing was replaced with a Trabaunt we already had and that was never replaced. Besides that all we have in place of these rides are smoking areas, a bathroom, games, or usually nothing.

They've left much larger pads empty... this ride had a small footprint so it's easy for them to pretend it never existed. There's no way they're going to replace it with a ride.

Two boomerangs? Really? Is this how we treat a park with one of the best coasters on earth!? and by donating a low-capacity, maintenance nightmare? A max-air would fit perfectly where flashback is but I noticed in one of the pictures that there is already a revolution-type ride in there (I forgot what the make is called).

^^ Fair point. It's a shame really, especially since the park could really benefit from classic flats. I remember when they had a damn Ferris Wheel (I think where they now have ErUPtion and the occassional stage show) and it really feels barren, especially if you are meandering from one quote unquote "signature ride." I rode all of the flats you mentioned at least at one point and remember each experience distinctly.

Do you know if they still have Kontiki, the kind of Matterhorn flat? That one is dreadfully easy to miss as it is tucked away. (Actually, the only full front view I can think of is from the exit pool of Tornado).

Two boomerangs? Really? Is this how we treat a park with one of the best coasters on earth!? and by donating a low-capacity, maintenance nightmare? A max-air would fit perfectly where flashback is but I noticed in one of the pictures that there is already a revolution-type ride in there (I forgot what the make is called).

The one you are thinking of is Tomahawk in Crack Axle Canyon, if I am not mistaken.

Do you know if they still have Kontiki, the kind of Matterhorn flat?

For some ridiculous reason yes, they still have it. They have no problem removing popular rides in prime locations and not replacing them but the one ride that nobody will ever see is still operating. It used to be a little better when it was near the entrance to the waterpark but now it's down a pathway that's not inviting at all and almost looks like the entrance to a backstage area. It makes no sense.

Two boomerangs? Really? Is this how we treat a park with one of the best coasters on earth!? and by donating a low-capacity, maintenance nightmare?

The problem isn't really Goliath, everyone loves Goliath. A lot of people, even people on this site (myself included) consider it the best coaster in the park since Bizarro is a shadow of it's former self at this point. Goliath is a great ride which always has long lines and it's a coaster that I think is really underrated.

The problem is that Flashback is still there even though Goliath is much better, but to be fair it's still really popular even though it's a horrible ride.

Two boomerangs? Really? Is this how we treat a park with one of the best coasters on earth!? and by donating a low-capacity, maintenance nightmare?

 

The problem isn't really Goliath, everyone loves Goliath. A lot of people, even people on this site (myself included) consider it the best coaster in the park since Bizarro is a shadow of it's former self at this point. Goliath is a great ride which always has long lines and it's a coaster that I think is really underrated.

 

The problem is that Flashback is still there even though Goliath is much better, but to be fair it's still really popular even though it's a horrible ride.

I love Goliath too. It was a crowd favorite at Great America as Deja Vu. But I question why the chain would take it out of three parks and gift it to a fourth, given the headaches it causes. SFNE surely had to spend money on it and I am pleased to see they are giving it new trains. Hopefully you guys will be able to enjoy it longer than we did, but to be safe, enjoy it while it lasts.

I am not too familiar with SFNE's bizarre/superman situation. Though it may have already been talked about to death, can you shed some light in one quick paragraph on why the coaster is a shadow of its former self? Is it slower? Did new theming interfere with the ride experience in some way? Thanks!

The fact that there are two boomerangs right next to each other seems odd... Until you start to think about how six flags knew they wanted to put new trains on Goliath... They probably knew there would be problems getting it into a solid state of performance and said "let's leave flashback up and running until we get this new toy working the way we want, then take it down." It's a decent piece for land, that they could definitely reuse for a future ride (maybe a euro fighter or el loco) in the future, but unlike the flat ride conversation, six flags still likes to boast about how many coasters are in a park, they don't care if there are two of the same idea, all they care about it "Six Flags New England, come check out our 11 world class coasters, including the #2 steel coaster in the world!"

I think when Goliath gets going with the new trains, we will see them take down flashback, we can only hope it's replaced immediately with something else...

I unlike most people enjoy Vekoma Inverted boomerangs.

In fact, Invertidgo is my second favorite coaster at Kings Island.

^ I don't know why it's weird, or why they would want to remove one. Just because they have the same layout, they are still different ride experiences. I say keep them both.

^^^Bizarro seems much slower than it used to be for some reason. It also rattles quite a bit. Really though the big problem with Bizarro now is the new trains. For taller people, the trains are very uncomfortable and the lap bar is very thick and awkward. The headrests also take away from the ride if you're not in the front row, though this is a minor issue.

I used to list Superman as my favorite coaster, but now it's barely in my top 20 and dropping fast. It's a very good ride but it's not what it used to be for a lot of different reasons. There's no one thing that makes the ride worse than it used to be, it's a combination of things... the biggest of which is that the ride just feels sluggish now.

^^^Bizarro seems much slower than it used to be for some reason. It also rattles quite a bit. Really though the big problem with Bizarro now is the new trains. For taller people, the trains are very uncomfortable and the lap bar is very thick and awkward. The headrests also take away from the ride if you're not in the front row, though this is a minor issue.

 

I used to list Superman as my favorite coaster, but now it's barely in my top 20 and dropping fast. It's a very good ride but it's not what it used to be for a lot of different reasons. There's no one thing that makes the ride worse than it used to be, it's a combination of things... the biggest of which is that the ride just feels sluggish now.

I agree 100% at the end of last season it was awful at certain points in the spaghetti bowel the train would randomly shift to the right to left.

With the Bizarro trains, I feel as though for a person such as me, being 6'1, that my hair can catch in and around the speakers, causing a few moments of painful pull and tug. I'm not sure if I am the only one with that problem, but it has definitely ruined some ride experience for me. And overall, it just doesn't feel as smooth as it used to. It used to feel like silk running over the track, but the age and degradation (however menial it may be) definitely shows. As you mentioned, the helix/spaghetti bowl rattles the train so much more than it used to, and the final bunny hops are a killer on the thighs with the redesigned train.

With the Bizarro trains, I feel as though for a person such as me, being 6'1, that my hair can catch in and around the speakers, causing a few moments of painful pull and tug. I'm not sure if I am the only one with that problem, but it has definitely ruined some ride experience for me. And overall, it just doesn't feel as smooth as it used to. It used to feel like silk running over the track, but the age and degradation (however menial it may be) definitely shows. As you mentioned, the helix/spaghetti bowl rattles the train so much more than it used to, and the final bunny hops are a killer on the thighs with the redesigned train.

Wear a hoodie and put the hood up. Haha

With the Bizarro trains, I feel as though for a person such as me, being 6'1, that my hair can catch in and around the speakers, causing a few moments of painful pull and tug. I'm not sure if I am the only one with that problem, but it has definitely ruined some ride experience for me. And overall, it just doesn't feel as smooth as it used to. It used to feel like silk running over the track, but the age and degradation (however menial it may be) definitely shows. As you mentioned, the helix/spaghetti bowl rattles the train so much more than it used to, and the final bunny hops are a killer on the thighs with the redesigned train.

Wear a hoodie and put the hood up. Haha

Or just to really stick it to them, some Mickey Mouse Ears

Eek... sounds like a problem. And knowing six flags, its especially sad because they are so good at creating problems and not so good at resolving them. I don't know who thought it would be a good idea to mess with that coaster in the first place. There was a perfectly good B&M across the park with a color scheme ready to go!

^I believe the original story was it was time for a paint job and they needed to replace the trains anyway, so they figured if they were going to put that kind of money into an existing attraction that they might as well make it so they could market the investment.