Six Flags Great America (SFGAm) Discussion Thread

Full POV, including reverse angle! I can't wait!

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/videogallery/69761990/News/Soar-with-the-X-Flight-wing-coaster

 

So awesome! I really can't wait for the 12th. All of the little touches are amazing!

The fog, the water, that tight squeeze/head chopper after the tower. Amazing. It looks like it's taking some of the elements pretty fast, too. I was hoping the hangar would be more than just a facade, but can't complain too much.

Full POV, including reverse angle! I can't wait!

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/videogallery/69761990/News/Soar-with-the-X-Flight-wing-coaster

This is so freakin' amazing! All the elements look perfectly done... Congrats SFGAm! I'm so pumped up for summer...

Yea it looks like it is running faster, but I am still not sold on this ride. I think it will be a lot of fun, but just like any stereotypical B&M created lately in terms of the forces.

This ride looks so awesome! Well, it may not be the best, but I do appreciate the additional touches. Can't wait, only 8 more days!

Yea it looks like it is running faster, but I am still not sold on this ride. I think it will be a lot of fun, but just like any stereotypical B&M created lately in terms of the forces.

Even the new B&M Inverted that opened in France?

I'm starting to wonder if it's even possible for you to be more vehemently sarcastic and down on this ride than you've managed to be so far. Lighten up bro.

 

Personally, I think that looks stunning, especially for an SF ride. Kudos to SFGAm for making their wingrider the nicest looking of the "Non-Dollywood" installations.

That wasn't sarcasm. The first thing that I thought of when I saw the picture was a garden hose with holes poked into it for the purpose of watering a lawn. I'll let the park's marketing department fawn over the ride- they're paid to do it. I'll end up riding this sometime over the summer and if it's good, I'll be happy to say that it blew away my expectations.

This seasons entertainment has been released. Only notable things IMO is the return of Glow in the Park parade June 30-August 7 and Screams and Dreams Volume 2 1985 to 1999. I think "Kick It Up" is new, not positive as I really don't normally watch those types of shows.

http://www.sixflags.com/greatAmerica/entertainment/AllEntertainment.aspx

^I mean...isn't it the only "non-Dollywood" installation? At least here in the states...

Well yeah, but I was referring to all the other wingriders globally. So essentially just Swarm there when I said it.

Unfortunately, when saying that, I completely forgot about Raptor at Gardaland, which is absolutely beautiful. So...basically...I'm not saying anything of value here, except that X-Flight is the third nicest looking of the four existing. My bad.

I have to say, based on the high number of inversions and the intensity of the ride, this looks to be one of the best wing riders to date as far as ride experience is concerned.

I enjoy B&M helixes, and I like the quick tight ones that seem to be taken at a decent speed on X-Flight.

I'm going in June and IF the line is over 30 mins, I probably wont be riding it. Just like Batman inverts, they are way TOO SHORT, WAYYYYYYYY too short in length.

Coaster looks amazing and makes me want to visit the park even more now!

Just got home from opening day. Really great day and the park looked fantastic. Clearly the big change was X Flight, but there was lots of other new smaller things. I'll post a full trip report later this week, but I thought I would just post a few pictures of other little changes besides X Flight. V2 got new seats and Revolution got new restraints but I didn't take pictures of those as I'm not quite that nerdy yet.

Karaoke is now in front of Iron Wolf's remains, which is amazing and it dramatically decreases the amount of time you spend hearing crappy singers!

These signs are now all over the park at every ride. I believe they're for telling what rides shorter kids can go on.

East River Crawler is down for 2012, but at least they didn't leave the spot empty.

It does look kind of odd having a small ride in such a big spot though.

Freestyle Machines in Trudys!

Ok, I know this is all you really care about. I have lots of X Flight photos and they'll be up very soon!

Just a quick off-ride view of X-Flight I shot at the park today.

Yes there are already two videos on here. But this is far better quality than them.

The theming on this ride is actually pretty cool, I love the water spray. Still looks like the best wingrider IMO, and the tests seem faster than the Swarm's were.

I agree that the theming on X-Flight looks great, and the ride itself looks like the best wing coaster built so far. The layout is great, and it has some great speed through nearly the entire ride.

Can you use the souvenir cups with the Coke Freestyle, and does it serve Beverly? I don't know how many machines there are, but the line to use them is probably going to be very long given how popular they have been.

Definitely agreed on it being the best wing rider layout to date!

SF Great America is looking for riders to be part of an X-Flight commercial shoot:

Jumped over to the park yesterday with some buddies of mine to check out the new ride. It is so impressive in person, and the planners have incorporated the surrounding area very well. Here is some footage to show the various viewpoints you can enjoy around the site!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NICaEyY6FlQ

Guess i'll throw my update from opening day into the mix as well. But first, HD video of X-Flight testing!

It's Batman's 20th birthday this year! They had balloons at the entrance and a banner.

Iron Wolf is wearing it's invisibility cloak.

Magiquest space is empty too.

New paint! It's all Coke colored now because of the new Freestyle machines inside.

The kiddie cars has a tree! Instead of driving around inside a fenced in grassy area you get to drive around a tree! Screw X-Flight, best addition this year.

Antique cars are still underneath Dare Devil Dive.

Season pass processing line was long, but only because it was opening day. They've expanded processing into the pizza place next door, but i'm guessing it's only temporary.

And then there's X-Flight

Signage on the station

Really looks great in this section of the park!

People working hard

Hangar in place

Queue line goes through the keyhole

Renamed shops for X-Flight

Grass is ready to grow and on-ride cameras ready to be mounted

The water section

Station

Looking towards the keyhole

Snazzy

Just a dude and his wheelbarrow

They're re-working the train tracks to go underneath X-Flight

X-Flight testing

Wing envelope

Keyhole is pretty big in person

I mean the entire train has to go through it

First drop

Zero-G!

X-Flight is ridiculously quiet, no huge B&M roar

The pacing and speed look great too, can't wait to ride

Testing some lighting in the queue line and station too

Dropping in

And that's X-Flight, opening soon!

Beautiful pictures! I love when they acknowledge coaster's birthdays. When I worked at Disneyland on BTMRR, Tony Baxter (Imagineering legend) surprised us for Big Thunder's 30th anniversary and we had an epic cake shaped like the mountain. Wish I could put the pictures up but they were backstage and I have to respect the mouse.

Anyways, before I get off track, X-Flight is looking great, will look even better when the grass goes in. The red and black paint really pop, and I'm digging the yellow and black caution colors on the choppers. I have a feeling either SFNE or GADV will have one of these wing coasters in the near future, a B&M fanboy like me can at least dream.

The only "complaint" I really have about X flight is that I wish the hangar wasn't just flat, but an actual hanger structure. Other than that X Flight looks amazing and might be my favorite wing coaster B&M has made.

That is an awesome picture of the train going through the keyhole, well done! Seriously one of the highest quality pics I've seen (especially of that element, in "real time")!

I'll agree that the hanger thing is odd, especially because they already have a "real" hangar (the station). I know that "theme park" is not an important part of Six Flags culture, but seeing as though they've made some attempt with this new ride what exactly is the "story" behind that facade of a hangar? You leave your hangar, take off, and swoop through some other random hangar whilst maneuvering around traffic control towers and trenches full of spraying water?? It's a minor and almost pointless beef, but I do wonder why they even bothered with it (considering how fantastic EVERYTHING else about the ride looks)!

Really is curious about the Antique cars, right? Didn't we have a bunch of people, over the winter, claiming that they KNEW they were already shipped out to other parks in the chain.....but there they sit? Part of me feels like they just haven't gotten around to parting them out/shipping them elsewhere, the other part hopes they have some plan to revive them (although letting them sit out, exposed like that, for a winter probably isn't a great sign).

Also, for anyone that has been, do they have a sign up by the Buzzy Bees ride noting that ERC will eventually be back?

^ No sign, but park has confirmed it will be back!

Also, going through the hangar is themed as a "pit stop" and the tower is "Gurnee control."

I know this is trivial, but the train tracks aren't being reworked. Just relaid in their past configuration.

X-FLIGHT POV!!!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/videogallery/69761990/News/Soar-with-the-X-Flight-wing-coaster