Six Flags Great Adventure | Flash: Vertical Velocity | Vekoma Super Boomerang | 2024

[Fiender]

I will not argue with you, however, the Vekoma Super Boomerang is not following the marking that have been spotted around the main entrance area. The markings that have been spotted follow an almost, “S”, pattern from the bottom of the Go-Kart Track and through/over the gardens. Also, a boomerang, how original is that?? . But I completely understand that Six Flags have some kind of relationship with Vekoma with the new family coaster at Six Flags St Louis or whatever, but it doesn’t automatically mean that they have signed a big coaster deal with them.

Infact as I am writing this however, if Six Flags Over Georgia does get the Ultra Surf, it could signal a contract with them. My reasoning behind this is because the Vekoma that was supposed to open this year at St Louis isnt open, they can’t get a feel for how the ride is to operate and maintain, especially after Vekoma’s historically bad reputation, just look at Goliath at New England and how that ended up. So, my point is that it is highly likely that this is an Intamin, they have 3 main pre-set models on their website and some behind the scenes as well for parks to pick from, this is sort of relevant as they have said they were fortunate to get it at the right time and managed to get something sorted in a time. So, I understand your logics (not really) behind it being a Vekoma Super Boomerang, however the main option I can see is an Intamin of some kind, granted it may not be the Figure-8 Coaster, but it could be something similar.

"Vekoma’s historically bad reputation"
"Intamin's perfect, no-controversy or dud-ride reputation"
-Intamin Forever, probably.

436 is such a random-ass number, and the only way people can make it fit into their categories is by splitting it up into 4/3/6 or 4/36, when... it's not split up like that in the tweet.

 

[emoo]

A simple solution for 48 is x2 24 trains. So Super Boomerang with turntable upfront, lessons learned: Done. Plus would look stunning as part of an entrance with no thought whatsoever.

 

[Matt N]

48 could also be the height requirement, as Vekoma's website states that the Super Boomerang's minimum height requirement is 1.2m, which would roughly translate to 48" in America.

Although that would be somewhat inconsistent with the other numbers if they're doing those in metric...

Nonetheless, I think that the Super Boomerang seems to be a very good fit with those numbers. It would also be unique to the USA, and it seems like the type of ride that could easily be purchased "late in the game".

 

[basicbatch]

I won’t be the first to admit that Intamin has had their fair share of issues over the years, however the issues have happened on good rides, rides in fact that are some of our favourites. For example, Intimidator 305, that thing goes down a lot, the fast cable lift gets too hot and they have to shut down, and yes they had to reprofile the whole first turn cause it was too intense but isnt that cool, a turn too intense for guests, but to those who rode it was epic. Another example, newer perhaps, Sik at Flamingo Land, it has had its fair share of issues as well, but at the end of the day it is still a flipping good ride. My point is that Vekoma’s issues are with terrible, awful, terrible coasters. For example, Goudarix at Parc Asterix, has needed multiple different, expensive reprofiling changes cause Vekoma can’t see straight. This is happening to more and more old Vekomas, costing parks more money. Granted, new Vekoma is legendary, smooth, elegant and reliable, but so is Intamin. I would almost say Vekoma and Intamin are on a similar page to be fair, both strike a similar balance of god-awful reputations of either ride experience or reliability.

Next, you mention 436. I don’t know how thick in the head you are but you obviously are missing a trick here. I’m telling you, this is 99% Intamin, I will bet my bottom dollar on it. So don’t even think about coming back to me with your so called logic, but that 436 means something more deep than any other number on there, something in fact I am doing extensive research on, so I will certainly get back to you on that.

Also, the fact that Six Flags Over Georgia are very heavily rumoured to receive the Ultra Surf from Intamin, it makes me wonder of it may become the new 4D Free Spin, an addition to the major parks in the chain perhaps and that could lead to other models as well. If I am being completely and utterly honest right now, Vekoma aren’t even on the table for Six Flags in terms of major thrill rides, yes, family coasters, but nothing more. If this Salim guy knows anything, always trust the ones you know, not the ones you want to discover. Intamin have had a brilliant track record with Six Flags, Kingda Ka for example, yes it may go down but it is an older model, so of course it will, El Toro, one of the best woodies around, has had some issues related to Six Flags Maintenance not Intamin. So you should get my point and opinion now, I don’t know how further I can drill it into your heads that this without a thought is 99.999% an Intamin coaster.

Say for example again

 

[Matt N]

I won’t be the first to admit that Intamin has had their fair share of issues over the years, however the issues have happened on good rides, rides in fact that are some of our favourites. For example, Intimidator 305, that thing goes down a lot, the fast cable lift gets too hot and they have to shut down, and yes they had to reprofile the whole first turn cause it was too intense but isnt that cool, a turn too intense for guests, but to those who rode it was epic. Another example, newer perhaps, Sik at Flamingo Land, it has had its fair share of issues as well, but at the end of the day it is still a flipping good ride. My point is that Vekoma’s issues are with terrible, awful, terrible coasters. For example, Goudarix at Parc Asterix, has needed multiple different, expensive reprofiling changes cause Vekoma can’t see straight. This is happening to more and more old Vekomas, costing parks more money. Granted, new Vekoma is legendary, smooth, elegant and reliable, but so is Intamin. I would almost say Vekoma and Intamin are on a similar page to be fair, both strike a similar balance of god-awful reputations of either ride experience or reliability.

Next, you mention 436. I don’t know how thick in the head you are but you obviously are missing a trick here. I’m telling you, this is 99% Intamin, I will bet my bottom dollar on it. So don’t even think about coming back to me with your so called logic, but that 436 means something more deep than any other number on there, something in fact I am doing extensive research on, so I will certainly get back to you on that.

Also, the fact that Six Flags Over Georgia are very heavily rumoured to receive the Ultra Surf from Intamin, it makes me wonder of it may become the new 4D Free Spin, an addition to the major parks in the chain perhaps and that could lead to other models as well. If I am being completely and utterly honest right now, Vekoma aren’t even on the table for Six Flags in terms of major thrill rides, yes, family coasters, but nothing more. If this Salim guy knows anything, always trust the ones you know, not the ones you want to discover. Intamin have had a brilliant track record with Six Flags, Kingda Ka for example, yes it may go down but it is an older model, so of course it will, El Toro, one of the best woodies around, has had some issues related to Six Flags Maintenance not Intamin. So you should get my point and opinion now, I don’t know how further I can drill it into your heads that this without a thought is 99.999% an Intamin coaster.

Those Intamin issues may have happened on rides perceived as "good" by enthusiasts, but park managers don't really care about whether enthusiasts, a vast minority of guests, perceive a ride as "good". From the standpoint of a park manager, the Vekoma would likely go down just as well with guests, and Vekoma aren't a manufacturer with a somewhat chequered prior record when it comes to reliability. You may brush off the fact that I305 goes down a lot and that the first turn is too intense for guests, but to a park manager, those are probably very important red flags. Any park will want its rides to be reliable and popular with the majority of guests, and Intamin have previously had a somewhat chequered record on both of those fronts. As an example, I305 and Skyrush are often truly revered by enthusiasts, but from what I can tell, both rides are not very popular with the public due to their intensity and have caused their parks no end of problems. Hersheypark even built a second hyper coaster from B&M less than 10 years after Skyrush's opening, supposedly due to Skyrush's apparent failure to resonate with the public. I don't deny that Intamin have evidently improved within the last 5-10 years, but in terms of the things parks care about, like reliability and guest popularity, Intamin has had a somewhat more chequered record than Vekoma, and I can absolutely see why that would put parks off them. Vekoma also has a phenomenal proven track record of built rides even prior to their grand relaunch; they have been Disney's go-to manufacturer for new coasters for years now, and even some of their less loved models by enthusiasts like SLCs and standard Boomerangs have sold like hotcakes. Surely that proves that Vekoma are doing something right in the parks' eyes, no?

As for 436; how have you worked out that this one number is special, out of interest? I could be missing something, but the numbers look pretty equally weighted to me. And even if 436 is special; how have you deduced that it's related to Intamin? As I say, I could be missing something, but I'm not seeing any obvious link to Intamin in that number, personally.

The Ultra Surf rumours for SFOG could absolutely signal the start of a new relationship between Intamin and Six Flags if true, but by the same token, I'd argue that Rookie Racer at SFStL could signal the start of a budding relationship between Vekoma and Six Flags. Yes, Rookie Racer is a family coaster, but if Six Flags has had a positive experience designing and building Rookie Racer with Vekoma, why wouldn't they potentially see that as a reason to entrust them with a larger project?

For the avoidance of any doubt, I'm not saying that this isn't Intamin or that this is a Vekoma Super Boomerang. However, I personally see no evidence that Intamin is any more likely for this project than any other manufacturer. With the Super Boomerang theory, the park's teased numbers do line up somewhat with the stats of the Super Boomerang (even if I'll admit that it would be somewhat strange for an American park to tease statistics in metric given that America prolifically uses imperial measurements), but I don't currently see any equally compelling evidence that points in favour of Intamin specifically.

Each to their own, of course, and if I'm wrong, I'll be the first to stand up and admit that, but I don't personally see enough evidence in favour of Intamin to make me want to bet on the ride being an Intamin as conclusively as you seemingly are.

 

[TPoseOnTantrum]

I don’t know how further I can drill it into your heads that this without a thought is 99.999% an Intamin coaster.

Are you willing to bet on that?

I don't know where the Intamin rumor came from, but many people talking about it doesn't mean it has an ounce of truth to it.

I might have to take some of the blame on that one, as I’ve suggested in a bunch of threads that Intamin and Six Flags are working together again (and indeed I may or may not have personally viewed some of these developments in motion). What I didn’t say was that Great Adventure would be working with Intamin for 2024, just that they were “a likely culprit should this hold true” at the beginning of this thread. I even suggested that this would be located in a completely different area of the park, so in the end I’m not claiming to have knowledge on Great Adventure’s addition specifically.

We’re also having to account for a few macro factors in the background. Six Flags, and the US market as a whole, seems to be moving on from the idea that a select group of domestic manufacturers (offices or manufacturing capabilities) can run the North American theme park scene. We’re seeing companies like Vekoma suddenly explode back into the States, and Six Flags in particular has begun making some wild swings for new investments. Six Flags corporate suddenly being willing to invest huge amounts of development time and money into major attractions has also given us the freedom to think… optimistically. I can guarantee you that new Intamin products will be showing up within the chain relatively soon, but perhaps SFGADV 2024 is not the case.

Honestly, the park seems to be planning enough **** next year that a moderately sized Vekoma is more feasible than some larger-than-life Intamin monstrosity. Vekoma has become like Gerstlauer in the sense that their mammoth production capacity and catalogue allows for them to develop and deliver attractions pretty quickly if needed. They did just recently have a rep say at Dollywood’s Coaster Con 45 that they had no less than 10 projects underway the US at this time, only half of which were known of until recently (Kings Island took me completely off guard with Soap Box Racers). I don’t know Great Adventure well enough to tell if this will fit at their park, but I welcome it (just call it the Chiller revival maybe, haha).

 

[MLDesigns]

Next, you mention 436. I don’t know how thick in the head you are but you obviously are missing a trick here. I’m telling you, this is 99% Intamin, I will bet my bottom dollar on it. So don’t even think about coming back to me with your so called logic, but that 436 means something more deep than any other number on there, something in fact I am doing extensive research on, so I will certainly get back to you on that.

No, I think you're trying to interject a "trick" here. What's more likely: A) you have to scramble [with some "extensive research"] and force connections to make "436" work with your predetermined expectation that this is an Intamin project... or B) The Super Boomerang has 436 meters of track, has 4 inversions, has 24 riders per train, is ~50 meters tall; The numbers just make sense.

Don't even know why I'm giving the energy to respond to this tbh.

 

[Magic-Man]

I'd rather have this over an Intamin tbh, just because it's going to be really unique in the States. We haven't seen a next gen Vekoma thrill coaster over here yet. This could open up a lot of interesting possibilities in the future!

 

[Intamin Forever]

Say for example again

Those Intamin issues may have happened on rides perceived as "good" by enthusiasts, but park managers don't really care about whether enthusiasts, a vast minority of guests, perceive a ride as "good". From the standpoint of a park manager, the Vekoma would likely go down just as well with guests, and Vekoma aren't a manufacturer with a somewhat chequered prior record when it comes to reliability. You may brush off the fact that I305 goes down a lot and that the first turn is too intense for guests, but to a park manager, those are probably very important red flags. Any park will want its rides to be reliable and popular with the majority of guests, and Intamin have previously had a somewhat chequered record on both of those fronts. As an example, I305 and Skyrush are often truly revered by enthusiasts, but from what I can tell, both rides are not very popular with the public due to their intensity and have caused their parks no end of problems. Hersheypark even built a second hyper coaster from B&M less than 10 years after Skyrush's opening, supposedly due to Skyrush's apparent failure to resonate with the public. I don't deny that Intamin have evidently improved within the last 5-10 years, but in terms of the things parks care about, like reliability and guest popularity, Intamin has had a somewhat more chequered record than Vekoma, and I can absolutely see why that would put parks off them. Vekoma also has a phenomenal proven track record of built rides even prior to their grand relaunch; they have been Disney's go-to manufacturer for new coasters for years now, and even some of their less loved models by enthusiasts like SLCs and standard Boomerangs have sold like hotcakes. Surely that proves that Vekoma are doing something right in the parks' eyes, no?

As for 436; how have you worked out that this one number is special, out of interest? I could be missing something, but the numbers look pretty equally weighted to me. And even if 436 is special; how have you deduced that it's related to Intamin? As I say, I could be missing something, but I'm not seeing any obvious link to Intamin in that number, personally.

The Ultra Surf rumours for SFOG could absolutely signal the start of a new relationship between Intamin and Six Flags if true, but by the same token, I'd argue that Rookie Racer at SFStL could signal the start of a budding relationship between Vekoma and Six Flags. Yes, Rookie Racer is a family coaster, but if Six Flags has had a positive experience designing and building Rookie Racer with Vekoma, why wouldn't they potentially see that as a reason to entrust them with a larger project?

For the avoidance of any doubt, I'm not saying that this isn't Intamin or that this is a Vekoma Super Boomerang. However, I personally see no evidence that Intamin is any more likely for this project than any other manufacturer. With the Super Boomerang theory, the park's teased numbers do line up somewhat with the stats of the Super Boomerang (even if I'll admit that it would be somewhat strange for an American park to tease statistics in metric given that America prolifically uses imperial measurements), but I don't currently see any equally compelling evidence that points in favour of Intamin specifically.

Each to their own, of course, and if I'm wrong, I'll be the first to stand up and admit that, but I don't personally see enough evidence in favour of Intamin to make me want to bet on the ride being an Intamin as conclusively as you seemingly are.

Are you willing to bet on that?

I might have to take some of the blame on that one, as I’ve suggested in a bunch of threads that Intamin and Six Flags are working together again (and indeed I may or may not have personally viewed some of these developments in motion). What I didn’t say was that Great Adventure would be working with Intamin for 2024, just that they were “a likely culprit should this hold true” at the beginning of this thread. I even suggested that this would be located in a completely different area of the park, so in the end I’m not claiming to have knowledge on Great Adventure’s addition specifically.

We’re also having to account for a few macro factors in the background. Six Flags, and the US market as a whole, seems to be moving on from the idea that a select group of domestic manufacturers (offices or manufacturing capabilities) can run the North American theme park scene. We’re seeing companies like Vekoma suddenly explode back into the States, and Six Flags in particular has begun making some wild swings for new investments. Six Flags corporate suddenly being willing to invest huge amounts of development time and money into major attractions has also given us the freedom to think… optimistically. I can guarantee you that new Intamin products will be showing up within the chain relatively soon, but perhaps SFGADV 2024 is not the case.

Honestly, the park seems to be planning enough **** next year that a moderately sized Vekoma is more feasible than some larger-than-life Intamin monstrosity. Vekoma has become like Gerstlauer in the sense that their mammoth production capacity and catalogue allows for them to develop and deliver attractions pretty quickly if needed. They did just recently have a rep say at Dollywood’s Coaster Con 45 that they had no less than 10 projects underway the US at this time, only half of which were known of until recently (Kings Island took me completely off guard with Soap Box Racers). I don’t know Great Adventure well enough to tell if this will fit at their park, but I welcome it (just call it the Chiller revival maybe, haha).

No, I think you're trying to interject a "trick" here. What's more likely: A) you have to scramble [with some "extensive research"] and force connections to make "436" work with your predetermined expectation that this is an Intamin project... or B) The Super Boomerang has 436 meters of track, has 4 inversions, has 24 riders per train, is ~50 meters tall; The numbers just make sense.

Don't even know why I'm giving the energy to respond to this tbh.

I'd rather have this over an Intamin tbh, just because it's going to be really unique in the States. We haven't seen a next gen Vekoma thrill coaster over here yet. This could open up a lot of interesting possibilities in the future!

Right, I am just going to give up this argument. I fully believe that this is an Intamin and thats my opinion.

I understand that the numbers line up for a Vekoma Super Boomerang, however we need to take into account the markings around the entrance area, the likelihood of a Super Boomerang fitting in this area across the entrance and wether or not this is a $20-30 million investment. I’m sure the park has said that this is the biggest investment in a roller coaster since El Toro, don’t quote me on that, but I’ve heard it flung around a lot. Lets say that the Boomerang is around $12 million, then add on the money for the Log Flume renovation and other park enhancements, it doesn’t get to the hefty heights of that price range, even if the Flume renovation is extensive.

We also need to take into account the past few rumours about possible Giga Coasters and other odd suggestions. We know that the Giga was ordered and contracted when the old CEO was in place, Salim must have scrapped plans in favour for, at the time, cheaper plans. Now as it happens, he decides he wants to invest more heavily in the parks again, so then he scrambles to find a perfect fit for Great Adventure’s 50th. Obviously Six Flags has a large pool of manufacturers to go to for these projects:

RMC
Zamperla
S&S
B&M
Intamin
Vekoma
GCI

We need to take into account that they haven’t worked with some of these manufacturers for many years, such as: Intamin & GCI, however when we look at the whole chain’s coaster line up, we see that B&M, S&S, RMC & Zamperla have the highest number of rides across the chain. B&M are proven to Six Flags, no question about that, the many Batman clones, Floorless coasters and even a Dive Coaster at Fiesta Texas. S&S, multiple 4D Free Spin clones and also Maxx Force at Great America. RMC have done may projects with Six Flags, the first ever RMC conversion, the people to boost RMC as a business, giving them more projects, Raptor Coasters were added as well. Zamperla, well I suppose we all know why, kids coasters … everywhere.

Why do I bring these up I hear you ask, well these are manufacturers that are proven and are the safe option, they can very easily just get that Giga back out of the bin and reuse it for all I care, good fit. But my point is that would Six Flags really want to play it safe for the 50th, Im sure they would want the biggest and best they can get as quickly as possible. I suppose it does only leave Vekoma and Intamin out them really, both of which aren’t proven by modern standards by Six Flags yet, however here in Europe and Asia, they have both got brilliant, proven track records as modern manufacturers. As we know both manufacturers offer some absolutely brilliant models of rides, its just a case of seeing them now, what happened to the Vertical LSM coaster at Intamin? What happened to the Ghostrider model at Vekoma? Who knows, time will tell I think.

So I will just agree, not because I am wrong, I just believe that this is an Intamin Project and it would be a better fit as a 50th birthday treat. I understand if your on Vekoma hype train right now, fair enough, you see numbers that line up, fair, I just wouldn't read into it just yet as I think more teasers like this are on there way.

 

[Matt N]

Right, I am just going to give up this argument. I fully believe that this is an Intamin and thats my opinion.

I understand that the numbers line up for a Vekoma Super Boomerang, however we need to take into account the markings around the entrance area, the likelihood of a Super Boomerang fitting in this area across the entrance and wether or not this is a $20-30 million investment. I’m sure the park has said that this is the biggest investment in a roller coaster since El Toro, don’t quote me on that, but I’ve heard it flung around a lot. Lets say that the Boomerang is around $12 million, then add on the money for the Log Flume renovation and other park enhancements, it doesn’t get to the hefty heights of that price range, even if the Flume renovation is extensive.

We also need to take into account the past few rumours about possible Giga Coasters and other odd suggestions. We know that the Giga was ordered and contracted when the old CEO was in place, Salim must have scrapped plans in favour for, at the time, cheaper plans. Now as it happens, he decides he wants to invest more heavily in the parks again, so then he scrambles to find a perfect fit for Great Adventure’s 50th. Obviously Six Flags has a large pool of manufacturers to go to for these projects:

RMC
Zamperla
S&S
B&M
Intamin
Vekoma
GCI

We need to take into account that they haven’t worked with some of these manufacturers for many years, such as: Intamin & GCI, however when we look at the whole chain’s coaster line up, we see that B&M, S&S, RMC & Zamperla have the highest number of rides across the chain. B&M are proven to Six Flags, no question about that, the many Batman clones, Floorless coasters and even a Dive Coaster at Fiesta Texas. S&S, multiple 4D Free Spin clones and also Maxx Force at Great America. RMC have done may projects with Six Flags, the first ever RMC conversion, the people to boost RMC as a business, giving them more projects, Raptor Coasters were added as well. Zamperla, well I suppose we all know why, kids coasters … everywhere.

Why do I bring these up I hear you ask, well these are manufacturers that are proven and are the safe option, they can very easily just get that Giga back out of the bin and reuse it for all I care, good fit. But my point is that would Six Flags really want to play it safe for the 50th, Im sure they would want the biggest and best they can get as quickly as possible. I suppose it does only leave Vekoma and Intamin out them really, both of which aren’t proven by modern standards by Six Flags yet, however here in Europe and Asia, they have both got brilliant, proven track records as modern manufacturers. As we know both manufacturers offer some absolutely brilliant models of rides, its just a case of seeing them now, what happened to the Vertical LSM coaster at Intamin? What happened to the Ghostrider model at Vekoma? Who knows, time will tell I think.

So I will just agree, not because I am wrong, I just believe that this is an Intamin Project and it would be a better fit as a 50th birthday treat. I understand if your on Vekoma hype train right now, fair enough, you see numbers that line up, fair, I just wouldn't read into it just yet as I think more teasers like this are on there way.

A fair argument. Nothing is confirmed at this stage, and it could very well be Intamin! There’s not too much real evidence pointing towards anybody at this stage aside from the numbers in the teaser possibly lining up with the Vekoma Super Boomerang.

 

[Projektion]

Lest we forget:

So, night night Zamperla, you're not in the picture anymore!

Now we get to the good stuff. Only the best enthusiasts will understand that if anyone was to touch Dragster, only Intamin could do it.

 

[Lori Marie Loud]

Lest we forget:

Never forget when he made a TR for a trip that never happened just to hate on Iron Gwazi. Then Pokemaniac destroyed its credibility in one post.

 

[Magic-Man]

ANYWAYS.....

So this is 100% going to have a Chiller theme, right?

 

[TPoseOnTantrum]

ANYWAYS.....

So this is 100% going to have a Chiller theme, right?

If it has a Chiller theme, the enthusiasts will come to ride it.

If it has a Chiller theme, the locals will come to ride it.

If it has a Chiller theme, everyone and their dog’s kids will turn out to ride it.

No clue what theme the park is considering for this and Chiller was a complete hardware dumpster fire, but if they have the balls to revive that particular ride in any shape or form then it’s going to be another Zambezi Zinger scenario. Keep in mind that the theme was chosen to market an extremely poorly received film in 1997, and I wouldn’t know why they’d build a third Batman themed coaster but eh.

 

[CanobieFan]

I wouldn’t know why they’d build a third Batman themed coaster but eh.

More Batman's, More FUN!

 

[MagicMountainFan]

We are all assuming it's a super boomerang or an intamin but we may have been catfished and it may end up being from a completely different manufacturer.

 

[Indy]

We are all assuming it's a super boomerang or an intamin but we may have been catfished and it may end up being from a completely different manufacturer.

Zamperla has procured the spire from Drachen Spire and will be adding it to Kingda Ka in a double coup.

Swingda Swa. 2024. Don’t forget who told you first.

 

[Christian]

Zamperla has procured the spire from Drachen Spire and will be adding it to Kingda Ka in a double coup.

Swingda Swa. 2024. Don’t forget who told you first.

That's camp

 

[TPoseOnTantrum]

Some rumblings going around that red Vekoma track has ben spotted in New Jersey. No clue how true this is, it wouldn't be for Circuit Breaker since everything COTA-related has been shipped through Houston. Guess we'll find out soon enough.

 

[Fiender]

Some rumblings going around that red Vekoma track has ben spotted in New Jersey. No clue how true this is, it wouldn't be for Circuit Breaker since everything COTA-related has been shipped through Houston. Guess we'll find out soon enough.

Flash theme confirmed?