Sounds of Great America

[GreatAmerica4ever]

Another great topic to chat about...what are some of the sounds that you remember at Marriott's Great America?

* I still can hear the Wizzard slowly clicking up the track. It's definitely a favorite Hometown Square sound at Six Flags!

* The electric sounds of the dodge cars on the Rue Le Dodge

* The whirling sounds and the fans of the Sky Whirl

* The click sound as the operators release the safety bars on the roller coasters such as the Tidal Wave and American Eagle.

...and who can ever forget the recordings after you complete your ride "Enjoy the rest of your day at Marriott's Great America!"

What sounds do you remember?

[dpxtreme]

Again, since I was not alive during the Marriot Era, here are some sounds and smells I recognize.

-The sound of the trees when Top Gun flies by.

-The sound that Berserker makes when it "speeds" around it's circular track. (It makes a cool sound)

-The click sound Drop Zone makes when it realeases the cabins from the top.

-The really loud "bell" sound that the Orbit makes, and the smell. For some reason the Orbit has a really distinctive smell.

[Glorfindel7]

Easy Question

The sounds that the Tidal Wave made when operating... clank, whoosh, roll, whoosh, clink, clink,clink, clank, whoosh, clank, clank... (then some sound made when the lap bars came up...)

[that_guy]

Lets see... today their simply is

The sound Delta Flyer and Eagle's Flight cabins makes when they engages and disengages on the wire

Loggers Run boats: click-click-click clack-clack-clack click-... as it goes up the lifts

Barney Oldfield Motors

The Demon lift chain

I don't remember much else... except maybe for change falling from the Endeavor with the familiar "Oh My God!" yells...

[BrianPlencner]

Easy Question

The sounds that the Tidal Wave made when operating... clank, whoosh, roll, whoosh, clink, clink,clink, clank, whoosh, clank, clank... (then some sound made when the lap bars came up...)

I agree. Not only was the ride wonderful to watch, it was also cool to hear. I remember working there, and sitting at the break area that was just behind the back wave and listening to it cycle over and over. I really did like that sound at the end...it was more of a "thunk" sound..I think it was the brakes in the station...they would close with that "thunk" sound after the train went backwards through the station...then as it came back down from the back wave, you would hear it a few more times as the train was stopped in the station. Then, that sound at the end....I can't even put it into words...that was the sound I liked the best!


Other sounds that come to mind from the Marriott's days that I remember

* The train whistle on the Great American Scienic Railway as it traveled around the park

* The MGA Marching Band out and about in the park

* The sounds from the Games Gallery in County Fair, when guess won the games of skill (The bells, sirens, etc). Not to mention the sounds of the games themselves; breaking of the plates, popping of the balloons, the quarters bouncing off the crystal plates, and my favoriate, the sounds of the rings hitting the glass pop bottles.

--Brian

[Tech Services 1]

[quote="GreatAmerica4ever"]Another great topic to chat about...what are some of the sounds that you remember at Marriott's Great America?
quote]

Strange you should bring up this topic-
Just yesterday I ran across some old cassette tapes from the early '80s. Back then my best friend, his brother and their wives all moved to Miami. Just for fun, and to keep in touch, we would record tapes and send them back and forth in the mail. I had a nice walkman-style recorder, and a few times I took it with me to the Park and described what was going on as I went about my day.
I remember walking backstage by some of the rides (Sky Whirl, Tidal Wave, Haybaler), going through the line at the employee cafe, etc., with the recorder in my shirt pocket getting all of those sounds on tape.
Sadly, most of the tapes were recorded over by my friends when they sent them back.
I did find one part of a tape where I walked into the Tech Services shop and talked to a couple of the guys while a Music Hall show soundtrack was playing in the background; they were testing a reel-to-reel deck. What a time warp that was!

Boy what I would give to have those original sounds on tape again . . .

PPG

[RandyV]

Great topic!

- The "clank" of the brakes on the Tidal Wave
- The "clank" of the anti-rollbacks on the Demon lift hill
- The "pssst pssst pssst" of the station brakes on the Demon
- The "clank", "scream" and "whoosh" of cars dropping on The Edge
- The "whiz" of the Whizzer cars
- The music from Columbia as you entered the park and decided whether to hit Hometown Square or Orleans Place first...
- The really, really, really, really, really loud music from the jukebox at the Skee Daddle arcade next to Pizza Luigi

[BillK]

The most memorable sounds of Tidal Wave were the "flutter" sound made when the train was in station, and the high pitched whistle that meant the train was about to be launched…

I love Batman: The Ride but still miss Tidal Wave terribly…

[brdwyguy]

as an employee of the park- working in the Grand Music Hall. Our stage door was almost exactly in the middle of the park AND the noise. I say noise because we could hear: The Turn of the Century coaster to the east of us, the Tidal Wave, literally a few yards from the door on the west of us, the constant whirring of the Triple Ferris Wheel to the south of the door. Also the loudest ride in the park - in Yukon Territory, cant remember the name, but rather tame , but owuld go aorund on an incline at high speeds.
All joined together along with chinc chinging of the background music, add 8 hours of it and it becomes a deafening sound. sorry guys.
I can still hear that sound to this day. and we are talking 30years ago.

Not sure if I would classify it as a fond memory, but it does bring a smile to my face remembering the wonderful time working in the Grand Music Hall.

Saw also a message on the favorite food in the park, while we are mentioning it, try eating the hamburgers (which was served in the employee cafeteria) EVERY day for 4 years. Kinda ruins my joy of hamburgers. However, noone mentioned the Hot Apple Dumplings that were pretty good.


Brdwyguy

[jonrev]

I still remember the wooshing noises that Power Dive made.

[NotBill]

Also the loudest ride in the park - in Yukon Territory, cant remember the name, but rather tame , but owuld go aorund on an incline at high speeds.

That would be the Yukon Yahoo!! Later became the Delta Flyer for a short time, I was lucky enough to run it the last year before they replaced it with Condor.

--Guy

[Mr. D.T.]

Another great topic to chat about...what are some of the sounds that you remember at Marriott's Great America?

* I still can hear the Wizzard slowly clicking up the track. It's definitely a favorite Hometown Square sound at Six Flags!

* The electric sounds of the dodge cars on the Rue Le Dodge

* The whirling sounds and the fans of the Sky Whirl

* The click sound as the operators release the safety bars on the roller coasters such as the American Eagle.

What sounds do you remember?

* All of the above.

* The electric lift and 'thunder' of the Batman ride.

* The sounds of the sweepers at the end of the day.

* The Go-Karts.

* The bells ringing on the 'firetrucks' in Hometown Park.

* The siren blaring out of the Demon tunnel.

* The whistle, diesel engine, and bells on the Train.

* The teenagers begging the park guests to play the carny games.

* The sound of the strength machine near the Funnel Cake Foundry. "Come on, give me a whack!"

* The Games Gallery in County Fair. An example is a siren blaring from one of the games.

* The clicking sound of the American Eagle ascending the lift hill and 'detaching' the chain as the train veers down the first drop.

* The announcements coming from the park speakers.

* The bland recordings outside the Mardi Gras studio.

* The parade rehearsal in the backstage alley.

* The Carousel Plaza music heard in the distance.

* And of course, the classic park soundtracks.

I've given away enough information. I'll have more later.

[xxlatinogueroxx]

I wasnt alive for the MGA days But i remember when I was little hearing the clicking of the Shockwave. That was the first ride I heard when I entered the park and just pumped me up. I would hear the roaring of the coaster and peoples screams.

Then standing in line to purchase tickets listening to the great america music.

This was in the early 90's.

[PGA ROCKS]

I wasnt alive for the MGA days But i remember when I was little hearing the clicking of the Shockwave. That was the first ride I heard when I entered the park and just pumped me up. I would hear the roaring of the coaster and peoples screams.

I wasn't alive during MGA either, but your memories of the sounds of Shockwave make me think specifically of Top Gun at the Santa Clara park. Hearing it go up the lift, then the screams of the guests. My parents took me to the park a lot in the mid 90's, and here's some of the sounds I remember:

-The loud whirring sound Sky Whirl made.
-The sound that Berzerker (Yukon Yahoo) had when it circled the building.
-The clanking of Logger's Run going up the lift hill.
-The frightened sound of riders plummeting on Drop Zone.
-The deafening horn that sounds before Orbit begins to spin.
-Top Gun and Vortex roaring through their tracks.
-The Demon's lift hill. For some reason it's super loud.

Oh, I could go on for hours about my Great America memories.

[saturn93]

- Walking in to the park with the Carousel music
- Sky Whirl whirling
- Screaming from the roller coasters
- Splashing of the boats after going down
- The Bugs Bunny music that is still being played on Sky Trek Tower (at least since 2003, when I was there last)
- Classic soundtracks and announcements

Also, anyone remember years ago, American Eagle had a real loud horn beeping at the start, and then whoever was in charge would say "There you go, enjoy your ride"? This was up to about 1990, give or take a couple of years.