tillenterprises wrote:WRONG WRONG AND WRONG! Whizzer must stay! It's the only ride of it's kind left, and one of the best family coasters around (even my 3 year old little girl love's it), and it is still thrilling, especially the banked turn near the ground. Try riding it in the dark at night sometime! Plus- it's a great coaster on dates! Same goes for Yankee and Loggers! I find it amazing that people posting on a web site dedicated to MARRIOTT'S Great America would be so willing to axe 3 classic original Marriott rides! Why don't you go back to SFGAMworld.com and talk about how "great" King Chaos is, and leave us alone to talk Tidal Wave and Edge stuff!
How about you let me be entitled to my opinion and let me say what I think. I don't want this to escalade, but I HATE it when people get so - off over one person's opinion. I wasn't hating on anyone, I was just saying I think Whizzer whould be removed. If you don't like what I say, don't respond to it and make it seem like I'm the bad guy.
Sheesh... relax! It was obvious by the smiley at the end of my "rant" that I was just ribbing you. BTW, Nobody's stopping you from giving your opinion- you gave it- and I responded that I disagreed with you. So what. However, I do find your response to me ironic that you argue about having a right to your opinion (and posting it in a public forum where people can respond), but I don't have a right to my opinion when I respond- I just should shut up if I don't agree. Nobody's "hating" on you (whatever that means) if they don't agree with you. You're too sensitive.
Lets all just relax. Six Flags is trying to be a more family friendly place, so would it make sense to remove Whizzer. Besides it still has a nice sized line. By the name of the ride it is probably going to be placed where the flumes are, It's the only place where the theming makes sense. My opinion is they should figure out a different name and put it where Space Shuttle America is... That ride died years ago.
I'm 45, and back in my late 30’s I noticed that large coasters with their bigger drops and resulting bigger G-forces caused me back pain. As a result, I can only ride smaller coasters.
My reason for defending the Whizzer is not just the nostalgia of my first thrilling rides on it in 1976; it's the fact that I and many others my age want some fun and thrills without getting banged up and spending a summer at the chiropractor's office. Also, people into extreme thrills need to remember that every day new potential coaster lovers are born, and they won't start their coaster-riding on Raging Bull or Deja Vu.
These smaller riders start on kiddie coasters (like Gulf Coaster was) and move up to the Vekoma Roller Skaters, then to Blue Streak (Cedar Point) and Judge (Six Flags over Texas) type rides. Eventually they tackle bigger coasters like American Eagle, Millennium Force (CP), etc.
To me it makes sense to keep the Whizzer as a good step-up ride from the smaller coasters as well as a moderate thriller that doesn’t leave me in pain afterwards. Families are more likely to go to Great America or any other park if there’s truly a ride – not just a show – for everyone in the family. Do you think that a large portion of families with parents in their 40’s or 50’s and kids in their teens (or younger parents with tiny tots) ride Vertical Velocity together?
And if you say you see that type of thing happening, I say that for every family like that, there’s one where the parents sat on a bench waiting for their thrill-seeking kids to disembark, and several more that just plain stayed home because the parents didn’t want to spend $300 for tickets, parking, etc. when they’d be bored while their kids rode everything.
I think Six Flags, Cedar Fair, and all the other park owners and operators are smart if they have thrill rides that appear to toddlers, pre-teens, teens, young adults, and the middle-aged.
And the Whizzer is not just any moderate thriller. It’s one of a kind. I’m saddened that so many kids in Santa Clara won’t have the chance to ride anything like it. I’m also sorry that Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, MO removed the Zambezi Zinger, which was of the same type as Whizzer. I had the pleasure of riding it a couple times on a 1978 high school band trip, and I loved it. While it was of the Speedracer family, it differed from the Whizzer in that instead of having its best thrills just after the spiral and then slowing down, it started mild and finished with a bang, dumping riders into a surprise tunnel with a sharp turn in it. I’ve always lamented that it’s gone.
I agree that Gurnee needs to be creative in its use of space, but aren’t there other ways to do it? I could see a blue-tracked coaster intertwining with Logger’s Run and Clipper, or Barney Oldfield being replaced with a Disneyland-type elevated car ride weaving around a larger water ride. And while I haven’t been on the rapids ride in a long time, I remember it being less thrilling than similar rides at Six Flags over Texas, Magic Mountain, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. That would be a good candidate for removal or souping up.
In any event, I think the Whizzer is a coaster classic, and if it disappeared, I’d sorely miss it. And if you're young and eager for old fogies' boring rides to be removed, just wait till you're my age and they get rid of your favorite ride! Suddenly you'll understand.
Boring rides are fine, remember appealing to families is extremely important to SF. Roller coasters dont help much with that draw. Clipper and loggers seem to be picked on a lot, these are family rides! Let me ask you is anybody glad that the clipper or whizzer was removed in SC. No, didnt think so. Whizzer in Gurnee is the last of its kind in the entire USA, so it is silly to think of this ride being a candidate for removal. I agree with above regarding Iron Wolf and the cartoon network. I can also part with splashwater and maybe even the speedway. Superman is also a disapointment, so I will also add this area as a canditate to be replaced. My favorite coasters are bull, viper, and batman. I love coasters but let us not forget about the family rides. Next time I visit SFGA my concern is what rides my son can go on, not what ride would be exciting for myself.
As for Yankee Clipper and Logger's Run - I noticed brand new paint jobs on both Clipper and Logger's Run this year- plus they changed the name back from that goofy sponsorship with Ice Mountain to Yankee Clipper, and put in a beautiful new nautical-themed sign for the side. I doubt they would go through that trouble if they were planning on removing them. I love both flumes, but especially Yankee Clipper- it's the first "big" ride I ever went on at GA, and it's still thrilling- especially going around the turns at the top in the air- it still feels like you could go over the edge at any moment! The drop is still great, too!
I hope you can be rest assured that they would NOT be removing the flume rides, for one they are great in the heat and for two, it's a nice introduction to a coaster like ride for younger kids.
Its nice to hear that they did a repaint job on the flumes, when I was there last (about 3 years ago) the paint appeared to be fading...
well, I guess you've all heard by now that DejaVu is history, and several other rides and attractions are no longer listed on the Six Flags GA website, including Space Shuttle, Splashwater Falls (so with the removal of Vu and SWF, could GA be getting a huge new coaster for '08, then?), Theater Royale, and Triple Play.
^ Triple Play is going nowhere. The reason it is not on the website is because, in true Six Flags fashion, they forgot to put it back on the site after it reopened this year.
DejaVu'S removal is years overdue. The park just forgot to tell the people hauling off shock wave that they were suppose to take DejaVu as well. I do not even care if DejaVu is replaced with anything, grass will do just fine. DejaVu just needs to be removed. To bad they didnt keep Skywhirl in the employee parking lot, so they could reinstall it.
PS nice post Westburbs14, I hate is when some people dont understand why the Whizzer is so important.
According to a post at SFGAm World, not only is Deja Vu being removed, but Space Shuttle America and Splashwater Falls may not be returning either next season.
Remember back when I said "the top priorities for the park should be the SWF/SSA area" ?
A reader contacted to park to check on the status of the missing attractions on the website (Castaway Creek was also found to be missing). Guest Services informed them that Triple Play and Castaway Creek would be back in 2008, but confirmed that Splashwater Falls, Déjà Vu and Space Shuttle America would not be returning.
Yay they listened, I feel like Ron Wolf.
But in all seriosness this is a great move for the park: adding an indoor coaster which they really needed and revamping some more dead areas of the park. The park really has exploded over the past few years:
2004: South half of Orleans Place revamped into Mardi Gras
2005: Hurricane Harbor replaces chunk of parking lot
2006: Tornado added to HH
2007: Wiggles World replaces queue house
2008 / 2009: Indoor Batman movie themed coaster / revamp of County Fair & Carousel Plaza
Same goes for Yankee and Loggers! I find it amazing that people posting on a web site dedicated to MARRIOTT'S Great America would be so willing to axe 3 classic original Marriott rides! Why don't you go back to SFGAMworld.com and talk about how "great" King Chaos is, and leave us alone to talk Tidal Wave and Edge stuff!
Nobody's "hating" on you (whatever that means) if they don't agree with you. You're too sensitive.
