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Six Flags America & Hurricane Harbour has permanently closed

TPoseOnTantrum said:
The last brand new coaster was Batwing in 2001
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That is absolutely mad for such a large park to have had only a couple of small hand-me-downs for the last 24 years, no wonder it's (presumably) not getting the attendance it needs.
I'm pretty gutted about this as it's been unreasonably high on my to-do list for years because of Batwing (loved Nighthawk, really wanted to try the modified version) and Wild One (historic value). In fact on paper it has a really solid line-up, one of the best of the mid-tier SF/CF parks, yet everyone who goes says it's a bad park, I guess I'd have to go there to understand why. Wish they had given us an extra season so I would have half a chance of getting a trip planned 😞.
 
I only need to reflect on my trip report (https://coasterforce.com/forums/threads/six-flags-america-in-an-hour-and-a-half.41004/) for why the SFA closure announcement does not move me, but it's always a bummer to lose any major park, even a lower Tier 3 type.

While the coaster lineup is lackluster, there are some I'd love to see another day:
  • Joker's Jinx - A nice Premier Spaghetti Bowl would go a long way in other, lesser Six Flags parks.
  • Ragin' Cajun - it's already a relocation, and a travle coaster at that.
  • Firebird - it's the OG B&M, and would be sad to see meet the scrapheap.
  • Wild One - Already a relocation, and one of the world's oldest remaining wooden coasters; would be a loss of history also to be put out to pasture.
While I'd love to defend Superman or Batwing - they are either too large or genre already on decline to say there's merit.
 
By the way, Superman is running both new trains now. No more U-bricks.
Still, sitting in the back will cause your knees to hit a plastic cover occasionally if you’re tall.
Batwing area is “temporarily” closed.
 

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I was there on sunday and batwing still had construction equipment left directly on the track, with some light cranes parked nearby. nothing that seemed too extreme but there clearly was no rush to get it going. I wouldn't bet on it running on any given day in the near future!

the park is in a funny state, almost poetic in a way. It was a warm, June sunday and everything was walk-on, including being able to cycle superman endlessly. The odd thing was that I would estimate at _least_ 5-10% of the guests in the park were also enthusiasts, based on t-shirts and uh general aesthetic proclivities. it was funny hanging around the superman station and hearing snippets of conversation from every direction that was clearly thoosie speak. I've never been in that kind of situation before, and I found it bittersweet.
 
Visited the park today and said my goodbyes. Again, I've been coming here basically every year for the last 25 years and while the park is average and nothing's truly a standout it'll still personally be strange to me not going back. My best friend moved to Bowie like 10 years ago and lives like 5 minutes from the front entrance, I always stop over while driving between Orlando and Boston... so there's definitely some nostalgia at play for me.
It was ungodly hot and the park was empty, per usual....so I managed plenty of rides including nine re-rides on Superman, 5 in a row without walking around (waiting on Batwing) and another 4 before leaving the park. Along with Batwing, Joker, Firebird (ouch),Roar, the trash SLC, and Ragin Cajun
Also did a handful of flats, Voodoo Drop (twice), Harley Quinn, which will probably find a new home.. and a guilty pleasure classic, Pirates Flight which will likely go in the trash ...since half the vehicles have already been removed. I also rode the bumper cars, something I never do 🤷‍♂️
There were several closed rides today though including the Starflyer, but I've ridden it before sooooo.... coaster wise WildOne was down and that was actually a disappointment since it's A: unique, B: currently the oldest operating coaster? and C: relocated from my former home state Massachusetts and from a park that my mom and dad visited on dates waayyy back in the day. 🥺

Some photos from da Twitters
https://twitter.com/x/status/1938004466780733829
https://twitter.com/x/status/1938005050590110050
 
Batwing appears to finally be done for:

batwing-at-six-flags-america-is-permanently-done-v0-rzse9k9tgknf1.jpeg


 
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I was there on August 30th and this was the sign posted. It didn’t look promising as they weren’t even letting people get near the ride blocking the path down to it. I figured it was a matter of time before they came out with something official. Superman was closed as well all day Saturday and what appeared like Sunday as I was checking the app constantly and it continuously said temporarily closed.

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I personally went to the park in 2021 or 2022 (I can't really remember), and I had a great experience at this park. It's so unfortunate that it has to go out like this. I just hope that at least some of the rides, especially the ones in that new "Steamtown" area are sent to other parks.
 
TPoseOnTantrum said:
A friend of mine went to the park today and basically had a look at what could be relocated.

The answer is very little. Nearly every attraction in that park is in rough shape or simply outdated. The teacups had all of its lighting stripped this offseason and the motions were jerky, most of the flats felt like that. Wild One needs an overhaul it'll never get, Firebird's second train is unaccounted for. It's quite likely that a majority of the attractions will simply become spare parts, and the shortlist of rides most likely to be lifted from the ruins by corporate is... quite short.

Ragin' Cajun to be honest is the only major coaster likely to make it out in one piece, but isn't likely to stay in the chain given that most Six Flags parks already have wild mice and it just wouldn't fit at the few that don't.

The Starflyer, Giant Discovery, and NebulaZ are the three most recent and likely attractions to be viewed as assets. The NebulaZ was only built last year and could go anywhere really. The Discovery however will be very very difficult to keep, given the parks that don't have the ride or similar and the space constraints of each. The Starflyer meanwhile can realistically go to three parks; Dorney Park, Frontier City, and Michigan's Adventure. (I would like to see Great Escape try to propose a 240-ft tower ride to the locals though, we'd never hear the end of it 🤣).

A park that needs at least one of the latter two is Six Flags Darien Lake. The issue however is that Team Zimmerman may be reviewing their stewardship of the park, and any new ride has historically been a negotiation with the owners. They wouldn't plop a major new attraction there on the house if there was a chance of jumping ship, the best case scenario would be to convince EPR Properties to buy the ride from Six Flags.

Outside of that, almost everything is most likely to become parts donors. There'll perhaps be other attractions and at bare minimum several coaster trains that find their way out but it's just not well stocked on rides worth salvaging. The last brand new coaster was Batwing in 2001 and almost all of them need a ton of work to even have a chance at new life elsewhere, really not much is going to survive this park's death. Just food for thought.
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Carowinds maybe can get the giant discovery due to not having one and they have the space
 
gengarhaunts87 said:
i'd say cajin, joker, firebird all get relocated. heck just give joker to new jersey. i mean they could just put it where green lantern was, and probably stil have room for that new coaster i'd think. super man trains go to dorney for spare parts, and i honestly doubt any park wants that old slc. or maybe give joker or firebird to Michigan, or take steamin demon out of great escape, and give them firebird or joker?
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Give the new SLC trains to Michigan's Adventure
 
Eclipso127 said:
Give the new SLC trains to Michigan's Adventure
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That seems most likely in my opinion.

I figure where those trains end up could be pretty telling for the future of a few parks. Discovery Kingdom still feels high on the list of potential divestments by Six Flags, but if the trains wind up there, that’d be a strong sign the park isn’t going anywhere. Michigan’s Adventure, on the other hand, is probably safe despite the lack of recent investment. The park sits in the middle of nowhere, the land isn’t especially valuable, and Cedar Fair originally bought it to keep Michigan residents from choosing it over Cedar Point. Selling it would likely mean handing the keys to a competitor—something they’ve historically avoided. So if the trains end up there, it’d fit the low-cost refresh model and reinforce that the park’s staying put.

I don’t think Flight Deck at Canada’s Wonderland has much time left, so I’d be surprised if they ended up there. Hard to picture them going to La Ronde either, and Six Flags Mexico already has a shiny new coaster coming next year, so that seems like a stretch too. For the non-U.S. parks, I do wonder if there’s any added cost or logistical hurdle in moving trains internationally—that might limit where they’re willing to send them.
 
If they were smart the Zamperla Nebulaz and all other steam punk theming should go to SFNE! It would round out the new steam punk area around their new launch coaster. The Nebula could go in the former tomahawk spot. Add some new food ideas, and retheme the other stands, and boom you have a new area to promote not just a ride!
 
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