 Today we were once again honored to be invited up to Six Flags Magic Mountain to get another close-up look at Twisted Colossus. I know we've said this before, but it bears repeating ... WE ARE SO UNBELIEVABLY EXCITED FOR THIS RIDE. We seriously want to pull an Eric Cartman and freeze ourselves until the ride opens. But we also really do like seeing the progress of the ride. =) Pictures and Words by Gregg Condon Click on any of the pictures below to see a larger version.  We've got a LOT of pictures to get to, so let's just cut right to the good stuff today. Our first look at the purple train. It's really awesome.   The detail on the trains is amazing.  Look Ma, Comfortable restraints!!!  For those that like to see how things work.  Moving down into the ride itself  LOTS of track waiting to be placed  Not sure if it's all here, but it looked to be very close to all from what we could tell.  Supports are starting to go up on the final turnarounds.   And for the next elements to be done.  Close up of the two new lift motors, each is 200hp.  The new trains are about 500lb heavier than the Morgan Trains Colossus was using when it closed.   Safety first!  This is all new wood, and obviously new steel.   More stuff ready to be installed.  For those that were worried, they are painting the structure. Although anything that is in direct contact with track will remain unpainted. This is to give it that "steel" look, and also for track inspection.  Oh yeah, there are some new elements up on the ride to show you. =)  Don't cross the streams!!!!   And how do they get to the top gun stall? Like this.   Insane!!    Airtime!  Nerd shot  Moving further down into the structure  Exiting the High Five  Another interesting tidbit, RMC only is responsible for the track and any replacement of wood 10 feet below the track. So anything under that 10 foot mark has to be done by the park, which they are doing now, as you can see.  More twistyness  HIGH FIVE!!   The High Five and first turn-around  More of the Top Gun stall  No caption necessary ...  Watch out for that Train!!     There's not one piece of straight track in this entire picture  Coming down the drop  Moving over to the station  All of the bushes that were here are gone  Not sure what's going here, we suggested a beer garden. =)  New fence around station exit. So don't go in there!! =)  Ride Control panel!!!  New exit bridge Moving over to Scream, it's re-paint is pretty much done.   New fence installed around parts of the ride.  And last but not least, a look at the progress of the Steampunk District.  Really like the way this turned out. And the trees are nice and trimmed down. We also asked what was replacing the Cool Zone, not sure. We did suggest another Beer Garden. =)  Very nice  Sandwich place, won't be "Subway" which is a good thing.  Lots of landscaping and new concrete going down   They were pouring concrete so we couldn't get to the other side. Also really do like the colors on the theater. Wasn't sure about it from the concept art, but that's very nice looking. Alright, that's going to wrap it up for our tour. Thanks again to the park for having us out, we are so glad they are doing these and they did say there would be another one next month. We are also a few weeks away from any kind of opening date announcement, so as soon as we know anything, you will too. Thanks again for all of the support. We all appreciate it.
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Intense, Limited Run BATMAN™ Coaster Experience Coming to Six Flags Great Adventure BATMAN™: The Ride Backwards and El Diablo Headline 2015 Spring/Summer Season JACKSON, NJ — March 24, 2015 — Six Flags Great Adventure, the world’s largest theme park, unveils a second thrilling roller coaster experience for 2015 as it flips one of its most innovative and adrenaline-charged coasters backwards for a limited time. The park also debuts its 13th roller coaster – El Diablo – during its 2015 season, which kicks off April 3. 
BATMAN™: The Ride becomes even more intense as it undergoes a gravity-defying role reversal from July 4th weekend to Labor Day weekend. Guests can dare to take on an all-new experience on the world-famous suspended, looping coaster when its chair lift-style train is flipped 180 degrees on the track. BATMAN™: The Ride Backwards Fast Facts:
“The ride’s intensity is ratcheted way up,” said John Fitzgerald, Six Flags Great Adventure president. “Thrill seekers will not want to miss this limited-time opportunity to put their inner ‘super hero’ to the test.” 41st Season Kicks off April 3 featuring PEEPS® and Safari Babies Six Flags Great Adventure was voted America’s second best theme park by USA TODAY readers in 2014. Its 41st season begins April 3 with Easter Weekend presented by PEEPS®.On Saturday, April 4, Six Flags will host a special Easter Celebration giving guests the chance to search for eggs filled with PEEPS®. The morning event will also include onsite entertainment, games and giveaways. The first 100 guests (toddlers to age 12) to arrive by 9:30 a.m. will receive a PEEPS® Egg Hunt Participant Wristband and up to three spectator wristbands for friends and family members to join in the celebration. All participants and spectators must have valid park admission to receive a wristband. The event will take place at 10 a.m., prior to park opening. Spring is a time for babies, and Safari’s animal experts showcase the adorable, new additions including European brown bear cubs through two popular education programs. Safari Off Road Education offers students K-6 a journey in learning with 1,200 animals from six continents in the 350-acre wildlife preserve. Biology Day targets high school students with a special focus on land and marine biology. These programs, reserved for schools, operate when the theme park is closed. Schools can contact njspecialevents@sixflags.com for more information. El Diablo Scorches 2015 Season 
Guests can feel the wrath of the devil on El Diablo, the park's 13th coaster, beginning this spring. Inspired by Jersey Devil folklore with a Mexican twist, El Diablo features riders sitting in “face-off” (face-to-face) seats rocketing forward and backward pendulum style until the train gains enough momentum to complete a full revolution seven stories in the air. The fiery red coaster then kicks into high gear, completing full revolutions until it stops momentarily with riders suspended upside down, and then reverses direction. "El Diablo is the perfect addition to Plaza del Carnaval, as it appeals to both thrill seekers and families alike. Rides like El Toro and Tango attract a wide audience to this area, which also provides ample opportunities for dining, shopping and relaxation from the excitement of the world’s largest theme park," Fitzgerald added. El Diablo is expected to open this May, and will have a 48 inch height requirement to ride. New Outdoor Grill and Upgraded Cabana Cove at Hurricane Harbor 
Beginning May 23, Guests can enjoy the delicious smell and taste of freshly-grilled food when Six Flags Hurricane Harbor debuts its new, outdoor grill. This open-air kitchen will feature giant turkey legs, hot dogs, hamburgers and Mexican-style steak. The park will also introduce an upgraded Cabana Cove, with new, luxury cabanas surrounded by a lush, tropical landscape. Tickets, operating hours, park information and special events can be found at www.sixflags.com/greatadventure About Warner Bros. Consumer Products Warner Bros. Consumer Products, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, is one of the leading licensing and retail merchandising organizations in the world. About DC Entertainment DC Entertainment, home to iconic brands DC Comics (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash), Vertigo (Sandman, Fables) and MAD, is the creative division charged with strategically integrating its content across Warner Bros. Entertainment and Time Warner. DC Entertainment works in concert with many key Warner Bros. divisions to unleash its stories and characters across all media, including but not limited to film, television, consumer products, home entertainment and interactive games. Publishing thousands of comic books, graphic novels and magazines each year, DC Entertainment is the largest English-language publisher of comics in the world. About Six Flags Entertainment Corporation Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is the world’s largest regional theme park company with $1.1 billion in revenue and 18 parks across the United States, Mexico and Canada. For 53 years, Six Flags has entertained millions of families with world-class coasters, themed rides, thrilling water parks and unique attractions including up-close animal encounters, Fright Fest® and Holiday in the Park®. For more information, visit www.sixflags.com.  Happy Monday and welcome to another Twisted Colossus update. Our updates are now old enough to vote, and I think this week they are voting Green side because, as you'll see, it's looking pretty amazing. Not to take anyway from Blue side, but it's gotten most of the wow-factor attention up to this point. =) We'll also take a look at Scream and around the park at a few random things. Yep, still looks Colossal.  The Double Down on the Green side has been completed since our last update. It basically dives down below the blue track and heads into it's inversion.  That's gonna be fun  The Blue track headed towards some pretty nice airtime  The start of the twist   What looks to be the rest of the twist ready to go up     It was a very hot day, but they were still working. I'm guessing they were welding because they were using water as well. And well, we don't need another repeat incident. =)  One last look at Mr. Twist.  Next backstage tour we need to see if the park will let us go up on the tower of Tornado or even the racing slides, because that will be nice.  Signature Shot ... because we can  Ok, I lied about the last picture being our last look at Mr. Twist  A closer look at the Double Down and blue track diving.   On the backside, even more track is on site.   Moving on to Scream, it appears the repaint is done.  Not sure how well you can see it, but it appears the maintenance bay has been painted with the blue.   It did look like a couple of supports in this area weren't completely done, but that could have just been the reflection of the sun.  It appears the track up to the station is painted, but that seems to be the only station work that's been done so far.   As we reported on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages on Saturday, there is a new "Drink Free All Season" Sports Bottle for only $19.99. This is a GREAT deal, especially considering how much we go to the park. We've also confirmed with some of our site friends (Texas Thrill Seekers, SFNE Online and Coaster ChitChat) that these were at other parks. So if you will be travelling it's an even better deal.  And yes, they do work for the Coke Freestyle machines in the park. Will be interesting to see how much we save this year.  The Flash Pass office got some new paint and a new name. It looks great.  Looks like there has been some activity at The Swashbuckler, but doesn't look like it's going to open anytime soon.   The new asphalt they added last month has been painted and looks nice. Even if they'd do something like this to the bottom of Scream it would improve that parking lot immensely. Heck, I'll come out and volunteer to do it. I'm sure we could have a big Park Journey Scream Painting party. =)  Tidal Wave opened back up over the weekend  It was only running 1 boat, but if I had to guess, the park hadn't planned on opening the ride this weekend. But temperatures were in the 90's so I'm guessing they got it opened before they wanted to.  Moving outside, the park continues to update Handicapped facilities, such as wheelchair ramps at the ticket booths.  And new pavement at the bus load/unload stations.   With all the recent changes adding more handicapped spots and obvious work on this front we aren't sure if the park wasn't meeting some ADA requirements or they just felt they needed to update that aspect of the park. Either way, it's nice to see.  Alright everybody, that's going to wrap it up for this update. We hope you enjoyed a look at the park and hope you are getting excited for Twisted Colossus. As of now we have NO idea when the ride will be opening, but as soon as we know, you will too. Thanks for reading, have a great week everybody!!  Six Flags Great Adventure sent over this amazingly cute video of Four-year-old European brown bear cubs Spot and Scarlett playing with feeder cubes made from donated fire hose. March 2, 2015 – Jackson, NJ – Four-year-old European brown bear cubs Spot and Scarlett play with feeder cubes made from donated fire hose. The brother and sister duo roll the sturdy cubes until edible treats tumble out of the holes. In December, the Robbinsville Fire Department delivered 4,000 feet of defective fire hose to Six Flags Safari. Since that time, Six Flags’ animal care team has worked diligently to create fun and useful animal enrichment materials from the hose such as swings, perches, balls and more. Hose2Habitat, a Maryland-based non-profit that partners fire departments with zoos and animal sanctuaries to recycle surplus hose, helped facilitate the donation.    Happy Monday and welcome to another Twisted Colossus update. There's lots going on at the site of both Twisted Colossus and Scream. The "High Five" element is now done and I think it's safe to say that construction of the ride is at least half done, probably a bit more at this point. Scream is almost fully repainted, hopeful now they'll be doing something with the station (as you'll see below, they haven't yet) We'll also take a look around the park and touch on a couple of random park things. * Pictures and Words by Gregg Condon 
The "High Five" is done, the Blue Track is dropping steep and the Green Track will go into it's Double-Down/Top Gun Stall Double whammy next. 
More track and wood ready to be placed on the structure. 
The High Five, can't wait to get into Hurricane Harbor to get some shots of this. 
Heading out to the back part of the ride (or the front part if you are watching from the parking lot) =) 
Signature Shot!! 
On the other turnaround, not really a whole lot different, but they are working away in there. 
An overview of the completed parts of the ride 
Inside, they are working away on the Screampunk District area, so additional fencing to keep employees out has gone up. 
Whatever changes are coming to the concrete inside will begin on this side of the wall apparently. 
The directional signs and the mural wall still show classic colossus for now. Hopefully they'll find a way to incorporate the new and the old into this. 
Moving over to Scream, the new colors really "pop" against the backdrop of the Southern California Sky (sorry rest of the country). 
Most of the ride is painted 
They were working on the brake run while we were there 
The Cobra Roll is one of the last elements to get painted 
As you can see below, work on the station hasn't begun yet, or been painted at this point. Hopefully this is coming. 
Back inside the park, not sure why but the Tidal Wave sign below looked "new" to me. I'm 99% sure I just hadn't noticed it before. =) 
Speaking of Tidal Wave, doesn't look like any work is being done on it while it's closed. Maybe they can send the paint crew that's working on Scream over here when they are done. =) 
Bathroom queue ... this is definitely new. 
Looks like they were doing some painting of the Midway here. 
Uhhh ... just gonna leave this here. =) 
This too. =) 
It was an absolutely beautiful day in the park. 
And we'll leave you with this great picture of Tatsu ... another ride that could use a repaint. 
Alright, that's going to wrap it up for this update. We most likely won't have a SFMM update next week as we're going to have a pretty busy week elsewhere. Thanks again for all of the support of the site and our various pages. We've been absolutely overwhelmed with the amount of support, love and messages we've received appreciating the work. |
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