Rip 🪦 Holiday in the park at Six Flags America (2016-2021)😢 Going to buy king’s dominion season pass! I hope Six Flags America will *”PERMANENTLY”* close!
I went to Six Flags America yesterday I was kind of scared of roller coasters but I got on Firebird and I actually enjoyed it it was rough because it was shaking but I really liked it since it wasn't that intense and it was actually enjoyable for my first rollercoaster, especially with a loop after that I went on it 3 times since it was fun but I would really like to go on something a little more intense one day
So what's the big announcement for Six Flags America next year, a new paint job on Mind Eraser and a new name for it or maybe a few new effects for the lazy river.
bro I'm going to defend stand up coasters here. The reason why stand-up coasters get such a bad rap is because most of them are more than 20 plus years old. The Last Stand Up roller coaster, the Georgia scorcher, was built in 1999. The last two stand-up roller coasters ever built really aren't that bad, could you imagine what it would be like if we built stand up roller coasters today! there wouldn't be any issues with roughness or being uncomfortable whatsoever with the technology we have now! this is a very cool type of roller coaster model that doesn't deserve to die the way it is. And now these floorless conversions are showing the real truth, it isn't stand up trains that are bad, it's the actual coaster that they're riding on. that is my defense of stand-up coasters........
I really don't think B&M understood the standup genre. Better quality track and layout for a regular coaster plus standup trains does not equal a good ride. TOGO standups were relatively crude ('80s) and hurt about 5% more but felt 10x as much as if they were trying to kill you. B&M ought to do a conversion of one of their airtime machines to standup with vest restraints, that might be decent.
I really like The Riddler's Revenge at Magic Mountain and I hope that they don't ever retro fit it with *floorless cars, especially with Scream right across the way
I'm with you on this. I definitely enjoyed Georgia Scorcher & Riddler's Revenge (SFMM). Mantis was also very good. I think Mantis was a far better ride than Rougarou. They better not ever convert Riddler or Scorcher. Vortex at Carowinds might be a good one for them to try just converting the restraints to vest restraints, to eliminate headbanging, but keep it as a stand-up, and see how that works.
IRfan: I doubt B&M would do vest restraints now, just seems that would have been a better way to go. Headbanging needs to be impossible. I only find the "seats" awkward not painful, speaking of which, Apocalypse. Even switching to B&M's newer standup restraints would have helped, so clunky. I think standups could have a future not going upside down, freeing the restraint design. But Re: bjt, yeah the coasters themselves aren't that good, especially B&Ms are just extra mild looping/turn coasters you stand up on. Togo was a less advanced maker but at least your feet came off the floor.
I can tell from the footage that Firebird is running with nylon wheels which make the ride not as smooth as when it runs polyurethane wheels. Maybe the it will be a bit smoother with polyurethane wheels 🙂✌️
Can't just switch out the wheels for smoothness, polyurethane absorbs more energy. That fact that they chose nylon wheels means that they may be risking valleying the trains with the polyurethane.
@@acceleratedcreative The lubrication in the wheel bearings becomes more viscous in the cold, which makes it run slower. That's why they need to compensate with the stiffer materials in the wheels to reduce energy losses.
During the next off-season, they should retrack Firebird so it's smoother! I also did get to experience Firebird and in my opinion, Its was way smoother!
This is the first ever B&M coaster, so I don’t think replacing the track isn’t the best idea. But then again, they put floorless trains on it so who knows.
Maybe for me, I wouldn't mind if they replace the entire track because I ridden it after it turned to Firebird, and I thought it was smooth as other B&Ms. But when it was Apocalypse, it was in my worst coasters list!
I rode it when it was the iron Wolf. I have rode it as Fire Bird. When it was the Iron Wolf it was a headache maker! like one of the worst coasters I've ever rode. As the Fire Bird I like it a lot better now that we're sitting down. I rode it twice when I went to Six Flags America on 7/27/19 for my first time. I didn't get a headache or any body pain. I thought it seem smoother and more enjoyable to ride compared to how was back when it was the Iron Wolf.
This is my home park, Six Flags America just need to build a coaster instead of buying another used coaster. Most of the rides there are from the 90's and early 2000s I was little disappointed in this, but its whatever. As long as we get rid of the stand up portion.
You know what I'm amazed at? It was actually open for opening day. I know it's only putting new trains on, paint, and some mechanical work, not building a new coaster, but cmon it's six flags, this is an accomplishment for them!
Unpopular opinion............. I actually really liked this ride. Had some good airtime momenta, especially off the midcourse. The back is by far the best seat though. For me it ranks fourth in the park
Damn. We had a school trip to the DC area last month and a day at SFA was in our itinerary. Boy did we go too early because that was a couple of weeks before Firebird opened
Hey CS, great video!! I have a bunch of trips planned for this summer, in June I’m going to Six Flags Great America, in July I’m going to Magic Mountain and in September, going to Universal Orlando. If you’re ever going to these parks this summer let me know so I can maybe meet you!
J Terry TV I'm going to Great America sometime in July. I work at Jewel-Osco which is the large grocery store chain in the Chicago area. Jewel has been a long time partner with Great America (since it was Mariott's Great America), selling discount admission tickets. I can buy tickets for the Jewel-Osco associate days, good between July 6th-21st, for over half off the gate plus free parking (another $25 savings).
I hate to say it but I knew it there was not going to be a in improvement with the floor less trains it sucks cuz I love B&M and I was excited that my home park got a B&M and when I was apocalypse I got a chance to ride it
It will fix their coaster gap they went 18 years without a original ground up coaster and the last one was batwing and that’s biting the dust soon if maintenance gets worse
It is Six Flags, they don’t theme much. Apocalypse had some nice theming but I think just adding nice landscaping is a fine change since it makes the area look nicer overall.
Thrill Source Too bad for this particular ride, I find it beautiful and that would’ve only helped draw more people in... // Anyhow, thanks for the content.
The one ride I don't go on at Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ is the Green Lantern because it is a B&M standup coaster and it is insanely rough and a head banger. Do you think they will transition that coaster to a floorless train as well? It could use a new paint job soon anyway. It would be sad to go because a stand up coaster is a cool attraction to have in a park. But I think stand up coasters had their time with popularity and now we need to move on.
Bizarro is already a floorless coaster, but maybe they can do it with those sit down trains like Kumba at Bush Gardens Tampa. A new green paint job can be needed too.
In all honesty if given the choice I'd rather see it removed and put at a six flags park that could use it (and made floorless there). Get replaced with a ground up B&M wing or better yet something like Steel Curtain. However if it's there to stay yes, should definitely be made into a sit down. Stand up seating is just horrible. It may not fix the headbanging (honestly don't care that much, I loved great american scream machine which it replaced and it had plenty of that) but the fact I could ride it without my whole middle torso being destroyed would be nice. @@lucianoalonso4389
OneAndOnlySound A Steel Curtain-like coaster in that spot sounds interesting. Maybe that could be a worthy successor to the great Arrow beast that once stood there, unlike Green Lantern.
your exactly right. If S&S Steel Curtain works out to be the new steel coaster of the next generation built with well, not B&M and not RMC, then it'd make a perfect fit in both style and design. They could even duplicate some of the old design but taller, faster, and more inversions. Great American Scream Machine literally could've been made better with new trains and some re-profiling and it was still popular, Green Lantern was a totally useless addition let alone a replacement for the park's eye candy icon. @@matthewmiller7207
So they put vest restraints on coasters that never need them, like dive coasters, but they put regular restraints on the coasters that need vests restraints most...
I rode Apocalypse in it's final season as a stand up. I didn't think it was that bad compared to what I was expecting. I was expecting it to turn my legs to jelly like Green Lanturn did. Was it a headbanger? Yes. Was it the worst headbanger in the park? Hell no.
There is a very bad hangbanging moment on this coaster right before the fake out mid course break run and man did that HURT. For a B&M coaster it should not be that rough and that much of a headbanger. Ouch.
@@ThemeParkOverLoadChannel Even three across seating or two across would be fine BUT it's not like I know the physics of that either. If vests were possible in any way at all, it would be preferable.
@@asherraymond4430 I agree, IIRC it's worse on some coasters than others though. On Banshee it felt really tight, but on Valravn it might feel a little better unless I'm crazy. The ones on Gatekeeper specifically left pretty big bruises on my shoulders.
This is not a thought out review. I rode today, about 11 times. A few others were in their 20-40 ride range. Trust me when I tell you. If a ride is a 4, no one is going to reride. Apocalypse is a 4. Firebird is easily a 7. When ranking coasters, a true enthusiast looks at all things: age, theming, overall experience, and in this case, rank compared to what the ride used to be. In short, I will ride this as part of a rotation when I get the next chance to go to SFA.
The rating system in my mind is if a ride is excellent it's a 10, if it's mediocre it's a 5, and if it's absolutely horrible it's a 1. Firebird is no higher than a 5 in my opinion.
One thing I respect about your ratings is that you have a solid scale no matter what the conditions (age, etc), and you stick to that. I have a different rating type. It's good to have 'healthy' differing opinions in this community though.
Never been on Apocalypse, but I've been on Riddler's Revenge and I actually really like stand-ups. Of course Riddler's Revenge actually is a really great B&M, probably one of the best they have ever made, but I don't think the stand-up trains take away from the ride. I actually really enjoy it because all you have to do is squat a little bit before they lock the seats and then the bar won't be touching you at all. Beyond that, the stand-up factor of the ride is really thrilling and cool in my opinion. I don't like it more than sit-down, but there are so many that it's a really nice change for me.
Anyone here ever ride the previous ride that occupied this space “ skull mountain?” Speaking of theming it seemed from the old videos that this was perhaps the most themed six flags ride ever! Seems like i would take the old skull mountain over apocalypse or fire bird. But I have never experienced skull mountain. I have ridden apocalypse and it’s just a bad old ride . Can only polish up an old turd so much
considering your typical large steel coaster hardly makes it thirty years without being scrapped, whether or not they were the first creation of their manufacturer, I'm gonna say Iron Wolf has matured remarkably gracefully. How has Volcano: The Blast Coaster aged?
I feel like they could've just left the old theming, cause it seems like it would be semi-appropriate. Also, I hope that they leave some stand-ups alone just so they don't go extinct. Like what SFOG did with Georgia Scorcher.
My ears hurt just thinking about Firebird. This was my third new coaster credit of 2020, and I was expecting an ok but not good floorless coaster. I had no idea of the ear banging that would happen. It’s so bad it’s funny. It’s my least favorite coaster so far.
I freaking love stand ups because they r so intense, well, I’ve only ridden green lantern, which I almost like more than ALL of the floorless I’ve bee on
Koaster Krazy I’ve been on two B&M stand ups, Green Lantern and Vortex at Carowinds. Green Lantern is way better. Vortex needs demolished as it’s the same story as Firebird. Green Lantern can stay as is because Bizarro exists.
LOL you are biased GL along with Riddler and GS are the better stand ups because after Mantis B&M finally figured out how to make them somewhat smooth. I have ridden GL, Mantis, Shockwave, and La Cobra and GL is the ONLY one I find to be decent. Mantis sucked and I'm glad it's a floorless now, La Cobra was one of the shittiest coasters I've been on and Shockwave was painful to my man bits (airtime on a stand up? What the hell were the Japanese thinking)
Taylor, out of the remaining Standup Coasters in the US (Vortex - Carowinds; Green Lantern - Great Adventure; Riddler's Revenge - Magic Mountain; Georgia Scorcher - SF Over Georgia); I say GL and RR stay as they are because there's already floorless coasters at their respective parks. GS is actually decent from what I've read; Vortex is BAD (from what I've read)
Uncomfortable isn't the word. The standups just are like a WORKOUT. And I def don't go to amusement parks for a workout. Its bad enough I gotta walk around the park to get from ride to ride lmao. OK now I just sound lazy as hell. I love walking but yeah not having my calf muscles hurting Cuz I decided to go on a rollercoaster lol. Anyone agree?
If you never rode it as Iron Wolf, then yeah, it might be worth it just to say you've ridden another former SFGAm coaster. I never liked it as Iron Wolf, but I like that I've ridden it just simply out of love for my homepark. The only big SF Great America credits I missed out on are Rolling Thunder and Z-Force, was able to get on Tidal Wave as Greezed Lightnin at Kentucky Kingdom. I was lucky enough to ride Shockwave in its final two years. I say go for it. Besides, SFA's Superman will help justify the trip a little.
@@ZeroCreditsRemaining I'm thinking of making a PA trip this summer, so I might go there (and maybe KD too). The only coaster at SFGA I never got to ride is Deja Vu, because when it was there is was closed all the time.
I agree with your assessment without having been on this particular coaster in either form. Rougaru only sucks slightly less than Mantis. It was a nice try but it’s a crappy head bangy mostly uninspiring layout. Vests would have been the real game changer for the experience. I digress
@@adrenalinerush5862 The fact that you're sitting instead of standing doesn't make it a new, completely independent roller coaster from its former self. If it's not a separate page on RCDB (which it isn't), it's not a new credit.
I rode this today. Definitely has a rattle. Bearable but rather annoying. My main problem with it is those last couple inversions! Ouch! My ears! The headbanging is atrocious! At least Mind Eraser has padded restraints.
Since the park is in Maryland, you might as well wait until at least next year, then come over and hit this and the new B&M Hyper at Hersheypark. (Plus Hersheypark's suspended B&M Great Bear)
I didn’t get my season pass until last year and it was too late to ride Apocalypse. Now Six flags though it was good to remove all the theming that we were looking at and looked awesome during Holiday in the Park. Truly this park is just becoming a dumpster
@@ItsSiebay I went to La Ronde this year and other than their stupid entrance policy (thank God we had Platinum memberships) my mom and I had a good time. Goliath is a great B&M "hyper", Monster is unique, their Batman clone is the best one I have ridden, and they have some unique flats that other parks in America don't have.
this park in general just needs a major update. The upkeep of this park is terrible. Some of the rides are just never open or close all the time, such as batwing and jokers jinx. The only really great ride at this park is superman and even then intimidator 305 is really close by. Mind Eraser is still the worst rollercoaster ive ever been on. While I do think that apocalypse needed to be upgraded, the main problem with this ride was that the track layout is just not exciting. I've been to this park a lot since I live close to the park and every time I go my opinion gets more negative. The main positives of this park is that there are never any lines and the waterpark is actually pretty great. Six flags seriously needs to take a second look at this park.
Ross Tanenbaum They use it as a dumping ground for attractions from other Six Flags parks. If the rumors are true, Vertical Velocity from Great America is going to be relocated there in the next few years too.
That rumor was debunked, and hopefully the same will go for the 4D. I love my home park, but if I had to say it, don't go in wanting a thrilling experience. Just go in with the thought of trying to kill some time, because that's really all that it has been since 2006. Six Flags isn't gonna do anything for this park besides keep it around average quality, but honestly that's better than nothing.
