Elijah

July 14, 2014

August 28, 2014 update: I was right! Below, I hypothesize that Six Flags would be transforming its classic wooden coasters. And that's exactly what it will be doing. See my previews of Twisted Colossus and Wicked Cyclone.
Roller coaster fans, especially ones who love the rough-and-tumble rides that traditional wooden coasters provide, got a double dose of bad news recently. Six Flags Magic Mountain in California announced that its old-school woodie, Colossus, would be closing on August 16, 2014 so that construction on something new could begin for the 2015 season. Soon after, sister park Six Flags New England in Massachusetts revealed that it too would be shuttering one of its venerable wooden coasters. The Cyclone will give its final ride on July 20, 2014.
But here's the thing: Neither ride may actually be going away. It is possible, and even probable (but not a sure thing) that one or both of the rides will be coming back next year as new, improved coasters.
The precedent for taking older wooden coasters that are past their prime and rehabbing them has been established at two other Six Flags parks. The chain's original park, Six Flags Over Texas, shuttered the Texas Giant at the end of the 2009 season and reopened it as the New Texas Giant in 2011. Similarly, Six Flags Fiesta Texas closed Rattler in 2012 only to rechristen it Iron Rattler in 2013. In both cases, Rocky Mountain Construction, a ride manufacturer that has reenergized the wooden coaster genre with its innovative design, masterminded the makeovers and received wildly enthusiastic reviews for its work.
It would seem likely that Colossus and Cyclone could be getting the same kind of Rocky Mountain Construction love. The company has recently been rocking the park industry with two pioneering wooden coaster concepts. Both of them incorporate newfangled steel tracks. For woodies that Rocky Mountain has designed from scratch, such as Outlaw Run at Silver Dollar City and Goliath at Six Flags Great America (which have also been getting rave reviews), Rocky Mountain uses its "topper track," a steel runner that covers the entire width of wooden track. For the Texas Giant and Rattler do-overs, however, the company ripped out the existing traditional wooden tracks and replaced them with its unique "iron horse" tracks. Made completely from steel, Rocky Mountain also calls them "IBox" tracks, because they are shaped like the letter, "I." The train's wheels nestle in the channels created by the track's unique shape.
The Holy Grail for Wooden Coasters
For both styles of Rocky Mountain's hybrid coasters, the trains use polyurethane wheels, the kind found on steel coasters. Because of the steel tracks and the polyurethane wheels, the wooden coasters are able to deliver remarkably smooth rides, while still retaining their essential identity as wooden coasters. They are also capable of delivering inversions, something of a Holy Grail for woodies. To get a sense of the magnificent work Rocky Mountain has been doing, read my review of Iron Rattler.
Of course, it is possible that Six Flags has other plans for its two aging coasters. Neither Colossus nor Cyclone fit the profile of the chain's other two woodies that got IBox makeovers. The SF New England and Magic Mountain rides are older than the Texas coasters and they aren't as tall or fast. Cyclone is a traditional twister coaster fashioned after the legendary Coney Island Cyclone, and Colossus is a dual-track racing coaster (which hasn't raced for years because of its poor condition). Perhaps it wouldn't make sense to overlay Rocky Mountain's steel tracks on these types of rides. Or maybe Six Flags and Rocky Mountain have something new planned to bring the coasters back to their glory.
Or, Six Flags may be planning to trash the rides altogether and build something completely new. My best guess, however, is that Rocky Mountain will play some role in preserving and improving the rides. Iron Colossus anyone? How about the New New England Cyclone? Whatever Six Flags has in store, it will be revealing its plans for the 2015 season on August 28, 2014.