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Park News - (11/11/11) Details for SFFT’s Holiday In The Park winter event have been posted to the park’s website.
    (5/26/11) It has now been confirmed on the official Six Flags website that the former Tony Hawk Big Spin coasters have been renamed once again from Big Spin to Pandemonium at Six Flags over Texas and Six Flags Fiesta Texas.

2012 - Sky Screamer - (1/18/12) Good news for Fiesta Texas, as the park’s latest press release about a 2012 Job Fair actually reconfirms the height of the SkyScreamer as being a ride “20 stories above the ground,” after hearing local mentions of the tower being much shorter in the park over the fall. Of course the park’s website has always maintained that the ride would be 20 stories tall, so this is nothing new, but good news to have it reconfirmed at least.
    (1/2/12) One of our readers dropped by Fiesta Texas the other day and spotted the site where it looks like the new Sky Screamer will be located in the Spassburg area of the park, where the park’s 3-Point Challenge game was located near the entrance to the Superman coaster. If this is indeed the site, it looks like it may be quite close to the canyon wall, which could provide quite an interesting extra thrill to the ride. Take a look in the photo update posted here.
    (11/11/11) SFFT has been sending quite the mixed message this fall to their fans. While the park’s official website is still promoting Sky Screamer as a 200 foot tall ride, 20 stories tall… the in park adverts and local radio ads are promoting the ride as only being 15 stories tall. For example… listen to the first 35 seconds of this video shot at the park.
    (9/30/11) In what is sure to be seen as an upsetting move if true, a local reader reports that the radio ads being played in Fiesta Texas markets are making a strange statement. When they mention buying a 2012 season pass to ride Sky Screamer, they describe the ride as being only 15 stories high, and not the 20 story version that was previously promised by the park. I know it was just announced to SFGAdv fans that their Sky Screamer, which was only going to be 15 stories tall was just Biggie Sized to be 24 stories tall.
    You can see where I’m going with this… so lets hope the corporate office didn’t just pull a major insult on the Fiesta Texas fans by swapping out the rides and giving SFFT the “short stick”. For now at least, Sky Screamer is still listed on the official website (and in the promo video embedded below) as being 20 stories tall.
    (9/1/11) Six Flags Fiesta Texas has confirmed the addition of Sky Screamer for the 2012 season, standing 200 feet tall, it will spin you through the air at 40 mph, held aloft by some tiny little chains. This is really a ride that is enjoyable to many, but will test your faith in engineering.

 

2013 - The Rattler Reborn - Rumor - (1/30/12) The latest rumor on the upgrade of The Rattler sent in by Screamscape spies is that the park may opt for a cheaper budget option to rebuild the Rattler. Instead of going for the complete Iron Horse treatment, we may see The Rattler get a complete re-profile and get a complete Topper Track conversion instead. According to our source the giant helix will be completely removed from the ride’s layout and replaced with a bunch of new hills and thrills.
    (1/23/12) One of our readers who resides in the Spokane, WA area pointed out an interesting article in the local paper about the Rocky Mountain Construction Group. The article talked about how the group is building a new $1 million shop building in Hayden, Idaho where they will move their track manufacturing operations. This will also free up room for the group to begin building their very own roller coaster cars.
    Why? Much like why GCI created the Millennium Flyers that could maneuver through their extremely twisted layouts, Rocky Mountain’s track system is simply capable of doing things other trains wouldn’t be able to do. According to Rocky Mountain, “We will be building cars we think will be revolutionary for the industry.” They go on to state that the combination of their new track and cars will be able to allow a wooden coasters to perform inversions, a feat no one has tried since Son of Beast at Kings Island.
    Best of all the article also mentioned that the group has roller coaster projects planned for Silver Dollar City and Six Flags Fiesta Texas, both to open in Spring 2013. This matches up well with the reports from IAAPA where Rocky Mountain was reported as having two 2013 projects in the works. Given the previous rumors about an upgrade for The Rattler being planned out, I can only assume that we’ll soon see Rattler given the Iron Horse treatment in the near future. The big quetion here is the timeline needed to complete the job.
    The Texas Giant was closed for about 18 months to complete the project, which would mean that the Rattler would not open at all in 2012 if it was on the same timeline. After doing the job once, I would think it would be easier to complete the second time around, and perhaps the timeline needed could be cut back by quite a bit. Also the nature of Rattler’s more spread out layout may also make it simply easier to get in there and do the work. So keep an eye on the Rattler this season... you never know when they may need to shut it down to begin work.
    (11/11/11) The WSJ had an interesting article posted the other day all about Larry Chickola, the chief corporate engineer for the Six Flags theme park chain. In addition to a little history on the man, they also talk quite a bit about how they transformed the Texas Giant. Now… look towards the bottom of the article and you will find one interesting picture, where they talk about his favorite calculator. Open that picture up… and zoom in a bit to check out just what is sketched in Larry’s notebook.
    On the right hand page… you see a drawing representing three possible ways a coasters can take a drop down a vertical cliff surface. There is a line marked “current profile” also described as “not as fun”. Then there is Option A… and an Option B, the later of which had notes that appear to say, “max thrill”, “big surprise coming over cliff” and “my preference”. It seems like a good chance that our friend Larry may be doing a little thinking about how he can follow up his work on the Texas Giant by revamping The Rattler. Now… thinking is one thing… money is another. So lets hope that Six Flags is willing to fund another monster makeover.   
    (3/7/11) Six Flags Fiesta Texas opened for the 2011 season this past weekend and you can find some pictures of what’s new over at Amusement Park Authority. Even more impressive, the rumors about adding a test section of Rocky Mountain Topper Track are true according to a report at Theme Park Review. The new section tan topper track was installed going down the second hill and up the third, a section of the ride known for it’s roughness, which has now been made smooth again.
    (4/20/10) The latest rumor to buzz my way from Fiesta Texas indicated that the park may be making plans to begin their own massive renovation of The Rattler. Much like how the new Texas Giant is going to have a modified and improved layout, I’m told that there is a definite plan to return The Rattler to it’s former glory, restoring the ride’s first drop to it’s full and intended height as well as other improvements throughout. More when we find out.