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Park News - (7/2/09) Just a quick update on the whole Kingda Ka status, as the ride is still closed and someone has posted a great picture that pretty much tells the story as to why over at Coaster Fusion. Just scroll down to the picture at the bottom of the page and you’ll see cranes pulling out the ride’s hydraulic engine from the “engine house”. It seems the damage is so bad that they have to pull it out, repair and rebuild it.
  (6/25/09) It’s a new day and Kingda Ka is down again. Ok, seriously this may the last time for awhile that I report on this, as I fully expect it to be up and down every couple of days for the entire rest of the season. This latest bit of downtime may be a bit longer than normal however as they have added the “Kingda Ka is Temporarily Closed” message on their website too.
  (6/22/09) Good news for SFGAdv fans… a report sent in from Sunday evening claimed that Kingda Ka was back up and running again and seemed to be working well during their visit.
  (6/19/09) While the park put in for the quick and dirty fix to get Kingda Ka back up and running as soon as possible, the results are said to have been less than spectacular. So far the reliability of the fix has been very inconsistent, where it has a good day here and there where it runs flawlessly and then suddenly the next morning it’s dead as a doorbell first thing in the morning. They scratch their heads, throw rocks at it, call it bad names and nothing works to fix it until like magic, it suddenly decides it wants to work again.
  From what I’ve heard the problems with the ride are numerous... starting with some major mechanical issues with some of the launch system’s gears. The lightning blast also fried lots of the sensors and sections of the electrical system that really needs a complete overhaul now. I’ve also heard that the weather has been playing problems for them too, as for some reason there seems to be quite a bit of extra static electricity in the air this year that is causing some havoc with the damaged systems.
  As for the current status... I’ve been told that currently Kingda Ka has been closed since Monday and it is impossible to even guess when it may be up and running again. Could be today... could be next week or even longer. Stay tuned...
  (6/3/09) According to Screamscape spies, the park manages to apply a quick and dirty duct-tape-fixes-all solution to get Kingda Ka up and running again so quickly. While the ride is functional, the problem is that it is also very unstable and prone to frequent bouts of downtime... so it’s like Year One all over again. Apparently the goal is to run it this way as long as they can pull it off, and hold off on the major repair items that will require weeks of downtime until the off-season if they can.
  (6/2/09) Don’t ask me quite how they pulled it off, but apparently the park managed to get Kingda Ka reopen once again on May 31st, and even reported it live on the new Twitter feed.
  (5/27/09) Well that certainly didn’t take too long, as we have both good and bad news about Kingda Ka’s current bit of downtime. First off... lets talk about the cause. Lots of people in the know have asked around and the most common answer received was that big bad Ka took a lightning strike a few weeks ago and hasn’t been the same since.
  If the stories are true, Ka did manage to run on and off for a bit after the strike, but quickly became very unstable with frequent breakdowns. Maintenance closed the ride completely after a full investigation revealed the details about just what was wrong, requiring an assortment parts to be ordered from Intamin. Eyewitness reports say that a lot of the attention to the ride lately has been focused on the engine room for the launch system, so we can only theorize that is where the majority of the problems lie right now. A crane or two have also been spotted on-site with one of them placed around this area as well.
  Now I did promise good news, and my sources have confirmed that those new parts from Intamin have arrived safe and sound at the park. However, the bad news is that fixing Ka this time isn’t like swapping a battery or spark-plug, this is a complicated beast to tinker with and it’s going to take time to complete the repairs as well as undergo a full test and adjust period afterwards on the launch system. The bottom line right now is that I’ve been told from several sources not to expect Kingda Ka to reopen until mid to late June right now.
  (5/26/09) Anyone know what the status of Kingda Ka may right these days? I’ve heard one report claiming that the often troublesome coaster hasn’t been running for at least the past three weeks or more due to some major technical problem. Anyone know more?
  (5/25/09) Make the jump over to GA Outpost to check out new videos they’ve posted showing off this year’s Glow In The Park Parade as well a preview performance of this summer’s new Saturday Night Lights fireworks show.
  (4/29/09) According to our sources, the new attraction being built inside Chiller’s old observatory building will be called Xploratorium. From what I understand, this will be a mix of new and existing technology put together to create a unique attraction for the park. I’ve also been led to believe that this project may be the brain child of Total Immersion.
  (4/10/09) Six Flags Great Adventure has announced to the enthusiast community that they have begun a three year renovation project on the park’s carousel. Over this time each of the ride’s 36 horses and cockerels will be removed, sanded and repainted by hand before being put back onto the ride with a shiny new brass jumping pole. You can see a picture of a newly restored horse posted over at GADV Outpost. You can also see a few more along with a general preview tour of the park here.
  (4/7/09) I’ve been sent an update about the Nitro incident this past weekend. It seems that the park experienced gusts of extremely high winds that day which are believed to have been the cause for the trains loss of speed. Several other attractions (Kingda Ka, Parachute Tower, Skyway, Big Wheel and even El Toro for a bit) were also closed for most of the day due to the winds.
  (4/6/09) Six Flags Great Adventure opened for the season this past weekend, but seems to have shared an odd new trend with Carowinds, when a train on Nitro valleyed between the 2nd and 3rd hill. Who would have thought… two B&Ms managed to valleyed in two consecutive weekends. While any coaster can valley from time to time, I usually don’t hear too many stories of B&M coasters valleying. From what I was told, this was actually the last “test” train being run, with the next train, fully loaded with riders, waiting in the station to be dispatched at the time. One of our readers was there and tried to snap up a few pictures of the stuck train as the crews were working to remove it from the track.
  (3/16/09) Gadv.com has posted a batch of pictures showing off what the park looked like way back in 1976, way before Six Flags bought the place.
  (2/6/09) A small article has been posted here talking about how Six Flags Great Adventure will renovate the park’s Big Wheel this season with an all new lighting package that is sure to impress.

2009 - Bizarro / Medusa Makeover - (6/9/09) A new POV video shot from the front row of Bizzaro has been posted to YouTube and embedded below.

  (5/27/09) GADV.com has posted a new photo update of Bizarro showing off the entire ride from the air this time, giving you a great look at the ride and effects from a new point of view.
  (5/25/09) New pictures from the opening of Bizarro can be found at GADV.com this week as well as some extra pics from the Media Day event. You can also find some great coverage posted to News Plus Notes as well.
  (5/22/09) Pictures from the preview of Bizarro have been send in from a Screamscape reader for ev eryone’s enjoyment. After your done, take a look over at GadvOutpost to read their review of the new experience. There is also a good section of B-Roll footage from the park that has been posted to YouTube today as well, including some POV video footage mixed in with what sounds like the coaster’s soundtrack. Check out the video embedded below for more.
  (5/16/09) I’ve been sent a couple of photos to use from our friends at GADV.com, showing off the latest changes to Bizarro. You can find even more over at their site, but you have to sign into the forum to see them.
  (5/9/09) Make the jump over to the GADV forum to see the new and very large Bizarro sign now in place at the old Medusa ride entrance pathway.

  (4/21/09) A new set of aerial construction pictures of Medusa can be found at GADV.com.
  (4/18/09) Special thanks to GADV.com for sending us a couple of pictures showing off Bizarro’s new train making some test runs. You can see even more here, but you’ll have to sign in to the forum before you can see them. Anyway, the big item everyone is going to notice is that the back row has been carved up, removing the two middle seats, to make room for a massive box that houses all the electronics for the train’s new audio system. While this is a Floorless train, and the first one we’ve seen with an on-board audio system, I think this is also the first time I’ve seen a train forced to remove seats to add an audio system. I guess there really was no where else to put it, though I wouldn’t be opposed to the idea of adding a “zero car” to the back of the train… an empty 9th row of some kind perhaps, instead of cutting capacity like this. Of course the would have to rebuild the transfer and maintenance tracks to handle the slightly longer train length... so I guess the quickest easy way to do was to just remove a couple of seats.
  (4/15/09) While it is difficult to make out much in the way of details, the first pictures of the new Bizarro trains have been posted to GADV.com. From what little I can make out in the darkness of the station, it does look like they’ve added a similar top to the seats from what we’ve seen put on the SFNE trains, which contains the speakers.
  (4/14/09) According to Screamscape sources the old Chiller building will actually get something a bit more unique than a new kiddie play area. While I don’t know the exact details, I’ve been told that it is being aimed at an older audience and will offer a completely unique interactive experience. Look for it to open sometime in mid to late June. Meanwhile more new Bizarro and Wild Safari pictures have been posted to GADV.com.
  (4/13/09) Thanks to the crew at GADV.com for sending in some new pictures of Bizarro for us all. The park is also building a new Internet Café and performing some kind of transformation to Chiller’s old Observatory building that will see it become some kind of new kiddie play area.
  (4/6/09) Today we’ve got some great pictures of Bizarro (formerly: Medusa) to enjoy, sent in by our friends at GADV.com. From what I understand, the ride isn’t expected to reopen until around Memorial Day Weekend. You can see more pictures here.
  (4/2/09) Six Flags has confirmed that Bizarro is the new name (and theme) for Medusa, along with a story about how a giant beam of light struck the coaster last night and transformed it. This article can be seen over at the Lois Lane blog and Daily Planet sites.
Be sure to check out the Lois Lane blog however, as it shows off some video clips of the energy beam striking the coasters. A video talking about the new effects has also been added to the SeeTheRide.com, where they mention the “Auger of Doom”. They’re not giving away all the story just yet however, so there is more information to come.
  (3/29/09) According to a reader local to the SFNE area, they claim that the local Dunkin Donuts had coupons for the park on display already that were said to have given away the new name for Superman: Ride of Steel. While they didn’t have a photo or scan to prove it yet, just as I was posting this story our friends at SFNE Online sent over their own scans of the coupon for us to use that prove that Superman will be renamed Bizarro this year.
  This is kind of an interesting development however, as if you take a look at an image
of the “modern version” of Bizarro from the comics, the new version of his backwards costume features a purple backwards S and cape, replacing Superman’s old Red S and cape. As you can see, the colors from this particular image are very close to the colors they have used to repaint Superman: Ride of Steel as well as the new colors used on “Blue Medusa” in New Jersey. Given the other clue I didn’t address from the official construction update featured the Six Flags guy wearing a Superman jacket while standing in front of Medusa, I can only imagine that Bizarro may be the new name for Medusa as well, especially since it would fit in to have a Superman villain in the park to go with the Superman themed flyer.
  Bizarro has many origin stories ranging from the alternate universe (Bizarroverse) ones to other stories that indicate that versions of Bizarro were actually created by Lex Luthor to destroy Superman. One more item… there is also now a Lois Lane Reports blog and twitter feed to go along with Jimmy’s Truth2Power.
  (3/29/09) According to a reader local to the SFNE area, they claim that the local Dunkin Donuts had coupons for the park on display already that were said to have given away the new name for Superman: Ride of Steel. While they offered no photo or scan proof of it yet to verify this info, they claimed that the new name of the coaster would be Bizarro Superman.
  This is kind of an interesting development however, as if you take a look at an image
of the “modern version” of Bizarro from the comics, the new version of his backwards costume features a purple backwards S and cape, replacing Superman’s old Red S and cape. As you can see, the colors from this particular image are very close to the colors they have used to repaint Superman: Ride of Steel as well as the new colors used on “Blue Medusa” in New Jersey. Could we have a match? Bizarro has many origin stories ranging from the alternate universe (Bizarroverse) ones to other stories that indicate that versions of Bizarro were actually created by Lex Luthor to destroy Superman. One more item… there is also now a Lois Lane Reports blog and twitter feed to go along with Jimmy’s Truth2Power.
  /20/09) The SeeTheRide.com construction website has added all new pictures of Medusa this week. You can find some interesting items if you look closely enough at some of the photos. The second one for example shows the ride’s layout, but the guy is pointing at where the new flame throwers are going to be put, now drawn into the blueprints. The next picture down you can see him watching a flame thrower test on the computer screen. From the look of things, they’ll be installed into the Immelman (second inversion) area. There are a couple of other marks indicating other new effects locations, such as the pink line in the helix after the mid-course brake as well as an orange line spanning the back to back flat-spins. I’m not sure if there is any signifigance to the fact that he’s looking at the bottom of the first drop and brake run area in the next computer screen shot or not.
  (3/19/09) I’ve been told to expect the Medusa / Superman viral storyline to begin a wrap up in the near future as the park’s will soon be opening for the 2009 season. Once open… I’ve been told that there have been “things” installed into the local areas around Medusa that will give away the new theme to anyone who visits. SFGAdv opens for the season to the public on April 4th.
  (2/9/09) Some new development (finally!) on the Six Flags Viral campaign for Superman: Ride of Steel at Six Flags New England as well as the Medusa transformation at Six Flags Great Adventure. The Clawshun website has posted a response to an article posted to the Daily Planet Special Edition website. On the last page is an ad from Six Flags claiming that the new versions of the coasters will be ready by Memorial Day Weekend, so don’t count on riding anything until then. Meanwhile some new construction pictures showing off Superman and Medusa have been posted to a new Clawshun owned website called SeeTheRide.com.
   Just to nip an idea in the bud, I noticed there was an official e-mail address for Jimmy Olsen listed at the bottom of Page 3 of the Daily Planet newspaper, but any attempt to send e-mail to that address only had it bounce back as invalid. In the end, all we know so far is that Lex Luthor is behind the redesign plans for both of these rides, which will obviously create some kind of new Superman tie-in for Medusa at SFGadv and alter the look of S:ROS over at SFNE. Meanwhile both rides will be getting the X2 treatment, adding in mist sections, flame throwers and a great onboard soundtrack.
  (1/7/09) With Blue Medusa’s clear tie to the Lex Luthor plot based viral ad campaign for SFNE, I’ve got to wonder if Medusa’s new name may be linked to one of Superman’s assortment of villains. While this is just a wild random guess based on the colors, I’ve got to wonder if Brainiac may be involved somehow given the Purple and Green color that park’s Superman coaster is being painted. Of course Lex Luthor is also known for having a Green and Purple armor suit as well. The purple works for Medusa I suppose, but I’m not sure what what to make of the blue... the only “blue” villain I can think of off the top of my head was Darkseid. I’m not 100% up on my Superman history though, so anyone else have any ideas?
  (1/5/09) According to pictures posted to GAdv.com, you can see the new Blue Medusa as seen from the air. Other that finishing up the new paint however, it doesn’t look like anything else has been added and changed in the area yet. The new Blue & Purple color is kind of striking however, so I’m really curious what the ride’s new theme may be as well as how this transformation may tie into what’s going on at SFNE’s Superman transformation and the plans of Lex Luthor.
  (12/1/08) While we only got to see a hint about Blue Medusa back in October, you can see a whole batch of new aerial photos taken the other day over at GADV.com where you can see that all of Medusa’s track is now a bright new blue color.
  (11/3/08) According to the pictures posted at the GAdv.com forums, workers have begun the process of painting Medusa a new dark blue color. It’s not the best looking blue paint job either which gives us reason to believe that this may simply be a primer coat being put on first. Either way out sources indicate that Medusa will have an entirely new identify when the park opens next spring, and that the park may actually try to keep things under wrap about the changes until we’re well into the winter.
  (10/24/08) It looks like the initial rumors about the transforming of Medusa and the “Spider of Doom” were right on the money after all as the park has just confirmed this. It looks like someone got too close to the truth too soon causing the park to try and dismiss this rumor as quickly as possible earlier this month. But it was all true... because in 2009 Medusa will be transformed, X2 style, adding new themed elements, visual, sensory and audio effects. They claim that it will now feature “unique storytelling” as well as fire, fog, water and a custom orchestrated soundtrack. It also sounds like Medusa’s entire theme and possibly the name will be dropped in favor of something new, but they wont be ready to reveal more until Spring 2009.
  (10/7/08) A legend amongst the local frequent guests called the Spider of Doom reared its ulgy head this past week when the giant inflatable spider Fright Fest prop took up residence on top of the Medusa sign. From what I’ve been told, the so-called Spider Of Doom has been placed on several attractions in the past decade that were removed or altered within the next year such as The Chiller, Movie Town Water Effect and Chaos. Of course this is probably more of a coincidence than anything else and in the case of Chiller, the Spider went up the year before the track layout was changed and not just before it was removed. Still, this has led to some speculation that perhaps Medusa might get a X2 style facelift, adding a soundtrack and special effects. According to Screamscape sources however, this is not the case at all and simply a case of people with “too much time on their hands.”

2010 - Hurricane Harbor Expansion - Rumor - (10/21/08) While just on the verge of Hurricane Harbor finally adding a new attraction, we’ve now heard from a very reliable source that the waterpark might not get a new slide at all next year due to some budget cuts. The new attraction may be cut entirely or delayed until 2010.
  (10/20/08) The latest rumors about the new slide coming to Hurricane Harbor indicate that the park was looking over various plans for a Mat Racer slide since they really do need something with high capacity. Anyone know more?
  (9/5/08) According to a reader, during the Gold Carousel Awards, the President of the park (Mark Kane) confirmed that Hurricane Harbor would get a new attraction next season, however the plans to add anything to the main park had not been finalized yet.
  (7/6/08) From what I’ve been told some orange paint construction markings on trees have been discovered in Hurricane Harbor for whatever the 2009 project is.
  (7/1/08) Sources tell us that it seems fairly certain right now that Hurricane Harbor will finally add a new attraction in 2009. Since I believe this may be the only major Six Flags waterpark without a Tornado slide, they’ll probably start with by adding one since Tornado’s generally have scored high marks in the industry for guest satisfaction.
  (5/28/08 - Edited) While it may still be a bit early to say anything for sure, we’ve heard that Hurricane Harbor may finally add a new attraction in 2009 if the budget comes through for the year. The separate gate waterpark has actually never received any kind of expansion or new attraction since 2001.

2010-2012 - Dive Machine - Rumor - (10/15/07) The early buzz for 2009 or 2010 indicates that the park may be one of the first Six Flags parks to get a B&M Dive Machine. I’ve also heard a similar rumor last month for Six Flags Great America, so either both may get it or more likely it will come down to a choice of which parks needs it more or deserves it more. We’ve see what Busch did with the concept, so with the ball in Six Flags court, will they expand or simplify the design of the Dive Machine concept?