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Airtime&Gravity
10-05-2007, 06:06 PM
New Wooden Roller Coaster, Evel Knievel, Rides into Six Flags St. Louis 2008

New thrill ride marks park’s fourth consecutive year of capital expansion

St. Louis – September 27, 2007 – Continuing its tradition of providing park guests with new and exciting thrills each season, Six Flags St. Louis announced today plans for its latest addition: Evel Knievel. This $7 million wooden wonder is unlike any of the park’s existing eight coasters. Evel Knievel, the park’s third wooden coaster, is a compact twister by Great Coasters International, Inc. which will present an impressive visual from I-44 and a formidable challenge in person.

“The unpredictability and high energy of this coaster makes it the perfect way to pay tribute to the king of adrenaline, Evel Knievel,” said David Roemer, President of Six Flags St. Louis.

A daredevil’s dream, the 2,700-ft. ride experience begins with an 80-ft. first drop at a 90° left turn angle, which is answered with a 55-ft. double down drop. Sixteen hills follow with camelbacks, a 40-ft. fan curve and multiple high-banked turns at up to 67° angles. Standing 82-ft. tall and traveling 50 mph, this intense coaster crosses over itself an incredible 14 times while making frequent and tight directional changes. Evel Knievel will boast two 24-passenger trains of GCI’s own Millennium Flyer cars specially designed to maneuver the ride’s sharp turns and high banks on a dime while providing an exceptionally smooth ride.

Evel Knievel, born in Butte, Montana in 1938, began his daredevil career in 1965 and over the next 12 years earned the name of America’s Legendary Daredevil for his heroic and death-defying feats. Through his eventful career, Evel had garnered international media attention for both his successful jumps and his amazing crashes. Some of his career highlights and best known feats include setting a world record for jumping 19 cars in Ontario, CA in 1971; flying over 50 cars stacked in the center of the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1973; jumping 14 Greyhound buses in Ohio in October of 1974 and soaring over Snake River Canyon in Idaho in his rocket powered “skycyle” that same year. They rival some of his more spectacular spills, including his jump over the fountains at Caesar’s Palace in 1968 and his leap over 13 double tiered buses in Wembley Stadium in 1975.

By the time he retired in the winter of 1976, Evel held the Guinness Book of World Records for the most broken bones and had also captured ABC’s Wide World of Sports largest TV viewing audience with his Ohio jump in 1974. Evel has also been immortalized in the Smithsonian Institute with his motorcycle and memorabilia display.

Evel Knievel is scheduled to open mid-summer 2008 and will be located in the front of the park near the Log Flume and the Moon Antique Cars. Six Flags St. Louis has brought its guests new and exciting experiences for the past four consecutive years with the addition of Tony Hawk’s Big Spin, a new family coaster, in 2007; the introduction of Bugs Bunny National Park, our new kids area, and SUPERMAN Tower Of Power, a free-fall ride, in 2006. And, in 2005, Tornado swept into Hurricane Harbor, Six Flags St. Louis’ water park which is offered free with theme park admission.


http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/files/evil1_174.jpg

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/files/evellogo300_982.jpg

I love SFSTL, and a near clone of Thunderbird(Power Land) will make it even better.

-Drop Zone-
10-05-2007, 06:17 PM
I hope they go with the old style Red White and Blue colors, but they probably won't :(

Brandon
10-05-2007, 11:24 PM
I hope they go with the old style Red White and Blue colors, but they probably won't :(
Well, really, it wouldnt fit the track itself. However, it would fit the trains perfectly. It's going to be intresting to see the design of the trains. Hopefully, the train gets a detailed paint scheme and not just some generic, plain colors with the coaster's logo slaped on the front of the train like how we see with oh so many other wooden coasters. I really do love this coaster's layout. The airtime on this bad boy is going to be really good, and I'm sure that during at least one part of this ride, youre going to feel like Evel Knievel on his motorcycle. I'm impressed with the track colors as well. They really remind me of colors you would see in a canyon, which was something Evel Knievel himself was well known for; Jumping canyons on his motorcycle.

IntaminFan007
10-05-2007, 11:42 PM
Although the layout probably is original, I think that the elements used are repetetive in GCI's.

Thrill Reconnoiter
10-05-2007, 11:59 PM
I hope they go with the old style Red White and Blue colors, but they probably won't :(
Like GASM: http://rollercoasterpro.com/gallery/sfog/gasm_i7.shtml...which I think would be awesome! The unfortunate thing is the cost to keep repainting the attraction, so I don't see it happening. Oh how I yearn for those staple days of past. :(


Although the layout probably is original, I think that the elements used are repetetive in GCI's.
It's a clone of: http://rcdb.com/ig2955.htm?picture=7

EDIT: No clone, see two below...

p0tat0
10-06-2007, 02:15 AM
The new woodies look awesome.

Thrill Reconnoiter
10-10-2007, 11:50 PM
I withdraw my clone statement. Though similar, they are indeed different.

The helix that wraps around the turnaround drop is flip-flopped:
http://rcdb.com/ig2955.htm?picture=1
http://www.screamscape.com/html/sfsl_-_evel_knievel_2.htm

I'm sure hills will be reshaped due to this.

Mike T
10-10-2007, 11:57 PM
Sorry for the mis-information about that. Although the designs are technically not clones of each other, the drop patters and the profiles of each individual parabolic segment are nearly carbon copied. Keep in mind that the rendering for Evil Knievel is just a layout, and the track pitches haven't been applied. That information comes from Evan, the kid who interned for GCII. Overall while technically they are not clones, I dont think anybody would notice much of a difference in ride design.

Voyage100
10-11-2007, 01:14 AM
Six Flags St. Louis has finally gotten a 'super smooth coaster'. I have thought like this since there were only rough coasters at the park, and Evel Knievel will bring us all 'amazing experience with many air floaters'.

jolash
11-02-2007, 08:13 AM
I thought it was worth noting that Screamscape just now pointed out that Evel Knievel is a near-clone of Thunderbird.

http://www.screamscape.com/html/six_flags_st__louis.htm

Top Thrill Dragster
11-30-2007, 05:05 PM
Evel Knievel has died!!!


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22045287/

Tom
11-30-2007, 05:08 PM
Wow, thats not good for Six Flags marketing. I wonder if they will keep same name or not. Thats a shame that he had to go, sad.

Thrill Reconnoiter
11-30-2007, 07:15 PM
Wow, thats not good for Six Flags marketing. I wonder if they will keep same name or not. Thats a shame that he had to go, sad.
Actually, I think this would help boost marketing. The could market it something like...

"A tribute the legend: Evel Knieval"

mitchellPAUL
12-01-2007, 12:28 AM
WOW.. I call that ironic. It's sad he died, but it's funny that as soon as six flags of all companies names a ride after him, he passes away.

Jake
12-01-2007, 12:37 AM
If I were Six Flags, I would take some serious consideration in changing the name.. Seems like bad juju to me.

theRock-steel
12-01-2007, 06:54 PM
I plan to go to Missouri in 2009. I hope that the new GCI will use Millennium Flyer trains; they are one of the many things that made Lightning Racer and Thunderhead great for me.

Thrill Reconnoiter
12-01-2007, 08:20 PM
I plan to go to Missouri in 2009. I hope that the new GCI will use Millennium Flyer trains; they are one of the many things that made Lightning Racer and Thunderhead great for me.
It will have the Millennium Flyers.

I can't imagine how Wildcat feels now with the Millennium Flyers. Must be night and day.

Tom
12-01-2007, 08:38 PM
There is probably a 95% chance I will be going there next year on a road trip to Louisville. It will be my first wooden coaster with Millennium Flyer trains, thats exciting.

Sam
12-31-2007, 05:30 PM
The coaster has gone vertical recently.

http://www.sixflagsstlouis.net/updates/2008/images/20071227/20071227d.jpg

http://www.sixflagsstlouis.net/updates/2008/20071227.htm

Michael
12-31-2007, 07:49 PM
^ Jeez that's a steep drop :eek:

Looks like another classic GCI is gonna be a good one too :D

Airtime&Gravity
01-02-2008, 09:33 PM
This is probably my favorite new coaster for next year, and it will fit in well at SFSTL. While they already have two wooden coasters, they are both really popular, and a third wooden coaster should also be popular. The layout is pretty good, and while I don't like the fact that it is being built on a slab of concrete, it should fit in nicely when completer.

Hopefully GCI is also able to re-track Boss, and if the park gets Millennium Flyers, then Boss could be a top 10-25 ride.

Jake
04-02-2008, 03:34 PM
So.. does anyone know what is going on with this coaster? It seems like it fell out of the spotlight pretty quickly.

Airtime&Gravity
04-04-2008, 06:52 PM
^Construction is going well with many major elements completely or nearly finished. At this point, it is expected that the opening date will be pushed up from July 4 to mid June.

Voyage100
04-05-2008, 08:41 AM
^ Just like Maverick's Opening Day at Cedar Point was extended when they found some problems on the track. I think the opening date for this ride will be pushed up, in order to prepare a smooth riding for the guests.

Airtime&Gravity
04-05-2008, 07:57 PM
^Maverick opened late because the zero-G/barrel roll pulled to many Gs.

I just checked an update, and it seems much of the structural work is finished. I expect construction to finish by the end of the month at the latest, and testing shouldn't take long after that.

sirloin
04-07-2008, 05:40 PM
^ Just like Maverick's Opening Day at Cedar Point was extended when they found some problems on the track. I think the opening date for this ride will be pushed up, in order to prepare a smooth riding for the guests.Yes because GCII wooden coasters and Intamin multi-mode LSM coasters are so heavily similar...

I think one thing that impresses me about this ride is how well it plays into SFSTL's role as being arguably one of the better parks for wooden coasters, at least for Six Flags. My only main concern is if it will have overly sustainable popularity compared to the other 2 woodies that have some serious terrain interaction.

Time will tell, I suppose, and in all fairness, GCII has yet to do wrong by me. Hey, even more reason to go to a park I'm already itching to go to.

Voyage100
04-12-2008, 08:12 PM
[quote]Yes because GCII wooden coasters and Intamin multi-mode LSM coasters are so heavily similar...[quote/]

I strongly agree with you. As long as I try to search all about them, I can find them 'Yes, they both could have some problems.'

Dan
04-12-2008, 09:52 PM
He was being sarcastic (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sarcasm).

It is being pushed up, not back. It will probably open sooner than we all thought at first, as opposed to later.

Michael
06-20-2008, 02:17 PM
I honestly think everyone forgot about this :p

Well it opens today, here were some construction pictures from a few months ago:

http://www.sixflags.com/stLouis/rides/constructionphotos.aspx

There isn't much on this ride, not even rcdb has any photos.

vekoma9
06-20-2008, 07:25 PM
I would actually like to ride. This ride seems like it will be a hit in the midwest. GCI's are just the best because they have those ride elements that other firms do not have. You are always promised ejector air on a GCI and that is what I love about it.

Don't even trip lol it opened yesterday: http://www.screamscape.com/html/six_flags_st__louis.htm

Airtime&Gravity
07-06-2008, 09:50 AM
I rode Evel Knievel on Friday, and it is a really good ride. The coaster is very smooth, and the sensation of speed is great. The ride is a lot like Avalanche, but I don't think it will stay like that for long, as I see trims being added soon. As for what other people thought, most teenagers hated it, and all but one family loved it.

Steelinwood
07-06-2008, 01:09 PM
Hmmm... I wonder if this will be simmilar to magic mountains...Hmmm