Record Highs & Shocking Lows: The History of Six Flags Great Adventure, Episode 4

[Music] as Thursday's morning fog cleared There Rose King DEA this is just too Monumental to miss it's the moment we've been waiting for I've never seen anything that looks that menacing that's half the fun the anticipation and once you're strapped in it's too late [Music] [Music] as 2004 was coming to an end Six Flags was searching for answers Bill Gates and Daniel Snyder were heavily invested and wanted change at the top and Snyder poured over $34 million into the company and took his seat as chairman of the board the looming financial disaster of the parent company was not evident at Great Adventure as a big new secret project was unfolding next to Great American Scream Machine the season passed holder parking lot would be closed off along with the season pass entry gate the park also announced that Bugs Bunny land would close in September but due to public backlash they kept it open until the Park closed after frightfest at the end of September the cat was let out of the bag and it was bigger than anyone could have ever imagined a golden Kingdom has been discovered at six flag's great adventure and Rising above it all the tallest fastest roller coaster on earth king daa you will hit 128 mph and soore 456 ft in the air it's a whole new Great Adventure King DEA would take home the record for world's tallest and fastest coaster those being set 2 years prior by top throw Dragster at Cedar Point that being built by intimin and using hydraulic launch King DEA would be the same model just with slight modifications it would launch Riders from 0 to 128 mph in 3.5 seconds rising up 456 ft and spiraling down going into a giant hill before the ride ends this would be part of a brand new area of the park called the Golden Kingdom a jungle themed section that would feature tigers and other animals Six Flag CEO Kieran Burke said this is the first step in a process of really transforming six fl's great adventure from the largest regional theme park in the world to a true Regional destination they hoped this would bring visitors from multiple days from Virginia to New England however the nearest hotel was 10 mi from the park and there was no plan to build a hotel on site to compensate the parked work with hotels nearby to offer discounts on room and tickets the 2004 season closed with 2.8 million guests dipping below 3 million they achieved when they opened Superman in 2003 not having added or removed any attractions Six Flags was hoping for a chain wide 5% Improvement in 2005 and that would be largely driven by Great Adventures new Investments this would also include balance jungle land a new kids area with four re themed rides replacing the former Bugs Bunny land they would also introduce Safari Express where guests could board a shuttle bus into the wild safari for $99 9 per person or $5 for season passholders there would also be a new 1,000 seat theater hosting the show called Spirit of the tiger featuring Tigers acrobats dancers and other entertainment when the park opened in late March King DEA was not ready the park stating its debut was still weeks away in April the park started an eBay auction for the first Riders the bidding starting at $456 for every foot tall the ride is the proceeds going to the Children's Miracle Network the winning bid for the first ride in the front row went for $1,000 $6 69166 the event would raise almost $116,000 it was supposed to open on Saturday April 23rd but a few days prior the park confirmed it would be delayed Great Adventure guests would have to watch and wait for this Behemoth for almost a month then on May 21st it finally opened its doors to anxious Riders Riders were stunned by The Experience between the punch of the launch the sheer speed of 128 M an hour the slow crest of the 456 ft Peak and the Twist on the way down that keeps you from seeing the track while you're dropping a ride so Innovative and Powerful would not be without its problems after being open for about 2 and 1/2 weeks on June 8th during a test run the ride had a major malfunction a piece of liner covering the trough under the tracks broke apart damaging a bunch of other parts and right away the park announced it would be down for several weeks the park would also close down Viper and start to dismantle it the Togo coaster that came to the park in 1995 and gained a bad reputation as being a painful ride King de cost closure would last until the first week of August almost 2 months after shutting down and the parked hoped to boost their attendance after the ride had missed the majority of the summer another problem closed the ride right before Labor Day and the park was scrambling to get it back open for the big weekend King daa was not the only thing having problems late in the summer in August Dan Snider led the board to fire CEO Kieran Burke replacing him with ESPN's Mark Shapiro the next week six flag put itself up for sale saddled with $2.3 billion of long-term debt paying $200 million a year in interest alone it was clear their shopping spree of the late '90s was a big mistake Ned DT served as president of Six Flags from 1973 to 1982 and he said the string of purchases did not make sense I think there was a Mania no question this acquisition Mania put them into all kinds of properties they just couldn't bring value to as this was going on rumors started swirling about another big expansion coming to Great Adventure including the possibility of a record-breaking wooden coaster and two new themed areas at the end of September it was confirmed and it was spectacular El Toro the world's greatest wooden roller coaster has been Unleashed El Toro do you have the guts do you for the second straight Year great adventure would see a major expansion 10 acres of rides covering two new themed areas trying to add enough to the park to officially make it a multi-day destination El Tor would be a wooden coaster but a wood use laser cut track pre-fabricated from intimus Factory 181 ft tall and 4,400 ft long it would have the steepest drop on a wooden coaster at 76° it would use the land occupied by Viper and even use the same station this would be the main attraction of Plaza Day carnival and it would be joined by Bugs Bunny National Park a new kids area with six rides finally Great Adventure submitted plans for a 500 room Hotel on the property this set to open in the spring of 2007 by the end of 2005 Six Flags took themselves off the market and decided to move their headquarters out of Oklahoma City and into New York City the stated goal was to be closer to the entertainment industry but it also made great adventure the closest part to the new headquarters Mark Shapiro was at the helm now but it was clear that he was not a big fan of El Toro or any major coaster for that matter building a big coaster for attendants and profits that's a recipe for disaster he said you can't top Yourself by building a blockbuster ride every year it just added too much to the debt Shapiro's Vision was to appeal the families it was cheaper and would bring in clientele that would spend more money in the parks for Great Adventure that would mean more characters in the park Six Flags had just signed a deal with DC Comics to add the Justice League Heroes and those characters would join the Looney Tunes characters and they would take part in the new brunch with bugs families paying a premium to eat with the characters per the newly hired general manager of Great Adventure Ron severt a child shaking hands with Batman is just as valuable as a child getting a ride on one of these coasters there would also be more parades and a no smoking policy except for designated areas several rides would be removed at the end of the year including chaos and Rodeo Stampede that came to the park in 1999 rotor which opened a year after the park but they would add a new family ride in Plaza Day carnival Tango even with the new management focused on Family Rides El Toro was getting ready for its grand opening in mid June and once it welcomed in its New Riders it became not just a contender for the best ride of 2006 but a contender for the best ride in the world per Ace member coting Steve O'Donnell it's the best coaster of any kind I've ever ridden it's better than I ever thought thought I knew it would be good but it's incredible others marveled at the pre-fabricated wooden track offering a wooden coaster experience unlike anything else in America it's one of the best coasters ever built it's the smoothest wooden coaster on the planet one day after El Toro's grand opening Mark Shapiro issued his mandate for change every day we find something that's wrong with this company it's a total fixup I'm trying to lose the image of a Teenage loitering Park to become a familyfriendly park I want to turn Six Flags into an interactive Supermarket of entertainment to help payoff debt shapira also explored selling off six of their parks that included magam Mountain one of the Chain's Flagship parks that was packed with huge coasters but that did not meet Shapiro's Vision that didn't happen but several smaller Parks were sold off at the beginning of 2007 he would also put out a guest code of conduct focus on profanity and a dress code the price of tickets would also rise to $59.99 to keep the teenagers away and that did hurt their overall attendants numbers by as much as 14% while El Toro was thrilling guests King DEA had a better season despite a 3-we closure in April on the other hand Batman and Robin the chiller was having its own problems in June the robin side had a wheel assembly break apart causing damage to the track and train it would be shut down for the rest of 2006 and Premier rides came in to fix the ride they would redesign the wheel assembly and remove the zero g rolls before the spikes this would allow the robin side to reopen for 2007 but the Batman side would remain closed 2007 would not see another huge coaster instead the park would open a fourth area for kids Wiggles world this would be the third straight year with a new kids area located in front of the Looney tun Seaport this was using land that had been used by Riptide the log flume that had opened his hydr FL in 1975 that was removed before the 2007 season along with stut man's freef fall that was added in 1983 also gone with spinmeister the Enterprise that was added in 1979 and Alcatraz ride the upcharge attraction that was added in 2001 removing old riots was another strategy by Mark Shapiro cutting labor and operating costs and there was another huge Purge at the end of the year this included flying wave a park original space shuttle the ride that opened is looping Starship in 1985 Movie Town water effect the shoot the shoots ride that opened in 1987 to splashwater Falls and Batman and Robin the chiller it only operated one year after being overhauled the Batman side never seeing action Robin going solo and 2007 would prove to be the final year Great Adventure would lose a coaster but would not walk away empty-handed the park would still get coasters under Mark Shapiro they would just look a lot different a world of Darkness rages an epic battle between good and evil in a journey so Twisted so insane You'll wish it was only a movie because if you are not afraid of the dark you will be the all new Dark Knight coaster at the cost of $7.5 million Great Adventure would be one of 36 Flex parks to receive the Dark Knight coaster this was set to open alongside the Blockbuster summer hit of 2008 sharing the same name starring Christian Bale as Batman and Heath Ledger as Joker it would be a mock rides wild mouse coaster inside a giant show building having a themed queue and keeping his theme throughout the ride it would fit Shapiro's Vision as a family-friendly coaster and playing off the popularity of the biggest movie to open that year Six Flags was banking on The Dark Night being big for them as by the end of 2007 things went from bad to worse attendance was plummeting and so were profits 2007 marked 9 years since the company turned a profit this was a long-term spot viral and it was only made worse with a bad economy that led to a $10 price drop at the gate from $59.99 to $49.99 Six Flags also looked to cut expenses by slashing their advertising budget 2008 turned out to be a good year attendance was up and the park had yet another new general manager Mark Kane coming over from Six Flags New England and he quadrupled the security Force added way more trash cans and emphasized customer service training the park had gained a reputation of being dirty guests were Rowdy and employees didn't enforce the rules the focus to clean up the Park's image along with a dark knight coaster helped the park have a successful year and Six Flags as a whole pulled out of their tail spin but it was too little too late the economy finally crashed in the fall of 2008 and the credit markets made it very hard to refinance their $2.5 billion debt as they scrambled to find a way to pay back investors in June 2009 Six Flags filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy this would have massive implications for the park on a long-term scale but when it came to the 2009 season it was business as usual the bad economy made filling all those positions easier as people were looking for work and the park was hoping that people would look for entertainment locally saving money by coming a great adventure instead of going out of town they didn't have any new rides for 2009 but one of their biggest coasters would have a brand new look meduso was celebrating his 10th anniversary but it would be repainted and re themed now Bizarro the Superman theme coaster having INRI elements to enhance the ride experience as Six Flags was negotiating the restructuring plan Great Adventure was trying to play the cards they were given in the best way possible Mark Kane noted that in this economy their guests are real bargain hunters trying to look for the best deal they dropped their season pass price for 2010 $69.99 for the play pass that being good for Great Adventure and all the Six Flag Parks Nationwide for $10 more you could get the two Park path that includes the Safari and for $99.99 you could get all of that plus Hurricane Harbor the big new attraction for 2010 would be in Hurricane Harbor this was tornado a water slide with a giant vortex at the end the one thing missing from Great Adventure enture in 2010 would be their motion simulator opening in 1994 as the right stuff Mack 1 Adventure being reemed over the years the latest iteration being Fly Me to the Moon during that 2010 season the park brought on a new president Mark Kane was out John Fitzgerald was in he started his career working in operations at Great Adventure coming back home from his current position in South Carolina Great Adventure also had its own fire department going back to the parks Inception and this program was officially terminated in 2010 the parks revice Safety Division taking over those duties this local shakeup mirror the massive changes from the top the Six Flags headquarters were moved out of New York City and into Dallas and Mark Shapiro was out as CEO replaced by Jim Reed Anderson the chaos that was Six Flags in the late 2000s would actually work out to Great Adventures Advantage as they were getting ready to welcome in a major coaster looking for a new home in Brightest Day in Blackest Night no evil shall Escape my sight let those who worship evils might beware my power Green Lanterns light when Six Flags went bankrupt they had to abandon Kentucky Kingdom the land the park sat on was leased and they were unable to reach an agreement with the Kentucky state fair board the park would not open for the 2010 season and Six Flags removed their massive B&M standup coaster called Chang and decided it would be best served at great adventure to make room for the new ride the park had to say goodbye to their 21-year-old arom Mega Looper Great American Scream Machine Chang would take on a new DC theme Green Lantern wanning to align with the new Green Lantern movie coming out in the summer of 2011 they would also be adding slingshot the upcharge attraction that replaced eruption removed at the end of the 2010 season a new themed area called Adventure Seaport would open in the back corner of the park that being where Nitro is and their contract with the Wiggles came to an end in 2010 so Wiggles world became Safari kids and the rides had to be reemed coming off a solid 2010 season Great Adventure was looking for a new marketing Angle now they would advertise the main Park the Safari and Hurricane Harbor as one property instead of three the Safari would have a new section called safari discoveries where guests could see newborn animals in a nursery in 2011 this would include two new bear cubs Green Lantern was ready for action on May 25th the first standup coaster in the park since Shockwave left almost 20 years prior the track would be entirely green except for the first 122 ft Loop that would be yellow symbolizing Green Lantern's weakness for yellow and his Nemesis The Parallax having taken the ride apart and reassembled over 4,100 ft of track while Bowser the VP to maintenance and construction said you put it together like a puzzle each piece was accurate to an eighth of an inch the Park's first major coaster in 5 years was a big hit and given Six Flags precarious financial situation big rides like this were few and far between a big change from where the park and chain were standing 10 years prior 2011 would be the final year for Turbo Bungie but four new rides would flood into the park in 2012 part of the new adventure alley section of the park taking a section from the west side of the fantasy Forest air jump the rotating elephants Deja Vu the Scrambler fender benders the bumper cars and SkyScreamer the 242t Funtime skyflyer build as an extreme swing this would open by inviting 30 Elvis impersonators to take the first ride in miday Hurricane Harbor would also add another big slide called king cobra standing five stories tall the park was finally seeing solid investment again and Six Flags Outlook was improving the company had $1 billion of Revenue in 2011 and a net income of $13.1 million giving confidence to investors in the stock price doubling from May 2010 to February 2012 playing off their successful grape Adventure wine tasting in the Safari the last 2 years Great Adventure would introduce brewhaha in 2012 guests could visit the old country picnic Grove and have their choice of 50 beers plus and all you can eat buffet while enjoying stand-up comedy tickets would range from $35 to $75 depending if you were a passholder and if you wanted to stay in the Park after July would bring about a pair of bird incidents first on Congo Rapids a goose landed on the conveyor belt and despite the efforts of The Operators to get it to move it would not so they restarted the ride and the goose would still not move so it was trapped and killed in front a guest the story sparking outrage among animal activists 11 days later a boy was injured when a pigeon hit him in the neck while riding King DEA returning to the station covered in feathers and blood his neck swelling up and great adventure offered to pay the boy's deductible from his trip to the hospital luckily he was not seriously injured while guests were getting up close and personal with animals in the park they would no longer be able to do so in the Safari and their own cars the park announced September 30th would be the final day for the do-it-yourself tour starting in 2013 the Safari would be part of Great Adventure now called safari off-road Adventure able to gain access from inside the park and thus making great adventure the world's largest theme park about 10 acres bigger than Disney's Animal Kingdom guests would board open air Safari vehicles and be escorted around the entire course this was the main attraction for the 2013 season and would roll out in late May when the park opened for the year in March they started with a benefit concert for the victims of super storm Sandy devastating the east coast of the US especially new jersey in October 2012 the headliners were Grammy winter Neo and the cast of MTV's Jersey Shore the concert would be free with Park admission and a portion of ticket sales would benefit the United Way For the First Time season passholders would be offered a dining pass $69.99 for a whole season of lunch and dinner an effort to try to get daily ticket holders to buy a season pass hurricane har would see yet another major addition this time it was the big wave racer where six sliders could race each other at a Time guest satisfaction was Rising as Six Flags was becoming more profitable the plan set in motion by Mark chapiro and carried on by Jim Reed Anderson was working focusing on family rids first and foremost and removing old and outdated riots that were no longer helping the park at the end of the 2013 season Great Adventure announced the closure of Rolling Thunder after 35 seasons and 42 million Riders the racing wooden coaster would be no more this would not sit well with everyone as one woman started a petition on change.org to save Rolling Thunder but it was to no avail already dwarf by its more modern wooden neighbor El Toro Rolling Thunder was dismantled except for one section that remains under El Toro a lasting tribute to part Gest who know where to look the park had good reason to remove the coaster they had to clear a path for something big something huge in fact something that reaches Heights that nobody had ever seen before thanks for watching episode four of this five-part documentary if you could drop a like and share this video with anyone who may be interested I would really appreciate it this is a massive project and I appreciate the support I also want to again thank Tom from Great Adventure history and the late Harry Applegate for being so nice and supportive with the project if you love great adventure and his history check out their amazing website that links down below stay tuned next week for the fifth and final episode as great Adventure Continues rebuilding from the depths of bankruptcy navigates a global pandemic and celebrates his 50th anniversary [Music]