Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas will have an all-steel track when it opens for the 2011 season. The hybrid wood-steel coaster also will be 10 feet taller and have a 79-degree drop, the steepest on a wooden coaster. The new track will give a smoother ride, and the track will have the ability to bank at 95 degrees, the steepest banking on a wooden coaster.
Texas Giant was closed in November for a yearlong rehab for the 50th anniversary of the park. The renovations will cost $10 million. The wooden track is being replaced with red I-beams.
For more, visit NBC DFW. For a video of some of the changes, visit The Dallas Morning News.
See also: Renovation of The Texas Giant begins with demolition
Tags: six flags, Six Flags over Texas, Texas Giant
They'd better hope nobody announces a wood coaster for 2011 with more elements than theirs.
I would really like to ride it though when they are done with it.
Wow. This is more of an altering off the original wooden model than El Toro. Will this make it Gemini like?
Wow! I TOTALLY didn't see this coming. It really will be like a brand new coaster. I wonder who is on the contract for it. Is it like an aftermarket Intamin pre-fab? Regardless sounds like one heckuva ride and I think I may need to make a trek out to Texas again.
I too would like to see who is doing this rehab because holy cow that is good enough for me to go to Texas to see this bad boy in action.
I just wish they would have left it alone and built new. They are spending DOUBLE what the coaster was originally built for on a rehab...idk.
At first I thought the coaster trains were going to be gasoline/battery powered. My bad.
Well, in reality, you'd probably be able to make an overbank with traditional wooden track, you'd just have to engineer it with a load of extra supports and make sure that it's kinda forceless. But frankly, with the steel track, it's basically now a Mini Hyper. While I don't mind seeing another mini hyper, I think it's a bit redundant when you have Titan.
Crap. Now this took away Seabreeze's Bobsleds' title of being the only "wood turned steel" coaster in history.
A steel coaster with wood supports...is a steel coaster.
I'm mindful of its roots. I'm not taking the title away as weird as looking at these new supports and track pieces are. Jerry Jones would do all this if he was into coasters. I think this coaster would compliment Titan quite well. A coaster train should be called Volt. Prius is not cool or relatable enough.
Sounds like this is going to be a totally different ride than it was in the past....maybe even be better than it was in its glory years....maybe even return to the #1 spot again in the rankings (crosses my fingers).
All I know is something had to be done to this ailing (but once top) coaster.
RJ is right- it isn't a wooden coaster any more. I hope it turns out great, but it won't be a wood coaster any more than Gemini is.
I'm gonna coin a new term for this coaster with its new track system..."Texas Hybrid".
After hearing many complains about how rough the coaster was I was thrilled to hear they have plans to rehab it. i new the price tag was high but SFI had this trend of adding Cheesy scenery at a high price tag. But Then I hear this. A steel track replacing the wood track. it turns The one Wood Texas Giant into a steel coaster. It is no more a Wood Coaster ten any of the Mine trains out there that also have a wood support with steel track.
95-degree banking and a 79-degree drop. Steepest for a wooden coaster, but this'll no longer be wooden. I wonder how it'll feel. It's a shame I never got to ride it as a woodie. Now I'll just have to ride the steel-wood hybrid version.
I think this move is going to really change the public's view of "wooden" coasters. Guests will see how smooth Texas Giant is, and they'll still think it's wooden. So Judge Roy Scream and other woodies they ride will feel rough and terrible to them.
Chip has a point about public perception and we know Six Flags will market this ride as a new upgraded wooden coaster experience. It has to be better than Excalibur at Valleyfair! Would it become the third mine train at SFOT?
Down fall is the Media often knows too little and will simply post what SF says. We'll just have to attempt to teach the public the truth.
YouTube - Texas Giant Overhaul
^ Yes, that's the video linked in the article. Nice of that guy to steal it from the Morning News.
Wait, Gemini isn't a wooden coaster?
It's all a marketing tool I guess when it comes down to it. I'd love to ride it for sure, but we'll never hear the end of the debate on this one I'm sure.
I agree it's all marketing. but this is a huge stretch from calling a Used ride new because it's new to that park.
I like how the guy in the video referred to it as a "cross breed."
If Six Flags is calling this a wooden coaster, can I start calling The Voyage and Hades steel? I will say that I like that the new steel track has traditional woodie-shaped rails. I wonder how that will feel? Maybe we can call this a Stwooden coaster? LOL
I'm glad they're doing this. My last ride on the Texas Giant was easily rougher than any coaster I've ever been on. It's amazing to me that they're actually going to be able to make the ride 10 feet taller. When the ride reopens, it will most likely be way better than Titan and will probably be named the best coaster in Texas.
Whatever it's called....call it a wood, call it a steel, I don't care! I just can't wait to try this reborn coaster.
Yeah, we do have a lot of great coasters here in Texas, even if the golden tickets seem to disagree with that.
I know the Texas Titan is further enhanced over Goliath at SFMM but let's not forget the fiery tunnel of Texas heat on that first drop.
Will the new Texas Giant please eliminate the MCBR? I'm guessing the over bank will be over the lift hill.
As others have already said, it's not a wooden coaster anymore from how it sounds. It also sounds like it's a totally new coaster when it opens. So wood or steel, it wouldn't be the Texas Giant anymore. It does sound interesting though. If it works out and is a great ride, maybe Cedar Point could learn something...Mean Streak.
Is Mean streak Such a great design that it woudl merit a 10+ million rehab. They could remove it add a GCI which would be likely much higher rated and open up room for a lot more attractions.
The problem with Mean Streak isn't roughness. The ride is rather smooth for such an old woodie. The problem is the overuse of trims all around the ride. It is ridiculous. Instead of screaming through some turns, the train more so yawns through the turns. It is just a rather boring ride. If the engineers can't work on unleashing the speed on the ride, then it is a total loss. Making it a hybrid will do nothing for it. If anything, it is time that Cedar Point make a forest fire out of it and replace it with something better.
To keep things on topic, I think it will make for a great coaster although a little disappointing that it won't be a real wooden coaster. It's also sad since I never got to ride it. Even it has went downhill over the years, it would have still been nice to ride it. I'm always glad I got to ride Son of Beast in it's original form as well as without the loop regardless of how bad that ride was.
May Son of Beast and Mean Streak hopebully get burned to the ground in the near future.
OK I get your point. Maybe we should have a Iron Horse future thread to talk about the track and other coasters.
As for Giant I don't get the point of investing 10 million in such an old Woodie to make it steel. If the coaster that popular or A staple of the park that it couldn't have been removed and replaced by a more modern woodie.
First I wanna say that Mean Streak is a terrible ride and needs to be burned.
Second, I'm sure they know what they're doing, but it seems to me the HUGE steel track, and the I-Beams that cross to support it weigh a lot more than the previous wood track and are going to put a lot more stress on the structure of the ride. Maybe even create long term damage not too far into the future.
My hopes is that SF will be satisfied with this refurbishment, and will perhaps end up doing the same to Colossus at Magic Mountain in the not so distant future. Hell, maybe that "double down" will return with it, bringing some ejector air to So Cal.
Also, who the hell gave that guy at SF Over Texas his job? He could not have sounded more unprepared to announce anything.
Colossus at SFMM already has a steel lift hill. It's I-beams. Parts of American Eagle at SFGAm have steel I-beams too.
Second, I'm sure they know what they're doing, but it seems to me the HUGE steel track, and the I-Beams that cross to support it weigh a lot more than the previous wood track and are going to put a lot more stress on the structure of the ride. Maybe even create long term damage not too far into the future.
My hopes is that SF will be satisfied with this refurbishment, and will perhaps end up doing the same to Colossus at Magic Mountain in the not so distant future. Hell, maybe that "double down" will return with it, bringing some ejector air to So Cal.
Also, who the hell gave that guy at SF Over Texas his job? He could not have sounded more unprepared to announce anything.
Secondly, the new track weighs almost the same as the old track - look it up.
Thirdly, if all of this does work, would you really want every wooden coaster to become non-wooden?
Lastly, I have to agree that the Six Flags guy wasnot the best presenter of news.
Keep posting!
lol Hank. Short and sweet, but to the point. Not only that but I could be wrong, let's just call it a hunch. But I think for $10 million, somewhere in that figure they paid a structural engineer a bit of money to figure out what type of difference the steel would make on the wooden structure. I mean Six Flags has done some dumb things in the past, but NO ONE is stupid enough to not consult an engineer first before putting into plans such a change to a roller coaster. Now onto Colossus: There is no way in the world Six Flags is spending that kind of money on such an old wooden coaster that has lost much of it's luster and popularity over the years. The lines are always short for that coaster, so why waste money on it when the benefit is zero reward? If anything, Six Flags needs to work on that ride making it's way back to the station all the time and not getting stuck somewhere. That has always been an issue. Last but not least, although it is not as popular as it used to be, Colossus is a classic ride. To change it would be just plain criminal. That is like making Beast a hybrid. Members of ACE would boycott the place to say the least.
Everything's bigger in Texas treatment I say. It's worth the try down there.
Thanks for informing me guys about Colossus' steel work. That was news to me.
Secondly, the new track weighs almost the same as the old track - look it up.
Thirdly, if all of this does work, would you really want every wooden coaster to become non-wooden?
Lastly, I have to agree that the Six Flags guy wasnot the best presenter of news.
Second, I said "I'm sure they know what they're doing" or "engineers have already made sure it's safe." I was simply commenting on the long term effects the steel may have on the wood structure if it did in fact weigh significantly more.
To be honest, I don't "look up" the differences in weight between the old wood and new steel track-in fact, that's why I come here- to get answers to questions that may not be a google check away. But I definitely don't bring it up to be talked down to like I'm dumb...if I want that, I'll go get my questions answered by Robb at TPR.
Third, I didn't say that every wood coaster should become non-wooden if this works out. I said that Colossus needs something done if SF expects to run it for another decade, and a refurb like this might make it a completely different ride that could offer some elements not already in the park.
Last, its always nice to agree on something.
This is going to be better in layout than Excalibur at Valleyfair! for steel on wood. I still like traveling within the structure of wooden coasters.
So this will be like Cheetah, but flipped around ( Steel on Wood instead of Wood on Steel). Would this be considered a coaster retro-mod?