Goliath at Six Flags Great America Construction Thread

[Coasterkidmwm]

The complete overbanked turn thing looks absurd from the highway, and that trench is much larger than I thought. Always thought it was weird they decided to cheat again for speed like they did with the Eagle when it was built.

[Goku1910]

Coasterkidmwm wrote:

The complete overbanked turn thing looks absurd from the highway, and that trench is much larger than I thought. Always thought it was weird they decided to cheat again for speed like they did with the Eagle when it was built.

I don't consider it cheating when Great America is so close to residential areas.....I have been to some of the Zoning Board meetings and you should hear the rage coming from the residents. The tunnel helps to shut them up.

[Oscar]

What follows is 10 brand new spanking pictures! Check them out:

[TTD03]

Looks kool!

[Coasterkidmwm]

Badass pictures! I'm assuming the new wooden building they're making is going to be the onride photo place?

[TTD03]

I would say yes to that, but idk.

Those headchoppers going into and coming out of the first overbank will be pretty cool

[Oscar]

From our good friends over at Six Flags Great America, I present you the following video:

Goliath @SixFlagsGreatAmerica Filmed With A GoPro Helicopter Cam


(watch it in HD)

Thanks guys!

Goku1910 wrote:

Coasterkidmwm wrote:

The complete overbanked turn thing looks absurd from the highway, and that trench is much larger than I thought. Always thought it was weird they decided to cheat again for speed like they did with the Eagle when it was built.

I don't consider it cheating when Great America is so close to residential areas.....I have been to some of the Zoning Board meetings and you should hear the rage coming from the residents. The tunnel helps to shut them up.

It would seem that if you bought a house near an amusement park, you have no room to bitch.

[mkingy]

NightwindElf wrote:

Goku1910 wrote:

Coasterkidmwm wrote:

The complete overbanked turn thing looks absurd from the highway, and that trench is much larger than I thought. Always thought it was weird they decided to cheat again for speed like they did with the Eagle when it was built.

I don't consider it cheating when Great America is so close to residential areas.....I have been to some of the Zoning Board meetings and you should hear the rage coming from the residents. The tunnel helps to shut them up.

It would seem that if you bought a house near an amusement park, you have no room to bitch.

What if your family owned that house before the amusement park was built / any tall rides were built? I think its a bit naive to assume that these people brought these houses after anything large scale was built near them.

[Goku1910]

NightwindElf wrote:

Goku1910 wrote:

Coasterkidmwm wrote:

The complete overbanked turn thing looks absurd from the highway, and that trench is much larger than I thought. Always thought it was weird they decided to cheat again for speed like they did with the Eagle when it was built.

I don't consider it cheating when Great America is so close to residential areas.....I have been to some of the Zoning Board meetings and you should hear the rage coming from the residents. The tunnel helps to shut them up.

It would seem that if you bought a house near an amusement park, you have no room to bitch.

You should have been to the Chang debacle. One woman lost her mind. The Gurnee meetings are quite entertaining because not only do the residents make stupid comments but so does the board....I believe at Goliath's meeting one member suggested making the tunnel deeper to null the need for a height variance.....that would make the tunnel nearly 100 feet deep.

Here's how the meetings go:
1) Agenda
2) Propose ride
3) Resident Comments
4) Review
5) Approval

Gurnee's Zoning Board never denies a height variance because SFGAm is a cash cow. You know Gurnee loves the tourism and tax revenue....so residents literally get ignored.

I would have liked to see what RMC could have done with a bit more room, the brakes are higher than it first looked like it would be

[Coasterkidmwm]

http://content.sixflags.com/comingin201 ... a/goliath/

They're working on the lift and the half loop section of the dive loop thingy now. Check out the construction cam!

[Goku1910]

Coasterkidmwm wrote:

http://content.sixflags.com/comingin2014/greatamerica/goliath/

They're working on the lift and the half loop section of the dive loop thingy now. Check out the construction cam!

how about a larger, direct link to that camera :O

http://sixflags.truelook.com/index.jsp? ... 1380039721

[Oscar]

More pics! Thanks to SFGA for providing them

[mkingy]

That dive looks actually unreal.

[TTD03]

I agree, it looks great!

[Coasterkidmwm]

It's way more snappy looking than I thought it would be.

EDIT: They're working on the bottom of the first drop now, and the lift looks above 1/3 done

[Goku1910]

My only concern is the station and Queue line....We're going to have this awesome new ride, but everything else will look like crap.

[TTD03]

Update!

While the harsh winter we just experienced did set crews back slightly, Six Flags Great America's Goliath is within weeks of giving its first rides. Crews have been busy working on the instillation of the ride's massive lift hill, which also supports the ride's unique Inverted Zero-G Stall element.

Aside from that undertaking, much work has been completed on the station and entrance, including the towering entrance sign you can see being lifted into place above.

With the lift hill and drop still going up, the rest of Goliath's elements are nearly complete. Above is a fun shot of the ride's 180 Degree Zero-G Roll, which is followed immediately by an Inverted Drop. That combination is a first for any wooden coaster, and will no doubt be one of a long list of highlights from a ride on Goliath. The park has shared some recent photos of the coaster's construction, and also released a new Goliath Insider video, embedded below. It contains great shots of the lift going up taken just days ago.

Source

[TTD03]

Update!
Goliath has been topped off!

The Goliath has peaked at Six Flags Great America! Crews carefully lifted the final piece of the steel lift hill/drop support structure for Goliath into place a few days ago. With so much of the ride already complete, now that the lift is up the ride should come together very quickly.

This image, looking down the ride's record breaking 180 foot, 85 degree first drop, makes me a bit nauseous, but in the best of ways! The ride plunges trains down that drop at 72 miles per hour and into a tunnel - which it passes through once more later in the ride. It goes without saying that Six Flags Great America's Goliath is one of the most highly anticipated new for 2014 roller coasters on the globe.

And just where did these amazing images come from? Duane Marden, the man behind the Roller Coaster Database, took his drone up to take video of the topping off. Check out all the amazing views:

Source

I still think lift is kind of cheating with wood vs. steel, but thats an argument only few people care about. Either way this looks like a fun ride that I hope I can afford to take a trip out there in a few months. It does give me hopes for what RMC can do with a lot more space

[mkingy]

Yeah, I agree CKidd - but I think we need to stop judging rides by what they're made of and more by what experience they offer. I doubt this type of ride will give as muhc of an "out of control" feeling a true woodie does - but it certainly offers something completely different!

[TTD03]

I agree, this ride will just be, different...

[TTD03]

Update!
Here's some more awesome photos and video for you all!