29yrswithaGApass Posted June 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2011 According to Screamscape: 2012 - Waterpark Expansion - Rumor - (6/14/11) A new off the wall rumor has come in claiming that The Great Escape may be looking at removing the Alpine Bobsled in order to make more room for a waterpark expansion. Of course this does seem entirely plausible, as the ride is located next to the waterpark and has been bounced area from park to park (3 in total) since it was first built at SFGAdv in 1984. Although I don't think the first thing Great Adventure needs is ANOTHER coaster, I think the bobsled ride would be an EXCELLENT addition to Great Adventure's coaster collection. The ride could be a major addition to a revitalized Old Country section that could open in 2013, which happens to be the 25th anniversary of when the ride left Great Adventure. Great Escape's close proximity to Great Adventure would keep relocation costs to a minimum and the ride would be introduced to a whole new generation of park goers. It would make an excellent and much needed FAMILY addition to the park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiller Posted June 14, 2011 Report Share Posted June 14, 2011 I dont like it when big parks such as Great Adventure gets used rides, but when it is a ride that already been at the park, such as the Sarajevo Bobsleds, I think we deserve to have it back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batmanrobinchiller Posted September 1, 2011 Report Share Posted September 1, 2011 How was this ride? It looked interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted November 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2013 For those that didn't have an opportunity to enjoy the Sarajevo Bobsled while it was at Great Adventure, here is a video of the ride at the Great Escape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted July 1, 2014 Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 Today I was in the park and under the red and white striped tent I saw a bunch of old signs and thing from Great Adventure from years ago, including the brown sign to Sarajevo Bobsleds. I thought that it was really interesting that they still had all of this stuff, decades later. Too bad the room was locked and I could only see it through the glass window, really interesting though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAM527 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 This was and still is my favorite ride at Great Adventure. It was pretty cool to be on a coaster type ride without being on a track. I'm still mad that they removed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted February 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 There is a portion of my street that somehow was missed by the plow and has frozen rock solid. Whenever I drive over it my tires shift right into the frozen tracks from the other cars. Each time that happens it reminds me of the Sarajevo bobsleds running through the brake runs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrummer Posted March 17, 2017 Report Share Posted March 17, 2017 (edited) I rode this at Great Escape back around 2009, and loved it. I never got the opportunity to ride it at GA. There a similar ride a Knobels in central PA, called Flying Turns. The ride had quite a few problems related to ride smoothness over many years, and unfortunately I was there at a time they hadn't brought the coaster on line yet. As described in Wikipedia: Construction began in January 2006. In July 2007 the maintenance crew ran the first test car test runs which were completed successfully. Then in October 2007 the same crew ran the first powered complete test runs of the same test cars, and gave the roller coaster enthusiasts a tour during the Phoenix Phall Phunfest 2007. Later that month they began to run test runs of a five-car test train which will be the full length of the train. An initial delay was due to an issue with the roller coaster car's wheels. The wheels were shipped back to their manufacturer in California and the issue was corrected. However, the ride did not open by the end of the 2008 season due to the cars travelling too quickly for passenger comfort. According to Knoebels' website, the ride was to be opened during the 2009 season. The ride was re-tracked and profiled to accommodate new trains. In June 2011, Knoebels posted an update to their blog, stating "We've been testing the newest version of the Flying Turns ride vehicles and are VERY encouraged. There's still plenty of work to do but this is a very positive step in the right direction." They also posted to their Facebook page a video shot from a camera mounted on a prototype chassis. As of 26 May 2012, a section of track at the brake platform, as well as the brake platform itself, had been removed. As of 30 July 2012 the removed sections have been rebuilt to accommodate the newest trains that are being delivered. As of 21 August 2012 Knoebels said that they planned on beginning testing for the newest trains soon, and that they believed they finally figured out how to get the trains to run smoothly. On October 5, 2013, the ride officially opened to the public, though the ride actually began operating the previous evening on 4 October 2013. It operates three trains with three cars apiece, and each car accommodates one large rider or two small riders, with a weight limit of 400 pounds per car. One train is painted green, one is painted yellow and the third is painted mauve. A fourth train is planned. Edited March 17, 2017 by dougdrummer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted May 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2017 Check this out! Direct from 1984, August 9th on WOR Channel 9 during the Monday Movie Classics to be exact, is a vintage ad for the Sarajevo Bobsled coaster! Click below to view the commercial: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted May 6, 2017 Report Share Posted May 6, 2017 That's a remarkably good copy of the commercial too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrummer Posted May 9, 2017 Report Share Posted May 9, 2017 they were really sucking on the Olympic teet back then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted May 6, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2018 Here is the 1989 Six Flags Great America rack brochure promoting "Rolling Thunder" - Great Adventure's relocated Sarajevo Bobsled. Inside front cover: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted February 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2022 Here are some samples of what is new! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted February 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2022 As the Winter Olympics kickoff this weekend we proudly present an extensive update to our Sarajevo Bobsled spotlight! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted February 5, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2022 When I had to work the ride in 1985/86 someone had to walk the track first thing in the morning to make sure it was free of hats and debris. They trek up the lift was easy because there was a walkway along the track. But once you got to the top you had to climb up onto the motor casing and negotiate into the trough because the lift walkway stopped short of the trough. It was kind of dangerous and I doubt they would still have seasonal ride ops doing this task today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Six Posted August 4, 2023 Report Share Posted August 4, 2023 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted August 4, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2023 Bring it back to GA for her 50th! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoshi Posted August 4, 2023 Report Share Posted August 4, 2023 I drove past Great Escape in 2006 on a trip to Montreal. I didn't want to stop since I didn't have a Six Flags season pass at the time and with it being a summer weekend, I thought it would take too much time for a credit run. I kind of regret not going even if it wasn't guaranteed Alpine Bobsled would be open, I would have liked to have had the chance to try a ride that used to be at Great Adventure. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swashbucklerfan16 Posted August 5, 2023 Report Share Posted August 5, 2023 14 hours ago, 29yrswithaGApass said: Bring it back to GA for her 50th! that would be the dream of it coming full circle and returning for the 50th, but i think it's time is done. It suffers so much downtime and is an absolute pain to maintain unfortunately 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harry2004 Posted August 29, 2023 Report Share Posted August 29, 2023 On 8/4/2023 at 8:48 AM, 29yrswithaGApass said: Bring it back to GA for her 50th! welp, theres go a ride that used to operate at six flags great adventure (& six flags great america) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sluggo77 Posted August 29, 2023 Report Share Posted August 29, 2023 I plan to be at TGE Labor Day. Hope to get a final day ride if it opens. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tbone112499 Posted September 3, 2023 Report Share Posted September 3, 2023 I write this minutes away from my first (and hopefully not last, I’d like at least one more) ride on the bobsled! Made the day trip up to Great Escape to get a chance to ride this wonderful piece of GAdv History! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyG Posted September 4, 2023 Report Share Posted September 4, 2023 Sort of unfortunate that they decided to remove this (it is being replaced by a wooden coaster that is on the small side - one issue this park has is restrictions on heights of rides). Being that Six Flags has the two larger parks not that far off (both down there in NJ and over in MA), it seems they would do better making this one more focused towards things they can have that are different from other parks and keeping the historic parts as well (which they have been renovating this year). Something like this ride that isn't available everywhere would draw some to go there, if it was made so it could run more regularly. They might have taken a page from Knoebel's down in PA that built their own ride (from plans for one that existed years ago) that is very similar (wooden but bobsled style, cars not fastened to the track), that seems to work fine though it took time to get it right to begin with. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted September 4, 2023 Report Share Posted September 4, 2023 As much as I love the Bobsled, it was problematic (and Knoebel's is as well). Between low capacity and the fact the track has to be bone dry to run it's not a particularly practical ride. Cedar Point solved one issue by enclosing it, but it still lacked capacity which is why they removed theirs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted September 5, 2023 Report Share Posted September 5, 2023 https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/capital-region/human-interest/2023/09/04/rollercoaster-loving-thrill-seekers-bid-farewell-to-great-escape-mainstay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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