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Six Flags Qiddiya | Saudi Arabia | Theme Park

roomraider said:
Pretty good pre creation


Looks..... Well bloody massive.
Click to expand...
I'm not quite sure where to start... insane doesn't even begin to describe that layout!

I think the launch and 607ft top hat alone would be a headline attraction in most theme parks...

The part on top of the cliff reminds me of Iron Rattler... except that while the clifftop bit of Iron Rattler makes up the bulk of the ride in that case, it's a mere footnote here...

It just looks absolutely barmy... it's insane to think that a ride with this layout, on this sheer scale, is coming to fruition! If you had presented that layout to me with no prior context, I'd honestly have guessed that it was someone's madcap Planet Coaster creation... the thought of that layout actually coming to life blows my mind!
 
I'm already getting cred anxiety about the amount of downtime this is going to have in the first year, should it make it that far.
 
MLDesigns said:
Luckily there's no fancy double switch track, drop track, or turntable faff, just a metric o_Oton more LSM stators than usual. I do wonder what kind of black magic wheel compounds this thing is gonna run to prevent literally melting each cycle, though.
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The combination of the harsh climate and the size of the ride means the running costs must be astronomical. The park ticket price must be accordingly high to justify the operation of this thing. But that must also reach a limit at some point. After all, the middle of the Arabian desert is not going to see mass tourism ever, and there's a limit to how much the locals will attend too. It's not like all of them have vast amounts of oil money at their disposal to go to a place as expensive as Disney all the time. The GDP per capita of Saudi Arabia is roughly the same as that of Estonia.

The parks in Dubai vastly overestimated their attendance figures and struggle to stay afloat. I don't think I will give this place any better odds.
 
Absolutely insane.

Not sure if this is going to be the biggest failed coaster project yet or actually going to happen.
 
spicy said:
Not sure if this is going to be the biggest failed coaster project yet or actually going to happen.
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My guess at the moment is: the latter first, until the running costs make themselves apparent and the expected number of tourists fail to show up. And then the former, after a year or two.

To make a more elaborate prediction:
  • 50/50 on whether it will make it to completion.
  • Spectacular opening featuring celebrities and influencers and whatnot.
  • Its astronomical running costs are reflected in the park ticket price.
  • The public looks at the price and goes "I have to pay what to visit this park in the middle of the Arabian desert?!?", then compare the sum to what else they could get for the money and go do that instead.
  • Disastrous first season with high running costs and below-projected visitor numbers, leading to downtime at any excuse. If the park can justify not opening the coaster for any reason, it won't run that day.
  • Single-train operations for a few months, the few days it is even open at all.
  • Coaster changing to only operate during weekends, still running only a single train (and still staying closed most days for any excuse).
  • The coaster, and maybe also the rest of the park, to close indefinitely after a few months.
  • Coaster remains SBNO for years until visible deterioration becomes a PR liability and it's quietly torn down.
For a comparison, look to Ain Dubai, the world's tallest Ferris wheel. It was set to open in October 2019, a date that was eventually pushed back to October 2021. It reportedly struggled to operate in hot weather, which in Dubai meant it struggled to operate at all (other rumours attribute the downtime to soil compaction, as the wheel was built on freshly reclaimed land). It closed in March 2022 after only five months of operation, with a target reopening date of Q1 2023. That date came and went without any news. Now, the attraction's website is down, and it is unlikely to reopen any time soon. But at least it's a nice background for influencers' Instagram pictures, and I think they are using it for light shows. So they are getting some glam out of it, even though it has been an abject failure in other ways. I doubt they'd get the same mileage out of a SBNO coaster, though.
 
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roomraider said:
Pretty good pre creation


Looks..... Well bloody massive.
Click to expand...
I know it's just a potential mock-up of what the layout could be, but am I the only one who thinks many of the elements in the second half, particularly the airtime hills are a little too drawn out to give anything?
 
Inverting_Thrills said:
I know it's just a potential mock-up of what the layout could be, but am I the only one who thinks many of the elements in the second half, particularly the airtime hills are a little too drawn out to give anything?
Click to expand...
I feel it's easy to think that from the video, but also it's easy to forget that this thing will be flying at over 100mph into these hills so there's a possibility these hills could have the longest sustained airtime of any coaster in the world
 
Inverting_Thrills said:
I know it's just a potential mock-up of what the layout could be, but am I the only one who thinks many of the elements in the second half, particularly the airtime hills are a little too drawn out to give anything?
Click to expand...
On a regular coaster, maybe. But this ride is 607ft tall and reaches 156mph; at that speed, the elements have to be ridiculously drawn out so as not to kill people with lethal amounts of g-force!
 
Matt N said:
On a regular coaster, maybe. But this ride is 607ft tall and reaches 156mph; at that speed, the elements have to be ridiculously drawn out so as not to kill people with lethal amounts of g-force!
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I know, perhaps since we've never seen a ride so large it's hard to imagine what elements with such speeds would look like.
 
Inverting_Thrills said:
I know, perhaps since we've never seen a ride so large it's hard to imagine what elements with such speeds would look like.
Click to expand...
I definitely understand the perception, but I think you’d be surprised. I never expected Formula Rossa to deliver much, but almost every hill provided strong, sustained airtime. When you’re going that insanely fast, it doesn’t take a lot of curvature to yeet you out of the seat.
 
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