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The slow death of SE is hard to watch. ☹️

That’s what I heard as well with February 2027 slated to be the potential month of closure.

From what I've also heard on the grapevine... I'd get those rides in while you can. Even with the VRTP issues. 👀

Curious how you can be so confident?

I think it's been closed off since with no guest access any more

I take your points on management I see the comments have already said almost everything I was going to say - however just to recap \ add onto the pile-on: It opened on Boxing day 2005 to be precise - so as far as i'm concerned, it's a 2006 baby as far as age goes. It's not even 21 yet. Based on Brad's estimates, If it only had 10 years left when it was 25, that means it's got closer to 15 now making it far more worthwhile of an investment to keep running Adding to this, this 20 year old ride consistently gets the longest or second longest queues in the park behind Rivals. They would be stupid to get rid of it without a plan to fill the gap They don't need an upswing in visitation, but they do need to maintain their current levels - losing what was for many years the park's flagship, that still pulls crowds as big as the hypercoaster next door, as well as the 720pph theoretical capacity loss to the park. BGH are certainly tightening the belts, it's what private equity does, so isn't a surprise - but that rule doesn't apply to capital improvements. They need to maintain or improve the valuation of the asset before they sell - they're not here to make money and so far the investments that have occurred haven't paid off - though possibly because part of the money for that went on someone's pergola or kitchen. If the new launch can potentially hit a higher launch speed on the hat, even if they trim it off afterwards, the new top speed would be something marketable. As for the queue changes - I haven't heard anything recently about it - but I believe they had intended to do them during downtime, but pulled it when the park had capacity issues in order to get the ride back online. These things are scheduled a ways in advance so they may not have had another 'slot' to do the work in until the next cycle - it could happen sooner than we think I'm curious why you think Superman would require a track replacement in the next 10 years? Even with your incorrect age assessment that would only put it at 35 years, and meanwhile there are old arrow coasters built in the early 70's that still operate today, almost 60 years later. Revolution at SFMM turned 50 this year as did Cedar Point's Corkscrew. To be fair, if they keep axing entertainment, they won't need the parade float storage they've already got.

I was referencing Superman, it opened in 2005! I don’t think they necessarily need to do a new indoor section. I personally think they just need to the queue/loading refurb they announced a few years ago and either do a major refurb to the launch system to either retain the hydraulic or the more likely option replace it was a more reliable launch system.

What about spending that on a 21 year old coaster? No, but it will keep one of the parks most important coasters running for another few decades. And if it goes, nothing is replacing it.

The ride itself is mostly fine. There's no real issues with the track or the trains. The issues are with the launch system, and there are two replacement options that can be done by various manufacturers. A LSM conversion could be done by Intamin, Zamperla, or Premier Rides, or S&S could replace the hydraulic system with a pneumatic system. S&S have already done a retrofit with Powderkeg at Silver Dollar City, and they have designed a faster launch on a shorter track with MaxxForce. So it could be done, if VRTP are willing to work with them again after GL. Both options are more simple, have fewer moving parts and less maintenance than a hydraulic launch system. A pneumatic launch is clearly the spiritual successor and the better ride experience option, but the LSM option is likely cheaper to install and maintain. A pneumatic launch gives the ride a clear point of difference to ST at Dreamworld, and could be considered an 'upgrade' with more punchy acceleration. It would, however, be very loud and two pneumatic launch rides in the same plaza might be overwhelming - the solution would be to move batwing to a different area of the park but this adds additional cost. An LSM conversion would therefore be the most likely option. Even if it cost $10M and they did a station upgrade at the same time, it would still cost less than the $30M+ they would need to spend on a brand new custom designed coaster to replace it in that space.

Seems SE will go the way SDSC went. Patch fixes until it become apparent patches won’t work, and then one day it will go into maintenance and never return (yes SDSC returned eventually but SE won’t)

I suspect whatever they're doing in the next downtime is designed to keep it alive over summer.