originally posted on 3/24/2025
Photo: Rus Ozana. View full-sized image.
ACE New England’s annual off-season event, The Great Nor’Easter, took place on Saturday, February 22, and was hosted by Six Flags New England in Agawam, Massachusetts. The event gave attendees a peek behind the scenes, took a look back at the prior season and previewed the next. Presentations this year came from parks and speakers across New England and New York.
Six Flags New England hosted ACE New England’s annual off-season event, The Great Nor’Easter.
Photo: Rus Ozana. View full-sized image.
Once check-in was complete and the registration of contest photos recorded, Karen April, ACE New England regional representative, welcomed 126 guests not only from across the region, but also from Pennsylvania and Illinois.
The schedule began with Mike Thompson leading the event's signature warm-up trivia game. This year, it featured three rounds, with the winner of each round getting first choice at the door prize table.
With attendees sufficiently warmed up, they were treated to the first presentation of the day, Santa's Village, Jefferson, New Hampshire. "Third Generation Caretaker" Christian Gainer shared a look back at their new-for-2024 Midnight Flyer's inaugural season. The coaster is the first of Vekoma Rides' Family Coaster Horus model to open and can operate in temperatures as low as 13° Fahrenheit.
Midnight Flyer had a very reliable summer season, providing a great riding experience for the whole family, with riders ranging from 3 to 91 years old. In total, approximately 180,000 riders enjoyed Midnight Flyer in 2024. Throughout the season, thematic elements were added in and around the coaster's station, and landscaping and foliage around the ride are expected to be completed this spring.
Given Santa's Village's unique operating environment, enduring and operating in New England's cold and snowy early winter months, it was crucial that the ride could run in below-freezing temperatures. At night, the coaster's train is stored inside its maintenance building, which helped keep it warm. Being in the mountains, where snow and ice can accumulate more frequently, the park needed to find a solution to clear the coaster's rails. They created an ingenious buggy design equipped with rollers and brushes to remove snow and ice buildup, which could be pulled along the track from ground level.
The second presentation came from ACE member Amy Orvis of Vermont. She is currently consulting for the French amusement park Parc d'attractions La Récré des 3 Curés (Milizac, Brittany, France). The park is set to introduce a mysterious Vermont dairy farm-themed area this summer. It will feature authentic theming, with some elements coming directly from the U.S. The area will be home to the park's tallest attraction to date, Tremor, which is currently under construction. Tremor will be a thrilling 262-foot-tall Funtime Skyfall Drop Tower that represents an investment of more than $4,366,350 (€4 million) for the park.
The event continued with a presentation from American Coaster Enthusiasts, led by ACE Vice President David Dragun.
Dragun reflected on American Coaster Enthusiasts' 2024 efforts, achievements and contributions. It was another momentous year for the organization, which hosted a combined 120 events. The year also brought honorary member recognition to four ACE members, including New England's very own Rus Ozana. ACE continues to enhance its volunteer efforts, which keep the organization running and bring content to its members.
As part of its preservation efforts, ACE donated more than $43,000 to various parks across the country. The year also saw the addition of three ACE Roller Coaster Landmarks: Grand National and Big Dipper at Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool, England, and Tornado at Adventureland Park in Altoona, Iowa.
Looking ahead to 2025, Dragun summarized the national events: Spring Conference, Coaster Con 46 and Preservation Conference. In addition, 2026 will be an election year, with prospective candidates encouraged to contact current office members for shadowing and volunteering opportunities.
Following Dragun's presentation and closing out the first portion of The Great Nor’Easter was the ever-entertaining DJ Vourderis of Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park, Brooklyn, New York. This year, DJ offered a behind-the-scenes look at the maintenance process of the iconic Wonder Wheel. In concluding his highly informative (and entertaining) presentation, he gifted all attendees 50 ride credits to use at the park on a future visit. He also extended an invitation to ACE members to visit on opening day (date TBA) free of charge.
More than 120 attended this year’s The Great Nor’Easter event at Six Flags New England.
Photo: Rus Ozana. View full-sized image.
Between presentations, multiple door prizes were awarded. Winners had their choice from a huge display of donated items from regional parks and other members.
With their appetites whetted for the upcoming season of park and coaster openings, it was time for something else enjoyed by ACEers everywhere — lunch! Originally, the menu was planned as soups and sandwiches. About a week before the event, the park announced a menu change. Instead of sandwiches and soups, attendees enjoyed a buffet-style lunch featuring salad, roasted potatoes, grilled vegetables, pasta, chicken piccata, marinated steak tips and rolls. A nice spread of desserts was also included.
Throughout the day, attendees were invited to vote in the event's 10th annual photo contest, which saw a great turnout this year, both in the number of photos submitted and the percentage of attendees submitting their ballots. An exclusive screening of “The Legacy of Schwarzkopf” was also presented during lunch.
For attendees looking to take home souvenirs, aside from those offered as door prizes, a pop-up ACE store was set up, along with a silent auction. This year's auction featured many unique items donated by various parks and ACE members, including retired ride components from Six Flags New England and Six Flags Great Escape and Hurricane Harbor’s coasters receiving many bids. In total, a combined $1,560 was raised for ACE's various funds.
Last-minute travel plans prevented a Lake Compounce representative from attending, but a slide show was submitted and shared by ACE New England Assistant Regional Representative Rus Ozana. The presentation slides provided a look back at the track work done on Wildcat ahead of the 2024 season. The second phase of this project is currently underway by The Gravity Group, with the coaster receiving nearly 600 feet of retracking and reprofiling on its return run to the station. Part of this will include some of the company's innovative, vertically stacked Engineered Precut Track.
2025 will mark the 25th anniversary of Boulder Dash. The coaster recently underwent retracking with Skyline Attractions, LLC and Great Coasters International, Inc.'s Titan Track in 2023 and 2024, respectively. In total, it now offers more than 1,000 feet of Titan Track. This winter, its second train was sent to Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, Inc. for a complete rebuild.
First place: Walter VanNess.
Photo: Karen April. View full-sized image.
Second place: Fred Ryczek.
Photo: Karen April. View full-sized image.
Third place (tie); Noah Bova and Robert Cornellier.
Photo: Karen April. View full-sized image.
Photo contest coordinator and Assistant Regional Representative Emery Picotte recognized the top-placing photos, with third, fourth and fifth place all experiencing ties. With 86% of attendees voting in the photo contest, the winners taking home plaques were: first place, Walter VanNess; second place, Fred Ryczek; and third place (tie) Noah Bova and Robert Cornellier.
Closing out a great day of presentations were Sydney Snow, regional manager of public relations for Six Flags, representing Six Flags Great Escape and Hurricane Harbor and Six Flags New England, and Peter "Pete" Carmichael, park president of Six Flags New England.
Pete Carmichael, president of Six Flags New England, closed out the event by speaking about additions and improvements at his park for the 2025 season.
Photo: Rus Ozana. View full-sized image.
2024 was an exciting year for Six Flags Great Escape. The park introduced The Bobcat, a brand-new family wooden coaster from The Gravity Group. This coaster was the first to be entirely designed with The Gravity Group’s Engineered Precut Track. Across the all-new dining location, Hurricane Grill & Wings, known for its wide variety of more than 35 wing flavors and 20 draft beer options.
This winter, the park is refreshing the little houses and other structures of Storytown USA with new roofs, fresh paint and updated signage. Flashback, its Vekoma Rides boomerang, was repainted blue and white, and a brand-new next-generation train had just arrived at the park from the Netherlands.
From the “saving the best for last” category was news from Six Flags New England, as 2025 is set to be a massive year for the park. In addition to the upcoming launch of New England's first dual-launch Intamin straddle coaster, Quantum Accelerator, the park is undergoing numerous enhancement projects.
Starting with beautification, landscaping throughout the park has been upgraded. New flowerbeds have been added to Main Street, with additional landscaping taking place in the parking lot and Hurricane Harbor.
2025 will bring the largest investment in food and beverage in the park's history. Riverboat Café is being completely updated with new equipment, furniture and an upgraded menu. The menu and recipes at Chop Six will be revamped with new products and wok techniques.
The microphone was turned over to Carmichael, who shared his "Top 6" things he's excited about in 2025:
#1: Superman The Ride will see the return of two additional seats per train, bringing the ride's capacity back to 36 riders per train.
#2: Excitement for the new Six Flags family of 42 parks,
#3: Having the ability to pick up a shift at Cedar Point again, where he was once a height checker at Raptor.
#4: The new and updated food offerings — specifically homemade mac and cheese — now conveniently located less than two minutes from his office.
#5: Many ongoing and future beautification projects, including a refresh of Blizzard River, an updated Main Street arrival experience and “paint, paint, paint, paint, paint!”
In closing out his "Top 6," he shared major news for 2026. Alongside Six Flags Great Escape and Lake Compounce, Six Flags New England will host the American Coaster Enthusiasts' 48th annual Coaster Con. The event will take place from June 21-26, with June 21-23 at Six Flags New England. He and his team are working hard to plan a phenomenal event.
The floor was then opened to questions, when, among items that were unable to be revealed at the present time, it was acknowledged that Typhoon and Bonsai Pipelines were removed earlier this winter after standing but not operating for a few years. It was also shared that Tomahawk has been retired after 24 years at the park.
Immediately following the presentation, a group photo was taken.
The event culminated with a trek inside the park to look at progress on 2025’s new coaster, Quantum Accelerator.
Photo: Rus Ozana. View full-sized image.
Photo: Rus Ozana. View full-sized image.
Attendees were then invited into the park for a firsthand look at the ongoing construction of Quantum Accelerator, the custom family launch coaster from Intamin Amusement Rides. Set to launch this summer, it will be New England's first dual-launch Intamin straddle coaster. Quantum Accelerator occupies the space previously home to Goliath, a Vekoma Rides Giant Inverted Boomerang, which closed in 2019.
It will be exciting to see all the upcoming changes at Six Flags New England (especially Quantum Accelerator). The park is set to open for the 2025 season on April 5.
— Rus Ozana, ACE New England Assistant Regional Representative
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