REVIEW: Stargate SG-3000 Simulator Ride

[GateWorld]

REVIEW:
STARGATE SG-3000
GateWorld reviews the Stargate Simulator Ride

Just about every Stargate SG-1 fan out there has heard something about the new Stargate SG-3000 attraction that can be currently found at three Six Flags Great America theme parks across the U.S. (Chicago, Louisville, and San Francisco). Here's the inside scoop from a fan who decided that she just had to see it for herself!

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[Lord Zedd]

Hmm I read the article and my first impression is that it ain't much special. Six Flags could have done a better job. That is my thought about it.

[startrekempress]

For anyone who is still wondering - yes, several years ago (it's still on the maps, BTW) there was a space shuttle ride there. I rode it myself several times (go free tickets from 600 minute reading!) so I remember it well. For a short while, there was also a ride there called 'Dino Island 3D' there (requiring 3D glasses) but I never got to ride that one.

I though SG-3000 was very cool though; however I rode it on a school day (our physics class was on a field trip) so it wasn't too crowded, and I got to be in the front row three times! Unfortunately, no one had seen fit to give me any spending money (the trip itself was $50) so I do not have an 'official SG-3000 member' id. Nor did I know about the merchandise. (It's hard to have the heart to go into the shops at Six Flags without money.)

Maybe my mom will take me again . . . (that is, maybe she will if I buy my own ticket. ) I've already said on another thread how much I enjoyed this ride, so I won't repeat it here.

~Sarah

[Horsie]

Hello Everyone! This is Play It Grand, author of the Stargate SG-3000 Ride report. I thought I'd hop in here and monitor the reaction.

I do have to agree with Anubis. Six Flags cheated when they didn't completely change the building to suit the needs of the new ride. However, the ride itself, as a product of MGM, and I believe Rainmaker had a hand in the creation, truly lives up to expectation with only a few exceptions and it is well worth the trip.

To Startrekempress, thanks! I'll let me dad know that his memory isn't [I]always[I] as faulty as we think it is! I wonder, you say that you went with your physics class. Did your teacher have a special reason for going to Six Flags? How did your teacher and fellow students react to the ride?

~Play It Grand

[madd4the24]

Looking at the progession of pictures, and the description of the ride, I begin to frown. And as I read on, that frown is joined by an accusing finger.

I say, wait one cotton picking moment!!!

Years ago ... and I mean years ago, that ride was featured at Six Flags: Marine World in Vallejo,California as an ancient Egyptian experience. With the exception of Hammond and this Apophis daughter plot, it's the same damn ride. Same plot, same villian and same evnviornments. I'm dead serious. While this time I know you're chasing after the villian throught the Stargate, and I can't remember how they went to different worlds in the original, (it may have been the Stargate and I was just obvlivious to the wonder that was SG-1 at the time) but they went to the exact same places. I know this. I rode it all day. Literally. Believe me, I'm not exagerating anything, it's the exact same ride. I could have talked anyone through it, even before reading the artical, and I recognize the pictures (from the ride) from the original, and I especially recognize the villian as a duplicate.

I'm trying my best to remember anything about the premission report (because there always is one) and a bit more of the details from the original, but I'm completely convinced this is a total and complete rip off.

So as anyone might imagine, I'm pissed as all hell. Pissed that SG-1 could be ripped off so, and completely pissed that Six Flags must really think they can get away with it.

[amskhm]

She is soooo right. The ride is the absolute best! When I went last July, I did not even know that the ride existed, but I was happily surprised. Sure it was not like actually being in the show, but being a fanatic fan for the past four years I was still very pleased and enthusiastic with the ride.

I enjoyed the gateroom display at the beginning, I actual caught myself imagining Walter and General Hammond standing in front of them, waiting for SG-1 to return through the gate (heeeheeee). I was surprised by the introduction to the mission. It was a bit small of a screen, but the plot laid out was great. Due to the fact I really had never heard of the ride prior, I did not know what to expect through the number doors that lay ahead. Part of me thought that it might be a laser tag kind of game with each group pairing off into teams of four in hunt down the Gou'ald. But it was not the case, unfortunately.

I must admit, my favorite part was the ride. I sat in the front row in the center. The ride was amazing and breathtaking. Everyone in that theater was whooping and howling. I swear I even heard a few upset voices when the Gou'ald tried to escape and excited yells about going after her. I agree with this writer when she says all stargate fans should definitely go and try this ride out at least once or even three or four times. I, unfortunately, only got to do once due to my friends wanting to see more rides before it got late. I sadly agreed, but I promised I would definitely go back the next time I'm near Chicago.

[Horsie]

Play It Grand, here!

To Madd4the24:
Are you serious? My report is based on the ride in Chicago. It could be hardly the same plot, could it? With the Gatekey and the race to get it back? Do you remember who sponsored that ride or what companies created it? I'm not so sure it could have been a full out rip-off. The SG-3000 ride was created by Matilda Production Services in conjunction with MGM (according to the first issue of Stargate SG-1: The Official Magazine). Its production did not begin until 2000 and they started from scratch and the visuals were so detailed and new-feeling. How long ago did you see this ride you are talking about?

To Amskhm:
Thank you for your kind appraisal of my report! I appreciate it! Who knows, it's very possible that one of the people you heard whooping and yelling at Satra was ME!

~Play It Grand

[madd4the24]

Originally Posted by Horsie

Play It Grand, here!

To Madd4the24:
Are you serious? My report is based on the ride in Chicago. It could be hardly the same plot, could it? With the Gatekey and the race to get it back? Do you remember who sponsored that ride or what companies created it? I'm not so sure it could have been a full out rip-off. The SG-3000 ride was created by Matilda Production Services in conjunction with MGM (according to the first issue of Stargate SG-1: The Official Magazine). Its production did not begin until 2000 and they started from scratch and the visuals were so detailed and new-feeling. How long ago did you see this ride you are talking about?


~Play It Grand

I'm very serious, which is why I was so disturbed by reading about this supposed new attraction.

While I've yet to experience Sg-3000, (which I plan to seek out very soon) based on the description of the ride, and the given photos, I'm sure beyond a shaddow of a doubt.

I will state, however, that there are differences, however small, in the plots. In the original 'Egyptian Experience', (which I saw years and years ago, probably 6-7 as I was in middle school when it was being shown in Vallejo) the villian, (identical in every way to the Sg-3000 villian, aside from the Apophis interjection) has stolen an acient artifact, never properly described, which allows her to travel from world to world, without restriction, bent on ruling the galaxy. I don't ever remember it being stated as a 'gatekey' but it essentially served the same purpose. In the original there was never a mention of Stargate, and there was a menthod of going from world to world, but I honestly can't remember how. I do recall that the audience was on a mission from some brance of the military, possibiliy the Airforce, as a last ditch effort to save out world, or something cheesey like that.

Everything described in this SG-3000, action wise, occurred exactly the same as in the Ancient Egyptian Experience. Same scenes, same worlds, same characters.

I've calmed down enough to realize it can't be a complete rip off, but my memory does not fail me on remembering certain aspects of the ride.

I saw it so long ago I really can't remember anything specific as to the Company who owned it, ect. Specifically wise, the only thing I remember is that it ran as a limited time special, balanced seasonally by the 'Dino Experience' and the 'Haunted Castle'.

If the offical magainze states production did not begin until 2000 I'm inclinded to say it isn't a rip off, but my eyes still tell me I'm seeing duplicates. I'm now wondering if maybe the SG-3000 took specific scenes from the original Egyptian Experience and interfused it with the Stargate world. Otherwise, I'm totally cracked and imagining things, which I find hightly unlikely.

[xfkirsten]

Heehee... I've been saying for the last year that I'm gonna take a road trip up to Six Flags Marine World (killer whale + Stargate!!). This January! For reals!

I did hear from a friend on a Disneyland board, though, that SFMW didn't even retheme the building! They said they actually had trouble finding the ride because it's themed to what was there before.

[Space Cadette]

Originally Posted by madd4the24

Years ago ... and I mean years ago, that ride was featured at Six Flags: Marine World in Vallejo,California as an ancient Egyptian experience. With the exception of Hammond and this Apophis daughter plot, it's the same damn ride.

Were you a Stargate fan back then? Are you sure it wasn't the Stargate ride? It's at several different theme parks and I think Marine World might be one of them. If you weren't into the show back then it's possible you went on the Stargate ride and, with no frame of reference, just remember it as an Egyptian Experience ride. You say it was 6-7 years ago, but could it have been 5?

[Space Cadette]

Nice article. Two comments:

1) Most of the merchandise you described is from Creation Entertainment and is available at their conventions (as well as additional stuff). Some of it is also available online at http://www.creationent.com

2) Based on the pictures (nice pictures by the way!), the picture with the "Alien language" to the right of the monitor is the glyphs used in the gate addresses.

I found out that this ride was in Chicago several months after I was there. I knew about the original one in Germany but didn't remember which US cities it was in. Next trip to Chicago I'm going to check it out. How much does it cost anyway? Do you have to pay a general "pay one price" to get into the park? Or do you only pay for rides you go on? Or both? How does it work there?

[Stricken]

I have a video of the ride on a CD somewhere, the only thing is that it doesnt have sound, I think , I may post it I may not

[Horsie]

Play It Grand, back again!

To Xfkirsten:
Yes, you are absolutly right about it being hard to find. Luckily I had learned my lesson about having high expectations, so I looked considerably lower and found it right off.

To Space Cadette:
If I may comment on your question to Madd4the24, the ride was first set up at the Space Center Bremen theme park in Germany on February 12th, 2004, and did not arrive in the U.S. untill Fall of that same year (this also from the first issue of the official magazine). It couldn't possibly have been the SG-3000 ride.
Thank you for your generous appraisal of my report! As far as your comments, you are absolutly right on both counts. The merchandise is from Creation Entertainment, but since as of last summer I had only been to one convention, it was a very pleasant surprise to find the merchandise there! You are correct about the glyphs as well. I was forced to write the report some weeks after I had gone, and that detail had slipped until yesterday when I took another look at that picture and remembered!
D'oh! Too late!
You do have to pay the general addmissions to get into the park to ride SG-3000, but nothing more. Unlike a few attractions, it does not require you to pay out any more cash before riding it. The go-carts next to it, however, do to my utter annoyance.

To S.G.C:
Is it a CD of the ride itself, or of a view of the facility it is housed in? If it is of the game itself, it may answer this question of whether it is a rip off of another ride once and for all! Please stop this confusion and post it!

~Play It Grand

[madd4the24]

Originally Posted by Space Cadette

Were you a Stargate fan back then? Are you sure it wasn't the Stargate ride? It's at several different theme parks and I think Marine World might be one of them. If you weren't into the show back then it's possible you went on the Stargate ride and, with no frame of reference, just remember it as an Egyptian Experience ride. You say it was 6-7 years ago, but could it have been 5?

I was not aware of Stargate at the time. The show had probably been out for two or three seasons, but I really didn't have a clue to what it was, nor did anyone I knew. However, I'm sure nothing of a Stargate was ever mentioned, or shown, because, psh, who could forget what our Stargate looks like? At the time, I knew I wanted to have a future in History, specializing in the field of Egypt, so I'm pretty sure I'd remember a Stargate reference if it was tied into the ride.

I rode this ride clearly before production apparently began on the SG-3000 ride. There is absolutely no way it was the SG-3000 ride, v1 or something like that, there just simply isn't a snowball's chance in hell. I rode the Egyptian Experience, that somehow, just happens to mirror this new SG-3000, which I find highy disturbing.

It was at least six years ago, probably seven, which is why I'm so greatly disturbed. I remember standing in line with my friends in Middle school, probably 8th grade, and that was at least six years ago. Personally, I'd like to know why I feel like I'm losing my mind, and I'm sure I'll have to seek out the ride myself to verify.

[Whistler]

Originally Posted by madd4the24

I was not aware of Stargate at the time. The show had probably been out for two or three seasons, but I really didn't have a clue to what it was, nor did anyone I knew. However, I'm sure nothing of a Stargate was ever mentioned, or shown, because, psh, who could forget what our Stargate looks like? At the time, I knew I wanted to have a future in History, specializing in the field of Egypt, so I'm pretty sure I'd remember a Stargate reference if it was tied into the ride.

I rode this ride clearly before production apparently began on the SG-3000 ride. There is absolutely no way it was the SG-3000 ride, v1 or something like that, there just simply isn't a snowball's chance in hell. I rode the Egyptian Experience, that somehow, just happens to mirror this new SG-3000, which I find highy disturbing.

It was at least six years ago, probably seven, which is why I'm so greatly disturbed. I remember standing in line with my friends in Middle school, probably 8th grade, and that was at least six years ago. Personally, I'd like to know why I feel like I'm losing my mind, and I'm sure I'll have to seek out the ride myself to verify.

Well it would cirtainly make sense if they saw that their ride was similar to a Movie/TV show for them to aquire the rights and intigrate that into the ride. Not only would they sell a hell of a lot more rides, but they'd also attract a lot of people who would not normally seek out random simulator rides like this would have been without the stargate element.

From your description it doesn't sound like the ride would have needed much alteration for it to become this Stargate ride.

[camulus13]

the place looks soooo awesome. it lokks like a real futuristic SGC.

[startrekempress]

Originally Posted by Horsie

Hello Everyone! This is Play It Grand, author of the Stargate SG-3000 Ride report. I thought I'd hop in here and monitor the reaction.

I do have to agree with Anubis. Six Flags cheated when they didn't completely change the building to suit the needs of the new ride. However, the ride itself, as a product of MGM, and I believe Rainmaker had a hand in the creation, truly lives up to expectation with only a few exceptions and it is well worth the trip.

To Startrekempress, thanks! I'll let me dad know that his memory isn't [I]always[I] as faulty as we think it is! I wonder, you say that you went with your physics class. Did your teacher have a special reason for going to Six Flags? How did your teacher and fellow students react to the ride?

~Play It Grand

We went to Six Flags as part of the "Physics Day" event. (There were about 1 or 2 dozen school groups from all over the area there that day, but only about 3 rides were crowded - we have limited tastes. ) Our teacher had only been teaching for about two years at the time, so mistakenly thought taking a bunch of teenagers to an amusement park was a good idea. The point was that each of us would pick a ride (the spinny-cups, in my case), and use special equipment to record the forces we experiences, later analyzing them on a computer. I, of course, never got around to that but did ride the ride I was supposed to ride (feeling the whole time like I was going to fly off). Really, I spent most of the day on a bridge, reading Georgette Heyer's The Black Moth and watching people ride V2. Quite a day, as I remember . . .

(Almost no one rode SG-3000 at all, but I did meet this one girl who was a big fan, and we talked for a bit. Not to mention the guy taking photos almost knew me by name at the end of the day. I wish they'd told me they had SG-3000; then I'd have picked it to study. Actually, I figured that since it didn't *move*, it didn't qualify. Whatever the screen was showing.)

Another interesting anecdote: the first time we went to Six Flags, my brother wanted to ride "Blast to the Moon" (what his map called the shuttle ride). My mom and I ended up going with him, but I was really freaked out (I *hate* moving rides. Give me an IMAX anyday), so my mom told me I should "pretend you're a Star Trek actress. Somehow, that worked. (It didn't hurt, of course, that we rode in the non-moving seats . . . )

I think I'd better shut up now, before I launch into our unfortunate experience at Dino Island 3-D, not to mention Log Flumes in the rain! (Don't ask.)

~Sarah

[whatswiththehairtealc]

from the description given, the ride sounds kinda like a cheap replacement. almost as if the mangment at SF was like, "we need a new ride to change up the park, so lets re adapt an exsiting ride to a movie or tv show. ok, get me the list of licences we can theme on. spin a botle and oh.. Stargate SG-1 it is!!!"

My friend and i always thought that SG1 was a perfect canadate for an indoor rollercoaster. like the mummy at universal orlando or indiana jones at disneyland. they could use linear induction to shoot you thru a worm hole and use special affects to recreate the wormhole travel. even have a real gate opening useing shaped water vortices. and make it a space ride like space mountain. and give the show the ride it deserves.

[xfkirsten]

Originally Posted by whatswiththehairtealc

from the description given, the ride sounds kinda like a cheap replacement. almost as if the mangment at SF was like, "we need a new ride to change up the park, so lets re adapt an exsiting ride to a movie or tv show. ok, get me the list of licences we can theme on. spin a botle and oh.. Stargate SG-1 it is!!!"

My friend and i always thought that SG1 was a perfect canadate for an indoor rollercoaster. like the mummy at universal orlando or indiana jones at disneyland. they could use linear induction to shoot you thru a worm hole and use special affects to recreate the wormhole travel. even have a real gate opening useing shaped water vortices. and make it a space ride like space mountain. and give the show the ride it deserves.

That's a really neat idea! Being a huge Disneyland/World nut, I've always thought they could do an awesome job on a Stargate ride. Unfortunately, I don't know who would have the rights to that, or if they'd be out of Disney's reach. Woulda fit in well at "Disney-MGM Studios" since it's an MGM show... although Disney and MGM have finally broken their partnership in the park...

[gatehorse]

Wow, I wish that ride was at the Six Flags near me!

Originally Posted by startrekempress

We went to Six Flags as part of the "Physics Day" event. (There were about 1 or 2 dozen school groups from all over the area there that day, but only about 3 rides were crowded - we have limited tastes. ) Our teacher had only been teaching for about two years at the time, so mistakenly thought taking a bunch of teenagers to an amusement park was a good idea. The point was that each of us would pick a ride (the spinny-cups, in my case), and use special equipment to record the forces we experiences, later analyzing them on a computer. I, of course, never got around to that but did ride the ride I was supposed to ride (feeling the whole time like I was going to fly off). Really, I spent most of the day on a bridge, reading Georgette Heyer's The Black Moth and watching people ride V2. Quite a day, as I remember . . .

SOOO not fair! For last....I don't know HOW many years, all the physics classes at my school had gone to six flags as a field trip. I love amusement parks, and I was really excited about it. Well, of course, the year I take the class, they decide not to go. I really need to get back there. I never got around to going last summer, so I'm gonna have to go next summer. I hear the new 'coaster is supposed to be the tallest and fastest or something.