stretchsje

I was at Fiesta Texas yesterday for the opening weekend. It's too bad that they've removed Hill Country Racer to make room for Thunder Rapids. The day opened with Batman, Roadrunner, and Bugs' White Water Rapids all down, but I think they were all working by mid afternoon. There was a 25th anniversary banner, but mostly the park was promoting the upcoming Mardia Gras celebration. I saw Elmer Fudd riding the train around the park, as a passenger, which I've never seen before. Anyone know what these footers were installed for? See here, they're between the quarry wall used for the projection show and the viewing area for that show: https://goo.gl/photos/mgWdvXXaE2N3UMrr5 (Photo taken from the bumper cars line.)

How is this coaster a "first"? There are other water-jet propelled water coasters out there. I'm not aware of any that have a continuously moving platform for loading, though. Between that and the three person raft, I'm cautiously optimistic that lines for this thing won't be any worse than all the other water slides (which are bad enough already). It's a good addition. They're also adding a parade in March and April. I'm all for entertainment in the streets, but that's such a short period, how are they going to recoup costs on it?

Screamscape is reporting rumors of a "water coaster" named "Thunder Rapids".

SFFT will never have a giga coaster because it is in the approach path for San Antonio Airport. I think someone once wrote here that their height ceiling is 200ft above the quarry floor, which is only about 120ft above the surrounding area. This is especially silly because the resorts and homes up on the nearby hill are much taller than that.

Based on the clues, I'm worried about losing the train ride (if they're reusing the tunnel for something else) or losing the fireworks show (due to the quarry wall being blocked). I don't think they'd do either because they're so popular, but who knows- they're probably the most expensive attractions to operate, too. I was wondering if a Power Splash could go through the quarry wall (a tunnel parallel to the existing one) and have its vertical sections far enough apart or to one side that it wouldn't block the fireworks show projections. It'd have one 45 meter tall section of track on either side of that quarry wall peninsula that sticks out. It seems possible but likely cost prohibitive. As always, I'm hoping for a wooden coaster despite no clues indicating this! One more day to find out!

I was at SeaWorld San Antonio yesterday (Sunday) during an overcast and, at times, drizzly day- not ideal weather. The place was packed. Not only that, but the crowd was more into the killer whale show than I think I've ever heard before, with loud cheers every time a whale surfaced. I've been going to this park for years, and this felt highly abnormal for a gloomy day in April. The park was a ghost town this time last year. SeaWorld was offering the bring-a-friend-free promotion for passholders yesterday as with the rest of the month. That could explain some of the crowds and enthusiasm. I did not encounter abnormally long lines for the Seven Seas Food Festival booths especially considering the crowds elsewhere, but I'm not sure if that was down to efficiency or low demand. For those interested, Spain is a new booth for this year. Italy now serves a meatball. Most menus were carryover from last year from what I could tell, but that's no bad thing. My wife and I love this event. Anyway, back to my point: if these crowds and this enthusiasm is the new normal, then SeaWorld's financial woes are over. Maybe it's time to buy some shares of SEAS?

The news is interesting when overlayed on these rumors: http://behindthethrills.com/2015/10/rumor-mill-seaworld-san-antonio-could-become-crown-jewel-in-seaworld-parks-family/ The following image is misleading as the blue area to the north of the entrance but west of the area labeled "Aquatica" is actually the forthcoming "Discovery Point". It's far too small of an area to be considered a third gate (as rumored at the above link), plus there aren't any major draws in that area, so I would expect the northern yellow area marked below to be for the new attractions. This would be either more interactive experience or a major new ride: The southern yellow area is where I'd expect to see a resort. However, the southern yellow area is a bit misleading as there's a LOT of available expansion area within the blue shaded area, too. There really aren't many large attractions on the south side of the lake. In other words, there's tons of room for attractions there, too, even if a large resort is built. Right now, there's a lot of construction to the right of the current entrance (south, on the map) which the above article says will become a new entrance. I don't know what's going there, but I do know the land has been leveled and is very flat.

With Frisbee leaving and SS Overboard already SBNO, this is really a one-ride expansion compared with the Boardwalk's heydays. Still, I'm amazed at the extent of the refurb. A lot of planks needed replacing (and where replaced last year) but not all of them! I wonder if they're switching to something synthetic to lower maintenance costs. I sure hope their repainting extends to the Ferris Wheel as it really needs it. I can't wait to take my kids on the classic Tilt-a-Whirl. Also, I'm super excited that they're redesigning the Scooby Doo loading area to add capacity! That was very, very badly needed!!! I hope the enhancements are made during the park's Jan-Feb closing because my last ride had more effects working than I've ever seen before, and I was hoping to repeat it soon during the low September and November crowds.

The area in front of Rockville High is used for the "Holidays in the Park" Christmas tree and accompanying lighting ceremony. I wonder if construction is planned to be finished by then. There's a nearby scare zone during Fright Fest (and Rockville High itself is taken over) so this will impact traffic patterns then, too.

I was on the Ferris Wheel Sunday night and saw no sign of construction. I did a lot of the old cars from Motorama are still hanging around the parking lot, but I can't imagine them being repurposed onto a new boardwalk ride. Hopefully we'll see the S.S. Overboard operational again.

Scooby Doo has one of the slowest moving queues in the park. If it were to become the Justice League, they'd have some major work to do to increase capacity. But I don't see how that fits with the "panoramic views" hint. I'd be extremely sad if SFFT lost its only dark ride and didn't replace it with another. Also, the logo for the ride is on fire and appears to end with a "T x 3". Whatever it is, it's not a Justice League logo: https://ink361.com/app/users/ig-672337573/screamsource/photos/ig-1050162926547646850_672337573 Could the "x3" mean three new rides? I tried finding the tweet again, but someone had said they thought they knew all three new rides going to SFoT, if you believe it. Larson Loops are 73 feet tall which I don't think is enough to breach ground level outside of the quarry. I thus don't think that would provide the advertised "panoramic views" either. The Crow's Nest (SFFT's Ferris Wheel) gets you above the quarry walls at 90 feet tall, and it's in pretty lousy shape. Maybe a refurb will be part of the (three?) updates, and that's where the "panoramic view" comes from. Putting it all together... I have no idea whatsoever.

Please, everyone, hold onto your pants for this announcement. The four-way stop outside of the park is getting traffic lights. They're hung, but covered. That explains all the recent roadwork there. Maybe they'll be in use next weekend for the debut of the Spring Blast fireworks. Getting out of the park is usually pretty easy unless there's a fireworks show, in which case everyone leaves at the same time. As was reported earlier, Road Runner Express has re-opened and was running last weekend. Frisbee was still down. The queue for B:TR is still mostly blue sky and mud, but this ought to change soon. As you can see above, some sidewalks have been created. I'm anxious to see the scope of this new "interactive" queue.

Good to know, thanks! I've been trying to get my 42" tall son on it now that he's tall enough. It was closed two weeks ago, then again yesterday. I also see now that they've removed the "Temporarily Closed" banner on their web site, too... though I swore I saw it there last week. Frisbee still has the "Temporarily Closed" banner.

I was in the park yesterday, and I think the new ride is an eyesore. It ruins all the sight lines from Strasburg and Rockville, the latter of which has received no Gotham makeover at all. The shed at the base of the lift looks cheap. There's a bridge that now goes over nothing, and on the other side is an inaccessible sodded field in a prime location. My take is that Batman's being inserted into the park with the unfortunately typical Six Flags thrift and carelessness regarding theming. I hope there are numerous finishing touches to come, but they've only got five weeks left. On the other hand, Superman's paint job looks great and brings some quality to an otherwise dilapidated section of the park. Scooby-Doo was working well and the queue for Bugs' White Water Rapids had all its props looking pretty clean. Whirligig has been reassembled and looked nice. Some boards on the Boardwalk had been replaced. I hope the Ferris Wheel is getting a new paint job soon as it looks awful. So do some other rides, but the Ferris Wheel really stands out to me. And I know I should curb my expectations, but I keep hoping to see a new water feature added to the Gully Washer as it only has one: a waterfall. Road Runner Express and Frisbee are still down. RRE hasn't been running since October, at least. No one seems to know when it's coming back, and I haven't noticed any work being done on the ride. I hope it isn't going the way of the SS Overboard. As is the new normal, the bumper cars were only running on one of the two arenas (half capacity). The entrance to the park has had an intersection added to it. I'm not immediately sure what they were trying to accomplish with it. Now two lanes can enter if coming from I-10, but they hit a stop sign where they meet with an entrance coming from the four-way stop on La Cantera Pkwy. I've never seen this part backed up, so I don't know what they were trying to accomplish. There are still only two outbound lanes, both of which go to that four-way stop. That part backs up and remains unchanged though repaved and repainted. From the mall behind the park, one can easily see the zipline attraction also being added this year. It'll only have a 40" height requirement, which is great, but I haven't yet seen a price advertised. Let's see, what else? Fireworks start on Saturday the 18th, I believe, at "park close". I'm looking forward to that.

Not that anyone asked, but Pandemonium is closed during Fright Fest. On Monday, Scooby Doo, Iron Rattler, and Road Runner Express were also closed. Most of the track for Motorama was up, and some cables were being buried along the path of the new Batman ride. Overall, though, there wasn't much construction to see at all.