Sunfire

The ride is really looking great now! Really excited for the grand opening, though I already know that the crowds will be very heavy. I went to the park yesterday and got my season pass processed, and also enjoyed a spin on pretty much every ride at least once. Sorry, but no pics this time. It was surprisingly busy for a Thursday, but I figured out that there was a large amount of school groups having their end of the year field trips at the park, but the crowds were manageable. Around noon, Kong looked to have almost full switchbacks, and clearly I skipped, and headed over to Medusa, hoping for a shorter wait. The switchbacks were about 2/3 full, but I was on the ride in about 25 minutes. Operations on Medusa were really good yesterday! They were running two trains, and over in the transfer dock, you could see that the 3rd train is in rehab. Anyway, the crew definitely had their act together yesterday, and were dispatching trains before the first train had even reached the second corkscrew. Good job crew! I also took a spin on Skyscreamer, running a decent program. Ops were okay, but the line was pretty short so no big deal. I left Oasis plaza and headed up the hill just in time to watch Shouka. I forgot how nice SFDK's shows are. It's nice to have a seat after standing in a long line for a coaster. After that I hit up Tasmanian Devil, which got me dizzy as hell (which is a good thing of course) and Boomering (eh). I decided to head back over to the sky area of the park to ride Roar and V2, and take a look at Superman's construction. I rode V2, which surprisingly had about a 20 minute wait. Afterward I headed to Roar, but saw mechanics up in the station and an attendant at the front of the line telling people it was down. So I looked up at Superman. This coaster is taking shape crazy fast people! Throughout the day, I saw them install at least 3 major track pieces. I now have no doubts that this thing will open on time. After checking out construction, Roar went back up and I took a ride. I'm glad they're running 2 trains, otherwise operations are just painfully slow. Overall, it was a decent day at the park, and I will definitely be back soon, most likely on opening day for Superman.

Well, it's nice to hear that there's an official opening date for the coaster. Anyway, I'm purchasing my season pass, and visiting the park tomorrow to check out construction. Hopefully it shouldn't be too crowded since it's a Thursday.

What does this mean? I think he means some guests without a Fast Lane pass attempted to use the Fast Lane queue, only to be told by the attendant that they need to use the regular line.

^Yeah, if the Fast Lane people want to ride again, they have to go all the way around just like everyone else. But hey, when the ride has a 30-45 minute wait, it must be nice to exit and walk all the way around just to essentially walk back onto the ride.

Hmm, this is interesting. I've noticed that attendance has overall increased this season. Every weekend, I hear that the park is busy. Good news for the park, that's for sure. I can definitely imagine Haunt being packed again this October.

This post reminds me of all the little things that used to slow us down when I used to operate Invertigo. Well, obviously since it wasn't a full circuit coaster we had no choice but to run one train, but there were certain things about our operation and the ride itself that sometimes caused delays. Invertigo didn't have any buttons to unlock individual rows or cars. If somebody needed to get off the ride, we would need to unlock all the restraints at the same time. Somebody wants to get off because they're scared? Unlock all the restraints. Somebody tries to bring a loose article onto the ride? Unlock the restraints, wait for them to put it in the cubbies. You've checked all 7 cars but on the last car, there's a child that needs to have their height checked? Unlock all the restraints. The main delay here being that whenever a harness is unlocked, it must be rechecked, and since all of them would unlock, well, you get the picture. The funny thing is, we would always tell the guests on the ride, "Please do not be alarmed, your restraints will now be unlocking," but the guests would not listen to this announcement and they would panic because they thought they were going to fall out of the ride.

^I've seen it at other Six Flags parks as well, including Discovery Kingdom and Magic Mountain. I don't like it because it seems too specific. As a supervisor at CGA, I know that our operators are trained to scan the area before dispatching. However, they do not need to literally turn their head at every angle before starting the ride. Just a personal preference, but I think the Six Flags way of scanning the ride area is a bit excessive. On the other hand, safety first, so I can't complain there.

^To answer about Drop Tower and Vortex's Fast Lane lines, it actually does make sense. Here's how it works: On Vortex, the attendant stands at the top of the stairs, limiting access into the station. They can then group the standby line accordingly. If any Fast Lane guests come up, the attendant will check their wristband, and let them in before the standby guests. On Drop Tower, the attendant stands where the line splits to the left or right (Cabins 1-2-3 or 4-5-6) and stops guests there. Fast Lane once again gets priority over Standby, and the attendant should group guests to the 6 different cabins. It may seem confusing, but considering it wasn't the park's decision to put in Fast Lane, I think management figured out a decent way to run it.

There will be some days that Fast Lane will be VERY useful here at the park. For example, Spring Celebration, Kababayan Fest, and 4th of July weekend. On these days, rides like Flight Deck, Vortex, and Demon can have 1-2 hour waits, so no doubt Fast Lane will be a big hit. Also during Haunt, where these same rides all have 2-3 hour waits, I can imagine Fast Lane even selling out. The problem is, those are the most crowded days of the year. Most of the time, the waits are managable. I can imagine that on dead days, people may purchase a Fast Lane pass, only to be disappointed that they didn't really need it because all the coasters were walk ons.

Yeah, I would not want to be working as a supervisor if Big Time Rush were in the park. We already get enough of the teen crowd during school days and cheerleading competitions.

^"Little kids" can't go on Grizzly. It has a 48 inch height requirement. But beside that little detail, I agree that Grizzly should stay, it's a substantial part to the park's skyline and appearance.

Yeah, it only seems feasable to me to offer it on busy days. Especially peak days such as Spring Celebration, any day we have fireworks, and pretty much all of Haunt. But I really don't know what the park has planned for it. I guess we'll find out in the coming months.

I'm actually very glad that World of Color will undergoing maintainence. I've noticed from some Youtube videos that the fountain nozzles are becoming more and more misaligned, which makes the show look a bit sloppy. Whatever it takes to make the show run to its full potential.

I'm gonna have to say Riddler's, like a good chunk of you have said. It's particularly awful if they're only running one train. I got stuck in there during one train operation and waited over 45 minutes, and it was ONLY a station wait.

I see what you mean. Although there will be guest complaints, it's better for the park in the long run. Especially if the ride, which is already awesome, can be come even more of a great attraction.

Wow! Things are really starting to look stunning. I'm really excited to see the finished product for Cars Land!

As cool as it sounds to revamp this ride, it seems a bit odd to me that Disney would plan a refurbishment that closes one of their most popular attractions for the entire summer season. I have a feeling that this could cause many guest complaints.

In my experience, I've never waited more than 2 hours for an attraction, I just don't see the point of spending your whole day in line for something like that. The longest I'd be willing to wait is 3 hours for Millenium Force or Dragster, since I've never been to Cedar Point. However, I did wait in line for 5 hours at CGA's job fair earlier this year, but considering the end of the line meant being employed (and being promoted to supervisor), it was certainly worth the wait.

Yup! Couldn't believe either of them! They were doing great, and overall pretty much every employee was actually smiling/happy in a genuine way. This shocks me, but pleases me too. That gum wall was just hideous.

^And have it soar over the entire park? I think so!

Superman won't break ground for another month or so. Pandamonium is open for the next two weeks following Christmas for Holiday in The Park, then it'll probably take them around 1-2 weeks to dismantle it. I don't think track will arrive until Feb or March and I doubt the train will show up until March-April or so. Fixed.

^I went on Sunday 12/18, and ride lines were generally short. Roar, however, was about a 30 minute wait due to one train. It's still running pretty rough though so definitely brace yourself for that.

^Wow! That's looking fantastic so far. I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished product of all this construction. And iLuminate? I am now green with envy, I loved them on AGT!

^Unfortunately, I think the office buildings would probably STILL complain, but this time about the ugly-ass sound wall outside their windows.

^The park can't open because basically EVERY ride is under winter rehab. As in all the trains have been taken off the tracks and are being worked on. Perhaps next year the park can do a Christmas event, but for the time being, it's too late.