CoasterLover

^I was pissed when a rumor started swirling around that SFGAm's Shockwave would come to SFA when that was removed for Superman and I would be just as pissed if they decided to send SFGAdv's GASM our way... besides, what SFA really needs right now is a "tween" sized coaster (like a mouse or a spinner) and some dark rides... not some huge multilooping coaster.

My guess would be that it was one of those roadway gates (like the one below) that are about 8' across and block vehicle access to a particular roadway. One of these could have easily been positioned such that it intersected with the path of a moving tram, but I'm surprised OSHA wouldn't have had some sort of requirement to have a lock for the gate in either the closed and/or the open position to prevent this possibility.

Seems the trick is to go either really early or really late. We were walking through the front gates if IOA by 8:30 and joined the line for WWoHP right around Bilge-rat Barge. By 9:30 (30 mins after park opening) we were in. Left after about an hour or two and watched the line throughout the rest of the day (while riding other rides). It eventually extended back as far as Superhero Island (we were told at that point that it was a 5 hr wait), but by about 1:30/2:00, you could walk right into WWoHP without waiting. Line for HP:FJ stayed around 1-1.5 hrs throughout the day. Was a little disheartened to see two of my favorite effects not working on my first ride, but only one (known) effect not working on the other couple rides (the said effect is one where you're pulled pack through a fog screen and you can see your face in the fog [projected of course... won't go into detail on the exact place in the ride where that happens as it might ruin some "surprises", but it's towards the end]... it's a VERY cool effect)...

Went to the park yesterday [sunday] (plan to head there at least two or three more times on our vacation). When we headed to Wizarding World (around 1:30 pm), the area was packed, but you could still get around the area. Line for Forbidden Journey was listed at 120 mins, but (and this was even with probably about 80% of the queue full) we only ended up waiting 45 mins. The line is always moving and moves quite fast (almost too fast to be able to fully enjoy everything once you get into the castle). We headed back to the ride around 5 pm and waited about 40 mins that time. Hoping to get one more ride before the end of the night, we headed back around 9:30 (park closed at 10:00 pm), got on in about 20 mins, then went back around, got on again with no wait, and after that second ride, noted that it was still 3 mins til closing, and hopped back in line just before they closed off the queue (three rides in about 30 mins... and most of that time was spent either on the ride or navigating the queue). Overall, five rides in about half a day. The ride is a people eater and didn't break down once while we were there. I was quite impressed. Dragon Challenge was a walk on all day. Hippogriff was never more than 15 mins. The shops all had decent lines (maybe about 30 mins each). Line at the Butterbeer cart was easily half an hour, but they had waitresses bringing out cups on trays (they also sell butterbeer at the Hogs Head and at Three Broomsticks). The Olavander experience easily had the longest line in the section (easily two hours at some times)... you should note, they let in about 10 people at a time, but not everyone get's the "wand experience"... when we went, only one girl got to find her wand and she only tried two spells before finding the wand that "worked." I'm sure they'll decrease the number of people at a time and increase the amount of attempts until you find the "right" wand as lines get shorter, but for now, don't go expecting to get the wand experience for yourself (you have to get lucky!). Overall, VERY impressed and can't wait to get back later this week.

Conserve space?!? The park has over 300 acres of unused land! What need does the park have to conserve land? If nothing else, they helped make the "dead end" to Superman less of a dead end as there is now a full loop around Joker's Jinx. I went on opening day and was shocked by the crowds. However, it seems thing calmed down a lot by the next day. The section looks great and, once the landscaping grows in after a few years, it will easily be one of the nicest looking areas in SFA.

I wanted to let everyone know that Thomas Town at Six Flags America opened today. Overall, the area looks great with wonderful themeing and landscaping. I was very pleased with the addition and think it is a nice addition for Six Flags America. I thought I'd share some pics with you all here, and if you want the full review and the full collection of photos, feel free to visit us over at SFAfans (http://www.sfafans.com/showthread.php?p=28887#post28887). Thanks for viewing!

Some pics from last weekend below. Last I heard, they are still pushing for a Memorial Day weekend opening. Still seems possible as pretty much all the foundations are in and the rides should go up fast (the gravel pathway is the route the Thomas Train will take). Enjoy! Tidmouth Shed Thomas Train Station Backside of Thomas Town w/ new retaining wall. Rides ready to be installed Electrical Work Joker's Jinx entrance (from inside Thomas Town) Parts of Thomas Station waiting to be installed South end of Thomas Town The foundation for the Cranky freefall ride is there in the foreground

Maybe it's just me, but I've been on Pandemonium (the same model as the THBS clones) up at SFNE a bunch of times and I never get tired of it. It's certainly not the most thrilling coaster out there, but it is a lot of fun and therefore very re-ridable. Plus, despite the fact that it is several years old, Pandemonium still pulls in pretty long lines... I'd personally love to see a THBS clone at SFA and think it would be a perfect fit to what the park needs. Now that the chain seems to be naming rides/attractions after Mr. Six again, they could even call the ride "Mr. Six's Pandemonium" as the ride up at SFNE was originally named avoiding the confusion of having two rides at the park themed for Tony Hawk (if they called it Tony Hawk's Big Spin as the park already has the Tony Hawk's Halfpipe water slide). I think, realistically speaking, a THBS clone would be MUCH more likely than enclosing Joker's Jinx or building a multimillion dollar, brand new B&M coaster.

Tween: A child between middle childhood and adolesence, usually between 8 and 12 years old. (A blend of "teen" and "between") THBS = Tony Hawk's Big Spin

As much as I'd love to see that, they just repainted the ride at the end of last season, so I doubt that a Bizarro treatment to Superman will happen anytime soon. Batwing, on the other hand, needs a new paint job more than Superman did, so maybe an X-2 style treatment there? We'll see I guess. There are some construction pics over on SFAFans.com from April 10th. The area has been leveled (requiring a retaining wall be built near Superman), berms have been created around the site, and pretty much all of the infrastructure (water, electric, drainage) has been run. Foundations for the Thomas Train station are poured and the walls are starting to go up. Marking are in place for all of the other attractions, so it shouldn't be too long until we see more foundations poured. The rides are all pretty simple and can be put together in just a couple days, so once the footers are in, everything should go up pretty fast. The park is still planning a Memorial Day opening of Thomas Town and I am still confident that they will be open and ready on time. Joker's Jinx really isn't that noisy. But nonetheless, the plans for Thomas Town have a berm covered with quite a lot of landscaping (including trees and bushes) between Thomas Town and Joker's Jinx. Granted it may take a few years to really grow in, but once it does, it should create a nice barrier between Thomas Town and Joker's Jinx.

The drive is really quite simple... get on the DC beltway heading south, take the I-95 south exit and travel I-95 south until you get to the park (the exit for the park takes you right into the park's parking lot essentially). If you don't mind driving, it's a VERY easy drive, will allow you MUCH greater flexibility as far as times go, and is probably much cheaper than any other option. Only warning is that traffic on I-95 can get pretty congested during rush hour, so either plan to go on a weekend or leave early (and come back late). On the other hand, there IS public transportation in and around DC to get to Six Flags America... but I'm guessing that's not your first choice (especially w/ I305 recently opening)...

Just a guess, but there's probably a state regulation that requires a 6' fence around any bit of track that is less than 10' off the ground and the ride is not allowed to operate if anyone is within that fenced in area. By creating that gate over the transfer track, it puts the storage track outside of the operational fence allowing maintenance to work on the second train (like to replace a wheel) while the first train remains in operation. Also prevents maintenance from backing up into the path of the train as it approaches the station... Just a thought...

^^ Photo from the forums of CoasterFusion.com (where more photos are available)...

Everyone keeps talking about the possibility of adding trims or modifying the track to reduce the g-forces, but there really is a simpler solution: just slow the lift! I mean, this coaster FLIES up and over the top of the lift, if they want to slow the ride, why not just slow the lift (or at least when the train approaches the top like they did to El Toro). Drop that speed by a few MPH and I think you completely control the problem of people blacking/graying out... I mean, I can't say much as I haven't even ridden the coaster yet, just saying there's easier ways if they want to "tame" the ride a little.

^^Oddly enough, Bone's Chicken and Waffles serves fried chicken and they sell waffle sundaes (with waffles and ice cream), but they do not sell traditional chicken and waffles (waffles with gravy and chunks of chicken meat)... at least that's what I think of when I hear "chicken and waffles". ^Not enough room on the Two Face spot... at least not enough room for the Thomas Town the park was looking to build. Not to mention, putting the Thomas Town in the spot behind Joker's Jinx creates some distance between the two kids areas. If Thomas Town would have gone on Two Face's former location, the two kids areas would have been adjacent to one another.

The explanation I have heard is that the area where Hurricane Mountain (those rainbow colored slides) currently stands is a designated floodplain. Apparently the ride was built before the area was designated as such and therefore avoided the restrictions for building in a floodplain. If they would remove Hurricane Mountain and not immediately replace it, any new construction on the site would deal with the harsh restrictions of building in a flood plain (the restrictions pretty much say you cannot build in a floodplain), however, if they immediately replaced the slides with something else, it would be classified as a modification, and not new construction, which is permitted. I would think the park has SOMETHING in mind for the area in the next couple years, otherwise they would have removed the attraction already and just let the area fall back under the restrictions of the flood plain, however, I do agree that in their current state, the slides are a bit of an eyesore.

SFAFans has the media release up on their site already... no pictures/site plans/maps yet though... http://www.sfafans.com/showthread.php?t=5378

Not terribly impressed as of now, but I don't think the issue is so much the technology that is involved, it's the presentation. I mean, going with the fireworks example, you can find fireworks and just about any semi-well funded event, but when the right selection of a variety of fireworks are well choreographed to a moving, well written score, the effects can be magical. I really think it's too early to judge this show based just on the pictures seen, but I'm hoping the Disney "magic" pushes this up the notch from being "just another fountain show"... however, I don't think any of us will know for sure if it has been a success or not until we see the actual final product... here's hoping!

Sounds a lot like the sound Griffon makes at the bottom of the first drop... like at the 0:14 mark in the below video...

It appears, based on a contest that the park is holding to get kids involved in the ground breaking, that SFA will be making their full announcement on Feb 10th... http://www.mix1073fm.com/Article.asp?id=1650644&spid=22902

Well, a press release really doesn't cost the park any money. I can understand not including computer generated images of the new attractions (as that would cost money), but just releasing a press release with text and a logo would be a start and none of the parks have really done even that (SFGAm and White Water Atlanta would be the closest). In most markets, PRs will be picked up by the local media creating free advertising. Possibly they are delaying these PRs till closer to season opening so they can use them to drive season pass or early group bookings, but the whole point of building a new attraction is to get people to come to your park and if people don't know a new attraction is available, the new attraction is nothing more than a very expensive lawn ornament. While I agree it might not be the best idea to go all out and build giant billboards, push TV commercials, and take out full page ad space in the local newspapers for these new attractions before the season begins, there is a lot more they can do that really wouldn't cost them anything to promote these attractions now and generate some early sales.

Ya, but all of the announcements have been sort of pseudo-announcements. La Ronde has announced a new SLC coaster, but didn't mention anything about a name (very odd considering this partial announcement came months ago). SFMM has done similar with their "family-coaster," though they really haven't released any details as far as what sort of ride they are getting. SFA has probably put the most out there, but said just as little. Their website mentions Thomas Town is coming in 2010, but says nothing about what rides or where in the park it's going. There have been blurbs by various people and the parks facebook page about it being the biggest Thomas Town in the US, but no official press release. Most of the information we have on SFA's addition comes from a window display they had at the park during Fright Fest which had the schematic drawings (SFAFans.com has pictures of these in their gallery). It's like instead of popping the balloon in a press release and getting all the information at once, they poked a hole in the balloon and are letting out just a little info at a time. Now, I can see why SFA may be holding back telling too much info as they still may be working with the planning board to get final approval (they had an issue before with announcing/constructing rides before they were officially approved and have vowed to stop doing that), but I'm not sure why they haven't at least provided more information for the SFMM and La Ronde attractions.

^^To irritate all of the SFMM fans who had their hopes up when a 2010 coaster was rumored for SFMM, then that rumor was modified to a "family coaster", they assumed that a "family" coaster would actually be something that they could enjoy/appreciate like a wild mouse or a THBS as opposed to a coaster that's more along the lines of a kiddie coaster, so now they might actually not be getting something they can enjoy at all?

-Death of CCI and re-birth as Gravity Group -Introduction of the "beyond" verticle drop coaster and "war" to have steepest drop -Introduction of the Magnetic Break in use on a roller coaster

The industry has a fairly established saying... "those who know don't tell and those who tell don't know." The theme park industy is crawling with compitition and anything a park can do to delay information about future attractions being released, they will do! Unfortunately, sometimes plans do leak, and sometimes information gets out before the park intends it to. Take, for example, the recent release of the diagrams for WDW's Magic Kingdom expansion that were discovered before the official announcement. On the flip side, parks can change their plans at VERY short notice. If you read the interviews from CP's "Shoot the Rapids," you'll know that the ride was delayed several times until the economic timing was just right. I guess what I'm trying to say is, even if someone did supposidly tell you EXACTLY what was happening at any given park in 2011, until the concrete starts pouring, those plans could change. I strongly believe, based off of the growing number of rumors and hearsay, that the INTENTION is to build a new coaster at SFA for 2011, however, given the state of the economy and the state of Six Flags, I could easily see the project being delayed or cancled should the wind blow in the wrong direction. In regards to SFA, if you REALLY want the best idea of what's coming, watch the planning boards. The PG County planning board is VERY slow to approve new additions, so any new addition that's not already approved should show up on the agenda several months before any construction begins. And if you don't know what is already approved, go to the Planning Board Office and request to view the files (they are all public, just not available online). On top of that, even if it was approved, they would also need construction permits, which can also be seen online...