ajinaz

By noon on Saturday, I found the lines seemed to be really long on rides in the vicinity of X2. On Viper they stretched down to the coaster history photos and the line for Tatsu stretched down around the hill around 75 yards.

Our group got this same answer when I asked Tim this question during WCB. I'd be shocked if they got this together in less than 3 months. Not that I'd complain if he was withholding information.

Bought my ticket this morning. So you can add me to the roll call. I'll be driving over from Phoenix on Friday morning and hitting the park late afternoon. If I buy an extreme pass online, how do I deal with the parking the first time? Do they reimburse me? Or do i show my print out at the parking booth?

$50 today is a "deal" for a big name concert act. Many people pay much more than that to be crushed in a hot arena for what usually turns out to be a 1 1/2 hour show. I know it's apples and oranges but it does point out that it's all relative.

I am a fifth grade teacher and this paper would earn a B if it was handed in by one of my students. However, for a high school paper you would earn a D at best. If this is really a research paper, it would earn an F for grammatical errors and lack of in-text citations and references. You should always read your papers aloud and have someone you really trust edit the paper.

We are also considering this but I need some clarification. Can someone tell me how the flash pass with the extreme season pass works? Can I only use them on four different rides or can I use them for four rides on X2? Can I share them with someone else? When we first heard about this camp out we began to plan to purchase 1 extreme season pass for me and a regular season pass for my daughter. We would drive out on Friday morning and hit the park for Friday for a few hours , do the sleep out, ride X2 and then at 10 head to the other side of the park while the GP went to X2 and try to hit as many rides as possible before they catch up with us. However, now that we found we couldn't use the passes for the camp-out we are not sure what to do. It would actually be cheaper to buy two extreme passes and go Friday for a few hours and then go in at 10 on Saturday and head to the other side of the park and work back to X2 and use our flash pass (or passes). This all depends on how the flash pass works though. Can any one clarify?

You are 100% correct. The reason for the OP was my surprise in SFAM's apparently not wanting to know all the sides. Many people have suggested that not enough time has passed for a response so I'll let you all know if one ever comes. If one never comes, I guess that the silence will speak volumes about the park.

Yes, you are right about why he lost his temper. It's not like he hasn't heard cuss words before but in front of the kids was uncalled for. I actually think that "losing his temper" is a bit of a strong description on my part. I think he was just trying to let the guy know he wasn't impressed with his actions so he put down his obvious poor driving skills. One thing that he did tell me was that every second this was happening he was very aware that he was most likely being filmed, so he was going out of his way to be calm and respectful. He did ask the lady he talked to to pull the tape of the incident if there was one.

He had stopped there to activate his six passes.

Warning! Long-winded tale ahead. Turn back if you are easily bored! I just finished talking with my brother back east and my first thought was that the new SFMM culture must not be corporate-wide. It makes me appreciate the changes at MM even more. And now the story. My brother was at an event in Bethesda with the family and decided to renew their 6 passes on the way home. This was on the 13th so the park wasn't open yet. He turned left into the park entrance from the median left turn lane (there are 2 lanes there). When he made the turn there was nobody beside him. He headed down the drive which almost immediately becomes one lane due to cone placement. As he headed into the single lane he heard a horn behind him and saw a Ford Ranger with a smashed in front end right on his bumper. He quickly pulled to the left and stopped to let the guy by. Instead the guy pulled up to his passenger side, lowered the window and started cussing him out. "What the #$%# is your problem &^*%$#$?" was one of the string of expletives. This is all happening with my brother's kids in the car. (7-14 years old) My brother lost his temper and told him that from the looks of his truck it seems he runs into things all the time. This made the guy really mad and he told my brother that he might as well turn around right there because he "wasn't coming into my @#$%@#$% park today!" The guy then pulls up to the parking kiosk and stops his truck and gets out. My brother is right behind him. As the guy is getting out he puts on these black fingerless gloves and tells the guy at the parking kiosk not to let my brother in. My brother asks to talk to his boss and the parking guy tells him that the guy in the truck is his boss today! My brother asks to speak to the person in charge of the park. At that point the truck guys says, "Until the park opens I am in charge of this entire park!" My brother tells the guy that he owes his wife and kids an apology for acting that way and the guy now denies cussing him out! My brother left and called customer relations the next morning. The lady was quite appalled by the story and gave him the numbers to public relations and the real head of security. (It turns out that the truck guy may have been embellishing the story) My brother called both numbers and left a message and a short explanation. No calls were returned. He then wrote a letter to both departments. No response at all. So last week he gathered up all of the season passes he and the family had accumulated over the last 7 years (over 30) and mailed them to SFAM with another letter explaining that he would never set foot in a Six Flags again. My brother is a theme park nut (compared to me). He buys passes to Cedar Fair, SF, and BG every year and spends literally thousands and thousands of dollars at Six Flags parks each summer. I'm sure that if this had happened at the new MM he would have received some kind of response even if they didn't believe the story. To let that kind of money be lost because of a loose cannon in security is just amazing to me.

Does anyone know if it would be possible to put some type of fake rock on that concrete footer at the top of the falls? Or do they need to be able to see the footer for inspection? It would be cool to see the ride coming right out of the bedrock.

They did say that they are not focused on that right now. They mentioned that a short term solution might be to store landscaping that is destined for other parts of the park around the ride to give it some color.

I am so impressed by this! I have not been to the cafe and I honestly did not suspect that they were providing this service for free. Speaking as one that has been gouged at more airports and hotels than I care to mention I just have to say that I am flabbergasted. With all of the teens descending on the park this summer with their families on vacation, I'm sure that they could make a fortune off the MySpace junkies. Bravo Jay!

I'm a teacher, so my students watch this student focused podcast each day. Tomorrow's podcast has a short story on theme parks and the economy. I found it somewhat interesting that no one agrees on how the summer is shaping up. This link will only be good until around late afternoon on 3/31. The story starts at the 6:39 mark. http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/

WARNING: GENERALIZATIONS BELOW! I can't believe that I'm saying this because I sound like my dad. I actually think the problems began with my generation (born in the early sixties). We were more lenient with our kids than our parents were and gave them a sense of entitlement. Can you imagine what values these kids will instill in their kids? This has led to a generation that thinks that rules are simply suggestions. And yes.. I have found Disneyland to be the worst recently. I have pointed out line jumpers to cast members and they simply rolled their eyes.

The proper response would be, "I have no idea how long those donuts have been sitting there. Can I make you up a fresh batch?" I know that it sounds insignificant but these are the little things that people remember. You can be indifferent or you can make the guest actually feel that the park is there to make your day (or last hour) memorable. I'll never forget the cast member at Epcot that roasted me fresh pecans AFTER the closing announcement.

The DL one has different levels based on knowledge.

There is no doubt that this thing is a long,long way from reality. I do think that many people have a mis-conception about Arizona resorts. My wife worked for many years at the Arizona Biltmore which is considered an old people resort. In the high season (January-April) this place is crawling with kids. Dad golfs, mom shops and the kids hang at the pool. I could envision shuttles running from all the resorts down to a theme park. As for the summer heat. I don't care what the owners say about heat indexes and what not. The bottom line is that standing in direct sunlight in the summer in central/southern Arizona is absolutely brutal! I wonder how it would be if they opened at 6 AM in July and August. Many attractions like the zoos do that now.

And an element that is being forgotten is the proximity to Mexico. There is a shopping mall in Tempe (right outside of Phoenix) that is PACKED with people from Mexico on the weekends and they are spending U.S. money like it's going out of style. Unless you live near the border, most people don't realize that Mexicans are quite good at saving up for fun stuff to do as a family. When they go out it seems that money is no object.

Still moving forward. Senate backs financing bill for Eloy rock 'n roll theme park 03:19 PM MST on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) -- The Senate on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to a bill allowing public bond financing for a proposed rock 'n' roll theme park in Eloy but rejected efforts to make developers foot more of the bill. The bill would create a special district to issue up to $750 million of revenue bonds to help pay for the $800 million project along Interstate 10 in Pinal County. The park would have rock-themed rides as well as a luxury hotel and retail space. The proposed district would repay the bonds using taxes collected from park patrons. Investors would first have to come up with at least $100 million of their own financing. The Senate rejected an amendment to raise the private financing requirement to half the project's cost. Supporters called the project a possible economic boon to the state and said the plan contains ample protections for taxpayers. "I don't care what they do if they're going to be providing jobs," said Sen. Robert Blendu, R-Litchfield Park. "Our risk is zero." Some critics labeled the project a giveaway, and Republican Sen. Ron Gould of Lake Havasu City even said the proposed public involvement in a private development project constituted facism. Senate approval of the bill (SB1450) came on a formal vote would send the bill to the House. http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0319rocknroll-ON.html

I found that walking around up there was sort of like being on a cruise ship in moderate seas. However, when looking through a camera lens while bracing the camera against the metal window frames it became apparent that thing was swaying a lot. It did seem that it swayed more when the elevator was underway. I think most people would be fine if they just went up and looked at the displays without looking out the windows. Another thing to consider is that most of us had been riding coasters all day so our inner ears probable were sloshing around quite a bit by night time. Most guests will not have that kind of coaster count during a normal day at the park. Al

Pure, I'm glad you liked my picture of Viper at night. I have that picture on my classroom Smartboard right now and the kids think it's awesome. That thing was really rough to take because the tower was swaying so much. I only got maybe 2 good pictures out of 30 from up there. Thanks for not booing me out of the theatre. Al -> New name ........Bathroom Hooligan

I think this might be where I went wrong when I made my bathroom comment. I never sensed any tension at all in the room when I asked that question. I felt that my comment was answered extremely professionally, all the while looking my directly in the eye which I consider to be a sign of true sincerity. As for flushing the toilet with my hand, I will respond one more time and then leave it there. I know the foot trick all to well. My concern was more with what the perception of the average mom or dad might be. I think that for the good of the park this is a genuine concern. The family needs to be the target audience for these incredible improvements to go forward. I do fear that all these improvements will be negated by a lack of response from the family market. I feel better now knowing that there is a plan in place to address my concerns. Al

Robb, Once again, thank you for the best experience that I have ever had at an amusement park. I really can't think of one thing that was not perfect. It was so strange to just keep riding around in a circuit without ever getting off the ride. Superman is so much better with only 2 people riding. Now to the bathroom issue, I did not realize that I was coming off as ungrateful or less than gracious when I asked the question. For that I am sorry. I think I should have said that "the park looks fantastic, but even with all the improvements many mothers and fathers will still leave the park remembering the bathrooms that their children had to use." I know I seem to be obsessed with the rest rooms but I approached my visit from the perspective of everyman. I want MM to be the best and without a steady increase in patrons (families) that will not be possible. When you think about it, there is only one thing that every single customer uses at the park. Some people ride, some people watch the rides, some people shop, some people hold stuff while family members ride, some people arrive by bus, some by car, some get dropped off. But every patron has one thing in common.... they use the rest room. I don't know about everyone else but when I walk into a clean restroom with an employee cleaning log on the door it makes me feel like the place is going the extra mile. And Robb I hold you partly responsible for providing us with almost unlimited food and drink (and ice cream). Maybe I wouldn't of spent so much time inspecting the restrooms.

I am the one that asked this question and I believe that I prefaced my statement by saying, "I appreciate the new paint." I really believed that the purpose of the Q&A for the execs was to get a perspective on what needs to be addressed. I think that I looked at the park on Sunday from the perspective of a family out for a day. I think it was clear to them that we all appreciated what was done "for us." But the park will not survive with 350 customers. When I left the theater I went to the bathrooms right outside. All of the toilets were full of waste. 2 of 3 towel dispensers were empty and the trash cans were overflowing. To me this is an easy fix. Assign two people to monitor all the facilities on an hourly basis. The cost would be less than 200 grand a year. I'm not real big on sugar-coating and I really don't think that sugar-coating is what a businessman wants to hear when trying to keep this incredible turnaround going. Al