KDCOASTERFAN

Unfortunately Two face probably won't be there for long seeing as how it hasn't re-opened following last year's incident & there've been rumors going around for quite a while of the ride being removed before the 2009 season begins. what happened? The train stalled on the first lift(again) & when they went to bring it down it somehow slipped & "crashed" in the station rupturing a hydraulic line in the process. The ride had only been open for a few weeks after a similar incident had occured,but that first time it happened nobody was injured,just stranded for a good 2 hours before they could bring the train down into the station.

Unfortunately Two face probably won't be there for long seeing as how it hasn't re-opened following last year's incident & there've been rumors going around for quite a while of the ride being removed before the 2009 season begins.

Well at least Carowinds is getting something "new" for 09 so it's not like CF has left the place to rot(yet) & if this helps grow attendance it will prove to CF that new rides at this park are worth the added expense so you'll be seeing greater things in the future.If a hyper is in the works you'll get it eventually so don't sweat it,at least you've got one SWEET invert down there...one that I'd trade V:TBC for in a heartbeat if only I could.

So will this be a first for VF or do they already have a wave pool elsewhere in the waterpark? I can't imagine any waterpark not being equipped with a wave pool as a standard attraction from the get go.

Funny how they're taking FSS down before the boomerang goes in,as you'll recall during Dominator construction the crew had to take a break & start work dismantling HSXLC. Then again since the boomerang is replacing FSS it obviously needs to be removed first.

Definitely a departure from their normal twister layouts(ie Roar east/Wildcat) & perhaps we'll be seeing more of these rides which offer the best of both worlds when it comes to twister/OAB combinations.

The lockers are required for the rides that use them so there's no getting out of it unless you either leave loose items with non riders,or simply skip the ride alltogether. SFI can easily add a new ride & additional staffing to SFA,it's just that they simply have chosen NOT to do so because they prefer to dump that extra cap ex into the parks that they really care about & unfortunately SFA simply isn't one of them.

Burke & Co. can be blamed for that because they ran the chain so far into debt that they figured the only way to make money was to "beef up" the three large market parks starting in 2002.Basically if your home park wasn't SFGRADV,SFGRAM or SFMM than you weren't getting any rides,and even if you did get a new ride on the occasional off year it would've been a mediocre one at best because they were pumping the major capital into the above mentioned three parks leaving no capital remaining for the rest. Remember when they built those 18 coasters in one year?(2001) well they spent an awful lot of capital doing so & just weren't able to make up for it so 2002 marked the beginning of the end of Premier park's strategy to "flag" every theme park in existence here in the states. Now I'd hate to see the park go the way of SFAW or GL & if only they'd improve the place by adding new rides instead of removing existing ones & change their policies,especially the lockers & flashpass then maybe I'll return sometime.I'd been a passholder there from 1998 through 2007 but with the way things have been going recently I decided not to renew for 2008 & the way it looks now there might not even be a park left in a few more years.

Exactly, going to KD is such a hassle because of 95. I keep saying that if SF would properly build up and maintain SFA people in the DC area would go there instead of KD. Save time and money by driving half the distance. People will choose KD over SFA because its a better park to spend a day at. Also, SFA does fairly well with in the park spending. Most of the groups you see go in to the park will get at least one meal in the park. Finally, SFGAdv is not competition for SFA and vice versa. I have NEVER met a single person in the DC area who ever had any intention of going to SFGAdv for a day. There's a reason we don't see any ad's or any information about SFGAdv in the area. The parks that compete for the DC area is SFA, KD, BGE, and HP to a lesser extent. SFGAdv is not nearly close enough to be considered. Of course SFA & SFGRADV aren't in competition with each other because they're part of the same chain....now should SFA be sold to say Parc management for example that would be competition for SFGRADV because it'd be a totally different company running(and improving) the place.

Here is my point, close the park and where do the million + people the park attract go? Great Adventure or Kings Dominion/Busch Gardens. Kings Dominion, Busch Gardnes or even Hershey Park. Sell the park and Great Adventure adds another competitor. It's a possibility (I've learned to never say never) but I think there is a outside chance, I also think the park can be improved with some investment. If SFI should close the park then they're rid of it same as CF was in Ohio when they closed down GL & the locals will just have to contend with going to KD or BGE as their local parks....keep in mind that KD & BGE were both around long before SFA(as a ride park) & people were content enough to go back then just as they will be now should that come to pass. The way I see it SFA has become the next SFWOA.SFI overbuilt the place too soon & failed to keep up with the needed infrastructure required to support the park,it was just more poor planning & expansion on their part but what gets me is that Shapiro is doing NOTHING with the park to turn it around & that's why I stopped going. The park needs to be maintained better for starters but the place also NEEDS new attractions,especially when you've got CF as a new comer to the region just pumping in cap ex down at KD.If SFA doesn't add a major ride soon to compete with KD's Dominator then I can say for sure that the place is done for.Shapiro & Snyder are doing exactly what Burke did...playing favorites which is what partially is to blame for SFI's mess under the old regime to begin with. You can't compete against an attraction the likes of Dominator by just throwing in another cheapo waterslide in the waterpark or removing yet another flat ride or two & leaving an empty slab of concrete in it's place after all. Jcoaster:You're in Staten Island,which should be close enough for you to go to SFGRADV,or even SFNE so why are you so worried about where SFA's rides will go should the park close?

The biggest single factor effecting the old vekoma models is track geometry,for instance take a look at the Togo stand ups.They used outside guide wheels that DO contact the rail & yet the ride is still rough as h*ll mainly due to the poor geometry of the curves & transitions in the track. Another example of this would be the PremiereLIM bowl coasters(pre lap bar conversion) although the problem with their rides seemed to stem more from high lateral G's rather than wheel hunting along the track. Vekoma seems to be on the "right track" here with the change in track geometry they've made lately,although we'll have to wait for the official verdict to come down from those who's ridden their next gen coasters just as soon as they've been built & ridden by the GP.Now if only they can just work out the engineering complexities that have been keeping their more ambitious rides plauged with such frequent downtime.

So I'm not the only one who finds the restraints on Huss rides(KD's Crypt in particular) to be painful?

If corporate really cared about the park then they'd do something to fix the broken seats on JJ & invest in the park as a whole with new rides & attractions.Qeerrudie is right,SFA hit it's peak in 01 when corporate HAD the revenue to afford upkeep & improvements to the park but since then it's been downhill all the way with the place getting worse every year. I'm sure they don't want competition for SFGRADV,that's why they won't sell to another operator(I mentioned this in a post a while back) so the only other alternative for SFI with regards to SFA is to follow CF's example with GL.Perhaps Snyder & Shapiro watched closely what CF did with GL & they figure that it's an easy way to get out of running a park they no longer care about so I don't see SFA being around too much longer unfortunately. I first started going to the park back in the mid to late 90's when premier was in the process of turning things around from the old WW days,perhaps had they NEVER purchased SF from Time Warner in 98 then SFA & many of the other neglected parks in the SF chain as itstands today would've gotten the improvements that were needed for their respective sizes?

Sorry for the late response...I'm just getting caught up after the ECT. Anyway, that does make some kind of sense. I really don't mind if ride ops get to have some fun as well, it might make them more pleasant through the day. This is kind of a nice side-effect of quality control. Kind of like when I worked in the bake shop in college. "Excuse me we need someone to taste test the creme filling for the doughnuts. How is this icing? Does it need more chocolate?" I loved that job! And I didn't even gain a ton. (Not sure my roommates fully appreciated the hyped up effects of it all though...) So that may explain why I saw a couple of park employees over on Dominator riding in a few empty seats on my trip this past wednesday,I also saw them doing it on avalanche as well.

We saw the same sort of things in the months prior to GL's closure with hours being cut back,rides not being repaired etc. because management knew it would be a waste of time & money when they were gonna close the place permanently at the end of the 2007 season so I wouldn't be suprised if this were SFA's last season,at least under the SF brand.

They're the same uniforms, only they are not that obnoxious yellow color. I'm still not sure why they would only wear the blue uniform for one year... seems a terrible waste of money, or a very unfair expense for the employees... I believe SFA is not the only park that kept the blue uniforms from last season... Ok... If the employees are having to buy them, then I can surrender that. Speaking as a stock holder though, I would personally like to see some consistency across the brand. If that means that the company need to buy at least 2 or 3 shirts for the employees, then so be it. The fact that SFA (and apparently some others) are allowed to use the same uniforms again when there is a major change seems to indicate that there some issues between the park and the brand. It tells me that SFA is less of a priority than some others. I seem to remember someone with some information on SF numbers as a whole saying that SFA has remained profitable year after year for sometime. Why then the lack of corporate oversight? The same can be said for half the other parks in the chain... including both California parks, SFKK, SFM, and Great Escape... Is there a reason? After some little bits and pieces of information regarding the Q-Bots, I know that it is quite an expensive system to install. This brings me back to consistency across the brand. If the parks were operated as franchises, I probably wouldn't bring consistancy up as a point since franchises are allowed a certain amount of levity in what they offer their customers. Apparently you've never been to La Ronde... Nope. Haven't been there. I would be interested in your thoughts on this park in a private message as I scour TPR for some posts about the property. The spirit of my original post though is that SFA seems to be getting less corporate attention than the other SF properties that I have visited. It all adds up to a couple of questions: Is SF planning to sell it or close it? Do they simply have a crap local president at SFA? As a new stock holder in the company, I plan on listening closely to the webcasts and participating in stock holder town hall meetings so that I can gain a better understanding of what is going on. Admittedly, like so many others, I don't know 100% or even 50% of what is going on. You can rest assured that if I am going to be pumping my own, hard earned money into something as major as a stock investment, I will be seeking to understand more of what the corporate strategy is. SFA was doing ok until the end of 2001 going in to 2002,when Burke & Co. got it in their heads to focus a majority of the cap ex budget year after year on SFMM,SFGRAM & SFGRADV & as a result the smaller parks in the chain(mainly the former premier properties) fell by the wayside getting passed over year after year for much needed rides in favor of the larger parks.

Technically speaking X was an 01 attraction,they just couldn't get it up & running for a majority of the year so many count it as an 02 ride. Shapiro has this whole" only teens ride coasters & don't bring in the money" excuse wrong. Whenever I'm at the parks be it SFA or KD I've seen PLENTY of families consisting of folks young & old queuing up to ride the coasters.Of course it sounds much more paletable to the consumer as an excuse rather than saying "we are so far up our rears in debt that we cannot afford to build any major coasters at our parks at the present time. Hey Airtime when did SFA get a new GM & who is he? It can't be Terry Prather as he's been with the park for at least a couple of years already.

I tried that approach on shockwave last year & needless to say I ended up being locked into an uncomfortable position putting undue strain on my knees....fortunately the ops re-adjusted my seat before dispatch because there was NO WAY I was gonna go through the entire ride like that. To the OP:Riding a standup is really not that different from any other coaster,the change in your center of gravity & slightly elevated line of sight caused by the riding position may make you seem like you're higher up than on a normal sit down ride but you will not be in any danger of falling out.

Good point as when I was at KD last month Dominator went down a few times(so much for the myth that B&M's are 100% reliable 100% of the time) but in the case of vekoma's rides it could be a case of under engineering on their part that makes some of their rides less reliable. Anyone know what the exact problem is with invertigo? I hope it's not stranding passengers on the lift like a certain invertigo in MD that we know of.

I suggest getting a map at the gate.

I share that sentiment Jcoaster but since I'll be with my sister & her kids this time around first stop will probably be kidzville.I hope my 11 year old nephew has reached the 54" mark this year,last year he was able to ride most of the larger coasters in the park.

Great pics,mine pale in comparison. I may be heading out to KD on tuesday...any idea of what the crowds might be like?

I might be going on tuesday with my sister & the kids,a word of warning though for a saturday trip :Get to Dominator ASAP!!! even with three trains going the queue fills up fast & moves slow,especially if waiting for the front row. BTW the best seat in the house would be front row,outside left if you havn't ridden the ride yet.

I just looked on my DVR,the title is The ultimate thrill:Beyond Speed. Has anyone ever seen this one before?

If anyone's interested travel channel will be airing ultimate thrill on 8/13/08....I forget which specific title it is but it's the one that has SOB at the very end. I set my DVR to record it seeing as how I found it quite by accident the other day but,as I said I only caught the tail end of the show.