OldJJman

Great job Erik!! Anyone who can get a “Galaxy Quest” quote in a trip report is a star!!!

Erik - I’ve always enjoyed your Trip Reports, and this one is no different!! You manage to make reading worthy again! However…. I did notice a distinct lack of: cynicism, snarky comments, personal opinions, casual observations, and otherwise random, senseless pics. Looking forward to the rest of your trip!! JJ

I don’t know if anyone still plays but... I have found that there are max limits on levels (939), and you can max out on money earned ($4,294.967,295). Still haven’t found out the max donuts. I’m over 32,000. This is what you do when retired and bored. The red numbers indicate you’ve maxed out.

You’re right. My apologies to Vonni - I hope I didn’t come off as jumping down your throat. Over the years, there was MUCH speculation and optimism about the reopening of the park, in one form or another. For a while there, it was almost a daily play-by-play of what was actually happening on this forum. But... the reality of the situation at the time was - it had it’s best shot at reopening as a waterpark/sports complex. That too, was (IIRC) voted down by the N.O. city council. In the case of SFI - once they had bought the park, the attendance figures were WAY below projections. They had thought by giving it the “Six Flags” name, people would flock there, and it just didn’t happen. This was in an era where SFI were buying up more parks than they handle (Dan Snyder era). They had bought Jazzland, Frontier City, Darien Lake, Walibi Holland and Walibi Belgium. In the bankruptcy filing of SFI in 2009(?)(sorry-doing this from memory) four of those parks were sold off. (Ironically, FC and DL have been reacquired by SFI). In the case of SFNO (aka: Jazzland), no one wanted to buy it, or even the property, as a whole. After a short time, SFI decided to try and sell the park as a whole. All the offers that came in were for parceling out the property only. After even more time (~2007) SFI stopped paying the lease on the land, and it was eventually taken over by the city of N.O. As to why it failed: it was, simply put, the demographics. There wasn’t enough population within a (approx) 2-hr drive to keep the park afloat. (Which makes the reacquisition of FC and DL even more perplexing, though they are regional parks that break relatively even.) Being that when SFI acquired it, there weren’t a whole lot of rides. It was a half-day park at best (with multiple rides on everything). Absolutely no shade, other than the eating places. To add insult to injury, (again, IIRC) they had sold less than 5k season passes for ANY year the park was in operation. SF came in, added some rides (6-7, incl Batman) and the numbers went up, but only in a single-digit percentage (8%?). It was a regional park (at best), and really never could become a “destination” park that would cover the bills. As for me, I liked the park, and I really liked Megazeph. I remember very vividly the day we went (2002 when it was Jazzland). It was 93* when the park opened, and 85% humidity. It was hot and miserable. We thought it had the makings of a good small park, but definitely needed shade. However, there were only about 35-40 other people in the park the day we went (mid July). We thought that that was seriously odd. We asked some employees about it. We were told that was the norm. They would only get busy days around Memorial Day, and July 4th. Anyway - go thru the previous pages, and you’ll get a lot of info (and speculation) as to the rise and fall of the park. Again, I apologize if I came off as a bit harsh.

See my response right above your post. (And the many pages of posts before it.) We have discussed this MANY times before, over the years. Simply put - it would have failed. It was failing from the onset. All Katrina did, was solidify the fate of the park.

Excellent TR Elissa!! As another person who has little/no knowledge of the Star Wars universe (I lost interest in the series with the teddy bears in the 2nd movie.), but have semi-enjoyed the last two (avoided everything in-between)... I’m glad that this ride tells its own story and, apparently, completely. Love the inside/outside/inside/outside thing!! What a unique and cool concept!! Looking forward to trying this in a couple of months at Disneyland!!

I’m not much of a Star Wars fan, but this looks beyond awesome!! Like Chuck said “Holy Crap!” It is really fair to call this a “ride”, or should it be labeled an “experience”? Probably gonna head to Disneyland and check it out in late February/early March, before “Spring Breaks” starts to check it out.

I can’t believe there is still discussion about this park. The park was a complete failure, from the beginning. After its’ first two years of losing major $$, they (Alpha Smartparks, who owned Castle Park in Riverside, CA, where I bought my annual pass for $22.50 for all parks they owned.) were forced to sell at a major loss. SFI stepped in thinking they could make it work by adding a couple more coasters and trees (which were definitely needed!). However, the demographics could not, and would not, support this park. Over its’ 3 year operating ownership, it lost far more money each year. It was far easier for SFI to file bankruptcy, then to pour any more $$ into a FAILING property. Think about that. There have been numerous plans over the years to rebuild this property, but the city could not, and will not support it. If it wasn’t for Hard Rock Park, this would be one of the largest park FAILURES to date. Let it go!!

I think I’ll just wait and see. It would make a nice off-season visit, but I will wait to hear someone else’s report before I venture out there.

I honestly don’t know. We got to the zoo and headed for Kombo. Along the way we saw the sky ride (not knowing exactly what it was right away) and we were like wtf? We followed the track to where the entrance was, which still perplexed us, as the station was ground level. There was a girl standing out front that clued us in as to what it was. She said they were having some problems with it over the weekend (we went on a Monday)and that it probably wouldn’t open that day.

I made it to the Indianapolis Zoo last year as a quick credit run, on a trip. The sky ride was down for the day, but you’re right - it looks so absolutely cool!!Glad you got to ride it! I found the zoo to be quite charming overall.

That looks pretty dang impressive!!

I think they need to have a “Bacon & Eggs” flavored popcorn for the mornings!

Great video and pics! Like the detail in so many of the models! Looking forward to the “Mint Oreo” Dippin’ Dots!

No doubt - Japan is corrupting you! That’s not necessarily a bad thing!