CoasterGuy06

Leah has mentioned it several times on the HoWoPo that her dream is to one day add a birthday holiday section to the park. When/if it happens we will see.

So I had a friend DM me the Kumba tweet from BGT today. This was my response (and I get it...two different companies):

I seem to remember there being an article back in 2016 that said they were in fact keeping the chassis and just updating the restraints/shells, etc. If they were still in good condition I can't say I blame them. And they actually acquired two Arrow trains. Back in 2011 they ran one of the old Vekoma trains and the blue train from SFGAdv to compare the two. When TPR had "Deep South Bash" that year I rode in both and the blue train was definitely an improvement and that night when the park's management had their Q&A session during dinner that night they confirmed they had made the decision to switch to both Arrow trains and said they would be painted black like the Vekoma trains had been, so from 2012-2015 it actually ran two of GASM's trains.

Couple of things lately: announcement #2 was made on NYD and it is a new attraction called Little Tractors: The next announcement is scheduled for Valentine's Day. Looks like they will also be making a big deal about Rampage's 25th Birthday this year.

They posted a picture of cheese as a clue today. Wild mouse?

Well you do have to consider that Rocket Racer was used, so they likely did save quite a bit on that.

One of the issues with yellow jackets could be due to staffing shortages and things (tables, trash cans, etc.) not being cleaned as often as in the past. When I worked at a park we had one year we had a MASSIVE yellow jacket problem, and it was because the manager in charge of park services that year was lazy AF and didn't have them spray the insides of the trash cans with bleach water every few days like the previous manager had. I had to deal with guest complaints about them multiple times a day.

It's definitely not just a Dollywood thing. The Beast has a ton of them you can see going up it's first lift too. And I do agree with you on Wild Eagle. I don't know what it is about that thing but I love that ride.

^Well that also depends on the laws in the state too. For example in some states (like Alabama) if a bartender over serves someone and they drive off and hit and kill someone the victim's family can (and will) sue the drunk person driving, the bar/restaurant that over served them, and the bartender(s) that did the serving. Sure you're going to get the most money by suing the company, but that won't stop a lawyer from including the low wage worker too.

They do appear to be hinting at some sort of “big” new ride: A couple of years ago at an ACE event they did mention they were looking into a new coaster and a couple of examples they mentioned as possibilities were a GG family wooden coaster and a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter.

They've posted a plain green square on their socials. Guessing that's their hint its reopening is in fact happening soon.

Yeah but that was because CGA was announcing RailBlazer before the big Six Flags announcement day was scheduled and SFFT moved theirs since WW was the firs Raptor coaster. Jeffery Siebert did say a couple weeks ago there would be no big announcement video from Six Flags this year.

Something tells me that Mr. Siebert might have been lying about the replacement part thing. Oh rather, trying to throw off the scent Great addition. It's been 15 years since I've been to SFFT so maybe next year needs to be my next visit. I really wish Jeffery Siebert could have a bigger role at SF. Something tells me he could have a similar impact on guest experience as what Matt Ouimet had at CF.

Yeah I think GASM is the only coaster that is always closed once HitP starts. Blue Hawk usually is closed (but not always), and Superman usually is open (but not always).

I mean in 1999 alone you had a raft flip at SFOT that resulted in a death and one at Visionland within days of them opening their ride. Hell that ride alone had a boat flip at least 4 times from 1999 until it closed in 2011 (although one was said to be the result of off duty employees jumping on the raft trying to flip it).

^ That and many places have been so far behind when it comes to alcohol laws. In Alabama no beer could be above 6% ABV until 2009. Heck even views on alcohol in general have changed the last decade or so. Think about how many parks have started selling it the last few years.

^Agreed. If they were going family coaster maybe something like a modern Vekoma mine train, a Gravity Group family wooden coaster, or even a Mack spinning coaster might better options rather than another family launch coaster.

I think it's Miss Keat's Smokehouse in Frontiertown that has bathrooms in the back of the dinning room which consists of a single toilet and the doors lock. They are around the corner inside, so I don't think many realize they are back there.

Yeah that's how it was at CF until they fully integrated themselves with the Paramount Parks. It's pretty amazing that in 2021 there are still park chains that apparently don't have their season pass database shared between parks

Depends on how much they are willing to pay for the new parts. I know a park that had some damage done to a PTC train on Saturday and they paid something like 30 grand for the new parts and overnight shipping from PTC so they could have both trains running for a certain donkey loving theme park tour for their ERT session that Thursday.

Yeah I'm going to be really sad if Covid kills the printed park map. I love collecting those.

Same. And the coaster had foot pedals for the restraints that were on the opposite side of the train as the control panel. In my time there we also had several flat rides where we required two operators when I started but over time they made modifications to the rides/queues so they could be operated by a single person.

I mean it's 2021...even Cracker Barrel sells beer and wine now. It's so weird to me to see parks apparently having people to be open but needing to cut back hours. Times have definitely changed from when I worked in a park. When we had Friday night concerts they would usually end about 9 with a scheduled 10pm closing. We were frequently told (at like 9pm) we were staying open an extra 30 minutes- an hour if the concert drew a huge crowd to avoid having everyone hit the exit road at the same time.

I mean they already operate most of their rides in December anyways. Wouldn't be much of a leap from them to do it now, but a few more indoor rides wouldn't hurt.

The park does seem to be off to a great start attendance wise. Seems like every post on Facebook people talk about the crowds and the park recently announced they will be capping attendance on Saturdays and if the park reaches that capacity they will only allow season pass holders and people that purchased tickets at least 24 hours in advance into the park.