bert425

thanks! that map is one of the ones on display in the "outdoor museum" area over by Runaway Mountain. without much crowd, I would have loved to stay a bit longer. but I did get at least 1 ride on everything I wanted, including everything that was on my wishlist: Texas Skyscreamer HarleyQuinn Spinsanity Catwoman Whip Riddler Mr. Freeze & New Texas Giant so everything else was just gravy. . . and other than La Vibora (and the Wil E. Coyotie kiddie coaster), I actually did get a ride on every coaster. so a very successful trip!

thanks for posting that Robb! I thought the Killer Klowns had a house at Universal this year? (or were they just a scare zone)? the Poltergeist house, the Blumhouse Pictures, and the Stranger Things houses are my favorites from your video. well done!

lots of places, still not completely locked down on all of em. but for sure Fiesta Texas (a BUNCH of times) and SFoT at least twice

crazy busy since last Thurs (we had to go to Houston for the weekend for a wedding), so just now getting around to posting. . but saw a FANTASTIC set (even without a couple of songs I would have loved to hear) from Public Image Ltd (PIL) - the band Johnny Rotten formed when the Sex Pistols imploded Johnny might look a bit rough these days, and it was odd he was using an "old skool teleprompter" (ie: a stand with a book of lyrics on it).. .but he *sounded* absolutely amazing, and the current members of the band kept up with him seamlessly. the 1st encore of "Public Image" sounded absolutely fantastic, as did the jungle beat of "Flowers of Romance" it really was a career retrospective, and I'd guess someone told Johnny not to bring up politics (he's a big Trump supporter) in liberal Austin, for this sold out crowd. one of the best shows I've seen in a long time -- tho we see Simple Minds on Friday, and that might top this one. as usual, some songs for those not familiar: [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] anyways, some pics:

So what a difference a day makes! we got up Sunday morning, after a decent night’s sleep, and I checked my messages, and found a note from the TPR angel who had gifted us the priority parking on Saturday. She noted that she had seen my thank you email (where I mentioned the craziness and some of the frustration of the day), and that IF we had decided to go back into the park? She had set me up once again with a reservation for priority parking on Sunday. We had decided we were going back to the park for a few hours anyways, but I again thanked her profusely, and after checking out made the quick drive to the park – where this time we were in front row of the reserved parking (and again, we showed them the parking pass on my phone, and told them that someone who was not with us had made the reservation for us, and they still said “no issue” and directed us to the reserved lot). already we could tell the crowd was MUCH lighter. I think much of it had to do with it not being a BAFF day, but also because it’s Sunday in Texas, so many folks were at Church. Getting in thru the gates was a breeze, and I told Nick we should head to Justice League, since we hadn’t even stopped at it Saturday due to how long the queue line had been. There was still a 15 minute or so wait, but it was all within the Hall of Justice building. I was really happy that this version wasn’t my 1st time riding it, and that I had recently had my 1st ride on one of these at Six Flags Over Georgia – as there, all the effects had been working. Here at SFoT, the Cyborg in the queue didn’t move and several of the effects within the ride weren’t working -- the tilting shelf of barrels was the big one. Nick, not knowing that some things hadn’t been working, really liked the ride. So in the end, that’s all that mattered for me. The operations were spot on tho, with the line moving steadily. Everyone was friendly and the employees were all happy and cheerful (although to be fair, it was morning, and the heat of the day hadn’t kicked in yet). From the exit of Justice League, we were going to head to Pandemonium right across the walkway but I spotted Texas Skyscreamer operating – with empty seats! So instead we headed directly there, and it was practically a walk on. I waited only one cycle for it, after the prior night it had easily been pulling hour + waits. I know it’s the tallest one in Texas (and almost the tallest one in the USA at 450ft), but it didn’t really seem all that high. Maybe because I was chatting with the guy who took the open seat next to me during the ride – we talked about Fiesta Texas, LOL – but I didn’t find it scary, and I’m not a huge fan of heights. It was more fun than a wind seeker, and offers fantastic views of not only the park, but of both Dallas, and the stadiums next door. The coolest part of the experience, was how close it FEELS like you’re getting to Riddler when the pendulum swings up on that side. It’s rather neat. Speaking of Riddler, I got off Skyscreamer and went with my new friend over to Riddler, which also was almost a walk on. (Nick sat on a bench and watched). We ended up chatting the whole time we were in the short line for Riddler, and he was telling me he really wanted to ride Harley, but it wasn’t open. That was weird, since it was operating yesterday, so I figured maybe it was one of those that opens at noon, a couple of hours after the park. How was Riddler? It has some nice forces during the swing, but the actual spinning motion didn’t seem all that noticeable. I mean, I *knew* we were spinning as we were swinging, but I couldn’t really feel it. Still, a good ride, that gets some great height – you really feel UP THERE. I thought it wouldn’t feel that high since I had just gotten off skyscreamer, but nope, still feels pretty high : ) Exiting Riddler, Nick stayed where he was, and my new friend and I went across to Catwoman’s Whip, which had a short wait - although while I was in that line, Riddler went down – and that entire line moved across the walkway and into Catwoman’s line giving that a good wait now (but that was behind me). Riddler seemed to go down quite a bit during my visit to SFoT (so did Mr. Freeze), but credit where it’s due – Riddler always seemed to come back up 5-10 minutes after it went down. So if you go, and it breaks while in line? My suggested strategy would be to stay in line and wait it out. I have no idea what causes it to shut down so often? Maybe a restraint light, or it doesn’t line up correctly when a cycle stops? But wait it out. In fact, by the time we got off our cycle on Catwoman – maybe a total of 10 minutes in line and on ride – Riddler reopened, so we went right back across the walkway and got on it with only a 1 cycle wait. While on my 2nd spin on Riddler, Harley started cycling. Checking the time, it was just before noon, so that SEEMS to support the assumption that it opens a couple of hours after the park opens. (Judge Roy also opened around this time, and Aquaman had a sign it didn’t open until Noon. . so it’s weird that certain *rides* rather than certain *areas* open up after park) Anyways. . after my 2nd ride on Riddler, my new friends headed to Harley and I went to meet up with Nick at the bench. Since we were in Gotham anyways, we headed over Joker, which was a walk on this morning. It’s got a great setting, right on the edge of the park, but I honestly think that Batman at Fiesta Texas is a better ride. I’ve gotten more flips on Batman, and they seemed more intense. Not sure if it’s the setting at SFoT, or maybe because Batman at SFFT is the orginal installation? But I prefer Fiesta’s S&S Freespin. Getting off Joker, Harley was *also* a walk on. Now granted, the park wasn’t that crowded. . but I was still pretty surprised that the newest ride two days in a row wasn’t pulling any real lines. There were quite a few folks standing, or sitting on benches, watching the ride. But not many actually in line for it. I have to wonder if it simply LOOKS too extreme and is scaring off potential riders. Which is a shame, as it’s not really intense, and I found it to be a fun little ride. Not my favorite, or scariest, or most extreme. . but fun. With no line, I rode it twice while here (both times requesting end row seats, and being placed where I requested for both rides). I was feeling bad that we’d been in the Gotham area all morning, and tho I had ridden: Skyscreamer, Riddler (x2), Catwoman, Joker, and Harley (x2), Nick had only done Justice League today thus far. So I suggested we get a ride on Batwing, as I know he will ride the dumbo-type ride. Batwing was the ride in Gotham that seemed to have the longest line, with lots of families and small kids in line. It was at least a 4 cycle wait, but as noted – since Nick had only been on Justice League, I had no issue waiting with him to ride it. We watched Mr. Freeze cycle, since the entrance is right next door, and I asked Nick if I could grab a ride on it before we left the area after Batwing, and he was OK with it .. tho he reminded me he wanted to head out no later than 3, and preferably sooner. So we got off our ride on Batwing, and Nick sat at a shaded Johnny Rockets table, and I went to get in line for Mr. Freeze – only to find the entrance chained off. I asked an employee what was going on, as the ride had been cycling with passengers, and he told me the ride was down for mechanical issues. I asked if I could get in line to wait it out, and was told that it’s standard procedure to close the line when technical issues. I guess I hadn’t seen this the day before because I was IN the line when it went down? But that would explain why no one joined us in the line inside while we waited out the breakdown the prior day. Oh well. . I hadn’t been on Batman, and that’s right next door to Mr. Freeze, so I texted Nick that I was gonna give that a shot tho I had no idea how long the line is, as the queue on this one is all hidden (and well themed) too. Batman was basically a station wait – but it still took a good 6 minutes or so to get thru all of the queue (and to jump over the giant puddles that had formed in the Gotham park entrance area of the ride queue). . . it’s a great queue, but wow is it long. The ride was super intense, too. The closest I’ve come to a Batman that intense is the version at SFoG. . so I have to wonder if they are the *exact* same model/layout running the same ride cycle. It was great! and, of course, while on the lift-hill, Mr. Freeze started cycling again (oy). But I had ridden Batman instead of Freeze, and I didn’t want to be greedy – and wanted to keep Nick happy (and he was ready to get out of this part of the park). . . so instead of getting in that line, I went back to nick and we headed out from Gotham and back over to JRS. We again waited for the front car, this time in 2nd row, and tho not as good a ride as we had gotten the prior night, it was still not bad in the front. I’d guess if we’d gotten on later in the day, after the coaster had been running for the day, we would have gotten a great ride. We backtracked towards the front for a ride on Pandemonium – wow, TWO rides in a row that Nick rode with me. . . LOL. Then headed towards Shockwave. as we were passing Superman Tower of Power, Nick told me he had changed his mind and didn’t want to ride Shockwave. The two coasters back to back, even minor coasters like JRS and Pandemonium, were enough for him to say he was basically done and ready to go. But I could ride a few more things. So I hopped into the single rider line on Superman, and took a quick ride. Shockwave was down when we got to it, for some reason. We didn’t get close enough to ask what was going on, only saw an employee turning people away from the entrance as we came around the base of the Oil Derrick. I wasn’t too disappointed, as I had gotten a ride on it the prior day. And it was getting close to 1pm. So I asked Nick if he would ride Runaway Mountain, even tho he had said he was done with riding. It was really the only major coaster we hadn’t been by. I told him if he’ll ride that with me, we could leave afterwards, and he agreed to that, as leaving earlier is what he wanted to do anyways. I warned him that I had heard the coaster sometimes pulls a line (was thinking about how Batwing had a line,so a family coaster might be the same), but the park wasn’t that crowded, so lets give it a shot. we were over by the Oil Derrick, so had to continue all the way around the perimeter of the park to get over to Runaway Mountain (SFoT is laid out so strangely!) I looked longingly at Giant as we walked near the coaster, but again, I didn’t want to be greedy, and I had agreed that Runaway Mountain would be our last coaster. *BUT* as we passed Rodeo, it was running! I pointed out to Nick that a) it had been down yesterday and we were disappointed since we wanted to ride it, and b) it was NOT a coaster, so therefore we could ride and still keep the promise : ) They seemed to have only one operator on it, and tho she was speedy-ish, because every car needs to be manually secured/unsecured, a line that was short enough it was only a 1 cycle wait? Still took a good 10 minutes to get on the ride. It was ok tho, because even with the short queue area, it’s indoors and air-conditioned. So all was good, and we had a fun, but not too intense ride on the SFoT rodeo ride. Added bonus was the giant chair photo op right next door to the ride. It’s not a throne, technically, but since I do love me a good throne, of COURSE I hopped up on it for a picture. Headed back around towards the front of the park, we found the turn off to get over to Runaway Mountain – and it had been so long since I was in the park (we hadn’t come over here at *all* yesterday) I totally forgot that there are no other rides in this area. Several stores, and restaurants, and a big theater – and a nice section that was like an outdoor museum with the history of the park are over here. But no other rides. Nick actually asked me more than once if I was sure we were headed the right way. But at the end of the ‘street’ was the queue for Runaway Mountain, and I pointed out to him that they were not using almost any of the outdoor queue that snakes among the trees. (they also weren’t using the waterfall on the outside of the building – looked like it hadn’t been on in a long, long time). So the queue pretty much started at the entrance to the cave, and that ended up being about a 15 minute wait. Not bad at all. he was nervous about it, since he really didn’t want to get jostled, but I reassured him that from what I recalled, it’s a pretty smooth steel coaster that is similar to Space Mountain in that it’s dark, it has lots of helixes, but no loops, and I remembered it being one of my favorites in the park. I didn’t recall the trains being only 3, two row, cars (so a total of 12 passengers per train). . but the smaller trains actually made it feel like it was moving even faster in the dark. the ride was absolutely fantastic.. yes, it’s mainly going in circles, but there is a diving helix about ½ way thru that completely catches you off guard (in the dark, duh), and had us “whoot!” ing and laughing. . it’s a great element. Really great coaster. We got off it, and Nick actually was considering if we should get back in line to ride again (I think the deciding factor against it, were the amount of steps to exit the ride – you have to climb up quite a few steps, to go over , and then down on the other side to exit the building). So instead, I kept my promise, and we headed towards the front gates, ending our visit on a really good ride. Nick asked if I wanted to get on the Carousel before leaving, and even tho the radio station personality wasn’t there blasting loud music over the main gate today. . the memory of “Getting Jiggy With It” was still there, and I passed. LOL We did stop on the way out at the front gate to get “Pink Thing” dipping dots – which have pop rocks in them, so made my whole mouth tingle. They were good, and I recommend them, even if they aren’t a “real” pink thing. They got the flavor pretty close to the original treat. not a bad amount of rides in just over 3 hours. . as noted what a difference a day made. Getting out of the lot was a breeze, since we were leaving in the early afternoon, and with that, we closed out our visit to Arlington/Six Flags Over Texas, and headed back to Austin. Here’s the pics from the 2nd day: Cyborg in Justice League. he wasn't moving at all (not even his mouth), but still looks good we're seeing in THREEEEE - DEEEEEEE love this Aquaman statue in the lake at the Splashdown. wonder if they're gonna add a long wig to him to match the Movie version when it comes out in a few weeks? Joker sign during the day Mr. Freeze broke down, so went to Batman instead. Long, hidden, queue. . but was basically a station wait once I got thru all the queue area. good coaster and very photogenic from the exit Riddler sign during the day Catwoman sign during the day me on Riddler. Why did he not lift the camera up to go OVER the fence? or walk up to the fence and put the camera thru the slots to get a clear pic? because.. . Nick. LOL Harley looks amazing during the day too. . tho the night time lighting package is stunning as I posted earlier Harley and Joker Harley's sign during the day I can totally see how this can intimidate people, but the ride experience is not overwhelmingly dizzying. na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na Batwing! Pandemonium is sponsored by Twix here at SFoT. not really sure why. . LOL in line for Rodeo (covered and in the AC). LOL. . apparently I didn't take a picture of the actual ride? but I did climb up in the big chair for a photo op after! HISTORY!!

Nick absolutely refused to ride it when we were there recently, because YEARS (many) ago, he greyed out on that Helix.

yes, thanks Larry! this is so interesting, and I'm following along with great interest.

hmm. . shuttle stop sign?

I think SV is a much stronger coaster, and thought the 1st half of it was absolutely stunning. I liked the 1st half of Giant a lot, but SV has it edged out. because the 2nd half of Giant is just so "meandering", SV beats it by default. But even tho it has no extreme elements, I think if Giant hadn't braked so strongly at midcourse, that I'd prefer Giant's 2nd half over SV's batcrap crazytown - even tho I really did like the barrel roll inside the structure of SV. so yeah, the Giant was running, SV beats it hands down. Tho to me, Giant was more re-rideable, even braked as strongly as it was at Midcourse. .if that makes sense. and here's another pic I found of me in the New Texas Giant line, that Nick took after he exited at Flash Pass entrance and went to sit (this is after about 40 minutes waiting, so we were almost at the base of the stairs). hope to have Sunday pics up by Wed to close out this TR.

great ending to a wonderful report. was so nice to relive memories of the USA trip thru someone else's eyes. great to meet you, Zach!

LOL. . it most certainly was a Six Flags day! (not as much as my trip to Fiesta in Early Oct.. coming up in update in the next few weeks). was still a great trip to SFoT tho. I don't recall the A/C working in Freeze's queue, but it wasn't uncomfortable during the breakdown wait, since a lot of folks left the line, so plenty of room to move around. that's really interesting on Gunslinger! I had no idea, so thanks for the info. Maybe that's why I didn't recall it being a yo-yo? of course, a yo-yo SHOULD tilt (one can even see the mechanism to make it tilt while riding). . but I've now been on 2 in the past few months that did NOT. weird. Thanks! and glad your trip was pleasant. .as I noted, we had a really good time, despite the issues that Six Flags certainly should address (mainly the food service employees, and for sure the parking lot exiting. . . . seriously Six Flags, get someone directing traffic at the end of the night!). our Sunday morning was an A+ experience, so average that with the C- from Saturday, and you get a solid B. So not bad

Please don't take the negative as anything other than observations / added flavor. we had a wonderful time despite the crowds/hiccups with staff attitude. I'd ABSOLUTELY recommend this park for a visit, but just be prepared that you might get some frustration. . . . then just tell yourself to realize you are at a theme park, and have fun. although I must note that "hit or miss" absolutely is an accurate description, as you'll see when I update for Sunday morning. it really was like night and day in terms of employee attitude, crowds, and ride thruput. we had a good time on both days for this trip, but Sunday was really closer to perfect. but an imperfect day doesn't remove how fun the rides at SFoT are. (hopefully I'll get the Sunday Morning update posted in the next few days -- I'm in Houston for a wedding, and responding on the hotel lobby computer. . which auto-filled in Theme Park Review when I searched for it! so yay).

^ nope. . year round starts "officially" after FrightFest. mostly just Sat/Sun, but there seem to be quite a few weekends where Friday is included as well. So they do have 4-5 days between weekends on what used to be the "off season" to work on stuff. as Bill notes? Six Flags tends to just pull things down for rehab without any notice. that said: Roadrunner was down most of 2018, so doubt that will come down again for rehab for a while. Iron Rattler has been down several times (for days long issues) multiple times, as has Wonder Woman. . so those likely will be fine (ie: no rehab in early 2019) if anything was gonna get shut down for rehab? I'd guess likely Goliath - since it's right at the front of the park, and gets pretty good ridership. and it's Texas. . rare that it will get cold enough to shut anything down. Wind is another story, but cold? very rare.

yeah, I know, I sometimes type a lot Here's the section you were asking about - it's towards the end of the night: I wanted to go look at Harley, expecting it to be packed, since Spinsanity was the brand new ride. . but surprisingly the ride had a shortish line. Likely because the ride cycle is a little short. So I sat Nick on another bench, and got in line for it – not realizing it has a single rider line until I had already made it most of the way thru the queue. Didn’t take too long, and ended up on a seat on the edge of the ride. It was a lot of fun, since as you are spinning, it feels like you’re going to hit the spinning supports. . so lots of head choppers and feet choppers in effect. I got off it, and since Nick was still sitting, went around and using single rider line, got another ride on it – this time they put me in a center seat. And yeah, HUGE difference. In the middle seat, you just swing back and forth a few times, not very exciting, and certainly not as thrilling as it looks. The edge seats are the way to go, and if you get a chance to ask for one of those, it greatly improves the ride experience.

well, of course, i'd like to know if they are going to repair the Carousel housing, and then get a replacement carousel? (since the wiki entry noted they have had 2 vintage carousels operating at the park, but both were sold off over the years). Luckily none were on site when the roof collapsed from snow.. but every park really needs a Carousel

Labor Day weekend Trip to Six Flags Over Texas: Saturday Afternoon. so after my TPR USA 2018 trip got back on Saturday, 8/4 -- we had planned the next day (Sun 8/5) to head to Six Flags Over Texas for the first time in many years to take advantage of our 2018 Season Passes. . . which we had purchased on a whim on Cyber Monday 2017, after several years of not having them. there were several things on my list that I’d really like to ride: Texas Skyscreamer, Harley Quinn, Catwoman, Riddler, Mr. Freeze (which I had never been on as it was down every prior visit to the park), and New Texas Giant – which I also had never been on. However, there was simply no way I would be able to ride anything (let alone navigate the park) until I had given my Quad injury time to heal. Luckily, the hotel was willing to refund the room rate, and we planned to reschedule once I was recovered. Fast forward about a month, and I was doing much better. Still not 100%, but much better, and ready to give SFoT a shot. Labor Day Weekend, was our rescheduled trip, since we had Monday off. . but due to the holiday weekend (and a College Football game), room costs had skyrocketed. The place we had planned on staying that we had to cancel on (across the freeway from Six Flags) had jumped from ~$80 pre tax to almost $380 pre tax. I was willing to pay for the room anyways since I knew price would go up due to holiday weekend, but decided to look around first. Thanks to an online search thru my Marriott rewards account, was able to book at 4 Points by Sheraton (which had just been acquired by Marriott) and get a great room rate of just about $100 for the night. Interesting aside: Folks that were checking in at the other side of the desk when we checked in paid over $400 for their room. . they asked why our room was so much cheaper, and she told them it’s because I had pre-booked online, and they were paying walk in rate. *I* think she should have told them that it’s impolite to listen in to what others are paying. . but hey, I don’t work there They also had what looked like a decent coffee shop/bar in the lobby that was open late, I think due to the football game crowd. We didn’t get a chance to sample the food or drinks, but I did peek at the menu and the options looked good. It’s also really close – almost walking distance, and on the same side of the freeway - as SFOT, so I highly recommend this hotel: 4 Points by Sheraton (it’s a converted Holiday Inn Express as of May of 2018). Anyways, since Dallas is ~3 ½ hours away from Austin, I got Nick to agree that we’d leave on Saturday by 11am, get to hotel to check in by 3, and then have a good 7 hours in the park before they close at 10. Then in the morning, we’d check out of hotel, and go to the park for a few hours before heading back to Austin no later than 4pm. I figured that would be a decent amount of time to spend in the park and we should be able to hit what we wanted to ride. What I hadn’t realized, but quickly discovered, is that not only was that Saturday BAFF (bring a friend free) day, but also there was a Platinum Passholders event happening from 10pm – midnight that night, so yeah it was going to be packed. I figured that since Nick won’t ride many things, I’d see about maybe doing my own Flash Pass, but would play it by ear. So we packed the overnight bag, and got on the road to Dallas. With a brunch stop along the way in Hilsboro, where we stopped at IHOP and I tried one of the advertised everywhere “IHOB” burgers. They were having some staffing issues (and a very large church group had taken the majority of the servers, so we had to wait about 15 minutes even tho there were a lot of tables open. I absolutely didn’t mind, since what’ the point of sitting at a table if your server is going to be tied up with helping the large tables? The burger I got, I think called the breakfast burger, was actually pretty good: Hashbrowns, Bacon, and an egg on top of the patty, and for a side I was encouraged to swap out the fries for pancakes. Even tho the egg was a little overcooked (it’s supposed to be runny so when you bite into it, it runs down throughout the burger), I was impressed with how it was better than it had any need to be. So yeah, I’d recommend it. The crowd was very entertaining too – about what you’d expect in a small town in Texas: lots of Religious shirts, lots of cowboy hats, and lots of Metallica t-shirts on everyone else that wasn’t wearing a cross or a cowboy hat. LOL We finished our lunch and were back on the road shortly. With very little traffic we made great time, and by 2pm we were pulling into the Hotel lot and getting checked in. we dumped our stuff in the room, hopped back in the car, and took the 2 minute drive to SFoT parking lot. A fellow TPR member (and that’s another reason why I love the group of folks who post here at TPR), offered to reserve parking for us, since she wouldn’t be using her Diamond Membership that weekend. Nick was worried about taking advantage, since we weren’t members, but I accepted the offer (and thanked her profusely via email, so that’s why not mentioning names here. . but it was a wonderful kindness). I figured, if the park tells us we can’t use a Member’s reserved parking without them being with us? We’ll just go to the regular parking anyways. . so no harm in asking. It turned out that SFoT didn’t care at all, and directed us to the Preferred parking lot, just beyond the Parking entrance gates, and right near the front entrance to the park. we stopped to get a picture of us near La Vibora from outside the fence then headed into the main gates. . and absolute chaos. I knew it would be crowded due to BAFF, and the Diamond Membership event. . but the Flash Sale on the passes had really brought out the people (I had renewed ours for 2019 online from home on Friday). The entrance queue lines to get in were packed. The Flash Pass booth had a line that snaked all the way back across the main entrance, and I took one look at that and decided that instead of Flash Pass? we would just ride what we could, and would wait together in lines enjoying each other’s company, since most of what Nick can/will ride don’t take Flash Pass anyways. Honestly, tho I had a wish list of things I’d like to get on, there was only one ride on “must ride” list (New Texas Giant), and he was willing to wait with me in line for that. it was insane how crowded it was at the front entrance plaza – which also had blasting loud music over speakers, and folks on microphones promoting the flash sale and a local radio station. So we needed to get away from there, but not before getting on the Carousel – which at Six Flags is up the steps overlooking the main entrance plaza. It really is an absolutely gorgeous carousel here at Six Flags Over Texas. Certainly one worth riding. But OMG. . if you read my report from Six Flags America, I was disappointed that they I rode the carousel there to U2. I said it was the worst I’d ever been on. SFoT said “hold my beer” We rode the beautiful grand Carousel at Six Flags Over Texas, not to organ music, or even Carousel music. . but to blasting loud Will Smith “Getting Jiggy With It”. I $#!t you not. To say I was appalled is an understatement. . LOL. . but I’m smiling in the pictures, because. . . well. . . it’s a Carousel. But bleh. . awful. We finished our ride, and immediately got the hell away from the entrance Plaza, and didn’t ride it again, which is rare for me. we headed towards Giant, but stopped at anything Nick would ride along the way, including El Sombrero (a Trabant), which is where the full effect of BAFF day hit us while in line, where we witnessed just some awful behavior. Apparently BAFF actually translates to “bring your entitled a-hole acquaintances with no social interaction skills and who can’t afford to buy a ticket to go out in public” Seriously, I’ve never seen so much self-entitlement, posturing, and/or line cutting in my life at a park. Another example is the exit from Titan, where you exit thru the gift shop. I was trying to buy us bottled water and the one employee manning the register ignored me for 6 minutes (I timed it) while she flirted and made dating plans with some guys on the side of the counter. I eventually just put the waters down and walked out. I don’t work at SFoT, so not my place to say anything, so I said nothing. . although later in the line for Texas Giant, after watching the 5th group of teenagers cut the line, I actually DID say something to the guy who was manning the Flash Pass entrance. And he shrugged at it. Yes, I know they have the “if you see someone cutting, text” signs up ..but it was just disappointing to see that. Anyways, deep breath. . . regardless, I let all of the above go and did our best to enjoy the afternoon/evening. we went to New Texas Giant, and without Flash Pass it had about an hour wait, but Nick stood with me in line, until we got to the Flash Pass entrance (at which point he slipped out and sat down). This was bucket list coaster for me, as I had not been back to the park since they RMCd it. I thought the 1st half was incredible, but after the midcourse, it just kind of meanders about, slowly. Someone I rode with told me that they had started breaking it severely at the midcourse in the past few months, but that earlier in the season it had been flying thru the course. Hopefully will get a chance again in early 2019 season to try it out again and it will be less sluggish on the back half. Sill, I liked it. After that we headed over to Titan – which as big as it is, is still “hidden” way in the corner of the park, and had a very short line because of that. I rode this solo too, but the wait wasn’t more than 10 minutes. This is still a great coaster, although I noticed also they brake here at mid course, almost stopping the ride. The weirdest thing about Titan is that they use the center of the layout for storage, so it’s odd to see pieces of the dismantled Troika, rafts from Thunder River/Roaring Rapids, and old parking lot shuttles, just hanging out in the center of the coaster as you zoom around it. Able to get some nice views of the baseball stadium from this ride tho. We also grabbed a ride on the scrambler, Sidewinder, here too. .and saw them setting up one of the Haunts (Zombie themed) for Fright Fest. the flume, while historic, and always worth a ride? Was only running one side, and the line was well over an hour, so we bypassed that. Same with Thunder River rafts, which had a line spilling out of the queue and into the walkways. we did get in the line, and wait over 45 minutes for Yosemite Sam, yeah park was that crowded. But I was fine with that because: 1) Nick will ride it 2) the queue is covered, and has air conditioning in the middle, 3) its’ an indoor dark ride and we both love those. Interestingly enough, once we finally got to the boats ,we were between a family of 7, and a group of 8. . so they sent us alone, in a boat that holds 8-10 (two boats connected, each with two seats). I guess that explains why the line had grown so long, it was weird that he didn’t’ ask if any groups of 2 were there to fill the rest of the boat. Eh. . it made for a surreal experience, and was quite nice. we continued around the park stopping as we got to things (Rodeo was closed ☹, so no bull themed ride for me tonight, as was the Oil Derrick(something to do with elevator parts needed)), Shockwave was basically a walk on, which is a shame. It still holds up great, and they are no longer doing that silly VR stuff on it. I was going to re-ride if nick was willing to go on it with me, but he just wasn’t feeling it so we moved on. got to ride Caddo Lake Barge, and I’m glad we did, since it’s going away. It’s a fun, if short, cycle and it wasn’t pulling much of a line. Superman Tower of Power DID have a huge line, but luckily it has a solo rider line, so I waited less than 10 minutes for my ride on it. we were headed towards the Mine Trains (Mini and Runaway), when Mr. Freeze started cycling. It hadn’t been running the whole time we were there and I was joking how I’d miss it yet again, so we bypassed everything else and headed directly to Mr. Freeze. Nick sat down outside, and I got in the line having no idea how long it would be – since the queue is hidden – but figuring it wouldn’t be too bad since it had just opened. Here again, LOTS of line cutting – in this case, teens pretending to talk on their phones, to cut the queue to “meet their friends up ahead”. And people let them pass! Grrrr. It didn’t matter in this case, because 5 minutes after I got in line the ride went down, and a lot of folks left the line. I texted Nick and said I was gonna give it 15 minutes since I SEEMED to be close to the loading platform (wasn’t sure since never had been on the ride). After 14 minutes, they opened up the ride again, and it turned out I was correct, I was really close to the platform. So close, in fact, that when there was an open seat at the back – or front, since it’s reverse blast still – they asked if anyone was riding alone, and I got on the 2nd train after they reopened! Well worth the wait, and excellent ride, and something that’s totally re-ridable. If I had a flash pass, would have gotten immediately back in line. But since we didn’t and I didn’t want to be greedy, I went back to Nick, and we headed back towards the Mine Trains. Both had gone down while we had side tracked to Mr. Freeze, but there appeared to be folks in orange vests working on both. So maybe a quick sensor check or something? Regardless, we decided while over here we’d get a ride on Gunslinger – which is still the exact same ride it was when it was at Astroworld. Even same lighting and guns. It doesn’t run the same program tho, as SFoT is operating the Gunslinger with no tilt it still does the basic swing, but just in a circle, no tilt so you’re swinging towards the ground. The enthusiasm of the operator made this a hell of a good time tho, even with a mediocre ride cycle, so it wasn’t bad waiting a few cycles to ride. It’s a Yo-Yo, which has the same weird “chest” restraint the yo-yo at Carowinds had. . so this time I made sure to get a pic of it. By the time we got off Gunslinger, both Mine trains had opened back up, so we grabbed rides on both. Runaway Mine Train isn’t super exciting. . it’s basically lift hill the ride (it has 3 lift hills, but no real drops, other than the final one thru the saloon). .but again, it’s historic (the 1st tubular rail) and not too bang-y. and bonus is that it’s a coaster Nick will ride. Mini Mine Train is way shorter, but is also much smoother, with a small pop of air. We chose to sit in the front, because it has more leg room. We weren’t the only adults on it without kids, so don’t judge us! it was getting close to 8:30, and we needed to eat something, but first we headed back towards Gotham, which was still packed, and up to Texas Sky Screamer. The line on this was so long it spilled out of the queue, and it looked like at least a 2 hour line. I certainly didn’t want to waste the rest of our evening waiting in a line (for something Nick won’t ride due to the height). .so I blew it off and instead we went thru the tunnel to Judge Roy Scream. Judge Roy was a 1 train wait, and because we waited for front row, got a really good ride on it. It’s a shame how rough the rest of the train seems to have gotten – we heard lots of complaints as exiting – but in the front car it provided pops of air time, and a pretty smooth drops. I would hate for them to remove it, but it really does appear to need some re-tracking to get it back to top shape. Like Shockwave, JRS is a ride that’s been at the park forever, but never seems to have much of a line, and that’s a shame. coming out of the tunnel after JRS, we went down the steps into Gotham proper, and decided we’d grab a light snack at Johnny Rockets. We don’t have the platinum dining pass, so although we’d eat free at our home park of Fiesta Texas, here we’d have to pay. Not an issue, as we weren’t all that hungry anyways. So we split onion r’s/Fries, some water, and each had a shake. There wasn’t much of a line, as they had all the counter registers open, which is surprising for Johnny Rockets – as I’ve always gotten stuck in a line at the two Fiesta Texas locations. But the service was horrendous. Seriously. At one point the guy who took my money disappeared in to the back, and I watched several folks go up to the hotplate and look at what appeared to be my order. Then walk away. I asked someone if that was my order, and they looked at it, looked back to me, said no, then went back to their register. A few moments later I asked them again if they could find my operator, as he had disappeared, and they went into the back and got him. He went to the hotplate, picked up the order that had been sitting there (that of course was mine) and brought it over to me. It was still hot, so we didn’t complain, but sheesh. We grabbed a table on the far right of the restaurant, and then discovered the reason that the counter ordering wasn’t busy: this Johnny Rockets had set up ordering kiosks in the dining room, that you could place your order at, and then go to a window on the side to pick up. THIS is where the crowd was, and man was it a cluster. People standing confused, picking up the wrong food, bumping into each other (and the people standing around confused – hovering by the window waiting for their food). I’m *so* glad we hadn’t noticed this as an option and (as frustrating as it was) ordered from the counter ourselves. If it was this bad towards the end of the evening, I can only imagine the chaos this location gets earlier in the day, or at meal times! oh, this Johnny Rockets is also where I witnessed an employee watch someone drop food on the floor from a tray they had just picked up from the self-serve window. . . and just stand there leaving the slipping hazard in the middle of the floor instead of cleaning it up - and she was LEANING ON A BROOM Had a good time during our afternoon/evening, but sheesh. The clientele and some staff at SFOT leave a lot to be desired. it was about 9:15 by the time we finished eating, and Nick wasn’t in the mood to spin, so he decided to skip Pandemonium and told me he was basically done for the night. I had been willing to go on Pandemonium since he’d ride it with me, but since he was done, instead I sat him on a bench near the restaurant and went and got in line for Catwoman Whip. Gotham was still pretty crowded (I guess because of the Diamond Member event), and Riddler had a really long line, but Catwoman had only a 20 minute or so wait, so I got in line for this new version of Enterprise. It pulls some serious G’s and probably wasn’t the best thing to ride just after eating fried food, but I have to say I really liked it. Not something I can ride over and over – certainly need a break between rides. But very good. And with a beautiful lighting package. Hell, most of Gotham looks fantastic at night, Riddler, Catwoman and Harley all look stunning. What a great lightshow to have at the front of the park for advertising. I wanted to go look at Harley, expecting it to be packed, since Spinsanity was the brand new ride. . but surprisingly the ride had a shortish line. Likely because the ride cycle is a little short. So I sat Nick on another bench, and got in line for it – not realizing it has a single rider line until I had already made it most of the way thru the queue. Didn’t take too long, and ended up on a seat on the edge of the ride. It was a lot of fun, since as you are spinning, it feels like you’re going to hit the spinning supports. . so lots of head choppers and feet choppers in effect. I got off it, and since Nick was still sitting, went around and using single rider line, got another ride on it – this time they put me in a center seat. And yeah, HUGE difference. In the middle seat, you just swing back and forth a few times, not very exciting, and certainly not as thrilling as it looks. The edge seats are the way to go, and if you get a chance to ask for one of those, it greatly improves the ride experience. Joker was walk on, but I just wasn’t feeling it that night (could have been after Catwoman and then back to back Harley after eating). . so since it was close to 10, I told Nick we could head out as it had been a long day since we started out in Austin. It was just as packed leaving the park as it had been at the entrance plaza when we came in, but eventually we made it out to the car. And then realized that although we were parked near the front, you don’t leave the parking lot at SFoT thru the area you come in – you leave thru the back and side street out the middle. And with everyone trying to leave at the same time at the end of the night? Yeah, the benefit of parking in Diamond Elite Preferred parking was a detriment. It was literally a parking lot. Traffic was so bad, and so stopped, people were getting out of their cars and dancing among the headlights. Really. Where were the parking attendants directing traffic? No idea, but they were *not* in the parking lot at the end of the night, trying to help people make an orderly exit. After almost 50 minutes sitting in traffic to exit the parking lot, we finally made it to the side street exit -- and within 2 minutes after that, were back at the hotel took showers and climbed into bed. We actually got a lot done, even with how crowded it was, but yeah the ending pilgrimage from the parking lot wasn’t “fun” and we actually considered maybe not going back in the morning. But logic won out (the exit tomorrow won’t be anything like this, since we’re leaving mid afternoon). Besides, there were a few things we had skipped and since Sunday, in Texas, likely would be much lighter crowd in the morning at least. . . it would give us a shot to get the things we missed that I / we were hoping to get on. here’s some pics from our 1st afternoon/evening at Six Flags Over Texas in many years: on our way to Dallas. . you can tell we're just starting out, look how calm we look. stopping at "IHOb" for a burger. . not bad, for an IHOP burger. and I was encouraged to swap out the fries for pancakes to go with my breakfast burger - which was a great call, since the burger has hash browns on it anyways. just outside the front gate is where the parking pass got us a spot. this is the closest we actually got to La Vibora - we never fully went into that section on Saturday, it was so packed. so even with this ride having a single rider line, we skipped it (as well as the swinging ship, and the Teacups over there). been a really long time since I've seen these front gates. not since the year before they RMC Texas Giant. I'm here. . doesn't look TOO crowded (tho once thru these arches, it got nuts) ooo. . a sign! NOTED of course, once we get thru the craziness of the entrance plaza, it's straight (or is that gaily forward?) to the Carousel beautiful. WTF is this music they are playing tho? but it's beautiful. yep. . in my Happy Place -- with the spouse about to get on a Carousel. even he's learned to love them with me, since he knows I'm GONNA ride them I rode my own Horseface -- just like our President! wheee LOL. . took a picture of the sign, but not the actual Trabant ride. this was my bucket list ride for this trip.. didn't care how long the line was, was gonna get on it. pics from the queue the train station/tracks from the queue for Giant. it was only Labor Day weekend, but they were already setting up for Fright Fest we picked a gorgeous day to go. a bit warm, but that didn't keep anyone away, park was slammed. the Oil Derrick looks great with it's new paint . .but it was closed. after Giant, I went back to Titan -- which due to it's "hidden" place in the park? didn't have a line at all. less than 10 minute wait Titan doing it's thing on the lift hill view of Giant's lift hill from the Sidewinder queue Sidewinder, I took a picture of the ride, but not the sign. LOL Titan while sitting on Sidewinder whee ok. . time to head to Shockwave, but first let's get another pic of New Texas Giant while walking by. love the trains on this. looks SO good. in Yosemite Sam boat/dark ride. NOTED! *big* @$$ long line, and they sent us out in our own boat!. . . so took a pic. Bugs! Wil. E. Coyote meep - meep Daffy oooo.. . an alligator. . Nick and the Caddo Lake Barge sign. it's a shame if this really is going away, as it was a fun little ride. I have never gotten to even be in the queue for Mr. Freeze. . so yep, took some pics! even was able to stand behind the operator (with permission) and take a pic of the train returning the theming on this is great! and the ride? holy crap. . loved it the station for Mr. Freeze. . there's another on the opposite side so they can run two trains on the single track. memories of Astroworld. . it's the Gunslinger - but without the tilt I never realized that the Gunslinger was a Yo-Yo instead of a Wave Swinger. it even has those bizzaro bra-strap restraints that the Yo-Yo at Carowinds had (which ALSO ran without the tilt). Classic coaster, and still a lot of fun even without any major drops also a classic, and tho a kiddie, a must do at the park the self serve kiosks at Johnny Rockets. Look how empty the restaurant is. . that's because on the right (which I didn't take a picture of), there was absolute CHAOS at the self-serve pickup window. Catwoman Whip. . .I think I preferred this to Enterprise classic. Being so exposed in the seat was amazing, and it pulls some serious G's the whole area looks great at night. From Catwoman's Whip sign pretty LEDs, tho Catwoman stayed mostly white and red. it's ME. . riding Catwoman's Whip. restraint up. restraint down sign at night Harley Quinn Spinsanity - the new hotness at night signs in the queue. there are a lot of them, but a bit hard to read at night. one gets some great views of Joker from Harley's queue. but hard to get a picture of Harley, since they have the queue covered with sun tarps. Riddler from Harley's queue, lit up all pretty. Harley's light package is absolutely stunning at night stunning wow stuck in the parking lot, trying to get out at end of night. yep . .. .people were getting out of their cars to dance. it was brutal.

EDITING THIS THREAD: to basically be a catch all for the Six Flags Texas Parks -- mainly Fiesta Texas. . so I can put all the Trip Reports here in one thread, as Fiesta is my main park.

I talked about that with a park employee during the TPR trip, actually. I think it sounds wonderful to use it an an observation tower during the Holiday events. . it already turns, so I think it's a great use of it

the grammar is reminding me of another poster. but I'm not aware that he would have left TPR, so not sure why he would make a new account. Taking on face value, it's nice to read about another park, tho do wish there were some pics

and 100% confirmed -- the FB page for Bushkill features an image of the park, and the "swing" ride with the ducks/swans in front of your friend's pic, matches - placement in front of the Barl of Fun too:

My Google-Fu is strong almost 100% certain, that's Bushkill Park in Easton Pennsylvania that operated until 2006, and is supposed to be reopening the rides portion this year. The Skating Rink reopened a few years ago. and that pic, the "bones" of the structure look EXACTLY like the old "Barl of Fun" funhouse (including the awning on the building to the right of it and the placement of the upper window, lower doors, etc): the Wiki write up mentions that it's rennovated and reopened in 2018 . . hope this helps! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushkill_Park EDIT: yeah, just noticed in the Wiki entry: "The Bar'l of Fun was one of the oldest operating funhouse in the United States, built sometime before 1935.[1] The funhouse (currently under renovation) is also notable due to the amount of untouched Folk art painted on the walls and on banners inside the building. "

Wonder Woman, Golden Lasso coaster at Fiesta Texas on 10/13

Nice pic of all of y'all. I loved Dominator!

BILL !!! that's why you don't put off things . . . . . why didn't you do the houses when you wanted to? (it's not like you'd have repeated them, right? so use the pass when you can). I'm sorry it put a damper on your night, but at least you had a good time until the discovery of the missing badge. glad that you enjoyed the parts you did, and that burger looks good.

this made me laugh. (it's funny because it's (mostly) true).