prozach626

Half of the toilets were taped off during my last visit to a Six Flags park... Hopefully they'll still have metal detectors on hand for when the security scanners break. Likewise with thermometers. What will the capacity limit be capped at? For example, let's say a park can hold 1,000 guests, but even on a busy day they only have 500 guests in the park. Despite that, the parks claim to be limiting their capacity to 50%, because it sounds good. I'm wondering if the limitations are based on maximum allowed capacity or attendance averages. Otherwise, you could be visiting on what would normally be a busy day with all of the restrictions in place, including possible limited dining space and rides at potentially less than half capacity. (Trains are half full, but the ride 'sanitation' measures are still in place.) I wonder if the park will even serve alcohol, since it's definitely 'non-essential.' Good luck to Six Flags parks. As someone else said, Six Flags parks suck at enforcing their existing rules. Go to another large corporation, Walmart, and see how the mask policies work. They were strictly enforced for about a week, until they basically gave up. It's the same with all of the businesses in my area. At least a third of consumers aren't following the rules. This is in Illinois where we have some of the most strict policies in place. Sadly, it's exactly why Coronavirus is continuing to spread, including the 3 people out of 262,000 in our county who were infected yesterday.

It seems like the new owners want to place emphasis on some of the icons of the park. The taco stand, the River Boat, and fascination. I guess they have an understand of the appreciation for nostalgia.

Needs more concrete.

The roller coaster terminology article didn't mention Vortex under the batwing maneuver. It's as if... it never existed...

Thanks Kim. 5/16. She started going into Labor at 5am after I got dressed for work. Luckily, I had the weekend scheduled off anyway, but I wanted to save some time-off by working until the baby came. I can't ever remember a time where I was so bummed out not to be able to go to work. Either way, I'm miserable now... Sorry for getting off topic. I agree, and it's a good example, but I don't like the new normal at the airport. We're used to it, but just because we've gotten used to it doesn't mean it still doesn't suck. Kiosks and wrist bands are nice, but I don't expect other parks to offer the seamless experience like Disney. I don't see parks like Holiday World and Kentucky Kingdom playing the long ball on this, or at least I hope not. I see it being more realistic in chains like Sea World, Six Flags, and Cedar Fair. If you think parks have to deal with Karen complaints now, they'll likely be ten fold. Again, I get it. Disney can do it. I just don't think other chains have the resources to pull it off nearly as well. It's like going to a smaller brand grocery store and trying to use their lesser version of self-checkout instead of Walmart's. Life was so much easier before personal accountability and responsibility were eliminated, and instead passed on to the masses instead of isolated to individuals. (Sorry. Rant.) Wash your ffcking hands and don't touch your face at parks, kids. Wear masks and don't touch people you don't know, for the time being. Don't lick handrails. Also, as a reminder of using common sense, don't walk in traffic. Pay attention. Don't be dumb: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/05/21/coronavirus-news-what-cdc-saying-covid-19-surfaces/5235317002/ Knoebels for life.

Just some thoughts: Skip the line systems aren't going anywhere. If anything, it would be an opportunity for parks like HW world and other parks that don't have merge systems in place to implement them. The worst part about this is that I won't be able to hear all of the Karen looks and comments when I walk past the queues. So is all virtual queuing going to be done on phones? IF THAT'S TRUE... I limped my last phone along for almost a year with limited battery capacity. I guess I'd be shit out of luck halfway through the day? Are fast charging stations going to be available? What if my phone isn't capable of downloading the app? What if I break my phone during my visit? What if I can't afford a phone? I don't like the thought of this being just one more facet of life where you have to depend on a phone, but that's life now. The thought of not waiting in line is a pleasant one. Sitting on a shaded bench will be nice. Grabbing a table and having lunch while waiting in line will be nice, too. Except that bench is taken and that table is full, because no one is waiting in line. The midway that you wanted to calmly stroll down is now packed with people. I had initial good thoughts. If I reserved a ride on Batman the Ride (pick one), my phone would vibrate, I'd get scanned in, and I'd enter the ride. I pictured it just as it had been, except that I'd be waiting for my phone. No big deal. Except that we all know that other people who would normally physically be in line are going to clutter the pathways in front of the rides and block the entrance. (I'm looking at you, Six Flags.) Maybe virtual queuing still have a queue line, but "allow enough space for social distancing." (2020 catch phrase that I'm so ffcking tired of hearing) A 50% maximum capacity day is still fairly busy, let alone the next phase of a 75% maximum capacity day. I think when people hear a term like 50% maximum capacity, they assume attendance will be 50% less of the average attendance they're used to. Instead, it may be exactly the same. I don't want to this to set and industry wide precedent. Like in any crises, I hope we come out of this with a lot of gained benefits, without constant paranoia. I'm willing to bet that there will be a lot gained from experimenting with virtual queuing industry wide. But, I don't want it to be a completely different experience. At this point, if I had to choose between permanent changes and opening this year, versus keeping parks closed for 2020 and going back to business as usual in 2021, I'd gladly choose the latter. Although, I may be a bit biased. Since I have a five day old human at home right now, 2020 is pretty much a social/travel loss for me. I'm dealing with changes across the board...

Meanwhile in Illinois, we'll finally be able to get haircuts.

I'm just now coming across this. More Chuck pictures and reports are always a good thing, in my book.

I actually feel like the licensing makes the park feel a lot more juvenile. That's just a personal dislike, though. I'm nearly 35 years old and riding rides themed to a superheros... I have a bit of a bias. I'm a lot more into landscaping and cleanliness than I am themeing. Sea World/Busch seems to do a good job of having the maximum amount of themeing, but just shy of feeling corny or juvenile. The presentation is of higher quality. The parks are beautiful. Cedar Fair makes a similar attempt. SF has its place. I can't expect everything to be catered to us. The closest analogy I can think of is, "Even bad pizza is still good." Most days I'd rather have a good local wood fired pizza. But, I'm still down for some little Caesars and I almost never regret it. I've had some real shit experiences at parks, more often at SF parks, but I've rarely walked away thinking that I wish I'd been at home watching Netflix.

They could be down to 1/3 capacity, depending on how they fill the trains and sanitizing.

Damn. I miss the idiotic "Diamondback 2.0" comments on Facebook.

I wonder what these potential guidelines will mean for fastlane passes. Selfishly, I hope Cedar Fair is counting on keeping that cash-grab.

Thanks for all of your recent nostalgia posts, John!

The shows and events being canceled makes sense to me. That takes staffing and training, so why waste that on a partial season? Other than that, the situation seems exactly the same. There has been a lot of complete shooting from the hip on when parks will open and what they will offer. It reminds me of guessing how many marbles are in a jar.

I wonder if KI will finally post a POV of Orion after an opening date is announced.

Which is exactly why I wouldn't want a design like that to happen. I like that bridge/dock area.

Are splash battles still popular? I've only seen a few, but their queues were empty.

Flume rides at parks always seem to hold a line and they're great for families. I wish CP hadn't over complicated it. It's nice to see that parks like Knotts and BGW have made decisions to focus on preserving their flumes, instead of getting rid of them. BGW put a lot of grading and refurbishment into LeScoot. They could have just as easily added a new attraction.

^This. I'm not trashing SFStl. I've really come to appreciate it for what it is. But, it's not what I would prefer. Cedar Fair parks offer better opportunities for relaxed adulting. CF usually has decent patio and dining areas which are nice places to relax, enjoy a beer, people watch, and absorb the atmosphere. CP, KI, and Carowinds do this really well. The closest comparison I can make at SFSTL is JB's. It's decent, but last year the bar area was cluttered a shithole. I guess if I were a teenager I would prefer SF over CF. But as an adult, I'd rather bring my family to a CF park, even if I have to pay a little extra. I like our ride collection better than WoF, but their atmosphere is great.

Preach!

Damn. It looks like Arrow really gave it a hell of a try with Drachen Fire. I've read other users comment that it provided strain on the support structure and was stopped to promote the longevity of the ride. I don't know when they stopped doing that.

I agree. I can really only comment on WoF as a lower tier park. When I've visited, it's been very well maintained. The area around Patriot looks great. The new thrill rides are nice, but it 'seems' that a park like WoF focuses more on improving the overall environment to reflect a higher quality of product. I actually enjoy Cedar Fair's clean-lines corporate feel.

I'd place my money on the queue restrictions being similar to the aforementioned Korean examples, with the outcome being the same. As long as I can find a mask durable enough to be pulled up and down repeatedly for at least 4-5 evening beers, with the availability of skip-the-line passes, I'll be good to go.

I probably shouldn't have been as blunt with my statements as I was, now that I re-read that. I should have shifted the tone toward being more speculative, or simply asking. Maybe even googling... My reference is how my own city functions and the modern American financial philosophy in general, which was me kind of venting frustration. Sorry if I offended anyone from Sandusky.

That's under normal circumstances. So over 300 million in development over the past 5 years and Sandusky still looks like a shithole? Maybe the city is managed like the typical American household where it never saved any of its extra income or prepared for any type of large scale emergency. Instead, it has to hold its hand out to Washington. I don't know there budget. I'm admittedly making ignorant assumptions. But, I'm willing to bet the reality of this scenario behind a large percentage of households and businesses. I got offered a job from another municipality this past fall. One of their selling points was that as opposed to my current municipality, their township could go an entire year without one cent earned and still sustain. Just an ironic comical observation I'll share from other social media outlets: A lot of the same people who were constantly complaining because Cedar Point was too expensive are the same people who are using Sandusky's Cedar Point tax income struggles as justification for why the park should open. God I love Facebook!