TexasParkman

Oh.. and thanks for the pictures.... brings back a lot of memories.

I know I am old and biased...... My Family was transferred from SFOG to St. Louis to build SFOMA. We were there from first dirt shoveled. BTW- This park was not supposed to be built in St. Louis.. it was planned to be built in Oakland- but the city of Oakland would not approve the build. Anyway .... Randall Duell did a great job designing this park. It was very themed and layed out perfectly when built. It was new and sparse.... but nicely fitted and finished. It was the finest park in the chain of 3 by far. Had SF just stayed consistent- add landscaping,let the tress grow, etc.- this Park would have rivaled any Park out there. Time Warner and Premier messed up this Park IMHO. It is still a nice park- but it could have been so much better. I am not singling out SFOMA- they messed up SFOT, SFOG and Magic Mountain as well. There just was no thought given to keeping these properties as "Theme" parks. Attractions slapped here and there with only $$$ in mind- not beauty and consistency. Thanks for listening to my rant... Now the good news... at SFOT and Hurricane Harbor here in Dallas -I have seen more new paint and fix up than I have seen in years. It sounds like SFSTL received a ton of new paint as well. Great- maybe the new management is on the right path finally!

I rode JL: BFM five times as a single rider on Sunday- never waited more than 5 minutes. Single rider line is awesome!!! I am not thrilled with the "pour your drink out" thing though. It seems like they could come up with a better solution that that......

Went to the park to ride JLBFM....WOW.we were in the very end of the switchbacks in the Centinial Park portion. We entered the line at 7:50 and entered the ride vehicle at 9:15. The ride was good. I was our lobby was "grander"- other than that I wouldnt change anything. I did 8 days in Orlando in march..... IMHO is in the same league with Spidey and Transformers. It is not better, just in the same league. Shooting through the smoke was a nice touch. The sets are very good. I am tempted to ride and not shoot just to compare the ride and the storytelling. I really enjoyed the ride. SFOT has a winner here I believe.

I live 5 miles from SFOT. Our Gold season pass holder preview is Thursday and regular season pass holder preview day is Friday- weather permitting..

This is amazing. I've been trying to get something like this for years. Thank you! Where was Tom and Becky riding turtles in there? I wish I could remember the Indian Chief but it's a big blur. I remember the arms opening and the skeleton underneath. Do you have any idea what they did with all of this stuff when they switched over to Time Tunnel? I'm going to be bummed if they just trashed all of it. The Indian chief was right at he start of the lift on the right. He would make an awful yell when he opened his robe. The signal to open his robe was tied to the sound track- he would yell (his mouth moved and then he opened robe to show his skeleton frame with the loin cloth). The sound room would turn on the audio and tones between 9:30 and 9:45 am- just prior to open at 10:00. One morning I was walking through to go from scene to scene to fix a few items... as I was walking past the chief- the sound room powered on the audio...It went from dead silence to a really loud screaming Chief right in my ear- he opened his robe and knocked me into the trough...... scared me to death.... I was soaked for hours.... When we built the Time Tunnel some figures were reused.... some had the mechanisms yanked and the skins were trashed. I believed that most things were moved to the "dump". Tom and Becky riding Turtles had to be "scene 1" with the singing Frogs and Bowing Alligators. I can remember the song the Turtles sang.. Exploring, Exploring, Ex.. plor...oring !!!!

Wow Injun Joe you are jogging my memories... As I was an animations Mechanic I spent the OTHER half my time on the River. One of my many tasks was to change out the propane bottles that provided fuel for the cannons on the Fort. Once every 3 days or so. The manifold that mixed the propane had a valve to control the amount of propane dispersed into the explosion chamber- basically a metal tube with a spark plug. The solenoid opens- allows a amount of propane to enter the chamber and then the controller sends a electric burst to the spark plug. The plug ignites the propane and boom- flash. The amount of propane released by the valve controls the amount of BOOM and Flame. If you set it too low- the cannon goes "poof"- then smoke but no flame. If you make a mistake- this may or may not have happened to me- and set the valve too high... KAABOOOM! followed by a 4 foot flame on each cannon ( and a call from Merchandising that the cannon explosions were rattling windows all over the Park). A standard boom had guests in the Riverboat laughing and kind of semi-ducking. When you turn up the manifold valve- every guest hit the deck!!! It sounded like a Battleship bombarding an island!!!. good times... good times...

I don't want to hog the board.... the scenes in exact order .... Lilly pad with singing Frogs and a male and female alligator bowing Injun Joe digging up a grave to retrieve the treasure Muff Potter kneeling down over the treasure chest and injun Joe stabbing him in the back- Tom and Becky watched from the other side of the trough Bats, A canoeing Chief skeleton and a chief with a robe closed by folded arms. On a timer the arms would unfold the robe to display his skeleton form with a loin cloth only.- The lift up and over the pumps Injun Joe falling off the cliff with Tom and Becky look on a dark room with glowing shifting eyes- Tom says "Becky look it is a raft- were saved!" the final scene with Tom and Becky on a raft coming out of the cave- a riverboat in the distance with a turning paddle wheel and a house with a front porch with Aunt Polly waving a handkerchief. There was a big barking dog next to Aunt Polly with a waging tail. Note: we could not keep a handkerchief in Aunt Polly's hand because guests would get out of the boat and steal it. Like once a week...

Injunjoe ...I worked at SFOMA from 75 through 79 in the Animations Department. The original scenes and animation were designed and built by Sid and Marty Kroft. I helped build some the pieces in the Time Tunnel- those pieces were made entirely in-house. I spend a lot of time in that building.. working and on firewatch. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. The building was the first building built on the park grounds. It was used as a carpenter shop and storage facility while the rest of the park was being built. I have pictures of it as the stand alone building....

Sorry I should post drive times... San Antonio (SeaWorld and SFFT) to New Braunfels (Schlitterbahns's) about an hour. New Braunfels to Austin- I hour-ish. Austin to DFW 4 hours with traffic. DFW to Houston.. 4 hours ( but I have seen people drive it in 3). Houston to Galveston 1.5 hours. Houston to Austin 3 hours. Helpful tips for a Texas driving trip... People drive very fast from San Antonio and DFW (traffic permitting) and DFW to Houston. Sometimes close to 80 MPH. Tailgating is permitted... not really but it happens. DFW and Houston CAN have the worlds worst traffic. I would plan my drive times to not coincide with rush hours. My Favorites ... Guido's in Galveston, and "Pappas" restaurant in Texas ( Pappasito's, Pappadeux's, Pappa's Barbeque etc.). Good Restaurants are available in San Antonio on the River Walk- Several. My Favorite is "The little Rhine Steak House". Lots of good Mexican Food in San Antonio. My Favorite in Austin is the "Hula Hut"- Mexican food with a Hawaiian twist. For something unusual- Try Wolfgang Pucks in the Reunion Tower in Dallas. Reunion Tower is the tall tower with a ball on top. The restaurant rotates- great views (it is pricey).

There really is no wrong answer. It just depends on what you like. You can find airfare on SW fairly cheap to any Texas city. It depends on when you want to fly. 3 of the things you wished to see are closer to Austin. It may make more sense to fly in and out of Austin. Personal preference really. SeaWorld and SFFT are out on the Anderson Loop on the edge of San Antonio. Schlitterbahn's is between San Antonio and Austin. I personally would not miss the RiverWalk if you have never been to San Antonio. Of Course the Alamo is right there as well. Austin has some pretty cool music spots, Bars, etc. Dallas has SFOT, Hurricane Harbor, Professional Sports and Horse Racing. It depends on what you like.. In Dallas- the Dallas Museum of Art, The Kimball, The Fort Worth Zoo, Sundance Square, Deep Elm in Dallas. I like Galveston as well. Kemah and Pleasure Pier are both pretty nice. There is good Gumbo and seafood available in Galveston. If you drive from Austin to DFW stop just north of Waco in West, Texas. Remember they had the big gas explosion 2 years ago. There is a Czech bakery there- easy to find just look for massive amounts of cars. However you chose- Have fun and enjoy Texas.

Why a Mega-lite? It is fun and unique. I believe that Wing Riders will be viewed as a one trick pony in a few years. A Wing Rider would be unique to Texas and that would be great. They seem to need a lot of space and I am not sure that there is that much space in Gotham even with the strip mall removal. What I don't want is a low capacity - Super hero themed ride- like Superman at SFDL. We can build anything- a Mega Lite included and call it a DC name. These things being said I bet we do get a Wing Rider in 17 and that will be OK - I was just hoping for something more entertaining.

Wing Riders are nice... I think I personally would rather have a Mega-Lite and some more flats + Gotham Theming.

Since I no longer work for SF I can share. If SFSTL had no more than 7000 per day- heads would roll. Back in the 70's it took 8000 to 9000 to break even at minimal operation. An average day at SFSTL should be around 14,000. 25,000 would be a busy day. 30,000 + is insane with the ride hours SF now racks up ( not good). Disney Parks- years ago- a fairly busy day is 45,000. 55,000 is a nicely busy day with decent waits. I was at NYE at the Disney Resort in Cali when the Fire Marshall closed the Park. I have heard that the number for closing the gates is around 77,000. I would not want to be there on such a day but I was. Not fun. My number are based on old data and could be off today. I know when I worked at SFOMA we heard that SFOT had some 35,000 days and that it was insane. Shockwave was new with massive waits. I think in my years at SFOMA we had some high 20,000 days. When the Eagle was new and we had some very popular groups in for concerts. I expect capacity to be low. I just rode Spiderman and Transformers in Orlando last month. Those lines were slow in standby. Universal and IOA keeps the lines moving better than SF- bit not as good as Disney IMHO. We did 5 days at Disney at 3 at Universal. I like Universal but I must honestly admit than Disney had better service, better prices and moved the lines better than their competition. The reason is easy... greeters at the entrance to the ride- available for questions, presort and basically fix potential situations. Sorters at the ride platform. Fill every seat and ask guests to move quickly. OPs to manage guests getting on the ride- helps. Ops to help guests get off. SF may have 3 ops at the most on a ride platform. Disney would have 8 to 10. It does make a difference.

Will someone please tell Steve to spend the extra $$$ to paint the old corrugated sheet metal on the old building part of JLBFM. These things make it look like you either don't care or didn't notice. I am pretty sure that neither is the case.

good news... is WAS a school holiday. Most Districts are taking it as a bad weather make up day. The Park may not be as crowded as expected.

Judge Roy shouldn't be too bad at open. Most Guests run to Titan, Giant or Batman. Lines for the Judge move pretty fast. Runaway Mountain lines are fairly slow. I would ride it early as well. She will probably like the Mine Train also. Judge Roy Scream is built along the entrance Lake. The entrance for the ride goes through a Tunnel that goes under the entrance road. When you enter the front gate go right. Keep going right. Go around the Candy Store to the right, cross the tracks and continue left, then stay to the right at Cloud Bouncer. The entrance Tunnel is next to the Texas Sky Screamer. There is a huge sign at the entrance Tunnel. Your Daughter may also enjoy Pandemonium. If she is a little adventurous- she might warm up to Shockwave. It looks intimidating but is very smooth and fun. I hope you have a Great Day with lots of Sun, Fun and small crowds! Enjoy!

If you enjoy waterparks- I would not miss Schlitterbahn's in New Braunsfels- Only 1 hour north of SA. If you do go up 1-35 from SA to Dallas you may wish to stop in the town of West, Texas- Just north of Waco. The Czech Bakery in West is not be missed. Just get off at the West exit and look for a lot of Cars. Most schools in Texas get out June 5th. I would come in early June to avoid the heat.

so a guest calls the Fire Department and they show up... how would they get the Guests out of their restraints? They would wait for Maintenance to show up and unlock them- same thing that the ride ops are waiting for. I was in Maintenance- walking down stairs on some lifts was not fun for me- I hate heights- so I get it.. We had a Skylift accident in 1979 where the roller battery was damaged and the cable could not be moved. The St. Louis Fire and Rescue Teams evacuated Guests from the cable cars by ladder- some at 100 feet. A storm was moving in and we had 15 to 20 MPH winds...THAT- was not fun.

Here is what I find strange..... neither of the main players in charge of this project are scam artists. In fact they have very nice portfolios. They have met with the Mayor of Fort Worth and have shared "inside" information- after a verbal "NDA". She seems quite convinced that it is legit. 5000 contiguous acres in North Texas is not easy to come by. Some of these things make sense. DFW is a major Airport.... North Texas can handle the tourism.... tough call. There is however a man at trial right now in Dallas for selling shares of a fake investment company that was buying land next to the proposed Disney Theme Park in North Texas. What Disney Theme Park in North Texas? Exactly!! He had "insider" information and was buying land around the proposed Disney Park... He will be a guest of the state of Texas in Huntsville for awhile.

This is from the news conference on Monday ..... http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2015/02/a-lot-of-questions-about-promised-3-5-billion-fort-worth-theme-park-but-not-many-answers.html/

When Rockin Rocket first arrived at SFOT it was decorated to look like a space shuttle. I remembered the ride from the previous year at Astroworld. I really believe it was the same machine. We also received "Crazy Legs" from Astroworld and the Large Fiberglass guns on Gunslinger.

I guess my point is that I love the place... I just hate to see in such bad repair. This is not directed at Mr. Martindale or anyone like that. Corp hands out the cash and there is only so much to go around. I get it. I have seen improvements. I would just like to see the place be what it could be. I guess I am unrealistic.

"There's some great ideas that many of us can come up with for the park, but we're not qualified as enthusiasts who pay attention to detail. " If your point is that you work for the Park or you are an insider and nobody else knows anything- you are wrong. Anybody can see peeling paint and bad asphalt. In fact I have had a long relationship with Six Flags in its better days- not really an enthusiast.. I hear lots of comments by the GP about how dated the Park is. I know it takes money but gee.. spend some on maintenance would ya! Thanks though for the support!

I was a ride mechanic but I worked rather closely with ride electricians. You sound like you are qualified. probably the only thing you will have to learn is control systems. You may be replacing limit switches, activator buttons, replacing lamps, etc. Ride Electricians have to cut power an restore power to rides. There can be some fairly serious troubleshooting- you probably wont have to learn that on your own. Rides have tendencies and behaviors and there is usually someone around with experience that can explain. Its a great job- lots of moving around and not too much of a breakneck pace unless there is a major incident. Electricians have to be present at every ride start up or restart. We had a major power outage one time caused by lightning. All rides were stopped- some were in mid course. So we ran from ride to ride to reset and restart- 1 hour of sheer panic. Other than that- it is a whole lot of fun for a job!