JT325

^I'm impressed the pictures are of the actual parks they are representing. 3 boomerangs hehe

Six "keep em confused" Flags. Go to Holiday World "where all guests are priority." I know, the world isn't perfect and HW is an exception. If Six Flags had 30 years of treating people with respect, they wouldn't have to worry about changing their game plan so much... and wouldn't have to have season passes that are 70% off. If you treat people (and their time) with respect, they will want to give you their money. Seems to work well with Cedar Fair these days.

I rode Beast and Vortex in the snow. But years ago. What a strange feeling. Cold but awesome.

Can that happen with $85 season passes?

Teehee. nahhhh... not at all. It was late, I was so tired; couldn't remember if that was your handle here or on another forum. Turns out, it is your handle on both. Not exactly rocket science. Or bacon science. I was just tired. You have not been reduced from the Raven Maven. You rock

Voyage trims are off for at least one of the night ERTs... perhaps the representative can clarify Last year the park made a point to clarify that the brakes would be off during ERT. Or was that only the last 2 hours of ERT? Either way, they ran it trimless during ERT. Sometimes a polite wish is granted! If you make it to Holiwood Nights, prepare to be regally spoiled by the park! Most other events pale by comparison.

American Eagle - not much airtime but very epic. Conneaut Lake Blue Streak 2nd drop - everyone goes on about the first drop but the second drop is even more wicked. Raging Bull first drop. Cyclops “the drop” AND the first drop. Haven’t been back since buzzbars were taken out. Anything unique gets my attention. Also, I tend to go for airtime were you actually get to leave the seat. So a lot of the newer super steep super intense stuff doesn’t really do it for me... but it’s still fun. Riverside (SFNE) Cyclone and Georgia Cyclone (1990-92, before reprofiling) were incredible first drops. Non-coaster wise those smaller drop towers at Knoebels, Waldameer and Santa’s Village (what’s that manufacturer?). Those are awesome and terrifying!

Teehee Thank you. Meanwhile, in the middle of Pennsylvania...

^But how many trains are there? How often does a train dispatch? It’s a long ride compared to a 2 minute coaster.

My my times have changed. We were expected to do 1,250 an hour on Blue Streak back in da day. I think they can do 800 now if they have to? Magnum was rated at 2,100/hr when new but not sure what they actually did back then. Magnum was a “girls ride.” Blue Streak, Wildcat, Mine ride and Sky Ride were guy rides. When they figured out a lot of the staff was gay, they started having coed crews. Great times working at the Point.

Please share some more

^Yeah, that was a big mess. Billboards all over Chicagoland advertised "2 new coasters" with pictures of the 2. Deja Vu opened rarely with horrible and troublesome operations. It was kind of a joke if you actually found it open and even a bigger joke if you got to ride! I think there was even a lawsuit someone filed for false advertising (the opening of 2 coasters in one year).

Good report and pics! "Fiddler's Fling: the fastest ride every built!" I often tell my friends. Really stinks to come all that way and have them shut down on you. I took some friends to the park a few years ago on a slightly rainy June day, and they did the same thing. On the way home, the skies were bright and sunny... One time they were shutting down and I politely asked a manager "why is the park closing down?" He angrily snapped at me "for the safety of our employees!" Bad answer, on more than one account. If the numbers aren't right for the day, they close up shop. A friend from here drove down to SFOG to have the same thing happen. Shame shame. And shame if no one told you guys to ride the front car on American Eagle (RED), preferably seats 1 or 3. That beats the pants of Screamin' Eagle

Me too... and I go to Wal-Mart as well, after swearing off the place years ago. Here in Chicagoland, we used to hike the 2.5 hours to Indiana Beach in favor of Great America, but IB has seriously gone down the drain after the Spackman family sold it (2009?).

I'd add Cedar Point as well; the rest of the Cedar Fair parks are probably close behind. Funny thing I realized about Holiday World a couple years ago. I was standing near the middle of the park and looked out over everything and Splashin' Safari... it's not the "little park in Indiana" anymore. It's a big park now! They did that by treating people with respect. They switch around so much; old one out, new one in. They're business people - which is perfectly fine, but they don't seem like fans or have a passion for the industry. Bummer to look at it from these angles, but it's the truth. Luckily for me, I still love my home park SFGAmerica, and still think it's the best in the chain.

I would think the park figures they can piss off a certain percentage of people... even if it wasn't a bring-a-friend-free day. They probably hand out a few comp tickets, too. I'm SURE the guest relations office was packed to the gills, and understaffed as always (including during the height of summer). People wait in that line for an hour with out reaching the counter, and leave pissed. I've seen so many people/families leave that place furious. But some keep coming back. Why? Well, the season pass is only $70... Even with that situation, there are many folks that live in Chicagoland and up into Wisconsin that will have nothing to do with the park; a similar situation with Magic Mountain. Thing is, they could have hundreds of thousands of happy customers that would be happy to pay for fair priced season passes (the Cedar Fair rate is fair but still underpriced around $200, that's what I have in mind), but Six Flags has continually had bad service since the 90s. Sometimes I'll go to the park, and be shocked how good a crew or some employees are, but they are rare. The kind of service and integrity that is key to wonderfully-run places like Cedar Point and Holiday World - it's simply not a part of Six Flags culture. I wish they could turn it around somehow, but I think for now they are fine with how things run. When Will Koch (Holiday World) was around, he often spoke about how important it is to treat your guests with the utmost respect and integrity. He would say something along the lines of 'if you treat them right, they will want to come back.' Maybe something about how if you treat people right, they will be happy to spend their money at your park. They will tell their friends and family to visit, etc. Six Flags figures there will always be a new set of 15-25 year old to market cheap season passes to. Someone could explain this a little better than me I'm sure... but that's my 2 cents. I'm lucky being only 45 minutes away from Great America, I can zip up for a couple hours at night alone, meet friends for a while, etc. But I really feel for the people that bring their kids in an attempt to make a day out of it. That really has to stink. It's such a shame, this park and Magic Mountain (heck, many of the Six Flags parks) could be world-class. They have so much potential. I often call Six Flags the Wal-Mart of the industry; cheap and close, and they DO have lots of good stuff.. but the place can be an armpit and the service is usually poor to absolutely miserable. It's not the people that are working on the front line, it's the lack of training and all trickle-down from corporate/managers... They would rather make a bunch of quick money up-front (cheap season passes) than have long-term security. Astroworld is gone... Six Flags Ohio, man what a train wreck that was. Anymore?

$70 season passes = $70 season pass integrity. Sorry to hear you guys got cut short. If they aren’t gonna make enough $$$ that day, they close. I’ve been there in the summer during similar situations.

^A few years ago, I went on the last Sunday in November... may only have been like November 2 or 3, but it was packed beyond belief. It was one of the very few times I got the park and left with out getting on a single ride. It really is hit or miss.

^That kinda stinks... hopefully it will be freezing and scare some of the crowd away. They seem to be getting more resilient these days Last night was the first time I ever saw only 1 train on Demon (been riding it since I was a little guy in 1982, I love that ride!) and 1 train on Raging Bull. 1 on Demon was just fine... 1 on Raging Bull made for a 5 train wait, not a biggie either. I've never even heard of those coasters running 1 train. Speaking to a ride op, it seems they were getting ready to add a 2nd train to Bull after it warmed up (!!!). To my dismay, at about 9:15pm (park was closing at 11) walking down the exit we saw the train covered with a tarp in transfer, with fires under it! Holy cow, they were really going to add that train - above and beyond for some reason. Thought I would share a few shots from my 2 hours at the park on Sunday night. Lobster looks GREAT after the super-long relocation and repaint/rehab. I have a thing for Schwarzkopf rides... even geek out about those standard issue Schwarzkopf seat that are flat and non-grippy; same seats on some coasters such as Mind Bender (SFOG), Shockwave (SFOT) and Montezooma's revenge. You really get to slide around and enjoy true lateral time in those seats! Such perfection on that super-geeky detail. Fiddler's Fling also has the same seats. It's too bad SFMM didn't go with these original-type of seats when they did Revolution; what is inside those trains is horrible. Don't be scurred, it's on the Demon. Many of my coaster buds don't like Demon due to the roughness. Luckily, after having ridden it since I was a kid, I've developed ways to sit and adjust for a fun ride... which isn't really something I like to do, but I make the exception on Demon. 2nd seat from the back, please. Enjoy the *snapping* drop that was removed from the California version in the 90s. Still love the Disco tunnel. In the 80s, the lights were red/orange/yellow (as were the trains) and went in a spiral pattern. They removed the lights directly above the track at some point because people were throwing rocks up to break them. It's hard to have nice things. I'm not one for camera tech and details, I just try to take a bunch of pictures and hope a couple come out. I like centering my camera on a target, then rotating around it to produce a slight spin effect. The park looks great this year! I still say we have the best all-around Six Flags, operations included (which are usually horrible, unfortunately. What do you expect for a $70 season pass, right?)

^I have no clue but had a GREAT time at the park last night! Most everything was a walk-on and I got a staggering 8 rides in a row - with out leaving my seat - on Whizzer. If you go, bundle up. The lake winds are harsh. I'm inclined to say the next couple weekends won't be busy on Sundays, but I've been in the past. Seems to be hit or miss. And who knows, the park may offer some discount or bring-a-friend deal on social media the day of, and then it will be packed. I most definitely wouldn't bother going on a Saturday.

Haha, thank you But really, I think they could stop the train in there an scare you... remember when Six Flags Great America had actors hiding in the tunnel on the train (the tunnel next to the Demon tunnel). That was cool! Now the train doesn't run during Fright Fest, and there aren't many actors anywhere. BTW, big Raging Wolf Bobs fan? That was supposed to be the best ride ever when it was new... I rode it about 100 times during the ACE con in 1988. It was so smooth and fast when new!

Several of the queues at SFStL are ridiculous. The Batman, Boss, and Mr. Freeze queues are all really long. Even American Thunder's is longer than your average ride. I walked the offensive/passive-aggressive asshole of an entrance/exit walk of Viper at SFGAmerica last night. I really really wanted to ride American Eagle, one of my favorites, but that walk keeps me away unless I'm in the mood for it. Spoiled? Yes. Stupid designed entrance/exitway? Heck yeah. Six Flags loves making you work up an appetite. Every push someone in a wheelchair through one of those? Whoever designed those should have to do that. Every day.

If you're asking what's normally in that shed, it's the transfer track, train storage and where maintenance is performed on the trains. I wasn't asking that, but did think that would be a good place to stop the train... and do some spooky stuff, make it a mini-haunt on the ride. Oh well... sounds like their joke went over well, though. That shed over at Mystic should be made fun of. (Would have made more sense at the beginning of the ride, right?)

^Off topic, but a very good reminder for me! So, thank you. And thank you for your service. Can't wait for Liam's review of Six Flags America

So, I haven't been following closely... what is in the shed on Mine Ride?