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Jew

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Posts posted by Jew

  1. 3 hours ago, Manic Monte said:

    Agreed. But I'd bet my hat that the Bourn Stuntacular is on it's way to Hollywood.

    I’m not sure where they would put it unless WaterWorld is finally done.

    My assumption is that the Mel’s/Parisian themed area is eventually swallowed up by something illuminations to complete the transformation of the back of park.

    On the lower lot, I assume any future expansion space would go towards Nintendo (the current soundstage 29 used for events butts up right next to it…)

    Mummy would be the wildcard, but going from a roller coaster to Bourne seems like a big downgrade. Simpsons if you believe the license will end would make another possibility.

    I suppose they could completely rework the front entrance to use the space that was formerly saddle ranch and the VIP/handicapped parking lot to stretch the park out too if they wanted to.

    • Like 1
  2. On 11/11/2022 at 11:49 AM, KBrylczyk said:

    No loss with these two (craptacular) shows closing, and hopefully this means they'll finally kill the really really terrible Jabbawockeez HHN show.  That being said, if they relocate to the Waterworld arena and give us a show with explosions and water breakdancing I'm all for it.

    Truthfully, I do think it is a loss. The shows obviously didn’t appeal to us as theme park fans, but they filled up during peak times and added more “movie” things to the park. 
     

    The park is definitely going to feel having the new rumored ride, studio tour, lower lot, and Springfield/Simpsons all on one narrow path and no longer having two shows to suck some people off the midways for a bit.

    • Like 3
  3. It is a little bit strange to me to announce things any “world class” park would just do as standard operating procedures as big new additions, but I do like the big focus on kids for the water park. The mini tornado is cute!

    I am very curious to see how the skyline ride turns out.  I assume they got a really good deal after selling a piece of junk to SFDK.  Will it work? Will the LEDs actually hold up in Texas heat?

    • Like 1
  4. On 10/18/2022 at 5:51 AM, Invertalon said:

    Does Hollywood not sell express passes only on the website like Orlando? Am I missing something? It all looks like combo tickets only, with no option to just buy express for whatever night. We already have our tickets, so just wanted to look into what the express options were.

    We may look into that after 11pm express if we need it. Not sure it's worth (from what it appears) is $200+ for normal express passes per person... If we miss a house or two, so be it. But for the 11pm express option, can you buy those earlier in the night or do they go on sale at 11pm in the park?

    A limited number of express might be available at the park. Online I believe express is only sold as its own ticket. The after 11s will go on sale in the park around 9 if whatever algorithm they use decides that enough people have used their express passes that there will be enough capacity available. They obviously won’t scan in until 11. 

  5. On 8/30/2022 at 3:14 PM, bert425 said:

    so. . .   via a personal message from Six Flags Fiesta Texas Park President Jeffrey Siebert, yesterday afternoon?

    apparently they have heard the complaints regarding what happened to the food options in Sangerfest Halle (ie: they got really shitty). . and he sent me these snapshots of the menu boards, that I believe are back as of this coming Saturday.

    that's why I love this park. . .they actually LISTEN and adjust accordingly.

    (and yes. . those prices are nuts.   *but* most of it is on the Meal Plan as options. . . which as of my last visit the only things being served in Sangerfest were Personal Pizza, Prepackaged Salad, and Fried Chicken Strips (all Meal options tho), and the split chicken you could buy for $19.   So this is a huge step forward again.

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    I guess you can call that a step forward in the sense they added more to the menu, but that’s still just more overpriced food that most certainly isn’t made fresh to justify those prices.

    This looks more to me like “we’re not making any money off the place right now, let’s add a few things that look gourmet to get that per-cap spend back up and get more people back on the dining plan we said we didn’t want them on anymore.”

  6. 6 hours ago, Lotologist492 said:

    I know many here are quick to criticize the new CEO and the direction (or potential lack thereof) the chain is headed, but taking a step back for a second....

    While I cannot speak for other parks in the SF chain, SFoG has in fact invested a ton in beautifying the park with lots of landscaping work as well as refurbishment of two major coasters (Mindbender and Scream Machine). The ride rehabs are nice as is the spruced-up park, as these housekeeping items were long overdue. Food quality is better in some regards, but not all.  And let's not forget the resurfacing of the main parking lot last year, again, long overdue. Prior management should have been dealing with these tasks over time rather than ignoring it and forcing the current management to play catch up all at once.  Mr. Bassoul & company is in a tough spot having to invest in all of these tasks across the chain, none of which draw guests to the park but still needed to be done nonetheless. This round of rehab tasks are very costly, which means much less funding available for new attractions. It is very difficult to pass judgement on Mr. Bassoul right now, but he is making some bold and risky moves.

    Basically, the new CEO will either crater the chain or we will look back in several years thinking how he brought the magic back to SF and made them excellent again.  Time will tell.

    The key is, you can’t just make the investment once and call it a day. We’ve already seen that song and dance when Dan Synder did his takeover of the company.  When they made their big push to make things more “family friendly,” they made investments like the ones you mentioned and then never maintained any improvements.

    You can only squeeze so much out of the consumer (especially with six flags clientele), but the shareholders will still want you to squeeze more out of somewhere…

    • Like 2
  7. 1 hour ago, Manic Monte said:

    You can be a regional theme park and still offer a much better experience than SF has the last 20 years. It takes time and doesn't happen overnight. Look at the former Paramount Parks now under Cedar Fair? Kings Island,  once not much better that your typical Six Flags park, is now one of the countries best. You think that happened after a year? 

     

    I don't agree. I DON'T think the answer is to remain a cheap chain. These parks (especially the big 5) have so much more potential than that.

    I don’t actually believe they will make the investment that is required to become a more premium product. I can only speak for SFMM, but their pay/benefits package for staff is still nowhere near the top of the industry or even the local area for that matter.  They just half assed the opening of Wonder Woman and the DC area. Can’t even remember the last time any of their rides ran at full capacity.
     

    If the CEO is serious about it, it will require a massive culture/budget change within the company to actually be a more premium experience instead of just raising prices and saying you are a premium product.

    Since I don’t think they are actually serious about it, I’m of the opinion they should just stick to being cheap and find better ways to squeeze money out of people once they are inside the park.  Make people think they are getting a good value even though you are still marking things up like crazy (say, like the cheap souvenir bottle refills) and I bet that would make them more revenue than pretending they are a premium brand…

  8. On 7/18/2022 at 6:59 AM, AmyUD06 said:

    Not sure why you'd bother them asking if there'd be a season next year.  All of the information known about the sale indicates that the earliest they could possibly close would be 2 years away.

    To be fair, the sale itself came out of nowhere to begin with.  Though highly unlikely, There would be nothing stopping Prologis and Cedar Fair from another agreement to amend their lease to allow termination earlier than the 2 years currently required as the bare minimum…

    • Like 1
  9. On 7/17/2022 at 6:22 PM, CP_RULES said:

    You mentioned three, what percentage are they batting these days? There are some great ones left, I will give you that.

    Well a looping star is an entire product line, not just one individual ride. I didn’t think I needed to list out every looping star I have been on…

    But in general, as others have mentioned, no inversion has really yet to match the near perfection of a Swartzkoph loop. 

    • Like 2
  10. These are the “cubbies.”  It looks like they just stole employee lockers and threw them out there to try and help…except they just means more people grabbing stuff from the extremely cramped hallway.

    Trying to reuse the green lantern building was a terrible idea. Even something like the larger rubber trash cans they use now don’t even properly fit (the one they had in the queue blocks the switchback) and if certainly wasn’t a good idea to turn what was formerly the split point for loading into an entrance and exit.

    I’ll second the comments the whole thing is remarkably “six flags.”  It’s not paint on the ground, it’s the former queue railing of green lantern filled in that they just chopped off and sanded down and didn’t re-surface over. You can still see some survey markings on the ground too. There’s exposed wiring for the fire alarm system that isn’t inside conduit. The exit route is a mess of construction and lack of signage. The presumably future gift shops is a structure and not much else. The round up doesn’t have a sign on its entrance yet. The new perimeter walls aren’t painted.  There’s no shade at all.

    The ride itself is a lot of fun. I enjoyed the back row much more. Thankfully only waited like 10 min each time, since the crew wasn’t messing up the moving loading.

    E9548FDB-6A4E-4D32-8D3E-5F976DC1CEBF.jpeg

  11. On 7/14/2022 at 6:53 PM, CP_RULES said:

    It’s a nostalgia thing for old people, most of their rides are terrible among today’s coasters.

    I would ride a looping star over most more modern coasters with inversions, since those with OTSR’s beat you up in some way.  Olympia Looping is a legitimate top 25 coaster.  Mindbender is the second most intense coaster I’ve ever been on (#1 is the original dodonpa). Lisebergbanan is a top tier mine train/non inverting style coaster.

    • Like 2
  12. That video is her way of saying “we need our kickbacks to approve the zoning change.”  There’s zero chance the park lasts the full 11 years.  50 years would be 2026, so I suspect it’s already being arranged to have that be the last season…

    Stadium mixed use developments are all the rage, I bet prologis already has a deal with the niners.  Best case is they save the amphitheater and the carousel/fountain entrance as part of the inevitable development. 

    • Like 1
  13. On 6/25/2022 at 11:55 AM, rachelmadcow said:

    Idk why u listed temporary or seasonal events… las vegas is there 24/7 365… 

    if i was an investor id immediately wonder why nobody else built outside Phoenix… if its so lucrative why isnt castles and coasters getting investments or able to purchase more than a 1979 schwarzkopf. 

    Las Vegas did the family thing.  Didn’t work.  Phoenix is one of the fastest growing metropolitan cities.  It has grown exponentially since 2000.  Conflating a lack of investment in new rides for Castles’N’Coasters with the ability for the market to support a new park is terrible logic.  The choice of ownership to not build something new doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t have the ability to do so.

    • Like 1
  14. On 6/14/2022 at 5:57 PM, rachelmadcow said:

    Yea Icon Park is TOAST. 

     

    https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/13/us/tyre-sampson-autopsy-icon-park-orlando/index.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=news_tab

     

    ICON park as the lessor has the duty to ensure their lessees aren't killing people. That's like Ford saying they have nothing to do with their dealerships. 

    Unless they knew the drop tower was being operated outside of manufacturer guidelines, it is out of their control.

  15. On 6/15/2022 at 11:53 PM, rachelmadcow said:

    Its a tourist hub looking to transform into the Orlando of the West. All I know Glendale for is golf courses. Thats not better since kids dont go to golf courses en masse. Mattel has to hope people go to Glendale while in LV you already have people coming. 
     

    Who wouldnt go to just see what a Mattel park is like? Its a curiosity perfect for Vegas. It would prob have sell out dates if Im frank and they execute it as well as described. Needs to be wizzarding world level immersion to truly work IMO. 

    Glendale is home to the AZ Cardinals, Dodgers/White Sox Spring Training, will host the Super Bowl every 10 years or so, plus the Phoenix metro area which only has Castles and Coasters.  It will do just fine.

  16. 7 hours ago, TEDodd said:

    Exactly. The people running the ride have to have some responsibility in ensuring the restraints are properly positioned on a given rider. That means training and doing the task as trained.

    Automation, switches, sensors, and such help, but can't replace the human yet.
    Relying on those alone is a recipe for disaster.


    I'm not absolving the manufacturer completely, as I can't figure out a rider that the high position would be safe for (though happy to be corrected by someone that can). But I still have to fault the owner for there claims of "no height or weight limit" and apparent lack of training about such limits.

    And I still fault the operators for not seeing that the restraint was not going work in that position.
    No one here looks at the pictures and thinks that restraint was positioned safely and neither should the operators. Unless they were specifically told that was safe, and even then I would have to question such an instruction. I've had plenty of situations where the rules/training said something was OK and I wasn't comfortable with that and challenged such rules (sometime I was show the information I was missing making it safe and sometimes I was proven correct).

     

    The restraints met the ASTM standards for a class 5 restraint. Long story short, it means they are the highest rated ones used on the most extreme rides. This was 100% a poor judgment call on the operators. The restraint technically being flagged as closed is just a byproduct of that, not a manufacturing defect. As is usually the case when we hear about ejection deaths-operators just should known better despite restraints being “locked”

     

    • Like 1
  17. On 3/29/2022 at 10:35 PM, TEDodd said:

    I think it was locked and the light indicated that. But locked isn't enough.

    Compare the position for a 6ft 280lb rider vs a 5ft 95lb rider. That's on the operators to check. The ride doesn't know how thick/thin the rider is, only that the harness is locked. 

     

    That said, should the harness have indicated a lock in that position? I'm having trouble picturing a rider that would be safely secured with it in that position.

     

    So it shouldn't have indicated a lock in that position and the operators shouldn't have let it go either.

    It uses limit switches-just one piece of metal hitting another. Harness goes down far enough-sensor thinks it is down far enough to be locked. The Weight limit is presumably designed to prevent the situation that occurred, knowing a larger body type might not fit properly. The challenge with restraint design is that a tall persons shoulders could also cause the restraint to be up higher and be perfectly safe—-there’s no one size fits all system.

    • Like 1
  18. 34 minutes ago, prozach626 said:

    I find it ironic that a morbidly obese person is complaining about circumstances being deadly, as if she hasn't looked at the deadly health consequences of her actions. The newest movement is referring to thin/fit/healthy people as entitled or privileged.

    #1 leading cause of death in America: Heart Disease. Talk about "deadly." Although I'm sure it's probably "someone else's fault."

    You could have a very spirited discussion on restraint design and body types, but this isn’t the place for it. 
     

    My assumption on what happened is that the harness went down far enough to flag the sensor it was locked when it never actually was. You can squish body mass down when the ride is on the ground, not so much when tilted in the air and dropping…

    • Like 2
  19. On 2/21/2022 at 5:39 AM, Hilltopper39 said:

    You can add Jacksonville to that list. I believe the current lease expires in 2030 so there's already talks about whether or not they're goin to renovate the existing venue or build a new stadium. I hope that they'll go with an upgrade to the existing stadium with a massive shade structure similar to Miami, but we'll see where the negotiations go, and how much the city is willing to put in.

     

    But yeah Sofi looks amazing, we try to make it to one Jags road game a year, and we're at the Chargers next season so LA may be in play with travel restrictions and everything getting back to normal (hopefully). I kind of prefer to visit cities with the stadium downtown so we can get a hotel and not leave the area for a few days, that worked well for us in Cincy and Nashville the past couple of years. The horror stories from LA with traffic and parking and location and all that kind of scare me away but Sofi might be worth the inconvenience for a trip. Especially if the game is the right time of year and I can do a day at Scary Farm. Just gotta wait until April and make some travel plans.

    You can stay downtown and take the metro to a stop a couple miles away and there’s a free shuttle the rest of the way (long term plan is a automated peoplemover from a closer still under construction station to connect to sofi/forum/new clipper arena by 2028 for the Olympics)

    • Like 1
  20. 5 hours ago, Dan the Coaster Man said:

    SoFi looks great, makes me wonder if Chicago would ever get anything like it...

    Every new stadium since Jerryworld has really followed that same template in terms of amenities (clubs and suites everywhere, field suites, ridiculous scoreboards, open spaces on the ends for SRO/additional seats), but each offering their own design quirks unique to their cities.  I don’t believe you’ll see another sofi since digging so far down is more expensive, but I can see another stadium sticking with the giant canopy roof idea and replacing YouTube theater with additional shopping/dining instead underneath the canopy.

    Chicago, Buffalo, Washington will all be begging for money for new stadiums soon, so it will be fun to see the next evolutions of the template.

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