Jew

I don't think it is limited to just those rides. ALL of the coaster shut downs numerous times while the TPR midwest trip was there. It literally took 5 or 6 hours to ride Corkscrew, the mine train, mantis, and one other ride I can't think of right now. People embellish their stories because if it starts drizzling 3 cycles in, they shut down for another hour before trying again. It happened to us. Numerous times. Or better yet, they get so paranoid they take a 1/2 hour to redo the block check without spieling to the guests waiting in line... The thing that bothers me the most is that it is completely obvious Cedar Fair doesn't give a sh*t about the guests. IIRC, the ticket booths all say "no rain checks." Which would be fine if they didn't shut the whole freaking park down for no reason! State law my ass.

The market that is driving KBF down the tube is the same market that SFMM was trying to cater to during the "dark days."

Small price to pay??? They consider themselves a resort, right? Their lame ass policy "to protect themselves" can cost families hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars if their vacation turns into crap. It almost happened to me (traveled from CA to meet up with the midwest trip). The lame ass excuse I got when I complained was "state regulations and manufacturer guidelines"...that convienently couldn't be cited when I questioned why their rides used to run in the rain and mentioned that I personally operated a B&M stand up with 3 trains in the rain. I understand dropping to 1 train in the rain, and even shutting down if lightning is detected within 15 miles (that seems to be the industry standard for water parks and rides...give or take 5-10 miles), but they take it WAY too far. A drizzle shuts the park down.

Take it for what it is worth, but Tim Burkhart said that Metro is no longer up to code and that it was far too cost prohibitive to rehab it. However, they didn't rule out some sort of park transportation for the future.

Since we are playing the "read far too into where the managers were hanging out out" game... It's a low capacity ride. No more than 50 people per cycle (that's assuming they still have all those cars available!), and it's a 7-9 minute cycle time after factoring in loading and unloading. Also, they are old and probably in bad shape. They were already closed once for almost a year because there was a hole in the floor (the wood rotted away). Plus there is the liability factor. Despite signs and a hopefully attentive operator, head on collisions are inevitable. I bet they have been sued quite a bit from "neck/back injuries." On the flip side... Perhaps they are selling Shapiro on the idea of a rehab/overhaul (Thumper Bumpers 2.0!)...Or just doing a full lap of the park and checking on everything.

When I worked there in 2001, the drop person didn't have to dispatch. We just watched and reset when we had to. Don't know if that was always the case.

^It looked cool? There was a switch right before the drop. Basically just a wall that went back and forth.

"Branding" doesn't just apply to theme parks...that's how it works for everything. People want what they are familiar with instead of the unknown.

^^Considering it goes about 2 miles an hour, I doubt it's that painful for kids...

How many times has Jacko been on the brink of bankruptcy??? What does he have left to give this company? He already gave up control of the Beatles catalog and his publishing company was already collateral on the loan he had to take out from this company the last time he almost went bankrupt. I'm guessing the property will be up for sale real soon.

^^He didn't maintain the property because he abandoned it after his molestation trial. <----reads TMZ every day.

^I believe it is the entire property that is being auctioned off, not just the rides. He had a full time staff of like 60 people until the state shut it down because he hadn't payed them. According to wikipedia, here was the rides list: At the moment, all the rides are just sitting there to rot, as no one has been there to maintain them since all the staff were told to stop showing up...I want to say it has been at least 6 months since that story broke about Neverland Ranch being shut down. HERE are some recent pictures.

^I believe Six Flags offers the package pick up service, so you don't have to carry a bunch of stuff around all day. I also think you can check larger items (like those giant stuffed animals you win) in at GR. Also,everyone knows that they are leaving stuff in the station at their own risk...until it gets stolen. Then it's the parks fault.

Ooops...my bad. Sorry about that.

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39490

Moved this to the correct forum. Please be sure to check to see if your topic is in the right forum before posting.

^To be fair, Sierra Sidewinder is something SFMM could really use! It's a nice family coaster that is sometimes fun for us coaster dorks if you get it to spin a lot (unless your name is Elissa). But I agree it was marketed terribly, so it probably didn't have the impact it could have.

Why don't you just ask the questions instead of mentioning how you got the credit? You'd probably have a better chance of getting an answer that way...

Funny...I stepped out at some point during the presentation to use those very same bathrooms...Aside from the fact it looks like a high school bathroom (real basic design, nothing fancy), I didn't notice any of what you mentioned. Granted I wasn't paying close attention, but nothing stood out so much that I would remember it being so bad. I've seen worse at Disney, Universal, and Busch parks. I've also seen worse at SFMM on other occasions as well. I also don't think even Disney staffs a matron in every restroom all day every day. I would assume that just like SFMM, they DO have people assigned to restrooms, but they rotate around and do periodic checks, so lapses are bound to happen. However, that's not to say that the bathrooms weren't horrible when you walked in, or that you aren't right in saying the bathrooms should be kept clean all the time...But I also agree with the other poster in saying that the question came more as an attack than a concern. There should still be a common courtesy given to them to address all questions/issues politely and professionally, so they can give an equally as polite and professional response.

I hope Six Flags NEVER attempts to borrow the "magic" of Cedar Point. But that's an off topic rant for another time. As it relates to the topic, IIRC, Cedar Point does the same exact thing on MF and TTD (and maybe other rides---I can't remember). Another case in point: The Busch parks. You don't really read many bad TR's about those parks, but they also have the same locker policy as SFMM. Completely disagree. From my experience working RRv, the delay from the "mad scramble" is still less than than all the delays Jahan mentioned. As I said before, there is no perfect system. SFMM is doing what they feel is best.

Here's the thing...You post on this website. You are not the average guest. I can tell you from experience working at SFMM and a park where lockers are free that there is no locker system that will please the average guest. Free lockers: "Do I HAVE to? But my wallet is in there!" "It took too long to get my locker!" Not free lockers: "I have to pay?" Option to leave stuff in station: "Is it safe?" "I will have you fired if this gets stolen!" Option to leave stuff in station and said item(s) are stolen after the park made it clear they are not responsible: "This is f*cking bullsh*t! I demand you pay for all my lost stuff!" There's really no easy way to do it, so SFMM is just choosing the one they feel is best for their operations. Could it be the wrong choice? Sure. If they end up being overwhelmed with complaints like yours, I am sure that they will react accordingly.

While I totally agree that it is great when lockers are free, I never quite understood the logic in $1 being too much to ensure the safety of your items. Annoying? Sure. Big deal? I don't think so. Especially when the other options are risking my stuff being stolen (A former friend of mine had a nice digital camera stolen from a cubby at KBF) or waiting longer to get my stuff out/running the risk of there not even being a locker available for me (ever seen the lockers at Universal on a busy summer day?).

^^How can you tell if a ride is fun just from looking at the car? The ride was actually worse than Flashback.

I THINK what you arre trying to ask is which theme parks have maps/spiels/etc. in different languages??? Please make sure your topic titles are more specific and your posts make sense.

Bumping this for Eric.