Too Fast For Comfort

Any thoughts on the Fast Lane for this park? What are the FL entrances like? Do you go through the exit? If you go through the entrance, how is the merge point? Do they keep the row lines clean?

Actually, we implemented a new policy this year! If your row is empty, you can reride! That's pretty awesome, and its surprising from a Six Flags park! Here at Busch Garden Tampa, and SWO, they're pretty strict about no re-rides... as they sell one free re-ride as a perk with the Platinum passes. Now that I have a Plat, its awesome, as the re-ride applies anytime!

Interesting solutions and insight, but I feel like that might be a remedy is the ride lasted something like two years or less. I think that for SoB, as it lasted for 9 years or so, that's well beyond the warranty that was promised. I'm sure the park wanted it to be around a lot longer than that, but realistically, at a certain point, the park absorbs the responsibility. I'd also imagine that the park abandoned it because it was just never that success or as popular as they were hoping it would be.

Yeah, but its the business model of a regional park. Charge almost nothing for gate tickets and/or season passes, but gauge people on low quality food once they enter the park. If they charged outside park prices for food, they'd have to stop the specials that got you into the park for $30, and stop the $100 season passes.

I blocked coasterbill a while ago, but I saw that JRice92 fed the troll for some reason. Sorry that I wanted to make an honest unbiased comment about a coaster. I don't see what part of "It was what it was. Tempesto South. It was meh. Kinda fun, but too short. It was what it was" makes it unridable. But whatever. The lines were short, and I know that it'll have two hour lines after the official opening so I wanted to some laps in on it when I could. I guess that Mr. Bill's opinions are the only ones that matter, so that's cool.

I got 9 laps in on Tigris yesterday. It was what it was. Tempesto South. It was meh. Kinda fun, but too short. It was what it was.

Can't they just get a crane with a big old paint brush, and use the levers to go back and forth to let the crane robotically paint the coaster with the big old brush?

trying not to be harsh, but there's simply no way around this: You're being stupid. don't be stupid. why does San Antonio have a Six Flags and a Sea World? - because it's the 7th largest city in the USA (and the 2nd largest in Texas) - there are MASSIVE military bases located there, with a built in year round populace who often frequent the parks/Riverwalk/entertainment areas. There's a reason San Antonio is frequently referred to as "MC" (Military City) instead of "SA" -- the City is full of historical significance (Missions, including the Alamo, are UNESCO world site designated) -- the City hosted the Worlds Fair in 1968,and Hemisfair tower (Tower of the Americas) still stands there. that's just off the top of my head. learn about the City, before you make a sweeping stupid comment like the above https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio I don't really care what about what city its in. In America, how often do you see ground up parks getting built overnight -- let's say with the exception of Disney and Universal? I can't even remember the last time that Six Flags or Cedar Fair built a ground up park instead of buying a property from somebody else. My point is that if you wonder where the parks are going to be, look at the existing infrastructure, and any parks that are currently there. If there is a park with some rides, some room to grow, and a customer base, then maybe a chain or some investors would consider making it into a park. But short of that, any ground up groundbreaking is going to be unlikely no matter where you are. But I guess I'm just "stupid" for saying all of this. That's fine.

Yeah, I would never go to a park I haven't been to before with a bunch of GP. If I've been there a few times before, that's fine. I can either play tour guide, or just resign myself to a day of drinking, eating, looking at the sights, and maybe getting a ride or two in here or there. But unless I'm with people who will give me full control, or with people who know how to stay productive, forget about it. Most parks requires some strategy, but Disney is all about strategy. Its basically a game to play. If you do poorly, you get a visit like that. If you do well, you stay extremely productive and see and do everything. I could pick apart your strategy bit by bit, but you probably already know that there was a lot that you could have improved upon. Out of curiosity, what rates did you pay for admission? Did you pay for straight up multi-day tickets full price, or did you pay a group discount? Or was the ticket price so buried into the lump sum that you paid for the trip that you have no idea?

Totally agree - not every attraction should be an E-ticket. This looks really cool, especially for the hordes of tiny Cars fans out there. And heck... it's air conditioned. If it had seats for the audience, I'd be all in! Love that it's right beside the two big draws on that end of the park - will provide some nice balance to RnRC and ToT. I like the idea of erring more on the side of putting stuff on FP+ rather than not having it. It allows people who can't book early enough or don't know about the Pound the App trick (or don't have the patience for it) to stay productive, and not be frustrated that their only FP+'s are for total walk-ons. The more reserved and planned the day is, the less that everyone has to spend waiting around doing nothing for a ride. The wait is outside of the queue being productive or relaxing.

Honestly, I think its less about market size and about something much more simple and borderline stupid: Has a park in some capacity existed there for decades? If so, that will be the park that you go to. If not, you're SOL. Better start traveling. Companies don't like to build parks generally. They usually buy up parks that already exist. So much of the real estate in America is already accounted for or protected in some capacity. You have to acquire a lot of land that is relatively close to population centers, and that's kind of tough to do. Why are there parks in San Antonio and not Austin? Well, years ago, people decided to put parks there, and that's that. Yeah, people were talking about ZDT, but that parks is so small and insignificant that it doesn't really register as the kind of park that you're probably thinking about. If it was your home park and nothing else, you might go a few times, but it won't be anything Earth shattering for you.

This is why I don't talk to them. That, and because I don't talk to anyone who isn't my wife or one of our friends when we're at a park. Talking with strangers during recreation time is borderline worthless. Also, yes. Coaster fans aren't cool, by any means. Not now, not then. Or, at least we're not cool on the basis of being involved in this hobby. This is pretty nerdy. But, I don't care. I was at Carowinds on Saturday and Dollywood on Sunday. This was pretty much the case at both parks, but definitely worse at Carowinds. Operations were terrible, and the #1 cause of this was larger guests attempting to ride and getting booted after 5 minutes of trying to get the harness tight enough. I’d say about 75% of all dispatches on all coasters the entire day had people being taken off, and this is a problem. No point in having 2 or 3 trains on when it takes 10 minutes to send one after unlocking the restraints 12 times. I literally almost fell asleep on the brake run on Nighthawk. Use the test seats, people! I can’t imagine going to these parks without buying the Fast Lane Plus / Unlimited Time Saver. 2/3rds of Americans are considered obese, with 1/3 of those obese people considered morbidly obese. A lot of these 2/3rds have no idea they're overweight, because compared to the norm they're not any heavier than most other people. I'm not trying to be a smartass, but do you think in such a modern PC world parks are going to put a notice up that says, "Hey fatties, make sure to check the test seat?" The test seats are at the front of the rides and people still ignore them. Just get used to it, man. It's 2019 and you have to drastically accommodate for everyone's feelings. I can imagine the number of complaints guest services has to field because of this and I'm sure they have some canned lawsuit safe answer. One solution (that would still piss a lot of people off I guess) would be an absolute zero tolerance policy for not being able to close the restraint. From my observations, less than 5% of the people who can't get the restraint closed on the first ever eventually get the restraint closed, but the restraint checker has always held up the line, and made the trains double stack to get the train out. Just post that your policy is to escort guests off the ride if the restraint won't close on the first try. They're welcome to try again if they go around the exit and wait in line again. But eventually they'll get the picture and learn to use the test seats.

Some people fight me on this argument i make, but from my observations, far more guests hate getting wet than I've seen guests who like getting wet. Particularly when you have to wear street clothing and are not wearing a bathing suit. It just doesn't compute that you could have a steady diet of water rides when guests hate to get water on them.

If you don't buy it, than how exactly would a lap bar keep your body in an upright seated position, on its own, during, say, Montu's batwing element? Even with a shoulder harness I can really feel the strain on my neck. Coasters without floors might be an exception. Even then, I at least prefer a light comfort collar or something like that. I can see with T3 and Sky Rush that no floor and lapbars cause thigh crushing issues, and possibly other ones too. I think that having a floor gives your legs something to push down on when the going gets tough. But personally, I'd still take the open free feeling.

Wait there are people who actually think it's "cool" to be a roller coaster enthusiast? To coaster hipsters at least.

It's not just about preventing people from "flying out" - in many cases, it's about keeping the riders' bodies in place and upright. If you were to ride Intimidator 305 without the vests, what condition would your back and neck be in when the ride was over? Or Olympia Looping, or the Edmonton Mindbender, with insanely-fast transitions to forces of over 5 Gs, without the shoulder bars? Or a ride where you hang over the edge, but without that vest or shoulder harness that your body can safely fall into? I would argue that B&M coasters' heavy positive G forces are exactly what necessitates the use of their vest harnesses, for the above reason. And for the coasters that don't necessarily need them, why should B&M waste all of their resources developing a brand-new seat, restraint, and related mechanics when what they already have will do the job just fine? Also, for B&M's existing coasters, like Kumba, Montu, and SheiKra, a conversion to a more modern, possibly free-bodied lap restraint is virtually impossible due to the need for more space per seat (since the bars stick out on either side, as opposed to being strictly forward then down, like a traditional shoulder harness). I'm not saying you're wrong here, but a lap restraint on its own, overhead or otherwise, isn't always the correct solution. Rocky Mountain obviously knows how to design a coaster that is comfortable (or easy) enough in the positive-G sections to not have to worry about riders' bodies curling forward. I realize, I don't buy it though. I think its just about insurance rates and perception. I've ridden a ton of coasters with OTSR's, and every time I get off I always silently think to myself either: 1. That as a great/good/pretty good/etc. ride, but imgagine how much better it would be with lapbars. 2. That was a bad ride. But it may have been a little better with lapbars. Never in my life have I gotten off a coaster with lapbars and wanted an OTSR. I think that the heavy duty RMC lapbars do a great job of keeping you in place, and there's no real value that an OTSR could add. Its not just personal preference and comfort, but many people with anxiety issues really get freaked out by being in massive obstructed harnesses as well. And there's the CTE issues that we're learning more and more about that headbanging can potentially cause (its not just a coaster enthusiast nitpick anymore).

Nothing worse than the "coaster hipsters" who have been popping up: 1. Thinks its so uncool to keep track of credits, lost count at 600, and thumbs their nose at anybody who still keeps count. 2. Was an enthusiast "before it was cool." 3. Hates any conversion about a roller coaster that they didn't start or sanction. Deeming it "pointless" and "just ride the damn ride." 4. Has a pathological hatred of the word "GP" for no apparently reason. 5. Thinks that you should rate a new coaster over a classic.

Actually from what I hear Great Escape is actually a pretty nice small sized park. La Ronde though... Great Escape is my home park, they are getting a great flat selection and a great water park. It’s nice my Great Escape pass also works at Six Flags New England and Six Flags Darien Lake so when I want to ride actual coasters I can. The Comet is great too Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Saying that a park has a great flat ride collection and a great waterpark is like saying a girl has a great personality.

You may not have been on many RMCs, Macks, or the new generation loopers, but once you get on them, you'll wonder why OSTRs were ever a thing in the first place. The restraints are much more freeing and comfortable, but they're just as secure as an OTSR is. With the way that you're sitting, there's no way you could ever get out. And considering the fact that the RMCs actually do have high risk elements, while most B&M coasters (other than the hypers) are just pure vertical G's, its even more head scratching as to why the non-hypers all have OTSRs. I'm also not a huge hater on the comfort collars. The collars are unnecessary, yes, but they're not as bad as straight up classic, clunky OTSR's. So I think that Tigris should still give some good hangtime.

It's not for everybody, but I planned a trip to Texas to pick up a platinum pass at SWSA. It was $132.99, 1/3 the price in Williamsburg, Tampa, or Orlando. Not worth it to make a special trip to SWSA just to get a pass, but it worked out for us, as we were going to go to SFOT and SFFT eventually anyway. We now have trips to BGW, BGT, and SWO in the works this year. The problem with running the hustle at SWSA is that you don't get level benefits anywhere but Texas with that pass. Hence why its so cheap. You only get free admission and free general parking. You may get a courtesy discount on merch and food, but I'm not sure of that (mainly as a way to get you to spend more). No preferred parking, no guest passes, no 50% off, no photokey, no preferred seating, no animal encounter, and most importantly no ride again privileges. Those ride again privileges at SWO and BGT are wicked. Best part of the Platinum and more advantageous than the Quick Queue. It takes so long for them to load their coasters and for you to get off and walk around, getting two rides in for the price of one wait is pretty valuable. I see that you're out of state, but if you go to the Florida parks often, its worth it to splurge. Maybe if you plan on 5-6 visits to a Florida theme park or water park, that might be the break-even point where it makes sense to get Florida Plat over a Texas Plat (ignoring travel costs to get to Texas). Just figure that the ride again privileges are more valuable than a Quick Queue, and those can be between $30-70, you get the premium parking... that's about a $10 upgrade if you just get general, the passkey will cost you money otherwise (but you might not care about it anyway), you can't really value the preferred seating -- so it just matters if you care about it or not, and I'm not sure if you get discounts with the Texas Plat, but if you don't, the 15% could save you $5 a visit or so. Animal encounters might be a wash, as you can just use yours in Texas. Don't forget about the friend of friends for free and 50% off. Those are more valuable in Florida parks than the Texas one (and you can't use it for your check-in visit anyway). Oh yeah, passholders get a better deal on the Seven Seas punchcards. I'm not sure if you get the sweet deal with an out of state pass (20 punches for the price of 15, so a 33% bonus). So all in all, if you're taking a few visits to Florida, make sure to pay the extra $200 and get it in Florida.

Yeah, Shiekra probably is best in the front, but the the middle and back aren't that bad. The train does have stadium seating, so you get a pretty great view no matter where you sit. It can also be kind of cool sitting over people and watching their reactions. Drop coasters are just pretty underrated all the way around. Pretty spot on analysis of the wait times. Monday through Friday the park is pretty dead. But all of the sudden it gets Disney level crowds on the weekends and holidays. If you're traveling through, definitely make sure to prioritize going Monday-Friday. Also, for being a big 365 park in Florida, the operations and staffing is pretty pathetic. They really can't get a dispatch out without stacking and they'll leave a bunch of empty seats. Surprising considering the fact that they fully staff each ride with greeters, crowd control, and restraint checkers.

Yeah, its pretty unbelievable. After it opens, it will probably become the enthusiast haven that CP or Holiday World is where you'll always see the chitter chatter of enthusiasts here and there on the midways.

This is absoultely NOT TRUE at all. It is only true if you are not a smart theme park patron and you follow the sheep into every single long line without thinking or being strategic on how to maximize your FP+ options combined with the best times to get into a stand by line. I cannot tell you how many times I've stood in the Flight of Passage standby line and it only took me 25 minutes to get on the ride because I was smart about when I chose to get in that line. I can also tell you that I've been on attraction like Frozen, Toy Story Mania, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, etc, in the MIDDLE OF THE DAY without a Fast Pass and only waited 20-40 minutes because you figure out when are peak periods for rides and not peak periods. Also doing some smart second guessing as to when people are and are not booking Fast Passes comes into play as well. It annoys me when people claim that you "HAVE to get a FastPass or you're not getting on the bigger rides" because that's completely false. I would hope that the people posting to these forums would know better. I'm a little late to this party, but I just want to add that I just got back from doing a half days at both EPCOT and Animal Kingdom in the middle of the day and rode Flight of the Passage, Navi River ride, Expedition Everest, Spaceship Earth, Mission Space, and Soarin with only a fastpass for Expedition Everest...so.... Yeah, EPCOT's always dead. This has been going on for a while. Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom are usually pretty crowded, but if you follow the calendars you can find some days that aren't as busy. And obviously you can "get on everything" but the name of game is doing it without waiting in lines. I still feel like you can have great plans, but show up and the park is just a lot more crowded than you expected it be. I think that the beauty of FP+ is that it guarantees you short waits on a minimum number of rides whether it turns out to be packed or not. This can happen because there's a limited amount of FP+ given out, and they can always up the priority ratio to 4:1 if they need to drain the FP+ line when its getting too long. The CM's use their discretion to go between 1:1 to 4:1 based on what they need to do to keep the FP+ line minimal and moving.

Wait, so they paid children less than minimum wage? I know its rural Pennsylvania, but how is that legal?

I'm many years from retirement, but I think that its a good idea on your part. As parks want to expand their operating season, hiring people who aren't in school helps them fill out the roster during the school season. Plus, you're choosing to be there, so I'd imagine that you'd check every restraint with a smile on your face, which is always a plus. Coast2Coaster (see the link below) is a great resource for figure out where all the parks are across the world. It maps the data from RCDB, and puts everything on a global map, where you can play with the filter settings to see where all of the parks are in a given area. If you chose something in central east PA (not sure what the exact lingo is for the area) you'd be around Knoebles, Dorney, and Hershey, and plus a ton of other smaller parks -- while also being a prime location for road trips as well. Good luck to you! http://www.coast2coaster.eu/