Photo TR: Derek rides El Toro

[Token Yankee Guy]

Operations are really poor, 5 minute dispatches (and that's being generous). Buckle your seatbelt and DON'T touch the lapbar. The ride ops then come, tighten the seatbelt so you can barely breathe, then slam the lapbar as far into your gut as possible.

 

Interesting, when I was at the park last Thursday, they didn't tell me that I couldn't bring my own lapbar down, I brought my own bar down and they pushed it slightly to make sure it was secure. Also with the dispatches, yeah that is a bit of a wait when they got two ride attendents checking the restraints, when the ride opened for the day on thursday, they had four attendents checking restraints and I found that to be very efficient because at some points they were able to dispatch the train in the station before the other train stop right before entering the station.

 

Anyway, good TR Derek, I enjoyed reading your opinion on El Toro.

[Nitro1118]

The station was saved to save space. As it is, Toro is on a VERY thin slot of land, and the infield of RT isn't very big. The reason for such a steep lift and the cable was to save space from going farther back into the Wild Safari area. Viper's station was small enough (especially width wise) that they decided it would create less of a hassle.

[coasterguy618]

^The lift isnt that steep at all.

[CaseyFish]

See Larry, you needed me to be there. You saw what I did when that girl spit on me, you have to be calm stern and look down at them over the top of your glasses. Geez ya think you would have learned something...lol. I thought you learned a life lesson. Sorry that happened. I have had people try to get in front of me, and then I just turn around and they stop quick.

 

Except one time, and that was in the U.K. at Thorpe Park. I saw I was in the wrong line, so I was stepping over the rail, well two people saw me and they were a good 30 feet away, they RAN down the ramp to get by me, elbowing me and trying to push me over.

But it was okay, cause revenge will be mine. They weren't just any people, they were Fanboys, and boy guess what I have some really good pictures of fanboys:) MUHAHAHAHAHA.

 

Take Care,

Casey "DON'T MESS WITH THE B.O.T.B.C" Childers

[DerekRx]

The station was saved to save space. As it is, Toro is on a VERY thin slot of land, and the infield of RT isn't very big. The reason for such a steep lift and the cable was to save space from going farther back into the Wild Safari area. Viper's station was small enough (especially width wise) that they decided it would create less of a hassle.

 

Riiiight....because El Toro is totally a cookie cutter coaster and wasn't custom designed at all. It just HAD to fit that area of land with that layout, otherwise they couldn't possibly build it.

 

Whatever the reason for saving the station may be (maybe the Union workers removing it were taking way too long so SF just say "fahgitabaddit") a piece of Viper remains and was a really poorly designed station to begin with. The building may look cool and give the ride some theming, but its still got a really bad design. Guess SF will just have to live with it though.

[shesaidboom]

I really wish I could ride El Toro this year and hearing all these reviews make me even more anxious to visit. The operations sound pretty awful though. When I was at SFKK I was a little surprised by the "do up your seat belt and don't touch the lap bar" thing going on, it just made dispatch take even longer. With El Toro I realize they want they get everything done up really tight, but they don't seem to have any problem on most coasters with checking the seat belts and lap bars at the same time. I'm a little surprised about them not testing the ride until well after opening, especially since it's brand new.

[Nitro1118]

 

Riiiight....because El Toro is totally a cookie cutter coaster and wasn't custom designed at all. It just HAD to fit that area of land with that layout, otherwise they couldn't possibly build it.

 

Whatever the reason for saving the station may be (maybe the Union workers removing it were taking way too long so SF just say "fahgitabaddit") a piece of Viper remains and was a really poorly designed station to begin with. The building may look cool and give the ride some theming, but its still got a really bad design. Guess SF will just have to live with it though.

 

Never said that, but the thin land made it difficult. Look at how close Toro's first camelback gets to the station. I feel it came down to saving money and not making the side of the station closest to RT wider. While that does make things more difficult, controlling the amount of people in the station fixes it a little.

 

 

coasterguy618- It is steep and tall enough to where it needed a cable lift and Colossos didn't (which is even taller). When asked about it on the construction tour, the answer was the same as it was for MF-chain would have weighed too much. But yes, the lift is steep, best view to see it is from the FA side of the bridge.

[DerekRx]

^At least they aren't as bad as Gwazi. They don't want you to touch your lapbar, only do your seatbelt, but they'll do the lapbar while they check your seatbelt's secureness. Instead of the Gwazi-style where they'll check everyone's seatbelt, then go back and check everyone's lapbars. I can't imagine how terrible the operations would be on El Toro if they did it like that!

[shesaidboom]

^ You're right that would be even worse, Gwazi's dispatch times were ridiculous when I was at Busch Gardens last August. We had to sit in the train for at least five minutes before dispatching while they checked everything. It doesn't make any sense.

[Shockwave]

Great photos Derek!

 

I'm gonna give it a few years before I head out there, wait till the ride gets running more smoothly.

 

Those who have had a chance to ride in these early days have done very well.

[coasterCrAzY505]

Personaly, El Toro is my #1 woodie probably becaues it is really the only very good woodie I have ever been on. Hell it my be one of my top three coasters altogether, but in a week when I ride Thunderhead and next summer when I ride the Voyage, that might change things. The dispatches are TERRIBLE! I know many people have said this already, but this has got to be the slowest operations in the park (maybe even slower than S:UF). The station can be slightly frusturating, but it isn't something I would complain about all of the time. The park not having this ride ready when the park opens is ridiculous. Luckily, when I went last Saturday we only waited twenty minutes before they opened the ride but I have heard stories about them opening it three hours after opening. The entire park was heading the right direction in April, and in May the park nose-dived into nasty waters that seem slightly reminiscent of the old Six Flags. Security at this park is just B.S now and line cutting is getting to an extereme. It seems like the park has given up on trying to make it nicer and the toughest months are yet to come.

 

Justin " frusturated" Heath

[Hercules]

Ordered 3 months late?! How far in advance does SFGAd usually order their coasters, since El Toro was public knowledge even before Kingda Ka opened. Seeing how when Viper closed down, they already had an idea of what they were going to put there. Maybe Six Flags finally found enough change in the couch to put a downpayment on ET so Intamin would finally send over the wood, but even that isn't much of an excuse, seeing how it was all prefab by Intamin. Voyage managed to open in time, and its a lot longer than ET.

 

Yeah, 3 months late. That was a rumor that I had heard for a while, but it was confirmed when I read an interview with Shapiro a month or so ago. I personally only found out about it on Kingda Ka media day.

[willski]

Reading all these horror stories of SFGAdv park ops has just made me double check my reservation for a Gold Q-Bot when I go in late July. I think I'd explode if I had to wait in these long lines due to terrible operations.

 

And I thought SFoG was bad!

[coasterCrAzY505]

^^Well the park was saying that they were looking to get a woodie from Intamin but they didn't give Intamin the go-ahead until it was three months late, so it wasn't confirming that they were getting the woodie, it was that the lumber needed took longer to prepare and ship.

[larrygator]

I think it is a game to see who can take longer to dispatch a train: Rolling Thunder or El Toro

[alpengeist04]

It's getting to the point, to have a good time at SFGAdv, you have to shell out the big bucks for a gold flash pass. ...and even then, it's 50/50.

[SideWindZ]

OMG! Derek has the same balder shirt as i do!

looks like you had fun..

*wants to go to the us*

[michaelwmoss]

You mean to tell me that even after Shapiro and crew comes into the mix, they still can't make a coaster station worth crap? Please, when is someone in management going to get it: A clean, new, better station makes a ride more attractive (Especially to families which is what they are supposed to be attracting now)

 

Yes, A Wooden Coaster is definately meant to be ROUGH. I look for that smoothness of the coaster to be one of its unredeeming factors as time goes by along with Ride Time.

[peteb]

SFGADV will show everyone the proper way to turn a #1 ride into a hulk of garbage while turning the park over to thugs at the same time. This park will never change. It's the same pattern; blow tons of money on a few really expensive rides while the rest fall apart or get taken down; then ignore all the problems that have made this a ghetto park for years like security, maintenance, and atmospnere.

[TheArchfiend]

I think it is a game to see who can take longer to dispatch a train: Rolling Thunder or El Toro

 

El Toro will FOREVER have a longer loading and dispatch times eventhough Rolling Thunder is considerably longer of a ride due to length of track, slower coaster speed, and chain lift. Toro has already shown that even with another train and extra ride ops for stapling and seat belt checks, you just get maybe 5 minute dispatches at best.

 

It's getting to the point, to have a good time at SFGAdv, you have to shell out the big bucks for a gold flash pass. ...and even then, it's 50/50.

 

In the summertime, yes. I rarely go to ride the coasters and flats in the summer months. Most of the times that I go in the peak summer months is to take my 3 and 4 year old cousins in the kiddie areas that are never packed even if the rest of the park is or go to the saffari which is always a neat experience.

 

It's going to the park on crappy weather days and CAD days that you really have a great time.

 

Early on in the season you get more employees that don't hate their job yet along with cooler temps and smaller crowds equals good times for all.

[GAcoaster]

The project seemed "rushed" though. Obviously it wasn't because it opened late, but I'm positive that this wasn't in their 5 year plan considering it was ordered 3 months late.

 

That was the problem...the OLD management had no 5-year plan...more like a 5-month plan. It's now that Shapiro is in charge he is asking for the parks to submit plans for 2-years, 5-years, etc.

 

Shapiro stated on the conference call that El Toro was ordered 3 months later than it should have been, opened later than expected and was $3 million over budget.

 

The original plan was the bridge was not re-opening to the public (creating 2 dead ends), then Sevart told tour groups over the winter the bridge WOULD re-open. Since then he has been replaced, but with the cost over runs they may not be able to afford to add some kind of safety nets or something that would allow the bridge to re-open.

 

After talking in depth with several highly placed employees, they really are trying to make changes, but the old management blew the budget even before the season started. That's why Shapiro had to have a conference call and explain they were not going to make their revenue targets (due to increased expenditures).

 

Almost everything about this season was predetermined by the old management. It's tempting to rush to judge the "new" Six Flags, but it's not fair until they really have a chance to make a difference and really make the changes that matter. BIG things are in store for 2007.

[Hercules]

You mean to tell me that even after Shapiro and crew comes into the mix, they still can't make a coaster station worth crap? Please, when is someone in management going to get it: A clean, new, better station makes a ride more attractive (Especially to families which is what they are supposed to be attracting now)

 

The decisions had already been set before the new regime had taken over, just like the park maps were printed with Mr. Six on them etc. etc.

 

^ I completely agree wtih everything that was said by you GAcoaster. Everything was predetermined by the old management because Shapiro and company didn't have anything to do with what was in store for the new season. They couldn't make drastic changes. However, I just wish things were better run, people were trained better and employees actually cared. Those are things that really could be changed.

[michaelwmoss]

SFGADV will show everyone the proper way to turn a #1 ride into a hulk of garbage while turning the park over to thugs at the same time. This park will never change. It's the same pattern; blow tons of money on a few really expensive rides while the rest fall apart or get taken down; then ignore all the problems that have made this a ghetto park for years like security, maintenance, and atmospnere.

 

Too bad on their part. If that continues, SFGAV will end up getting sold too.

[michaelwmoss]

The project seemed "rushed" though. Obviously it wasn't because it opened late, but I'm positive that this wasn't in their 5 year plan considering it was ordered 3 months late.

 

That was the problem...the OLD management had no 5-year plan...more like a 5-month plan. It's now that Shapiro is in charge he is asking for the parks to submit plans for 2-years, 5-years, etc.

 

Shapiro stated on the conference call that El Toro was ordered 3 months later than it should have been, opened later than expected and was $3 million over budget.

 

The original plan was the bridge was not re-opening to the public (creating 2 dead ends), then Sevart told tour groups over the winter the bridge WOULD re-open. Since then he has been replaced, but with the cost over runs they may not be able to afford to add some kind of safety nets or something that would allow the bridge to re-open.

 

After talking in depth with several highly placed employees, they really are trying to make changes, but the old management blew the budget even before the season started. That's why Shapiro had to have a conference call and explain they were not going to make their revenue targets (due to increased expenditures).

 

Almost everything about this season was predetermined by the old management. It's tempting to rush to judge the "new" Six Flags, but it's not fair until they really have a chance to make a difference and really make the changes that matter. BIG things are in store for 2007.

 

 

Old management didn't have a plan at all. Whatever Cedar Point did, they tried to counter. They find one ride that worked, they duplicated it across their chain. That is also a mistake. Your parks are supposed to be different not the same.

[michaelwmoss]

You mean to tell me that even after Shapiro and crew comes into the mix, they still can't make a coaster station worth crap? Please, when is someone in management going to get it: A clean, new, better station makes a ride more attractive (Especially to families which is what they are supposed to be attracting now)

 

The decisions had already been set before the new regime had taken over, just like the park maps were printed with Mr. Six on them etc. etc.

 

^ I completely agree wtih everything that was said by you GAcoaster. Everything was predetermined by the old management because Shapiro and company didn't have anything to do with what was in store for the new season. They couldn't make drastic changes. However, I just wish things were better run, people were trained better and employees actually cared. Those are things that really could be changed.

 

So how long is it going to be before Shapiro and company REALLY have control of Six Flags?