robbalvey Posted January 27, 2008 Author Share Posted January 27, 2008 ^ I agree with you. I also think you're overreacting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdthomas Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Jew, you have every right to question the decision. It falls solely on my shoulders. Please understand that I am doing everything in my power to ensure we have more than enough seasonal labor to “over deliver” on the days when we are reaching larger numbers of guests. Greeters, groupers, larger (yet efficient) ride crews are just a few of the areas to receive this “repurposed” money. This time of season, our draw is primarily from the local market. The news stations do in fact have a direct impact on the decisions made by families. Last night they were predicting as much rain on Sunday as we have received all week long. When you looked at the hour-by-hour forecast on Weather.com, they showed 90 to 100% rain and thunderstorms each hour throughout the day. Therefore, Saturday night the decision was made to close the park based on us not being able to provide a quality product for any guests who may have attended on Sunday. We do greet people at the Toll Plaza to explain our positioning in person. We make the decision early so that we can get the word out to guests who may be driving in from a greater distance. You certainly have every right to be skeptical, but it is a new day here SFMM. This is not a easy decision for any park manager. Thank you for caring enough to share. Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterjunkie91350 Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Jay is right jew we knew this weather was coming all day yesterday. I had to work 12 till close and trust me when say i really hate to work in a full on down pour so you have a right to question the parks motives as in relation to inclamate weather. but lets try to keep a sunny look on things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PURE Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 ^ I agree with you. I also think you're overreacting. Yeah there's a difference between being closed cause its questionable weather and the suns out, and being closed because its almost certain the weather is going to be horrible. Which, looking outside today *double checks*, the weather is horrible like its been the past couple days. I'm sure it has nothing to do with money. Think more "quality" customer experience. Why open a park to a couple hundred guests to have all the rides down for them not to ride? I think a big part of your answer comes from the man (Jay) himself, just because they close on a rainy day is no reason to doubt what the new management is capable of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manic Monte Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Ok, can I just state how AWESOME it is to have Jay coming here himself to explain things?! It makes me really confident that my home park is finally in good hands with someone who is willing to take such a hands on approach. It's makes me excited to return to a park that I only visited ONCE in 2007! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexinla Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Call me overly impressed aswell. Since i came to L.A.in the early 90's SFMM was the place i fell in love with. Thru good and bad times, i still got my seasonpass and enjoyed my time there each and every year. When i have friends from europe coming, first day is a drive straight to the mountain To have a general manager in charge that shares the same excitement about the property and know what it could become is just priceless. Hopefully i can make it to the westcoastbash and thank Jay Thomas in person for the energy and efford he brings to the park Now can we can get a Deluge watercoaster in the old flashback spot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 ^^Agreed. It's always nice when the park president comes and responds to your concern personally and publically. That's extremely rare for any theme park (and really cool)! That definitely allievates any concerns of mine....for now. Can't really say anything else except I really hope everything works out! Far more than the small "sorry we're closed" sign you get at KBF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtreme-me Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 The Pictures of X2 from the DVD release party look great! I have a pressing question however. Does anyone know what the new X2 trains will look like? Will they match the track like the old trains did or keep the sample colors of blue and white? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotdane Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Did I read Jay Thomas entertaining the idea of Greeters and Groupers at SFMM!? Yes! Please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COASTER FREAK 11 Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Great to hear Jay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIP Psyclone Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Remember, Jay Thomas used to be at SFKK. He probably had something to do with Deluge opening there, so I'd say that makes the odds of getting Deluge at SFMM's HH a little better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 ^ And remember that Hurricane Harbor has the potential to expand into a newly cleared "Flashback" sized space... Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haiderodes Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 ^Yeah, I mean, they are a business! We went today, it was bright sunny and 62 degrees. There were less than 5 rows of cars in the parking lot! The rain scares SoCalers away, I don't blame them one bit. I'd rather them take the money they would have wasted tomorrow and put it towards the park. I was at the park on Saturday as well. Got there at 10a and we left about 2p. It was awesome...no lines! In fact we had to wait for more people in order to ride Goliath. They started making announcements around 1p that due to approaching weather the park would close early (6p instead of 8p). As we walked back to the parking lot there were still a few people coming in...I think most were just there to get play passes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Peck Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 In regards to the flat ride statement about ROI, I both agree and disagree. You can market them if you have a really large flat ride (Maxair, Delerium) or new section (Dollywood's Country Carnival) consisting of a group of flats or you go the Holiday World route and advertise one major attraction (Kima Bay) and add a flat or two for the dry park. Of course, 4 of the last 6 flat rides added to Holiday World have been replacements for other flat rides. (Revolution for Roundhouse, Hallow Swings for Banshee, Turkey Whirl for Virginia Reel (Tilt), and the Carousel for the Bumper Boats. Liberty Launch and Reindeer Games were/are replacing existing structures. But think about this, both SFoG and SFoT have put together large flat ride packages in recent years, and scattered them throughout the park. And SFGrAm and SFNO did new themed lands using a handful of flats and a coaster. And other parks are able to get away with 1 or 2 flat ride expansions (Kennywood, Dorneypark, Silverwood, Wonderland) in their off years. Thats why I was a little disappointed when I heard they only really had 1 new ride for Thomas Town and one retheme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 It takes some stones for a park manager to go on enthusiast boards and make promises. Large parks like SFMM are a lot more difficult to manage than parks like SFKK so it will be interesting to see how this plays, and I think it will take longer than everyone is expecting. If theres one thing we've learned from this, best way to get good word of mouth among the enthusiast community is to do some bigtime sucking up to enthusiasts . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PURE Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 ^Sucking up or not, If I was a GM the last thing I'd wanna do is hear complaints from enthusiasts on a coaster site. I would NEVER go on the boards! We should be so lucky to be getting answers from higher ups. ^^That's actually a good idea when it would come to adding flats. If you add one in the area with each coaster you install, you can market the coaster AND the flat at the same time. A good example is Batman @ MM. They opened up a new coaster as well as updating flats in the same area. I don't see why they couldn't incoorperate that type of promotion with the new coasters that have yet to be installed. But I really don't care, I'm not a big fan of flat rides at established parks, I like riding coasters. If I wanna ride flats I go to the fair, not a theme park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 ^IMO, flat rides are the perfect intermediate so to speak. They can offer bigger thrills than the kiddie rides with lower height requirements than roller coasters, and are generally not as thrilling as a roller coaster. ^^I don't think any of us are expecting a complete turnaround next year. It's obvious the complete plan is going to take time to implement, as restructing the operations of the park is no easy task. I'm expecting the start of something big. Change doesn't happen over night. The next few seasons will probably go down as "laying the foundation" until everyone can get onboard, bad employees are weeded out, etc. But I do expect to see the things that can be done right away (like more staffing and having all the trains online) get done, which would already be a huge improvement for the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginzo Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 But I really don't care, I'm not a big fan of flat rides at established parks, I like riding coasters. If I wanna ride flats I go to the fair, not a theme park. Problem is most fair rides run like crap. It takes a park like Knoebels or Indiana Beach to run 'em right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eunuch Provocateur Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 It's still boggles my mind to see new paint on the roller coasters at Magic Mountain. I haven't been since 2005, and it all just seems so different. I'm gonna have to get there soon to see this. Or later and see it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 This may be a question for Jay, but what about an electronic sign placed near the freeway to warn would-be guests that the park isn't open? Some parks have one. And there's already the big Six Flags California sign out there for the gift shop next to I-5, so it might be a logical place to incorporate that. This would be a way to keep anyone wanting to visit from getting off and driving all the way to at least as far as the toll plaza only to find that the park is closed. And it doesn't have to be only for bad weather. A number of things could close the park. A private party. Filming a commercial, TV show, or movie, etc. Just an idea. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PURE Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 ^But if they've already driven 2-3 hours to get to the park, whats the difference if they find out at the gate, or at the freeway exit? ^^^Definitely a good point. And besides that you can ride them over and over without having to pay. But for some reason, and its not like I decide on purpose to skip them, I can't remember the last time I went on a flat ride at a theme park. It must be something like 5 years. ^^You're very right. When you're within an hour of the park and you see it several times a year, the gradual changes kind of just happen and the improvements aren't so obvious. Once you start getting a couple hours away and only see the park every couple years, improvements really stand out from the past. I am VERY happy with whats gone on in the park the past couple years (Tatsu was in 2006, wow time flies!) and I hope the trend continues for a good 10-15 year span. Its an exciting time to be around Magic Mountain, I will say that for sure. Definitely better than what was going on 5-10 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpengeist04 Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 ^That's why you check the website and/or call the park before you go, so you're not surprised at the gate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 All of you are right, but what about an unexpected closure? Those do happen. Besides, an electronic sign can also advertise new attractions, shows, etc. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vedved82491 Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Definitely better than what was going on 5-10 years ago. WOW. I can't believe time has even passed by THAT fast. It's been 5 years since Scream opened, and 10 since Superman and Riddler, with everything as Goliath, Deja, and X in between them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenA07 Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 It doesn't seem like it has been a full 5 years since Scream, but overall I would agree that the park seems to be heading in the right direction. I'm very curious to see what the park looks like 10 years from now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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