coasternut Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 I was at the park again today and it was empty. I got 47 rides today. I even saw a YOLO rollback, as I was next in line for the front car! I guess that was a "Half Throttle" launch. 47 rides?! I guess Spring Break crowds are over? How empty are we talking about? I plan to go Wednesday. Yes, I would say by yesterday's attendance spring break is over. Only 1 1/4 parking lots full. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brisk Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Kinda makes me wonder who handles parts and/or equipment for a ride like Goliath where the manufacturer is out of business. Do other manufacturers handle things like lift chains (ie B&M or Intamin) or are parts handled by third party people? I'm guessing manufacturer, but, and I know its a wiki page, that page said Giovanola fashioned steel for Intamin and B&M behind the scenes, so that makes me wonder if they manufactured their own stuff too. Which now means they've got to get it done by a third party. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singemfrc Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 With the frequency that I hear about chains breaking at parks all over the place, to me I consider the chain a wear and tear item. Not having a chain on hand is like not having extra wheels on hand. It's not going to last the life of the coaster, so unless it's a chain that can be easily obtained and replaced in a day or two, I want to have a spare on hand - especially if it's a high draw coaster and/or has a custom chain that would take a long time to replace. I wouldn't call having one extra chain on hand an excess of inventory. For me looking from the outside in right now, if I were making that decision at SFMM I would definitely have spare chains for X2, Goliath, Green Lantern (Cause I'm sure that's a funky one), and TC. For TC I would still only keep one chain on hand even though there's two lifts - if one fails, replace it with the spare and order a new spare. Not likely both will fail simultaneously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJeXeL Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 A chain for X2 costs an exorbitant amount of money I'm sure so considering all of the budget constraints chain wide, having an item that expensive sitting in inventory is not a smart business move. Would it decrease an attraction downtime to have a spare chain on hand? Absolutely! Is it a smart business move? Nope! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singemfrc Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 A chain for X2 costs an exorbitant amount of money I'm sure so considering all of the budget constraints chain wide, having an item that expensive sitting in inventory is not a smart business move. Would it decrease an attraction downtime to have a spare chain on hand? Absolutely! Is it a smart business move? Nope! It's not as though there are a dozen 4D coasters in the Six Flags chain - this is the only one. If the chain breaks, they're going to have to purchase a new one anyway, the cost is likely to be the same. The difference is just having it on hand ahead of time and the difference will only be the cost of storage. And how much money do you think that bad press, decreased attendance, and lost season pass sales at the park over a 6 month period as a result of their marquee attraction being unavailable cost them? I would guess more than the cost of storing the chain. That's why I suggested X2 and Twisted Colossus have a spare chain, because they are marquee attractions for which their downtime will have a noticeable effect on the park's attendance (And Goliath to a lesser extent). I'd say YOLO, but it doesn't use a chain. If Viper or Revolution blow a chain and are out a month, their downtime doesn't have nearly as much of a financial effect on the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJeXeL Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 I agree with you that having an attraction down for 6 months is horrible in every aspect, but I guarantee their finance department doesn't see it that way thus why these items are not on hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaronkv Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Having extra of everything also means you have to have the space for it and maintain it as well. I'm sure a chain that serious can't sit unused for a year in a warehouse without being lubricated or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeoplemoverMatt Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 (edited) I agree with you that having an attraction down for 6 months is horrible in every aspect, but I guarantee their finance department doesn't see it that way thus why these items are not on hand. Not to be mean or anything, but there are people on this forum who are or have been members of SFMM's finance department. It's probably not wise to speak for them or assume you know what their basic strategy is. Having a headline attraction unexpectedly down for a substantial part of the year is a disaster no matter what anybody's strategy is. Aside from circumstances outside anybody's control, act of God etc, there's really no excuse for that to ever happen. Edited April 14, 2015 by PeoplemoverMatt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singemfrc Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 ^ Just to be clear, I'm not one of those people. Everything I'm saying is just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmcdllr Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 With the frequency that I hear about chains breaking at parks all over the place, to me I consider the chain a wear and tear item. Not having a chain on hand is like not having extra wheels on hand. It's not going to last the life of the coaster, so unless it's a chain that can be easily obtained and replaced in a day or two, I want to have a spare on hand - especially if it's a high draw coaster and/or has a custom chain that would take a long time to replace. I wouldn't call having one extra chain on hand an excess of inventory. For me looking from the outside in right now, if I were making that decision at SFMM I would definitely have spare chains for X2, Goliath, Green Lantern (Cause I'm sure that's a funky one), and TC. For TC I would still only keep one chain on hand even though there's two lifts - if one fails, replace it with the spare and order a new spare. Not likely both will fail simultaneously. I would agree with this. Even if the replacement is really expensive do you really want a major attraction down for an extended period of time because you just didn't stock the replacement part, risking guests possibly not staying as long to spend as much money in your park or worse, not even showing up at all? So which is the lesser of two evils.... paying for an expensive part to sit in inventory or losing revenue from guest dissatisfaction which could snowball if they tell enough people..... hmm.... which could lose you more money? I think the smart business decision would be to do all you can to prevent losing any revenue... whatever that may be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJeXeL Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 I agree with you that having an attraction down for 6 months is horrible in every aspect, but I guarantee their finance department doesn't see it that way thus why these items are not on hand. Not to be mean or anything, but there are people on this forum who are or have been members of SFMM's finance department. It's probably not wise to speak for them or assume you know what their basic strategy is. Having a headline attraction unexpectedly down for a substantial part of the year is a disaster no matter what anybody's strategy is. Aside from circumstances outside anybody's control, act of God etc, there's really no excuse for that to ever happen. You're not being mean at all. I have my own connections as well but don't want this to turn into a pissing match about who knows who. All I'm saying is if the park wanted to stock a replacement chain they would but they don't. When X's chain broke last time it was down for how long? Also, I agree with everyone that having a star attraction down is not good on any level. I would agree with this. Even if the replacement is really expensive do you really want a major attraction down for an extended period of time because you just didn't stock the replacement part, risking guests possibly not staying as long to spend as much money in your park or worse, not even showing up at all? So which is the lesser of two evils.... paying for an expensive part to sit in inventory or losing revenue from guest dissatisfaction which could snowball if they tell enough people..... hmm.... which could lose you more money? I think the smart business decision would be to do all you can to prevent losing any revenue... whatever that may be. Exactly. It's a lose-lose situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sfne1313 Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Really good day at the park but X, Goliath, and Superman was closed. But what was worse is that no moose outside told me this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatGuyFromTennessee Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Don't mean to be rude but I am reading the construction update and I see that he commonly mistakes sentences like : "This Ride Great for Rolling" to be an example. Is it that he is foreign? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirspud Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Just watched a video for Wicked Collosus, and I do have to say that while it has some nice elements, (whatever they call the go under while the other track is rolling is nice), I was left thinking "that's it?" It feels awful boring to have it just repeat the same track after a very short duration and I'm a little sad that a racing coaster of its age was done away with for what seems like it will be an afterthought in ten years. Maybe it will prove better than it seems, but a lot of the other RMC coasters have appeared very interesting but this one just seems like a waste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manic Monte Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 ^ Wicked Collosus? And that video doesn't come close to showing the awesomeness of "Twisted Colossus ". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coasterbp Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Really good day at the park but X, Goliath, and Superman was closed. But what was worse is that no moose outside told me this. Were they closed due to the wind today? Or is Goliath still awaiting a chain replacement? -=CoasterBP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeromyL Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 In my 25 years of riding colossus, it never raced... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasternut Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Really good day at the park but X, Goliath, and Superman was closed. But what was worse is that no moose outside told me this. Were they closed due to the wind today? Or is Goliath still awaiting a chain replacement? -=CoasterBP I disagree with it being a good day at the park. 5 rides were down all day - Superman, X2, Goliath (chain), Scream, Colossus. The last 3 were expected. YOLO was having a tough day too. I waited 40 minutes at opening for them to get the ride going. Then they were loading only 1 train. They finally pulled the second train off the track. Revolution was only running 1 train too. Fewer people today, but fewer functioning rides. Much to my surprise Lex was running fairly well, although they had the single rider line closed. Not the best guest experience for me, but I had a great day yesterday... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodie Warrior Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Really good day at the park but X, Goliath, and Superman was closed. But what was worse is that no moose outside told me this. Were they closed due to the wind today? Or is Goliath still awaiting a chain replacement? -=CoasterBP I disagree with it being a good day at the park. 5 rides were down all day - Superman, X2, Goliath (chain), Scream, Colossus. The last 3 were expected. YOLO was having a tough day too. I waited 40 minutes at opening for them to get the ride going. Then they were loading only 1 train. They finally pulled the second train off the track. Revolution was only running 1 train too. Fewer people today, but fewer functioning rides. Much to my surprise Lex was running fairly well, although they had the single rider line closed. Not the best guest experience for me, but I had a great day yesterday... So...you disagree with him that it was a good day at the park, yet you say that you had a great day? I'm confused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sfne1313 Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 They can't control wind. That's why I wasn't pissed. colossus isn't built yet, the whole area isn't even finished. And I knew Goliath wasn't gonna be open. Superman has been closed since Monday. X2 was the only surprise. Yolo was running 2 at first. Tatsu was running 2, revolution was running 2, viper was running 2, batman was running 2, riddler was running 2. The only ride running one train was Apocalypse and Ninja. It was pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamondbacker27 Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 So...you disagree with him that it was a good day at the park, yet you say that you had a great day? I'm confused. Wait, you can't have a great day because it wasn't a good day? I'm confused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linearinduction Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Kinda makes me wonder who handles parts and/or equipment for a ride like Goliath where the manufacturer is out of business. Do other manufacturers handle things like lift chains (ie B&M or Intamin) or are parts handled by third party people? I'm guessing manufacturer, but, and I know its a wiki page, that page said Giovanola fashioned steel for Intamin and B&M behind the scenes, so that makes me wonder if they manufactured their own stuff too. Which now means they've got to get it done by a third party. There are many companies out there that supply Lift Chains for Coasters, including Rexnord, Renold, Webster, and who knows how many else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GayCoasterGuy Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 In my 25 years of riding colossus, it never raced... I don't remember much racing... but going through some late 90s POV pictures, there it is! Racing down drop #2 I was in the red train, and you can see black to the left. Color me surprised! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasternut Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 So...you disagree with him that it was a good day at the park, yet you say that you had a great day? I'm confused. Wait, you can't have a great day because it wasn't a good day? I'm confused. My original post was from Monday stating it was a good day. Yesterday - Tuesday was the bad day. Just the opposite of Monday. Today Wednesday could be bad with the high wind warnings issued. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTown661 Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 So...you disagree with him that it was a good day at the park, yet you say that you had a great day? I'm confused. Wait, you can't have a great day because it wasn't a good day? I'm confused. My original post was from Monday stating it was a good day. Yesterday - Tuesday was the bad day. Just the opposite of Monday. Today Wednesday could be bad with the high wind warnings issued. Least the I-5 north has finally been reopened as it had been limited for about 6 hours at Calgrove north. Should be many late SFMM workers. And yes Mark Kriski (KTLA) sure is saying some really epic winds will be rolling through around noon. All I know is I wont park near a tree or a crane. Always can go and do Bugs World and just have a throw back Wed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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