Shavethewhales Posted August 9, 2007 Share Posted August 9, 2007 I spent an entire day last Monday at FC, and while I had a reasonable amount of fun, I couldn't help but feel that the new management hasn't changed the park all that much. True, there wasn't nearly as much ride downtime as there used to be, but the food, staff, and atmosphere was the same as always. Everything that could have made half a meal was $8. No really, a cheeseburger was $8, a corn dog was $8, a personal pizza was $8, and drinks were all $3 - including water. Yeah, I tried to go without eating, but I eventually succumbed to buying a bag of mini snickers and a powerade for lunch. The staff were all kids, who loved showing off how bored they were. They did their jobs, but only what was absolutely required. The atmosphere felt almost worse than in the old SF days. Shops and stalls were boarded up, crappy, over-priced games were everywhere, and most of the theming was falling apart. I had heard that PARC was spending a ton on renovating the park, but other than Quick Draw, I can't see any improvements. The rides were pretty 'meh'. Wildcat feels rougher than ever, but it's still really fun riding through the woods; Silver Bullet was OK, and all the others didn't provide anything to speak of. Eruption and the Diamondback were closed all day. Quick Draw was better than I thought it would be though. It's not a huge upgrade over Treasure Mountain, but it was clean and fun. It didn't really have much theming, just a few scenes with sparse targets, but it was cute. The shows were the one thing that has really improved. 'It's Magic' was surprisingly good, with several awesome acts. Once, the magician disappeared off the stage, and came walking out from behind the audience. The western show was awesome: loads of stunts and a lot of good humor. The only show I didn't like featured a lot of young actors lip-syncing to 'me and my gang' while twirling around. Overall I walked out thinking, "Meh, I don't think I'll come back again unless they either really clean up the park or install a major new ride." I've got more photos and additional commentary here: www.superstevessupersite.com/park_galle ... _trip.html God I hope they plan to take this out soon. It looks like a giant turd on FC's skyline, and there are so many things that could take it's place. They could at least attempt to re-open it. Hats can only be worn forwards, no bandannas... a little strict, but we are in the bible belt. I could live in one of these. Every park needs a few of these, they're excellent. My lunch. A bargain at $6. Meh, no air anywhere. This squirrel was awesome, he just sat there all day letting people get up close to him. Wildcat has actually gotten rougher with the new fix-ups, but it's still fun to ride through the trees. This would have been better if the water didn't smell like dead fish. Quite a few of the food stalls were boarded up. The ones that were open looked like they should have been as well. Gotta love the retro trains. Quick Draw was fun, but it wasn't a huge improvement over Treasure Mountain. Err, why do they need these? No one plays them, and they really take away from the atmosphere. They really squeeze the life out of you on this thing. It would have been much funner if I was allowed to breath or feel my legs. Silver Bullet was fun, but wow does it need a new paint job. It's not even just because the current colors are awful, it's also just because it looks like it's starting to rust badly. Woot for my attempt at an artistic shot. Gotta have one of these, right? Glad to see the fountains working again. These bears are the greatest thing to hit the park ever. They not only sang and played, but performed an entire show, complete with commentary. I thought about stealing one for my living room. Just in case you forgot where I was at. Diamondback's got a sexy new coat of paint, but the same old mech. problems. It was down all day. Shame, it is really fun, and has loads of air. At least FC has plenty of mature trees. Sigh... the absence of Tomahawk really left a gap at FC. Ferris Wheel upskirt shot. Probably the biggest park improvement after QD. It was nice though. Why is this thing never open? The swinging ship was very dull, but they did have that trick where they set a cup of water in the centre of the boat and it doesn't tip over anytime during the ride. I still don't see how that works. Still a fun ride, I hope the rumors of it leaving are wrong. The Main Street area. I was horrified and amused at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swoosh Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 Wow. That parks just keeps looking sadder and sadder each year. The only reason I went to the park awhile back is because of Wildcat, which used to be a Fairyland in KC (way before I was born). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shavethewhales Posted August 10, 2007 Author Share Posted August 10, 2007 ^Yeah, something needs to change soon. I'm hoping that PARC will use this season as a training course, and next year will bring the needed adjustments. It's not a bad park, it's just obviously not run as well as it could be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoshiFan Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 Those food prices are ridiculous. $6 for a Powerade and a small bag of candy is horrible especially since out of the park it would be $2 total (figure $1 for each at the Dollar Store). I understand charging a premium for in park pricing, 150% seems more than reasonable so $3.00 total for the Powerade and candy. If that was my home park, I would make sure to plan my trips around meal times so I could eat out of the park either before or after my visit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groteslurf Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 Too bad about the atmosphere in the park as they seem to have some nice rides. Good pics and comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 I just went to this park for my first time a couple of weeks ago and my experience was basically the same as yours. Closed rides, ho-hum atmosphere, and the rides that were open were "ok" at best. I enjoyed Silver Bullet the most out of the 2 coasters that were open. Did you happen to ride the swings?? We tried them out thinking they'd be really cool, but we got about 3 full cycles, and then the ride slowly ended. T'was very lame. Does anyone know why the other coasters are closed still? The indoor Galaxi looked like it could be a really cool ride. We got to watch Diamond Back saddle right after the loop too, it's funny how they have an emergency exit all set up right next to the bottom of the loop! Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me that the water smelt like dead fish, I had forgotten Nice pics by the way. They look just like mine Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shavethewhales Posted August 11, 2007 Author Share Posted August 11, 2007 ^The Nightmare Mine (enclosed galaxi) has been down for years. They're investigating the possibility of re-using the building, but the current coaster is up for sale in R.P.M.. The most likely scenario (and most hopeful) is that they'll just take the whole thing out and put in a new coaster there soon. As for Diamondback, well.... that thing is just old. It's fun, but I think it's dying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LOVE SFKK Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 What!!! Tomahawk is gone????? Cool TR. this park doesnt get mentioned very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shavethewhales Posted August 13, 2007 Author Share Posted August 13, 2007 ^Yeah, and you know, I still haven't heard the final story on why it left. Some say that SF didn't include Tomahawk in the park sale and planned to move it to SFOT, but ended up forgetting about it, while others say that there was some sort of mishap where a gear broke and oil was sprayed all over riders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 Tomahawk and Treasure Mountain are gone ... those were two of my favorite rides Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christianscoasters Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 ^Yeah, and you know, I still haven't heard the final story on why it left. Some say that SF didn't include Tomahawk in the park sale and planned to move it to SFOT, but ended up forgetting about it, while others say that there was some sort of mishap where a gear broke and oil was sprayed all over riders. I was told that the control box was broke and they ordered a new one. This was last year though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrceagle Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 The trees and landscaping look nice. and they seem to have spots they can add attraction too. Hopefully next year will see a lot of paint and an improved park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shavethewhales Posted August 14, 2007 Author Share Posted August 14, 2007 ^^Hmmm, I hope, but you'd think they wouldn't tear the whole ride down for that. ^Yeah, but this year was supposed to be the year of improvements. They said there would be massive upgrades all around, but look what we got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrceagle Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 ^^Hmmm, I hope, but you'd think they wouldn't tear the whole ride down for that. ^Yeah, but this year was supposed to be the year of improvements. They said there would be massive upgrades all around, but look what we got. Lets just hope there was work going on behind those Boards. But to a new comer The park look nice. with an OK ride selection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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