Highridin Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 I'm sure the nice weather has a lot to do with it, but I've seen the most people in the park over the last 2 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 (edited) We went down to visit Brit's family in North Carolina on Christmas and decided to take 95 home so we could check out SFA's Holiday in the Park event. Â I have to say, that was easily the best visit I had ever had to SFA. I sort of assumed this would be the case since Oak Island Creative specializes in turd polishing but I have to give SFA some of the credit here too. Â We got there around 5:00 and only had about 2 hours to spend but that turned out to be plenty of time for a fun little pit stop. The midways seemed reasonably crowded for SFA but as is always the case at this park, ride lines were virtually nonexistent. Â A lot of our time was spent walking around and looking at lights but we managed to get a few rides in too. I have to say, I'm very impressed with the lights at this park. The "North Pole" area is spectacular, as is the Silent Night area and Christmas USA. Main Street was also very, very solid and walking down it we were totally immersed in the atmosphere and could have easily forgotten that we were actually at SFA, the bastard child of the Six Flags chain. As with Great Adventure's event, the park doesn't feel like a Six Flags park during Holiday in the Park. Everything takes a huge jump up in quality. Â We didn't have a chance to see all of the shows, but we did check out the Defenders of the North stunt show (which played to a completely packed arena). I found it to be very cute and actually a bit better than Great Adventure's lone stage show this year. I would have loved to have seen the other show which I've been told is even better but we were too pressed for time. Â As for the rides, they were filling trains but aside from Ragin' Cajun (which had a 10 minute wait) they were all walk-ons. This wasn't true for the kiddy rides and family rides though as they were all packed due to the shift in demographics for HITP. Â We skipped Mind Eraser and Apocalpyse because they're complete sh*t, but we got a ride on Roar, Ragin' Cajun, Rodeo and 2 rides on Wild One. The last time I rode Roar I absolutely despised the thing but it was running really well the other day and my opinion of the coaster changed entirely. That was honestly the best ride we had on any ride all night. Â Wild One was a blast like always, it delivered a smooth ride and some fun pops of air. Ragin' Cajun is always a ton of fun and this ride was no different. Â I'll say that unlike at Great Adventure, the park does feel a bit incomplete due to the closed sections, but Holiday in the Park at SFA is a home run and I highly recommend it to anyone within an hour or 2 of the park or anyone passing through the area. Â On to the pictures... I apologize in advance for the quality. My phone's camera sucks at night. Â PS: Yes, I have a Gatekeeper hat on just to piss you people off. The front gate looked awesome. ... as did the main midway Is this really SFA? This was a cute little show Better not f*ck around, Santa is watching Wild One and Fireball Okay, come on... what is this park and what did you do with SFA? Seriously... One last ride on Wild One!!! Â Seriously, if you live nearby... get to this event. Edited December 28, 2016 by coasterbill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boldikus Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 Funny you say that about Roar as my visit in November it was actually really pretty good. We also sat in the front for the first time, so I thought it just rode better up there but didn't they also retrack it over the last off-season? Â Glad to hear you guys made it, sounds like a ton of fun! Â (Still a bummer about Gothams coasters not running but I get it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 We were sort of near the front too, maybe that played a role. It really was a pretty spectacular ride though complete with some great unexpected pops of air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djackson Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 Roar has been running great since the short period of time it was closed this season. I got a back seat ride on it in late august and there wasn't a rough spot on the entire coaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highridin Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 We were sort of near the front too, maybe that played a role. It really was a pretty spectacular ride though complete with some great unexpected pops of air. Â Lol,..yeah, Roar has been a different ride this year, especially good in the cooler weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Maier Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 I'll admit . . . . riding coasters in cooler weather (HITP and Fright Fest) . . . is really awesome. Better than getting scorched in 95 degree weather in July/August Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 The huge growth of holiday events with parks in cold climates running coasters through January is seriously the best new trend in the theme park industry in decades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highridin Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 Agreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highridin Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 Happy New Year folks. Will be getting a ride on the 100 year old coaster today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sathyasheelan Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 The huge growth of vacation events with parks in cold climates running coasters through January is seriously the most effective new trend within the funfair business in decades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillseeker4552 Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 The huge growth of holiday events with parks in cold climates running coasters through January is seriously the best new trend in the theme park industry in decades. Â So true! I remember when parks being open through the holidays was almost bragging rights for us SoCal people.... but now you guys are out riding Nitro in 30 degree weather! It's so awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Maier Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 Well . . . I spent a little time there today (ended up leaving after only 2 hours because I felt funny after having a chicken strips basket). Â Overall, I was glad to become a season pass holder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highridin Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Yesterday was a great weather day. Got in my rides on Wild One and Roar. Saw a little of the construction on the Wonder Woman site from atop the lift hill on W1. Park will be open again in 3 short months! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boldikus Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 The huge growth of holiday events with parks in cold climates running coasters through January is seriously the best new trend in the theme park industry in decades. Â So true! I remember when parks being open through the holidays was almost bragging rights for us SoCal people.... but now you guys are out riding Nitro in 30 degree weather! It's so awesome. Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugjackson Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 The huge growth of holiday events with parks in cold climates running coasters through January is seriously the best new trend in the theme park industry in decades. Â It's the worst new trend. People really have nothing better going on than riding coasters in 30 degree temps? Do an actual winter sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenbowl Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 The huge growth of holiday events with parks in cold climates running coasters through January is seriously the best new trend in the theme park industry in decades. Â It's the worst new trend. People really have nothing better going on than riding coasters in 30 degree temps? Do an actual winter sport. Â That's an unpopular opinion for a theme park enthusiast community, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Maier Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Yesterday was a great weather day. Got in my rides on Wild One and Roar. Saw a little of the construction on the Wonder Woman site from atop the lift hill on W1. Park will be open again in 3 short months! Â Yup . . . I know for sure I'll be requesting the day off work on April 1. Â I really liked the different stunt shows they did this year, the rides, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejot Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 I had a pretty awesome time at SFA on Thurs. Have never seen a park so dead ... I don't think there were more than a few hundred people in the whole place. It was actually kind of eerie after dark, walking through some sections that were absolutely deserted. Got fully solo rides on all the open coasters except Ragin' Cajun. Unlimited re-rides without getting off were the order of the night. Â At one point I stopped in at Mind Eraser ("Reindeer's Flight") and the op said she hadn't had a rider in over a half hour. I sat in the front and asked if she could just keep sending me around till I asked to stop. Now, I actually kind of like SLCs but this one is really bad and I only made it four laps. Â Roar, on the other hand, as has been reported, was running great! Wow! I definitely noticed a bit of fresh track in some areas and new reinforcements bolted to the track in others. Did about eight consecutive laps in the back row as the sun set, and it was a really fun and pain-free mini-marathon. Rides in the pitch black were also fantastic. Â Had so much fun getting lot of rides in on Wild One. It's very smooth and an excellent candidate for extensive re-riding. My last visit to the park saw 1/2h waits for this ride and it was the one I really wanted some more time on. Front left seat was the sweet spot for me, awesome pops of air and the most comfortable through the outstanding helix finale. Definitely my favorite helix! The other standout feature on Wild One was the lighting. The hill before the turnaround was lit in a purple-blacklight range and the white paint absolutely glowed. It made for fantastic on-ride effect as well as looking stunning off-ride. Â Caught the stunt show which was cute, but my main focus was scratching the itch for some late season riding. Â The lights and decorations, especially in the North Pole area and main entrance, were stunning. Â Â It's the worst new trend. People really have nothing better going on than riding coasters in 30 degree temps? Do an actual winter sport.That's an unpopular opinion for a theme park enthusiast community, lol. Trolls will be trolls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 Trolls will be trolls. Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highridin Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Glad that they have started construction on WW. Wonder when it'll open up. Memorial Day of course. Â https://www.facebook.com/SixFlagsAmerica/?ref=ts&fref=ts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 These rides are always nice additions, but I hate that it won't be in the HITP section of the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highridin Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Hopefully they change up next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Maier Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 So for those who frequented SFA this year . . . what did you all think of the entertainment? Â I personally liked the stunt shows (saw them every time I visited) and the performers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 The only show I saw at the park this year was the Elf stunt show but I enjoyed it quite a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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