Six Flags America (SFA) Discussion Thread

[thrillrider]

I just posted a ton of pictures of the park here.........

 

http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=55999

[Houston Thrills]

^ King's Dominion has cubbies, but it also makes loading the trains a lot slower. fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo, while annoying, allow for Six Flags to load the trains at a reasonable rate. Cubbies just slow things down.

 

As far as the Flash Passes, I have never seen massive amounts of people using them, especially at SFA. It provides the park with yet another source of income. And besides, everyone has the ability and the option to purchase a "Flash Pass". If you do spend your good money on it, you deserve the extra perks entitled with it. If you choose not to buy one, than you wait in line for a couple extra minutes, it shouldn't kill you.

I don't buy the excuse that its for faster loading for a second. I just visited Dorney Park where they have cubbies for all the coasters, and there was barely any stacking at all. This is in strong contrast to the Six Flags parks where I see unbearably slow loading and unloading and stacked trains constantly.

 

I worked on Wild One the last year it was fluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo free; and when it was me, a manager operating, and another fast moving attendant we could move the trains extremely fast whether or not there were guests setting items to the side. I see the crews moving just as fast, or even slower than they ever did before fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo were put in at SFA.

 

I've ridden BTR at SFOT multiple times this year where I sat in the brakes for 3 seconds or less with only 2 people checking restraints. I have a hard time believing this would be possible if the ride still hat the cubbies.

[Capitalize]

^ King's Dominion has cubbies, but it also makes loading the trains a lot slower. fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo, while annoying, allow for Six Flags to load the trains at a reasonable rate. Cubbies just slow things down.

 

As far as the Flash Passes, I have never seen massive amounts of people using them, especially at SFA. It provides the park with yet another source of income. And besides, everyone has the ability and the option to purchase a "Flash Pass". If you do spend your good money on it, you deserve the extra perks entitled with it. If you choose not to buy one, than you wait in line for a couple extra minutes, it shouldn't kill you.

I don't buy the excuse that its for faster loading for a second. I just visited Dorney Park where they have cubbies for all the coasters, and there was barely any stacking at all. This is in strong contrast to the Six Flags parks where I see unbearably slow loading and unloading and stacked trains constantly.

 

I worked on Wild One the last year it was fluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo free; and when it was me, a manager operating, and another fast moving attendant we could move the trains extremely fast whether or not there were guests setting items to the side. I see the crews moving just as fast, or even slower than they ever did before fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo were put in at SFA.

 

I've ridden BTR at SFOT multiple times this year where I sat in the brakes for 3 seconds or less with only 2 people checking restraints. I have a hard time believing this would be possible if the ride still hat the cubbies.

That's cool, SFOT can keep their system. But at SFA where the crews are just as slow as they've ever been I'd personally rather not pay for "faster capacity" that has never come to fruition.

 

Other parks manage to have good capacity with cubies, I just think its a cheap, cash grab by Six Flags parks. Given their financial position and the fact that people are apparently willing to pay I can't blame them for using it, but I still don't care for it.

[ArizonaGuy]

^^

Like tons of us have said before......it all starts with the employees.

[therooboy]

Guess who rang last night.....Six Flags America!

 

Forgot all about this, but on entry on our recent visit to the park we were asked if we would mind being contacted as part of a survey.

This was before we had any experience of the park at all, bar seeing the front entrance.

 

I answered questions & let them know my opinions, good & bad, as i have mentioned in previous posts.

I was extememely happy they rang & hope the survey leads to some improvements.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

Guess who rang last night.....Six Flags America!

 

Forgot all about this, but on entry on our recent visit to the park we were asked if we would mind being contacted as part of a survey.

This was before we had any experience of the park at all, bar seeing the front entrance.

 

I answered questions & let them know my opinions, good & bad, as i have mentioned in previous posts.

I was extememely happy they rang & hope the survey leads to some improvements.

 

Nice,I contacted the SFI facebook yesterday to let them know just how poorly they're running the place.

[SFA Regular]

Guess who rang last night.....Six Flags America!

 

Forgot all about this, but on entry on our recent visit to the park we were asked if we would mind being contacted as part of a survey.

This was before we had any experience of the park at all, bar seeing the front entrance.

 

I answered questions & let them know my opinions, good & bad, as i have mentioned in previous posts.

I was extememely happy they rang & hope the survey leads to some improvements.

 

Nice,I contacted the SFI facebook yesterday to let them know just how poorly they're running the place.

 

KDCOASTERFAN. There is some possibility of SFA getting Chang. A park source told me that he spoke to someone from corporate at the park. My source is not sure if this was true or not, but they actually mentioned that the change in plans had something to do with the cancellation of Chang being built at Great America, along with the zoning. If we do end up getting Chang, I wonder if they will stick it over in Gotham City? It would be very nice for them to build it over in Coyote Creek, so that they can expand that part of the park to Gotham and complete the loop. Or do you think they will give it a DC Comic theme?

[KDCOASTERFAN]

Guess who rang last night.....Six Flags America!

 

Forgot all about this, but on entry on our recent visit to the park we were asked if we would mind being contacted as part of a survey.

This was before we had any experience of the park at all, bar seeing the front entrance.

 

I answered questions & let them know my opinions, good & bad, as i have mentioned in previous posts.

I was extememely happy they rang & hope the survey leads to some improvements.

 

Nice,I contacted the SFI facebook yesterday to let them know just how poorly they're running the place.

 

KDCOASTERFAN. There is some possibility of SFA getting Chang. A park source told me that he spoke to someone from corporate at the park. My source is not sure if this was true or not, but they actually mentioned that the change in plans had something to do with the cancellation of Chang being built at Great America, along with the zoning. If we do end up getting Chang, I wonder if they will stick it over in Gotham City? It would be very nice for them to build it over in Coyote Creek, so that they can expand that part of the park to Gotham and complete the loop. Or do you think they will give it a DC Comic theme?

 

 

More than likely SFGRADV is getting Chang even though we could benefit from it more than they would but it's SF & they don't seem to care.

 

Now if that were to happen it'd have to go in GC as CC is filled up already & the zoning for SWT(where 2 face was) is only 140 ft. max. & Chang is 154 ft. tall.The reason SFGRAM lost it was not due to zoning but like you said the change in CEO's,the park pulled the zoning request at the last minute,probably under Webber's orders.

[BenJamin13]

This is the closest park to me. I think it has a good variety of rides and roller coasters, but their maintenance is terrible! The last time I went (Spring Break), Batwing opened up around 3:00 p.m. and Joker's Jinx opened around 4:00 p.m. Skull Mountain was also down briefly. We headed straight for Superman as the gates opened, and needless to say, that too was shut down after they told us to get off the ride. I'm anxious to see what roller coaster they're going to get next... but they need better maintenance.

[SFA Regular]

This is the closest park to me. I think it has a good variety of rides and roller coasters, but their maintenance is terrible! The last time I went (Spring Break), Batwing opened up around 3:00 p.m. and Joker's Jinx opened around 4:00 p.m. Skull Mountain was also down briefly. We headed straight for Superman as the gates opened, and needless to say, that too was shut down after they told us to get off the ride. I'm anxious to see what roller coaster they're going to get next... but they need better maintenance.

 

I do agree. On Wednesday, I could have said the same thing about Kings Dominion. Volcano, Flight of Fear and Drop Tower were done I think all day. Flight of Fear did open up, maybe 2 or 3 hours after the park opened. But even during the day it had a short delay, so every park has it's ups and downs. Here is a small solution I have thought of to solve the down time for Joker's Jinx. The main problem that it suffers from is over speed issues. For those who don't know, Joker's Jinx is set at a very low speed. It's nothing compared to Flight of fear at KD. They should have Premier Rides come in and make adjustments to the ride so that it can handle higher speeds. Not only that but train the park technicians down at Premier Rides, rather than at the park. That way, they would get the full on experience on how to keep that thing up and running. That would be the one ride in the park that would barely break down. Not only that, but the company could spend some money to have technicians from Inta and Vekoma come in and properly teach SFA's park technicians on what do to in certain cases.

 

I do agree with most of you that maintenance is something that SFA has struggled with for years, and believe me, I don't know why. All of SFA's competition has good ride maintenance at the park, so why is it that SFA never gets any of these good people? I have contemplated for years, that the park management has just always gone the cheap route, rather than actually seeking out good technicians that live throughout the area and making sure they get employed. Or sometimes I've wondered if it's the park management not putting enough pressure on these guys to get things done on time before they leave for the night. That's something that I think our new CEO may have to address. Whether he decides to replace the park GM and president with people that he knew from Paramounts, or higher professional people from the ride manufactures to work at the park; it's a problem that needs to be handled. Alexander Weber has 40 years of theme park experience so I'm pretty sure he has a plan for it.

 

I'm not going to rant anymore about new rides. I think maintenance is the newest thing on my mind for SFA. I apologize for all the other rant I have done.

[Houston Thrills]

The main problem that it suffers from is over speed issues. For those who don't know, Joker's Jinx is set at a very low speed. It's nothing compared to Flight of fear at KD.

 

I was under the impression that both SF spaghetti bowls launch ~5 mph faster than their Paramount (now CF) counterparts?

[SFA Regular]

The main problem that it suffers from is over speed issues. For those who don't know, Joker's Jinx is set at a very low speed. It's nothing compared to Flight of fear at KD.

 

I was under the impression that both SF spaghetti bowls launch ~5 mph faster than their Paramount (now CF) counterparts?

 

I've always wondered the same thing. I'm glad you brought that up. When riding Flight of Fear on Wednesday, I did notice that there is a big speed difference than Joker's Jinx. Not sure if it's that their trains are lighter, or is it the fact that Cedar Fair maintenance team jacked up the LIM's so that they are on a hot launch each time. My park source told me that Six Flags America maintenance team keeps the Joker's LIM's on a fixed speed impulse. Not sure if it prevents the LIM's from launching any faster than 60 mph, but maybe every now and then it goes faster, depending on the weight of the train. But for those who have rode Flight of Fear in recent time, you know how much faster it travels than Joker's Jinx. With Flight of Fear you rocket down the tunnel like there is no tomorrow, and rip through both of the first two inversions like your late for a very important date.

 

Maybe it's just that Six Flags America maintenance team does not know all the tricks to making rides more thrilling. Cedar Fair has always been known for ride performance given the fact that they have rides like Millennium Force, Wicked Twister and Maverick. But if you look at things from a Paramount's aspect, they built rides like Volcano which is actually very quick for the short height that it is. Volcano's top speed is 70 mph and to me packs a much better thrill than Superman Ride of Steel at SFA. Even though they are two different coasters, Volcano's launch seems to be more adrenaline pumping than Superman's 200 ft drop, which to me doesn't even feel like it's a good 70 mph anymore.

 

I'm not sure how many technicians in the Virginia area got replaced with Cedar Fair took over, but if any of them did, they could easily be brought to SFA. If Alexander Weber put in a park manager or president that he knew back when Paramounts owned Cedar Fair or Kings Island, more experienced maintenance staff could be put into position at SFA to improve a lot of the rides down time and performance aspects.

[B-RadG]

Sure the first half on the Flight of Fears are better, but Joker's Jinx has the better second half. The MCBR totally kills the forceful ride that could be happening. I get sick during Flight of Fear's first half sometimes because I will agree, it is much faster (and better) than Joker's Jinx's. Joker's Jinx traveling at that speed through the first half would probably be too forceful on the second half.

[SFA Regular]

Sure the first half on the Flight of Fears are better, but Joker's Jinx has the better second half. The MCBR totally kills the forceful ride that could be happening. I get sick during Flight of Fear's first half sometimes because I will agree, it is much faster (and better) than Joker's Jinx's. Joker's Jinx traveling at that speed through the first half would probably be too forceful on the second half.

 

I wonder if thats why they keep it set at a low first half. But even Flight of Fear's second half decent. I think Cedar Fair maintenance team went light of the MCBR with Flight of Fear. Now it doesn't completely slow the ride all the way down. It kind of trims some of the speed to a walking paste like Joker's Jinx and then it picks back up as it continues on down the course. Any technician that used to work for Paramounts Kings Dominion would be familiar with a lot of Joker's problems because it's the same exact coaster.

 

I vote for Weber appointing new park staff via former Paramounts park staff to work as General Manager and Park President at SFA. Then they could reappointment experienced maintenance staff to work on SFA rides.

[Houston Thrills]

It's also entire possible that this is just SFA vs KD and not SF vs CF, maintenance-wise. I'll be riding Poltergeist and Flight of Fear (KI) on back to back days Sunday and Monday, and from everything I've heard, I'm expecting Poltergeist to be the far superior ride.

[coasterfreak101]

As I've noticed:

 

Joker's Jinx = slower launch, no mid-course trimming.

Flight of Fear (KD) = faster launch, heavy mid-course trimming (near-stop under Paramount).

Poltergeist = faster launch, no mid-course trimming.

 

In conclusion, I would love to ride Poltergeist.

[Hercules]

Perhaps I'm just a little naive going off of RCDB, but:

 

Joker's Jinx - 60 MPH

Flight of Fear - 54 MPH

Poltergeist - 60MPH

[SFA Regular]

Perhaps I'm just a little naive going off of RCDB, but:

 

Joker's Jinx - 60 MPH

Flight of Fear - 54 MPH

Poltergeist - 60MPH

 

You are right, but let me add that Poltergeist is a lot faster than Joker's Jinx. Watch a video of Poltergeist on you tube and compare it to Joker's Jinx. As we get deeper into this discussion, I'm debating if Joker's Jinx is even at 60 mph anymore. Both of these videos I just posted are Joker's Jinx and Poltergeist. Both rides are owned by Six Flags. Notice how slow Joker's Jinx travels threw it's inversions and course. Notice how fast Poltergeist, rips threw it's inversions and the course.

 

Now ask yourself, why is Joker so slow?

 

Poltergeist:

 

Joker's Jinx:

[Wild 1]

Since Joker's Jinx uses LIM's to launch the train and from what I have heard they use a lot of electricity per launch, they might just be slowing the ride down to lower operating costs.

[RollingRunner]

^^ It looks like Joker goes 1 mph slower than Poltergiest. Other than that, I don't see any noticable difference.

 

I also did recently ride Joker's Jinx and FoF, and I thought they both felt the same. Flight of Fear just 'feels' faster since it's in the dark. A 6 mph difference isn't that much to begin with.

[SFA Regular]

Since Joker's Jinx uses LIM's to launch the train and from what I have heard they use a lot of electricity per launch, they might just be slowing the ride down to lower operating costs.

 

That is a good point when I come to think of that. I have contemplated about that over the years, but I never thought that the park would have to tone down that things far in order to operate at a low cost. I mean common, that just takes all the fun out the ride. Poltergeist and Flight of Fear are on a hot launch every time, which makes the ride a lot more thrilling and keep it good. Let me put it like this. When Flight of Fear opens at Kings Dominion people are lined up to get inside the building. More of anything, you will see the same people getting back in line as the day starts to wind down. Joker on the other hand does not get these kind of lines anymore. The ride does not really live up to it's name anymore. When you think of Joker, you think of a dangerous villain. So his ride should be some sort of thrilling terror. But when you ride it, it's so mediocre.

 

Even Mr. Freeze at Six Flags Over Texas/St. Louis are set for 70 mph. That's 10 miles faster than what they have listed for Joker/Poltergeist. According to your theory, they must be spending more to run the ride, but it has to be more thrilling. The video even shows that Poltergeist is faster than Joker. Either, Joker is not really running 60 mph or Poltergeist and Flight of Fear are just set for hot launch all the time, which to me is running it near 70 mph like Mr. Freeze.

[djbrcace1234]

Mr. Freeze is a diffrent coaster design to begin with, so comparing those two is just unneeded. Second, The park slows down the ride because of yes, cut backs, but it's needed I believe. Sure, it does take away from the expierance, but launching a coaster with an empty trian is wasteful.

[B-RadG]

Even Mr. Freeze at Six Flags Over Texas/St. Louis are set for 70 mph. That's 10 miles faster than what they have listed for Joker/Poltergeist.

What the hell does that have to do with the price of tea in China? Mr. Freeze has a totally different layout and requires more speed to actually make it through the layout. Flight of Fear, while only 54 mph, still makes it through the layout with plenty of speed to spare. So what if it goes slower through the first half? It still accomplishes a forceful ride that's fun. So quit whining.

[SFA Regular]

Even Mr. Freeze at Six Flags Over Texas/St. Louis are set for 70 mph. That's 10 miles faster than what they have listed for Joker/Poltergeist.

What the hell does that have to do with the price of tea in China? Mr. Freeze has a totally different layout and requires more speed to actually make it through the layout. Flight of Fear, while only 54 mph, still makes it through the layout with plenty of speed to spare. So what if it goes slower through the first half? It still accomplishes a forceful ride that's fun. So quit whining.

 

I'm not whining. It was a friendly discussion that we were having. Flight of Fear is definitely set higher than 54 mph. More like Joker is 54 and Flight of Fear is 65.

 

But enough of that. Lets talk about SFI making plans to make SFA a complete loop or expand on other areas of the park. It would be pretty nice to give Coyote Creek an expansion and a few rides to go back there. It would be fun for them to install something like Voyage in the Coyote Creek area if it ever expanded with all the same tunnels. For two other rides, I would install decent flats. Give it a pretty light display all along the course like Lightning Racer at Hershey park has, to make it look appealing in the night air.

Edited July 16, 2010 by SFA Regular

[djbrcace1234]

What the hell does that have to do with the price of tea in China?