Six Flags America (SFA) Discussion Thread

[CardCraze]

DO NOT PULL DOWN ON YOUR LAPBAR WE WILL DO THAT FOR YOU!"

 

It's just the type of ride. While the crew does sound very rude, it was this way when I was there last Sunday too. It's just the design of the ride .

[Yamez]

If management is picky about how the ride should be done, the general public is almost determined to make it a pain for the ride operators. After months of people doing the things that the ops are trained to tell people not to do, it can get very irritating. Especially when your supervisor is there and people are doing it, then you get ripped a new one

 

I do have to wonder though, the park has only been open for a few weeks right now. Attendance can't have been all that great just yet...they really don't have any reason I can see to be so nasty about it.

[cal1br3tto]

I know nothing about the demands of this job or what has/hasn't worked in the past, but it seems it would be fairly simple to make it sound polite, yet still firm. For example, I would imagine you could say "Please do not pull down on your lapbar; we will gladly do that for you." Does that sound too "soft" or "optional" or something?

I'm sure something adequate could be brainstormed.

Then again, it could be one of those things that it's better to take as-is and put up with, even if it's a personal annoyance. You can't get people to always talk to/around you exactly the way you would prefer, and if that bothers you too much, you'll drive yourself crazy! (I know from experience.)

[Yamez]

I can speak from experience, polite but firm only works to an extent. We're trained to keep that tone, but eventually things do come out. The job often times can be stressful, dealing with the GP, their children that refuse to think that they're just not tall enough to ride, and the angry parents that follow suit can get very grating on your nerves. It may have just been a bad day for the ride operators (this is not an excuse, nor do I condone the actions of the ride op), maybe check back another time and things may be better.

 

(P.S. I still think the ride ops acted like crap! Just trying to give folks some reasoning behind their actions.)

[nitrofan]

Why can't people put their own lap bar down on it? I've always put the lap bar on myself on Vekoma and B&M Flyers and I've never been told otherwise.

[Homeboy23]

Here are a couple pictures of the two buildings in Thomas Town being constructed I posted in my trip report from the park yesterday, figured I'd post them in here.

 

 

[coasterfreak101]

Does anybody know where Superman's red train is? I'm assuming it's being worked on, maybe still being repainted, but if it doesn't come back soon then Superman's not going to be fun to wait for come Summer.

[Homeboy23]

^ The one on the transfer track here (photo taken yesterday)

 

[coasterfreak101]

YESS. My life is all good again.

[B-RadG]

DO NOT PULL DOWN ON YOUR LAPBAR WE WILL DO THAT FOR YOU!"

 

It's just the type of ride. While the crew does sound very rude, it was this way when I was there last Sunday too. It's just the design of the ride .

 

I know nothing about the demands of this job or what has/hasn't worked in the past, but it seems it would be fairly simple to make it sound polite, yet still firm. For example, I would imagine you could say "Please do not pull down on your lapbar; we will gladly do that for you." Does that sound too "soft" or "optional" or something?

I'm sure something adequate could be brainstormed.

Then again, it could be one of those things that it's better to take as-is and put up with, even if it's a personal annoyance. You can't get people to always talk to/around you exactly the way you would prefer, and if that bothers you too much, you'll drive yourself crazy! (I know from experience.)

They weren't firm or polite. They were yelling it with no "please" or anything of those sorts it was just a direct command.

[SFA Regular]

I've been going to SFA for years. The staff can get like that at times because when you ask people to do it nicely they still do it. I do agree, they are not suppose to yell but it can get irritating when people don't listen. I plan on going to the park in maybe a week or so, to check things out and take pictures. They should really consider putting some nice lights on Superman lift hill. For all of the people who have seen (DOMINATOR) and (BEHEMOTH) you will notice the red lights on the railing of the lift hill. Superman would look very appealing in the night if it had one of those.

[Jness3]

Speaking of Superman, I went to SFA this past Saturday, and only the blue train was running. I saw maintenance workers working on the red train. They seemed to be working on the wheel assemblies, but I'm not sure...

[JEAPUgrad]

Re: Master Plan

 

I've been searching archives of the forums that I was posting on more than ten years ago when the thing was released. Here's what I've been able to put together from the archives that I've found:

 

*200' steel coaster

*140' tall stand up coaster

*120' tall Ferris Wheel

*a Wild Mouse style coaster

*indoor attraction not to exceed 90'

*a water flume type attraction

*unknown attraction.

 

Here's a link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/april99/sixflags29.htm

 

Suoerman is the 200' attraction.

 

Many believe Batwing replaced the stand up on the Master Plan.

 

PBR is the water flume attraction.

[CardCraze]

*200' steel coaster, isn't that almost like Superman? Maybe Superman being taller, but still...

 

*140' tall stand up coaster, Batwing. Went laydown, rather than sitdown.

 

*120' tall Ferris Wheel, that would be neat, but where would it fit in the park?

 

*a Wild Mouse style coaster, way too many of these in existence. It would never achieve the same status as SROS or any of the other coasters. It would essentially "just be there".

 

*a water flume type attraction, PBR.

[Capitalize]

The ferris wheel was Around the World... now something "new" in Thomas Town. I have no idea what its actual height is, but that is the ferris wheel mentioned.

[JEAPUgrad]

^The Ferris Wheel mentioned in the Master Plan is NOT Around the World in 80 days.

 

ATWIED was added in 1993 along with a package of other flats that include Shipwreck Falls, Falling Star, Cyclone (Scrambler), and the Great Race (Antique Cars).

 

In 1996, Adventure World had a private event for Halloween night which was attended by then Maryland Governor Parris Glendening. It was at this event that I was "blown" away for the first time, on ATWIED, when the ride broke down and we were at the top of the ride.

[SFA Regular]

I still would like to think, we could get our stand up coaster, if we paid the money to rebuild (Batman: The Escape). Does anyone know the status on it, sense it was last stored at Darien Lake? If whoever is not going to use it, I wouldn't mind having it refurbished and installed in Gotham City.

 

As for the indoor attraction, I would rather them spend the money for a true indoor coaster. I don't think anyone wants a Dark Knight. Many people I spoke to did not like it or said it was over hyped.

 

Could the building have possibly been an enclosure for (Jokers Jinx)? I don't think that ride exceeds 90 feet. On wikiepdia, it says that Joker's Jinx is only 78.8 ft tall. Not only that, but this would have been a plan under the old Premier Parks management. Most of their plans were for thrill attractions.

[JEAPUgrad]

The MP was released in 1999, the same year JJ opened.

 

What sense does it make to enclose the ride, run the water line to install the sprinkler heads for the building AFTER the ride was built?

 

None.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

The MP was released in 1999, the same year JJ opened.

 

What sense does it make to enclose the ride, run the water line to install the sprinkler heads for the building AFTER the ride was built?

 

None.

 

The indoor attraction & rumored mouse are the same thing.....all it says is that it would be a coaster type ride in a building structure,and yes the standup was replaced by Batwing as the board referred to it as attraction #37 as being the proposed 01 coaster while on the original list it was mentioned as a standup coaster.

 

I have the printout from the zoning board when they were conducting the hearing for Batwing's proposed installation,that's how I first became aware of the park's original master plan.I just need to find where I put it & then I'll post it word for word here as it's written on the document for all to see.

[netdvn]

I still would like to think, we could get our stand up coaster, if we paid the money to rebuild (Batman: The Escape). Does anyone know the status on it, sense it was last stored at Darien Lake? If whoever is not going to use it, I wouldn't mind having it refurbished and installed in Gotham City.

The last I heard, B:TE is pretty much in the same shape as a lot of other AW coasters, beat up, worn, possibly too expensive to restore, etc...

 

While its possible for SF to just pick up the track and ship it back down to Maryland, SF would have to buy it back from Darien Lake, completely refurbish the track/trains, and reinstall it, which seems like a hassle since the track is worn and has to be shipped a long distance.

 

And even then, why go through all the trouble of contacting DL, buying track for an old, worn-out, possibly damaged coaster, ship it a couple hundred miles, spend the extra cash to refurbish it, and rebuild it when you can have a perfectly good stand-up that is currently sitting in Gurnee's storage, is much bigger, is in much better shape, doesn't need to be purchased-just shipped and reinstalled, and no extra costs have to be considered aside from construction and building the station?

[SFA Regular]

What stand up is sitting in Gurnee's storage?

[nitrofan]

What stand up is sitting in Gurnee's storage?

 

That's Chang. It was removed from SFKK in Fall 2009.

[SFA Regular]

Ohhh, that ride. I forgot it was being stored there. I do know that it was removed for a possible water park expansion, but Six Flags no longer owns Kentucky Kingdom. I don't particularly like that ride either. But I'm not going to sit and rant about what I want, because it's not my decision. However, I will say that SFA needs some more scarier Fright Fest attractions. Two or three haunted houses would be perfect.

[JEAPUgrad]

Direct from Screamscape.com:

 

2011 - New Coaster - Rumor - (5/12/10) I’ve been told that Six Flags America has high hopes for 2011. If the park performs well for the 2010 season, it seems that there is a plan in place to possibly add a Tony Hawk Big Spin coaster to the park next summer. Two locations are said to be under consideration… either in the former Two-Face location or somewhere over near Roar.

[SFA Regular]

Why do we need one of those. We already have a Tony Hawk water slide. Why don't they give is a (B&M)? Our park could really use one. It's debatable if the park will do well this summer, because a lot of SFA local attendance is getting fed up with the lack of coasters. Now I'm not trying to go on a coaster rant, but we really need one. Most of Maryland's locals have been going to Kings Dominion and are not really concerned about going to SFA this season. Sense we just got a huge family addition this year, why not give us a new coaster? That would help get more people interested in the park again, and then they could add another family addition in 2012.

 

Something like Batman: The Ride would work well here. It's a decent B&M; not too big and not too small. And it would be new to SFA's attendance. How much longer do we have to go before we receive a real coaster?