Six Flags America (SFA) Discussion Thread

[mdcoaster14]

Python was back by Batwing for several years, but I think its gone now... I haven't been to the park in a couple months now so I can't remember for certain.

 

Last week i didnt notice anything rotting behind the batwing and was sad to see them load up two face. I know it wasnt anything to write home about but still loved it for some odd reason

[SFA Regular]

Lets talk about some of the future things that we may see Alexander Weber do in the future with Six Flags Inc. Do you think he will move away from the simple steel roller coasters and move on to dark rides/movie attractions?

[robbalvey]

Lets talk about some of the future things that we may see Alexander Weber do in the future with Six Flags Inc.

How about lets not do that.

 

This thread has had a lack of any real substance for a long time now. If there is ACTUALLY something going on at the park, I encourage you all to post about it.

 

If someone here wants to take the time to go do a photo lap of the park so we can see small detailed changes, I encourage that.

 

What I *DO NOT* encourage, is pointless discussion about "What If's" that could happen at the park.

 

You're just wasting our bandwidth.

 

I'm going to tell this thread right now - post about things that are happening at the park for REAL, not in someone's make believe mind, or you may see your posts gets deleted.

 

Thank you for your understanding.

 

--Robb

[SFA Regular]

Gothcha rob.

 

How much has the park changed sense they went from Thursday Night concerts to having them on events? Has it increased attendance or has it just moved people around the park, rather than having them all clumped in the water park and dry area's?

[KDCOASTERFAN]

Python was back by Batwing for several years, but I think its gone now... I haven't been to the park in a couple months now so I can't remember for certain.

 

Yeah,they got rid of it to make way for ultra twister's track to be stored there.There's been no confirmation that chang is going to SFGRADV yet as they could be installing other rides on GASM's footprint besides a coaster so there's always a small possibility that SFA could get it.

[JEAPUgrad]

Python and Ultra Twister have been scrapped.

 

Two Face was removed from the backstage area over the off-season months and shipped off to it's new (and unknown) location.

[Capitalize]

Python and Ultra Twister have been scrapped.

 

Two Face was removed from the backstage area over the off-season months and shipped off to it's new (and unknown) location.

Was it ever purchased? Or is it to looking at being scrapped?

[JEAPUgrad]

I've been told it was sold.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

Now we've got a group on facebook in favor of adding new rides to the park.

[jedimaster1227]

^Is that really necessary?

 

I think I'd join the Facebook group not in favor of adding rides to the park, just because its there... What does it really matter?

[netdvn]

Now we've got a group on facebook in favor of adding new rides to the park.

 

Facebook didn't even install a dislike button despite almost everyone being for the idea and the millions of fan pages/groups that followed supporting the dislike button.

 

Same goes for all the groups/pages bashing the new layouts that are rolled out twice a year.

 

SFA isn't gonna change their plans just because some obscure Facebook group. Speaking of Facebook groups.[/plug]

[djbrcace1234]

Now we've got a group on facebook in favor of adding new rides to the park.

 

I have to agree with Jedimaster1227. What good is that going to do. A little fan page has little voice to actually getting anything done. Sure, it rallies people, but then when you want to take action, no one seems motivated. I don't see how that will do much. Going to guest relations and sending them letters is a diffrent story.

[terdferg]

quick question. I am heading to the park tomorrow, how are the lines for the dry rides and for the waterpark on weekdays? i know each day is different, but im seeking a general idea from people who frequent SFA.

[coasterfreak101]

As far as I've seen this summer, weekdays haven't been very busy at all. You probably shouldn't have any lines over ten, MAYBE fifteen minutes. The only exception would be Batwing, which almost always runs one train and one side of the station, and dispatches once every five minutes. Also, the park tends to still run one train on Superman, Joker's Jinx, and Mind Eraser even when it's busy enough to justify two, so because of that the lines could vary a little bit. But, on average, wait times for the coasters and rides at SFA on a weekday are pretty short for the summer.

 

As for the water park, that's where the lines will be a bit more present. Last time I went, which was at the beginning of July, the lines there still weren't actually that bad - no worse than those in the park. I think that this summer has certainly been the least busy of all of them since I started going to the park years ago, so you really shouldn't have any problems.

 

Have fun!

[terdferg]

well, everything was a walk on. stayed in the waterpark for most of the afternoon which was fun. staff was really friendly and seemed to be having fun with their job, same on the dry side. had a blast, but some of the rides need an overhaul.

 

superman was almost unbearable. having those restraints rattle against your shins was ridiculous. the train rattled so bad, it was rougher than wild one. Also, WTF is that intense side to side shuffling at the top of superman's first airtime hill? Is the track not welded correctly or something? it shuffled so badly i thought it was about to throw a wheel or stall, and it was just at the exact top of the first hill, nowhere else.

 

jokers is starting to get pretty rough, especially going into the cobra roll. finally rode wild one again for the first time in 4 years and it is still easily the best coaster in the park. Batwing is getting shaky, but it is not rough at all, i dont know why people complain about the vekoma flyers, i love everything about them more-so than the beemers. IMO it blows the superman flyers out of the water. The hangtime at the top of the loop is just awesome.

[DC High Heat]

I usually ride SROS 5+ times in a row with little to no discomfort, and I'm very tall. Surprised you think it's that bad.

 

That kink on the first hill has been there for a while...maybe as long as I can remember. I think it's because of a mix of the actual design methods (which I won't get into, but they're very different on SROS SFA/SFDL/SFNE and every other Intamin since), and also the construction was imperfect in that spot. Doesn't really bother me that much other than to be a slight annoyance.

[coasterfreak101]

Superman's first airtime hill has been like that for years now. Not sure why, but it just adds to the lameness which is that hill.

 

I think I'd have to agree with you that Wild One is my favorite ride in that park. Sad when a 200-foot coaster can't beat out one that's over 50 years old...but that's SFA for you. Everything's a clone you can ride somewhere else except for Wild One.

[JEAPUgrad]

^Wild One is 93 years old.

 

Roar East was the original. Roar West has a slightly different layout.

 

Batwing is only one of two exact coasters of it's layout. The first of the three Vekoma flyers has corkscrews instead of barrel rolls.

[cfc]

^Wild One is 93 years old.

 

The last time I checked, 93 > 50. Ergo, "over 50 years old" is still correct. No need to be so picky.

[BenJamin13]

Does anyone know if Sunday is a good day to go to Six Flags America? I know that weekdays are usually more calm and Saturdays are probably the busiest days, but what about Sundays?

[coasterfreak101]

^Wild One is 93 years old.

 

Roar East was the original. Roar West has a slightly different layout.

 

Batwing is only one of two exact coasters of it's layout. The first of the three Vekoma flyers has corkscrews instead of barrel rolls.

 

I went with "over fifty" because I couldn't remember whether it had celebrated 100 years yet (but I did think that it was built at Paragon in 1917, so I was right after all) and I didn't want to be legitimately wrong, so I gave myself a nice window.

 

And the only thing different about Roar West is the extra bunny hop inside the faux-tunnel, as far as I know. And Millennium Flyers.

 

The Batwing point is kind of null, because you said that there's an exact clone. Technically, DL's Superman is a mirror anyway. But really. I'm sticking with my point that we don't have ANY original ride experiences other than Wild One.

[Wood Dragon 1988]

well, everything was a walk on. stayed in the waterpark for most of the afternoon which was fun. staff was really friendly and seemed to be having fun with their job, same on the dry side. had a blast, but some of the rides need an overhaul.

 

superman was almost unbearable. having those restraints rattle against your shins was ridiculous. the train rattled so bad, it was rougher than wild one. Also, WTF is that intense side to side shuffling at the top of superman's first airtime hill? Is the track not welded correctly or something? it shuffled so badly i thought it was about to throw a wheel or stall, and it was just at the exact top of the first hill, nowhere else.

 

jokers is starting to get pretty rough, especially going into the cobra roll. finally rode wild one again for the first time in 4 years and it is still easily the best coaster in the park. Batwing is getting shaky, but it is not rough at all, i dont know why people complain about the vekoma flyers, i love everything about them more-so than the beemers. IMO it blows the superman flyers out of the water. The hangtime at the top of the loop is just awesome.

 

I have to say I just went to the park on Tuesday, and despite the rattling on SROS, I was able to enjoy it and rode it 10 or 11 times with no complaints. The restraints are pretty tough around your legs and ankles, but I'm 6-4 and have determined based on my enjoyment of SROS yesterday, pretty much any restraints beside OTSRs on Intamins are fine with me. I was dissapointed when I first experienced SROS's rattle two years ago, but I find it hard to believe any one would actually could find the ride "almost unbearable." I've ridden all three SROSs, El Toro, Millie Force, and 4 B&M megas, and still had a ball on SFA's Superman. And in the front two cars, there was close to no rattle at all!

 

I'm not trying to say it's the greatest ride ever, but it's still got it after all these years of abuse IMO. As for Jokers Jinx being rough at all, I just don't know where that could be. After the lap bars were put in I've never complained about that ride once.

 

As for the park it self, well, I sure hope the park does good business some days. Maybe a random Tuesday in the middle of the summer is too much to ask for at least a decent crowd....but pretty much all rides ran with half a train if they were running two trains or were a walk on with 1 train. Most rides broke down at least once, and three rides broke down WHILE WE WERE ON THEM (including Skull mountain breaking down twice!). I'm sorry, but it's just not normal when one person experiences three breakdowns in one day. I understand all rides break down, but 3 times in a day has never happened to me in 4 or 5 years of coaster enthusiasm or my whole lifetime of going to amusement parks.

 

Anyway, I just sure hope the park is able to do some decent business in upcoming years. But rides breaking down is certainly one of the many reasons the local population has seemed to give up on the park. I will say that there were (as always) lots of folks in the water park. I have a feeling that side may be keeping the park open at this point. It seems many locals still see the water park as the local swimming pool as it was in the 80s up through today.

 

I know every park can have one bad day (and I only go once every year or so to SFA), but if yesterday represented an average crowd on a beautiful day during the summer, I just can't see how such a large park can be making money (or even breaking even). It was actually kind of creepy how slow the dry side was. While on Tower of Doom, I counted 5-10 people on most walkways, and about the same number of employees as people! I love the fact that everything was a walk on, and it was a nice, relaxing day; but I just hope that the park doesn't dissappear.

[terdferg]

^the unbearable thing wasn't so much the rattling. it was more so that the positioning of my legs due to the way the restraints force you to sit caused my thigh to cramp up. i rode it twice and this happened both times. i suppose i also just do not care for the ride because i feel that there is no reason for it to rattle so much other than crappy maintenance. people complain that kingda ka vibrates, but ka is much smoother than supes and goes much faster.(just comparing the two since they are both intamins)

 

i also saw a kid stand up on the drop on shipwreck falls or whatever the flume is. some of the clientele the park attracts is absurd.

[Wood Dragon 1988]

^The extra restraints added over the years (ankle restraints, metal bars, maybe more stuff) have been complained about by many people, and I suppose for some people it makes the ride much less enjoyable. It probably has something to do with body shape and size, and some how my extremely tall and skinny legs are not effected! Either that or I just really don't notice throughout the ride as I'm too busy enjoying the speed and airtime, and preparing for some rattling! Funny that there are many, many restraints that destroy otherwise great rides for me, but the new (and probably unneeded) restraints on some of the Intamin megas aren't one of them. I actually didn't like Ka, because of the rattle, waits, breakdowns, and short layout, but primarily for the rattle! I kind of expect a ride with more of a twisted layout like Superman to be a little more rattly than a stupid out and back, one-element gimmick like Kingda Ka.

 

Any park can attract idiotic guests, but I will agree on average SFA's are some of the worst.

[DC High Heat]

I'm tall and skinny, and I had no problems either. It's a little more restrictive than it was before the change, but not by much. I think people just like to complain.

 

I've been to SFA something like 50+ times since 2000, and I've had a ride break down while I was on it twice over those 50 visits. Once on Roar's lift for around 15 minutes, and once on Superman's lift for around 10 minutes. Considering I've ridden a coaster there maybe 300 times, I think 2 breakdowns isn't all that bad. Certainly not much if at all worse than any other park I've frequented.

 

I think all the problems people mention would be a bigger deal if the lines weren't so consistently short. I'd rather have slow operators and wait 10 minutes to get on a world class ride like Superman, than fast operators on an equally high quality ride elsewhere and wait an hour. I know I don't go to parks to get greeted by operators...I can talk to friendly people anywhere else. I go to parks to enjoy rides, and it's a heck of a lot easier to do that when you only have to wait 10 minutes, regardless of the conditions. And with that said, in all my visits I've maybe two or three times found operators doing something that didn't make sense or could make people upset. No they're not the best, but no they don't have to be. Maybe it's just me though.