Six Flags America (SFA) Discussion Thread

[JEAPUgrad]

^while that's a great idea, the cost to put up tunnels on coasters at SFA is very high.

 

The park would have to run a new water line out there for the sprinkler systems required by law. .

 

That's the reason why Roar's open air tunnel will never be enclosed.

[Guest]

I've been wanting to go to SFA since 05. Superman alone is a draw for me. I also wanted to ride Two Face but of course it's gone. Maybe in 2011 the new coaster will be enough to get me out there.

[okinawaboy11]

Kind of a bummer that the park that seems to get the least amount of children visitors, and one of the worst reputations in the country is getting a super nice childrens area.

 

See, I think SFA finally realized that they were just getting tweens and not many families. A lot of my friends refuse to go to SFA with families because the general crowd that lingers there. I think this new Thomas Town is SFA's attempt to get back on the map with the families as well as compete with KD's "new" Planet Snoopy. But then again, KD is getting I305 as well so, yeah...

[KDCOASTERFAN]

Kind of a bummer that the park that seems to get the least amount of children visitors, and one of the worst reputations in the country is getting a super nice childrens area.

 

See, I think SFA finally realized that they were just getting tweens and not many families. A lot of my friends refuse to go to SFA with families because the general crowd that lingers there. I think this new Thomas Town is SFA's attempt to get back on the map with the families as well as compete with KD's "new" Planet Snoopy. But then again, KD is getting I305 as well so, yeah...

 

Between 96 & 02 SFA was doing just fine at drawing in the crowds,both families & young adults,it's when the influx of new rides & money to maintain exisiting rides/infrastructure stopped coming in that things began to go downhill.

 

Add in a management team that wanted to help out but was constrained by the will of the corporate bigwigs making all the decisions & that just made the park worse.Aside from the lack of new theme park rides the worst thing the park did was horribly mismanage their flashpass system which is another thing that really prevents me from wanting to go back even if they get chang(which they probably won't) in 2011.

[John Peck]

Im surprised to hear that this park hasn't attracted enough families, their ride selections are mostly made up of 52" or less.

 

The things I have seen SFA do the past few years has really put them into a better financial position, but that has not looked all that great on a consumers perspective, with quite a few ride removals. By doing that, however, many really expensive-to-maintain rides have been removed which allows other rides to receive a little more attention.

 

Frankly, I do not think Chang is the answer for this park, unless they are trying to go up against Dominion or Busch. I do think that they should continue to build a few more family rides that they can run a multi-year campaign on and bring in some business from other surrounding areas.

[The Joker's Revenge]

...Or they could put up the ole' Ultra Twister and bill it as "The only pipeline coaster in North America".

[KDCOASTERFAN]

...Or they could put up the ole' Ultra Twister and bill it as "The only pipeline coaster in North America".

 

Not likely seeing as how they conveniently broke it before it even left the state of Texas.

[Capitalize]

Kind of a bummer that the park that seems to get the least amount of children visitors, and one of the worst reputations in the country is getting a super nice children's area.

I don't know about that. During the weekdays in the summer the place has a tendency to be overrun by local day cares and families in the area.

 

Kind of a bummer that the park that seems to get the least amount of children visitors, and one of the worst reputations in the country is getting a super nice childrens area.

 

See, I think SFA finally realized that they were just getting tweens and not many families. A lot of my friends refuse to go to SFA with families because the general crowd that lingers there. I think this new Thomas Town is SFA's attempt to get back on the map with the families as well as compete with KD's "new" Planet Snoopy. But then again, KD is getting I305 as well so, yeah...

 

Between 96 & 02 SFA was doing just fine at drawing in the crowds,both families & young adults,it's when the influx of new rides & money to maintain exisiting rides/infrastructure stopped coming in that things began to go downhill.

 

Add in a management team that wanted to help out but was constrained by the will of the corporate bigwigs making all the decisions & that just made the park worse.Aside from the lack of new theme park rides the worst thing the park did was horribly mismanage their flashpass system which is another thing that really prevents me from wanting to go back even if they get chang(which they probably won't) in 2011.

 

Who needs a flashpass at SFA? Unless you want to get everything done in a couple hours or less on a weekend in the summer/frightfest they're not at all needed... You are such a naegative Nancy...

[nitrofan]

I was at this park this past summer, and I really don't see what all the complaining is about. I found it to be a fairly nice park with some of the better theming in the chain; mainly on Main Street, Coyote Creek, and Skull Island.

 

Operations probably get a B+ in my book. Superman had 1 train all day, which I was ok with at first because they had 6 people over there working on it on the transfer track, but it was just sitting there in the afternoon. I have no problem with lowered operations if you can tell that they are trying to fix the problem, but trains just sitting there is where I get mad. The wait was to the switchbacks in the afternoon, which probably meant a 45-60 minute wait, so they could have benifited from the 2nd train. Batwing had 1 train all day and I didn't even see a 2nd train on the transfer track. It really makes you wonder why they invested in dual loading stations. That wait was just ridiculous. We got on it early in the morning, but the wait in the afternoon was through a switchback with about 10 minute dispatch times.

 

Other than that, rides were running at maximum capacity with awesome operators. Staff seemed pretty friendly and they were making an effort to make sure everyone was having a good time. The one exception was the employee in the restroom appearantly found a mess in the stall and screamed "they can't pay me enough to clean this s*** up" right in front of my dad and 9 year-old brother. As you can imagine, that didn't sit well with my dad.

 

Overall, I found this to be a gem in the Six Flags chain. With a little love from corporate for park maintnance and keeping rides running at full capacity and Chang, this park could be at the top of the list for Six Flags parks.

[The Joker's Revenge]

...Or they could put up the ole' Ultra Twister and bill it as "The only pipeline coaster in North America".

 

Not likely seeing as how they conveniently broke it before it even left the state of Texas.

 

It left New Jersey with a 90 degree lift came and to Texas with a 45 degree one....... Broken things can be fixed

[JEAPUgrad]

Batwing had 1 train all day and I didn't even see a 2nd train on the transfer track. It really makes you wonder why they invested in dual loading stations. That wait was just ridiculous.

 

Going back to 2001, SFA never really received the fully functional product from Vekoma.

 

The third train was never operational and was later scrapped for parts for the other two trains.

 

As we all know, Vekoma could never deliver on the promise to have the trains decline on the lift hill instead of the station.

 

Problems have plauged Batwing from the start.

 

I don't fault SFA for these problems but I do fault them for opening the ride when it wasn't perfect.

 

Batwing's Media Day was mid-June 2001. I was there. I'm guessing there was all kinds of pressure to get this coaster open.

 

While I can only guess here, I think they saw what happened with Volcano down at KD a few years prior and made every attempt to open the coaster as soon as possible, even if it meant working out the kinks at a later date.

 

Eight years later the kinks haven't been worked out.

 

I commend the new management staff at SFA this year. They've been able to increase the capacity on this ride to a two train operation. They've been able to make use of both sides of the station. They don't have to dispatch in any particular order either.

 

I had a person needing assistance getting on the ride due to a physical handicap on my side of the platform and the other train dispatched a couple of times before we were off.

[JEAPUgrad]

 

 

Between 96 & 02 SFA was doing just fine at drawing in the crowds,both families & young adults,it's when the influx of new rides & money to maintain existing rides/infrastructure stopped coming in that things began to go downhill.

 

 

The problems SFA faces now are directly tied to the 1999 season when they received the Six Flags branding.

 

Many people in this area felt that they were lead to believe that an entire new park was being built inside Adventure World's gates.

 

When April 1999 rolled around and the park opened for the season, there was a tremendous amount of buzz in the region.

 

The fact of the matter is the park simply wasn't ready to open for the season.

 

Opening Weekend many rides were still not in service from their winter rehabs, Joker's Jinx and Two Face weren't open both being the new for 1999 attractions (JJ would open in late April, Two Face mid May), the Batman Stunt Show wasn't open and this was a real bust for SFA.

 

They've had their share of incidents that have gained national attention over the years from shootings both inside and out of the park's gates, an inside robbery job, and the couple Two Face emergency evacuation incidents....

 

They have a tough road ahead of them to bring back the General Public to how it use to be in the WW/AW days. I think after a decade of doing all the wrong things, this park is on it's way back.

 

Thomas Town is a huge addition for this park.

 

Someone already mentioned that KD is getting a Planet Snoopy next year and BGW received the new Sesame Street land this year.

 

HersheyPark, just an hour and a half to our north, has for the most part has really bolted down and geared towards families with their additions. Farhenheit being the exception of course.

 

Bring the families back is the trend in the industry. I hate to say that and I really hate it as an enthusiast but it's true. We're not going to see the Coaster Wars that we saw ten years ago until these parks start makring money again.

 

I'm just happy to see SFA finally jumping on board.

[CoasterLover]

As we all know, Vekoma could never deliver on the promise to have the trains decline on the lift hill instead of the station.

 

ACTUALLY, for a VERY brief time, SFA actually was running Batwing with the trains reclining on the lift. Technically, there was a sensor right before the lift and as each car past the sensor, the car individually began to recline. I had the unique opportunity to ride it just once when it reclined on the lift. It was a very unique experience and increased dispatch time considerably.

 

Unfortunately, the following season, they removed the hardware that allows the trains to recline as they begin their assent up the lift hill (as well as the hardware to allow the trains to begin to incline before they were fully in the station). Apparently, it was causing a lot of electronic problems that were shutting down the ride because since they removed the hardware, the reliability has increased significantly.

 

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe SFA's Vekoma Flyer is the ONLY one to ever successfully recline on the lift... even if it was for just a VERY short time...

[JEAPUgrad]

...Or they could put up the ole' Ultra Twister and bill it as "The only pipeline coaster in North America".

 

Not likely seeing as how they conveniently broke it before it even left the state of Texas.

 

It left New Jersey with a 90 degree lift came and to Texas with a 45 degree one....... Broken things can be fixed

 

I don't think it's worth the money, the time, or the hassle to fix a ride that's already seen it's best years and is out dated technology.

 

We're talking about a coaster that opened up twenty three years ago.

 

I've never been on UT and I'd rather see SFA scrap it than invest a bunch of money on the ride and take a chance on it. It's not worth the credit to me.

[Homeboy23]

^ I think The Joker's Revenge was joking about it from his first post.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

Kind of a bummer that the park that seems to get the least amount of children visitors, and one of the worst reputations in the country is getting a super nice children's area.

I don't know about that. During the weekdays in the summer the place has a tendency to be overrun by local day cares and families in the area.

 

Kind of a bummer that the park that seems to get the least amount of children visitors, and one of the worst reputations in the country is getting a super nice childrens area.

 

See, I think SFA finally realized that they were just getting tweens and not many families. A lot of my friends refuse to go to SFA with families because the general crowd that lingers there. I think this new Thomas Town is SFA's attempt to get back on the map with the families as well as compete with KD's "new" Planet Snoopy. But then again, KD is getting I305 as well so, yeah...

 

Between 96 & 02 SFA was doing just fine at drawing in the crowds,both families & young adults,it's when the influx of new rides & money to maintain exisiting rides/infrastructure stopped coming in that things began to go downhill.

 

Add in a management team that wanted to help out but was constrained by the will of the corporate bigwigs making all the decisions & that just made the park worse.Aside from the lack of new theme park rides the worst thing the park did was horribly mismanage their flashpass system which is another thing that really prevents me from wanting to go back even if they get chang(which they probably won't) in 2011.

 

Who needs a flashpass at SFA? Unless you want to get everything done in a couple hours or less on a weekend in the summer/frightfest they're not at all needed... You are such a naegative Nancy...

 

I was talking about the way management at the park chooses to run the system...case in point only allowing flashpass users on one train on superman,if there are no FP users available then they have to send it out empty.

[airtime]

^Boy, you really get hung up on trivial details don't you.

 

The system has changed so that it is inline with the rest of the parks. Flash Passers wait one train, board the next and sit where ever they want. No more blocked rows, no more reserving whole trains for Flash Passers that don't exist. Give them another chance, the park has improved immensely over the Summer of 2008.

[The Joker's Revenge]

...Or they could put up the ole' Ultra Twister and bill it as "The only pipeline coaster in North America".

 

Not likely seeing as how they conveniently broke it before it even left the state of Texas.

 

It left New Jersey with a 90 degree lift came and to Texas with a 45 degree one....... Broken things can be fixed

 

I don't think it's worth the money, the time, or the hassle to fix a ride that's already seen it's best years and is out dated technology.

 

We're talking about a coaster that opened up twenty three years ago.

 

I've never been on UT and I'd rather see SFA scrap it than invest a bunch of money on the ride and take a chance on it. It's not worth the credit to me.

 

In my opinion, I always thought Ultra Twister was a pretty underrated ride. Granted, they're a few things about the ride that suck, but the head first drop and the airtime hill that follows are both pretty intense all together, and worth the experience.

[JEAPUgrad]

^I've never been on UT but I look at the pics and think how similar it looks to SFGAdv's Viper.

 

Viper was a piece of crap!

 

Wasn't the site of Viper the site of UT before UT was removed?

[cfc]

^I've been on two Ultra Twisters in Japan, and both were good rides. I guess it all depends on the upkeep.

[Capitalize]

As we all know, Vekoma could never deliver on the promise to have the trains decline on the lift hill instead of the station.

 

ACTUALLY, for a VERY brief time, SFA actually was running Batwing with the trains reclining on the lift. Technically, there was a sensor right before the lift and as each car past the sensor, the car individually began to recline. I had the unique opportunity to ride it just once when it reclined on the lift. It was a very unique experience and increased dispatch time considerably.

 

Unfortunately, the following season, they removed the hardware that allows the trains to recline as they begin their assent up the lift hill (as well as the hardware to allow the trains to begin to incline before they were fully in the station). Apparently, it was causing a lot of electronic problems that were shutting down the ride because since they removed the hardware, the reliability has increased significantly.

 

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe SFA's Vekoma Flyer is the ONLY one to ever successfully recline on the lift... even if it was for just a VERY short time...

I remember this as well. In fact it was a very exciting day for me as I remember them using both stations and the train reclining on the lift. Kind of like: "Holy crap! This thing is finally running as designed!"

 

I haven't even seen two train operation on that ride for at least a season or two now, unfortunately.

[JEAPUgrad]

^I rode X-Flight at Geauga Lake about one week after riding Batwing for the time and X-Flight was utilizing the dual station from the time X-Flight opened. I don't recall if the trains reclined on the lift or not.

[nitrofan]

I was at Astroworld on its last day ever being open. We didn't know it was its last day, so I guess we were lucky to be able to cram in a few hours there that season in the middle of our drive back to San Antonio.

 

We were standing in Ultra Twister's queue and decided that it was getting late and we should head home instead of riding, assuming that we could come back the next season to ride it. I know a lot of people say it was a bad ride, but I wish I would have at least gotten the chance to make my opinion for myself and ride such a unique ride. I guess it's not very likely now...

[DBru]

Didn't people also say that the Serial Thriller track was "damaged" during shipping?

 

Look what's happening with it now...

[JEAPUgrad]

I was at Astroworld on its last day ever being open. We didn't know it was its last day, so I guess we were lucky to be able to cram in a few hours there that season in the middle of our drive back to San Antonio.

 

We were standing in Ultra Twister's queue and decided that it was getting late and we should head home instead of riding, assuming that we could come back the next season to ride it. I know a lot of people say it was a bad ride, but I wish I would have at least gotten the chance to make my opinion for myself and ride such a unique ride. I guess it's not very likely now...

 

I was at Geauga on it's last operating weekend ever not knowing of course and have a similar story with Big Dipper. I've been kicking myself in the arse ever since. I had been on it before; it just would've been nice to get one more ride in.