Six Flags America (SFA) Discussion Thread

[JG-77]

I think he said there were mechanical issues, but I only talked to one op about it so not 100% reliable info.

[grsupercity]

 

 

 

I got my first front row ride on Mind Eraser (or on any SLC for that matter). The ride was snappy and intense, and while I don't mind the headbanging too much (the padding is softer than on a B&M OTSR), the shoulder restraints are really painful, and literally prevent you from putting your arms up. Vest restraints would really improve this ride.

 

 

 

!

 

They need to Riddler Revenge with new Vest restraint trains to this and Kong at SFDK. Then send the the old trains to DL which could really use the old parts

[Jason Maier]

 

 

 

I got my first front row ride on Mind Eraser (or on any SLC for that matter). The ride was snappy and intense, and while I don't mind the headbanging too much (the padding is softer than on a B&M OTSR), the shoulder restraints are really painful, and literally prevent you from putting your arms up. Vest restraints would really improve this ride.

 

 

 

!

 

They need to Riddler Revenge with new Vest restraint trains to this and Kong at SFDK. Then send the the old trains to DL which could really use the old parts

 

I say give Mind Eraser the full on treatment (new trains & re-tracking) that Great Nor'Easter got.

 

And as far as SLC's go, some have said that Kong is even worse than ME.

[MisterBrow]

 

I got my first front row ride on Mind Eraser (or on any SLC for that matter). The ride was snappy and intense, and while I

 

I say give Mind Eraser the full on treatment (new trains & re-tracking) that Great Nor'Easter got.

 

And as far as SLC's go, some have said that Kong is even worse than ME.

 

 

Knock it down, build something else...

 

ME needs different trains. SFA has been pretty receptive the last few years. I still can't believe we got the Superman bathrooms. New trains are more likely than the RMC Roar especially with this year being a wash.

[boldikus]

I say give Mind Eraser the full on treatment (new trains & re-tracking) that Great Nor'Easter got.

Moreys spent like 5 mil on that. But they're a pay-per-ride park. What benefit would SFA get from doing this to Mind Eraser besides pleasing enthusiasts who insist on torturing themselves with it and the whining about it?

[bill_s]

Riddler was 20 years old when it got the new trains, ME is now 25 years old. The GNE got new trains back in 2008 and that was $1.2M. It's also the park's top, signature attraction, in a wonderful location unsuitable for replacing it with something else. I think there's a limit to how old these can get before the cost of new trains/restraints is excessive.

 

Surprisingly, I think ME may run a little better now with the train shortened by one row.

[coneyislandchris]

I say give Mind Eraser the full on treatment (new trains & re-tracking) that Great Nor'Easter got.

Moreys spent like 5 mil on that. But they're a pay-per-ride park. What benefit would SFA get from doing this to Mind Eraser besides pleasing enthusiasts who insist on torturing themselves with it and the whining about it?

Eh, they could always repaint it, retheme it, and present it as a "new" attraction. Wouldn't be the first time.

[michaellynn4]

^If they do go that route, I doubt they'd go as far as retracking the entire ride a la Nor'Easter. If they even do anything, it's most likely they pull a SFNE and just give it a paint job and new trains.

[coasterbill]

That would be awesome, honestly. Mind Eraser in New England is much better now.

 

And yeah like others have said no park would do what Morey's did except Morey's. They charge per ride and they have other things so woven into that space that there's nothing else that they could realistically put there. There's also a water slide and a log flume built all throughout the layout and a lazy river, restroom and tiki hut thing under it. If you watch a POV of it it's actually kind of insane.

Edited September 1, 2020 by coasterbill

[DarkRideNick]

I know Harley Quinn is delayed but did the Villains Bar open yet?

[JG-77]

I believe so, there was indeed an open bar near Harley Quinn

[DarkRideNick]

I believe so, there was indeed an open bar near Harley Quinn

 

Any pictures? Villain theming? Villain themed cocktails?

[JG-77]

No pictures, I would have forgotten about it if it wasn't mentioned here, since at my age I don't really have any reason to pay attention to bars at amusement parks.

[jconsolmagno]

The bar was open next to Harley Quinn. I took some video of the area, I'll have it up later this week.

 

Took some video of Penguins Blizzard River as it I found it to lacking on the internet.

 

[jconsolmagno]

Here you can see a bit of the bar to the right of Harley Quinn's construction. There is 0 theming on the bar area, at least right now.

 

[DarkRideNick]

Here you can see a bit of the bar to the right of Harley Quinn's construction. There is 0 theming on the bar area, at least right now.

 

 

Thanks for sharing, such a shame!

 

I would expect at least cardboard cutouts of the Villains or Wanted Posters possibly.

[jconsolmagno]

On 9/30/2020 at 1:11 PM, DarkRideNick said:

 

Thanks for sharing, such a shame!

 

I would expect at least cardboard cutouts of the Villains or Wanted Posters possibly.

Maybe next year... the bartenders at the bar were extremely nice but very bored. Very few people took advantage of the beer event, even though I felt it was great. 

[Jason Maier]

I'll admit that the Reaper Railways is cool (especially when pitch dark, seeing the rarely used picnic grounds and going behind Hall Manor); but I do miss the walkthrough mazes

[Zand]

Was down in MD visiting friends this weekend and after making a quick stop at American Dream on Friday on the ride down (threw a couple pictures on FB), I started the ride back with a stop at American Nightmare...err...SFA!

 

After a gorgeous day yesterday, today was dreadful with temps in the 40s and showers. I expected to see SFA post that they would be closed for the day but around 6 I decided to head over, parked nice and close, and headed in with a heavy mist falling.

This park gets sh*t on a lot, and for good reason, but on a gloomy night with a small crowd and walk on rides everywhere, it was a good time. Grabbed dinner on the meal pass on the way in and then made my way back to Mind Eraser...LOL just kidding, screw that. Started with a nice front row ride on Roar. This is like the Hershey Wildcat to me...everyone on here bitches about how rough it is but it's a fun and decently forceful woodie and not that rough at all. Sure, an RMC makeover would be awesome for the park, but Roar is a nice ride as it is.

Firebird is one of the two new to me coasters in the park and was my next stop, but was down temporarily so I made my way to the drop tower. Not a very tall one, but a nice forceful drop. Can't just walk by a walk on drop tower and not hop on.

Next up was the biggest gem at SFA, Wild One. How Six Flags manages to keep a 103 year old wooden coaster so smooth is one of the world's great mysteries. Lots of good airtime all over the layout and great laterals in the helix of death, all while maintaining a mainly perfectly smooth ride.

The other new to me credit, Rajun Cajun, was closed so kept heading back to Jokers Jynx. Another great ride, very whippy but smooth in the transitions. 

Headed back further (lol this park has the worst layout in the world) to Superman which was an absolute blast. For some reason they were loading every row which felt weird after not seeing that at all this year. Rode in back and it was absolutely flying through the darkness behind the park. Not the most inspiring layout ever made but still good Intamin fun and cool to see the old trains (coming from an SFNE homer).

The world's most ridiculously placed coaster was next, Batwing! The good thing is the dark foggy night masked the fact that the ride is plopped way out in a field. I want to love the ride, it has a much better layout than the Supermans and is very intense. But good lord those trains suck. They shuffle like typical Vekoma trains and the vests don't really hold you in so the buckle point pretty much does the Heimlich on you through the flying sections. A Batwing layout with B&M trains would be an awesome ride.

Started making my way back to the front, intending on getting my Firebird credit and heading out. Couldn't resist a 2nd ride on Wild One, but then made my way over. After making my way through the queue that is about 4000 feet too long, I walked right up to the front. 

Backstory: I don't like Rougarou. I'm one of the rare people that actually preferred Mantis. But most people seem to approve of that makeover. On the other hand, I've seen people who like Rougarou not like this one at all. Anyway, yeah...this thing is a pile of sh*t. Just bashes your head around from beginning to end. I came off with the worst headache a roller coaster I've ever gotten from a coaster. Hopefully the asteroid coming for the earth around Election Day lands directly on this thing.

If I didn't have a horrible headache I would've ridden Mind Eraser to remind myself what a coaster that only bashes your head into nice soft padded restraints feels like. But with a long ride home I decided I was hurting enough and called it a night. 

A sour ending, but overall I actually had a really great time at SFA. I know people drive right past this place all the time to head for much better places, but honestly it's a great place to break up a ride to BGW for a couple hours and really has a few decent coasters in its lineup. 

[Canobie Coaster]

Nice report!

Superman wasn't loading every row earlier this month, but I'm not surprised considering they were trying to pair groups up at Batwing when I was there.  Both those coasters were only running one train for me and I'm guessing it was the same for you?

I enjoyed Firebird in the back, but it was awful in the front.

[Zand]

2 minutes ago, Canobie Coaster said:

Nice report!

Superman wasn't loading every row earlier this month, but I'm not surprised considering they were trying to pair groups up at Batwing when I was there.  Both those coasters were only running one train for me and I'm guessing it was the same for you?

I enjoyed Firebird in the back, but it was awful in the front.

Two trains on the woodies (which didn't need them) and one on the rest (Jokers Jynx had a 10 minute line, the rest were walk ons). No one grouping on any ride that I saw.

I guess thats good for Firebird, but I don't plan on ever riding it again. I'd rather marathon the SLC.

[Canobie Coaster]

I was stunned Roar had two trains going in my visit, but it was needed on Wild One.  I wish that coaster was still in Massachusetts as it would have been just 15 minutes from my parents' house.

That SLC is among the worst out there and I've gone a decade without riding it.  I have no intention of ever riding it again.  Firebird (in the back) is a ride I'll ride at least once every visit.  The only bad part in that row is the exit from the corkscrew, but I agree the park's other coasters are mostly better.

[Jason Maier]

I was glad to see that the park was doing the "bonus weekends in November before Holiday in the Park" bit that Great Adventure does.

Of course, I went today because I had to get in my last laps of Superman: Ride of Steel before in closes for the season. Cool overcast day with not much in the way of crowds (and no stunt show today).

And they also had the HITP decorations set up. I'll give it a try, I mean it's unfortunate they can't run S:ROS, WW:LOT, BW and JJ for HITHP.

And of course I had to give ME a proper salute 

[CenturyFlyer]

I was at the park on that day, too. It was actually my first visit, and I couldn't have picked a better day to experience the desolation that is Six Flags America on a November Sunday. There's no way that they were making any money. In three hours, I got 20 rides on all of the coasters. The second train was already gone for most of the coasters.

I think it's funny that they still needed to sanitize and run the train empty after three cycles even if only a combined 10 people had ridden it.

Overall, I really enjoyed Wild One and the coasters in Gotham City. Batwing was my first flying coaster, so I probably liked that a little more than I should have.

It was weird seeing all of the Christmas decorations up but also seeing lots of Halloween stuff still lying around.

[The Yeti]

I went to the park with some friends on a very quiet day back in September and we had a really great time. During many previous visits, I’ve encountered short lines for rides with long lines for food and drinks, but this time we were blessed with short waits for everything. We may have been the only ones truly celebrating the park’s beer festival, but they had a few stands with a wide selection, and we took advantage of the short waits! The park was running two trains on most coasters, and although short lines began to form later in the day, we managed several walk-ons.

I think SFA has a pretty good collection of rides. Once Harley Quinn opens, I really wouldn’t hesitate to say that. Unsurprisingly, Joker, Superman, and Batwing are at the top for me, but I think Roar, Wonder Woman, VooDoo Drop, and even Mindbender and Fireball round out the park very well. Ragin Cajun was the surprise hit. I think this was my first time on a spinning wild mouse, and man did that thing spin! This was our first ride of the day, meant to be something nice and relaxing, but we were so, so wrong. I also had my first spin on Fireball after the conversion from Apocalypse, and I really don’t think it is much better. There are only one or two head banging moments, but I think I hit my head harder than I did on the standup version.

 

I’m sure the COVID protocols have all been covered here already. As such, I won’t get into too many details, but I have to say the park did a phenomenal job. I’ll add that I am not an incessant COVID freak, but I get annoyed with people who can’t follow simple rules. I was very impressed. SFA successfully managed to have guests standing 6 feet apart, albeit in the short lines they had. While I do think people in Maryland are generally aware of social distancing, the park actually had security guards in some lines enforcing the rules...and people listened. The security guards might be a requirement from the state, but I haven’t seen that at any restaurants, stores, casinos, etc. 

 

Six Flags America was far better than Great Adventure with this stuff and light years ahead of Hersheypark. The only other park I visited this year was SDC, which falls dead last in implementing COVID safety measures. Thank you to the whole team at SFA for another great day!