Six Flags Fiesta Texas (SFFT) Discussion Thread

[clippers6]

1 hour ago, bert425 said:

WonderWoman is SUPER fluffy friendly.

did you try the test seat out front?   try it tomorrow and check. . it could be that you just got in a weird seat with shorter connector or something?  (when I was there last month, they tried to tell me I was too big and I assured them that I have ridden this coaster dozens of times. . . and after moving back one seat, fit no problem.

so you may just have gotten a "bad" seat. . . try the tester out front tomorrow to confirm if you can fit.  (its' just to the left of the entrance)

Might have been. Are the connectors all too long and have to be looped around the bar? Mine was, but I couldn’t undo it so I’m not sure if they’re supposed to be that way. I did try the test seat after I got sent off, but the connector was broken on it. Will definitely give the test seat a shot tomorrow before picking my Flash Passes. 
 

EDIT: now that I think about it, my seat (seat 6) was empty coming into the station but 7 and 8 were filled. Maybe they did accidentally load me into a bad seat. 

[clippers6]

Mission accomplished. Had to play around on the tester to figure it out. Basically I have to kind of tilt my head back to get my head into the restraint and then it would go into place easily. Thanks to everyone who encouraged me to try again! Will some more thoughts to share later. Going to go enjoy my last few hours in San Antonio. Going to miss ZDT’s but got to ride WW and IRat. 

[Nrthwnd]

This. Yum.

Taste of Mardi Gras – Back by popular demand are the delicious and authentic food and drinks of Mardi Gras, including gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish, bacon-wrapped boudin balls, beignets, hurricanes, and a wide variety of beer.  This year’s event also features a long list of new treats for 2021 including gator bites, bacon wrapped Cajun pork ribs, and praline cheesecake.

 

"Hey Mister! Throw Me Some Beads & Boudin Balls!"

[tanthonyam]

I heard Spring Break crowds were awful here. Is it better now in April weekends? Probably on a Sunday.

[tndank]

Man, I was bummed you didn't get on WW.  That's great to see.  It's a bitch getting my head in/out those restraints, too.  Loved that ride.

[Nrthwnd]

^ Well, he did figure it out...and got that ride on WW.

See the above On-Ride photo.

[tndank]

Obviously.  That's why I said, "That's great to see."

[Nrthwnd]

^ oops, sorry, my bad.

[clippers6]

Got back home this morning. Thanks again to everyone that offered advice with Fiesta Texas. I wish San Antonio was cheaper and easier to get to. I’d visit more often if it was. 
 

Got to the park around 4 on Friday after a morning at SeaWorld. Judging from the parking lot maybe 4-5 times the number of people compared to Thursday. I poked fun of the bands performing for audiences of 5 people on Thursday, but on Friday the shows I passed by were well attended. Except for the log ride, everything looked open on Friday. 
 

Got my Flash Passes for WW, IRat, Poltergeist, and Superman. Probably should have gotten another WW or IRat instead of Superman but I wasn’t thinking. Not sure if this is new (I got a survey about it after I left) but they’re moving to timed reservations for the one time use Flash Passes. They have a place for the Flash Pass employee to write a return window on them. The employee on Thursday only wrote one for WW. The one of Friday didn’t write times on any of them. Also found out that I can’t get my Diamond Elite VIP card until I go back to Magic Mountain since it’s my home park, but I’m upgraded in the system so I have all the other benefits. 

Decided to get the monkey off my back and try to get on WW first. Played around on the test seat until I found the best way to get in the restraints. Got a little worried since there were tech people in the station working on something. It was an issue with one of the trains and they could only load 7 of the 8 seats. Tech guys were working on the brakes, but the ride kept operating with the ride ops having to be sure they only loaded 7 riders every third train. Kid in front of me got by the first height measurement by standing on his tip toes but got unlucky because a shift change happened and the new grouper remeasured him and didn’t let him on. Poor kid, but it did mean that I ended up with front row. Personally I liked the intensity, but those collars do take away from the experience. Not really sure what the alternative would be though. 

Tried to do Poltergeist next, but it was down due to wind. Rushed over to IRat since I heard that will shut down due to wind. It was operating but with 1 train and a crew that wasn’t exactly hustling. It was a posted 95 minute wait. I waited 45 with Flash Pass. Apparently a fight broke out in the queue. I was already in the station so I couldn’t see but I could hear the commotion and people closer to the ramp could see it. IRat is RMC number 4 for me and I think I would rank it 1 or 2. Really liked how it uses the quarry walls. I think I still like Twisted Colossus better overall, but IRat might just edge out non-racing TC for me. 


Strangely enough I’m pretty sure one of the gift shops at Magic Mountain also sells a random Great Escape sweatshirt. The one pictured above is in the IRat gift shop. Wonder if a bunch of these got sent to the wrong parks? 

Stopped for a churro and some lemonade. That Fiesta Texas lemonade is really sweet. Saw Poltergeist running and headed that way. My first spaghetti bowl and they are a lot smoother than I imagined. Surprised Six Flags hasn’t reused the Poltergeist name anywhere else; it’s a great theme. 

Ended the day with one last ride on Superman. Wish it was IRat (thought about going back to the Flash Pass center and swapping the Superman for IRat), but I didn’t want to wait another 45 minutes. Park was open for another 45 minutes, but I decided to call it a day since I had a 7am flight. Thought about doing Boomerang on the way out, but decided to pass to avoid the end of the day parking lot crush. 
 

So in two days I did WW, Superman, Goliath, Road Runner, Iron Rattler, Poltergeist, Whistle Stop, Pirates of the Deep, and I watched the 80s music show Neon. Not bad for a fairly leisurely touring pace and only 4 hours each day. I’m not really the type that needs every credit, but I probably could have gotten them all if I pushed. Thursday had moderate crowds in the morning, but since so many rides were closed it emptied out midday. I felt bad for anyone that bought a ticket. Friday was much busier, but with more things open the crowds were more spread out. SFFT seemed to absorb the crowds better than SeaWorld. I know spring break has been chaotic at all the Texas theme parks. I’m sure weekends are much busier, but as busy as Friday was it never seemed unmanageable. With the exception of IRat, most lines went quickly and I was able to get food and snacks easily. Little to no lines for rides at SeaWorld, but long, long lines for food and many locations were closed (I think to drive people to eating at the food festival instead). 

[bert425]

the design of Wondys trains is ABSOLUTELY necessary. . the farther back in the train you are?  the different the experience.

the front is mainly floater air - the back is *extreme* ejector air.

trust me, those collars aren't the dreaded "comfort" collars - they are there to keep you from flying out of the damn coaster from the ejector air.


glad you got on!

you missed your chance to ride the worlds 1st S&S Freespin?  (Batman)

come back in the summer - it will be hot as hell (but the Texas parks give free cups of water when you ask for them).. BUT, the Whitewater Bay waterpark area will be open - that drains most folks from the dry areas of the park, and you'll have light lines until early afternoon (when folks start to leave the waterpark after lunch).

[thrillseeker4552]

^That's nice to know about the crowds flocking to the water park in the summer.

I will be there on either June 1 or 2 (depending on which day we do SWSA). My last visit in December 2019 was right before Christmas and actually had pretty light crowds to my surprise, even with the perfect 64-degree weather. I can deal with the heat - but waiting in a 2 hour line in the heat is where I draw the line!

[bert425]

water park officially opens for the season on 4/24 (so ~2 weeks).

 

was there yesterday all day with TeacherKim and her Son, and the park was PACKED
(even at only ~55% capacity -  Park President told me when I asked that Reservations reflected ~17K people (we were at an "event" with a local group - that had also invited ACE since their Feb event had been cancelled due to Texas icestorm, so it was ~200 just in this goup - but  so had a chance several times to chat with him thuout the day).

but Bronze Flash Pass sold out, and even Gold or Platinum didn't save much time - Kim/Joel had bought them for the "free time" between event things, and the *FLASH PASS* line (once it tells you it's time to ride, so come to the flash pass line) was over 25 minutes on multiple things (including Wonder Woman, Joker, Bugs' Flume ride, and Iron Rattler).

 

so. . . yeah.    If the waterpark had been open, that would have helped a LOT, as it seems many, many people want to get out of the house, and out in the open air to have fun after a year + being extremely careful.

Not helping was a power surge, that brought the *ENTIRE* park to a standstill just after 12:30 - tho they go the food service and several of the rides back, up really quickly, but it certainly impacted the bigger rides and made the lines even longer.

I'll have  trip report up in the next few days, but a few quick shots:

- Daredevil Dive is *amazing* - tho I highly recommend riding on an empty stomach.   (in a different chat with Jeffrey Siebert, he mentioned that each plane is programmed differently, so you'll get different amount of flips and/or upside-down hang depending which plane you're randomly assigned).

- the park's version of a treat similar to an Universal offering (called Doctor Butterskotch's  Elixir here at SFFT) is really, really good - and is available from the tap, frozen, or frozen with a whiskey floater.
(my only issue with it really was that it's available only at ONE stand over by IR/DDD, and the stand also sells beer and shots of whiskey. . .so even a short 4 person line took well over 20 minutes, as the "bros" in front of us in line ordered beers, shots (which had to be measured / poured one at a time, with IDs checked and rechecked by the poor guy working the stand).   Thirsty Buffalo is literally 15 feet away - send people who want shots/liquor to THERE for a drink, and keep this stand only for the Elixir please?  (I gave this feedback to a supervisor while she was restocking his beer supply. . . .the "Bros" were all out drinking in the Texas heat on Saturday)

-- Wonder Woman is running 3 trains, and Supes/Roadrunner/Goliath are running 2.     *but* Iron Rattler is single train operations - hopefully the 2nd train will be back on the track by the time you go back. . as 1 train operations easily had 2 1/2 - 3 hour lines.  (but even Bug's Flume had a 2 hour + line (we overheard a guy telling his kids in front of him as the log left the station right by the Flash Pass entrance "I really hope this ride is worth the 2 hour wait").

- food operations were pretty good, considering they all got SLAMMED when the power surged and all rides went down (and food came up first).   Yes, it took 45 minutes for Totally Kicken Chicken (and Mobile ordering would NOT work for either myself or Kim via the app). . but that's quicker than I expected considering how crowded the park was.

anyways. . like I said, full report coming up in the next few days, including many pics from the climb up Goliath's lift hill and Lights on walking tour thru Pirates that we got to do).

 

 

[teacherkim]

And a big thanks to Bert for being our host for the day!! We loved this park and will definitely return at some point in the future, particularly since we never had time to do some of the "minor" rides like the train and the rapids ride. 

We went back for a couple hours on Sunday before we had to hit the airport. Were there about 1:15 - 3:45. I had made a reservation the night before (we did not need them on Sat since we were with the official group event) Not one person asked to see our reservation coming in on Sun. So either it is purely theater at this point, they can see that you have a reservation when they scan your pass, or as long as the reservations don't exceed the capacity they assume people won't show up and don't feel the need to check. 

This is how Poltergeist spent the day on Sunday

[teacherkim]

Sorry I have no idea why it posted upside down, and I don't have time right now to figure it out.....but you get the idea!

[bert425]

43 minutes ago, teacherkim said:

Sorry I have no idea why it posted upside down, and I don't have time right now to figure it out.....but you get the idea!

the data on your phone saves it that way.

 

the workaround is to open the pic and "edit". . flip it 180, save.  then edit again to flip back to correct orientation and save again.

that's the workaround on my phone for the pics that sometimes go upside-down.

Fixed it for ya here tho
(Yeah was pretty windy on Sat/Sun. . I'm sure that's why it valleyed)

 

[DJ_Sillybootz]

Hey y'all, I'm visiting SA and I want to get to the park, but I'm really limited in my time. I have tonight after 4, or saturday and sunday after 4:30. Tonight would be the best option because I'm out earlier, Saturday there are other events I'd be skipping, and Sunday the park closed at 8 instead of 9.  It's raining and looks like there's a high chance of rain for the rest of the day. Is there a way to find out what's running and what isn't? When should I go? I'm listing my must ride list below. Should I get a fast pass? For those familiar with the park, how should I attack my ride list? Will I be able to do em all? I'm a 34 y/o coaster nerd, but I'm in shape so I'm more than happy to run from ride to ride if needed. Seat recommendations or other recommendations are also heloful. All help is appreciated, TIA!

Rough ranking: Wonder women, iron rattler, superman, poltergeist, dare devil, joker, scream(are the towers up or down?), And batman if possible but I'll hopefully be at sfot next month so I can ride it there.

 

[IronWolfman]

^On the app right now, it shows Poltergeist, Joker, & Wonder Woman as closed. If its raining, lines might not be that bad, and the park is open until 9. Doesn't say if they're temporarily down or not, so there's a chance they could open, but don't expect it. Scream is a combo tower on all sides I believe. Might want to go and see what you can get on if you have a season pass or membership, but be weary of what might happen if the rain increases. 

EDIT: Might not need a fast pass if the rain cleared people out, but you could check too. 

[Canobie Coaster]

I like all their major coasters best in the back row, particularly Iron Rattler and Wonder Woman.  The park is likely going to be empty tonight, so as long as they don't close you should have the park to yourself and they usually will run things in the rain as long as it isn't a monsoon.

[bert425]

the deciding factors in what's up or down at SFFT is not rain.   I often visit on days when rain is forecast.
The deciding factor is wind (will shut down: Poltergeist, Goliath, Iron Rattler - as those all valley), and lightning in the area (will shut down ALL major rides).

 

your best bet is going to be Sunday morning at open - park tends to be very slow on Sunday mornings until ~2pm (Texan's love their Church).

when you say "Batman" to be clear, are you talking Batman cloned B&M (at SFFT it's called Goliath, and is among the snappier versions of it) or "Batman" S&S spinner - the one at SFFT is the first one ever built and runs way different than the one at SFOT.  (more intense and more flips. . at SFOT, it's called Joker by the way).

your first ever visit to the park?  and limited time?  yes, I'd get flash pass, but you'll need to splurge for Platinum to allow you to book on either Joker pendulum, Wonder Woman, or Daredevil Dive.

Iron Rattler is running 1 train operations.   So if you don't go there 1st - and are there at park open (again, I'd suggest Sunday). . don't even have that on your list or you will hit none of your other rides - that line will be hours long.

if you hit Iron Rattler first?  DDD is right next door, and that one too, is best to hit early, before line forms.

Typically, I'd go to WW at rope drop, as can get in several rides before main crowd gets back to that corner of the park.    But with IR with 1 train operations?   go there first, if you can be at park for rope drop (the park gates open ~1 hour before rope drop, so you can get in before official opening time).

 

Superman is a people eater.  you'll have no issue on that.   Or on Goliath (Batman B&M clone) if you hit that later in the day (starts out busy since at front of park).

Wonder Woman, Joker, DDD, Poltergeist are all very low capacity (and the restraints on Poltergeist make loading take forever, so even a short line on that can take a while - tho Flash pass puts you directly into the station bypassing any line).

Scream has 3 towers, but they recently have only been running 2 - which both have been running the "combo" program:  Slow lift to the top,   drop,  bounce, drop.

Have fun. . and don't miss out on Pirates, on the boardwalk, which never has a line. . a fun, dark shooter ride.

[bert425]

oh, and WW back seat is way more intense.

Iron Rattler is for sure a back car ride.

Goliath & Superman are both B&M, so back row, left side of train is most intense.

[bert425]

36 minutes ago, IronWolfman said:

^On the app right now, it shows Poltergeist, Joker, & Wonder Woman as closed. If its raining, lines might not be that bad, and the park is open until 9. Doesn't say if they're temporarily down or not, so there's a chance they could open, but don't expect it. Scream is a combo tower on all sides I believe. Might want to go and see what you can get on if you have a season pass or membership, but be weary of what might happen if the rain increases. 

EDIT: Might not need a fast pass if the rain cleared people out, but you could check too. 

I would put $ on it that's not rain.    all of those run in the rain (and WW HAULS when the track is wet).

THAT is lightning in the area.   100%

[DJ_Sillybootz]

3 minutes ago, bert425 said:

oh, and WW back seat is way more intense.

Iron Rattler is for sure a back car ride.

Goliath & Superman are both B&M, so back row, left side of train is most intense.

Thanks! I'm hoping the app isn't super accurate and I'm gonna try tonight. I only have tonight, tomorrow from 5 ish to close it Sunday 5ish to close, so tonight it is! Wish me luck!

[bert425]

5 hours ago, DJ_Sillybootz said:

Thanks! I'm hoping the app isn't super accurate and I'm gonna try tonight. I only have tonight, tomorrow from 5 ish to close it Sunday 5ish to close, so tonight it is! Wish me luck!

Hope you got to go ! 

Seeing reports from friends who went to the park and they said after the rains, everything opened back up and there were almost no lines.

so really hope you got out today!

[DJ_Sillybootz]

1 minute ago, bert425 said:

Hope you got to go ! 

Seeing reports from friends who went to the park and they said after the rains, everything opened back up and there were almost no lines.

so really hope you got out today!

I did and it was awesome! The park was clean and empty. One strange thing was literally everything I went on except superman, pirates, and joker broke down while I was was there. Some more than once. Most were quick fixes and it actually took more time to go through the line then the line itself on ask the rides so it wasn't a big deal, just strange. The rides are incredible! Maybe I'm just getting older, but they were all so intense! I could only handle batman once. WW lived up to all the hype, but at 6'3" I ride in the front once and that's all i could handle because of the restraints. I think I liked the back more anyway, but that ride was fantastic in any seat! Superman front right and back left are both insane, but a little less rough in the back. As a mine train fan, this one was a blast(get it). It was really quick for a mine train! Poltergeist impressed the hell outta me. I never would have guessed it to be so long and actually feel like it got faster throughout the ride! But the real star, and my new favorite coaster was IR. There's not a bad seat, and the fronts fun, but back left was my favorite. So much ejector air! It's been a long time since I've been on any coaster, much less good ones, so this was much needed! Great park and great night! I'm writing this in my Uber back to the hotel, so please excuse any typos...

[bert425]

glad you had such a great visit.

yeah. . things break down a lot because despite it being Fiesta Texas (a spectacular park)?  at the end of the day it's a Six Flags. 
(but because it's Fiesta, they get the rides back up fast fast fast).

 

and Poltergeist DOES get faster as it goes, because the two Six Flags versions (at Fiesta & at Six Flags America) don't have the Mid Course Brake Run that the Kings Island/Kings Dominion versions have on Flight of Fear.

if you get a chance to go back tomorrow. . the best food in the park is at Kickin Chicken (across from Roadrunner Express) and Macho Nacho (across from Superman).
tho they did just add some german dishes to the Sangerfest Halle foodcourt that I've been told are really good (haven't tried them yet).