Six Flags Fiesta Texas (SFFT) Discussion Thread

[bert425]

SFFT 2006 - pic from the top of the Scream drop tower, via disposable camera.


 

caught Der Twister (the old Top Spin) cycling in this one:

 

and me

[bert425]

At Winterfest today, Jeffery *did* announce that they will be shutting Wonder Woman down "in the back half of this year" for retracking, and new trains installations.

so it WILL be down, but not until later in the year.

Bugs Whitewater is currently down for Refurb, but should be back up in the next month or so.

[CedarFlags]

Retracking?  That's unusual.  

[bert425]

he might have used the term "Re-profiling". . not sure.

but remember, WW was the 1st of it's kind - a prototype. . so RMC/SFFT have said they want to use what has been learned since to bring WW: Golden Lasso up to match the ride experience of Jersey Devil & MM's Wonder Woman coaster.

[bert425]

y'all. . dunno if this applies to other SF parks or not (didn't check). . but SFFT just went live today online with a HUGE Spring Break sale:

buy a Platinum Pass, on sale for $89, and get a free upgrade to Diamond (that's the all parks with parking included pass).

 

kinda sucks that I just paid almost that much to upgrade to Diamond a couple of weeks ago ($60). . but a GREAT deal if you don't have a season pass yet.

 

[Arthur_Seaton]

^ Yeah, I saw that and will likely grab one. Kind of a trip to see them go from such significant price jumps back down to almost the regular annual membership price. I think I've been paying something like $80 for all-park access for years now. This would have been the first year in quite some time that I didn't buy a pass (both SFFT and SFMM are "home" parks these days) because of an in-park processing screw up. 

[coasterbill]

On 1/25/2023 at 10:31 AM, bert425 said:

so RMC/SFFT have said they want to use what has been learned since to bring WW: Golden Lasso up to match the ride experience of Jersey Devil & MM's Wonder Woman coaster.

lol... yikes.

[Arthur_Seaton]

Drove down this morning to process my 2023 pass. I'm still not sure what pass I now have or have upgraded to, but I know it gets me into multiple parks, and that's all I care about. I think there are some other perks, and the ticket processor told me to grab some souvenir cup, but I've no need for something like that. I'd originally purchased a 2023 pass back around labor day, but SFFT absolutely snarfed the processing and cancelled the whole thing. I was going to sit the year out as the result, but this sale made the price only $10 or so more than normal.

Anyhow, the park was absolutely dead, so I was in and out in an hour or so. Two rides on WW (I thought they were closing this for rehab or something? It's still rattly and rough, but they seem to have ironed out that gnarly pothole by the camera section). Two solo rides on Superman (business as usual). One on iRat (single train with part of the train roped off it seems). Two on the new drop coaster (felt less bumpy as well, as though somebody took an iron to that track, too). Two on Poltergeist (business as usual). It seemed like everything else was up and running except for the flume ride, but I haven't seen that thing running in quite some time.

[bert425]

^ was there yesterday (might put some pics up eventually). . but grab that souvenir cup from Member Services.  

 

(it's that red "Member" tumbler you see many people carrying.).

Gets you free drinks (Soda/Powerade/water) all season at any fountain service or self service place.

I use mine mainly for water or Powerade.

[bert425]

40 minutes ago, Arthur_Seaton said:

Anyhow, the park was absolutely dead, so I was in and out in an hour or so. Two rides on WW (I thought they were closing this for rehab or something? It's still rattly and rough, but they seem to have ironed out that gnarly pothole by the camera section). Two solo rides on Superman (business as usual). One on iRat (single train with part of the train roped off it seems). Two on the new drop coaster (felt less bumpy as well, as though somebody took an iron to that track, too). Two on Poltergeist (business as usual). It seemed like everything else was up and running except for the flume ride, but I haven't seen that thing running in quite some time.

 

direct from Park President's mouth yesterday (was there for Feliz Fiesta event):

-- WW will be going down for track refurb later this summer.  
Two train ops as the 3rd train is currently in pieces (I have pics of it from "backstage" yesterday) , and they WILL have a brand new train coming to go along with the refurbed track.

 

-- Iron Rattler is still one train ops, because the Pnematic safety lock parts they were waiting on from Gerstlaur (back ordered for almost a year at this point) actually arrived earlier this week.   (have pics of those too).  The 2nd train WILL be back on the ride by next weekend, bringing it back up to full ops for Spring Break.     3rd train also arrived (have pics of that too). . but that one is now waiting for the same safety lock parts before they can have that ready for use on the ride.

-- Cliffhanger is running two trains as it was having TONS of issues yesterday due to an issue with a part at the 2nd brake - it was triggering estops with three trains running, so they took the 3rd train off (that's' why it was only running two trains today, with the 3rd on the transfer track).   Jeffrey said they have the replacement part at the park to get it fixed but as that will take a few hours to fix, they are going to do it during the closed days this coming week, so this too will be back up to full 3 train ops by next weekend.

 

-- Bugs has been undergoing refurb the past few weeks.   They have put all the refurbed figures back onto the ride, but have not reopened it yet.    That too should be open by Spring Break.

meaning the only rides that will be down for a while still are:   Gully Washer (they are still waiting for that replacement pump, but hopefully it will be back up by Summer), Miss Kitty (refurb almost done, but they are not quite ready to get the train back up and running yet)

&

Boomerang. . .going down for refurb very soon.    (ie: by the end of March).  
Per Jeffrey, SFFT's Boomerang is the most ridden one in the Six Flags Chain.   
the Refurb will switch the ride to Magnetic Breaking System, and the park will be getting TWO new trains for it, featuring the Vekoma Chest Restraint system (comfort collars ?).   They are getting two, so they can always have a train for the ride, when they need to refurb the other train (same reasoning for the 3rd Iron Rattler train) since SFFT is a year round park.

 

oh, and the cameras are down/GONE on all rides, as they are in the process of switching to a new Photopass vendor.  but again, supposed to be back and operating by Summer.

hope that info helps

 

 

[Arthur_Seaton]

1 hour ago, bert425 said:

Boomerang. . .going down for refurb very soon.    (ie: by the end of March).  
Per Jeffrey, SFFT's Boomerang is the most ridden one in the Six Flags Chain.   
the Refurb will switch the ride to Magnetic Breaking System, and the park will be getting TWO new trains for it, featuring the Vekoma Chest Restraint system (comfort collars ?).   They are getting two, so they can always have a train for the ride, when they need to refurb the other train (same reasoning for the 3rd Iron Rattler train) since SFFT is a year round park.

Boomerang is well positioned in the park and looks great in that entry plaza. That said, they can add as many comfort collars as they like — I'm still not riding it! I think I tried some "improved" Boomerang at Hershey or something. It was still very much a boomerang, IMO.

[bert425]

^ my thought on it as well

[AmyUD06]

2 hours ago, bert425 said:

Boomerang. . .going down for refurb very soon.    (ie: by the end of March).  

Per Jeffrey, SFFT's Boomerang is the most ridden one in the Six Flags Chain.   
the Refurb will switch the ride to Magnetic Breaking System, and the park will be getting TWO new trains for it, featuring the Vekoma Chest Restraint system (comfort collars ?).   They are getting two, so they can always have a train for the ride, when they need to refurb the other train (same reasoning for the 3rd Iron Rattler train) since SFFT is a year round park.

I would not describe the Vekoma vest restraints (which is what this is) as anything even close to "comfort collars."  It's nearly identical to B&Ms vest system, so whatever your opinion of those is, you'll probably have the same opinion of these.  Personally, I love them....especially on something like a boomerang where head-banging is normally the name of the game.

[Arthur_Seaton]

1 hour ago, AmyUD06 said:

I would not describe the Vekoma vest restraints (which is what this is) as anything even close to "comfort collars."  It's nearly identical to B&Ms vest system, so whatever your opinion of those is, you'll probably have the same opinion of these.  Personally, I love them....especially on something like a boomerang where head-banging is normally the name of the game.

Yeah, they're fairly unobtrusive and Arrow rides don't force them into your chest like other rides with "comfort collars" tend to (I'm thinking of Premier). That said, Boomerangs can be pretty jarring and rickety. I rode this particular one a few months back just to see how it was holding up, and it was terrible — not because of the restraints, but because of square wheels and wire coat-hanger design. For as brutal as those old arrow cars can be, there's something delightfully unnerving about how much open space there is between the seat and the restraints.

[Hellocoasters]

Hello, I wanted to give my thoughts and review on this park, since I went last weekend (February 18-20th). This was my first time there and my second in the Six Flags chain (one of my most frequent visited parks being Six Flags Great America). I may be going on an unorganized chain of thoughts here. 

Just some info for anyone doing research on the park during the colder months (Jan-February). The coldest it was during our visit was in the mid 50s and everything was running. Also winds (according to my weather channel app) in San Antonio were up to 9-11mph and everything was running as well. Just as I know winds can affect the rides due to the quarry. 

First impression, what a beautiful park! the entrance had colorful buildings and the Mardi Gras decorations looked great! The crowds were not too busy at all and the longest wait was Iron Rattler. Wonder Woman was running two trains and the first afternoon we were there it was very temperamental. It wasn't running , they let us wait in line and then kicked us out of line. We ended up going to Dr. Diabolical instead and by the time we got off WW was running again. A lot of walking back and forth on that side of the park. Superman wasn't running for a while on that first afternoon either. But we got on all 4 major rides the first afternoon. 

The mardi gras food wasn't as good at Fiesta Texas as it was at Sea World, both places had really good entertainment. I was very impressed by the theming on the queues (especially for a six flags park). The German section was beautiful, the boardwalk also had a good vibe. I liked that they had a dark ride (we waited over 30min for it), but found it enjoyable. Basic "boo blasters" sally dark ride, but glad it was different in that it was pirate themed. Boomerang wasn't as bad as I thought it would be (not a bad headbanger). My least favorite was the S&S 4D free spin. I've been on Joker at Great America and this one was more uncomfortable and rattled more (probably because it's the oldest/first).  We had some hiccups while waiting for Pandemonium. Dr. Diabolical had a rattle in the back row, I actually quite liked it in the front. We got onto Goliath right when we left the park. 

I would definitely want to come back here! I want to experience a train ride. Overall, I really enjoyed this park! 8/10

 

[bert425]

here are some of my pics from Fiesta Fest yesterday at SFFT.

 

(many behind the scenes shots. . . and as always, gotta get pics with the #1 & #2 reasons to go to SFFT -   Park President Jeffrey Siebert, and Sweet Sweet Connie in the Sangerfest Halle.

Jeffrey:

Sweet Connie:

 

she even got some company in a new Mural painted on the back wall near the bathrooms!

 

the shows were excellent as usual. . the Jamboree one is kinda adult, but really fun too:

and the Saloon show is great too.

 

and of course, some rides were done before the backstage tours.  (I actually rode a LOT of stuff today, but only snapped a couple of ride pics):

 

We got a tour of the new virtual Gaming center they are building in the old restaurant space in the central plaza:

 

and then went upstairs for a tour of the new Diamond and Above VIP lounge they are building on the 2nd floor overlooking the main plaza (with some nice views from the balconies, including some great viewing space for the evening fireworks):

 

and then a treat, we got to go back to the machine shop to see the pieces of the 3rd train for Iron Rattler:

 

 

and the refurb currently going on for the Giant Cowboy Hat that dumps the water from the top of the Play Area in the waterpark:

 

then across to the other building to see the 2nd train for Iron Rattler (back on the tracks by next weekend!) and the pesky little pneumatic safety locking mechanisms that were on back order and is why IR has been with one train ops for SOOOO Long:

 

if you're wondering why Wonder Woman is only running 2 trains?  

here's the 3rd one.   (yeah).

luckily a new 3rd train will be coming when they work on the track later this year!

we got to walk by the floats that most of us would be riding on later. . . .this is the newest float, the amazing Crocodile.

 

not only is it awesome that they have this sign in the backstage area from an old bet with Kings Island. . . look. .it says "Bert" right there in it

time to drink and ride some more things!

until we got called back to get ready for the parade.

 

first they dressed us up all pretty like:

and then we got assigned floats.

got lucky, and we got chosen to ride on the front section of the newest float!

 

we threw so many beads, and the park was so crowded, that we were completely out before the end of the parade route!

luckily there were many other floats behind us with lots of beads for everyone.

a great event and a great time at SFFT.

[bert425]

Six Flags updated their websites this morning across the board, and spoiled a bit early the announcement of the naming of the new coaster (as well as giving away the info for the new SFStL (not Skyline coaster) and SFOG info as well).

but here it is:

 

[grsupercity]

1 hour ago, bert425 said:

Six Flags updated their websites this morning across the board, and spoiled a bit early the announcement of the naming of the new coaster (as well as giving away the info for the new SFStL (not Skyline coaster) and SFOG info as well).

but here it is:

 

Kinda surprised both sides don't each have names. Like Batman and Robin the Chiller

[bert425]

well. . even tho that IS Wallace in the ride sign there. . the original Kid Flash was Wally West.

 

and there's also Impulse as an option. . . so they could still end up naming the two tracks.

[bert425]

Soooo. . .with "Kid Flash" confirmed being part of DCUniverse section (which currently ends at Superman. . and then turns into Thrillseeker Park / Spassburg area).  

and Skyscreamer sitting *between* Superman and the new Kid Flash coaster.

does this mean a re-theme to Skyscreamer at SFFT?  (I suggested either to Hawkman or maybe Shazam). . .

 

the response by the Park President to me is making me think . . . yup, we're getting a retheme, tho nothing has been formally announced.

[Nrthwnd]

I think the color combo on the coaster train is great! Most times, I see (whatever sized) new coaster trains with mainly the front of them, themed.  Nothing wrong with that. But this is great, especially for the kids riding it.