SFOT on the 19th?

[Vekoma Fan Boy]

My father and stepmother are coming down to Texas for a few days to visit me, and our plans include going to SFOT this Saturday on the 19th. Now, over here in Houston, this week is spring break. And a quick look at the Arlington, Fort Worth, and Dallas ISD websites show that it is also spring break for them. Would it be a wise idea to buy the gold flashpass? Or would standard or none at all be the better option? The flash pass would be for three people. We want to be able to hit up as many of the rides as we can, which shouldn't be too difficult since the park is open 10-10 that day, and we plan on leaving my house early to get there not long after opening. I know my step mom would also like to see some of the shows there. What are the "must sees"? And lastly, would there happen to be anywhere in the park where food doesn't have outrageously expensive (or at least slightly lower than normal) SF prices? If not, what are some of the better places to eat? Thanks for your help in advance!

 

--Jake

[webgoof]

Everything I've seen/heard about this week indicate that it is and will be crazy busy, especially Saturday. I'd go gold.

 

I've never been to the BBQ place, but I can say for sure that the pizza place isn't cost-efficient. For that much, I'd leave the park, and go across the street to Subway...

[BrandonR]

As mentioned above, spring break crowds are some of the worst crowds of the year, especially on Saturdays... Which is too bad, because if you were able to delay your trip one day and go on that Sunday, the crowds would probably be virtually non-existent. A few years ago I went on the last Sunday of spring break and the park was empty. I'd probably go with a Flash Pass, but never just get one instinctively -- get a feel for the crowds, either from the parking lot or from a few lines. I always see people who wasted money on Flash Passes when most rides are walk-ons anyway.

 

As for food, it's all expensive, so go for quality... And I can most definitely say the best food there currently is probably the corn dogs Newman's sells. If you're really interested in food choices (and prices), last year I took a picture of every restaurant's menu board and put it on my website, which also includes their prices (which may or may not be up-to-date). And that's including the BBQ place mentioned above.

 

In terms of shows, there might be a show going on in the Crazy Horse Saloon right now, and it's probably your best bet. The other "big show" doesn't start til summer, and most of the other shows are geared toward kids.

 

There's also some random tips listed here that might be helpful to you, especially if you've never been to the park before. Enjoy!

[Vekoma Fan Boy]

Thanks for all the help! It does suck that I'm going on a Saturday instead of a Sunday. We were originally supposed to go on Sunday the 20th, but my dad found great Cirque du Soleil tickets for Saturday, and none of the three of us were going to pass those up. But looking at the weather forecast for Saturday, its supposed to be cloudy and "cold" that day. With any luck the crowds will come more on the nicer days surrounding it. But we'll see what happens. Hopefully I won't have to spend 147$ on a Gold flash pass, but hell, if I do, it will be worth it.

[BrandonR]

So how bad was it?

[Vekoma Fan Boy]

Lines anywhere from one to five hours. The Gold Pass was DEFINITELY worth the $146 dollars for my group of three. Even the small coasters had massive wait times. We waited an hour and a half for La Vibora while we were waiting for our reservation on Titan. Big Spin looked like its line had to have been in excess of 2 hours. It was a shame that we couldn't go that Sunday when the park would have been dead, but fourth row tickets for Cirque du Soleil won out over Six Flags for that day.