SFNO/Jazzland Discussion Thread

[calcajun]

Yeah, the steel coasters certainly can be saved. like batman the worst damage is that the PLC and or control rooms went totally under. Trains were al just above waterline or higher.

 

Whether They get saved, who knows. Well, Shapiro probably knows.

[coasterdude5]

Sad pictures... I hope they can salvage most of the coasters.

[spaceace12]

Did they take off the Six Flags New Orleans sign from the entrance?

[calcajun]

Did they take off the Six Flags New Orleans sign from the entrance?

 

 

No.

Why?

You think cause it is still there they thats a sign SFNO will return?

 

Well, It is not.

[kraxleRIDAH]

^ It looks to me the entrance "Six Flags New Orleans" sign has indeed been removed. You can still see the multiple verticle poles that it used to hang from.

 

It's real crazy how overgrown the parking lot area is with wild plants. Kind of surreal to see a modern amusement park look like one of those abandoned ones from the mid-20's.

 

If I recall correctly, most if not nearly all of the rides and attractions sustained too much damage to be relocated in the future. Batman was the only ride which structural parts that were not submerged underwater for a long period of time. I suspect the Zydeco Scream, The Jester and Mega Zeph will be scrap metal.

[calcajun]

Not sure what poles you talking bout that signs hung from. The sign at the Michoud entrance and the sign at the Six Flags Parkway entrance are still there.

[winningfreak]

Thanks for the update! I really want to know what the outcome of this park is... The owners of Jazzland got lucky they sold it lol...

 

Id pay if someone could get into the park and get pricutes of what it looks like... if anything is gitting cleaned up or what...

it shouldent be to soon before the grafiti artists start working on it...

[sixflagsguy5]

I hope that they reopen it, but I'm sure they have no motivation to get the park back open. I don't think they had much business before the hurricane and I'm sure business would be even worse with less people living there.

 

Thanks for the update.

[Goliath513]

Six Flags should just give up on the park. I know the contract with the city is causing problems, but it's just not worth it. Their money would be better spent to move the salvageable rides to other parks and improve on what they can. SFNO is a lost cause.

[spaceace12]

News Flash. Six Flags has given up on the park, all that remains is ruined rides and a contract they are trying ot get out of. If they were to even try to fix up the park, don't you think something would have happened in the 2 years since it was hit. I once thought that Six flags would have tried to open it back up, but that was within a year of it being closed. Two years and all that is left is rotten wood, rusted steel, ruined decor, and land that will flood when if it gets hit by another hurricane. New Orleans is not even probably capable of supporting a park the size of HW, if SFNO was bigger. The only good ride was BAtman, which is currently in storage in Texas, probably to be put it.

 

IF for some reason SF opens the park up, it will take up to a year or more to probalby clear the land and some sort of construction to begin. Then, and a big if, the park reopens, the population that was once there, is no longer there. I haven't checked the current population of NO, but is probably less than half or less of the old population.

 

Then if they reopen, all it will take is another hurricane to wipe them out because all that land is flood prone.

[coasterdude5]

The population is considerably lower.

 

It's sad because alot of New Orleans IS slowly coming back. It would be great if SFNO could be a part of that.

 

Anyone ever noticed how similar SFNO is to SBNO? Kinda ironic.

[Cameraman]

The only small glimmer of hope is that Six Flags is suing its insurers for a lot of money. I don't know if they even have a chance of winning, but it would almost be enough money to build a brand new park.

 

Also on the news a while back they said that there were local investors willing to buy out Six Flags' contract and possibly build a waterpark. This is something that would probably not happen anytime soon.

[PURE]

Wouldn't it be a bad idea to re-build a theme park on an area that was already destroyed by a hurricane, and has potential to be flooded and destroyed again?

 

Kinda along the same idea as not rebuilding New Orleans in the same damn area for that exact same reason...

[Cameraman]

Well it's a tough situation. It would be ideal to just build the park elsewhere if they actually got the money and wanted to do it. But the city owns the land and the land is part of the lease agreement. There's really not much of any other place a park could be in New Orleans. There's just not that much open land available (in the areas that are less prone to flooding). The park would have to be built outside of the city for that to happen and we all know it's the city that is the only reason there is a faint sense that the park could be rebuilt.

 

As for the future of that region. There are plans in the making for a more comprehensive hurricane protection. But it probably wouldn't be completed until 2020 and I don't think there are any plans to start it before 2011.

[hamen1]

SFNO were about to be in the process of building the waterpark across the highway. They had already started clearing out trees to make room for the new park. The SFNO work crew were to start the building process that september and finish early march of 2006, but since the hurricane the park has sold those lands back to the city and is not planning on coming back. Who knows what will come of the park. It is really sad that a park that gave a bunch of people something to do and gave people a history of their lives with friends and such have now to look at a park that is just being left there to rot.

 

If the park weree to reopen, which may be smart, it would make a killing of money based on the facts of how much business is coming back to the city. There would be no real competition so all of the business would go to SFNO. SFNO said that they were going bankrupt on the park, but that was going on with SF's everywhere, and they forgot to take into consideration the fact that they built new rides and new sections of the park which costs multimillion dollars. If the park were to reopen, the market would be here, because there are only so many places to go in New Olreans to have fun such as: Clearview (mall/movies), Lakeside (mall), airline (skate center), Rock n' Bowl, and a few other places. The park would also bring in some MUCH NEEDED money for the city, and also tourism for the city and also mainly New Orleans East which is one of the most devistated parts of the city more than two years after Katrina. The park is only getting worse and worse by the day, so I think if the theme park was to come back, they might want to start now or else it will just keep rotting away.

[-LILDAREDEVIL5-]

I find it somewhat ironic that the park was flooded by a hurricane, and now they are going to put in a waterpark...

Thats pretty messed up to say.

 

I guess a waterpark is better than nothing.I would be excited.

[OldJJman]

The park would also bring in some MUCH NEEDED money for the city, and also tourism for the city .....

 

I SERIOUSLY doubt that.

 

Before I had gone there in early August of 2001, (It was still Jazzland back then) I had been told to get there soon, as the park was ALWAYS dead, and would probably fold or be sold. When we scheduled a trip there, we ended up going on the first Saturday in August. As we had been told, it was dead. There were less than 60 people thru the turnstiles by 1pm when we left. I know, because we asked.

 

We rode Megazeph about 20 times, good ride!

 

The problems we encountered were the fact that it was gawd-awful hot (109) and NO trees or any kind of shade throughout the park. All concrete makes for a bad time. Very minimal a/c in the restaurants and souvenir shops.

 

Everyone that I have talked to since that time had pretty much the same experience. Light to no crowds, anytime of the season.

 

ONLY enthusiasts would make SFNO a destination. New Orleans, in and of itself, is the draw in that region. No amusement park, apart from possibly Disney, could (or would) survive in that demographic. Though they would never even consider a location with such a weak demographic base.

 

A waterpark, no matter how glorious, would not have brought in the needed $$$ to save that park, as waterparks generally depend on repeat (season pass) customers. Again, the demographic would NOT have suported this place. Especially so far from the main part of the city of New Orleans. All a waterpark would have done is postpone the inevitable.

 

Jazzland was dying. SF bought it. SFNO was dying. Katrina came. It made the decision to close the park and sell off (or move) it's VERY FEW remaining assets that much easier, thus saving SF probably many millions in losses over a very short time.

 

Katrina just made a difficult decision for SF that much easier.

 

JJ

[BarryH]

I wonder if SFNO will show up on "K-Ville" anytime soon.

[SharkTums]

Don't argue with Hamen1 Jeff, he'll just tell you how him and his teen friends are experts and the park would do great.

 

Yeah, like everyone has said, it would be stupid to reopen this park now. It was stupid that Six Flags bought it in the first place as no one ever went to Jazzland!

[OldJJman]

Don't argue with Hamen1 Jeff,....

 

Yes your Highness!

 

[Airtime&Gravity]

While I can see where New Orleans would seem to be a good location for a park, it was too far from where the tourists go, and being in a location like New Orleans, you will need some shade in a park. Plus, it isn't that good of an idea to build a park in a bowl like it was since...well you see what happened. I'm not sure how the flats were(were they like Cypress Gardens or regular flats?), but their coaster selection seemed decent for what it was.

 

Airtime-seems like a large WWW-&Gravity

[stingrock23]

I just don't see it opening in any way. A water park could work, but not a theme park. As much as I enjoyed it, I've already accepted the fact that it won't be coming back.

[texcoaster]

It breaks my heart that this park may never reopen. MegaZeph was my #1 woodie until I sampled some Gravity Group rides.

 

As previous posters have said, though, the park was DEAD even when NO was a thriving tourist destination. The park would certainly not "make a killing" now. The biggest problems it faced (besides the heat) were the location and the typical NO tourist.

 

[1] Location: it was too far out of town. Folks come to NO for the French Quarter and the Garden District. All of the conventions are in that area, all of the parties are in that area, all of the events are in that area. Most people plan a trip to NO and don't bother renting a car because everything happens centrally. A cab ride way out to the east end and back is a pretty steep price.

 

[2] Tourists: come to party. They want to get trashed, get crazy, stay out till the wee hours, and see (or have) sex on the streets. Generally, they do NOT bring the kids. If a park is to survive, it needs the dollars not just from mom&dad, but from the kids they bring with them who yell that they want a coke, a souvenier, etc. Teens probably spend the most money in a park, and folks don't bring their teens with them to NO, either.

 

Hate to say it, but as much as I loved that little park, it was a really bad business idea even when NO was booming.

[calcajun]

In 2005 i saw the waterpark plans on paper and knew where it was going. it was not going across the street. It was going in the current unocupied area off to the side behind Jester and kids area. It was to start small with a tornado, wave pool two other slides and a play area that i don't know what they call. You know the water areas with the big bucket that slowly fills and dumps huge amounts of water.

 

SFNO was never going, or planning to go bankrupt before the hurricane.

Now it is possible that they might have tried to sell the park since towards the end of 2005 was when we were hearing word that SFI was planning on selling off a few parks. Unless you ask shapiro about it, we will never know.

 

I don't know anything about who this is but someone seems to be wanting to give the site a go.

 

 

http://www.southernstaramusement.com/

[bgwfreak]

^ Wow. They've got an amazing site too.

 

Another thing to consider is that New Orleans is not exactly a family kinda town. It is called "The Big Easy" for a reason ya know.

 

Families keep amusement parks going and without families, you're going to have a hard time.