coasterbear30 Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 I go to the park on a regular basis as it is close to my house. My friends and I were there for opening day. We got there at 9:30 and the lines for parking were already atrocious! It took us about 20-30 minutes just to get through the parkling lines. We knew we were in for trouble when we saw the parking lot already over half full. One of the guys had to buy a ticket and stood in a line for almost an hour. For the sake of being long winded, we were there from 10-5 and I only got to ride Goliath which was an hour wait right after the park opening. They were only running one train on Ninja, Mindbender and Batman. I heard reports of 5 hour waits for Batman. For me, it wasn't a huge deal since I live so close to the park and am a season pass holder and go every weekend but for others....well I will just say go look at the SFOG Facebook page and you will see. I have never seen an opening day like that and I have been every opening day for the past 4 years. I think where it went awry is that they advertised the hell out of it on FB and were not really prepared for the response. I went again yesterday and it was great. Low crowds, rode everything we wanted and the lines weren't that long at all. Mindbender was about 30 minutes but that was because of single train operation. Other than that it was a great day. BTW, Dare Devil Dive looks great standing against the blue sky and I also took a few pictures with the track in the parking lot. I will try to post those soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeemerBoy Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 After my last visit, and now these initial opening day reports, I'm convinced this park would have better management and operations if they swapped out the staff for the animals from Zoo Atlanta. Waffle House Bash is sounding better and better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkTrips Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 Waffle House Bash is sounding better and better. Cooking with Joe: Waffles Edition is sounding better and better. Now only if I could get my waffle marker back... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 In all fairness, that Waffle House near SFoG is equally terrible! We've had to walk out before due to their level of service. And we're used to Waffle House, we understand how it works, I don't think the people working there knew though! Sounds like a rough opening at SFoG, hopefully they'll learn from this and improve for the rest of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjune4991 Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 You mean for when we'll be there for Deep South Bash? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 ^SFoG has put on some amazing days/events for us, I'm not worried at all! If anything this just solidifies the idea that we should all only visit theme parks with TPR! I'm spoiled, I hate going to parks when we don't have a trip or event going on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerrykoala2112 Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 According to my friend who was there, it took him a hour to park, 30 minutes to process his season pass, and then 2 hours to ride Goliath with a posted ride time of 90 minutes and very few switchbacks open. Seems like SFOG wasn't ready at all. Sounds like my visit in August 2009 On that day, it took us almost an hour to park, and just to enter the park was another 30 minutes. They stopped me because my appearance didn't match my season pass, because my photo was from 3 years before (Six Flags Great America always mailed our passes, with the pictures from the previous years) and that all wasted time. On top of that, I got on 6 coasters in the whole day, flash passes were sold out! I do think operations on Goliath can be a heck of a lot better, as they open the station gates over 5 times for employees to get through. Just a horrible visit to the park. I just got to remember to book flash passes online! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeemerBoy Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 If anything this just solidifies the idea that we should all only visit theme parks with TPR! Yep. This is literally the only reason I'm giving SFOG any thought this year. Sad really, because at its best it really can be a pretty good park. I just wish it'd get its act together and be more consistent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkTrips Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 In all fairness, that Waffle House near SFoG is equally terrible! We've had to walk out before due to their level of service. It frightens me to think what *bad* Waffle House service would be like (this IS a thread about waffles, right?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazekiddd Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 If anything this just solidifies the idea that we should all only visit theme parks with TPR! I'm spoiled, I hate going to parks when we don't have a trip or event going on! No freaking joke! I don't think I've been to a theme park outside of Orlando without TPR. I'm way too spoiled. I'm super excited to do SFOG with TPR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shivtim Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Starting trackwork on the inversions/turns: (image copyright SFoG) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skycoastin Steve Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 I've been to SFOG five times in my life, and they are 0 for 5 in the operations department. It's just one of those places I visit and expect to have a horrible day, hence why my visits there will be pretty sparse from now on. I guess I can drop in to get the Skycoaster Named Coaster credit at some point, but I won't stay long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jynx242 Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 I go every year on Easter Sunday and the operations (rides) are great. Partly because the place is a ghost town. Food Service, on the other hand, leaves much to be desired. Johnny Rocket's was the only place we got decent service. Usually, the wait for Panda Express Food was longer than the wait for Goliath. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willh51 Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 I know it won't make up for the crappy day a lot of people had, but the park seems to be pretty up front about addressing the issues, at least on its Facebook page. This is in light of some truly stupid comments, too. It seems like the park has a real problem with overcrowding, as this isn't the first time I've heard about it being an issue. I can't think of another park off the top of my head with a similar issue (maybe Great Adventure?), but this is not surprisingly given its proximity to Atlanta. From what I remember, it's not a huge park either. One a side note, during my visit a few years back I talked to a member of management while waiting for Deja Vu to open. I got to ride it twice in a row and saw him again afterward. Basically, he agreed that even with all its problems, it was a crazy ride, and it was nice getting to talk to a suit who was pretty honest about how some attractions are problematic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Mad_Hatter Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I'm going to SFOG Sunday, April 9th (or 10th), and was wondering if I should invest in the flashpass system. The latest posts have scared me, but how do crowds look for that day? Thanks so much. Really would appreciate a response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilrider Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 I'm going to SFOG Sunday, April 9th (or 10th), and was wondering if I should invest in the flashpass system. The latest posts have scared me, but how do crowds look for that day? Thanks so much. Really would appreciate a response. Sundays are much less crowded than Saturdays. You might not need the Flashpass if can get there early. Probably won't get busy until afternoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Mad_Hatter Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Thanks... How do you think lines will be time wise, since I'm not very familiar with the park? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbear30 Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 ^ Well I can tell you that Batman and Mindbender will only be running one train until mid-April so I would hit those first. And Superman takes forever to load so I would hit that early too. As far as the rest of the rides you should be ok. But like a previous poster said, get there before the park opens and be at the gate when it opens and you should have no trouble getting the credits in fairly quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jynx242 Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 I'm going to SFOG Sunday, April 9th (or 10th), and was wondering if I should invest in the flashpass system. The latest posts have scared me, but how do crowds look for that day? Thanks so much. Really would appreciate a response. Also - although some of us bitc#, SFoG is a really nice park. I'm sure you will have a great time! Lots of hills...remember that. After a couple of walks down to Gotham City and up to the Carousel, you'll have buns of steel . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpengeist04 Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 ^Very true. While SFOG is far from perfect, it's still one of my favorite Six Flags parks and one of the nicer parks in the chain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skycoastin Steve Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 I'm going to SFOG Sunday, April 9th (or 10th), and was wondering if I should invest in the flashpass system. The latest posts have scared me, but how do crowds look for that day? Thanks so much. Really would appreciate a response. Also - although some of us bitc#, SFoG is a really nice park. I'm sure you will have a great time! Lots of hills...remember that. After a couple of walks down to Gotham City and up to the Carousel, you'll have buns of steel . Guilty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shivtim Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 (edited) Two of the inversions are completed. So, trackwork is almost done! Edited March 25, 2011 by shivtim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkTrips Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 I was out on the westside on Wednesday... kinda funny to see that this ride is no taller than Goliath's helix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midgetman82 Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 The ride is near the front of the park, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
O Demon Avenger Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Does it have to be taller to pack a punch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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