TR: Six Flags Astroworld

[BarryH]

Here's a trip report I wrote a while ago on SFAW. I had planned to write a trip report on my entire Texas visit, but I never got around to finishing it. With SFAW closing soon, I thought it would be nice to look back at my first and only visit to the park.

 

 

The Texas Adventure March 2004

 

 

Part 1: Six Flags AstroWorld and the Houston Rodeo: March 17, 2004

 

I hadn’t expected to be in Texas until a few seasons later at least. I had originally planned to be on a business trip to California from March 17 to March 22. I had the days off all planned, but the trip fell through. I had the time off already, so I didn’t want to waste it. I was getting stressed out at work and I needed a vacation. The only parks that were opened weekly during that time were in Florida, California, and Texas. I can go to the parks in Florida easily since I live in the state. So it was down to California or Texas. Airfare was about the same. I almost went to California, but Space Mountain wasn’t open. I decided to wait until the Disneyland coaster was open to visit California. So I decided to hit Texas.

 

I shopped for ticket prices to Texas. Houston was the cheapest at around $314 on Continental. Arlington and San Antonio were around $400! I flew into George Bush International Airport around 8:15 am. The airport is huge! It took me about 10 minutes to walk from the gates to the luggage claim. I was walking at a leisurely pace, though. I took the bus to the rental car central at the airport, which seemed to be a million miles away from the terminal.

 

I had gotten an Economy car from Hertz off Priceline for $18 a day. When I got the keys and walked to the rental car parking lot, I was expecting to find a Geo Metro. I went to the specified space and instead of finding a Metro, I found a Ford Mustang! I had to double-check the space number! I was expecting a clown car, but I got a better car in the deal? I even had to call the office to make sure. They said to check the license plate and it matched what was on my rental agreement. The Mustang was roomier than a Metro, but I still had to push the seat all the way back so my long legs could fit. I was going to complain about getting the wrong car, but I “forgot.”

 

It took me about an hour to get from the airport to Six Flags AstroWorld, in part that I got lost and went the wrong way once. That wouldn’t be the first time. On the way to the park, I kept on singing, “I’m driving a truck, I’m driving a big old truck…” Thanks, Robb and Elissa! Anyway, on the way to the park, I drove by a small carnival with a Wacky Worm coaster. I was going to pull over, but it didn’t look open!

 

Finally, I arrived at the park at around 10:30 am. I was looking for parking until I saw a bunch of people crossing a bridge over the Interstate. Then I remember from Robb and Elissa’s video that parking was by the AstroDome. I had to dodge some light rail trains to get to the AstroDome parking. When I came out of my car in parking, I looked towards the stadium and saw a carnival at the Houston Rodeo. I saw a few coasters there. Hmmm…I wondered if I could get some extra credit there. I could get a few more coasters and be closer to 200 coasters! I would keep that in mind if I had some time after going to AstroWorld.

 

I hadn’t had high hopes for AstroWorld. I’ve heard a lot of bad things about it. People talked about rude employees, trash strewn everywhere, and gangs wandering the park. It seemed like people were making it out to be a “Six Flags Ghetto.” I thought I would need to duck from the drive-by shootings. I wanted to ride some of the coasters there, like Ultra Twister and Greezed Lighting, and I tend not to listen to most people. Some of these same people talk smack about Universal Orlando and say it has dirty bathrooms, rude employees, etc. – all of which I’ve never encountered. I’ll judge the park for myself.

 

I was also worried that my Six Flags Worlds of Adventure season pass wouldn’t work. I had renewed it in November and got a plastic ticket with a two-year old mugshot on it. When I visited, Six Flags Worlds of Adventure was in transition to be bought by Cedar Fair. I had heard a lot of different things whether or not it would work. I decided to try. If it didn’t work, I could always work out a deal with Guest Relations or buy a new season pass. I’d need it for Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags Fiesta Texas anyway.

 

I gave the employee at the gate my season pass and crossed my fingers. He swiped it once. Nothing. He swiped it twice. Nothing. Will a third time work? Could I get three cherries this time? He swiped it a third time. His LED screen said “Pass is valid” and let me in. Whoo-hoo!

 

I entered the park and decided which coaster to go to first. I didn’t have a map and I wished I had picked one up somewhere. I wanted to do Ultra Twister first since that seemed to garner the longest lines with its slow loading, but I headed the wrong way and went to Serial Thriller. The wait was around 15 minutes with two trains running. I wondered if I should ride an SLC for credit. I’ve ridden a lot of them and I was getting tired of the head banging. I decided to ride it anyway. I need the credit and I was in line anyway. I rode it and this SLC was surprisingly smooth! I may have gotten some head banging near the end, but I didn’t walk off this ride with a headache. Still, a SLC is a SLC. They’re the same thing, only with different names.

 

The next ride was Viper in the Asia section. As a side note, the park was divided into different worlds, like Asia, America, Coney Island, etc. I called it “The Poor Man’s Worlds of Fun.” Viper was a Swartzkopf and I’m strangely attracted to them. The wait was about 5 minutes with one train running. They didn’t allow any single riders, but the sign didn’t say anything about that. There was an open single seat and the ride ops were calling for single riders, so I took the empty seat. I had to switch places with the person beside me and it seemed like forever before the ride started. It did and I had a lot of fun on this ride. It had some wild laterals, more so than what I’ve encountered with other Swartzkopfs.

 

Another side note: “Viper” seems to be a name Six Flags likes to use to name different coasters. At Six Flags Great America, Viper is a wooden coaster. Here, it’s a steel. If you want to make a Six Flags park in Roller Coaster Tycoon, you must name one coaster “Superman the (blank),” another “Batman the (blank),” and something named “Viper.”

 

As I walked around the park, I noticed that the park was very clean. I was doing my best to look for trash and I didn’t see any. There were no overflowing trash cans either! Are you sure this is a Six Flags park?

 

Next up was XLR-8. I could not figure out what the heck this ride name was about. I kept on reading it “X-L-R-8.” What the heck does “X-L-R” stand for? Then I read it fast – “Accelerate.” Oh, that makes sense! The wait for this Arrow inverted was around 5 minutes for a one-train operation. The ride seemed to have a new coat of paint on it. It was aqua green and orange. Too bad it could not be blue and orange so it can be the Florida Gators coaster (I’m a University of Florida alumni, by the way – go Gators!). The coaster was only running one train. The train had half of it backwards. Now this is something I’ve never seen. I thought I’d ride it once forward and then later backwards. I might as well see where I’m going first! I rode it in the first train.

 

The coaster didn’t seem very fast, which didn’t seem worthy of its name. The coaster had a small groove on the lifthill where a wheel sticking out from the train would fit. As the coaster went up the lift, the wheel would align itself in the groove, but it didn’t do it with ease. As the wheel tried to enter the groove, it would make a big whack and shake the train. My head whacked on the restraints too! There are better coasters that are like this, most notably Iron Dragon at Cedar Point. I wanted to ride backwards, but I decided to ride the other coasters first.

 

I walked by Swat, but it didn’t seem to be running. A trash can and a chain blocked the entrance. I was disappointed since I was looking forward to riding it. I headed to Greezed Lightning, but it was closed too. I was again disappointed! The next coaster on the way was Batman: The Escape.

 

Batman: The Escape was a stand-up coaster, but it sure didn’t look like a B&M. I had seen this type of stand-up in Robb and Elissa’s European Odyssey video where many were riding it backwards (I can’t remember the name of the coaster). Too bad no one was riding it backwards. The theming for Batman: The Escape seem to have been stolen from Batman: The Ride. There was the same storm drain that we were supposed to sneak into to get into the Batcave.

 

I waited about 5 minutes for my ride on a two train operation. I fitted into this coaster in a weird way. I had to put my left arm into a big hole and the right arm was by the shoulder harness. This coaster was the worst stand-up I’ve been on. I though Iron Wolf at Six Flags Great America was pretty rough. Batman: The Escape was worse! My head banged all over the place. The only time my head didn’t bang was when the coaster stopped. Warning signs said to take off earrings before riding. Maybe we needed to take off our heads, much like Mark Leonard did in “Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century.”

 

One thing I noticed about Batman: The Escape is that it had a fresh coat of orange paint on it. I saw the coaster in Robb and Elissa’s video and the common color on it was rust. Are you sure I’m still at Six Flags? Did someone actually take care of this coaster?

 

I was getting hungry, so I decided to search for a place to eat. Six Flags isn’t known for its food, but I decided to grin and bear it. I was going to eat at a hamburger place, but it was way crowded. An employee was trying to gather some kids of a big dance. I found a pizza place that looked good. The employee that took my order was nice to me and actually smiled while she worked! Why was she being so nice to me? Are you sure I’m at Six Flags? Usually, the employees are constantly frowning or they fade into the background.

 

I had the pepperoni pizza. As for the taste of the food, I think I could have taken the cardboard plate that the pizza sat on, put salt and pepper on it, and eaten that. I think that would have tasted better. As I ate my pizza, I sat there and watched an employee at a drink stand across from the pizza place. As people walked by her, she said very loudly and with a smile, “Are you having a good day at Six Flags? Have a nice day!” She said that not to one or two people, but everyone that walked by her during the 15 minutes I ate the bad pizza. Now are you sure I’m still at Six Flags? Did I fall into the Twilight Zone? Where are the Candid Camera cameras? I thought about walking by her like 50 times to see if she would notice I was the same person, but I had more important things to do, like ride roller coasters!

 

I decided to ride Ultra Twister next. I waited 30 minutes for this coaster that was running about four trains. Like Batman: The Escape, I saw Ultra Twister in Robb and Elissa’s video and like the Batman coaster, the common color on this coaster was rust. Ultra Twister had a fresh coat of paint on it too! It was colored a dark shade of green and aqua green. As I got closer to the loading platform, I kept on hearing “Conveyor belt – watch your step!” over and over again. I wondered how the employees survive by listening to the recording all day long. I was also watching for someone to fall so I can have a good laugh. I finally got to ride. The clip on the restraint was unusual. It wasn’t a lock, but one of those clips you find on the end of the chains in the queue. These clips hold the chain to the handbars. Ultra Twister was a very unique coaster. It actually spun you around 360 degrees though the ride. I sat in the back and the coaster made me giggle a lot for some reason. It was an interesting ride, but too short. I wish the line were shorter so I could have gotten another ride.

 

I then headed to the Texas Cyclone. On my way over, I watched part of the Elvis show. A guy performed who sounded like Elvis, but didn’t look like him. I had heard some bad things about this wooden coaster, most notably that it was rough. As usual, I didn’t listen. The wait was about 20 minutes for a two-train operation. The ride wasn’t as rough as I was lead to believe, but it didn’t go much for me. I didn’t get really any airtime off it. As much as it shares the name with a famous coaster, the Texas Cyclone didn’t live up to its namesake. I also wondered why you needed to be taller to ride in the back four rows. This seemed to confuse a lot of short kids.

 

I thought I was done, but I had two more coasters left over: the Mayan Mindbender and the Serpent. The Mayan Mindbender didn’t look like a coaster until I read it on a map that I eventually found. I headed over to the Mayan Mindbender and an employee who manned a drink stand said, “Welcome to Six Flags!” What the heck – another friendly Six Flags employee? This was a nice gesture, but I was walking towards the entrance. Wouldn’t it be better to say that while I was entering the park? Well, it’s a start – employees seem a lot friendlier now than I’ve previously encountered at Six Flags. I walked by Greezed Lightning and Swat again. They were still down. XLR-8 had a line that stretched all the way to the entrance and there was just one train on the track. I don’t think I’ll get to ride it backwards.

 

The Mayan Mindbender was an indoor coaster housed in a big Mayan temple. The theming left a lot to be desired. You can actually see the hoses that shot up the scary mists. The queue played some spooky music, which no one seemed to be scared of. I waited in line for about 40 minutes for this one.

 

Nearly the entire queue is outside. As I entered the building, the smell of poop quickly came out of the temple. Phew, it hit me like a hammer and then went away! As I waited for my ride, I noticed that the coaster trains looked a lot like the ones for the Whizzer at Six Flags Great America. They were different because they had a lapbar that adjusted up and down. The train was quite long too. I think it was 14 rows long. The ride wasn’t too fascinating. It was in the dark, but it didn’t seem to thrilling. It seemed just to go up the lifthill and spiral down. It wasn’t a fun ride like the Whizzer. I think Six Flags needs to leave indoor dark coasters up to Disney. They make the better ones.

 

I walked by Serial Thriller and I was glad I rode it when I did. It looked like the wait was 30-45 minutes. Now it was time to get my kiddie coaster credit. I headed to the Serpent. I was all set to ride it until two things backed me off. First, the line was full of kids. Is this for kids only? Surely it was not since the posted sign said 36 inches or taller can ride, but as I looked at the seats, I figured I’d never be able to fit onto the seats. Oh well, I can always catch up on my credits later.

 

I headed out of Six Flags AstroWorld at around 3:00 pm. I needed to get my extra credits at the Houston Rodeo. All throughout the day at Six Flags AstroWorld, I was looking for trash and rude employees. I don’t think I found any trash and there were very few rude employees. It seems like the bad mouthing that people have given this park may have been unfair, or the park has begun to turn things around. Suffice to say, the park was a lot better than I expected. The coasters may not be the greatest, but it sure isn’t the “Six Flags Ghetto” or the most horrid park ever. A family can have a fun time here.

 

I headed across the parking lot to the Houston Rodeo. They had a carnival right in front of Reliant Stadium. I had really wanted to ride the Spinning Coaster, which was a coaster like Timberline Twister at Camp Snoopy. I had never ridden one before and now was my chance. The price to enter the rodeo was $6. A book of 40 tickets cost $20.

 

The first coaster I rode was the Hi-Miller. This reminded me of the Jack Rabbit at Celebration City. The Jack Rabbit’s turns were so brutal that I would have broken a rib if it were any quicker. I had waited about 15 minutes for a ride on the Hi-Miller, which was running one train. The turns were pretty nice and this is one of the better hi-miller type coasters I’ve been on. It seemed pretty busy, but that seemed to be in part that it was by the entrance.

 

I went to the Spinning Coaster next, but it was down. Huh? I saw it running as I crossed the parking lot. If only I was a little quicker. I then headed to the Wilde Mouse, which was a wild mouse. The track had about 8-10 trains on it, which is really the way a mouse should be run. It should look like a big marble set. I waited about 5 minutes for this one. Boy, was this mouse running fast! During the S-curves at the beginning, I was sure the train would fly off the tracks. I think this was one of the fastest wild mouse coasters I’ve ever been on.

 

I checked the Spinning Coaster, but it was still down. I headed to the kiddie area and saw the Little Dipper Roller Coaster. This was essentially a Dragon Wagon. Instead of the train being a dragon, the train looked like a spaceship. They were letting adults ride it, so I decided to go for it. I needed something to make up for the Serpent! I waited about 5 minutes for this one. The kiddie coaster had a pretty wild lateral after it went through a curve and before it went over the scary 5-foot drop. The ride ops let the coaster run for about 20 laps! The ride op just held down the go button and never took his thumb off it! I was getting my 3 coupons worth on this ride, that’s for sure! There was no one in line anyway! This coaster made me giggle for some strange reason.

 

The Spinning Coaster was still down, so I went to their Drop Zone-type ride (I can’t recall the name). This ride used the most tickets of them all – 8 tickets! The tower was pretty high and the ride ops let us sit there for about 5 minutes before we were dropped. The drop gives some good airtime as my butt left the seat!

 

The Spinning Coaster was still down, so I rode the Orbiter. I like riding these things for some reason. The Orbiter ran really fast – perhaps the fastest I’ve ever been on with an Orbiter – but it ran that fast for about 30 seconds and then stopped. Hey, give us some more, mister! But I had to get out. The Spinning Coaster didn’t have any life yet, so I used my final coupons and rode the Fireball. The ride had a full house and it was the best ride I’ve ever had on a Firewall. It swung back and forth really fast! The only problem was that it operated for about 5 minutes, which seemed way too long. After 3 minutes, I was asking the ride to do something else. Can you spin the other way or turn us upside down please?

 

There was still nothing happening at the Spinning Coaster, so I left after an hour of fun. I headed out around 4:30 pm.

[tracy]

I had heard horror stories on the forums and from family in the Houston area, but on a vist a couple of years ago, my daughter and I decided to chance it anyway.

 

It was about sunset on a Friday in June when we got there. The park was empty (maybe 2000 people), and yes, many appeared to be related to various "social organizations"; but there must have been a truce. Everyone acted like each other were long lost friends. When we got in line, we were immediately adopted into that family, and on the next ride we had a new family. My experience was nothing like I expected, and one of the best times I've had in any park.

 

As far as the park goes: Every coaster was running and we rode them all in 2 hours. Every employee was friendly and helpful. The park was as clean as any I've been in; maybe a little worn, but nothing a fresh coat of paint wouldn't ...hide? The coasters weren't the greatest but they were fun and, and, and...unique, and I would definately go back if I had the chance. (maybe they'll send a couple to Frontier City)

 

I think SFAW has gotten a very bad rap that it didn't deserve, and I will miss it.

[Real]

Batman: The Escape is not a B&M ride, it is an Intamin ride. It was designed probably by the guys from B&M (whom I believe worked with Intamin before they seperated) and manufactured by the guys who made the Goliath and Titan.

 

 

Nice TR. Sadly these wont exist in due time.

[robbalvey]

Photos!!!!!! Where are the photos!!!!

 

--Robb

[Wes]

^ Photos? Where is the video with Cher's "If I Could Turn Back Time" playing over it.

[Erik Johnson]

Thanks for the TR. And Go Gators! Too bad that some of the coasters were closed the day you went, but its still sounded like you had a good time.

Edited September 15, 2005 by Erik Johnson

[BarryH]

Photos!!!!!! Where are the photos!!!!

 

--Robb

 

How about a SFAW video?

 

Download it here:

 

http://s28.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3UD001KG47YSI257M03B39Y533

[robbalvey]

Barry, I uploaded the video here so it doesn't eat up your download counts:

 

Barry's Six Flags Astroworld Video

[BarryH]

^Thanks! You're so cool!