Apex Parks Group acquires Martin's Fantasy Island

[Sam826]

So, aparently Al Weber, the CEO of Apex Parks Group, recently passed away... just in case anyone was wondering...

 

P.S. The Fantasy Island website has been updated and has a new logo.

www.fantasyislandny.com

[Sam826]

I wonder where Fantasy Islands new mini golf course will be going...

[cal1br3tto]

[Just seeing this now] I hope the new owners will improve the park, since I've heard mainly discouragingly terrible reviews of the place. Haven't they been starting to improve Indiana Beach after the slump brought on by the previous owner(s)? At any rate, hopefully this will increase my interest in actually visiting the park.

[Canobie Coaster]

My visit in 2010 was pleasant and the park reminded me a lot of Funtown USA. It's a shame that it sounds like it has gone downhill. The park wasn't overly crowded, but they had a nice collection of rides. Silver Comet was a really good woodie with a great mix of laterals and airtime. I just thought the park needed another big coaster to go with Silver Comet.

[Rollercoaster Rider]

I went in a June of 2013 and had a fine time at the park, Granted it was more of a credit run and I was only there for 2-3 hours but it was nice. Silver Comet was rough from what I remember but their Star Flyer was fun and Mind Warp made me want to puke but the staff was fine, the rides were OK and I thought it was OK. I do agree that another major coaster would be incredible.

[DarienLaker]

What Fantasy Island needs is a looping coaster to go in where the log flume was!

[coasterkid124]

My visit in 2010 was pleasant and the park reminded me a lot of Funtown USA. It's a shame that it sounds like it has gone downhill. The park wasn't overly crowded, but they had a nice collection of rides. Silver Comet was a really good woodie with a great mix of laterals and airtime. I just thought the park needed another big coaster to go with Silver Comet.

 

It's right about after that time period that I noticed the decline in service. I'll list some of the larger things that made the day less enjoyable:

 

1) New loading policy on Silver Comet: I believe after Darien Lake's accident in 2011, this new setup was installed in hopes of "better safety". They stopped allowing seat choice and replaced it with assigned seating. The worst part was the actual loading procedure. They start from the front of the train and check individual seat belts. Then they unlock the lap bars and a very loud employee will yell "Arms up! Do not touch the lap bars, we will put them down for you!" They then go by gently placing the lap bars down on you, usually 2-3 clicks too loose. If anyone touches a lap bar themselves, the process starts over. Safety is fine, but this isn't really safer, and makes the loading process sometimes over 5 minutes long on a single train ride.

 

2) General change in employees' attitudes: They are less enthusiastic and pleasant to deal with. A lot of them seem they should be at the local fair instead. Barely any of them crack a smile, and sometimes are rude if you try saying something to them.

 

3) Ride seating policies: No single riders allowed on Flight, Cannon Bowl, Antique Cars, won't dispatch Crazy Mouse unless you have 3 passengers. It forces a lot of pairing up with strangers if you have an odd number in your group.

 

4) Change in admissions to include wristbands, which leads to longer lines, and bag checks take a while.

 

5) Removal of many fan favorite rides over the years

 

It's not like the park has reached Six Flags guest relation levels over the years, but it definitely has gone downhill. As I've mentioned before, I stopped visiting a few years ago, and the park is pretty close to me, because a lot of these little annoyances add up over the day. For instance, I used to be able to marathon Silver Comet in any seat, but now I'm always forced somewhere, and it takes a good 5 minutes to load minimum.

 

Hopefully with new management means refreshing of the general policies and ironing out a lot of these bugs.