Linders Posted January 3, 2014 Posted January 3, 2014 I always do the surveys. I am always hoping to win tickets for my friends. Hasn't happened yet. Also, I do like to leave feedback, both positive and negative, in case somebody is paying attention at corporate. Right now the big question is do we go tomorrow or just do it today? Last Saturday was a nightmare crowd, from what I was told by a friend that went. Not feelin' it today but a big cold front is coming Sunday that will make it miserable to ride coasters on, if they run them. Monday's high is 32! Trying to decide if we should make the gamble it buck up and do it today. Decisions decisions.
Wes Posted January 3, 2014 Posted January 3, 2014 ^I don't think anyone important at SFoT checks here...same with SFMM. You can tell the parks that care and respond to customers on social media and in general. Unfortunately two of the largest SF parks just don't care. Which is totally sad…
Ccron10 Posted January 3, 2014 Posted January 3, 2014 Now, I know this might sound a bit harsh, so please don't take me for being an A$$, but I think SF Corp needs to completely clean house for 2014 season at SFOT. I'm talking Management, Ride Ops, Food Service Employees, EVERY department. I'm not one for people losing jobs, but I'm also not one for people doing a piss poor job either. I think this would benefit the Park tremendously. Again, I'm not trying to be a jerk here. I think it would be very difficult for a company to simply replace that many employees. Not necessarily...Promoting/hiring from within, transferring employees from other parks, Job Fair with a great interview process. Just a few options. It could be done. Will it? No. But it is very possible. Keep in mind that it also depends on where the park is mostly hiring from. For example, Cedar Point usually beings most of its people in from farther away to work there and provide quite a bit of housing. They can afford to be more restrictive with who they hire. Now I don't know if OT provides housing or is able to bring in many non-local employees, but if not, then chances are that they can't be as restrictive on who they hire to work. I think if they improved their training methods, be a little stricter on consequences for the employees, they would be able to weed out the bad employees from the good ones.
IronWolfman Posted January 4, 2014 Posted January 4, 2014 ^I don't think anyone important at SFoT checks here...same with SFMM. You can tell the parks that care and respond to customers on social media and in general. Unfortunately two of the largest SF parks just don't care. Which is totally sad… Yeah this is sad to hear about. Doesn't KI have a person who checks all the social media stuff and actually suggests some of the things said to management? Or was that some place else?
gerstlaueringvar Posted January 4, 2014 Posted January 4, 2014 Let's just hope it would be a temporary thing. Actually I think SFOT was way better than SFMM. About coaster/ride choice, I think SFOT also wins SFMM. Shockwave>Revolution Titan>Goliath for Helix-O-Death Judge Roy Scream>Colossus Mr. Freeze>S:EFK (it's hard to compare these two though) Batman=Batman NTaG>Possibly everything at SFMM But Lex Luthor beats Superman.
Mrlittle Posted January 4, 2014 Posted January 4, 2014 Let's just hope it would be a temporary thing. Actually I think SFOT was way better than SFMM. About coaster/ride choice, I think SFOT also wins SFMM. Shockwave>Revolution Titan>Goliath for Helix-O-Death Judge Roy Scream>Colossus Mr. Freeze>S:EFK (it's hard to compare these two though) Batman=Batman NTaG>Possibly everything at SFMM But Lex Luthor beats Superman. What about x2, Tatsu and Full Throttle. Yeah SFMM to me has the better line up. That's coming from a SFOT fan. My thoughts on operations at SFOT or the lack there of. It really comes down to management. I believe they changed out management at the park about 2 years ago and since I've seen customer service and operations fall. I used to rank SFOT as a top park on my list. Just look at SFFT just a few hrs away with its great management staff. It's almost like the parks have swapped because it was only in the last few years that I notice SFFT operations getting better. I feel the park could benefit big just from replacing the management team because the park has the potential to be great again like before.
Linders Posted January 4, 2014 Posted January 4, 2014 I agree with you regarding SFFT! I had never been there till this past summer. I have been going to SFOT since I was 5 or 6 years old, back in 1979-80. My only other park experiences have been SFAW (back when it was just AW) and Frontier City, in OKC. I always felt like OT was the superior park, by far. This past summer we went down to San Antonio, and went to SFFT. Where it is a smaller park, we were very impressed by it. I was especially impressed with how efficient they were. Lines didn't seem stagnant, and it seemed more "guest friendly." In fact, I was telling a friend today, while in line for Texas Giant, about how they have test seats outside a lot of their coasters, and several have rows with restraints designed for large people (ya, we were talking about the accident). The atmosphere was great, and my family loved the "Lone Star Nights" fireworks/laser show they did on the cliff wall at closing time. We want to go back. SFOT rides are better and in more supply, but overall I thought SFFT was a better park. They seemed to be all about the experience and did a great job at it.
gerstlaueringvar Posted January 4, 2014 Posted January 4, 2014 Sure that SFFT is an excellent park with great management and even their Boomerang is very smooth. I mean SFOT is better than SFMM but it doesn't mean SFOT is a great park that can compete with SFFT or SFGAm. Still a lot of things need to be done on SFOT.
Linders Posted January 4, 2014 Posted January 4, 2014 You forgot to mention the Superman Krypton Coaster and Poltergeist. Of course there is IRAT. But, after riding both, NTAG was a far better ride, even without the barrel rolls.
rdngmikey Posted January 4, 2014 Posted January 4, 2014 It's unfortunate that so many SF parks seem to be poorly managed, I have SFDK near me and although I do enjoy it, I seem to run into problems quite frequently. I am visiting SFOT for the first time on Monday, any suggestions?
Linders Posted January 4, 2014 Posted January 4, 2014 It's unfortunate that so many SF parks seem to be poorly managed, I have SFDK near me and although I do enjoy it, I seem to run into problems quite frequently. I am visiting SFOT for the first time on Monday, any suggestions? Layers. Wear lots of layers and gloves. High isn't supposed to get above 32.
rdngmikey Posted January 4, 2014 Posted January 4, 2014 Yeah, I saw that, and considering I'm coming from Northern California where we're seeing high 60's to low 70's, it's going to be a bit of a shock stepping off of the plane. At least I have an early flight, so the temps should be low when I'm leaving, so hopefully it won't be too bad.
Vonni Posted January 5, 2014 Posted January 5, 2014 When I visited SFOT in 2003, the Oil Derrick was closed. I never see any mention of it, or pics from the top of it, so is the Oil Derrick still closed?
Linders Posted January 5, 2014 Posted January 5, 2014 When I visited SFOT in 2003, the Oil Derrick was closed. I never see any mention of it, or pics from the top of it, so is the Oil Derrick still closed? It is closed during Holiday in the Park and on windy days. We went up it a couple of times this past summer.
Vonni Posted January 6, 2014 Posted January 6, 2014 ^ Thanks for the response! I just didn't know if it was operable anymore because no one ever talks about it lol!
BigBomer Posted January 6, 2014 Posted January 6, 2014 Yeah, I saw that, and considering I'm coming from Northern California where we're seeing high 60's to low 70's, it's going to be a bit of a shock stepping off of the plane. At least I have an early flight, so the temps should be low when I'm leaving, so hopefully it won't be too bad. Fair warning, not very many rides were open today due to the cold.
kidcoaster 2 Posted January 6, 2014 Posted January 6, 2014 Yeah, I saw that, and considering I'm coming from Northern California where we're seeing high 60's to low 70's, it's going to be a bit of a shock stepping off of the plane. At least I have an early flight, so the temps should be low when I'm leaving, so hopefully it won't be too bad. Fair warning, not very many rides were open today due to the cold. The park just posted they are closed tomorrow. Thanks for an amazing season! Due to freezing temperatures, the park will be closed tomorrow. The Season Pass processing center will still be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sorry man.
Linders Posted January 6, 2014 Posted January 6, 2014 ^ Thanks for the response! I just didn't know if it was operable anymore because no one ever talks about it lol! I don't see that going anywhere. Of course, I never imagines the parachutes going. There is a neat you tube video that I stumbled upon from 1987. It was a pretty decent quality for the time. They shot it from the top of the tower. I was a teenager that summer and it brought back memories for me. He gets good footage of The Spinnaker and that airplane ride that was removed for the Superman tower. They got the Shock Wave and it's white paint job and no go-kart track. It gives a glimpse of Spindle Top, the Cliffhanger, and Runaway Mine Train. This was pre-Texas Giant. They even do a little POV on Shock Wave. It was cool. Just search Six Flags Over Texas from tower 1987.
Vonni Posted January 6, 2014 Posted January 6, 2014 ^ Thanks for the response! I just didn't know if it was operable anymore because no one ever talks about it lol! I don't see that going anywhere. Of course, I never imagines the parachutes going. There is a neat you tube video that I stumbled upon from 1987. It was a pretty decent quality for the time. They shot it from the top of the tower. I was a teenager that summer and it brought back memories for me. He gets good footage of The Spinnaker and that airplane ride that was removed for the Superman tower. They got the Shock Wave and it's white paint job and no go-kart track. It gives a glimpse of Spindle Top, the Cliffhanger, and Runaway Mine Train. This was pre-Texas Giant. They even do a little POV on Shock Wave. It was cool. Just search Six Flags Over Texas from tower 1987. I'll definitely be checking that out! It sounds really cool! EDIT: Here is a link to the video
Linders Posted January 6, 2014 Posted January 6, 2014 Cool! Thanks. Looks like he has a few oldies on his page. I noticed a Spelunker one, too. He also got the bobsled ride as I always remember it, in blue! Before they changed it from "Avalanche Bobsled" to the Spanish name. If I remember correctly, that was the year it opened. That year or shortly before or after. I remember wanting to ride it real bad. I got on it and thought, "Where's the beef?" LOL. Thanks again for posting the link.
Linders Posted January 7, 2014 Posted January 7, 2014 Check this one one out. It'll blow your mind. This guy posted the video of him and his family visiting SFOT in 1962. The park was on its 2nd year. The video was great. His dad apparently followed them around the park. Lots of LaSalle boat adventure, and slides. The one area I could recognize (besides the entry, boatride, and the schoolhouse) was the Texas Depot. My kids even recognized what was NOT there behind it (NTAG). Way cool. Enjoy.
Vonni Posted January 7, 2014 Posted January 7, 2014 ^ That Mouse Coaster in the video, is that Cucaracha?
Linders Posted January 10, 2014 Posted January 10, 2014 ^ That Mouse Coaster in the video, is that Cucaracha? That's before my time, so I haven't the faintest idea. Maybe someone more seasoned or at least more up on SF history would know. My SF memories go back to 79. I have vague memories of the LaSalle ride and the cable cars going over our head. I also have memories of my mom coming off Shock Wave losing her mind from excitement. It was best thing she'd ever ridden and had to get all of her friends and family to come down from Wichita, Kansas to come ride it. We had just barely moved down here from up there. All we had up there was an old woodie from the 40's at a little, now abandoned theme park called "Joyland." Which, incidentally, was my first coaster ride, at 4 or 5 years old before we came to Texas. That was the most any of us had ever seen out of a theme park. Shock Wave was pretty eye popping. That woodie is SPNO, to this day. Sad thing. They have had many people try to buy and reopen the park, and it's yet to happen.
BigBomer Posted January 10, 2014 Posted January 10, 2014 ^ That Mouse Coaster in the video, is that Cucaracha? Has to be, the video is from 1962 (one of it's 4 operating seasons) and it's the only mouse in park history.
Linders Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 Anybody else get a Leadership Survey in your inbox? Guess they are about to have their meeting of the minds to improve 2014. Got mine today.
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