SFWoA 8/4/01 Wild rides, crappy operations
Associated parks:
None
Being my first time to SFWoA, I was extremely excited. We were hot off of our Kennywood trip the night before, and were up early to get to the park right on time.
After entering the park, we got in line to buy FastLanes(everybody calls them SpeedLane or FastPass). Of course, nobody was selling them at the time, and there was no sign to tell when they would start selling. Anyway, after time slot confusion on the FL, we went off to BKF.
I have to say that Batman is one of the most beautiful rides my eyes have ever seen. The drop is just PERFECT, and everything else is engineered to B&M perfection. No line, we were one of the first to the gate. The back seat rocked, and the floorless effect was no gimmick to me. The cars are very open, and really help to make you feel free. No one part of the ride stands out, but the whole ride as a piece is awesome. We had to go again, this time in the front seat, even better.
Two of us hit the Texas Twister, which was fun, but very painful. After getting lost trying to find the Villain, we decided to hit Serial Thriller. I have to say the ride is OK, but it just doesn't do anything for me. We only waited 15 min.
Our time slot for Superman was near, so we headed over in that direction. Two of us hit the Time Warp. I thought this ride was better than the TT, but those restraints can be a killer.
Our designated time for Superman was between 12-1, and we got there around 11:55. A few people were there already, and they eventually took us up in groups. The seat choice is third from front, third from back. I chose third from front with my partner, and we were off. This ride was about everything I expected it to be, it didn't blow my socks off, but it was a very fun ride, extremely unique. We were all very disorientated after it.
After that, we hit the Juke Box Cafe, and waited 35 min. to eat. The food was good, the prices were not.
Next we headed over to the Villain. Our FL came through again, providing us with barely any wait. This was the only ride that I was thoroughly disappointed with. It was good, but my airtime was minimal, and the trains have a Son of Beast vibration"y" feel to them. Not every CCI can be perfect, right? After the Villain we headed to the Double Loop, which was a fun, classic Arrow.
We then headed over to a woodie that blew my mind. I wasn't expecting all that much from a ride that only tops out at 35 mph, but this ride was throwing me everywhere, and I loved it. There was one surprise throw to the left, and the airtime is insane! You got a classic here, SFWoA, don't get rid of it.
It was finally time for our time slot on X-Flight, so we headed over to the FL line. This is the only ride that our pass did not work on. We waited longer than the normal line. Ugh. People were cutting in the FL line, nobody was checking for passes, and the pop machine didn't work(it didn't even have water in it anyway!). Our wait was no good, but the ride, well it was amazing. I was just freaking out with anticipation and excitement going up that lift. The minute we flipped over, I was in a state of pure euphoria and joy. Flying through the air was awesome, and then we flipped over for the loop. The Gs in the loop are so strong and forceful, you just have to love it. Just as good, practically better than Millennium Force. This from Vekoma!?!?! I'm impressed.
We were whipped from the heat, so we decided to head over to the Wildlife side for a while. Well, the one hour wait for the ferry was pleasant, with plenty of line jumpers. The Wildlife side is much nicer than the WildRides side. There is actually shade, can you believe it? We hit the Dolphin show, which was decent, nut not great. We liked the Penguin exhibit, very cool.
We got a funnel cake, which was decent, but not great. We hit the Sting Rays, the Seals, and the Shark exhibit. We were planning on riding Mission: Bermuda Triangle, but the wait was over an hour. The WildLife side wasn't all that bad, but I imagine it was better with SeaWorld operating it.
You think it would be easy to find the Boardwalk to the Rides side, but not really. We had trouble finding our way around to it, and then you have to dodge a bunch of kids shooting water at you just to get there! Anyway, I saw a crane doing some land clearing in a small space, maybe for a flat ride, or for the new 2002 coaster(I doubt it). The walk wasn't too bad, and it was reasonably nice.
We hit the Bobs, and it had a very low wait. I don't see why everybody hated this coaster. I thought that it was very fast, and it gave me a bit of airtime. It is a nice ride at the end of your walk.
We took my dad on the Big Dipper, and loved another great ride on this classic. Next me and one of my friend hit the Mind Eraser. FastLane is kind of pointless on this ride, as the wait was already short. We hit the very back, as that was the shortest wait. I really was digging the old 80s Vekoma logo on the blocky, ugly trains. I guess this is your cookie cutter boomerang, unreliable(it was down almost all day), and sort of fun.
Three of us used our remaining FL to hit the Villain once again. We waited a bit longer, but it still reduced our wait. One train op on Villain ALL day, what's up with that? Again, a fun ride, with a good first drop, but still disappointing. I guess the Timbers have spoiled me. I really caught no airtime on the final stretch home, was it running slow???
For our last ride of the day, we had to hit X-Flight again. Only a 45 min. wait, very nice. I have to say this ride is just as good at night. I didn't have as much fun as possible because I really couldn't scream, o well.
Here's my dilemma. Every single ride at Six Flags COULD have shorter waits. Every ride at this park has THE WORST designed stations I have ever seen. This is the same at every same SF park I have been to. Why must you enter from one side? Why do they put a whole queue in the station? If you entered from the middle, then the people could flow out to the left and right. Instead, you have to enter form one side, this causes back ups so you can't get to the back of rides.
This station design problem escalates with X-Flight. Since the maze doesn't split off evenly, more people wait for the right station. This causes the line to back up into the maze, so people can not go to the left, causing the queue to stop at the end of the maze. Add to that problem, people not knowing to move to the very back of the station, instead of crowding the front, you have a traffic jam on your hands. Myself and another person in line had to yell at the people in the end of the maze to go to the left. After that, the line actually moved.
You think that they would have somebody directing all of these people and checking for the height, right? Wrong. Not one person anywhere checking for the height. Not one person telling you where to go. Not one security guard to handle the endless streams of line jumpers, and smokers. I counted 20 people at once smoking in the X-Flight tent of smoke.
The employees are rude. I'm sorry but one op yelled at everybody on the Texas Twister. At X-Flight, a lady in line asked a ride op to throw out the line jumpers without FastLanes, she checked a few people and ignored the people without FLs!!!!!!!!
There are other problems at this park that I am too lazy to type about. BTW, they NEED another mode of transportation across the lake. ANYTHING.
On the bright side of things, the rides really did rock. X-Flight, BKF, and the Big Dipper were all VERY impressive. Superman was good, but it made me sick(I couldn't believe that!) I would probably go back if they got another star roller coaster, but I would rather be less stressed about bad ops, than to have another huge coaster.
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CDNSN
After entering the park, we got in line to buy FastLanes(everybody calls them SpeedLane or FastPass). Of course, nobody was selling them at the time, and there was no sign to tell when they would start selling. Anyway, after time slot confusion on the FL, we went off to BKF.
I have to say that Batman is one of the most beautiful rides my eyes have ever seen. The drop is just PERFECT, and everything else is engineered to B&M perfection. No line, we were one of the first to the gate. The back seat rocked, and the floorless effect was no gimmick to me. The cars are very open, and really help to make you feel free. No one part of the ride stands out, but the whole ride as a piece is awesome. We had to go again, this time in the front seat, even better.
Two of us hit the Texas Twister, which was fun, but very painful. After getting lost trying to find the Villain, we decided to hit Serial Thriller. I have to say the ride is OK, but it just doesn't do anything for me. We only waited 15 min.
Our time slot for Superman was near, so we headed over in that direction. Two of us hit the Time Warp. I thought this ride was better than the TT, but those restraints can be a killer.
Our designated time for Superman was between 12-1, and we got there around 11:55. A few people were there already, and they eventually took us up in groups. The seat choice is third from front, third from back. I chose third from front with my partner, and we were off. This ride was about everything I expected it to be, it didn't blow my socks off, but it was a very fun ride, extremely unique. We were all very disorientated after it.
After that, we hit the Juke Box Cafe, and waited 35 min. to eat. The food was good, the prices were not.
Next we headed over to the Villain. Our FL came through again, providing us with barely any wait. This was the only ride that I was thoroughly disappointed with. It was good, but my airtime was minimal, and the trains have a Son of Beast vibration"y" feel to them. Not every CCI can be perfect, right? After the Villain we headed to the Double Loop, which was a fun, classic Arrow.
We then headed over to a woodie that blew my mind. I wasn't expecting all that much from a ride that only tops out at 35 mph, but this ride was throwing me everywhere, and I loved it. There was one surprise throw to the left, and the airtime is insane! You got a classic here, SFWoA, don't get rid of it.
It was finally time for our time slot on X-Flight, so we headed over to the FL line. This is the only ride that our pass did not work on. We waited longer than the normal line. Ugh. People were cutting in the FL line, nobody was checking for passes, and the pop machine didn't work(it didn't even have water in it anyway!). Our wait was no good, but the ride, well it was amazing. I was just freaking out with anticipation and excitement going up that lift. The minute we flipped over, I was in a state of pure euphoria and joy. Flying through the air was awesome, and then we flipped over for the loop. The Gs in the loop are so strong and forceful, you just have to love it. Just as good, practically better than Millennium Force. This from Vekoma!?!?! I'm impressed.
We were whipped from the heat, so we decided to head over to the Wildlife side for a while. Well, the one hour wait for the ferry was pleasant, with plenty of line jumpers. The Wildlife side is much nicer than the WildRides side. There is actually shade, can you believe it? We hit the Dolphin show, which was decent, nut not great. We liked the Penguin exhibit, very cool.
We got a funnel cake, which was decent, but not great. We hit the Sting Rays, the Seals, and the Shark exhibit. We were planning on riding Mission: Bermuda Triangle, but the wait was over an hour. The WildLife side wasn't all that bad, but I imagine it was better with SeaWorld operating it.
You think it would be easy to find the Boardwalk to the Rides side, but not really. We had trouble finding our way around to it, and then you have to dodge a bunch of kids shooting water at you just to get there! Anyway, I saw a crane doing some land clearing in a small space, maybe for a flat ride, or for the new 2002 coaster(I doubt it). The walk wasn't too bad, and it was reasonably nice.
We hit the Bobs, and it had a very low wait. I don't see why everybody hated this coaster. I thought that it was very fast, and it gave me a bit of airtime. It is a nice ride at the end of your walk.
We took my dad on the Big Dipper, and loved another great ride on this classic. Next me and one of my friend hit the Mind Eraser. FastLane is kind of pointless on this ride, as the wait was already short. We hit the very back, as that was the shortest wait. I really was digging the old 80s Vekoma logo on the blocky, ugly trains. I guess this is your cookie cutter boomerang, unreliable(it was down almost all day), and sort of fun.
Three of us used our remaining FL to hit the Villain once again. We waited a bit longer, but it still reduced our wait. One train op on Villain ALL day, what's up with that? Again, a fun ride, with a good first drop, but still disappointing. I guess the Timbers have spoiled me. I really caught no airtime on the final stretch home, was it running slow???
For our last ride of the day, we had to hit X-Flight again. Only a 45 min. wait, very nice. I have to say this ride is just as good at night. I didn't have as much fun as possible because I really couldn't scream, o well.
Here's my dilemma. Every single ride at Six Flags COULD have shorter waits. Every ride at this park has THE WORST designed stations I have ever seen. This is the same at every same SF park I have been to. Why must you enter from one side? Why do they put a whole queue in the station? If you entered from the middle, then the people could flow out to the left and right. Instead, you have to enter form one side, this causes back ups so you can't get to the back of rides.
This station design problem escalates with X-Flight. Since the maze doesn't split off evenly, more people wait for the right station. This causes the line to back up into the maze, so people can not go to the left, causing the queue to stop at the end of the maze. Add to that problem, people not knowing to move to the very back of the station, instead of crowding the front, you have a traffic jam on your hands. Myself and another person in line had to yell at the people in the end of the maze to go to the left. After that, the line actually moved.
You think that they would have somebody directing all of these people and checking for the height, right? Wrong. Not one person anywhere checking for the height. Not one person telling you where to go. Not one security guard to handle the endless streams of line jumpers, and smokers. I counted 20 people at once smoking in the X-Flight tent of smoke.
The employees are rude. I'm sorry but one op yelled at everybody on the Texas Twister. At X-Flight, a lady in line asked a ride op to throw out the line jumpers without FastLanes, she checked a few people and ignored the people without FLs!!!!!!!!
There are other problems at this park that I am too lazy to type about. BTW, they NEED another mode of transportation across the lake. ANYTHING.
On the bright side of things, the rides really did rock. X-Flight, BKF, and the Big Dipper were all VERY impressive. Superman was good, but it made me sick(I couldn't believe that!) I would probably go back if they got another star roller coaster, but I would rather be less stressed about bad ops, than to have another huge coaster.
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CDNSN
Wow, I'm surprised you didn't like Villain. I've found it to be a little rough this year, especially on the first trip out, but never did I think the airtime was lacking. Perhaps it's from riding in the back few rows every time.
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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"From the global village... in the age of communication!"
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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"From the global village... in the age of communication!"
Craig the Coaster Freak said:
" Every ride at this park has THE WORST designed stations I have ever seen. This is the same at every same SF park I have been to. Why must you enter from one side? Why do they put a whole queue in the station? If you entered from the middle, then the people could flow out to the left and right. Instead, you have to enter form one side, this causes back ups so you can't get to the back of rides. "
Batman Knight Flight, Superman: Ultimate Escape, Big Dipper, Villian, Mind Eraser and Serial Thriller all have queues that end near the middle of the train (Villain's is slightly biased towards the back). And unless you havent updated your track record (possible as my GAdv updates didnt take) you've only been to one other SF park.
SFWoA has a ton of problems, but station design was not one of them. SFA on the other hand...
lata,
jeremy
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"Nobody writes about the planes that land." Steve Salerno Washington Times 7-10-01
I did enjoy the Villain, but it didn't live up to what everybody said it was like. Maybe I'm spoiled from the enormus air on the Timbers. Maybe I shouldn't have classified every SF park as having bad stations, but SFDL has the same problems in station desgin to me. I still think that clogged stations is the main problem.
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CDNSN
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CDNSN
Where did you ride on the Villain? I usually ride towards the back and always get near-standing air on the first drop, drop of the "would-be-block" and the final turnaround as well as decent air on all the hills. Not Shivering Timbers air, but then again, what is? Maybe it was running slow or maybe you rode it early in the day. I took an early and late ride on it last time I was there and the difference was amazing.
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It's a simple equation: CCI + CP = #1 Wooden Coaster!
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It's a simple equation: CCI + CP = #1 Wooden Coaster!
I only like Villain in front seat and back. Front gives the smoothest wooden coaster ride ever. You get awesome air and it just blows me away. But back is rough, but gives so ejector air on the hills. If you ride in the middle, the ride has no airtime and its really boreing!
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www.SFWoA.com Your Connection to SFWoA!
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www.SFWoA.com Your Connection to SFWoA!
I sat in the second to last car from the back I believe. I sat in the front and back row of that car. Don't get me wrong, I got air on the first drop, but I seriously was catching little to no air on the last stretch of bunny hops. I thought the Big Dipper had more airtime, that's all.
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CDNSN
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CDNSN
The employees are pretty mean. When I went in early July on X-Flight I wasnt ready for the things that presses your legs in place and got my left leg pinched up. I told the op and without saying anything he started punching my leg into the restraint. Other than the ops it was pretty cool with a good selection of coasters.
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-Ryan
AIM: illeminemepill
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-Ryan
AIM: illeminemepill
I thought that employees were, for the most part kind, except for one incident. I was at the Dippin Dots stand and I ordered chocolate, which was a mistake. They had ran out of that flavor which I didn't know and she went crazy. For an entire minute she was yelling about how they had ran out chocolate. While she was yelling I was trying to tell her I'd take rainbow instead but she was still yelling. It was funny, you never know what will happen at SFWoA. I love that park. :)
I also had a bad experience at a Dippin Dots stand, the one right near Mind Eraser.
My brother and I both wanted banana split, but I realized they only had a little bit left. I asked, "Will they be enough for two small cups of banana split?"
"There will be if you wait for it to thaw it. If not, I have to go ALL the way over there (pointing to a nearby storage) to get another bag. So please get two different flavors."
"Uhh... okay. I'll take strawberry (although I'd rather have banana split..)."
And while all this was going on, she was crying and hardly paid attention to what I was saying. :(
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Chris B.
http://sfwoa.tripod.com/
Radioheader08@netscape.net
My brother and I both wanted banana split, but I realized they only had a little bit left. I asked, "Will they be enough for two small cups of banana split?"
"There will be if you wait for it to thaw it. If not, I have to go ALL the way over there (pointing to a nearby storage) to get another bag. So please get two different flavors."
"Uhh... okay. I'll take strawberry (although I'd rather have banana split..)."
And while all this was going on, she was crying and hardly paid attention to what I was saying. :(
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Chris B.
http://sfwoa.tripod.com/
Radioheader08@netscape.net
I think Villain gives a much better ride in the back than the front. I thought it was rather uneventful when I rode it in the front. Big Dipper on the other hand gives good air no matter where you sit.
We also noticed the problem with the X-Flight line. They had someone placed there for the "morning rush" but when we rode it later, we too had to yell at people to fill the left side. You know, for about $10, they could place a sign saying "Form Two Lines" with arrows pointing to either line. Duh!
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Christ how do you kids do it
We also noticed the problem with the X-Flight line. They had someone placed there for the "morning rush" but when we rode it later, we too had to yell at people to fill the left side. You know, for about $10, they could place a sign saying "Form Two Lines" with arrows pointing to either line. Duh!
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Christ how do you kids do it
It is beyond me how you did not like the villian, but oh well, everyone has their opinions. Personally i loved it.
All the rides there are great, don't get me wrong. Lack in service kills all parks. These 2 guys at BKF were spittin spitballs at eachother while i and other people were waiting to get checked in. X-Flight has problems because it is only the second of its kind in the world. I am sure Stealth had some problems didn't it?? (which i may add, stealth, is so much better) Sea world side was a great deal. I love it there. Transportation though could kill you 2.
Food is high priced but good. A lot of small problems kill this park. But I love it.
All the rides there are great, don't get me wrong. Lack in service kills all parks. These 2 guys at BKF were spittin spitballs at eachother while i and other people were waiting to get checked in. X-Flight has problems because it is only the second of its kind in the world. I am sure Stealth had some problems didn't it?? (which i may add, stealth, is so much better) Sea world side was a great deal. I love it there. Transportation though could kill you 2.
Food is high priced but good. A lot of small problems kill this park. But I love it.
If that hyper comes through. I will be happy and mad. Mad, because i think they should take a year off. 5 coasters in 2 years. HELLO! Take a year off to work on employees. Big Time! And clean up that damn park.
Dont worry, by 2004, SFWoA, will be up there as the best!
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