A question for SFGAM fans???

Is it just me or does the park seem alot busier this year than last year, and if so why??? I have been to the park about 9 times this year, all on week days and since May the park has been alot busier than the last 3 years since i have been a season passholder!! Maybe somebody with inside knowledge knows what the attendance might be but from the lines at the rides to the amount of cars in the parking lot it sure seems alot busier whoich may be why we are going to get a new ride?? As for why, maybe its the economy so people are staying closer to home because they havent added anything new this year?? Any thoughts/ideas??

It most certainly seems a lot more crowded this year, and I do think it has a lot to do with the economic situation.

However, and I'm going out on a limb here, but I'd say that the main reason more people are coming out is the # of promotions, and the profuse advertising I've seen. Discounted tickets EVERYWHERE, and their commercials this year, I must say, aren't very bad at all, and I'm seeing them a whole lot more than I used to.

That's just my two cents, though. Maybe having two new, open rides... Well, usually open... Is doing that too.

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Yep... It is PICTURES now... http://www.loopscrew.com

The economy could have alot to do with it. However , I didnt notice it getting extremely busy on a daily basis until around the middle of July. Before that, weekdays were relatively not crowded(not empty either).

This park also covers a wide geographical area for customers. Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Indiana. Its a prime location so to speak. With visitors from all of these states that arent willing to travel far distances to vacation, you end up with SFGAm becoming a crowded park.

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Ric Flair was hitting on the female host, he told her - "Space Mountain may be the oldest ride in the park, but it has the longest line." WOOOOO!

i have to agree with I-Nar. sfgam has gone nuts with advertizements and thare recent attendence booster the whizzer, hasent helped eather. the other thing i have noticed is that they are only running 2 trains insted of 3 on raging bull, batman, whizzer,iron wolf and i think viper too. this really increases line times.

ondrew

Batman, Iron Wolf, and Viper only have 2 trains. Whizzer does have 3 but I think they may be doing repairs on the third one (or attempting to anyway).

In answer to the question...I went to SFGAm only twice last year and both days it was PACKED. I'm talking 30 minute wait ALL DAY for Shockwave. It was pretty "horrid". This year I have gone 5 times and have yet to wait more than 45 minutes for anything but Deja Vu.

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Tuesday's Gone With The Wind.
Elijah Rock.
Is it written in the stars?
La Vie Boheme!!!

Everytime I've gone there, they have been running all three trains on the bull. Even with just two trains, the line moves fairly fast, though 3 trains does drasticlaly(sp?) improve the ride's capacity.

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Don't Fight It, Ride It, RAGING BULL!!!!!!- SFGAm

Ive also seen most coasters running at full capacity, though sometimes they start out with only 2 trains on RBand add the third later in the morning.

SFGAMDie HARD said:
"Batman, Iron Wolf, and Viper only have 2 trains. Whizzer does have 3 but I think they may be doing repairs on the third one (or attempting to anyway)."

Whizzer has run three trains numerous times this year .. It's quite cool to see!

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Cameron Silver

Heck, you think 3 trains is cool, it was even cooler back in the day when it ran 5 trains.

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""To be the man, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!, You got to beat the man""!!!

It was also way cooler when it ran at 465 mph before the trim was added.

Was that a smartass comment Coaster Sam?

The Whizzer did run 5 trains when it first opened.

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""To be the man, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!, You got to beat the man""!!!

So how busy was it this weekend????

Hey Chitown, I don't remember them ever running 5 trains. How would they block that coaster to run 5 trains? Just curious. I am not saying you are wrong, I just wanted to know. :)

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Bob Hansen

A proud CoasterBuzz Member

Operation Wicked Twister - Goal: Lose 50 lbs by next season to ride it! (updates soon)

Anybody know if it will be busy labor day?

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The ice age killed the dinosaurs, we killed ourselves.

They used an unloading station and kept a train at the top of the lift until the next block was clear. The train going 465 mph got the blocks clear much faster.

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Vekomember is from Holland, ishn't zaht veerd?

Bob O said:
Ive also seen most coasters running at full capacity, though sometimes they start out with only 2 trains on RBand add the third later in the morning.

Isn't this something you usually whine about?

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Vekomember is from Holland, ishn't zaht veerd?

Spacecase8310 It makes for a very bad show and lousy managemnt decision to have only 2 trains running on RB when the ride that has had the longest waits all year is broken down again(no need to name it as all know what ride im talking about) Wouldnt a management that is knowlegable and concerned about their guests experience make sure to have a coaster running at full capacity knowing the ride will be busy with 2 other coasters down?? Or do you run rides at less than full capacity in a attempt to sell more fastpasses??

For an hour? From what I've seen the third train is on bull no later than 11! You are the only person I have ever seen complain about not having enough units on at SFGAm!

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Vekomember is from Holland, ishn't zaht veerd?

*** This post was edited by Spacecase8310 on 8/27/2002. ***

You never know, that third train may have been off for maintenance work. The train may have needed new wheels or something. Great America is one of the few parks in the chain that runs all trains they possibly can for every ride. Now if they could operate them efficiently to avoid stacking.. :)

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Bob Hansen

A proud CoasterBuzz Member

Operation Wicked Twister - Goal: Lose 50 lbs by next season to ride it! (updates soon)

Yeah... From the standpoint of someone who frequents the park (and doesn't like to admit it...) SFGAm spoils us as far as operations are concerned when you compare it to the other SF parks that are out there.

Sometimes they run two trains on Bull early in the morning, but as the line starts to get longer, they will add the third one (which, to me, stops the ride for an unnecessary amount of time. It isn't very long, no, but it still breaks the flow).

And they usually do a good job to avoid stacking as well, but they still do it frequently with Bull (though I can't say I blame them), along with B:TR and Iron Wolf (though, I can't really blame them for the simple fact they stack those rides... Short layouts... But the AMOUNT of time and SEVERITY, especially on Iron Wolf, is a problem.)

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Yep... It is PICTURES now... http://www.loopscrew.com