Bye bye Astroworld!

It does not make $$ sense! You move new rides to a new market! Not where they have already been! Sorry!

I went to AW once when I was 5 years old, about 27 years ago. It was one of my first big parks, and I had a blast. It is very sad for me to hear this news, not only because of what the park was to me, but also because it's sad to hear about ANY park closing.

Anyone who has never been on TC may never get a chance to ride it, unless it gets "saved". The same goes for anything else at the park that doesn't get rescued, sold, and/or relocated.

Even though I think SF brought this on themselves, it may be a good thing for the business as a whole.

Nahh I'll take B:TE or maybe even GL....as for XLR8 forget it,some other park can have it.

Makes you wonder which park will be the next to go,I'd say SFKK,SFEG & SFDL are all possible contenders,now I'd be a little worried about SFA because the rel estate values are going up in PG county but seeing as how HH just got a big makeover & seems to be paying off I doubt they'd close the park & sell the land.

At most they'd sell SFA to a rival chain in the industry,me hopes it's CF.

I doubt there looken in SFDL's direction. it would be un-economical to close it. and being that it has the second most land in the chain on reserve and the camping and onsite hotel does decent volume in sales, i'd say that its safe ...FOR NOW anyway
JUST LIKE the shocking SFWOA sale.... anythings forsale - AT THE RIGHT PRICE! Nothing is safe not even the bigger parks as we seen in the past
*** Edited 9/13/2005 12:48:56 AM UTC by TopSpinJay***

Sad News indeed,

Is it only me or does 119 lost jobs actually seem like a low number.

^ It said 119 permanent jobs. Those would be the higher ups. Ride ops, park services, foods, games, etc. are all seasonal jobs.

1500 seasonal jobs, 119 fulltime.

Lots of kids will be looking for work in a job market that has been saturated.

But MSN said it was one of the top ten parks in the country! ;)

Seriously, the way that park was (mis)managed, I can't say that I'm THAT surprised...worst run park in the chain. At the very least, the top 5 of those 119 can go stand in the unemployment line....yikes!

Still, I'm sad to see ANY park go away.

...as far as divvying up the rides, there's two fantastic Antons and a fabulous clone of MOM. Mayan Mindbender was pretty cool too...Ultratwister was interesting, and woulda been fun if it hadn't been so PAINFUL...XLR8 made Iron Dragon seem like Big Bad Wolf - if not for the backwards seating, there would have been no redeeming qualities, the kiddie coaster was more thrilling.

B:TE can sleep with da fishes! Possibly worse even than Sh**wave at PKD, a truly horrible standup coaster...
*** Edited 9/13/2005 1:02:45 AM UTC by rollergator***

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Impulse-ive said:
SFA's land value has been mentioned for YEARS as being a much bigger guarenteed value than the park sitting there on it.

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Yeah thats why Six Flags said they are selling some land. They never said anything about selling the park. No flame wars please....

Six Flags Elitch Gardens seems a bit landlocked too.

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Rampage said:
wonder if the parking situation was the final nail in the coffin for the park?

~Josh

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As much as I'd hate to think of it as so, it could very well be the case. For years the park was underperforming but they wait untill now to close it? Looks like the city of Houtson won over such a petty thing.

You need to also remember that SFAW was having a TON of problems with parking. I'm not from the area, so someone can correct me if I'm completly wrong, but I'm pretty sure most all of the parking at SFAW was rented from the Houston Astrodome if I'm correct. If not from the Astrodome, I'm fairly sure that at least SF didn't own the majority of the parking and therefore was subject to the schedule of those that did own the parking forcing the park to be closed several busy days. It was a unique situation, similar to the hurricane pretty much directly hitting SFNO. It's tough to tell what is to happen to all the other parks at this point, I guess it all depends on how well the parks did.

As for SFA, selling land is a strong possibility, in fact I'd say that it is a safe bet to say that SFA will sell off a portion of it's land to developers, but selling the whole park to a developer? I'd think not after Hurricane Harbor. It just wouldn't make sense. A good portion of the money spent on SFA in 2005 went to renovations of Hurricane Harbor and not just to new attractions. Selling the entire park to developers would net a HUGE loss as all that money spent on painting buildings and walkways and other investments that can't be "moved" to other parks would just have been a waste. I'm sure the selling of SFAW has been in development for a while, hence the lack of major additions over the last few seasons. Also consider all the rides that were painted at SFAW, possibly they were looking to spruce up the park to potential buyers, possibly they were just painting them so they would look new when they moved them. Who knows. On the other hand, selling SFA to another chain could be a possibility.

However, the subject at hand is SFAW, so here is a nice list of the major attractions you could start getting excited about:

-S&S Sky Swatter (SWAT): still the only one open to the public in existance
-Vekoma SLC (Serial Thriller): but what SF park doesn't already have one?
-Intamin Stand-Up (Batman: the Escape): I know SFA was looking for a stand-up before, maybe they'll get one
-Arrow Suspended (XLR-8): What park wouldn't want a suspended coaster? A pretty good one at that.
-Sky Ride (Astroway): I know of quite a few SF parks that could use a good skyride
-Schwartzchoff Shuttle Looper (Greezed Lightning): a classic that can fit just about any park

There's a LOT of good rides at SFAW, lets hope SF takes advantage and moves each and every one to a deserving park.

Coaster Lover said:

"A good portion of the money spent on SFA in 2005 went to renovations of Hurricane Harbor and not just to new attractions. Selling the entire park to developers would net a HUGE loss as all that money spent on painting buildings and walkways and other investments that can't be "moved" to other parks would just have been a waste."

I couldn't agree less CLover. Thanks for summing that up for us. Still sad to see a member of the Six Flags family go. :( I don't even wanna know which SF park is sold next. Yet its coming soon since the chain is looking for new management. :( *** Edited 9/13/2005 1:37:15 AM UTC by SF Critic***

This suck this is my home town park six flags really only cares about the money not the people the people that made sixflags what it is today if it was not for us they would have never been any thing they should show some respect and rethink there plan cuase if they dont they will be soon out of a company!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Coaster Lover said:However, the subject at hand is SFAW, so here is a nice list of the major attractions you could start getting excited about:

-S&S Sky Swatter (SWAT): still the only one open to the public in existance
-Vekoma SLC (Serial Thriller): but what SF park doesn't already have one?
-Intamin Stand-Up (Batman: the Escape): I know SFA was looking for a stand-up before, maybe they'll get one
-Arrow Suspended (XLR-8): What park wouldn't want a suspended coaster? A pretty good one at that.
-Sky Ride (Astroway): I know of quite a few SF parks that could use a good skyride
-Schwartzchoff Shuttle Looper (Greezed Lightning): a classic that can fit just about any park

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The second Sky Swatter was added to Thorpe Park this year. So in actuality, SWAT is not the only one open to the public. It is however, the only one open to the public in the U.S. I would love to hear more about this ride. Is it fast and intense? Is it more of an experience than a rush? Why haven't more parks bought this ride?

Which SF parks don't have an SLC? There are a few. Some that don't have SLC's have B&M Inverts though. Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Enchanted Village, Wyandot Lake, Frontier City and The Great Escape are all parks that have neither an SLC or Invert. Did I forget any?

A standing coaster is much rarer then any kind of "feet dangle” ride. This ride could really go anywhere and I think the public would love it. This is coming from someone who really dislikes standing coasters. To me, they are uncomfortable (especially the Intamin versions).

Like SWAT, I haven't heard much about XLR8. How is it? I heard it's the tamest Suspended Coaster. I have no idea.

I drool when I hear "Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop". The coaster doesn’t take up much land. It isn't really that high so height restrictions wouldn't be a problem. SFKK showed that although they are old, they can look great once refurbished and repainted (as can any coaster I suppose). Give it to The Great Escape! That would really be awesome. It's cheap, fun and not TOO thrilling. Perfect. ;)

I've never been on a ride similar to Ultra Twister. If it has the smoothness you find on other Togo's then good riddance. The concept is interesting though. It has a vertical drop, heart line twists and interesting supports (they actually look good on this ride). I don't really know how to feel about it.

-Vekoma SLC (Serial Thriller): but what SF park doesn't already have one?

SFMM, SFGADV, SFSTL, SFNO, SFOT, SFOG, SFFT, SFGAM. More sf parks don't have it then do.

Anywas soo sad to see this park go. i was in texas last year in houston but didnt get a chance to go, i saw the park but didn't go. wish i could now. Its a sad, sad, day in the amusement industry.

XLR8 is very smooth and tame a good family coaster the utlra twister i very fun its one of the best out there and as for the texas cyclone my opintion its out does the beast any day of the week!!!!

Give either of the Schwarzkopf coasters to Wyandot Lake. A "newused" coaster there would do wonders for attendance and either one would be a great fit and take up very little room.

The SLC should go to either Fiesta Texas, Frontier City or Great Escape.

XLR-8 needs to go somewhere where it could be put in the woods or something similiar. I would say that it would fit in best at SFDL, SFA, or SFStL the best.

Mayan Mindbender and Batman:the Escape could go almost anywhere as could Serpent.

Dungeon Drop should go to SFStL. Sorry they need it.

The other rides probably should go to Great Escape so that it can be flagged.

Man who thought that this would happen?

This would be a good opportunity for Landry's to expand their roster of rides and become Houston's amusement park.

1993 was my first time at astroworld when i was 3 years old and my last time is going to be 2005 now i'm 15 years old, 13 years of fun at astroworld. when i whent to astroworld for the frist time i hated it but i started to like like it and now i see its going away 4ever it just breaks my heart :( after astroworld shuts down after october i don't know what think? is there going to be a 2006 season or thats it, all rides are gone? i don't know what to think?