Is SFGADV really THAT bad?

SFGAdv must be doing something right. It has the highest attendance of any seasonal park in the country.

Actually, there attendance was down last year to I want to say around 3.1 million or so which would be around Cedar Point's attendance range. That's quite a sharp decline from 2000 when it was around 3.5 million.

I would say the park may NOT be doing something right if there attendance is down by that much. Now, attendance this year could be a different story with the addition of S:UF. But, I highly doubt its anywhere near 3.5 million which is what the park SHOULD be pulling in yearly.

SM: You do, of course, realize that you are comparing a year with a MAJOR new expansion (NITRO) with a low cap-ex year right? The numbers are *expected* to be down. How much? That I dont know because I am not an Industry Insider (though I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night...)

lata, jeremy

What you doing?

Nothin, chillin' at da Holidae In..

Gangs? C'mon, aren't they out doing something a little less *innocent* than attending a theme park....I would almost HOPE so...."man, I was out las' night raisin' some serious trouble on the East side, but today I'm gonna go to GAdv and line-jump on Rolling Thunder"....hmmm, this sounds like a scenario I don't see happening too often! ;)

That being said, I *am* a Jersey kid, and perhaps my memories are a bit fuzzy from 25+ years ago, but I recall GAdv in the OLD days as being MUCH nicer.

During recent visits, the clientele, in MY experience, certainly engaged in line-jumping and *filth-ifying*, but none of the 12-14 year old girls LOOKED like gang members to me...just kids with substandard upbringing....;)

The steel coasters there are on par with those at CP and SFMM, one of the best collections in the world. Getting BOTH sides of Chilla running would make the park very capable of claiming THE best steel coasters in the world...wonder if that'll happen, certainly HOPE so.

edited for clarity's sake...she's a nice enough person, and asked politely...:) *** Edited 12/1/2003 7:02:42 PM UTC by rollergator***

---

Chitown said:SFGAdv must be doing something right.

---

There's also a lot they're *not* doing right. I may never visit that park again after my hedious experience there opening weekend this season.

We ended up leaving by noon since only Nitro, Medusa, and the ferris wheel were open.

I went there for the first time this summer and was very impressed with the operations. Out of all the SF parks I have been to, it's been the second best one in cleanliness, operations, and everything else. (Only second to a nearly flawless SFGAm) Maybe part of the reason it was so good was because I had just come from SFDL and SFNE where 2 ride ops and a one train operation was regular, or maybe it did have something to do with the incredibly fast ops that rarely stacked 3 on Medusa and Nitro and made operating B:TR look easy. There weren't any mobs or gangsters. You have your state confused. All of them are at SFDL - where my sister got cussed at directly, everyone is trashed, they all linejump, and 50 Cent can draw crowds that bring guns.

Its really too bad the SFGAdv has this rep, because its a really good park. Clearly the best SF park I have been to, even though SFOG is VERY nice, too.

You have four great B&Ms, including Nitro, which is my favorite steel coaster ever. Medusa is great, too... the only regular looping coasters that beat it are the B&M loopers in Florida (Hulk, Kumba, Kraken). Chiller is two good steel coasters, and you could do a lot worse than Skull Mtn for an indoor "family" ride. The park atmosphere ranges from "SF generic" to almost breathtaking (the lake area is beautiful) and the ride ops are very good, by any theme park chain standards.

Gangs? What gangs? Give me a break... gangs have a lot better things to do then rough up the crowds at the local theme park. Get real, people.

If you have the opportunity to go, then take advantage of it. Its a really nice park with a lot of good STEEL coasters. Just don't expect a good wooden coaster.

Rob....SFoG has wooden coasters TOO though, LOL....;)

Never had any problems at SFGADV, ummmm no gangs either LMFAO!!! Every time I've gone though, was in May when the crowds were low, I've never been when it's been really crowded so I can't say how long the lines are on busy days. The only ride I had to wait for was SUF, for 3 hours because it broke down 1/2 way in the line. No more than a 20 minute wait for anyother ride. Nitro is an awesome coaster, along with Medusa. Batman the Ride is still fun, Scream Machine is a little rough but still cool. Chiller doesnt do much for me though. I know I'm in the minority, but I like Rolling Thunder :) And no matter how curious you are........DON'T waste your time with viper, your neck and shoulders will thank you for it. ;)

I don't think there's gangs that come to the park. I think we just have a real urban crowd in at times, particuliarly during the summer weekend. Cutting happens all the time during the summer.

SFGAdv is a fine park and I'm sure you'll have fun. I find it's always best to ignore the critics, experience the park for yourself, and make your own opinion.

That being said, I suspect you'll enjoy your days at Knoebels and Hershey best.

mOOSH

I was really anxious about going to the park earlier this year when the opportunity came, but found that the atmosphere was not all that bad (in terms of other guests). It was in the middle of the week and I think the only other patrons in the park were high school kids doing their physics work (probably explains their decent behavior). The coasters there are awesome and definitely worth the trip (Nitro and Medusa are must rides). The overall atmosphere is rather carnivalish in nature. The theming was spotty and sometimes mixed in unusual ways, but I guess that is what you get with such a sprawling park. I recommend going, but go on a weekday.

No doubt, I enjoy Knoebels and Hershey more than SFGAdv, but it does have Nitro, which makes it a worthwhile park all by itself.

As for the crowd, it is a rough-looking one, but what do you expect when the place is just about mid-way between NYC and Philly?

I am going in May and can't wait for Superman, that looks like a fun ride.

I didn't get to SFGAdv in 2003 to ride Superman but I did ride the SFOG version. Provided that they give the same ride experience, then you should consider there to be three better B&Ms at the park. I liked Superman- a lot- but it seemed to be a "less complete" ride than B&M's usual efforts.

Yes Rob, the other 3 B&M's provide much more punch with exception of the SUF pretzel. Yes, even B:TR.

Superman is neat but there are many more interesting things to ride at Great Adventure.

I also found a new appreciation for Gadv's flat rides this summer due to the crazy lines Superman created.

I think people will lose thier facination with it by next summer so maybe I'll consider riding it more than the 3 times I hit it this year even with more than 20 visits to the park.

As soon as SF adds another coaster, Superman will probably lose a lot of ridership. The one at SFOG didn't seem as popular as Mindbender or Scorcher.

If the NJ version is as good as the GA one, then I won't argue that its a good addition to the park. Any B&M is a good B&M, as far as I'm concerned. I just think that Nitro, Medusa and Batman are all better rides.

LOL, WHAT?! SUF not as popular as Mindbender or Scorcher?

After numerous visits last year and this year, I'm going to have to say that statement is incorrect. :)

SUF always has the longest line in the park, besides Deja Vu. Granted they're not the fastest crew, but the people still pack in to ride SUF.

In any casy I agree with you (mostly) in the fact that Nitro and Medusa are better rides than SUF. I prefer SUF to Batman, however!

Joe "Been on 43 of dem 'Beemer thingies so far!" C.

Joe....you've seen a line for DV? I need to get to SFoG more often I guess, in my three days at the park this year, I never saw ANY line for it...;)

Stand-ups, as well as shuttles and single-train rides will generally TAKE longer, even if the line doesn't have as many people....;) This creates an *illusion of popularity*, LOL...

I'd guess that when Rob was at SFoG, DV was indeed NOT running, and that Mindbender was single training....Scorcher is a stand-up.

Back to GAdv (remember, the topic), I think that and the park in SoCal have the most "unrealized potential" in terms of already HAVING the rides, just needing *significant* upgrades in terms of staffing and operations.

When I was at SFOG, Deja Vu WAS running and had a 2 1/2+ hour line for it (we saved it for the very end of the day.) We waited 20 minutes max. for SUF, about 40 minutes for Mindbender w/two train operation, 1 hour for Batman w/two train op and 30 minutes for Scorcher. Perhaps we went opposite the flow of traffic, but there seemed to be many people queing for coasters other than Superman.

Trust me... I was shocked. I thought, for sure, that we'd wait an hour for Superman, considering the fact that it was the park's newest coaster, but that simply wasn't the case. It seemed to me that the flying coaster was the least popular B&M at the park, surprising since one of those is a standup.

Come to think of it, I think I enjoyed Scorcher as much, if not more than Superman. And I absolutely hated Mantis. Go figure.