Mechanical Problems at SFWOA

I visited the park Sunday, 6/9, and the entire park seemed to be broken down. The X-Flight was broken down for three hours. Raging Wolf Bobs for half the day. Mind Eraser was closed all day and Mind Bender was also closed. Did I just catch the park on a bad day or are things always like this at SFWOA?

First off, it is still early in the season, but there will be plenty of days like the one you had. If you have not noticed in the past, Six Flags does a very poor job with maintaining ride operation throughout the year. I guess they feel it is not a priority. It goes along with SF's usual poor customer service. Hmmmmm....not to compare SFWoA to any parks, but I know of a park located in Sandusky that always has superb ride operation and minimal down time on every ride. What was the name of that park? Hmmmmmm.......

What is "Mind Bender"?

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"Villain-Once You Drop, The Fun Don't Stop!"~SFWoA Rules In 2001~X Marks The Spot In 2001(SFWoA)~With SFWoA ANYTHING Is Possible!

I noticed a lot of closures as well on my last visit. I've heard about work force shortages, but clearly that isn't it because all of the games seem to be open, as well as up-charge attractions.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

What has happened is that SF has grown too fast. They have a chronic shortage of mechanics and electricians. Last week SFA had an ad in Amusement Business for mechanics and electricians.It was not unusual for key maintanence personel to leave a park once SF bought it. Many had a problem with the way that SF decided to run their depts. Thus the lack of qualified personel.

I am sure Kevin meant Mind Eraser, B&M-Tycoon.

He said Mind Eraser AND Mind Bender.

X-Flight is still having 1st year kinks, and Mind Eraser is closed because of all of the other Boomerang incidents.

Ooops my bad, he did say Mindbender and Mind Eraser. Ok then, like B&M Tycoon said, what is Mindbender? Sometimes I neglect to read things carefully.

Maybe he meant Serial Thriller? The Vekoma SLC, who knows.
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"Villain-Once You Drop, The Fun Don't Stop!"~SFWoA Rules In 2001~X Marks The Spot In 2001(SFWoA)~With SFWoA ANYTHING Is Possible!

Amen Lukedog! SF has really bad customer service..and ride maintenence....

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Mindbender...Can you hear the Riddler chuckling?

B&M-Tycoon i apologize, I meant Time Warp, you would have though Mind Eraser was open because it seems to have erased my mind.

Also, even though the park posts height requirements for each ride, no one ever enforces them. First of all there are no park employees at the entance to the queue lines like there are at Cedar Point. And once you actually do get to the loading station there is about 2 operators working and they are usually not even paying attention to the task at hand. Though I thoroughly enjoyed the coasters at SFWOA, the overall park services were a bit disappointing.

Lukedog, I beleive that wonderful park in Sandusky is called Cedar Point... Maybe all of you Six Flags Worlds of Adventure people should check that out and compare it to SFWOA!eh?

( This post is not intended to start a flame war between Six Flags and Cedar Fair, so don't take it that way Jeff)
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Life is short, make it count...

I think SFWoA has more than they can handle. Look at some of their rides:

X-Flight
Batman:Knight Flight
Superman:UE
3 Woodies,
and a Vekoma Boomerang,
all of which are difficult rides to maintain. Let's cut them some slack, ok guys? The maitainence workers they do have are always Fixing Batman or Mr. Hyde's nasty fall. They have a lot of un-reliable rides.

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Jes
Webmaster, Jes's Roller Coasters
http://www.jesms.cjb.net

Cut them slack? Why? I don't understand why people defend a park that builds great rides but can't keep them open. Did you buy your ticket or season pass yourself? I did, and I tend to want to get what I actually pay for. Periodic breakdowns happen, that's what machines do. When it's a regular phenomenon however, you're not getting what you paid for because the park isn't living up to their end of the deal.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

Yesterday (June 11) many rides were broken down including:

X-Flight
Batman
Minderaser - closed w/all other 6flags boomerangs
Mr. Hydes Nasty Fall

Everytime I go something is broke. CP is just way further ahead of Six Flags in Ride maitnence and customer service.

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www.geocities.com/coasting_ohio for Real/Defunct/mini coasters and parks for RCT

Mr Hyde's Nasty Fall is identical to Demon Drop. Why is it that CP's Demon Drop is always up and running when Hyde's seems to always have some mechanical problem? It's not that SFWOA has unreliable machines, just too little maintenance. I grew up with CP, where you can count on riding your favorite rides no matter when you go. If something does break, they are on top of it right away, and down time is usually short. That's the standard I compare parks to, and it really irritates me to spend money at a place and not fully get what I paid for. I'm not interested in SFWOA's maintenance staffing problems, technical challenges, etc. That's their problem, I just want my money's worth, and if I don't get that I'll spend my money elsewhere.

OK, I wasn't going to say it, but Pete's right. There is a standard we've grown accustomed to here on the North Coast, and yes it was set by decades of visits to Cedar Point.

The good news is that I really think PKI has caught on. On my last visit, I was surprised to see four mechanics spring into action when Racer went down, and it was only a ghost train problem. That's what I like to see, and that's what we expect.

And let me continue by saying that no one wants Six Flags to fail. I think it's safe to say we all like the rides, and we like having them in our neighborhood. I'd love to see things improve there because it's 15 minutes from where I work.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

I love SFWOA but they have a problem. I was there last Friday 6-8-01 most of the rides were open. The staff seemed to be very courteous. ( I find if you greet the staff with a smile you'll get one right back even if you have some major Complaint ) But when I got to the villain there is a garbage can before you enter the building was overflowing with trash . Most of the queues are littered with garbage.I have yet to see a person with broom sweeping the avenues at this park. At cp sometimes they out number the guests. I really can't blame it all on the park tho... Some people are just god damn pigs. they throw drink containers, wrappers,half eaten food anywhere... even into the lake. don't even get my started of the graphitti problem. everytime I've been there all the rides were running except mind eraser and texas twister . again I Love SFWOA, they do have somethings over CP . such as their wooden coaster collection.. some of the newer type flat rides....now the wild side.. As I mentioned before Cp has had decades to refine their park. SFWOA only had a few years. I hope it wont take decades for SFWOA .... Please guys hire more staff !!

I believe that Six Flags WoA needs to worry about standards before they try to compete with CP. By putting the rush on to build more, they are falling behind in other categories that amusement parks must concern themselves with. Cleanliness, safety, staffing, training and procedure just to name a few.