I heard last night from a friend who went that signs are now up in the park which offer pretty much the same hints as those posted on the official site,looks like we might be getting an official announcement sometime soon & if anyone's going today please try & get some pics.
http://community.webshots.com/photo/201336270/201337483eMnAVk
Not much to get from it except that the 2005 project deffinitly involves the waterpark (as opposed to a hurricane themed waterride somewhere else in the park). If you couldn't figure it out, the banner is on the gate to Paradise Island.
Look for my full trip report later tonight or tomorrow. Not much to say, just a few notes... *** Edited 10/17/2004 3:02:52 AM UTC by Coaster Lover***
If you can't stand the heights, get out of the line.
If you can't stand the heights, get out of the line.
Let's remember that SFA is quite secretive about new rides & that they've got plenty of room to stash parts as they come in....when PBR's parts arrived they somehow managed to keep them out of site somewhere behind superman & renegade rapids & nobody even knew they were there so I wouldn't be suprised if some parts for new attractions are somewhere on site by now.
However, some people out there think that these hints are only an advertising ploy to sell season passes. Well, consider this, in their last report , SFI specifically said "We have put in place a strong plan for new rides and attractions for 2005, with a focus on our largest markets but including a wide array of attractions in most parks." So if the 2005 addition at SFA is just a single slide tower, why aren't we seeing similar hints from other parks who may be getting similarly small additions? It seems like if you really wanted to sell season passes, you'd be hinting or announcing 2005 attractions at ALL parks as long as they're getting a new attraction.
But no, not at all. Know what we've seen so far? Well, we saw SFGAm's announcement publicized early when it came up in one of their reports earlier this year. That spread through the media quickly so there was no real need at hinting. SFGAdv had "Exciting 2005 news coming soon" on their website for quite some time, plus the partial reveal that they were getting a coaster through the planning board meeting, and later by the media day invitation all hinting at their 2005 addition. Now SFA has some big hints on their webpage plus the banner in the park that have started since Oct 4th.
It just seems if it was fairly minor, and all this was a ploy to sell season passes, you'd see similar things at all the other SF parks getting an attraction for 2005. Also, when was the last time that any SF park has announced or hinted at a project that WASN'T major this early? I honestly don't know! I know SFA usually doesnt announce or hint until the new year, SFGADv is usually the same except for their last few projects which have all been major.
Then again, it's probably better to be pesimistic about the whole thing, that way if it is just a slide tower, you won't be too disappointed, but if it's something more, you can be very excited.
It's very confusing and could really go any way right now. It should be an interesting announcement when they FINALLY announce it. I don't know about you, but the suspense is killing me. I mean, when Batwing was coming, we knew before the announcement because of the planning board hearing, and when PBR was coming we knew before the announcement because White Water West had told Amusement Buisness that they had sold a Spinning River Rapids to SFA. Right now, ALL we know is the hints from the park...
...then again, I was checking out ProSlides webpage (they are doing the SFGAm project-you can tell because some of the products are unique to Proslides lineup-like the Tobogan Racing slide thing). Anyways, their website says they've sold 4 Proslide Rockets (the Proslide version of the Masterblaster) to parks to open in 2005 worldwide. Anyone know where ANY of these 4 are going? Maybe a chance that SFA could see one?
If you can't stand the heights, get out of the line.
Also, let's not forget that SFA switched regions in the 2005 off season. They went from the NE to the SE (or something similar). If SF philosophy for adding new rides is done a region by region basis, this could be the reason why SFA is seeing something this season.
Let's look at what was added last season vs. rumors for 2005:
SFOT:
HH Pro Slide Tornado (2004), for 2005 perhaps something small.
SFFT:
Pro Slide Tornado(2004), for 2005 not expecting anything
SFAW:
2004 Nothing New, 2005 Is looking the same
SFNO:
Nothing in 2004, rumors of signs of something coming for 2005
SFOG:
White Water new Pro Slide Tornado in 2004, rumors say perhaps small family rides in 2005, if anything.
SFA:
Nothing in 2004; Something to do the weater and the tropical fun in 2005. Perhaps it will be called the Hawiian Punch?
Have you noticed that less people are scared on the rides because they are accustomed to it by now! (I know it happens to every park). The ride selections are mediocre! I can literally go around the park in just 4hours and have ridden some rides two times. They also need to enchance the ride experience by adding more scenery.
With the new "rennovation" of paradise island to hurricane harbor or what ever they are doing to the water park is not so major or as important to me because only locals really use that department and SFA really needed to "clean up" the area anyways, by adding new additions to the section.
Sometimes I wounder, how is it that the DC area is such an attraction because its the US capital, and then SFA looks so crappy. They need to improve one way or another. THE WATERPARK WILL MAKE MINIMAL CHANGES TO THE PARK'S ATTENDANCE if they decide to add new rides only in paradise island. Lets hope that SFA is just promoting the waterpark so that they their major coaster next year will be a MAJOR surprise! cheers
If the park does well attendance wise then corporate decides they don't need anything new & yet if they do poorly (from a lack in new capital) then corporate decides ohh they're now worthy of anything new next year.
I'll agree with you that we are in major need of a new coaster soon not so much as to help draw peeps to the park but to keep them interested once inside....it just so happens that everytime we have a shot at getting one(our pattern is every other year) it comes time for SFGRADV or SFGRAM to get their next coaster so in the end we've always been getting the crap end of the stick in that dept.,at least for the past 3 or 4 seasons now.
When the company starts doing better, SFA will start getting coasters more regularly. Until then, be happy with what we've gotten so far. We've recieved A LOT in comparison to other SF parks in a similar situation to our own. In all honesty, I have a good feeling you won't be let down by the 2005 announcement...I also have a good feeling you won't be let down by the 2006 announcement. 2005 is going to be a turning year for SFA and SFI.
If you can't stand the heights, get out of the line.
Looks like I might make it there after all on saturday seeing as how our va beach plans are scrapped,hope to get some more laps in on JJ if they'll be nice enough(the county) to have it open for a third week in a row.
While it's true that they have done a lot for the park recently they could still step things up a bit in the near future but if 05's additions really turn out to be good then this may be a good stepping stone for the park....as we know the waterpark is a huge draw in our area & improving it will only help to bring in the peeps & keep the lines down on the rides in the rest of the park in the process :).
Also, while I am now leaning more towards 2005 being a renovation of Paradise Island, and not a seperate admission waterpark, you can refute the part about not already selling season passes for the waterpark with the following information. SFAW, while they already have their own waterpark on the property, is offering a deal where if you buy a 2005 SFAW season pass, it also gets you into the nearby Splashtown watrepark that normaly is seperate admission (it's a SF owned waterpark). The deal is a limited time deal.
If SFA did get a seperate admission waterpark, as a way to get a lot of people into the waterpark the first season, they could offer a similar promotion, and after the promotion ends (say Dec 31st...or even when they officially announce the waterpark), they could start selling the combo passes or whatever. *** Edited 10/19/2004 5:03:03 AM UTC by Coaster Lover***
If you can't stand the heights, get out of the line.
BATWING FAN SFA said:hope to get some more laps in on JJ if they'll be nice enough(the county) to have it open for a third week in a row.
The county has "nothing" to do with Jokers Jinx being open during fright fest. JJ was close "as a polite jesture to the neighborhood" because of its noise.
BATWING FAN SFA said:
If they're gonna keep PI then what reason is there to even bother building a HH at all?They could just re-paint the existing attractions in PI & just put a hurricane harbor sign up at the entrance.
I still think we'll see a relocation elsewhere in the park...I was told about it by a few employees(no not the dip 'n' dots or lemon chill bros.) last season about the waterpark being moved & the current PI site being used for future expansion of the park,we'll find out sooner or later once the official announcement is made or when the park submits it's plans for zoning approval with the county.
The park already has the area zoned for waterslides. What if the park added alot more tropical theming, and 3 new slide complexes? one between the wave pool and poland spring plunge, one between the wave pool and the stage, and one in the corner near crocodile cals?
You've got this tear it down atttitude, when in reality, they would probably make the transformation w/o removing the current slides and pools.
remember, we're looking at the tranformation to be as low cost as possible, which would mean keepping whats there and building around it.
Zoning is probably not needed, however building permits probably will be needed.
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