SFFT 4-29-06

I was going to Six Flags Fiesta Texas to meet up with my cousin who was there for a school band thing. So unfortunately, I didn't ride much. However, I did notice a lot of changes in the Six Flags regime.

First: 45th Anniversary. You buy food: Happy 45th! Ride something: Happy 45th! Walking: Happy 45th! They are really playing on the whole "45 years of Six Flags" thing. And by the end of the day, it was kind of getting annoying.

Second: Papa Johns? I had bought food in the Sangerfest Halle in Spassburg, and I wanted to taste the new Papa John's pizza. Well… it didn't taste anything like Papa Johns. Don't get me wrong, it was good.

Third: New Maps. The first thing I noticed when I got to the front gates were people holding giant poster, or so I thought. I looked closer and they were new maps! Unfortunately, I didn't get one. But I did notice that they were giant, ugly, and had the Loony Toons and Justice League all over it. And there were no advertisements. Then, when I walked into the gate, the old maps were still there. This time, with Mr. Six. So my theory is that after dumping Mr. Six they had to make crappy new maps to get rid of him. Speaking of Mr. Six. He's not gone.

Fourth: Mr. Six. The first thing I did was go and renews my season pass. And who's on it? Mr. Six. So far, 2004: Bugs Bunny, 2005: Mr. Six, 2006: Mr. Six. I found this odd since they got rid of him. Also, they are still selling Mr. Six cups, and souvenirs. Possibly they didn't have time to take him out.

Fifth: Characters. All day long I saw Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweedy, Sylvester the Cat, Taz, and that rooster walking around. It was odd though, because you'd see Bugs and Daffy, walk down the midway a few hundred yards and there were other Bugs and Daffy. Too many? Possibly. They seemed to be very popular with small children. I did question though how they could be, since those cartoons aren’t on much these days. The commercials for Six Flags have the Justice League on it. Yet I didn't seem them at all.

Sixth: Did I mention 45h Anniversary?

Seventh: Season Pass ads. I kept seeing season pass ads everywhere. They claimed "Texas size your adventure with a Six Flags Season Pass!" or something along the lines of that. And they kept playing on "Bring a friend, FREE!"

Overall, I think most of the changes are good. Overkill?

I did get a chance to ride Superman: Krypton Coaster (gotta love the zero-g roll), Poltergeist, and Road Runner Express along with some various flat rides with my cousin and her friends.

AFAIK, they're not getting rid of Mr. Six. Shapiro has said that they're keeping him, but putting him on the back burner, so to speak.

I was at the park on the 29th also and I enjoyed it even more than my 2002 trip. My only real complaint was staffing. The crews were not slow, but how do you only have three people on S:KC and run three trains? There were only three on the platforms of all of the coasters (don't know about Rattler as I had enough of it last time) and they all seemed to be running all trains. Scream also only ran two sides constantly (number three opened for a very short time it seemed). The park was PACKED so I eventually gave in and bought Flash Passes. Good day overall.

Yes, Mr. Six is still featured prominently at just about every Six Flags I've been to this season. From selling season passes to park maps. You willn't see him in tv commericals anymore but he will be toned down.

Mr. Six will at least be around long enough to clear out ALL the inventories of T-shirt and sipper cups and basketballs and mugs and shotglasses and all that other "stuff" that bears his likeness. Debatable at this point whether they'll re-order anything with his image, but even if NOTHING new comes in, it's gonna take a season, minimum, to get Mr. Six to leave the parks...

RRE - best.mine.train.EVER!
LOVE that park, top-notch employees...move the entire staff to SFA and you could probably rescue the underperforming park...