SFGAdv Media Announcement Sneak Peak?
They allready have two coasters being neglected, so I guess with the addition of this one another ride will be neglected since they wont have enough people to work on it.
coasterdude318 said:
I think that's quite an assumption to make. You can't just throw in any given ride and guarantee that attendance will rise. Some rides that work for some markets absolutely will not work for others. It becomes a matter of knowing your market and knowing which new additions your public will respond to. Some markets just aren't going to respond to an average-sized wooden coaster.
Well, I didn't have the time or the funds to conduct official market research so yes, that is an assumption... but one that I am fairly confident in. If you were to take a look at all the parks in recent history that have added wood and steel coasters, I'm willing to bet that the overall attendance increases have been the same whether a good mid-sized wood coaster or a "blow 'em away with numbers" steel coaster were added to the park. And even if the percentages weren't the same, I can't help but think that a 5% increase in SFGAdv attendance isn't as beneficial to the company as a 3% attendance increase at five or six parks.
I've seen much worse offenders in other chains (Cedar Fair and Paramount, for starters). Meanwhile, Six Flags has a few wooden coasters that seem to be pretty well maintained (SFGAm Viper, Georgia Cyclone, TGE Comet), as they continually rate highly among enthusiasts.
SF isn't the only offender when it comes to wood coasters but they're up there. They have some good wood coasters (the ones at SFOG and SFA come to mind) but the chain has far more medicore wood coasters than good ones.
No need to bring the Comet into this conversation.
*** Edited 9/21/2004 2:13:52 PM UTC by Rob Ascough***
There are the exceptions with Ghostrider and maybe Roar (in my opinion) but for the most part, the wooden coasters are much better designed and maintained at independant parks.
It's true- the big parks and big corporations don't take care of wood coasters like the smaller ones. You look at most of the SF and CF parks and wish that they'd learn from parks like Knoebels, HW and Silverwood. Hershey is probably the best theme park for wood coasters.
Haha no I'm not giving Patrick the finger 
PKD hasn't done too much better either although Hurler & maybe Rebel yell backwards are the only painful woodies in their lineup.
"The world's largest regional theme park is Six Flags
Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey"
***Taken from SF website***
That has to say somthing for the park. And its also clear that Six Flags is not doing bad business right now.
with the plan to open a water park in 2005, it seems they have the money to throw around.
Other Six Flags notes:
"Six Flags owns and operates 28 parks in North America alone, including 15 of America's largest theme parks"
"Six Flags is building a new 13-acre waterpark near Chicago called Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, opening Spring 2005" NOTE: I think a Waterpark in Florida or Cali would offer better business. after all, Chicago is not that plesant, even in summer.
Landon said:
I think a Waterpark in Florida or Cali would offer better business. after all, Chicago is not that plesant, even in summer.
I live in Chicago (in the city proper), and when it's 95 degrees, I know I don't wish for a crisp cool pool in which to frolic. Plus,it's just so easy to drive to the Dells for an afternoon of fun ;)
Or, in other words: you wont catch me in a bathing suit in chicago unless they install an Indoor waterpark! *** Edited 9/21/2004 6:43:53 PM UTC by Landon***
Rob Ascough said:
I'm willing to bet that the overall attendance increases have been the same whether a good mid-sized wood coaster or a "blow 'em away with numbers" steel coaster were added to the park.
Really? Then why do parks spend millions on steel coasters? Why did Cedar Point spend $25 million on Dragster? Why are B&M rides such popular sellers? The evidence does not support your claim. And really, the claim you're making can be used for any installation in history aside from cheap wooden coasters. Why did CP spend money on Millennium Force when they could have put new wooden coasters into all their parks? Why did Paramount spend money on PC's Top Gun? Why does Busch keep buying from B&M?
And even if the percentages weren't the same, I can't help but think that a 5% increase in SFGAdv attendance isn't as beneficial to the company as a 3% attendance increase at five or six parks.
The average Six Flags park attracts about 1.5 million people each summer (most are just under 1.5 million). If Six Flags were able to build five wooden coasters in five different parks AND attract an additional 3% attendance at all five parks, you're looking at a total attendance increase of just 225,000 people. Again, that's assuming you'd be able to find five Six Flags parks that are in markets that would respond well to another wooden coastr.
Now let's look at SFGAdv. Last year that park's attendance was 3.15 million. However, in the past SFGAdv has attracted at least 3.8 million people (1999 figure). If this record-breaking (and very newsworthy) ride wasn't even able to set attendance records at SFGAdv but was able to return the park to its 1999 attendance levels (which I see no reason it couldn't), you're looking at a total attendance increase of 650,000 people - almost *three times* the amount of the figure for five wooden coasters.
And heck, even if the new ride at SFGAdv was only able to boost attendance by 5% over last year, that's still a boost of 157,500 people - just 67,500 people less than the "five park plan" (which is a worst case scenario!). Then figure that people pay more to enter SFGAdv than the other SF parks and you'll see why it isn't a bad deal.
I think it's clear why this ride is going into SFGAdv. SFGAdv is in the biggest market in the country. It has a larger population base than any other US park to draw from. It has virtually no competition from other parks in the market. It has massive, massive potential to boost this park, and perhaps the entire chain. If any park can handle the world's tallest coaster, it's SFGAdv.
SF isn't the only offender when it comes to wood coasters but they're up there.
Aside from the rides at SFMM and SFGAdv (my disagreement aside), I can't think of a Six Flags park that's said to have truly awful wooden coasters. I bring up the Comet because it continually ranks highly (highest in the chain actually), which strongly suggests it's taken care of very well.
-Nate
*** Edited 9/21/2004 6:59:45 PM UTC by coasterdude318***
*That's 8 for Six Flags out of 25 (32%), 5 for Paramount out of 11 (45%), and 4 for Cedar Fair out of 11 (36%) not in the top 100. Six Flags isn't the biggest offender and they don't have any coasters lower than Mean Streak and Raging Wolf Bobs (if we're counting how the parks were in 2003, then we can include Hercules anyways).
(*)not counting junior woodies
+Danny
" May 25 != July 25Nuff said."
Huh?
Landon,
"!=" means "is not equal to"
I've lived near Chicago my whole life, and summers here get to be very hot (with the exception of this past summer for some reason). The end of Spring and beginning of Fall here have very sporatic temperatures; it isn't uncommon for it to snow in May, and then be 90 degrees two weeks later. I don't even think the water park would be open in May anyway...
Back on topic, I for one can't wait to see what Six Flags Great Adventure is putting in next year, the anticipation is killing me.
-Keith "Badnitrus" McVeen
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