SFMM to get New Coaster in 2009

I can't imagine any of us would wish bad fortune on either Six Flags or Cedar Fair.

Funny, I mentioned that other site way up there in my first post, and it's still there. I was just referencing where I read about the interview with Mr. Shapiro.

In any case, CGA and SFMM are indeed hundreds of miles apart and really have no market crossover, but I could still see Cedar Fair getting a statewide or minimum-mileage exclusivity thing from a manufacturer.

And I resent the anti-Roar remarks too. I think it's a great coaster. (Gee, isn't that the name of the company that built it? What a coincidence.)

Who's wishing bad fortune? It just seems that complaints about Cedar Fair have risen while those about Six Flags have dropped...while at the same time Six Flags shrinks its chain by selling off parks and Cedar Fair growing by acquiring Paramount.

GoliathKills said:

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After the ACE event last year, it sure has been taking a lot of heat!

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Parker, I loved the park, but with ONE visit to the place, it kinda falls into the category of "you never know if/when you get another chance to impress me". SFDK impressed me. The ride, alas, did not. I *half-expected* to come out with the opposite impressions, thinking highly of the ride - for a GCII, LOL ;) - but not so much of the park. Almost wished we hadn't trekked out to Nut Tree, I liked the park that much. Wasn't the greatest SF park in terms of throughput, but the theming is on par with SFFT, and they put alot into their animals/exhibits. (Which, incidentally, is why I was so surprised at the animal-rights people targeting THAT park, but that's a whole other topic, hehe).

Roar....that's right. Sorry, got side-tracked. :)

The ride was rougher than any other GCII that I've ridden, including the ones running PTCs. *Infinitely* rougher than the others with MFlyers. The only reason it wasn't worse is that it was SO sluggish. Slow enough so that I actually *minded* the roughness. Gwazi, Roar and HP's Wildcat run fast enough and have enough airtime so that I find whatever bounciness to be more than forgiveable. "Show me the airtime"!

The fact that they were running one train - that's on the park, and doesn't count against Roar. The ride had enough negatives without being penalized (unfairly, IMO) for things external to the ride itself. There are still at least 15-20 woodies that I've ridden that I liked even LESS.... ;)

Long story short, the enthusiasts attending events - are a pretty vocal minority. We tend to also care more about wooden coasters. It gives a park, or a ride, a chance to shine. Being in the spotlight can get hot though....and you can get burned. To be honest, if V2 next door had been open for ERT, I probably would've taken a "token lap" on Roar, then waited in what I can only assume would have been the longer line over at the Twisted Wicked Impulse.

Wood is picky, you want to keep the ride in a condition that will make people want to RIDE. And the GP is remarkably capable of deciding what wood is worth waiting for....WAY more than enthusiasts give them credit for. ;)

P.S. Mentioning SpringCon....for the good wood...we drove to Santa Cruz...mmmmmmmm.....LOVED wooden coaster. The drive from SFMW's woodie to SCBB's is *about* the same as the drive from SFMM's wood to KBF's Ghostie. Coincidence? ;)

P.P.S. Yes, Moosh, SFMM has a LONG way to go. But you tell me - is the direction they're going since J.T. took over more positive than where Del was going? That seems like a no-brainer. I'm probably as disappointed by the removeal of Sierra Twist as anyone NOT from CA. But the park needed a *completely* new vision....and it looks to be underway....to me at least. Of course, I haven't been since J.T. took over, so that's based on reports from trustworthy sources.

*** Edited 2/23/2008 1:42:21 AM UTC by rollergator***

I agree with you Richard Bannister. I don't visit that site too often, but when they have good news pieces I am definitely going to check them out.

That interview with Mark Shapiro, and the pics of the park one of the best news stories they have posted in a while.

I prefer Coasterbuzz over any of the other coaster sites, but I do check a few of the others every now and then.

Ugh... why do we have to go over this again and again? The owner of said site violated our terms of service, repeatedly, the evidence was clear, and that was that. It's not about my ego or any nonsense like that. You'd be overestimating how much time I spend thinking about such things. I'm not interested in dragging out the same boring dirty laundry over and over again.

You can't look at the turn around progress of Magic Mountain from the date Shapiro took over. The guy spent a year trying to dump the park so of course it got worse while the boss yamered on about how much the park sucked. The question now that he is on board and wants the park to have a good future with the company; when did this change of heart occur? How long has new management really been working to turn things around at the Mountain?

I think the change of heart was rooted in the lack of interested buyers. Now has has to, "Make it work, designers!" :)

http://laist.com/2008/02/22/magic_mountain.php

"Said site" if thats what we are calling it, indeed had a great interview with the CEO of one of the world's largest regional theme park chains (still calling themselves the largest? are they or not anymore I have no idea, I can't even keep track of what they still own). Definatly worth a listen a lot of interesting information in that conversation.

Shapiro seems very optimistic about SFMM future and looking at what they have been doing over the past year or so and seeing whats coming done the path leaves me no question that they are on the right track. Looking at those photos just shows how they are attacking all areas of clean up. Sure theres a long way to go, but you have to start somewhere.

The news articles that have been posted say there will be a coaster in 2009 at SFMM according to Shapiro. From the interview it sounded like they are working at going the coaster route, or perhaps a wiggles world. It is still early. I remember a year ago Shapiro saying SFMM will not be getting a Thomas town (correcting that statement a few weeks later).

One final interesting point of note is that he said one day SFMM will regain the title as coaster capital of the world. What that means, who knows, but it continues to show that coasters are in the future despite all those original no more coaster articles of 2006.

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IntaminHater said:

Then he says SFMM will get its first new coaster since X in 2002 next year.

I guess he hasn't noticed Tatsu :)

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Personally I would say a new coaster is the last thing SFMM needs.

Agreed.

Myabe the new coaster can be a dive machine. I Think they could market that right. In my opinion it has worked at the Busch Parks why not Six Flags.

They should be really glad if they get X to where it should be -
a new coaster seems kind of superfluous right now.
Plus they would need two or three new ones to get back into the record business.

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Ajrides said:

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Mamoosh said:
AJ - the reason your link was deleted has nothing to so with any pro-CP bias. Simply stated, linking to "that site" is forbidden here. I'll leave it to Jeff or one of the mods to explain why (for the gazillionth time) but it is NOT a "BS reason."

*** Edited 2/22/2008 7:53:22 PM UTC by Mamoosh***

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Where is this list of forbidden sites? What difference should it make, it if its news about the industry? So if you ask me thats total BS. If the Putz has a personal problem with a site he shouldnt let it affect news. IMO he should put his ego a side. Can we link to another site that has a link to the sites he doesnt like? I didnt see any list in the TOS when i joined this site 7 years ago. Where is the contact link on this site?

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It's absolutely a BS reason. Whatever beef this site has with us is based on issues from many, many years ago.

It's fairly clear that we have done nothing but prove ourselves to the theme park industry as a REAL source for news, information, commentary, events, and other services.

If that wasn't the case, we wouldn't be hosting events with so many different parks, shooting video for parks and ride manufacturers, and yes, being invited personally by the president of Magic Mountain to come interview Mark Shapiro.

I feel Jeff is simply using very old "dirty laundry" as a way to keep CB members from seeing all that we do. We go out of our way to support other sites and support the contributions that our members make to TPR.

There is absolutely no good reason why we should still be banned or our URL banned from this site, other than it being a personal issue that Jeff has with us.

That's my side of it.

--Robb Alvey

ps. I doubt this post will last long, but for those of you who do read it, thank you for listening. If you have any questions or comments about what I've said, feel free to email me or AIM me at: robbalvey@aol.com

pps. Just to set the record straight, Shapiro never said that a new coaster was coming in 2009. I was right there when the Daily News asked the question. He said they were "looking into possibilities" but nothing was definate.

*** Edited 2/24/2008 9:36:39 AM UTC by ******************

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^Wow, it doesn't get much more unprofessional than that.

Just remember that if you do email Alvey, expect your email inbox to be full of "spam" about all of Alvey's upcoming trips and dvd sales.

TPR as a credible source for news? Ha, it isn't anything much more than a business Alvey runs, profiting off of coaster enthusiasts, and spamming all of the leading coaster sites to get their trips and dvds advertised.

Alvey posted his interview on various coaster websites, most of whom deleted the post. (Ultimaterollercoaster, ect)

Kind of sad really, when this hobby is supposed to be about having fun and discussing amusement parks, not trying to make a buck off the fellow coaster lover.

Especially, when some people, like Lord Gonchar at Coasterimage.com are giving free dvds away...

I think I'll take Jeff's membership for $20 bucks for awesome events over the thousands Alvey's trips require.

Plus the discussion on Coasterbuzz is articulate, well-informed, and many sided, unlike at TPR, where discussion on topics usually includes Robb's thoughts, followed by a hundred posts of TPR members trying to kiss his ass.

And honestly.....those people at TPR are just....so damn weird.... *** Edited 2/24/2008 9:56:06 AM UTC by Patrick Meyer*** *** Edited 2/24/2008 10:12:45 AM UTC by Patrick Meyer***

quote; Patrick Meyer said:
^Wow, it doesn't get much more unprofessional than that.

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Why is that unprofessional? It sounds to me like he is giving his side of the story.

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quote; Patrick Meyer said: Just remember that if you do email Alvey, expect your email inbox to be full of "spam" about all of Alvey's upcoming trips and dvd sales.

TPR as a credible source for news? Ha, it isn't anything much more than a business Alvey runs, profiting off of coaster enthusiasts, and spamming all of the leading coaster sites to get their trips and dvds advertised.

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So in other words it like this site which makes a profit off enthusiasts.

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quote; Patrick Meyer said: I think I'll take Jeff's membership for $20 bucks for awesome events over the thousands Alvey's trips require.

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How many events does CB actually have for the membership fee you pay? I know for the $60 i pay to ACE every year we have events at every park in the US.

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quote; Patrick Meyer said: Plus the discussion on Coasterbuzz is articulate, well-informed, and many sided, unlike at TPR, where discussion on topics usually includes Robb's thoughts, followed by a hundred posts of TPR members trying to kiss his ass.

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So in other words like you are doing now. LOL

^ I doubt Robb would even allow someone to tell their side of the story on his site! He runs that site like a dictatorship. If you don't agree with him or his little butt-kissers, your post will be deleted.
I do think they have a well set up site with lots of cool photos and videos, but the forum sucks.

There's nothing about Alvey that anyone should take as being unselfish. The things he'll do, and has done, to be one up on every other coaster site, and club, are just staggering.

I got a question for Robb, if he hasn't been removed from this site yet. Where do I mail back my copy of "How I Spent My European Vacation" that I bought from you back in 2002? You can keep the money that you suckered me out of, I just don't want the video anymore.

I'm really not interested in hosting a discussions about the pros and cons of Alvey. If you're interested in discussing the topic at hand, by all means, continue with the story in the news section.

I'd prefer we stay drama free here.