SFNE 8/18 Great Coasters but BAD Management
Associated parks:
None
Superman: Ride of Steel- I had been on Darien Lakes version and I thought that I had an idea of what it would be like but it was totally different. This ride blew my mind. Just everything about it was great from the view of Springfield and the river to the tunnels filled with mist. I give this ride a 10. This is now my new favorite coaster.
Batman: The Dark Knight- This was my first floorless coaster so I didn’t really know what to expect. The first time I rode it I rode in the middle and didn’t think it was all that great. The second time I rode in the front and wow what a difference. There is nothing in front of you and your feet are like 2 feet off the rails. I give this ride an 8. My biggest problem with it was that it seemed too smooth. It was intense but it didn’t seem it because of how smooth it was. A great ride none the less.
Thunderbolt- This is one of those old woodies that still packs a punch. I even got some standing air time on this ride. Good ride I gave it a 7. An interesting fact about it is that it was the Kennedy's favorite coaster
Flashback- A typical Vekoma Boomerang. I happen to like these rides and give it a 7. Going through the loop backwards is the best part of these rides IMO.
Houdini: The Great Escape- I thought that it was neat to see a dark ride in a Six Flags park. Although a ride themed to Houdini in the western section sounds weird it is a pretty cool ride. I think that it could have used some more special effects to make it feel more scary and real. This ride is a Vekoma mad house which I had never been on before. The first time I went on it I actually thought I was upside-down. I give it a 5 because it needs more effects and because the film at the beginning sucked.
Tomahawk- This is a Huss Frisbee. I had been in a KGV Afterburner and expected this to be better but this ride just plain sucked. It didn’t even go halfway up the sides and spun so fast that it made me sick. I give it a 3.
Shipwreck Falls- This is a typical Intamin Shoot-the-Chutes. It felt really good with how hot it was out but I wish they would come up with an original name. I gave it a 5 because it was short and not all the exciting.
Overall i had a good day. I would like to point out a number of things that did tick me off though. The only other Six flags park I had been to is Darien Lake. I had heard all sorts of bad things about Six Flags on these boards but never believed them until now. I have never seen a more horribly run park in my life. It was a Sunday in the middle of the summer and they had a number of rides closed for no reason. Also at one point I walked up to Flashback and I saw the ride ops out in front of it. As I walked up one of them asked me what time it was and I said 3:24. Them he just says ohh we are closed as they just sit there and do nothing. Not only did they have that closed but they had Cyclone closed as well and were only running one train on flashback. Also I would like to mention how stupid that fastlane thing is. I mean yeah for $20 you get to do more but they had two rows saved on each coaster for fastlane people. Most of the time there were no fastlane people so they would load the train and check the restraints and then ask for 2 more groups to come in. Then they would do it all over again. This was on a bunch of rides as well. It is just ridiculous. Although I had fun I think that the park should look at the way that it is run and try to clean that up instead of adding a new ride next year.
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"Enjoy your voyage to the sun on the wings of Apollos Chariot"
*** This post was edited by Brendan w on 8/21/2002. ***
Also at one point I walked up to Flashback and I saw the ride ops out in front of it. As I walked up one of them asked me what time it was and I said 3:24. Them he just says ohh we are closed sa they just sit there and do nothing. Not only did they have that closed but they had Cyclone closed as well and were only running one train on flashback.
Take a second and imagine what would happen if 2 trains were running on Flashback...
Nice TR though. New England's SROS is my #1 too :)
*** This post was edited by chris321 on 8/21/2002. ***
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"Enjoy your voyage to the sun on the wings of Apollos Chariot"
Too bad you didn't get to ride Cyclone - that really still packs a punch even more than Thunderbolt.
SF whole fastpass thing is a joke already. They would rather run empty seats than put non-fastpass people in those seats. I experienced the same treatment at SFAmerica - they had lines sectioned off on their coasters for fastpass, and time after time those seats were empty because there were no fastpass customers. Just ridiculous.
I was there Friday 8/16 and a couple of the eateries filled our sport bottles with icewater for no charge, that was pretty good. I see your point though. I noticed the middle car gates chained off at timeson SROS but I was told that had to do with keeping the weight down so it wouldn't overspeed going into the brake run.(?) Did you see people coming on via the exit gate? The Q-bot line mixes in with the standby line just before the platform anyway, so a separate car for them wouldn't make much sense... didn't notice about the other rides. If I had brought the kids the Q-bot would have been a plus but as it is most lines were pretty reasonable that day.
Tomahawk- This is a Huss Frisbee. I had been in a KGV Afterburner and expected this to be better but this ride just plain sucked. It didn’t even go halfway up the sides and spun so fast that it made me sick. I give it a 3.
Doesn't making you sick make it a ten? ;-)
SL1321
*** This post was edited by Steve1321 on 8/21/2002. ***
*** This post was edited by Steve1321 on 8/21/2002. ***
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John
Albany Entertainment:
http://home.nycap.rr.com/albanyent
CalvinJ23, I did not notice the sparking... we did get 3 night rides all on the red train... I thought the station crew was hustling pretty good that night even though it was still a bit hot, all 3 times we were all ready to go before the blue train hit the brake run. I thought most of the lines were pretty reasonable all day Friday except the raft ride (naturally) and Nightwing which takes forever to load. Then again I don't have any other midsize parks to compare to, only Canobie, Funtown, and the Orlando parks. Must hit Lake Compounce one of these days. Do you know what is the "Joker" ride... it was closed when we were there... someone said SFNE had a Chance Wipeout, perhaps that is it? I fully agree $3 for water is a joke... we stuck a few snack bars & such in the locker and tailgated for lunch and supper.
About your Thunderbolt complaint with it only running one train. Due to an operator not paying attention the two trains collided inside the station several years ago. A lot of people got hurt and because of the the park will never run two trains again. The ride doesn't have the modern automatic braking system like most coasters today, instead it's completly controlled by the operator because they have levers to pull that controls the braking system. Because this type of braking system still exists on the ride and the park doesn't want to modernize a classic coaster the Thunderbolt will only run in one train operation. The park doesn't want another mishap like that to happen again and they aren't going to risk the lives on their guests and risk losing a classic coaster when the state shuts it down for safety issues. Meaning the state might tell the park to modernize the braking system of the ride or they'll have to tear it down because the state won't allow the ride to be reopened.
In my opinion the park is doing a smart thing in keeping the ride in it's original state as much as possible.
About your comment on the name Ship Wreck Falls, I believe this ride was one of the first to be called Ship Wreck Falls at a Six Flags park. This ride opened in 1997 back when the park was still called Riverside. Your version at Darien Lake is the one that's copying the name because it opened this year.
Gwazi God said:
About your comment on the name Ship Wreck Falls, I believe this ride was one of the first to be called Ship Wreck Falls at a Six Flags park. This ride opened in 1997 back when the park was still called Riverside. Your version at Darien Lake is the one that's copying the name because it opened this year.
Yes it was still called Riverside in 1997 but Six Flags still owned it. Six Flags bought the park in 1996 but they didn't name it SFNE until 2000.
I sure hope they weren't running two trains on flashback!:)
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S:RoS ( SFNE ) rules!
Brendan w said:
The only other Six flags park I had been to is Darien Lake. I had heard all sorts of bad things about Six Flags on these boards but never believed them until now. I have never seen a more horribly run park in my life.
I've been to 3 SF parks so far (SFWOA, SFGAdv, SFNE) and SFNE was the best run of the three. Sad really. They have another chance when we visit SFOG next month. I'm not expecting much...
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www.coasterimage.com
Dorney Park visits in 2002: 15
Steve, there was alittle sparking coming from under the red train. we rode back all night. got 12 rides friday! :) if you were by the back you could see it as the train came to a stop. the crew that night was pretty good. alittle slow but with the heat that day i cant blame'em. I agree about the lines. definately a good day to be at the park as the lines were really moving...except for scream when they closed down the other tower and had one going. The joker's wildcard is pretty much an indoor scrambler type ride. im not sure if its chance though. its a pretty neat ride though. my supper was down the road about a mile. We stopped at Utopia (sp?) about a mile or 2 down the road. got a personal pan pizza for like $2 compared to SFNE's 6 or whatever lol.
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John
Albany Entertainment:
http://home.nycap.rr.com/albanyent
I went Wednesday and there was sparks in the brake run. Also, SROS's red train was making a huge, noticeable clank entering the hill that brings you into the first helix.
About Thunderbolt it always runs one train. I also think most of the flat rides are closed because they need to shift staff for fast lane. Plus, inspections are probably going on some of the rides. Scream has been using only one tower due to inspections.
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I lost my hat on Poison Ivy. How pathetic.
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