SFOG - 6/9/04 More Deja Vu woes, and a BIG DW teaser

Hi all,

First, my big teaser. Watch for aerial pictures of THUNDERHEAD soon. They are currently being developed, but if you think the thing looks cool from the ground shots, you'll be shocked what the entire thing looks like from the air!

Anyway, my brief TR of SFOG.

I took 30 high school kids there on Wednesday. Weather was fair, and crowds were fair. As some of you know, I've been to SFOG 5 times since Deja Vu and Acrophobia opened. I have never ridden Deja Vu and gotten Acro only once. I told the kids about my woes, but said we had a decent chance...I knew it had been operating lately, and after all, it is June.

I should have known better!

First thing at the gate it states that Deja Vu and Acrophobia were down. Oh well...I wasn't looking forward to riding Vu, but was looking forward to "having ridden it". At least I would get the new coaster? Nope. Not even close to being done....the track is a circuit, but the ride isn't close to being done. Come on guys...I'm sure it might not be SFOGs fault, but maybe SF inc.'s fault, but let's get the new rides open before summer, huh? It's not a huge project.

So, I managed to ride all the other coasters. Of note is the sublime Mindbender. Oh man is that thing is sublime. Anton was a pure genius.

The B&M triplets were good as well......I'm not a big flyer fan, but S:UF is a fun ride...I'm always up for a spin on it. Scorcher might be the best standup out there too. Batman...well...they're always great!

The wood: Cyclone is balancing the fine line between, "wow...that was awesome" psychotic and "I need 2 apsrin and a chiropractor" psychotic. The Scream Machine is good fine, and in great shape! I had several good spins on it.

Monster Plantation always deserves a notice. I love dark rides, and although dated, I enjoy the ride. I assume it's a matter of time before it recieves the Scooby/Sally treatment, so I took a few spins. I would love for them to replace the soundsystem, give the robots and sets some rehab, etc.

The staff get's the "Best staff at a Six Flags park so far this year" award from me. Most were friendly above and beyond the Six Flags standard level, and were better than any other SF park I've been to this year or last year. Other than slow food service, they were quite good.

Watch for a DW trip report in the near future with aerial Thunderhead Photos!

Ooooo! I love teases! Can't wait to see those Jeff!

:-D

Has Deja Vu even opened at all this year? :-/ I agree about the staff at SFOG.....they rock!

-Tina

Yes, it opened in late April, after I went in early April. As far as I knew it was still open...not so much!!

THe sign said "We are working to open this attraction as soon as..." Of course, there was not a soul at either place working!

Perhaps not all work that goes on for it isn't at the ride itself? Just because you don't see anybody working on it doesn't mean they're not working on the ride. They want the ride open just as much as you and me. If waiting on a part though, theres only so much you can do...

Of course....it didn't matter much to all the folks walking by grumbling "that thing's always closed..."

Peabody,

I know exactly how you feel. It took me 4 visits to get on Deja at SFOG. I have been to SFGAm 5 times since Deja opened there and still haven't been on it. At this point, I am not going to try anymore. It's just not worth it.

Such a fitting name. Don't you think?

-Sean

I went to SFOG about 10 times before finally getting on Deja Vu last season. I only rode it twice last year, and then it broke again. It has supposedly been open this year, but I haven't seen it operate.

It was on the news a few weeks ago when the train got lowered down the 2nd tower and riders had to be walked off the ride after being "stuck" for 20 mintues. This wa breaking news in ATL - so I guess the heli was bored and saw this going on.

Acrophobia has always been reliable for me, but apparently was struck by lightning again this year. Hasn't anyone in GA heard of a lightning rod? All the rides in FL ahve these at any high points, and they never have problems. I kinda find it hard to believe because I have yet to see any lightning in GA since I've lived here. Strikes were everywhere, everyday in FL and nothing ever got fried because of it.

Jeff, sounds exciting! Looking forward to seeing those pics, but you can burn in hell for getting to Thunderhead before me... ;)

Thanks for the fun TR. Sorry, you still haven't ridden Deja What down there at SFOG, but at least you didn't torture the nads on Acro. It's all good.

BTW, what did the kids do when they found out they were getting more than one park this trip?

Yeah Rob, the kids were happy when they found out we had a second park. Most kind of moaned when they found out it was Dollywood since they didn't know better, but man did Thunderhead (along with other things) shut them up. They rode it dozens of times each. I'll type up a TR for DW soon....we just got back a few hours ago, and I want to get that film back.

If you ask 9 out of the 10 kids what the best coaster was at SFOG they will say Mindbender. A few liked Cyclone the best, and there was one superman fan. They have good taste, no? My dad has turned them all into coaster freaks! Every year we have someone with us that has never been on a coaster. This year there was this sweet little 13 year old girl who hadn't. I took her on Superman for a "trial by fire" She LOVED it and was a powerhouse rider all week so far!

Great TR Jeff...let me know next time you're headed to Hotlanta and we'll try to hook up...:)

I agree about the staff at SFoG, *almost* unmatched by ANY chain park....*plug* for the Texas TR...;)

Glad Mindbender was the big hit at the park, Antons just consistently deliver...and I'm HOPEFUL that *when* SFoG rehabs Monster Plantation that they keep the theming as is, and just have Sally *incorporate* the interactive to an already great ride. I know it's a faint hope, but hey...

I'm glad I got my credit on SFoG's DV when I did, haven't seen it open once since in three or four separate *trips*. They really are bad PR for the parks that have them SBNO, and I'm pretty sure SF would prefer to have them open and reliable...

Thunderhead...:) How can a coaster be that fast, that relentless, and that smooth...wow!