SFoT 3/4

Not going to give you the in's and out's of my day but a coupe of changes I noticed since last season:

1) The employees are scarily "friendly." They all said "have a nice day" and "enjoy the rest of your visit and such" to the point where it was actually getting quite annoying

2) They're really pushing the 45th anniversary. There were ballons, flower gardens, displays, signs, etc. etc. Reminded me of Disney's 50th celebration but noticably less...celebratory.

3) None of the new rides were on site. Most of them didn't even have a concrete plot to be set on. Just lots of boarded off holes in the ground.

4) Judge Roy had a white train. Don't know if this replaced the red train or it was just repainted, but either way, it ran quite well.

5) As far as I could tell, everything save the Boomerang was running well. No breakdowns that I noticed.

Overall impression - Looks like Shapiro's new vision is already starting to take hold. We'll see if it affects the bottom line, though. It could be the kind of thing that's a little over compensating.

Edit: Oh yeah, and there were *crazy* amounts of costumed characters. I saw at least 5 or 6 in my few hours at the park. Lots of them taking pictures and waving hi to guests.

*** Edited 3/11/2006 3:57:55 AM UTC by ApolloAndy***

How was the Giant? ;)

The Giant was flying. The trims were either wide open or very lightly applied. Unfortunately I didn't see any new track so we could be in for a rough season.

The Judge has three trains--red, white and blue. Only two of them are on the track for the season while the third undergoes rehab. This year it looks like we are running the blue and white trains. Next year the red will be back on and the blue train will be off. BTW the white train is the old PTC train that used to run on the Texas Cyclone.

Cool piece of Trivia. The Cyclone lives on...a bit.

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ApolloAndy said:
1) The employees are scarily "friendly." They all said "have a nice day" and "enjoy the rest of your visit and such" to the point where it was actually getting quite annoying

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Heeheehee. So would you rather have this, or the indifferent, absent-minded Magic Mountain ride op?

I'll take the annoyingly-friendly ops. They'll eventually get it right.

I would too. At least it shows that they recognize you as a human being. Always a step in the right direction. I guess I prefer the Cedar Point ops who actually stop to have conversations and ask how your day is going rather than being kind of in your face and trying to be all perky and cheery.

Strange, most of the CP ops in my experience treat you as a number, not a guest. VERY rarely is it the op who starts a conversation, usually it's me or someone in my group.

A lot of the time I feel like a branded cow being herd (hearded?) into a coaster train.

JC

I'm glad to hear this since SFOT is my favorite SF park. It really does seem like things are changing, although I have never had any problem with this park. I can't wait to visit this June It will be great.:)

Everything was going well on the 11th and 12th also, except that Titan got stuck on the lift, and that swing accident. The ride ops were overly friendly, but I'd rather have ops that were too nice then ops that are just jerks.

Yeah I also noticed that they are pushing the 45th anniversary deal, and it got kind of annoying, but it wasn't that bad.

Overall I like what's going on at SFoT, and I hope they keep it up.

How does SFoT compare to the rest of the flag ships? And what will be the ride total once the new additions are in place?

I have yet to visit SFOG (Spring Fling, baby!), but SFOT is my favorite of the US SF parks. I'm guessing SFOG will be my new favorite, come April 22nd. I really need to get back to SFGAd and give it another chance. My one visit in 2001 was underwhelming, but Andy swears it's better than SFOT. ;)

See ya at the Fling, Matt....

Better than SFoT? I'll let you decide, I think you know where *I* stand in regards to SFoT... ;)

Shockwave and Texas Giant. 'Nuff said, right? ;)

....and Freeze and Chute-Out and Titan and that AWESOME flume...and Run-A-Way Mountain and the Mine train and you KNOW I love the Intamin sled, S:ToP, etc., etc.....awesome staff, operations, landscaping....it's Heaven in Tejas! :)

Made a quick stop again on the 12th. Everything was pretty much the same. The Giant was still flying. We were there around the time of the Yo-Yo incident but didn't see anything.

I forgot to mention that parking has jumped from $9.00 to $15.00 for regular, $20.00 for premium parking and $30.00 for valet parking. I'm not sure how well this will go over. I know some cities are used to high parking prices but parking at the Ranger stadium is only $10.00. Parking is pretty cheap during the day in Fort Worth and free in most of Fort Worth after 6:00 p.m. Parking is slightly higher in Dallas, but reasonable parking can still be found for most entertainment venues. Last time I went to a concert at the American Airlines Center I parked for $5.00. I think $15.00 is way too high for North Texas, and a real slap in the face for a first impression.

*** Edited 3/15/2006 3:30:24 PM UTC by Jeffrey Seifert***

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rc-madness said:
How does SFoT compare to the rest of the flag ships? And what will be the ride total once the new additions are in place?

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I am both partial to, and sometimes critical of my home park. Out of towners who come to visit seem to be very impressed with the park and tell me we don't appreciate what we have. I think it is one of the better SF parks both in terms of operations, ambience, and overall ride package. Of all the SF parks, SFOG, SFGAm and SFOT are my favorites.

We have 12 coasters that provide a nice variety, a train, an observation tower, 4-D theater, dark ride, walk-through, two flumes, river rapids ride, shoot-the-chutes, carousel, and antique car ride. We had 6 flats so ten more is a much needed addition. I think that brings our ride count up to about 39 (not including the kiddie rides). We also have a couple of pay extra attractions like go karts and a skycoaster.

*** Edited 3/15/2006 3:24:19 PM UTC by Jeffrey Seifert***

Intamin 1st gen freefall!

Thanks, that's helpful to hear. May favorites are SFoG and SFFT. I do like interesting landscapes at parks. SFGA also really packs in the coasters, and I love the layout of that park. And Great Adventure is going to be great fun this summer.

I'm hopeful about SFMM reaching its potential. Only park I've been to with a large hill in the middle of it. Offers a lot of dimension in a landscaped sort of way, and 17 roller coasters can't be a bad thing. Magic Mountain is as close to a hometown favorite as I have had.

SFoT had bit of an odd layout as I remember. I sense the park has really hit its stride as of lately, so I hope to visit it again soon. *** Edited 3/15/2006 7:21:55 PM UTC by rc-madness***

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Acoustic Viscosity said:
My one visit in 2001 was underwhelming, but Andy swears it's better than SFOT. ;)

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Well, my first priority is the DDR machine. SFoT has 1 which is set on super hard (I can't do half the songs I can do at any other machine) whereas GAdv. has 3 machines.

Nitro >> Titan (I'd prefer to be able to see during my ride, thank you)
Skull >> Runaway (first drop on skull in the back)
Chiller >> Freeze (zero-g with lap bars!)
I'd burn both RT and TG and put up a dippin' dots stand :-P
The bobsled is nice and Shockwave packs quite a punch but again, I have trouble with the massive G's in the loops.
GASM, S:UF, Medusa, KK, and now El Toro? I don't see where there's a debate. :P

I'd definitely give the friendliness and cleanliness edge to SFoT, but I'm not there to make friends, I'm there to ride coasters! ;) And besides GAdv. has a Chaos (which admittedly only operates about 1/4 of the time).