Six Flags America 4/17/04

Today was a very nice opening to my rollercoaster season. I started my gettin my season pass processed when the park opened. The park was not at all crowded. Me and my brother then made way to Superman. We managed to get the first ride of the day in the front seat. After that we headed to batwing and rode it twice, walk-ons both times. We then headed over to Joker, unbelievably quick loading today. Since it was warm we went on Penguins Blizzard River. After that we headed to the far end and went to two-face. Something went wrong with the ride so we left. (I dont like that ride anyway) We then made way to tower of doom, rather boring ride after drop-zone at KD. Then was good old Wild One. We were at the top then it stopped. We were there maybe ten minutes so we looked and enjoyed the scenery. We could so old python and even FedEx field over way behind superman. The ride finally went, fun ride. We then left the park and went to subway outside the park. It smelled god aweful but life goes on. We headed back to the park and went t the BUMPER CARS!!!!. We always ride these a million times. Next we made way to Roar, one of my favorite woodies. By this point it was real hot so we went on shipwreck falls and got DRENCHED!!! To fry off and get we went to Superman. Then we left

*****wait, there was one new thing i saw. They had remote controlled boats to drive for 0.75 Pretty neat

Really? where do they have those remote control boats?

*****Actually, now that I think about it, if they put in remote control boats, the best place would be in that pool in Skull Island with the pirate ship where they used to do the sword fight/diving show...Am I right?

Yea thats where they were. I wanted to try them out but no change :( And one more thing the blue train on Superman is back in the park but was still being worked on all day today

I did try the boats (there is a change machine towards the end closest to the ladder game). They were pretty cool. A little difficult to drive but not to heard for a beginner to learn. Yes, the blue train is back on for Superman, it's missing it's last row of seats and lap bars. Batwing's second train is it's shelter waiting for it's final pieces (from what I could see it at least needed the lap bars finished). JJ second train is on it's transfer tracks, not sure why they weren't running it. I asked a guard when Iron Eagle was going to reopen, he thought about it for a couple of seconds and then said the second weekend in May. Take it for what it's worth, I don't think he was the most knowledgable person on the subject.

The shows continue to improve. The Wild West Stunt show has added some new tricks (including the use of shotguns that are really loud) and the show is much better than my first report. The country music show (imho) is now the best show in the park. If they could get their headsets worked out so there wasn't such a big problem hearing the singers. One girl is hold her microphone up to her month. The other one you keep hearing the "pa pa" sound when she sings. Other than that, a really high energy show.

I had a good time today.

I liked the new show also, but I never saw the old one :( what time did u go to it?

It was the show they had last season although I think the one they had back in 02 was better.

Glad to hear they're finally putting the lagoon next to TSC to good use....too bad the pirate stunt show that was introduced back in 97/98 didn't last too long & I'm glad to hear that both Batwing,JJ & S:ROS all have at least two trains now assembled for the most part & are now on the transfer/storage track awaiting use.

Man I want to ride S:ROS so bad...it's been way too long & I'm well overdue for a ride on that thing,I hope it'll be running just as well by the time my trip on may 1st rolls around.

Slightly off topic: Coasterlover have you gotten any word on when or if SFN will be back up? based on the message I got when trying to access the site it appears to no longer exist.

Ya, that Pirate show is one of those shows I wish was still there. It was a really cool show and with the abilities of their current stunt crews, I'm sure it only would have gotten better. I guess the park figured that three stunt shows would have been way too many and the Pirate stuntshow was the obvious one to close. Do the remote control boats at least somewhat fit into the theme of the area? Or are they regular boats?

It's interesting that SFA is adding all these little ways to make money. Last year added the water guns on TSC and the "shower" thing in Coyote Creek and now this year the remote control boats. A couple years ago they had those "Do it Prove it" thing where you could get a trading card of major attractions and stamp it at the end of the ride with the date and time you rode it. This is all good, but it seems so few people use them or even realize they are there. It was almost funny last season when I'd get a role of coins and use the "shower" then when people saw what it actually was, a line almost instantly formed and the smiles abounded. It was very similar with the water sprayers on TSC.

But in my opinion, what they really need is the water gysers on TSC or Renegade Rapids. I get such a kick out of using the gysers as they seem to be really effective in getting all or a good portion of the boat completly drenched. I can easily go through a couple dollars in quarters if I find a good gyser! Maybe if they extend a path around renegade rapids, they could put the gysers in the somewhat slow spot right before the raft gets to the unload station. Just an idea.

It's also a shame the onride camera's had to be removed from so many of the rides (Batwing, Joker's Jinx, TSC). I was thinking and maybe the reason is because since so few photos are sold, maybe they just don't feel it's worth it to keep the people staffing the booth. But how bout an automated system? It seems like it would be very easy to make a computer system that would display the photos and at the same time allow people to browse through the photos, choose the one they want and choose the size pictures they want. Maybe that will come in the future, maybe that's an idea I should patten!

Anyways, it's great to see SFA up and running so well already. It was a WONDERFUL day for going to the park. Let's hope we see many more warm days like this throughout the year!By the way it sounds, the park will even have two train opperation on all of their coasters by next weekend. Personally, I think having two train opperation on all your attractions just two weeks after the park opens for the year is pretty darn good!

(BATWING FAN SFA: I have no knowledge of what happened or is happening at SFN. My only suggestion is to contact a Mod from that site and ask straight from the horses mouth. Unfortunatly, I have no contact information for any of the Mods. Currently, I'm looking at Thrillnerds.com to start chatting on. Here at coasterbuzz is nice because most everything is reliable, but over at Thrillnerds.com, things are a little more lax and the fun rumors (though usually so completly false that's it's almost funny) can bubble and brew unhindered in a crowd of people that's made up of mostly people who live in the general area of SFA/PKD/BGW/Hershey...I hope that helps...) *** Edited 4/18/2004 5:19:31 AM UTC by Coaster Lover***

TSC had an on ride camera?I never saw or knew about it until now....where was it located on the ride?

I think the reason many rides have lost them is the cost for the guests....look at how expensive Roar on ride pics have gotten,$6.00 is quite expensive for an on ride pic if you ask me & another issue may be quality(both the pic & ride itself)I mean it's quite obvious why JJ lost it's camera.

It was removed due to low ridership because of the brutally rough rides that the coaster was dishing out just prior to the new trains being added & the quality of the photo's on ME were terrible in black & white which explains why the camera was removed after just two years of operation.

What they really need to do is put those spray guns in the queue for PBR...why is it they were mentioned in the ride description but never installed during construction?also switching from fastlane paper tickets to Lo-Q using the Q-Bots would generate more revenue for the park & guests wouldn't have to deal with the frustration of seeing guests using fastlane simply walk up the exit & board wherever they like on a given ride,the costs being slightly higher per use would also generate more revenue than the current system.

I already know about thrill nerds because I'm a member there....just look for the same screen name I had over at SFN & you'll know it's me,we need to get some of the others from our "group" to join as well so we can pick up there where we left off at SFN.

http://www.joyrides.com/sfa/full/typhoon_sea_coaster.htm

The camera was on TSC only for a season or two at most. You can see in this pic the pole that it was on, on the left side of the trough at the bottom of the final drop. The photo booth is really obvious as you're leaving the ride. It's right on the exit path of the ride before you go into the gift shop. You can also see in the picture that they used to have more water flowing down the mountain. There was some water flowing down from the right eye as well as from another spot further left on the mountain not seen in the photo.

Why is TSC ALWAYS!!! closed? I've been there a million times and have ridden it twice :(

i just joined. I like this site better.

SFA has leased the On Ride Photos out to Kaman's (the same people that do the Air Brush Tatto's and the Caricature's) beginning this season (at least this is the first season they aren't wearing SFA uniforms). They have upgraded the equipment, instead of seeing the pictures on tv's, you can now see them on flat screen lcd monitors. They are clearer pictures and I have seen more people walking around the park with them. They also changed the flash on the cameras which is probably what is making the difference in picture quality. I venture to guess, if on ride pictures sales increase, then you will probably see the pictures return to other rides in the park (JJ, Batwing, TSC, PBR, ME, Wild One).

You mean to say that the current coasters that have on ride photos (Superman and Roar) are now using flat screen monoters instead of the old TV screens? That's so much nicer. I knew they had done that with the pics they took as you came into the park, but I hadn't realized they upgraded it on the rides as well...

Yes Roar & S:ROS both have them,they still have the TV's on the back wall of the booths but they can load up your photo(based on the ID number shown on the tv monitor) & show it to you right there at the counter.

Thanks for the TSC pic...now I know where the photo cam was,too bad they took it out rather quickly as I would've loved to add an onride pic of TSC to my collection.

http://www.coaster-net.com/pg/tsc1.jpg

I knew this pic was out there somewhere. There's a pic with the actual camera system on that pole just incase you thought that pole may have been for something else or it was a pole that never had a camera...

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BATWING FAN SFA said:
I think the reason many rides have lost them is the cost for the guests....look at how expensive Roar on ride pics have gotten,$6.00 is quite expensive for an on ride pic if you ask me & another issue may be quality(both the pic & ride itself)I mean it's quite obvious why JJ lost it's camera.

It was removed due to low ridership because of the brutally rough rides that the coaster was dishing out just prior to the new trains being added & the quality of the photo's on ME were terrible in black & white which explains why the camera was removed after just two years of operation.

What they really need to do is put those spray guns in the queue for PBR...why is it they were mentioned in the ride description but never installed during construction?also switching from fastlane paper tickets to Lo-Q using the Q-Bots would generate more revenue for the park & guests wouldn't have to deal with the frustration of seeing guests using fastlane simply walk up the exit & board wherever they like on a given ride,the costs being slightly higher per use would also generate more revenue than the current system.

I already know about thrill nerds because I'm a member there....just look for the same screen name I had over at SFN & you'll know it's me,we need to get some of the others from our "group" to join as well so we can pick up there where we left off at SFN.

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FYI
A. TSC pic was taken on the last drop

B. PBR doesn't have the water guns cause there's no place for the public to work them from (other than the path to the picnic groves)

C. Every ride photo operation in the park is run independantly by an outside company, they are placed, (and removed) on a "sales" basis, not ride quality and brutality

D. JJ did not get new trains, they simply removed the OTSR's and replaced them with lap bars...(the OTSR's are dumped in the back of the bone yard just past the maint departments bldg.

E. Q-Bot went out of business, the current Q-bots at other parks are being run by the park, maybe someday we'll see something similar....until then, Fastlane tix

F. Here's a list of the things (I know of) that are run by outside companies....

1. water guns
2. ride photos
3. Most Games
4. Many food outlets
5. Soda machines
6. radio controlled boats
7. walk around cotton candy, snowcone, lemonade carts.

SAM

You missed the Airbrush Tatoo's and the Caricatures (a sign on the side of the Heritage House Food Court says Caricatures by Kamans).

As far as the Water Guns are concerned, I would love for the park to add them on PBR. But, I think Sam is right, I don't see how the public would be able to operate them. Unless they built a path up to and along the slide near Blizzard Blast No. 2. The steps wouldn't work. To much foot traffic. I dump a bunch of quarters in the ones at Renegade Rapids and if they could aim the ones at TSC better, I would dump a bunch of quarters in the ones there as well.

I rode PBR on Saturday. Blizzard Blast No. 2 managed to get me pretty wet. *** Edited 4/19/2004 1:20:15 PM UTC by coasterguts***

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coasterguts said:
You missed the Airbrush Tatoo's and the Caricatures (a sign on the side of the Heritage House Food Court says Caricatures by Kamans).4/19/2004 1:20:15 PM UTC by coasterguts***

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What's up with the caricature folks? they're always busy these days, I recall them just sitting around alot..........