Six Flags America 4/17/04

Honestly, I have seen more people come out of the park or carrying caricatures around this season than I have in the two seasons I've been going.

I noticed they moved a few things around this around year. The Hot Dog Stand moved from Skull Island to across from the spining tea cups. The mgr said sales have improved. I was joking with her the other day. I told her I almost missed the stunt show because I had to hunt them down. Then they added caricature artist to Gotham City outside the Batman stunt show arena. Definetly more visable location.

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

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Well, I think it might extend from the better operations at the park. I've yet to go to SFA this year, but from all the trip reports I've heard, operations at the park have improved considerably this year. When the staff is friendlier and faster on the rides and the park generally looks better, the guests are happier, and when people are happy, they are more likely to spend money. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the park keeps up the better operations throughout the year, especially when it really starts to get hecticly busy over the summer. If they can do that, it should really help to get guests coming back to the park.

The real test will come once the peak season begins.

Now if by then they can get at least two trains & both sides running on Batwing I for one will be a happy guest....I've given up all hope of them ever running all three trains simultainiously on that thing.

Other than that they need to get TOD running all three sides again,it was working at full capacity late last season but the control system it seems keeps screwing up & causing the ride to stop mid cycle if they try to run all three sides at the same time.

I plan on going to physics day at SFA this Friday (4/23). Does anyone know what the typical crowd level is on a day like this?

Also, whats the latest as far as ride operation goes. Is Jokers Jinx running yet? I know that Batwing is running (albiet inconsistantly). And is S:RoS running two trains or one. Then theres always the debate as far as if Two Face is running (and btw, is it any smoother this year....and what about Mind Erasers smoothness)? Sorry about all the questions and thanks in advance for your help!!

Do you all like ben&jerrys? they have some good customer service and the people who serve ice cream are especially nice :D.

According to the combined trip reports, all of the coasters at SFA are open. Renegade Rapids and Typhoon Seacoaster are both scheduled to open May 1st. As of last weekend, Roar and Wild One were both running two trains (though usually only loading one unless loading both trains was justified), Joker's Jinx and Mind Eraser were both running one train with the second train on the transfer track (I'm sure they will put them on if needed), Batwing and Superman both had their second trains on the transfer tracks, but were not yet fully put back together, by this weeked this could/should be done and all coasters that can run 2 trains SHOULD be at a state where they COULD run two trains if the park feels two train operation is justified. As for Physics Day, considering the park is closed to the general public that day, I'd GUESS lines should be reasonably short. Then again, as it will be nearly all students, and they'll prefer the more extream rides, you could get decent lines for the highest thrill attractions and have little to no line for the slightly to little excitement rides. I guess it all comes down to how many schools signed up and how many students each school brings.

The park has a physics day?

Yes, they doo...

# Exclusive Physics Day April 23
This EXCLUSIVE event is geared toward middle and high school students, grades 6-12 Students apply the laws and theories of physics by performing experiments on our rides. A special reproducible copy of our "Physics Can Be Fun" workbook is available to teacher upon request from the Six Flags America Sales Department. During this exclusive day in the park, you and your students will be regaled and informed by our many special presentations – New for 2004! NASA - Past, Present and Future presented by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Education Office. Back by popular demand - Marc's Groovy Science performed by Marc Clayton of the Applied Physics Lab at Johns Hopkins University. New for 2004 - Dick Stohr, "That Yo-Yo Guy". New for 2004 – Physics Day Roller Coaster Building Contest! To find out how you and your school can enter this exciting contest, please visit www.aapt.org/Contests/ and click on the link Six Flags America Roller Coaster Contest. Exhibits hosted by NASA, the Society of Physics Students, and the American Association of Physics Teachers provide new information in the world of Physics. This is an exclusive event for physics students, teachers and chaperones. The park is not open to the general public and season passes are not valid. Call the Six Flags America Sales Department at (301) 249-1500 x3275 or x3700 for more information, or click here to download an order form.

I havn't ridden Two face yet this season(it was closed when I went on opening weekend)but I did ride Mind Eraser.

ME was suprisingly smooth that day but now that it's had a chance to break in for the year I'm not so sure.

I'll find out come may 1st because that's when I'll be going next.

Well sounds like fairly good news to me. So has anyone here ever been to any of the past Physics Days? Either way, it sounds like most/all of the coasters are running at least 1 train which is really good news!! I havn't been to the park in 2 years (I didn't go last year...I opted to go to CP), so I'm very interested to see how things are being run. I'll be sure to report back after the trip!

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FlyInBack said:
I plan on going to physics day at SFA this Friday (4/23). Does anyone know what the typical crowd level is on a day like this?

Also, whats the latest as far as ride operation goes. Is Jokers Jinx running yet? I know that Batwing is running (albiet inconsistantly). And is S:RoS running two trains or one. Then theres always the debate as far as if Two Face is running (and btw, is it any smoother this year....and what about Mind Erasers smoothness)? Sorry about all the questions and thanks in advance for your help!!

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When I went last weak, every rollercoaster was running, I did't go on two-face or minderaser for the simple fact that they both suck. Jokers Jinx was running with one train. The ride was the smoothest i've have ever seen from that ride. Minderaser is NEVER smooth but I havent been on it yet this year so maybe they changed somthing. Last week the blue train on Superman was under heavy maintanence, but may be open this weekend. About the crowd, since its still not summer, the crownds probobly won't be that bad. If you want the hots seats on the best rides, get there when the park opens and run to superman and batwing. I managed to catch a few rides this way in the front and backs of each with absolutely NO WAIT.

For what it's worth, I actually like Tower of Doom much more than I like PKD's Drop Zone. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you don't expect much of ANYTHING out of it, but to me, ToD is second to only Acro for drop thrill.

Weird....I like the Intamin second-gen drops (Hellevator's got the cool NAME though, LOL)....but for ME, the third-gen drops ARE what makes a drop ride. They're thrill-wise, the equivalent of the 80' shot towers that really *rocket* you to the top and give INSANE (shoulder-crunching) airtime...not ALL of the 80' towers are CRANKED that way, but when you get a Keansburg-quality shot ride, you get AIR, in abundance.

TOD specifically I've never ridden, always seems to have lines due to operating 2 sides, at least on my visits..."The new SF" may mean getting all four sides operational this year...

SFA has one of the strongest coaster line-ups in the chain as far as I'm concerned...

Two face sucks?...I don't think so because given the choice between ME & TF:TFS it's definitely the smoother running of the two inverts the park has to offer,sure ME was smoother than expected when I rode it but that was probably due to the fact that it was opening weekend & the ride had just come off it's annual off season rehab.

Does anyone happen to know what the park's operating hours are gonna be on may 1st? I would just check the SFA homepage for the schedule but it just takes way too long to load up...I'm not sure if they'll be switching to their 10:30 AM to 9:00PM schedule yet so I want to be sure.

It'll really help so I can try to maximize my coaster riding time for the entire day & try to get in as many rides as possible as they do have a habit of closing some rides early.

Rollergator, just FYI, TOD only has three sides, not four.

BatwingFan, yes, SFA will be open from 10:30am-9pm on May 1st.

The good news, the storms originally forcasted for this weekend are no longer predicted. Weather this weekend should be very nice with temperatures in the 70s and only a 30% chance of scattered showers on Sunday.

C-Lover.....thanks! I certainly didn't know it had 3 instead of the "more normal" four-sided configuration...I guess capacity is *never* gonna be where I want it for that ride....;)

Next time up there, I'll try and hop on...the Eagle was certainly worth the wait and then some....:)

My girlfriend and I will be there this weekend for my first time there, and our first trip of the year. Looking forward to it. Weather looks like it should be nice.

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BATWING FAN SFA said:
Two face sucks?...I don't think so because given the choice between ME & TF:TFS it's definitely the smoother running of the two inverts the park has to offer,sure ME was smoother than expected when I rode it but that was probably due to the fact that it was opening weekend & the ride had just come off it's annual off season rehab.

Does anyone happen to know what the park's operating hours are gonna be on may 1st? I would just check the SFA homepage for the schedule but it just takes way too long to load up...I'm not sure if they'll be switching to their 10:30 AM to 9:00PM schedule yet so I want to be sure.

It'll really help so I can try to maximize my coaster riding time for the entire day & try to get in as many rides as possible as they do have a habit of closing some rides early.

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Ok that may have been a little drastic for two-face. The ride just makes me sick every time I ride it, but as for mind eraser.... It sucks

Thanks for the schedule info Coasterlover...now I just hope the weather for may 1st will be as good as this weekend's forecast is.