Six Flags America 9-16-01

Being the last regular day of the season at SFA I decided that it was time that I use those free tickets that I got from AOL. I had gotten 3 free tickets, so I took my son, a friend, and me(of course.) My first gripe is $9 to park. Come on. Thats highway robbery.;) Since I had free tickets I really didn't care.

We arrived at the park at about 10:20, and got in the season pass line. It wasn't very crowded, so we were in right away. It was a nice laid back day, and perfect weather to boot. What more could you ask for? There definately wasn't a running of the bulls.

Went straight to Mind Eraser since it was the closest to the entrance and my son loves those SLC's(He doesn't know any better yet.:)) Actually I think they are ok when I don't have a headache coming off, and this one was a success. No wait for the front seat. This ride was way too short. I'd give it a 6 out of 10. I prefer B&M's.

Roar (5 minute wait for the front. 2 for the back.) I love GCI's coasters, and all their layouts. It's just as pretty to look at as the rest of them. I have only ridden the Lightning Racer and Wild Cat, but compared to those 2 coasters it didn't seem as powerful. It was a really smooth ride similar to Lightning Racer. I loved the bank turns, and several spots of airtime. It deserves an 8 out of 10. I would like to see that tunnel fully enclosed.

Jokers Jinx (10 minute wait for the front, 5 for the back) I loved the launch through the tunnel, and the design is pretty ingenious. Lots of head choppers. The front seat was pretty smooth, and no major head banging. The back on the other hand was a different story. They need the lapbar treatment on this one for sure, but I still liked the coaster alot. 8 out of 10. Hopefully they'll send theses trains in when Batman is done for Gr8 Adv.

Superman (15 minutes for the front. 15 for the back.) Intamin. Need I say more? :) I really like this coaster alot. Lots of great airtime, and I actually liked the back better on this one. A really powerful and smooth ride. Nice layout. Not Millenium Force, but a hell of alot closer to home.       8 1/2 out of 10.

Wild One (5 minutes for the front.) I have heard alot about how this coaster was changed over time. I still enjoyed the ride. A good family woody. Not really intense. Nice and smooth. It deserves a 6 out of 10.

Two Face (2 minutes middle seat. Wanted to watch the person across from me.) I was pleasantly surprised by this Vekoma creation. My first time on an inverted boomerang. It was much smoother than I had expected. I really want to ride Deja Vu now. I give it a 7 out of 10.

(Last but not least)

Batwing (50 minute wait for the front) I skipped over Batwing early in the day since it was over an hour and a half wait. I have heard so many mixed reviews on this that I didn't know what to expect. We agreed to save it for the last ride of the day. It seemed to be running well with only one breakdown that I seen. The staff weren't letting you choose where you wanted to sit. We were lucky enough to have the line cut off at us, so we got to be the first on the platform to load. Of course we are going for the front since it was our first time on a flying coaster. I like the restraint system. Its quite comfortable. What a new feeling. Its so hard to describe. I think it is truly as close as we'll actually come to flying. Vekoma really wowed me with this one. Nice and smooth. 9 out of 10.  I almost gave it a 9 1/2. I really enjoyed the new flying experience. 

That covers the coasters, but far from covers the park experience. Thats the area that SF America is hurting. The workers are very rude, there is unnecessary waits from poor loading, park is dirty, and the list goes on and on. I don't want to rant on something that we have all seen already.  

Alot of the flat rides were broken down. I didn't really care because they were ones every park has. I did really enjoy the rodeo. I had never seen one of those before. The cows are funny. ;) No water rides were running. I really wanted to ride the Typhoon Seacoaster.

I enjoyed the Wild West Show. It was put together pretty well. The Looney Tunes show on the other hand was a different story, but it was still good for the kids.

It sucks to see how Adventure World was expanded upon. it lost alot of the character after the SF takeover. I think it was poor planning on SF's part to put all those major coasters side by side. The older part of the park is really nice, and I hope SF maintains it that way.

With the staff and everything else I mentioned added in I would have been mad had I paid full price to visit, but since it was just the parking price it was well worth it. With the waterpark and waterrides closed they should be like Dorney and reduce the price for the ticket.

I had an enjoyable day. They have some good coasters and potential to be a good regular park to visit if they work out the kinks. I have heard so many nightmare stories about how all their coasters are always broken down and blah, blah, blah, but I had a lucky day and it was a good time.

When we went there near the end of August, our experience was "now quite" as good as yours (read... "it was BAD"... there is a TR about in here someplace).

What I want to comment on is the part you mentioned about "It sucks to see how Adventure World was expanded upon." I know nothing about the Adventure World days, but we could easily tell where the "new" sections of the park began and the "old" sections ended. Were the park "cleaned up" (we encountered lots of trash and graffitti) the older section (I assume the "Adventure world" sections) would be nice. However, clean up the newer section all you want, and you will still have a poorly planned park.

Things just seem to be plopped down if there is room... not if they "fit". Like you said, the major coasters side by side by side looks like a terrible lack of planning. Not only that, these coasters were just built where they had room in any open field they could find. This is fine, but why do they still have to look like open fields?

I am not complaining about a lack of theming... I could care less about theming. I am talking about a lack of even basic landscaping. (note, I call Theming "telling a story", while land scaping is just shrubs, grass, paths, what have you to make it look nice). My best comparrison is Talon at Dorney Park to S:RoS at SFA... Talon, while new this year, has its queue surrounded by neat fencing, mulch, and shrubs/grass under it... S:RoS , while not new this year, still looks like it is sitting in the middle of an open field at best (or a landfill at worst).

Another example is Wild One. The area around the station is nice, but what surprised me was on top of the lift hill and looking at the rest of the ride. I am used to the pictures on the net of this nice looking white coaster streatching out like an out and back should. In reality, what I found was a coaster obscured by the ugly looking structure of the Typhoon Sea Coaster (do they ever run that ride?). In plain words, while the area about S:RoS, Jokers Jinx, and BatWing look like they are located in the middle of the tundra, the area around Wild One looks "junky"... too much stuff placed in to random of a manner.

What it comes down to is just very very poor planing on SF's part. But then again, SF has never been a park that has been acused of stressing "Quality" over "Quantity".

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"I wasn't always this cynical, but then I started kindergarden..."

I was at SFA just the day before (9/15/01) and the only flat rides that were down were sky escaper,riddle me this,polar express (which was open earlier for about 10 minutes) as well as typhoon sea coaster and renegade rapids for some reason shipwreck falls was still open so thats more flat rides running than the last time I was there(8/25/01).And I do agree that they should really put more effort into where they place thier coasters and not just put them where ever they  will fit.As for the landscaping it also can use some improvement just look at the difference in landscaping and theming in the Batwing section as compared to even the other gotham city landscaping.They really need to add that to other areas of the park.

Would you rather have the ride, or worry about where the ride is located? Does it really matter if Superman is in a field? No. I have yet to hear any of the GP going "You know the ride was awesome, but I don't like it because it's in a field". Most people think it's cool that Wild One goes right though Typhoon Seacoaster (yes, that ride is run when they have enough people to operate it). I rode it several times this season. By the way, Typhoon Seacoaster was built in 1997, two years before the Six Flags transformation. Remember, the same company that ran Adventure World-Premier Parks-now runs Six Flags. Explain that.

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Batwing-Bow Down

I do not know the time line. As far as SFA is concerned, I guess I am GP because I only visited there once (and, were it not for the fact that S:RoS was down that day and I HAVE to return for that, I would be in NO HURRY to return).

These are just my opinions.

I did comment to my wife as we walked around BatWing's station... "Look, an attempt at basic land scaping," so at least they are trying, but they still have one heck of a way to go.

Granted, while visitors may not comment on "oh, no land scaping", one thing that we noticed and heard alot of grumbling about... no shade (in the newer sections of the park) and not many benches (in all sections of the park).

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"I wasn't always this cynical, but then I started kindergarden..."

Actually I really enjoyed the visit there. I agree with SLFAKE that:

Things just seem to be plopped down if there is room... not if they "fit". Like you said, the major coasters side by side by side looks like a terrible lack of planning. Not only that, these coasters were just built where they had room in any open field they could find. This is fine, but why do they still have to look like open fields?

They need to fill in the areas between the coasters with nice landscaping(shade too,) an assortment of flat rides, shops, games, and so on. You get the point. I don't know if Six Flags will do that.

What I also wondered is why a few of the coasters had huge footers. Is the ground soft there or something? I never seen a park that so many of their coasters that were like that.