Wilderness Theatre@SFGAm

Yeah, Bob O said he'd been to the park about 12 or 13 times this season, I think.

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SFGAm: 1)DV 2)V2 3)AE Blue 4)Viper 5)Bull

SM-Its sad if some people believe the customers at SFGAM are so badly behaved they would destroy a dark ride if it was put in or couldnt abide by no smoking policies. Of course with the closed circuit camera's and security that could be stopped but i dont think the guests would destroy the ride if it was built.And i certainly dont think the ride-ops would damage their own park property.
SFGA Bob-I do realize that SFGAM is a regional park, but that is no excuse for them not raise the bar with the attractions they put into their parks. Is MIB expensive, sure it is but you cant tell me they couldnt build a similiar type of ride with a few less bells and whistles for less money. PKI built TR and that is also a regional park just like SFGAM so it can be done, but its easier and cheaper to just flop a roller coasters into a parking lot than to build something unique. Clifhanger was removed due to the lawsuit, but whyisnt anything else in its place??? And TO FLY may be a famous imax film so they should do what the tv networks do with the films you mentioned(not that its in their league) and play it once or twice a year and put in a brand new film or flims each year. And i think if SFGAM wants to increase their cash flow and bottom line they need to attract alot more families and when you just keep building rides with 54" restrictions and dont replace rides that younger people can ride you will get less families who will make repeat visits. And i do except SFGAM for what it is, but that is no reason not to hope that they improve the product they are delivering and hold them to high standards and not being just a apologist for the park.
Colonel-Ive been a passholder to SFGAM for many years and im glad that you like and respect differing viewpoints. And as for cost, if they built a dark ride on lets say a batman/looney tunes theme that could be ridden by most park guests, be it a simulator ride/3d or interactive ride and put it into their main parks ie-SFGAM/SFMM/SFOT/SFOG/SFWOA to just name a few over a number of years that would cut down the costs.
Just think how great it would be to have a batman/spiderman 3d movie in the pictorium with great special affects, or to remove the shuttle ride and put a looney tunes simulator ride in their with bugs bunny/daffy duck/roadrunner/coyote etc. Shows like these could help the park expand past its roller coaster base of fans. And would be great to base a pr campaign around.

*** This post was edited by Bob O on 10/17/2002. ***

I think that SFGA is about as high as you can go with regional parks. I don't believe that I've seen a park as big as SFGA with as much theming. I'm not saying that there aren't flaws, but perhaps the other regional parks should be brought up to SFGA's standard before a new standard is set. if you really want MIB, then you're going to have to sacrifice years of quality new additions or, possibly, new additions at all. for the money spent on a MIB type ride, SFGA might as well buy out the neighborhood next to them and expand. it would probably give them more money in the long run. and, to be affordable, any ride like that would have to be toned down to the point where its no longer what is expected. as long as its not Vertical Velocity sitting in Yankee Harbor or Superman stopping by to say "hi" to the cajun folks, I'm happy. To Fly will probably be removed next year. they are celebrating a film that was the first ever played at the park that was recently inducted into the hall of fame. next season, I'm sure there will be something different. a dark ride would be nice, I'm never said that it wouldn't. as for replacing Cliffhanger and Dive, give them time. we're getting a flyer next season. I'm sure SFGA won't let the land just rot. as for family rides, I would love to see more family rides at SFGA. I can't wait for our replacement ferris wheel and a better simulator would be awesome, but why not let other parks catch up to SFGA before forcing them onward. be confident in the manegment, they will make the right choices in the end.

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-Bob (formerly Coaster Jedi)
Do any of you know how to build a sundial out of a pen and a donut?
uh oh, sounds like someone has a case of the mondays.

While I agree with you on the simulator thing (Space Shuttle: America was a good idea gone bad, and to bring it back was, well, questionable, to say the least...), I don't think you have a grip on just how Great America makes it's money. You say you've been there how many times a season (I forget the exact number, but it was well over double didgits)? Well, most people don't do that. Most people who live near Chicago, not to mantion the entire area the park serves, go there once a year. Maybe twice. They waltz in well after opening, scramble to all the coasters, eat pretty much whatever's at hand when they feel the need, buy a few souviniers, perhaps play a game or two, and stroll back to there cars around closing, tired but happy. And while there are many who make this something of a yearly pilgrimage, most of them don't remember the non ride related details particularly well. They don't remember what the first show in the Pictorium was. Heck, I'd venture to say that just under half of the clientele wasn't even born when the Pictorium opened. For those few who where actually there, and actually remember it, it's the kind of thing that will bring back old memories, and etch the park a little bit further into their hearts. Or, maybe they'll just be glad that they get a chance to see a really cool movie (which, from all acounts, it is) that they never thought they'd get a chance to see again. What is beyond question is that to show a movie once or twice a year would be just dumb, as only about .0001% of their customers would have the opportunity to see it. And as for the Wilderness Theater, why bother? Most of their guests never even see the inside of the Ampitheatere. As the Wilderness Theater is the same thing, just smaller, what would the point be?

Apparently Bob-O and Bull Guy haven't worked there at all or not long enough. You haven't had to deal with the insane inner-city youth who come and destroy everything in sight.

Why don't they go to another park? Why should they? GAm is so close, I know I wouldn't drive to CP or SFStL to ride coasters that have a lot of the same elements, unless I was a coaster person, and most of those people arent.

It's also become obivious that this post has little to do with the Wilderness Theatre anymore.

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"We don't sit on your dining room table, so please don't sit on our silver handrails"

*** This post was edited by spacemountain551 on 10/17/2002. ***

Apparantly you haven't visited Kennywood. Just 10 miles from the city of Pittsburgh, this park has old rides, rare rides, dark rides, and all together many rides that could be defaced, destroyed, you name it. I pose but one question. How do the clientele from Kennywood (Pittsburgh) differ from the clientele of Great America (Chicago)? Surely we aren't making generalizations about the inhabitants of City X, compared to City Y, are we? I'm sure these "insane inner city youth" are not exclusive to Chicago. Let me take you back to a certain TR posted during the summer. I won't argue anymore, I'll just let this link argue for me.

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forums/thread.asp?ForumID=13&TopicID=22370

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Never Has Gravity Been So Uplifting.

wow, that was a real horror story. this summer, I've only had one problem: smoking in line. this is getting to be really bad at SFGA. the ride ops just don't care (although one employee on the Deja Vu platform on the 12th told multiple people to stop smoking when it was broken down). I don't remember this being a problem before. I even remember politely asking a man to put out his cigarette and he promptly complied. when I tried that this summer, I got in a verbal confrontation and had to bring a nearby employee into it instead of having the employee being attentive and stoping the whole thing. hell, one time a lady wanted to fight me for the right to smoke in the Deja Vu station while several ride ops stood by watching.

anyway, I think SFGA has the employees to stop it, but they just really don't care about stopping it. considering that the majority of the people working there are part time teenagers looking for spending money, SFGA is going to have to offer those people lots of incentives for doing a top notch job.

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-Bob (formerly Coaster Jedi)
Do any of you know how to build a sundial out of a pen and a donut?
uh oh, sounds like someone has a case of the mondays.

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spacemountain551 said:
"You haven't had to deal with the insane inner-city youth who come and destroy everything in sight."

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(sigh)
Why must it always come back to the "inner-city youth"? You have *no* idea where these people are from. To just boldly decry that they are from "the inner-city" only shows ignorance and a prejudiced attitude towards "the city". How you know these folks weren't from Lake Forest, Evanston, Chicago Heights, Robbins or Maywood? That would qualify them as "suburbanites". But you'd rather just say "inner-city" and move on. What a closed mind you have!
lata,
jeremy
--who'd rather walk through Chatham than Robbins anyday!