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Author TR: Six Flags America, April 9, 2005
Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002

Rank: Experiment 626
4/11/2005 6:47:01 PM
Another weekend, another opening, this time Six Flags America in Largo, Maryland. The park is an easy two and a half hour drive for me, so I made the trip down to see the park, as I have not been down there since the 2003 season.

All week they were calling for rotten weather, not terrible, but rotten, but slowly, late in the week, the forecast go better, Friday morning is was little chance of rain and cloudy, Friday evening, it was no rain and mostly sunny, and by the time I got to the park, there was not a cloud in the sky, and it was a picture perfect day.

I don't care what others say, SFA can be a very nice looking park.



It may not be laid out all that well, but it's got it in spots, nice scenery, some theming, a decent atmosphere. And this year much of it looked new. As was the case with SFGAdv, there was a lot of repainting done in the off season, and it seemed the employee manual was rewritten as well, nearly everyone was very, very friendly, actually stopping you on the midway to say "hi".

Anyways, I got to the park about 20 minutes before opening, and got in line. This year they will start the day by first playing "The Star Spangled Banner", I like that a lot, and while many parks do that already, I wish I saw it everywhere. Also, they have a new opening ceremony in which the first person in the gate pushes a button to open up the park. This is a really neat idea, but they should change the set-up a little bit. They did it just inside the gates, and being on the outside of the gates, you can't see what is going on. They should move it to the end of the main street area so that everyone can come in and be able to see it. It is still a nice idea.

After getting in I headed for the back of the park, intending to catch one of the first
rides on Superman. Unfortunately, Superman was closed. In fact, that entire part of the park, from just beyond the blizzard River, was closed. OK, no problem, I hopped onto Joker's Jinx and got a quick ride on it.

Joker's Jinx is in the midst of a repainting as well. It looked like most of the track was finished, and the supports had primer all over the place, ready for the final coat. It was running slow however. The times I had previously ridden it flew through the entire course, but this time it seemed to just barely make it through the top half of the course.

My understanding is this would be the cause of it closing just a little while later, it had
gotten even slower, and they were worried about it valleying at the top.



Speaking of a valleyed coaster, that was why Superman was closed. It had valleyed just before the last bunny hop, as I could see from Joker's Jinx's platform.



So, they closed the entire section until they were able to get the train back into the
station. Later in the day they were testing the coaster, a lot, both empty and with water dummies, but in the time I was there, until about six, it did not open.

From Joker's Jinx I headed over to Roar.



On my way over I got this shot of Iron Eagle.



It was upside down like that when the park opened, but later on they were working on it and had it running in a continuous cycle over and over again, but it never opened. It, along
with Two Face, where the only two rides on the boards outside that were supposed to be closed. No matter to me, I don't really like Iron Eagle anyway.

OK, back to Roar. This is the only place in the park where I experienced really bad
operations. So I'll go through this whole scenario. When I walked up to the station
everything was going fine. I go into the third row, which at the time was empty, so I could get on the<
Message updated 4/11/2005 7:01:18 PM by Cyclonic
Hercules
Posts: 4037
Registered: 10/13/2004

Rank: Platinum Critic
4/11/2005 7:26:56 PM
Good trip report Cyclonic. I was considering making a trip down here this upcoming weekend, and it is a good thing that I saw this report pop up. I am very sorry that you were disappointed with your visit. I was kind of hoping for something to get a little excited to get down there. I think I'll probably wait a couple of weeks on this trip, and probably just go back to a wonderfully improved Great Adventure, something that I can actually rely on for a good time. Also, sorry about your experience on Roar. No offense, but I was kind of laughing reading it.
larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002

Rank: Platinum Critic
4/11/2005 10:06:35 PM
wow - sends like the park blew Big Time. I loved Roar last year, I hope the ride ops shape up by the time I'm there.
Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003

Rank: Platinum Critic
4/12/2005 5:55:04 PM
Sorry that it didn't go better for you. I would have been very dissappointed if I didn't get to ride S:RoS, Batwing, or Joker's Jinx. Still, good TR, and I hope future trips this season go better than this.
ABR
Posts: 277
Registered: 3/22/2003

Rank: Silver Critic
4/14/2005 12:38:44 AM
Thanks for the pictures. Mind Eraser looks excellent.
Sorry about the bad day. If Superman RoS wasn't there, I probably wouldn't have bought a Season Pass, much less visit the park that much.

BTW, I don't know if this helps, but I have seen a lot of people have to get off apollo's chariot because the restraints weren't locking (of course, this was legitimate) so you are not alone.
Swimace
Posts: 5916
Registered: 8/28/2003

Rank: Platinum Critic
4/14/2005 7:38:58 AM
Hopefully SFA will get it's act together as the season progresses. When I went last summer the ride ops at Roar and Mind Eraser were the worst and I didn't even get to ride Batwing because it was down all day.
Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003

Rank: Platinum Critic
4/14/2005 3:32:31 PM
I'm not sure if all the problems SF has had with the Vekoma Flying Dutchmans is the fault of SF or Vekoma...
Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002

Rank: Experiment 626
4/14/2005 9:13:12 PM
I would actually aim that one at Vekoma. They tried to make an overly complex device that would probably work great if it were kept under glass. Problem is, it has to be outside, in the weather, with people pounding on it, with the physical reality of the world inflicted upon it, and so it does not work.

Think of it this way, if you took your desktop and stapped it to the roof of your car, out in the open, all of the time, would you expect it to work everytime you plugged it in? Well, that is what Vekoma tried to do.
BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001

Rank: Site Moderator
4/14/2005 10:00:30 PM
Good report Cyclonic

I am just hoping this isn't going to be the trend for Six Flags this year. I really need to visit this park, it looks fairly nice though it has an assortment of production models. At least they have a couple of nice lookin' woodies... that should provide me enough incentive to pay a visit to my cousin in Crofton.

Though the SUF's have had their fair share of mechanical problems, from what I've seen and heard about, the Vekoma flyers seem to be worse as far as reliability goes. Their system just didn't seem like it would be as "trouble-free". I donbt know, maybe I still just can't get over the harnesses that I thought could have passed as a seat belt excessively wrapped in duct tape.

--------------------
My Online Photo Gallery with 706 photos and counting as I dig up my CD's from last summer.
My Coaster Record thanks to coastercounter.com, which is a great site. Currently, I am re-doing my site a bit, making it look nice, but it will be back soon enough.

Total Mind Bender rides: 612 2005 Mind Bender rides: 0 (Mind Bender, I need you back!)
larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002

Rank: Platinum Critic
4/14/2005 11:45:56 PM
and when Batwing does run the ride ops at SFA are notoriously slow.
Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003

Rank: Platinum Critic
4/15/2005 12:30:28 PM
That also seems to be a trend with the FDs; they're often closed, and when they're open, they have long wait times due to poor loading procedures (and the style of the seats). If you can experience a longer wait at a stand-up due to the more "complicated" seating, then you definitely can on a flyer, B&M or Vekoma (though B&M seems easier).
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