SFGAm rants

[X-Flight2012]

"We have 30 seconds to send this train. Please hurry"

Ride starts 2 minutes later

[sfgam1976]

"We have 30 seconds to send this train. Please hurry"

Ride starts 2 minutes later

It works in some cases. They were doing it the other day at Bull where they were saying the train had to leave before the countdown clock reached 60 and people were jumping over each other to throw things in the bin and get back to their seats. They were sending trains every 45-60 seconds. You can tell when they're hitting interval because the train going through the block will pass the train going up the lift and it was doing that every time. There were also times where the train in the brake run wouldn't even stop behind the station it would just keep coming in because they had already sent the train. The line was just about long enough to reach the queue house and it was about 5 mins from there and 5-7 minutes to get to the front row from entering the station with the line full. I rode so many times in an hour I wasn't even keeping track. It is a bit ridiculous when they say it but then the attendants move slow. Overall I'd say our operations can be good but they are just really inconsistent considering earlier that day they were moving much slower at Bull and when they changed some of the crew while they were moving fast they slowed right back down.

[[jonrev]]

Ads.

My god...

I was standing in line for Justice League the first month it was open, and overheard two women behind me - pointing at the Southwest Territory sign - asking: "what's Southwest Territory?" - "I dunno, look it up."

Then it hit me... Six Flags has bombed the park with so much advertising and sponsorship that guests can no-longer decipher the sign for a themed area from another advertisement. Incidentally, this same sign has Twix ads plastered all over the other side.

I get Six Flags needed to do something drastic a decade ago to stave-off bankruptcy, and I don't think anything will top the ridiculous Geico ad that was hung on American Eagle, and later moved to Viper when the village laid the Smackdown for anti-billboard code violations; but man, now going there is like getting stuck in a Buzzfeed slideshow without any sort of ad blocker.

[batmanfan80]

On Sunday I checked the Queuetimes site throughout the day to see if I wanted to go. Around 11 am everything was like 20 minutes except JL. Closer to one I think stuff got listed around 35 with JL being the longest around 55. After that I started seeing a few 70s and said forget it. But Bull was always listed at 35 min, even when Viper was at 55. Either they were running 3 trains with an extremely efficient crew, or that 35 was misreported. If there were tons of flash passers, that 35 could easily be a 70 and those 70s could be 140s and above. The wait times seemed to increase the better the weather got. So again, a lot of impulsive decisions to head over there by people who must live pretty close to the park. If Bull really was 35 min, at least there'd be one ride people could get on without an ungodly wait.

[Mean Streaker]

Last time I was at the park I waited an hour for JL then when I was about 10 people from the front of the line they announced the ride was closed for maintinance and would reopen in a few minutes. 30 minutes later they finally reopened.

Then my 3D glasses were wet and the lenses had imperfections in them.

And finally I was slightly disappointed about the quality of the ride. The queue felt like I was in a badly decorated hotel room with one small tv. Then I was even more disappointed with how hard it was to see the screens in the ride.

[CoasterCale]

So many of the employees just don't seem to CARE. Nothing's more frustrating than an entire ride waiting because one of the employees is having a conversation at the exit with a guest (which could be happening after the ride was dispatched). And don't get me started on the speed of the food service people...

The park hires foreign workers and the speed is often not the employees fault in terms of culinary service.

[ConorTully]

So many of the employees just don't seem to CARE. Nothing's more frustrating than an entire ride waiting because one of the employees is having a conversation at the exit with a guest (which could be happening after the ride was dispatched). And don't get me started on the speed of the food service people...

The park hires foreign workers and the speed is often not the employees fault in terms of culinary service.

Food stands and restaurants are often significantly understaffed as well, at least with the number of people you all have to deal with.

[sfgam1976]

On Sunday I checked the Queuetimes site throughout the day to see if I wanted to go. Around 11 am everything was like 20 minutes except JL. Closer to one I think stuff got listed around 35 with JL being the longest around 55. After that I started seeing a few 70s and said forget it. But Bull was always listed at 35 min, even when Viper was at 55. Either they were running 3 trains with an extremely efficient crew, or that 35 was misreported. If there were tons of flash passers, that 35 could easily be a 70 and those 70s could be 140s and above. The wait times seemed to increase the better the weather got. So again, a lot of impulsive decisions to head over there by people who must live pretty close to the park. If Bull really was 35 min, at least there'd be one ride people could get on without an ungodly wait.

Considering that it's not really possible for viper to have that long of a line, even with a full queue, I'm going to guess the wait times were off.

[CoasterCale]

So many of the employees just don't seem to CARE. Nothing's more frustrating than an entire ride waiting because one of the employees is having a conversation at the exit with a guest (which could be happening after the ride was dispatched). And don't get me started on the speed of the food service people...

The park hires foreign workers and the speed is often not the employees fault in terms of culinary service.

Food stands and restaurants are often significantly understaffed as well, at least with the number of people you all have to deal with.

Yeah. They like to send seasonals home right before the 40 hour mark. That way they don't have to pay overtime.

[anewman35]

Strutters. Dinner Rush. Line out the door. Four cash registers available. ONE cash register open. WHY, SIX FLAGS, WHY?!?!?

[RollingCoasting]

I usually see the line near the door, but wow. One cash register is a bit ridiculous too. Strutters tho <3

Here's my rant for today:

Now I know this isn't the park's fault (1st part of this at least), but I was 2 cycles away from back-row on X-Flight (They were getting trains out pretty quickly when I first entered the line, slowed down for quite a bit causing me to be stuck by the transfer shed for 15 minutes or so in the same spot, and they sped up again)
and someone spewed chunks on the other side of the train. That's not why I'm ranting though, it's because it took 30 minutes to clean up. 30 minutes + 25 minutes in line = 55 Minutes. If they hauled the whole time instead of on-and-off and cleaned up quickly, it could've been 30, maybe 35 minutes. Also, the employee at the back of the station (Right Wing), though friendly, looked like she didn't want to be at the park, yawning and making no effort to close restraints quickly. Finally, I was expecting a solo-ride in the back row, and someone Blonde mom tells me to stop while I'm pulling the vest next to me down and she rides. First of all, she wasn't even waiting for the last row, I think her kids were a few rows in front of me. Second of all, is this even allowed? I know it's somewhat of a silly rant, but I nearly lost half my day (Had to leave at 1:30, got there at like 11:10) and I wanted to enjoy my ride.

Regardless of my experience, great ride on X-Flight, forgot how intense it actually is!

[Wisco Woody]

X-Flight intense? True it is most intense in the back row, but I suggest you give yourself more time at the Park next time to reacquaint yourself with Batman and Goliath. I also was disappointed a few weeks ago when someone puked on X-Flight, maybe the same incident, and it took them 30 minutes to clean up. Not sure why they put the most chatty and slowest ride ops on X-Flight, but for that reason I will be rushing to it first thing during Fright Fest and probably ignoring it the rest of the day.

[RollingCoasting]

I usually criticize it for not being intense myself, but my ride was just wow.

Weird thing, but I heard a kid say X-Flight has more people puking/peeing than any other ride. I actually believe him, I've seen 2 vids of people who have pissed themselves on X-Flight (Since been taken down) and it has had the most puke clean-ups I've seen

[Wisco Woody]

I do love how its new rattle, inevitable for a wing coaster, has given it good character. The slow inline twist really distinguishes itself from the one on Banshee or Gatekeeper with the combo of the rattle and epic near miss.

[maxwellt]

^thats why xflight is my #3 at the park

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[momlovescoasters]

I also rode the last row on X-Flight yesterday and it was awesome.

[sfgam1976]

I usually see the line near the door, but wow. One cash register is a bit ridiculous too. Strutters tho <3

Here's my rant for today:

Now I know this isn't the park's fault (1st part of this at least), but I was 2 cycles away from back-row on X-Flight (They were getting trains out pretty quickly when I first entered the line, slowed down for quite a bit causing me to be stuck by the transfer shed for 15 minutes or so in the same spot, and they sped up again)
and someone spewed chunks on the other side of the train. That's not why I'm ranting though, it's because it took 30 minutes to clean up. 30 minutes + 25 minutes in line = 55 Minutes. If they hauled the whole time instead of on-and-off and cleaned up quickly, it could've been 30, maybe 35 minutes. Also, the employee at the back of the station (Right Wing), though friendly, looked like she didn't want to be at the park, yawning and making no effort to close restraints quickly. Finally, I was expecting a solo-ride in the back row, and someone Blonde mom tells me to stop while I'm pulling the vest next to me down and she rides. First of all, she wasn't even waiting for the last row, I think her kids were a few rows in front of me. Second of all, is this even allowed? I know it's somewhat of a silly rant, but I nearly lost half my day (Had to leave at 1:30, got there at like 11:10) and I wanted to enjoy my ride.

Regardless of my experience, great ride on X-Flight, forgot how intense it actually is!

Complaining about capacity but then also complaining when someone fills an empty seat? Doesn't really make sense

[RollingCoasting]

I didn't complain about capacity. I complained about how long it took them to clean up someone's mess and because a random lady from a different row decided she would join me. I'd understand if there was a SRL, but there wasn't.

[stergmi]

PERSPECTIVE!

This summer at Cedar Point they shut down Gatekeeper for 20 whole minutes. The reason? The exit gate became chipped on a corner so maintenance crew had to come out and put a cap on it.

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[Wisco Woody]

Unfortunately it pretty much is the case that Gatekeeper has some of the world's best ride ops, and X-Flight has some of the worst by major coaster park standards. And the consistent downtime and full days of not opening really shows that they may need to spend the off season improving their regular maintenance of X-Flight.

[stergmi]

My rant:

WHY THE HELL AREN'T THE WHEEL COVERS ON THE BATMAN TRAINS!

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[CoasterCale]

Strutters. Dinner Rush. Line out the door. Four cash registers available. ONE cash register open. WHY, SIX FLAGS, WHY?!?!?

The foreign workers are gone for the year as they come over the summer. Thus culinary is especially short staffed. Most, if not all schools are back in session, meaning employees from out of state or attend else where can't work. As for the wheel covers the most logical explanation I've heard to make daily inspections easier.

[CoasterRiderSC]

I didn't complain about capacity. I complained about how long it took them to clean up someone's mess and because a random lady from a different row decided she would join me. I'd understand if there was a SRL, but there wasn't.

I totally agree with you about the time to clean up a vomit mess! One time earlier this year, someone puked on X Flight and the ride op started cleaning it up with paper towels and spray, taking his sweet time. Then like 10 minutes later, another kid comes with a firehose and sprays it completely clean and washes all the water down the platform. Why not just start with the hose in the first place??

[Viper 88]

Strutters. Dinner Rush. Line out the door. Four cash registers available. ONE cash register open. WHY, SIX FLAGS, WHY?!?!?

You probably walked right past me, was sitting at the table in front of the garbage can by the pillar.

[Viper 88]

I didn't complain about capacity. I complained about how long it took them to clean up someone's mess and because a random lady from a different row decided she would join me. I'd understand if there was a SRL, but there wasn't.

I totally agree with you about the time to clean up a vomit mess! One time earlier this year, someone puked on X Flight and the ride op started cleaning it up with paper towels and spray, taking his sweet time. Then like 10 minutes later, another kid comes with a firehose and sprays it completely clean and washes all the water down the platform. Why not just start with the hose in the first place??

Because it might cause the vomit to 1 be splattered further on the ride, 2 hit guests because of the pressure from the hose, plus 3 it's gross to think that the water hitting the puke is also kind of vaporizing it. Remove the heavy gross soil first then hose.