crowds this week

[ilrider]

Eagle on a normal day might not be fully ready at 10 due to its location, but when it's the day the park announced it was (supposed to be) "officially" running backwards for the first time in several years, it should have been up and running at 10. There was a big crowd of people who went straight to Eagle at 10 like we did. I'm just glad we didn't have to wait more than 30 minutes in the afternoon.

[onyxhotel08]

So, how has it been thus far as far as Eagle lines? Should be the worst this weekend. Chance of rain but not big plus last week or two before most people head back to campus. Not me, though, I am done!

[6Flags4Evr]

I just got back from the park today and Eagle's que was completly filled when I left the park. I was able to get two rides in on backwards blue (which was a great experience ) but that's because I was in line before it opened because it didn't open at 10am like it was suppose to (suprise suprise ). My recomendation, Get their early to ride backwards blue because it really is drawing in some major crowds.

[CoasterBGW]

Just got back from the park today and it was fairly crowded.

Raging Bull: 30 min
American Eagle: 25 min (when I rode), but extended to midway at times
Superman: 90 min
Batman: 45 min
Viper: 20 min
Iron Wolf: 10 min

[Ilovthevu']

For American Eagle, it might have been said already, but if you advertise a ride on tv a lot, you would expect it to be open right at park opening. American Eagle opened at about 11:30 am today, and red side wasn't working. I don't know if red side opened later, but the line was long because of the ads and the red side not working. Yesterday, American Eagle didn't open till after 12 pm.

The waterpark isn't such a great idea to go to the park for this week (Weekend probably better I would assume). You could go, but expect to wait a lot. And there was no Bahama Mama / Bubba Tuba (Family Raft rides), no body slides for the 6 slide complex, no Wipeout (new Riptide Bay slide), and the slides in the back, nope - not running (tube and Wahoo Racers). Plus, the 6 slide complex with the tube slides, that line took forever. It had to be 30-40 min (I'm not kidding!) because they had 1 person working 4 slides, with how 1 person works 4 slides, it's slow at SFGAm. Though, I do have to commend this one lifeguard the other day that actually ran 4 slides at the same time. He said get in, and when we were ready, he told us to go. That's how it should done if you only have 1 lifeguard. Otherwise, why even buy 4 slides if you only have staffing for one?

And the waterpark felt packed because of so many slides not being open, and not enough staff for the slides that were open. I read the thing, and there was about 4,000 people in it towards the end, but it felt like full capacity because the waterpark wasn't running up to capacity. Full capacity is 9,500, so that's not even close to full capacity!

[mskly]

I'm thinking of going with my family either tomorrow, (sat, Aug 19) or the next day (Sun, Aug 20). I know weekends aren't ideal, but I don't have any other free days. What kind of crowds can I expect at this time of year?

Also, Saturday is supposed to be 40% chance of rain/thunderstorms, and Sunday is clear. I am actually leaning towards Saturday with the thunderstorms to drive off the crowds. Is that insane?

[ragingbull1331]

Going to coasters after dark... I hope its not that crowded tonight

[mskly]

I will answer my own question. Decided to go on Satuday even though it looked like armegeddon in the morning with heavy rain, lightning, and darkness. Got to park at 11:00AM and it cleared up (light drizzle). By afternoon, the sun was out.

Best decision I ever made. NO LINES on ANY rides. I mean it. All day, I never even had to wait in the lane for the ride. I just walked up and got on. On the red side of the Eagle, I rode once and saw that nobody was waiting for my car, so I asked the worker if I could stay seated, and they said why not!

I have never seen the park that dead, and it was a Saturday.

[Necropolis]

Wait...so are they running only the blue side backwards? Because I saw a POV video on youtube and the POV was on the blue side which was going backwards but it looked like the red side wasn't going backwards, just normal as it always does.

[DejaVu2001]

^ Red never goes backwards. It is always Blue.

Back to the crowds discussion, anyone considering heading up to the park today DON'T. It is already packed and its getting worse rapidly. Front lot is already filled, cars still coming in, lines to buy tickets are out into the parking lot. Due to low staffing, Bull, Demon, and Whizzer are all running 2 trains, Giant Drop is only running 3 cars. Condor, King Chaos, Whirligig, Yankee Clipper, Logger's Run, and Railroad are all closed. American Eagle hasn't opened for the day yet, but when it does, it will probably be Blue side only.

[Necropolis]

For many its the last week/days of vacation and for many more, school has started today. So this should definitely be the last week of major crowds...at least until Frighfest.