As a fan of sfga i was excited when the rumors of a drop tower became reality, but the news of the planned removal rolling thunder quickly killed the euphoria, it was like a punch in the gut. It made no sense - why get rid of a landmark, my kids love it, I still enjoy it, rode it at least 200 times. The park should be building on its iconic attractions (eg themimg, adding flat rides) not kill them. What ticks me off is that (speculation on my part) is that sf had this planned for a long time and decided to bury the bad news in a major announcement for the park, minimizing public outcry. Very sly marketing move. They can build drop tower without removing rt, there is ton of space, I think this is bs.
Ok, so adding a world class thrill ride is kinda cool, but where is the transitional ride replacement? My family is not going to go to sfga because of a 400 ft drop, quite frankly it frightens them. We want an more transitional rides that we can all enjoy.
So, reading other comments, it sounds like 'dont worry, the park will be better in 2015'. Did not see a press release for that, clearly the release mentioned it needed to make room for the drop ride(even though as I stated earlier I think it bs)
The other thing mentioned is that supposedly attendance will go up for the teenagers and young adult thrill seekers. One problem though, for those of you that actually keep tabs in the economy, the teenage unemployment is at record low levels for 4 years in a row (Google it) - I dont see how the jobless are going increase park revenue. Not to mention many recent college graduates are getting part time work, so there us an oversupply of new grads with less disposable income.
The reality is the expendable cash comes from families that want to pay for an overall experience (theming,food, rides, entertainment,shopping). I would say the minority of folks get kicks by dropping 400 ft from the sky. Disney, universal, even in jersey places like jenkinsons in pt pleasant and morey's piers in wildwood give an overall experience that families pay for ( pt pleasant rides are non thrill) And these places are doing quite well.
After this announcement I really feel that sfga is
1) abandoning history (dumping rt) 2) abandoning families(not replacing rt with transitional ride)
3) has no vision for themimg
The only thing that would change my mind for 3) is if great adventure became great animal adventure and get rid of all wb characters/theming. But that is not going to happen.
Bottom line, families have the cash to sustain the thrill rides, not the other way around, if the total experience is there. Getting rid of rt, and on top of that not replacing with a transitional ride, is a step in the wrong direction, the numbers for the teens/ young adults will not go up, there will be issues couples years time
I still think sfga is a great amusement park (not a theme park) around the corner. Hope for the best.
