Bullets

isnt it 46 holes, because of the 50 ft putt outside wizards and dragons?

being in the park before its open or after its closed. i love being one of the handful of employees in the whole place. although it can get spooky after all the lights go out.

when im in the tower in the parking lot, the general sound of the park, the screams, the b&m roars, the intamin farts and all the music drifting my way, its great.

standing on supermans exit ramps watching everyone leave at night, all the lights and sounds of people laughing, it makes me feel like i did my job

and of course the people, i love our guests, it gets me up in the morning and i look forward to meeting all kinds of people

seeing a big crowd of employees come in for the morning shift and having daffy, buggs and other guys in the mix, its sureal

just for the record, dont be surprised if most park employees call it Medusa. i know the callsigns on the radio are the same, plus im calling it medusa. Bizzaro is a dumb name and this retheme stink like the baboons. Medusa was my first coaster ever and it just needed new seats. they should have saved the money and got a new flying wave, which totally rocked my socks

So many issues...When rides go down, say king da ka, even if they do know what is wrong, they dont tell everyone. i dont know how many times i was told by mechanics at least 30 min or 60 min or all day and then they launch right behind me. There is no rhyme or reason why they go down and usually they dont know for the first 15-20 minutes or so exactly whats wrong.

as far as staffing, because of the weather and the employment of a lot of school aged kids, its hard to get them in and trained on all the rides before the season starts. The park does not own the vending machines and they have no control over their operation, same with the lockers.

Start at El Toro

Then Medusa

El Toro

Batman

Nitro

Nitro

El Toro

Medusa

GASM

Nitro

I really like el toro and nitro.

actually, the slides with pools are all light. as is the wave pool. the only thing i havent seen light is the river and Disco, as well as the bottom of the body slides.

no, its a smart move for all the reasons stated. They blew the budget last year in security and ended up having to cut back on hours just as june was getting into full swing. Other departments did the same and security ended up working admin in front or as flash pass attendants or locker attendants in addition to their regular duties. There is some talk of getting trained on ride ops to help out during busy days. i dont want that to happen again this year.

no way, ive been there for volleyball and for open employee events and there isnt enough coverage to open at night. the whole middle island is dark around kukucachoos locker building and the food building(forget the name) same with the beach area around the wave pool. There also inst much lighting between the slide towers and the bottoms, especially the body slides. the lazy river has never been lit when i was there, even though we went in it.

i was wondering why its boarded up. but i hope they replace the stand issue plywood thats up there now

i was there on saturday, and there is still a lot of work to be down. The cars and lights werent on the wheel yet, a lot of the shops were empty or under various stages of construction and it was generally a mess, organized chaos. There is a lot of work to be done in 5 days.

i just remeber working there last season and standing in front of it before we dropped the ropes and i commented on how it looked like crap. One of my sups said Yeah, there fixing it up this winter. i thought i posted it, guess not. But Hey its cool and one of the center attractions of the park. I would imagine its going to take a while, considering they fix it up, then gets used a whole season, so they have to touch up that wear and tear, plus do more renovation, unless they just dont open it for three years!

i said this weeks ago. i knew this last season. this isnt news, im really upset because i thought the announcement was something cool and new, not the regularly scheduled maintinence

We were told that the carousel was included in the new lighting overhaul. didnt metion a paint job, but i think its due. they do it every two years and didnt do it before last season.

Had discovery, nothing huge, locker prices for all day lockers went up a buck, so its 11 and 16. Loose articles lockers have been added to Log Flume, Congo, GASM, and Skull Mt. The rehab to the Big wheel along with other parts of the park, ie Boardwalk involve installing LED lighting throughout the park. Also a new food court with vegan and international food is on the Boardwalk. Cyber Cafe is to the left of the fountain, so im thinking carnegie deli. We ran out of time so we didnt go on the tour. Also the sidekick mentions a Ski Show, so maybe a daytime show on the lake? Mr Six will be in the park like a charachter to interact with.

I asked about Medusa and all we were told was that it was being rethemed to a Lex Luthor Related thing, which doesnt fit in that area at all. Otherwise they were very coy, saying even they didnt know and its all fenced off. Oh, and fireworks dont start until July 4th and are every day at 10pm on days the park closes at that time. They really emphasized fast service today, so expect rides to really push the hourly numbers. when i think of more things ill post

I've got SFGA training and department training in march, and both usually involve a walkthrough to highlight new features we should be aware of for the guests. Department tour(security) is more indepth to show us new features and protocols for guest safety, I'll try to get pics when I go. We went behind NSA last year to talk about the new concert format, which is probably changing again.

I go back to work there soon, so when i get out on routine patrol at night, ill see if i notice anything new or different

I hope they have one set of carts for ice and another set for trash LOL.

what grinds my gears, DisneyWorld. I just got back, and i have to say i am disappointed. everything is the same as it was 5 years ago when i was there last. It just shows that despite disney being in a class of their own, that isnt always a good thing. there is no pressure to improve, like SFGA, HP and CFA put on each other.

go to the Great Wolf Lodge, its an indoor waterpark, its really cool

Ok Guys, so i got the rehire pack in a few days ago, along with the general application also came a letter from Mr. Kane. I will transcribe it here so you all can read it.

Welcome Back!

 

We Hope you enjoyed the Holiday Season and on behalf of the management team, i want to thank you for all your hard work, dedication and commitment to Friendly, Clean, Fast, Safe Service in our award winning 2008 Season! That's right, at the 3rd annual Golden Flag Awards Six Flags Great Adventure was awarded the top honor in the company: Park of the Year! The park has been challenged and tested for so many years and you were part of the team that put it back on top, and we could not have accomplished this without you! The 2009 season is right around the corner and I am personally Thankful to have the privilege to work with such an outstanding team.

 

Last season, we continued to build on our success in the way we approach out buisness. We met the challenge of delivering Friendly, Clean, Fast, Safe Service, we introduced ne products and services, and new employee recognition programs. This season we are taking it "Over The Top" by reaching our employee service goal of 9.0 on all guest satisfaction surveys throughout the year. You are continuing your journey with the #1 park in the Six Flags system.

 

You will continue to be challenged in 2009 as our Guests experiance the thrill of visiting Six Flags. We are reintroducing one of our most thrilling coasters to make it like no other in the park. (clearly this is Medusa) Also, be prepared to see some changes to some of our retail locations to M&M World, Cyber Cafe, and more. We are also adding to our exciting Glow in the Park parade.

 

Our brand is strong, and our commitment to bond with you and our Guests begins now. You are the connection and the bridge to transporting our Guests through their day and I cannot stress enough just how important you are to our opperation. I want to thank you in advance as we begin a new chapter in our journey together and at the end of the day, we will have even more stories to share as we complete another award winning 2009 season.

 

Our commitment to YOU will continue to grow as we develop more reward and recognition programs dedicated to improving your Quality of Life. With free passes for friends, buddy passes, $70,000 in scholarships, paid internships, the list goes on. With all of the excitment surrounding our park, we encourage you to TELL A FRIEND to join you in sharing in the fun, and earn $50.00 for each person you refer! I want you to make your mark as part of the Six Flags family, so join us for another amazing ride-as we ACHIEVE GREATNESS in 2009.

 

Sincerly

Mark Kane

Park President

After you get through the corporate rah rah, some stuff jumps out. The park is really going hardcore on customer service, and by the sound of it is basically going to bribe us with all sorts of cash and prizes to be extra super awesome nice to the Guests, which is cool.

Revamping some retail locations kinda came out of the blue, but M&M and thusly Mars is a HUGE franchise with limitless branding options, maybe they are trying to get their foot in to door to add revenue and fight Hershey.

The way he talks about TRCFKA Medusa makes me think there has got to be some sort of new car or major themed area in the works. cause a floorless roller coaster on a rail is old news at this point and that things like 10 years old.

So discuss, its not much, but i go for my rehire interview with security next week, and ill make a point to walk around as see as much as i can and report back.

Also, if anyone plans on applying and isn't a rehire, PM for my info, i want 50 bucks.

I think Mantis at Cedar Point is my least favorite, i wont go on a standing coaster again. i barely fit in the restraints at 6'4 and it tore up my shoulders. Voodoo at Dorney is a close second, i almost fell asleep, i dont consider it a roller coaster.

That is a hard one to top, but about the people reporting linecutters an hour after it happens, sometimes it takes that long to just cycle though the line before they get to any ride ops at the end of the line let alone exit the ride after riding to find a security guard. But it's still better that it is reported late than never. Dorney in alot of their queues have either rope netting or metal bars under their queue rails to prevent people from ducking under them, GAdv should adopt that idea.

if i had all day i could go on forever about some of the more ridiculous things people do. On guy lost his wallet on Superman and it has a few hundreds in it. It was a windy day and they started blowing around the infield. 5 unrelated guests went into the infield while the ride was in operation to get the money, to keep for themselves.

I read this forum all the time and everyone complains about linecutters, but in the time i worked security last year, i had maybe a dozen or so guests actually report that to me. And i personally walk the line from end to end and back or stand in a place where i can observe the entire line. though superman is the worst because its so much ground to cover and its hard to get from one side to the other. same with KDK. El toro is the best after Medusa.

Stupid guests at SFGA who make my 9-5 miserable. woman left her 6yo daughter on a bench outside KdK and got in line with her two teenage daughters. Line was about 2 hours. i saw the girl asked her how long her mom left and said a few minutes, so i took her to LP to wait. When he mom gets off the ride she is franticly searching for her daughter. i se this and tell her where she is and this lady starts RIPPING INTO ME for moving and touching her daughter (i held her hand), calling me all kinds of stuff from rent-a-cop to some more eloquent things. In the end, she shoved me in the chest, so i tossed her for cursing and assault.

Kids who cut under the bars at El Toro when the line is short despite me standing there telling them not to. One kid ended up smacking his forehead on the bar and flipping backwards and smacked his head on the conc. If you know anything about head wounds, the forehead is the worst, the blood vessels just drain, he also got a mild concussion.

People who tell me about line cutters an hour after it happened.

I like throwing out therulebreakers, it makes my day more interesting.

Also, people who try and get out of ejections by saying they have a relative who is a cop/lawyer/sheriff/Statey/astronaut/president/hired gun/know a park manager/ect

The park built new infrastructure backstage to support the GITPP so that definitely figured into it. there is a new maintenance shed back there under nitro by the firehouse. plus the costumes, and electronics for the floats, it had a lot of upfront costs. the staff was not an issue because it pulled all of the day shift entertainment crew that was already there, like the Costume characters and handlers. Same with security. so i think less money will be needed for the parade, which means more for new rides.

I worked there all summer,and i only ride it before the park opens or closes. the best time to ride is around 4pm. i dont know why but thats when the line seems to really thin out, to the point where its immediate boarding. the loose articles policy really helped this year in allowing the ride ops to roll trains, which NEVER happened in the past. they broke ridership records three times this year.

El Toro plays a large selection from the Gipsy Kings, including their rendition of Hotel California. The music is ok, but i am so sick of it, especially rawhide. as a security officer, that song is on all the time and when the park is empty you can hear it all the way by the fountain. I guess its on a loop and need to be turned off manually, which never seems to happen. Medusa's song is from the matrix, BTW