War On Lines including a 1999 Opening Day Tour

[warnerleroy]

2 quick questions: is the fountain still in existence, like in a matience sho por boneyard and did the handcrank cars ever operate after 1999 at the Seaprt. Oh and also, do you know last season that the handcrack cars track was on the side of Rolling Thunder brake run all last season.

[GAcoaster]

Actually, that is track from the old Bugs Bunny Rail Road. It's been there since it was removed to build the Golden Kingdom. The loop of track for the Jungleland Express is much shorter than the loop was in BBL.

[warnerleroy]

I know it's off topic, but I though that Jungleland Express was the BBLRR. Is it just a shorter version of it? And I am just dying to know, did the handcars ever operate after 1999?

[29yrswithaGApass]

The configuration of the train track has changed three times. As the BBLRR it started as a large L shaped layout in 1988 and was changed to simple O shape when Daffy's Duccaneer was added in 1999. When the track was moved and the ride was reopened as Jungleland Express, just enough track was used to encircle the climb structure in Balin's Jungeland.

 

And yes, the Hand Cranks operated every year from 1999 to 2007.

[CycloneMan]

This brought back memories of taking my little sister and little cousin (same age) to the park in 2000. This was a great spotlight, and it brought back a lot of memories. It's weird to see how much the park has changed over years. It kind of blind sights you being it happens over time.

 

-Dainan "Still wants Adventure Rivers back " Rafferty

[29yrswithaGApass]

A new poll has been added for the War On Lines! See the top of this topic for details.

[pashacar]

Didn't the hand crank cars have a name? I could have sworn there was some character was involved, and I'd like to say it was Michigan J. Frog.

 

Also, on the note of that fountain in Frontier Adventures, I really miss the days when the Looney Tunes were a part of the whole park, beyond just Main Street and the kids areas.

[BuddyChrist]

A great spotlight, this touches off a lot of memories of the park. That was the year I turned 10 and I was so excited that with all the additions to the park. I remember riding Time Warp with my worried parents looking on and then going over to Houdini for the first time. That was really a great year for the park, probably my favorite. Thanks for putting together a great spotlight!

[The Master]

It was such a great year for SFGAdv.

Edited February 24, 2009 by The Master

[GAcoaster]

Like many things, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times". Yes, there were 27 rides added...half of which rarely operated for one reason or another. I don't think there was one day that every one of those rides (along with all the existing rides) was open at the same time. The old management had a habit of adding all kinds of things, but not increasing the budget for staffing and maintenance to keep everything running.

 

I'm happy with the current state of the park, with fewer rides, but all of them are open and running almost all of the time. There's no point to having a ride in the park that doesn't run, and the park's attendance levels dropped off with all those years of neglected maintenance, cleanliness, friendliness, etc., so there is no justification for having so many rides at this point.

[darkridedan]

It's a matter of seeing the glass half empty or half full. I liked having the opportunity of riding all of those crazy flats, as well as having more left over from childhood.

[Mike13]

Great job guys .I wish I would have been into the park back then,but again I was only 9 and never heard of the park back then hah.I wish I could of gotten to ride some of those flats they look pretty good,like Pendelum,Jumpin Jack Flash,and so on.I rode Chaos and loved it cause I wasn't into heights and rides back then,which I think think the park needs now and reliable ones,everyone says this I know lol.And look at Medusa it looks so nice and new .Maybe we'll get some flats sooner than later hopefully.

[The Master]

Like many things, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times". Yes, there were 27 rides added...half of which rarely operated for one reason or another. I don't think there was one day that every one of those rides (along with all the existing rides) was open at the same time. The old management had a habit of adding all kinds of things, but not increasing the budget for staffing and maintenance to keep everything running.

 

I'm happy with the current state of the park, with fewer rides, but all of them are open and running almost all of the time. There's no point to having a ride in the park that doesn't run, and the park's attendance levels dropped off with all those years of neglected maintenance, cleanliness, friendliness, etc., so there is no justification for having so many rides at this point.

 

GAdv was like that long before War on Lines but it did make GAdv's understaffing even worse. But the park is lacking in family flats now like bumper car and flying swings aand other staples that makes the park just feel empty and pretty bare. SF's coaster building craze took it's toll on all the other areas of their parks and SF itself by the end of it. Besides that you could tell GAdv was plainning on not keeping those WOL flats for very long. Last season there were still many times when a good number of the remaining rides were closed, guess some things never chage lol.

Edited February 25, 2009 by The Master

[GAcoaster]

Besides that you could tell GAdv was planning on not keeping those WOL flats for very long.

Why would you say that. I think they had every intention of keeping all those rides. They expected attendance to shoot through the roof, which didn't happen. If it had happened they would have kept them all and probably added more. When they added HH the next season it just made matters worse.

 

Last season there were still many times when a good number of the remaining rides were closed, guess some things never change lol.

Last season EVERYTHING was open most if not all of the time. Which rides were closed? The season BEFORE there were many closed rides, but last season everything was open and running nearly 100% of the time.

[darkridedan]

Autobahn, Musik Express and Houdini

[The Master]

I guess after years of seeing rides coming and going at GADV I just felt those rides were only going to be there for awhile before being shipped off to other SF parks which is what did happen. Last season I would say both the parachutes and Skyride were closed 50% of the time I went to GAdv, many of those times were fair weather days too.  But I remember back in the 1990s those two were closed 95% of the time so it's still an improvement for those. There was also 3 visits where the Teacups were closed, 2 visits that Big Wheel was closed (not counting FF of course), and 2 different visits that FMTTM was not running but that's no loss LOL.

[GAcoaster]

Skyride and Parachutes don't count...they are wind (or lack of) dependent. Just because the weather is nice doesn't mean the wind is not blowing above.

[The Master]

There was zero wind a few of those days they were closed then there were some days the wind was blowing hard and the sky didn't look friendly but they ran. There were even times when the park was crowded and they only ran a single parachute, not even a pair while another time when things were uncrowded then ran two pairs of parachutes. GAdv just seems to be ran differently each day I visit. Also better add KK to the rides that don't count because it's closed alot due to the weather too . I guess what I am trying to say is there have been some improvements and some setbacks in recent years for the park and there are still some very old problems still plaguing the park. I do have a question about the spotlight which mentions 8 new flats after WOL, the only one I can think of after WOL is Tango? Do you mean kiddie rides?

Edited February 25, 2009 by The Master

[CablesEric]

This is when I was at my prime working at the park and how I still see it when I close my eyes. Thanks for bringing back some great memories!

[29yrswithaGApass]

We plan on filling in the blanks for the rides which don't have their own Spotlights yet. The first additional War On Lines ride Spotlight should be published tomorrow!

[29yrswithaGApass]

Just added in our Spotlight Extras.... a 1999 video segment from WB Channel 11 News for the announcement of the War on Lines and Medusa. Click on the image below to watch the video.

 

[29yrswithaGApass]

It's not hard to see how easy it must have been for Six Flags to rack up such a high amount of debt. In addition to the huge investment in Great Adventure's 1999 War on Lines, they also invested over $30 million on 15 rides for Fiesta Texas the same year (not to mention all the rest of the parks that season). And that's all in 1999 dollars!

 

1999 Six Flags Fiesta Texas Brochure

[29yrswithaGApass]

It didn't take long for Zamperla to promote their new Great Adventure additions. This ad is from the June 21, 1999 issue of Amusement Business.

 

[29yrswithaGApass]

Who recalls the "Superpark"?

 

[29yrswithaGApass]

I pulled some screenshots from an extended version of the War On Lines commercial. It is interesting to see not only which rides were included, but in some cases the images they used to promote the rides.