Fright Fest, Sunday October 10

[pashacar]

Good day today. Regular flash pass enabled us to get on the following, in order:

 

Nitro 30 min (FP)

Batman 20 min

Superman 80 min (FP)

Bizarro 60 min

El Toro 80 min (FP)

Green Lantern 100 min (FP)

Twister 10 min (FP)

 

A few notes:

Most of the line times on the Flash Pass were considerably LONGER than those in the actual lines. Batman, for example, wanted us to wait 70 minutes when the line took us 20. Superman's looked more like 45 when we rode, and Toro's about the same. Green Lantern's was probably only about an hour. It was still worth it and allowed us to essentially double the number of rides, but it's a disturbing observation, especially given that waits are probably artificially inflated to create more differentiation between the tiers of Flash Pass.

 

The B:TF crew was killing it. Superman's was good too, another big change from last year. Neither was stacking. Lantern was stacking pretty badly, but the lead was trying to motivate them, counting down when trains were locked to get them checked as fast as possible. Nitro was stacking, and Bizarro almost always stacked 3 trains in a row.

 

I think this is the best Fright Fest in a while. For one, Dead Man's Party was perfect. Great sound, great effects, a good song list (though get rid of "Teeth"), and probably the most talented and energetic group on stage we've ever had. Only one song didn't have a performer leading it that could completely carry the number.

 

There were also a lot of ghouls. 3 at each of the Circus portals, at least 7 on Main Street, and a good 12 in the Lake Front Cemetery, which was better than it's ever been, with a lot of fog and great places for the ghouls to hide.

 

A few negatives: the fire torches took forever to get lit, which, for me, was a big detraction from that special Fright Fest atmosphere. I remember in past seasons that a team would run from one to the next right at 6:00, lighting them with some kind of big stick that hooked into the top where the gas came out. Tonight, there was just one guy, with a metal ladder, going one by one and moving much slower. By 7:00, 2 were lit. By 9:30, only about 1/3.

 

Demon Barber of Main St. was an embarrassment. The guy seemed to have a good voice, but the sound was too low and the wireless mic made it sound like he was underwater. Moreover, it started 7 minutes late (a little absurd for a 15 minute show), and, in typical Six Flags fashion, after everyone sat down to watch, the only person standing was one man in the front, blocking everyone. When someone went up to him to ask him to sit, he told them that he was an employee and needed to take pictures of the show, so he couldn't move. Turns out the barber interacts with the crowd throughout, and this guy runs to follow him, taking pictures of any crowd interactions and immediately handing the photo slips to the guests involved. Let's just keep putting in-park revenue in front of the guest experience and see where it gets us, okay?

 

Food service was pretty dismal as usual, but not as awful as it can be. I don't know much about the job, but these guys always seen to be so somber. Is it that much worse than other jobs, or do they just get left with all of the anti-social applicants, after Rides, Games, and Entertainment have their pick?

 

I was thrilled with how clean the park was. Very little trash and filth. Even restrooms were reasonably clean throughout the day.

 

A lot of people, and many families, even til late at night, which I was surprised to see. I'd guess about 18,000 total. Lines were everywhere, including food stands. There was a group of thugs who almost got into a fight in the B:TR storm drain ("What the f___ did you just say to me? Shut the f___ up or I'll come over there," etc., and we wonder why families don't like Six Flags). On the converse, didn't see any line cutting all day.

 

Didn't get to check out any of the terror trails because my friends decided to be lame, but Mortuary Manor looked cool and had a 75-minute line when we walked by.

 

Overall, generally impressed. Great ride operations, food ops that weren't dreadful, super-solid park services for a crowd this size, and a really, really solid DMP and ghoul situation.

[RideOfSteel]

That's surprising Superman always stacks! Nitro rarely does, and last time I was there Green Lanterns crew dispatched super fast. Usually right after the previous car completed the first loop. Even a couple times there was no car in the station because one was on the first block, one completing the second block, and the third on the lift.

[Yoshi]

Bizarro seems to double stack a lot, it almost makes running the 3rd train pointless.

Edited October 10, 2011 by Yoshi

[pashacar]

So true. I don't know what happened in the transformation from Medusa that caused that. It was always one of the fastest moving lines.

 

Fortunately the capacity is so high even with stacking that the line moved quite well, but it was nowhere near where it could be.

 

On another note, the wait time signs are really beginning to piss me off. Every line we waited in labeled them as at least double what the actual waits were from that point. I get the need for insurance if there's only one train operating, but on a ride like Nitro where that's never the case and a full queue can take 30 minutes with good ops, labeling it as 120 from the beginning is just in bad taste and gives a terrible impression for guests.

[Yoshi]

I have seen people almost get out of line because of those signs. I was in line for the rapids a couple of years ago and the wait time said 60 minutes. A family in line said they didn't want to wait an hour and were about to leave. I told them it was really around 15 minutes, they thanked me and stayed in line.

 

I'm not sure how true it is but I remember reading those signs also had inflated wait times to encourage Flashpass sales since there is a Flashpass ad on each sign.

[pashacar]

It seems obvious that that's why. And it's more than almost getting out of lines -- I heard many people talking about having done just that multiple times, including a girl who had really wanted to ride Nitro telling her mom, distraught, "It was a two-hour wait!" when it really would have taken about 35 minutes. Short-sighted and so irritating.

Edited October 11, 2011 by pashacar

[RideOfSteel]

Bizarro seems to double stack a lot, it almost makes running the 3rd train pointless.

 

Bizarro is definitely one of the worst coasters stacking wise, but it seems like as soon as the remove that third train they move faster. Last visit, neither trains were in the station but when they added the third...double stacked every time.

 

 

But at least Great Adventure doesn't run one train on every ride.