29yrswithaGApass Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 We have confirmed with Six Flags Great Adventure officials which rides will not be part of the 2008 ride lineup. As we all know, Batman & Robin: The Chiller and the Movie Town Water Effect both have been removed for the construction of The Dark Knight Coaster. In addition, the following rides will not be in operation although some of them may not be "physically" removed from the park when it reopens: - Fantasy Fling (Super Round-up) - Space Shuttle (Looping Starship) - Autobahn (Bumper Cars) - Musik Express - Hand Cars (kid-powered cars in Looney Tunes Seaport) The Park stated, "We are constantly re-assessing all our rides and their efficiency in order to maximize our guests' overall experience. Rides that are a little older, less popular and have a low capacity are always being evaluated, and if removed that area is assessed for future projects such as the addition of 'The Dark Knight Coaster.' Last season we gave 2.6 million more rides to our guests and we will hit that goal again or surpass it with the 2008 ride package which includes the new, indoor dark coaster, 'The Dark Knight Coaster'." In addition, nothing has been released yet, but unofficially the SpongeBob film in the simulator theater will likely be replaced with the "Fly Me to the Moon" film scheduled to debut at Six Flags Over Texas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsoxfan0810 Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 (edited) If replacements don't come soon, I might punch someone.... I don't think removing/shutting down a crapload of rides enhances anyones experience, it pisses more people off. Edited February 21, 2008 by redsoxfan0810 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 It's understandable why the rides have been closed or removed. The capacity hasn't been needed, but not having to maintain those rides means the others can be better maintained for more uptime and increased capacity (with additional staffing). Eventually as attendance rises, more newer, better, more reliable rides will be added to take their place. It's a temporary setback, and most guests will never miss those rides. In the mean time, the marquis attractions (the ones the guests actually come to the park for specifically) can get the attention they need. Kingda Ka, El Toro, SUF, Nitro, Batman, and all those rides are the ones that NEED to be up and running, and freeing up the personnel and money to run them right and increase their capacity will be a bigger short term benefit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsoxfan0810 Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 It's very understandable why they're removing the rides, but not to put in even one new ride to replace any of them is getting to be a problem. The park is nearly just coasters and kiddy rides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 (edited) Removing rides = longer lines for the remaining rides. It is how it works, the only way to offset this by a little bit is to run the remaining rides at full capacity all of the time which I doubt will happen. Edited February 21, 2008 by The Master Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 No, that's exactly the goal...FULL capacity on the remaining rides all the time. Just having a few additional crew members available makes a HUGE difference in ride capacity. One of the big problems of rides has been staffing. Having a few more people to run the rides that the park has will mean lines move that much faster and rides run that much more efficiently. The idea is giving more rides to more guests, even with fewer rides. For the past few years the ride count has been more or less constant, and so has attendance. The TYPES of rides offered has changed in that time, but the actual ride count hasn't wavered much. This is much better than the "old" system of having lots of rides in the park, but a good number of them never operated. Do you think guests are more upset when they walk past non running rides, or the former locations of rides (which most of them don't even remember being there). Generally people don't miss things they don't remember, and the GP tend to have short memories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 (edited) But I just don't see how staffing effects why the park only runs two trains on Nitro instead of all 3 most of the time. And with more rides being gone I do not think the park will run their coasters at full capacity more often to make up for it. The reason the park does not run all the coaster trains all the time is to save wear which = saving money on repairs and replacement parts for the trains. I just hope they do not remove anymore rides and add some replacement (non kiddie) flats soon. Also many of the new rides are little kiddie rides that most people can't ride, I know I can't ride them nor would I want to. So for me there are still less rides even though the kiddie rides keep the count up they don't count to me because I can't ride them and most of the replacement rides so far have been kiddie rides. End of rant LOL. Edited February 21, 2008 by The Master Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 The real difference will be the maintenance side of things. The rides removed were all maintenance headaches, and required more man hours and money than ridership warranted. With the availability of of the maintenance staff improved, suddenly running full capacity on all the coasters is possible. Why do they only run 2 trains? Usually because there isn't enough maintenance staff to do everything required to get three trains running. Usually because there isn't enough ride staff to load an unload trains fast enough to keep them from stacking. Now there WILL be staff, and the park has set goals of providing MORE rides to MORE guests even with fewer rides in the park. To do that they HAVE to run things at full capacity more often. Management is being held accountable and is being given incentives to get those rides running at full capacity all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Up_Up_and_Away Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 "Park rides: as you know, some of you will be in, and some of you... will be out." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 Auf Wiedersehen Autobahn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetsDevs4Lyf Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 This makes me very unhappy and wary about the park as a whole right now. We keep on losing rides, Fright fest last year saw the dissapearance of the Hayride a longstanding tradition of the fall activities in the park. One little themed Wild Mouse does not in my eyes an answer for the tremendous ride loss we are experienceing year after year at the park right now. As has been stated the lines will now be much longer on the mian rides since there is little do do other than those for people too old to be going in the kiddie areas.I am not looking to shell out my money even on a season pass to stand in two or three hour lines for coaster whch have been in the park for years and years now. And I know the park's answer is that I should use their flash pass system, but guess what that is just not gonna happen. I am not being bilked out of more money for the right to not have to get in line and have the entire day free to myself. It's basically paying for what you already paid for in the first place and I just refuse to do it. I honestly thought the park was turning things around with the newest management team, but as of right now I am just as sour on the park as I was when I first saw just how poor condition the park was in when I first began going again. I am disspointed in a place that I have loved for so many years now just as much as I am dissapointed that they claim this is done to enhance guest experiences with new areas and better running condition on other rides. To be honest I am just completely disgusted right now by the way the people who helped make this park what it is through attendance and spending money are basically being spat at and told we should be greatful to them for ensuring other items will be running well. They could have saved a ton of money years ago by admitting right off the bat that the Chiller was not worth putitng all that money into year after year and been done with it. We could have had a rethemed area over there with some new rides already but instead we get the new Dark Knight which to partially quote Michelle Pfeifer is little more than a "rat with wings" compared to what we are losing in the long run at this point. I am sorry to anyone who may think I am nuts right now, and in all honesty I'm probably not in the best mind frame to be writing this as I have had a long and stressful week that Is being compounded by frustrating news about our park. But I do feel strongly about loving our long standing park. I have been nothing but excited all year so far for April 5th to roll around, and in all fairness I will enjoy myself during the operating season as I always manage to do because it still does offer a lot of entertainment as a whole. But the cost cutting at the expense of the intermediary ride that everyone can enjoy and not the kiddie ride that caters only to children and large extreme rides that many people may not feel comfortable riding is just extremely disheartening to me. Instead of spending 7.5 Million dollars on the new Wild Mouse I would have liked to see that money spent on some extensive rehabbing of the flats that we had in the park and maybe something else on the side. Close Old COuntry down for a year and work to retheme it for a new ride to arrive in 2009 and then re-open it. Again I am sorry I this is a rant and I am sorry if people think that I am being rash about this, but I simply feel strongly about this right here and kept myself relatively quiet until the ride cuts were finalized. For anyone who has read this thakn you for taking your time to do so and if people disagree feel free to let me know because I am not saying all of this to put anyone off from talking to me on here or making anyone feel awkward. Thank you guys again and I look forward to seeing what everyone else here has to say. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 I agree with you JetsDevs4Lyf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 Interestingly, there may have been a change in plans if Screamscape is correct: Park News - (2/21/08) Local sources tell us that the park has decided to save Fantasy Fling after all, but will remove Flying Wave instead. I could believe it with all the mechanical problems Flying Wave has been having, but we did just get this list yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetsDevs4Lyf Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 (edited) I was just looking at that as well. Can't say that I'm overly happy one way or another but I know my girlfriend loves the Fantasy Fling so I like when shes happy. LOL don't we all like when they are happy lol Just out of curiosity will you guys be updating any of the spotlights that have been done (ie Flying Wave) on closed rides to reflect their new status as closed? If not it's all good but I was just curious. Edited February 22, 2008 by JetsDevs4Lyf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 We will be updating as things change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetsDevs4Lyf Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 Cool sounds good. Not that it is something overly important right away I suppose, I figured as much since you guys are right on top of everything like that. Oh well I guess we can look forward to some new spotlights to cheer us up in the future. Sorry if I offended anyone with my rant it wasn't my intention to do so, just something I felt strongly about. If any of the admins here wanna take it down or want me to or whatever I'll be glad to do so just let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted February 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 First let me say I always hate to see rides removed. It seems to go against the "more is better" mindset. However looking back at the number of rides over the years at GA, more always hasn't been better. I've always felt the park during the 1980s and 1990s was far superior to the park in the new millennium as far as operations. When you visited the park in those years a closed ride was the exception and not the rule. Rides were always up and running and they were fully staffed. Line and crowd management was an art form and operations were always efficient. During those years (1980 to 1998) the park averaged about 40 rides. In 1999 the ride count grew by leaps and bounds and by 2001 it was up to 70, but what did that bring? While the ride assortment looked very impressive, most of them were closed or so poorly staffed and maintained due to stretched resources that it was really difficult to experience many rides during a visit. Since that all time high in 2001 the number of rides has been reduced incrementally through the years to 51 rides in 2008. We may have fewer rides but I believe the rides we do have will be much easier to manage and allow for a greater level of operational efficiency. We have already witnessed a vast improvement this past season which made riding much more enjoyable. One area where we are at a disadvantage now is the types of rides in the park. During those years when we averaged 40 rides in the park, they consisted of about 15% coasters, 30% children rides, and 55% adult rides (water and flats). Today our 51 rides is made up of about 24% coasters, 43% children rides, and 33% adult rides (water and flats). The current assortment is very heavy on thrill seekers and little children leaving a limited number of attractions for the entire family to enjoy together. For next year my suggestion would be to renovate an existing area void of attractions and instead of adding one major ride concentrate on a collection of flat rides. All we need to do is adjust the ride assortment some and "Fix the Mix" and we will be able to offer an even better and well rounded collection of rides for guests of all ages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted February 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 Cool sounds good. Not that it is something overly important right away I suppose, I figured as much since you guys are right on top of everything like that. Oh well I guess we can look forward to some new spotlights to cheer us up in the future. Sorry if I offended anyone with my rant it wasn't my intention to do so, just something I felt strongly about. If any of the admins here wanna take it down or want me to or whatever I'll be glad to do so just let me know. I don't think you offended anyone. There are a lot of people here passionate about the park. I guess that's what brings us together on the forums! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetsDevs4Lyf Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 This is very true after all we all here love the park and I am sure noone is really happy to see any ride or attraction taken away from us. Even the Chiller, while so oft closed, would have been nice were it possible to be saved, but now in hindsight many of us can see that it was simply like keeping a sinking ship afloat a few hours longer. In terms of the renovations with some new flats I think that would be the perfect fit. With Old Country possibly being closed i definately think it could be refitted with new theming and rides to go along with it. At this point there is not much left of movietwon past the Chiller Station and observatory so a new official entrance to movie town or Gotham City could be put into placed and maybe we could see a whole new area of the park with some modern flats. There are tons of possibilities for a new theme that we could see, or some more flats could be put into place in a larger Gotham City or DC Universe type of setting. I also definately agree as can be seen in my previous post that the mix of rides right now is very imbalanced and needs to be righted so I suppose we shall see what happens. I think my big thing was that seeing so many rides and the possibility of losing an entire section of the park with no real sense of what we are getting (When Golden Kingdom and the area around El Toro were closed we had a great sense of what was on its way) is very dissapointing especially with the excitement the new season had been building to so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted February 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 Interestingly, there may have been a change in plans if Screamscape is correct: I could believe it with all the mechanical problems Flying Wave has been having, but we did just get this list yesterday. If so it must have changed since this morning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetsDevs4Lyf Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 Isn't it amazing how quickly plans change even after a company has confirmed their plans. Maybe the Wave will be one of the rides to not actually be demolished and just not open. If so we can always hope for the Crime Wave conversion someone has spoken about on these boards before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsoxfan0810 Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 The swings are staples at any park, I'd absolutely hate to see those go. It's like the Ferris Wheel that was taken out of SFNE, it just isn't right without them. To me every park needs a wheel, swings and bumper cars, I mean how many parks doesn't have those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 (edited) I loved Chiller, it was a great coaster when it was working right. I will still miss it despite it's problems and it sucks that they are taking out the swings. As alreadly said the park's main problem now is the imbalance of ride types. Hopefully soon the park will add new flats (not kiddie rides) to replace the olds ones (like replacment Swings and Bumber Cars). But I do wonder if they will run all the parachutes on the Parachute Tower, not just two this year? Edited February 22, 2008 by The Master Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted February 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 Theme Park Review has an interesting audio file interview with Six Flags head Mark Shapiro. Much of the interview is about the removal of small rides at the parks. Go to the interview page here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsoxfan0810 Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 It's very good to hear that they do plan on replacing the removed rides "In due time." I just hope that isn't too far away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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