The ride rotation program might have not been a real program at all. That’s not what I’m going to talk about. I don’t care if it was real or not. What the ride rotation program or not was about is the fact that Six Flags would trade rides from park to park. Sarajevo Bobsleds at Six Flags Great Adventure went to Six Flags Great America as Rolling Thunder, and than it went to Great Escape as Alpine Bobsled. Corporate also did this with a shuttle loop called Tidal Wave, an Intamin Space Diver ride called Z-Force, and so on.
The thing is this. Why did the company remove a particular ride at a Six Flags park? Why did Six Flags Great America remove Z-Force? It was there for 2 years, and they just moved it to Six Flags Over Georgia. Was it a horrible ride? If so, why would you move a ride if it absolutely stunk? I have never been on this ride, and I can’t tell you whether it was horrible or not. I haven’t even been on it at Magic Mountain as Flashback with it’s final resting place.
If the ride stinks at one park, what is going to make it so much better at another park?? The only thing I can think is that they are trying to correct the ride, and thus they feel new people will like it better because they correct. How would they fix a ride? Well, they can give it new trains, or new harnesses so the person’s head doesn’t hurt bad.
For the Sarajevo Bobsleds, it went to Great America as Rolling Thunder, and than moved to Great Escape. Rolling Thunder was a low-capacity ride, but didn’t they realize this when it was at Great Adventure? Why in the heck would you give it to a park, and than move after only 6 years. The thing is now that Great America has a new section in the place where Rolling Thunder was. Than, why would you put a ride that big in a place in which you were going to expand. It just makes no sense whatsoever. The ride had a line definitely. It wasn’t a walk-on type of ride at all.
Why would you give a ride from a particular park to another park? As soon as the next park gets it, it’s going to be rough, or old technology. If Six Flags Great America dumped Demon, and sent it Six Flags Great Adventure, don’t you think that the people at Great Adventure will either think it’s too short of a ride, or it’s too rough of a ride? How much popularity will it really gain at Great Adventure? You also have to pay for removal of the ride, and putting it in another park. There is a reason why it would leave Six Flags Great America. It’s not because it’s spectacular, or brand spanking new. I don’t think this “program” works.
The only time when I think rides should be sent to another park is if they can fix them. Iron Wolf at Great America is really rough in one spot. Let’s say they buy a new train for the ride. It’s not going to help Great America because people associate that ride with roughness. You would have to put a new name on the ride, and they probably rather buy a new ride instead of fix an old ride. Let’s say they send it to SFStL with the new train, and the SFStL people really love it. I also think they could try to persuade B&M to get more track for that ride, and add other inversions to it. Heck, that’s worthy of SFStL getting it, and advertising it, and getting a lot of people interested in it.
Let’s say you have a park that’s closing for good, and you want to move them to other parks. Why did that park close is the first question I would want to be answered? Six Flags Astroworld was closed. It had a lot of roller coasters. It didn’t do that great according to the numbers I have for that park. It should have done much better.
Heck, that was one of the first parks. Six Flags gave that park a lot of used stuff, and I think, that the particular park didn’t do too good because the rides don’t look that great. I have never been to that park, but I could guess on the rides not being spectacular. So, distribute those rides to another park, and what’s the point. If they stink, they stink. No other park is going to want them.
I personally believe that Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom isn’t doing good. What rides are worth taking if it does close? The wood wouldn’t be sensible to move. I don’t even think they are that good. The SLC in my opinion stinks, and than you have a mouse, a stand-up coaster, and Greezed Lightnin’ which is a used ride that’s been passed from park to park. If Greezed Lightnin’ is failing from park, why save it? Mice are good, but they are very low capacity. It takes a long time to get on them. I think it’s okay to have a couple low capacity rides at a park, but I don’t think they should have that many. Than, you have the stand-up coaster which I think is worthy. Two rides out of a whole park I think are worthy?
So again, I think this “program” was stupid what they actually did. They didn’t do much to the rides when passing around the rides from park to park. If the ride stunk at one park, it stunk at another park. If a ride was low-capacity, it was low-capacity at another park. So, why redistribute it to another bunch of people if it’s a bad ride to redistribute? I think they only should pass around rides that people will like. They also shouldn’t be really old technology, the rides aren’t short, and the rides aren’t rough. Otherwise, just sell them off. If they were to rotate Revolution, I go what the heck is Six Flags thinking if they ever did this. That ride has only one loop, and it’s supposed to be painful. What other Six Flags park would love to get that ride?
It’s POINTLESS to rotate the rides unless it’s from a park that is being sold to another company, and the park has something great or good left, or you fix the rides somehow! There is a reason why rides leave a park!! If they were still great, or mechanically sound, than they wouldn’t leave.
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Help from rcdb.com
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
What I think parks should do when in big debt?
Six Flags is in a huge debt, and thus had to sell some parks last year. CF is debt, and wants to sell the company.
So, why are these things happening?
The obvious thing to me is that these theme parks are buying too many high-priced rides. I mean not only do we have roller coasters that have a high-priced tag, but there are flat rides that are the same way. Yes, they also bought too many parks that were unprofitable, and they had to sell them. Power Tower is priced around $10 million while Max Air costs $7.5 million. The Huss Top Spin costs $3 million. This is just ridiculous for those rides.
Obviously, good roller coasters are going to cost a lot more money than bad ones. At SFGAm, why does the park need a roller coaster every other year? In 2001, they got 2 coasters. In 2003 and 2004, they added two more. This is just spending like anything.
Of course, attendance is going to go down if you don’t add anything. The reason is because people get bored of the rides they have already (some people). They want something new. Thus, why not try exhilarating flat rides that don’t cost an arm and a leg. You could add Flying Bobs, KMG Fireball, KMG Spin Out, Tivoli Orbiter, Wisdom Gee Whiz, Hi-Lite Scat, Chance Zipper, Dark Rides, Zamperla Disko’, Chance Yo-Yo that tilts, Eyerly Spider, Chance Wipeout, Zamperla Power Surge, Tilt-A-Whirl, Himilaya, and so on.
You don’t have to add them every year either. If there is a carnival, and they have the same rides year after year, they will eventually get bored of it (Maybe, they will.), but 2 years or even 3 years in a row is not a big deal. The people will still come back, and they will enjoy the rides.
To solve the debt problem, go to the exciting cheaper rides that the carnival can provide, and so can the amusement park. Yes, get new coasters, but don’t get them for 5-6 years unless you are park that doesn’t have the many roller coasters like SFStL, or SFFT.
So, why are these things happening?
The obvious thing to me is that these theme parks are buying too many high-priced rides. I mean not only do we have roller coasters that have a high-priced tag, but there are flat rides that are the same way. Yes, they also bought too many parks that were unprofitable, and they had to sell them. Power Tower is priced around $10 million while Max Air costs $7.5 million. The Huss Top Spin costs $3 million. This is just ridiculous for those rides.
Obviously, good roller coasters are going to cost a lot more money than bad ones. At SFGAm, why does the park need a roller coaster every other year? In 2001, they got 2 coasters. In 2003 and 2004, they added two more. This is just spending like anything.
Of course, attendance is going to go down if you don’t add anything. The reason is because people get bored of the rides they have already (some people). They want something new. Thus, why not try exhilarating flat rides that don’t cost an arm and a leg. You could add Flying Bobs, KMG Fireball, KMG Spin Out, Tivoli Orbiter, Wisdom Gee Whiz, Hi-Lite Scat, Chance Zipper, Dark Rides, Zamperla Disko’, Chance Yo-Yo that tilts, Eyerly Spider, Chance Wipeout, Zamperla Power Surge, Tilt-A-Whirl, Himilaya, and so on.
You don’t have to add them every year either. If there is a carnival, and they have the same rides year after year, they will eventually get bored of it (Maybe, they will.), but 2 years or even 3 years in a row is not a big deal. The people will still come back, and they will enjoy the rides.
To solve the debt problem, go to the exciting cheaper rides that the carnival can provide, and so can the amusement park. Yes, get new coasters, but don’t get them for 5-6 years unless you are park that doesn’t have the many roller coasters like SFStL, or SFFT.
Tower of Terror - MGM (Hollywood Studios) vs California Adventure
How do they work so different? DCA Tower of Terror VS MGM (Disney’s Hollywood Studios)
I found out that the drop sequence is about the same amount of time for both of them. It's about a minute:
MGM: http://youtube.com/watch?v=9ZGYPvlcX-E&feature=related (about 3.45 minutes)
DCA: http://youtube.com/watch?v=r1J_c1EkKzQ (2 1/2 minute ride)
I find those two rides interesting. For MGM (Hollywood Studios), the ride is sort of built like a square while DCA (I don't think is.). For the MGM one, you are in the basement when you get off, and than it moves sideways (when no one is on it), and than it goes up to the floor where you board. Than it raises up, and than it goes sideways. After it goes sideways, it's ready to drop. Than, it empties, and goes sideways when there are no people in at the bottom floor. There are 4 elevators for this ride.
For the DCA one, I believe that it just goes up and down, and it doesn't go sideways. I think there were only 3 elevators instead of 4. If it did go sideways, than they would have that story, but they don't. Also, I believe that this one takes a lot more time to board. There is a bottom floor, and a top floor to board the elevator. They have have 2 elevator vehicles in each shaft. They can just move the elevator vehicle that's boarding forward more so that the other elevator can go up and down through the shaft. Remember, that these elevator vehicles can turn, and move on the track. The one at DCA is like an inverted F.
So, you board on the bottom floor. This elevator vehicles departs. After maybe the minute and a half mark, the elevator vehicle on the top floor opens up. It's moved forward so it's not in the shaft. People start loading the ride. The other elevator vehicle is finally done, and it goes to the bottom floor where it belongs. It's sitting there waiting until this top floor elevator vehicle is done with. Remember, there are two elevator vehicles.
For the other MGM tower, there are 4 elevator vehicles. I imagine is has to clear a certain section in order for it to work properly. If you are in the drop section, than you can't have an elevator right near the drop section. If the people taking there time on the bottom aren't out of the vehicle, than it can't drop. It's too close to the other vehicle. Through the sideways part story, there are 2 tracks, and 4 up shafts. There are only 2 shafts that go down also. Obviously, they spent more money into MGM than DCA. It shows.
I found out that the drop sequence is about the same amount of time for both of them. It's about a minute:
MGM: http://youtube.com/watch?v=9ZGYPvlcX-E&feature=related (about 3.45 minutes)
DCA: http://youtube.com/watch?v=r1J_c1EkKzQ (2 1/2 minute ride)
I find those two rides interesting. For MGM (Hollywood Studios), the ride is sort of built like a square while DCA (I don't think is.). For the MGM one, you are in the basement when you get off, and than it moves sideways (when no one is on it), and than it goes up to the floor where you board. Than it raises up, and than it goes sideways. After it goes sideways, it's ready to drop. Than, it empties, and goes sideways when there are no people in at the bottom floor. There are 4 elevators for this ride.
For the DCA one, I believe that it just goes up and down, and it doesn't go sideways. I think there were only 3 elevators instead of 4. If it did go sideways, than they would have that story, but they don't. Also, I believe that this one takes a lot more time to board. There is a bottom floor, and a top floor to board the elevator. They have have 2 elevator vehicles in each shaft. They can just move the elevator vehicle that's boarding forward more so that the other elevator can go up and down through the shaft. Remember, that these elevator vehicles can turn, and move on the track. The one at DCA is like an inverted F.
So, you board on the bottom floor. This elevator vehicles departs. After maybe the minute and a half mark, the elevator vehicle on the top floor opens up. It's moved forward so it's not in the shaft. People start loading the ride. The other elevator vehicle is finally done, and it goes to the bottom floor where it belongs. It's sitting there waiting until this top floor elevator vehicle is done with. Remember, there are two elevator vehicles.
For the other MGM tower, there are 4 elevator vehicles. I imagine is has to clear a certain section in order for it to work properly. If you are in the drop section, than you can't have an elevator right near the drop section. If the people taking there time on the bottom aren't out of the vehicle, than it can't drop. It's too close to the other vehicle. Through the sideways part story, there are 2 tracks, and 4 up shafts. There are only 2 shafts that go down also. Obviously, they spent more money into MGM than DCA. It shows.
Are waterparks really that packed as we think they are?
Think about this when you think the waterparks are crowded, and the amusement parks aren't. How much attendance does SFOG White Water waterpark get, and how much attendance does SFGAdv get? SFOG White Water water park is the most attended Six Flags water park of them all. Basing this on the attendance I can get (inaccurate by a little), it gets 464,000 compared to SFGAdv 2.73 million.
Let's look at why water parks seem like there are more people in them than there really are. Everyone says that water parks are always really packed! At SFGAm, it looks like the water park at Hurricane Harbor is really packed. Let's look at the slides first. Tornado is really packed. Why? Is it really packed or not? You need at least 2 people per raft.
They bring the rafts up the stairs, and those rafts take up a lot of space. On water slides, you only can send one raft down at a time, and you have to wait until the other people are out of the water, and the raft has been cleared until you send the other person down the slide.
These are what I get for Tornado: (4 people per raft)
12 people for 1 minute and a half
24 people for 3 minutes
36 people for 4 minutes and a half
48 people for 6 minutes
In a minute and a half, maybe you can send out a wooden roller coaster with 24 people. Who knows? There could be a lot of two people riding the Tornado, or 3 people. It's not always 4 people. So, that's why the Tornado seems packed.
http://flickr.com/photos/rollerfan/1389975462/
For a wooden coaster with 2 trains, it should take about 4.5-5 minutes to get on the ride within 3 cycles. A 5 minute ride for a wooden coaster is NOT a long line at all. For the Tornado in which it looks like it's packed, it's only a 10 minute line with about 20 rafts on the stairs in that picture.
For a wave pool, people are spread out in a wave pool. A roller coaster line however is not spread out. One person is back of another person. I would love to know the capacity of a wave pool at one time though.
For the Skull Island, I don't see many people on that thing. They are usually just under the bucket. For the slides in the back, the line is usually not long at all. These are dark slides in a tube. They have 4 slides, but they don't always usually all 4 because they have to hire more workers. The area in the water park isn't that big, and thus it looks more packed than it is. The waterslides are very close to one another, and there isn't a lot of walking room. So, people are squished. They have a family raft ride which does have a long line. It's a long course of both sides (of the ride), and it is a whole lot harder to get out of than your typical smaller tube raft slide.
Than, there are the bowls, the 2 tube slides, and 2 body slides. Those aren't that packed usually. Usually, they are only 5 minutes with the bowl slides being a little longer. When the water park is really “packed”, they don't have enough tubes (because they you want you to buy them), and the line can be a little bit longer.
For the lazy river, they don't have enough tubes, and thus it makes the line longer than it is. The lazy river does have people in it, but tubes aren't on top of each other at all. They are well spread out until you bump into someone. Remember, that each tube only carries one person, and thus I would imagine the capacity might only be 300 people at most. They never have enough tubes on purpose. This is maybe a 10 minute ride. For Raging Bull with 3 trains they run, there are 108 people on that ride alone, and it could be a 30 minute wait.
There is that mat racer slide, and that's never that long. It's the same thing with the other water slide though. They don't have enough mats.
The point is that the water park fools everyone. You think the Tornado is “packed”, and compared to roller coaster, it's not. A Enterprise can do better than a Tornado (Enterprise has 21 cars with maybe 2 people in each car under a 2 minute ride.)
Is the water park a smart addition at all? It's not open all year, it's only open from 12-8, and sometimes it's only open from 12-6, it takes up a lot of space, and the rides have low capacities. Sometimes, not even all the rides are open in the water park. It's also pumping that water all the time. It also adds a lot of employees. I think there are 14 employees just for the wavepool. The lazy river also has a lot of employees. I would say at least 10.
Let's look at why water parks seem like there are more people in them than there really are. Everyone says that water parks are always really packed! At SFGAm, it looks like the water park at Hurricane Harbor is really packed. Let's look at the slides first. Tornado is really packed. Why? Is it really packed or not? You need at least 2 people per raft.
They bring the rafts up the stairs, and those rafts take up a lot of space. On water slides, you only can send one raft down at a time, and you have to wait until the other people are out of the water, and the raft has been cleared until you send the other person down the slide.
These are what I get for Tornado: (4 people per raft)
12 people for 1 minute and a half
24 people for 3 minutes
36 people for 4 minutes and a half
48 people for 6 minutes
In a minute and a half, maybe you can send out a wooden roller coaster with 24 people. Who knows? There could be a lot of two people riding the Tornado, or 3 people. It's not always 4 people. So, that's why the Tornado seems packed.
http://flickr.com/photos/rollerfan/1389975462/
For a wooden coaster with 2 trains, it should take about 4.5-5 minutes to get on the ride within 3 cycles. A 5 minute ride for a wooden coaster is NOT a long line at all. For the Tornado in which it looks like it's packed, it's only a 10 minute line with about 20 rafts on the stairs in that picture.
For a wave pool, people are spread out in a wave pool. A roller coaster line however is not spread out. One person is back of another person. I would love to know the capacity of a wave pool at one time though.
For the Skull Island, I don't see many people on that thing. They are usually just under the bucket. For the slides in the back, the line is usually not long at all. These are dark slides in a tube. They have 4 slides, but they don't always usually all 4 because they have to hire more workers. The area in the water park isn't that big, and thus it looks more packed than it is. The waterslides are very close to one another, and there isn't a lot of walking room. So, people are squished. They have a family raft ride which does have a long line. It's a long course of both sides (of the ride), and it is a whole lot harder to get out of than your typical smaller tube raft slide.
Than, there are the bowls, the 2 tube slides, and 2 body slides. Those aren't that packed usually. Usually, they are only 5 minutes with the bowl slides being a little longer. When the water park is really “packed”, they don't have enough tubes (because they you want you to buy them), and the line can be a little bit longer.
For the lazy river, they don't have enough tubes, and thus it makes the line longer than it is. The lazy river does have people in it, but tubes aren't on top of each other at all. They are well spread out until you bump into someone. Remember, that each tube only carries one person, and thus I would imagine the capacity might only be 300 people at most. They never have enough tubes on purpose. This is maybe a 10 minute ride. For Raging Bull with 3 trains they run, there are 108 people on that ride alone, and it could be a 30 minute wait.
There is that mat racer slide, and that's never that long. It's the same thing with the other water slide though. They don't have enough mats.
The point is that the water park fools everyone. You think the Tornado is “packed”, and compared to roller coaster, it's not. A Enterprise can do better than a Tornado (Enterprise has 21 cars with maybe 2 people in each car under a 2 minute ride.)
Is the water park a smart addition at all? It's not open all year, it's only open from 12-8, and sometimes it's only open from 12-6, it takes up a lot of space, and the rides have low capacities. Sometimes, not even all the rides are open in the water park. It's also pumping that water all the time. It also adds a lot of employees. I think there are 14 employees just for the wavepool. The lazy river also has a lot of employees. I would say at least 10.
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