We arrived at noon, the parking lot close to empty. With the gates open for an hour already, we expected to see at least a light crowd. There were no lines to enter the park nor to process season passes. As enthusiasts, we all get a little excited encountering this sort of situation. But we wonder what kind of economical effect this has on the park, especially since they had to unexpectedly close the night before. Whether it was the rain or swine flu that scared guests away, it was a bad weekend for SFoT.
We started the day with a couple rides on Runaway Mountain, a walk-on with multiple-train operation - quite a difference from my previous visit where we waited an hour with one-train op. We love this ride. Even if it is tiny, its fun. We rode a couple of flats in the Spain section and then headed for Tony Hawk’s Big Spin, last year’s new addition. This ride still runs smoothly and it’s nice that there wasn’t an hour wait. This is the second time we’ve noticed that the on-video booth for this ride was closed. What gives? Next, we hit both mine rides and WasteLand Park finally received our Mini Mine Train credit (after 6 visits in two years!).
It also was our first time riding Superman: Tower of Power. We didn’t realize that this ride incorporates both the downward and upward launch functions of the S&S Space Shot. We were honestly surprised when, after the launch and subsequent bouncing, we were carried to the top of the tower. I really liked the combo action, but assume tower capacity really takes a hit. Every other time we’ve been there the line has been long.
After a few hours it was time to eat lunch. We honestly love not waiting in line, but the downside? Headaches!
For lunch we purchased the Papa John’s Family Meal Deal Combo. With the help of the season pass coupon, the meal costs less than 8 dollars a person (with four people) and it comes with two souvenir pop bottles, including free refills for the rest of the day. We think it’s a great price, despite the fact that the Six Flags version of Papa John’s is pretty bland.
We realized that, though the park was nowhere near busy, employees were staffed as if it were. With all the talk of Six Flags and possible bankruptcy, maybe they should take a look at payroll. In multiple situations we saw more than 4 employees congregating in one area doing absolutely nothing. Even the higher-upswere standing around doing nothing. One of the shirt and tie guys hadn’t moved from where he was standing at Runaway Mountain when I returned to our locker, almost two hours later!
We spent the rest of the day riding each of Gotham City’s coasters, Mr. Freeze and Batman, two times. Because we honestly all had headaches from riding so much, we finished off the day with some leisurely rides on the antique cars, the train, and the Yosemite Sam river ride. Although I wouldn’t have minded a ride of the Texas Giant, the rest of the group declined. We left the park at about 6 pm, an hour shy of park closing.
We enjoy SFoT and we're glad that it has been able to be a temporary home park for the past two seasons.We just hope that Six Flags is able to work their way through this economy because they really do operate some great parks.
WasteLand Park did some detective work (Our cousin's friend works for the brother of a Minnesota welder who's wife has a Sandusky friend that washes Dick Kenzel's dog) and found the company has already anticipated legal action. Sources say (Minnesota welder) the St. Paul, country cover band DiamondBack (google it!) will file a lawsuit within the next month.
