Mine was probably 06-07 since that's the most when i went. The weather was always nice,Dejavu was there and trailer blazer . Also since Vu ran the best in 07 and pretty much ever since its removal the park hasn't been the same. Without seeing those mismatches and seeing it break down. Plus the food there was much cheaper then it is now(4 Dollars for a Medium Coke).But pretty much i think 06-07 was the best 2 seasons for me
I think the best year for me was 1997, with Giant Drop filling out the still new and awesome Southwest Territory; the park just felt complete, and with Time Warner still in charge the themeing throughout the park was still very will maintained. Also at the time all rides in the park had 2 ride op's minimum, made operation of the flats much more efficient. In 1998 Yukon Territory was basically wiped out by the new Bugs Bunny National Park, really messed up the feel of that whole section of the park. Camp Cartoon network didn't have much effect though on anything. 99 of course was good as well when we got the much needed hyper coaster, but after that it seems like the park went downhill every year after that except for the years when Tim Black then Ron Sevart were the GM's,those years, the decline seemed to level off.
Lately the park seems to be stuck in purgatory. For the past decade it's like SFGAm still wants to be a theme park, but the themeing is becoming incoherent, and sporadic at best. At the same time SFGAm is trying to be a thrill ride based park like say Cedar Point, but that aspect has gone unfulfilled for the past 8 or so years. It's like the park is stuck in the middle of the 2 with no real sense of direction, possibly due to the frequent corporate management changes, each with a different goal in mind.
Favorite Wood Coasters: The Voyage, Ravine Flyer II, Thunderhead, Balder Favorite Steel: Steel Vengeance, Expedition GeForce, Olympia Looping Parks visited: 222, Coasters Ridden: Steel: 822, Wood: 178, Total: 1000
FParker185 wrote:I think the best year for me was 1997, with Giant Drop filling out the still new and awesome Southwest Territory; the park just felt complete.
I remember Vipers entrance in Hometown Square. Ive always wondered if they planned on having the capitol brought in from Viper help finance the construction of SWT, because man that looked retarded.
99 of course was good as well when we got the much needed hyper coaster, but after that it seems like the park went downhill every year after that except for the years when Tim Black then Ron Sevart were the GM's,those years, the decline seemed to level off.
Agreed, the year Mr Six became the ad campaign and Tim Black became the GM the park turned around and became much cleaner and better ran. At one point in the early 2000's I remember the arcade machines in SWT having Zippo lighters as prizes (seriousley?? Thats like SFA blasting rap and hip hop in the park, which they were still doing when I was there last year ). The next year with Ron Sevart as the GM the park improved still looked great and well ran (albeit HH having major crowd related issues). 2006 I remember as starting off very well with Kirean Burke finally canned but unfortunately due to the new Shapiro team spending so much at the start of the season then realizing they were loosing money and cutting everything by mid-season, right when the crowds started up, that pretty much ruined that season . Thinking about today, SF parks now to me look like shopping malls with the billboards/ad wrapped trains and random pop music playing everywhere.
A season worth mentioning I think is 2001 when SFGAm got 2 new coasters. V2 opened memorial weekend and by the end of the season fried and was closed all of Fright Fest, and DejaVu didn't even open until Fright Fest and was having major periods downtime every day it operated. That season went down in the books as an epic fail.
and DejaVu didn't even open until Fright Fest and was having major periods downtime every day it operated. That season went down in the books as an epic fail.[/quote]
MrRy10 wrote:and DejaVu didn't even open until Fright Fest and was having major periods downtime every day it operated. That season went down in the books as an epic fail.
After how many cycles did Vu go down?[/quote]
Every other cycle at some points. Also it opened very late every day due to it not liking the cold October weather. I seem to remember a friday or 2 where it didn't open at all cause of the weather.
Also 2001 was the year of that f-ing stupid fence blocking County Fair off from Hometown Square. The, at the time, GM Jim Wintrode when asked about it would always extremely sarcastically give the company line on the wall. "People had a hard time finding Southwest Territory"
Favorite Wood Coasters: The Voyage, Ravine Flyer II, Thunderhead, Balder Favorite Steel: Steel Vengeance, Expedition GeForce, Olympia Looping Parks visited: 222, Coasters Ridden: Steel: 822, Wood: 178, Total: 1000
Who could forget the 2001 morning run of the bulls to DejaVu that went all the way through Southwest Territory. By the time someone got there everyone else was dead.
Every other cycle at some points. Also it opened very late every day due to it not liking the cold October weather. I seem to remember a friday or 2 where it didn't open at all cause of the weather.
The weather was a problem all of the rides lifetime, running 2 cars empty every cycle when it was really hot out to slow it down and I remember one time during Fright Fest 06 raiding the employee cafeteria looking for people to ride during testing to prevent it from miscatching (which of course it did right after it opened for the day).
I would have to say the 2009 season for me personally. That was the only year where I never got sick at all on any ride or any coaster. Then all of a sudden last year, my stomach changed and now I really cant ride Superman, wolf, or even Batman without getting a weird feeling in my stomach. Basically any ride that is not sitting down and the track is not under me, forget it. I won't really ride it. Also my favorite Frightfest was last season. I am really hoping this years can top last years, if not match up to it. I am actually looking forward to Frightfest already instead of the regular season. haha.
I remember seeing Dejavu run for the first time in 2001. I was about to get on Raging Bull when I saw a train go through the course. I convinced my friends to leave to line and sprint to Dejavu. By the time we got there, there was a huge crowd of people waiting out front. I think I waited about 3-4 hours to get on it. I am pretty sure that this was the first day the Dejavu was open to the public.
I really miss how the park was back in the 90's...especially the old Fright Fest. But out of my favorite seasons, I liked 2005 the most. It was the fist year I went to the park almost every other week and it seemed to be one of the last decent years before the park really started to go downhill. Also, HH really helped with lines for most of the summer.
I'm going to have to go with 2013. Definitely a memory filled year. My first season owning a membership to the park, first time riding backwards AE; repiV; and namtaB (Well, everyone's first time riding repiV and namtaB ), first and only time I rode Ragin' Cajun, and first time I went to Fright Fest. I also won a trivia contest in Raging Bull's station during a rain-out in July, which is actually my favorite memory from SFGAm ever.
Sure, IgNight wasn't the best addition and it always kinda bothered me that it's stage ruined Hometown Square but it was still pretty neat. Also 2013 was the last season for Wolf's Den Snacks and Bill's Lemonade R.I.P The only thing that sucked about 2013 was the extensive downtime of Orbit and Condor
My favorite season would have to be 2014. This was my first year with a season pass and I visited 16 times that year. Mother's Day was pretty epic including riding Bull 7 times in a row in the middle of the day and 12 times on Demon. Yeah, Goliath is a pretty great addition. Similar to RC, I won a trivia contest at Eagle during a thunderstorm! It was amazing and I have not experience one since. Runner Up would be 2010 as it was my first year on the B&Ms.
Favorite @ SFGAm - Eagle ~ Favorite Steel - Skyrush ~ Favorite Wood - El Toro 35 Rides on Eagle in 2015 68 Rides on Eagle in 2016 102 Rides on Eagle in 2017 9 Rides on Eagle in 2018
Cool topic. For me, 1999-2002 are the park's prime years. 1999 was the first year I had a season pass, and is probably my personal favorite year. For the record, my first visit was 1991, but it was once a year visits until '99.
MrRy10 wrote:Mine was probably 06-07 since that's the most when i went. The weather was always nice,Dejavu was there and trailer blazer . Also since Vu ran the best in 07 and pretty much ever since its removal the park hasn't been the same. Without seeing those mismatches and seeing it break down. Plus the food there was much cheaper then it is now(4 Dollars for a Medium Coke).But pretty much i think 06-07 was the best 2 seasons for me
I loved the early 2000s as well & yeah, isn't it funny that the year Deja Vu ran the best it was also killed? Lol ugh I miss that ride so damn much. Until we got Goliath, I truly believe(d) Deja Vu was our most thrilling coaster. It was almost scary in the best way.
I did hugely enjoy 2007, the summer before I started high school, as I went twice in one year for the first time. The quintet of Batman, Deja Vu, Raging Bull, Viper, and Superman started my love of coasters and thrill seeking in general, and it's a damn shame that Deja Vu left after that year. Next visiting in 2011 at the end of high School, the lack of Deja Vu was a massive hole and left the park feeling neglected, but thankfully X-Flight and especially Goliath have brought the park back to its 2007 level of great thrills.
For me, probably 2014, since it was the first year I actually went to the park every few days, and really began to appreciate different coaster types. My coaster count also skyrocketed that year, with like 6 new parks and 40+ new coasters. This was also the year I really formulated a Top Ten. In fact, looking at my current Top Ten, I rode 7/10 in 2014.