Are they really THAT cheap?

[cliffhanger]

So first time poster here, so forgive me if i sound complainy, but SFGAm has completely ruined The Dark Knight Coaster. Yes, i know the ride is not all that good, but now it totally sucks.

I rode the ride the first weeks it premiered, and i was blown away by the themeing, there is no other ride like it in Great America. The preshow was cool and creepy, and the whole place was dark and scary. The ride its self was, meh, but i am a sucker for a good show. But when I went to the park last friday, May, 25th a lot of things were changed. (IDK if they were changed last year of not).

There is no atmosphere music in the standby queue, so its sort of awkward and quiet. The preshow room was open with all of the lights on inside, but no video projection. You were supposed to walk right through it. I asked the operator if it was working, and he said "Yeah?" and pointed to a little LCD TV playing the video at the very top of the room. The projector must have broken and instead of fixing it, put in a TV instead. They basically took out the projector and plugged in a computer monitor in the same spot on the ceiling. They didn't even have the audio playing. It looked pretty lame to say the least. I didn't stay to see the video, (not even worth it now) but i doubt the lighting effects worked either.

The "TV Control room" that usually has the screens with the corrupted news feeds was shut off, but at least the cool interactive security camera was working.

I am just disappointed with SFGAm that they couldnt maintain the ride. The whole lure of the ride was the themeing, and now there is only a little bit. Does anyone know if SF Great Adventure's ride has suffered the same fate?
Sorry again for complaining

[wishman35]

Off topic but me and my friend were placing bets on when the steam and water effects on X-Flight were going to stop working.

I predicted they would never make it by the end of the season.

He even went as far as asking when the little spinning thing on the keyhole tower would stop working

As for Dark Knight - nobody wanted to wait for the pre show, simple as that. People stacked on the door and would even just skip by it awkwardly. Plus, they needed an extra employee to man the door opening and closing apparently. This isn't Universal or Disney, so theming isn't priority

[FParker185]

I don't think the mist will ever stop working, it's all copper pipe and brass heads with a valve somewhere to turn it on and off. There really isn't anything that can break on it.

I'd give the shooting water features one season, and the rotating thing on top of the control tower a couple seasons

[BURTONxBLUNT]

well lets see.....demons waterfall operated for a few years shut down due to maintenance....v2 holding break worked for awhile than was turned off due to maintenance on the trains was to much to work on...Now for xflight. I can see the mist through the supports lasting only a few years because i know they wont keep up on it if something happens to them and it might start rusting the track and they wont keep up on that as well. Also the water element i can see staying in shape for awhile because it really don't take much maintenance to keep that running besides the sensor to set it off and than the spinning thing on top of the control tower probably work for the years its running at six flags because i think that is ran off the power when the ride is turned on with the electricity but who knows i just know the mist element will NOT be there in the next couple of seasons because i think that is the most to up-keep on in maintenance

[Corkscrew07]

Okay number 1 - Don't talk about V2s holding brake. Trust me, if they had left it on the results would not have been good for anyone.

Now in reference to the original poster, I do agree on most part. The pre-show was the best part of the ride, but it took an extra person to staff, so unfortunately when Six Flags changed hands, that position was considered expendable. I'm sure it would be gone completely if representatives from our park hadn't decided to save it and just run it on a loop.

I can't speak to the security tvs, only one of them was working the other day, I'm not sure how much effort the park would put into replacing these, as I don't know exactly what's wrong, the actual discs, the tvs, the dvd players, etc...I would imagine its the screens themselves that have fallen into disrepair, and that's why. Although I don't know honestly.

I'm certainly not defending the park, I love this ride and it depresses me that it hasn't been kept up, but there you are.

[Ilovthevu']

^They didn't use an extra person for the Dark Knight preshow. They just used the Flash Pass person that they still have working in that section of the ride today.

For V2, well Possessed at Dorney Park still stops in the air.. It's either they want to save electricity by not using them, or they don't work anymore, and they don't want to put money into them by replacing them. I think it's more the 2nd reason because the last year they were working, they would sometimes work, and than they didn't work, and they worked, etc. To fix it, they would probably have to replace the ones that were bad.

[cliffhanger]

Wishman, i was thinking the same thing! But i cant see any of the water effects working more than three years. It seems like any and all of SF's water effects have stopped working within the first years. Just from the top of my head: King Chaos's pool, Roaring Rapids' waterfalls, Dark knight's misters, River Rocker's pool, The well in Southwest Territory, The sign for the old Splashwater Falls ride, Demon's waterfall and mist in the lift hill tunnel.
It just seems like water is a hard thing to control. IDK, maybe technology has improved, but i doubt it.

Corkscrew, I don't think an extra person was needed, there was still a person there when i went, but they were doing Flash Pass.

[ChicagoCoasterGuy]

Funny cause last Wednesday when I was @ the park the water effect wasn't working properly in the lagoon on X-Flight. It was going off at random and the mist was completely off. 

[Corkscrew07]

^They didn't use an extra person for the Dark Knight preshow. They just used the Flash Pass person that they still have working in that section of the ride today.

You are mistaken. The Dark Knight pre-show was run by Six Flags Great America rides, not Lo-Q. They are different things. When there was a pre-show person down there, there would also be a seperate Flash Pass Team Member near the top of the theater doors where flash Pass Enters.

[Falcon]

V2s holding brake is another example. While we don't know why its not working I could just be because they don't want to fix it or use it.

[Muck Finnesota]

Okay number 1 - Don't talk about V2s holding brake. Trust me, if they had left it on the results would not have been good for anyone.

Despite being a fan of the ride with a functional back spike, it's not a dealbreaker for me or anything. I'll still ride it and have fun doing so. Nevertheless, It's still a legitimate discussion point. If not, then I guess Dorney and Valleyfair must not have gotten the memo.

[FreezonEdgez]

^They didn't use an extra person for the Dark Knight preshow. They just used the Flash Pass person that they still have working in that section of the ride today.

Wrong, when the ride opened it was a SF Employee AND a Lo-Q Employee near the door to the right of the queue. This door is where the Lo-Q Employee currently stands to check people in.

[Ilovthevu']

Wishman, i was thinking the same thing! But i cant see any of the water effects working more than three years. It seems like any and all of SF's water effects have stopped working within the first years. Just from the top of my head: King Chaos's pool, Roaring Rapids' waterfalls, Dark knight's misters, River Rocker's pool, The well in Southwest Territory, The sign for the old Splashwater Falls ride, Demon's waterfall and mist in the lift hill tunnel.
It just seems like water is a hard thing to control. IDK, maybe technology has improved, but i doubt it.

Corkscrew, I don't think an extra person was needed, there was still a person there when i went, but they were doing Flash Pass.

I think it comes from the fact that they don't want to replace stuff so often. Water deteriorates things such as Demon's and Roaring Rapids waterfalls. The same type of rock work was on SplashWater Falls sign. Or it can rust a piece of track on Dark Knight, or you can come back to Demon with that water slightly hitting the track also. I have no idea why there is no water for River Rocker or King Chaos though. That's a good question. Where they having too many mosquitos around those rides, and thus less people wanted to go on them at night? Or did the park not want to clean the pool every night?

Yeah, you are right about their being 2 people - SF & Lo Q employee, but what I remember is Corkscrew07's response. There weren't 2 employees right by the preshow door. One was towards the top of the theater as he says. Now, the LoQ person is standing where the preshow SF employee used to stand - by the preshow door.

[Corkscrew07]

V2s holding brake is another example. While we don't know why its not working I could just be because they don't want to fix it or use it.

It's not.

[Bob O]

They were also too cheap to run both sides of AE on memoral day.
And also too cheap or inept to have 3 trains running on raging bull!!! I spoke to a ride op, so consider the source, and he claimed that they were told the 3rd train wasnt going to be added till late june/early july.

[DejaVu2001]

^ That surprises me. Once cars start showing up by the ride, it's usually up with in a week (the first 2 cars for teal train were brought out to the ride on Thursday). I suspect the ride op misinterpreted the info he/she was given. We'll know more soon. I'd be shocked if it ends up being any later than the weekend of June 12th-13th. And that's only because Red Train will go down for about a week once Teal Train is running.

It should be noted though that I am not defending the fact that Raging Bull's 3rd train isn't already running. Something is wrong somewhere if anything isn't ready by Memorial Day weekend. Especially when it becomes a trend, which it definitely is now.

[CoasterDemon]

They were also too cheap to run both sides of AE on memoral day.

Let the park know. If you don't put in a formal complaint (or constructive criticism if you like), it is a waste of your time (hence, online coaster forums). Same goes for compliments. There is no shame in filling out paper work in Guest Relations telling the park what you would like to see improved and WHY. I always make a point to give an employee a compliment, or give some sort of positive feed back as well.

Don't be part of the "well, they ain't gonna do anything anyway" crowd. Spineless lemmings....

[Ilovthevu']

^Eh.. I kind of disagree a little bit. I think they are looking at this along with facebook. They usually even know if employees are posting on here, and than they tell them to get off of here.

[UWW-10]

Does anyone actually know why the third train isn't running? Or do some just assume it's because the park is "too lazy" and/or "cheap"? Who knows what they found upon winter rehab and if the extra parts had to be ordered and shipped. The ride is still open...is it not? "Cheap" would happen if the park didn't open the ride until it was running under normal conditions/full operation (or any ride for that matter). If an extra 10 minutes in line is that crucial to you, then don't ride it or come back later this summer during peak time when 3 trains will be running. I haven't really read a trip report or heard through word of mouth that wait times for RB were that severe that a 3rd train has even been warranted up to this point anyways!

Secondly, if you're trying to obtain pertinent ride logistic information from "ride ops"....that's just as bad as asking the Lemon Chill vendor about next years attraction. Complaining to them about why "x amount of trains" aren't running will never get you an accurate answer because that's not their decision to make. I'm not saying you can't complain about an employee on job performance, but to say they aren't doing their job properly because there's one less train or they aren't using the right color train on such a day has nothing to do with the ride operators at all.

[Corkscrew07]

I'm fairly Certain that X-Flight and Raging Bull share maintenance teams. While I do agree that this is very VERY late for the third train to come online, I'm sure they are doing the best they can with the resources they have. I'm sure it's a priority that it should come on sooner rather than later.

[DejaVu2001]

^ That is correct, the 4 B&Ms and Whizzer are in the same maintenance section.

[GrtAmkid]

I am a maintenance guy by trade (Machines not roller coasters), and I may be a bit impartial, but, it is not like you can just go down the street to Napa or Autozone to get spare parts. Many of the parts that I would need to buy to repair machines at my work need to: 1) be custom made or altered either by the OEM or other. 2) come from overseas, or 3) coaster manufacturer's may not always make all their parts, so they need to get the parts from their suppliers. That is not to mention lead time(s) and shipping.

[Bob O]

So a properly run company doesnt have the ability to make sure one of its important assets is runing at full capacity?? Doesnt a company have spare parts on site to fix issues as they break down?? Do they not manage there resoruces to make sure that things are running properly, if that means extra employee's or overttime to make sure things are running. I could see if SFGAM was a year-roound operation that you can have issues like rides having trains down etc, but when you have a 6 motn off season that is more than enough time to do your rehabs, have enough spare parts on site etc. Its not like RB is a new ride and you would have unforseen problems. In the end it gets down to priorties, and running the parks rides to full capacities isnt high enough on the list. If this is the case they shouldnt use the pay to skip pass on rides that are suffering these type of issues.

[CoasterDemon]

^It's more an issue with money. With money, you can discover the problem earlier (like at the end of the season... or in November, December, January - there is plenty of time, perhaps not enough staff or scheduled hours), order stuff earlier, etc. etc.

On the down side, Great America opened up coasters with 1 train and Lobster/Crawler is down for the season.

On the UP SIDE, they are keeping Lobster/Crawler, Whizzer, a pair of awesome old skool log flumes, Orbit, Triple Play, Hometown Fun Machine... heck, even the Buzzy Bee is a classic - albeit for kids, but it still looks great

There is a LOT of room for improvement at Great America (particularly the operations, but that's just my opinion), but it's good to look at stuff from the opposing point of view. I think we would all worship our park after seeing the Great America in California... OR Magic Mountain, OR most other Six Flags parks. Some have a nugget or 2 (Mind Bender, Shockwave...) but most of their classic rides/coasters are gone.

[Ilovthevu']

^I will talk about the flats for instance. I think the reason why parks keep a lot of older flats is because they aren't adding flats all the time. A lot of the attention is on the coasters.So, instead of wanting to replace them, they keep them. This is better than getting rid of them though. A park like Magic Mountain, the reason why they have taken out a lot of them is to add coasters instead of them.

As for the other Great America, I have heard that, that park is not as big as the IL park. Also, their waterpark looks to be inside the actual park which means they must have taken away other rides there. This is compared to SFGAm's waterpark which was previously parking lot. SFGAm also expanded with Viper & the whole Southwest Territory along with Space Shuttle America which is the newer section of the waterpark. So my question is, could California even expand those parts into the parking lot like SFGAm did. Those are huge sections. Looking at the map, California park ends at Demon - on that side!!

Now, I haven't been to California's Great America, and I don't have a reason to go there because I don't see anything special really, but that park really seems to have much smaller land than SFGAm does.

Even though I've never been there, I really think another water ride needs to go because the park looks smaller, and they have both a water park, and water rides in the park. They have Roaring Rapids ride, Splashwater Falls, and a Log Ride (looking the website). Also, I have heard people say Grizzly is really rough. So, they should get rid of that, and I don't even know if they replaced Invertigo since it went to Dorney Park. They could add a couple / few flats in that spot. I have no idea though if the park even looks like it's maintained / kept up.

On the map, I see an Enterprise (by their Roaring Rapids ride), but they don't have it listed under their rides...

And yes, again I do believe the park is that cheap. Take for instance the East River Crawler. They knew in October that ride was messed up. I think the whole thing is that they didn't want to spend major money on a new part for that ride because of X-Flight coming up, so they are delaying it until next year. And the slowness of putting on trains for coasters has been happening for years - seems ever since Deja Vu went away, this has been happening (Have they trimmed their full time help after they got rid of Deja Vu?). The more trains they run per ride, the more electricity the ride takes, and more employees it takes. The park probably feels that Raging Bull's 3rd train is not a necessity because they figure the starliner attraction X-Flight is getting more capacity than Iron Wolf did, so why does Raging Bull need it right now? This is even though Raging Bull is getting more of a line than X-Flight is getting. Also, as I said previously, they are spending in my opinion too much money on X-Flight in regards to workers, that they have to cut costs somewhere else - that being Raging Bull & American Eagle.