SFMM 2011 - 3 new coasters including a ZacSpin!

[Xpress]

Considering they're adding ANOTHER kids coaster, and have re-vamped their entire family area, says something about them actually putting more of their focus (well, more than before) towards family, rather than just roller coasters.

 

[CreditCrazy]

^Mr. Six's Dance Coaster, a relocated kiddie coaster from SFNO which is basically going to SFMM by default, hardly counts as a family coaster/focusing on helping the park. Some flats, or a Spinning Coaster (or something similiar) would. Oh, and what "family area revamp"?

I'm loving the idea of having a ZacSpin here (and who here truly isn't?) but I agree that the overall idea wasn't the best... although I do like how they squeezed this ride in and how cheap it is. It just should've waited a few years, and the park should have definitely gotten some flats THIS year.

Btw, whoever likes how the PR kept this totally hidden, why?! The park could have had so much fun advertising and creating hype for this, but instead they just posted a simple "3 new coaster experiences in 2011" a few days ago and then the announcement just showed up today...

 

[RCF]

A video from Six Flags.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS5jyNsKIWQ&feature=sub[/youtube]

 

[Xpress]

^Mr. Six's Dance Coaster, a relocated kiddie coaster from SFNO which is basically going to SFMM by default, hardly counts as a family coaster/focusing on helping the park. Some flats, or a Spinning Coaster (or something similiar) would. Oh, and what "family area revamp"?

IMO, the kid area (bugs bunny world i think) looked a lot fresher after they re-did some of it.

Mr. Six's Dance coaster is also under the Family category on RCDB.

 

[Newtrek5]

I guess we won't know where exactly Green Lantern is going until SFMM makes the announcement official. It looks like Freefall's old spot. If that is the case, the capacity in that area will have actually improved somewhat. Thank God for enthusiasts events!

 

[King Ghidorah]

I'm not going to get in to all this BS about records and what they should be focusing on and all that jazz, because anyone who thought this park was about anything other than roller coasters is a fool. The fact people speak about this announcement like it's anything of a surprise from a "park theory" standpoint is far more idiotic.

The park's philosophy never changed, they just ran out of money at some point down the line, and were forced to wait by the sidelines for all of the corporate management issues to get sorted out. Now that they're somewhat stable on the corporate side of things, the park is right back up to its old tricks.

Totally agree!

That being said, can someone please explain to me what a park this size is doing, adding a ride with a capacity of around 800 people an hour? Was this not already attempted with Deja Vu?

On top of it all, the other major marketing event circles around a ride who's capacity may be half of that, assuming they even bother to operate both tracks?

The record, the focus on coasters, all of that is easily explained, regardless of your feelings on the situation. The addition of another low-capacity attraction on top of the promotion of one that is notorious for low capacity as well as downtime, is not.

I'm assuming whatever reliability/capacity issues S:TE suffered will be addressed in the extended renovation. I would hope that they'd be smarter than that to build up all the hype, then just slap new cars/paint on all what was wrong with it in the last few years. Otherwise I agree, would just be lipstick on a pig!

And granted, the individual capacity of each of the 3 new coaster experiences is crap, but combined together, increases the park's total ride capacity by 2,630 RPH! (why they absolutely need to get S:TE back up to it's potential maximum capacity). For a reasonable investment, they've increased total park ride capacity far more than any one coaster or a handful of flats ever could. Even if they don't hit maximum RPH on all 3, it'll still be close to at least 2K more worth of RPH that the park can absorb from before these additions. I know it won't seem like it during the 2hr waits for Green Lantern next summer, but it's definitely a smart move on the park's part. Much wiser and more frugal than the huge expensive problem plagued prototype additions of 2001.

 

[Dave]

There's no pleasing some people..
That's just what Jesus said sir!

Ha! Life of Brian <3

It's a good investment, small footprint and a thrilling ride as well, Insane has good reviews and be curious to see where it comes on the Hawker poll.

 

[Newtrek5]

I agree that "capacity" unfortunately costs money, and none of the Six Flags installations next year signal a change in their recent modest spending habits. So for what it is, this is some bang for small buck. And given that ZacSpins are a bit of a coaster/flat ride hybrid, it basically fills the same niche as most modern flats (giant frisbee, giant swings ect). Small footprint, small cost yet markettable thrill.

 

[andrus]

When I heard of the zac spin rumors I thought they where going to build two dueling coasters too make the capacity acceptable. I guess it's still "high capacity" from a flat ride perspective, but since they're advertising it as a coaster I think it should be treated as one two! And one single zac spin is way too low capacity for a park of this standard.. Probably great addition ride wise though (haven't ridden insane "the cellphone company ride" yet, which is a shame)

 

[Xpress]

The park actually isn't too bad during the winter months, mostly because people don't want their snot to freeze to their face.

The only times I'd say it's packed is during the summer and around holidays.

 

[Newtrek5]

^ Yeah SFMM in the sweaty summer months = not pleasant. I'll ride this during west coast bash and the off season. Thank God SFMM is open past October and before March.

 

[Linus]

^I doubt it'll be open in March for WCB. We'll most likely get a look behind the scenes at it.

 

[Xpress]

SFMM closes down for like 3 weeks in the winter for their usual business, otherwise they're always open.

 

[Xpress]

My question is, how many cars, and how often will they dispatch?

The experience alone will be worth the wait to the vast majority of people.

 

[Anonymous]

^ You mean on the Zac-spin?

If this is a clone of the one at Gröna Lund then it will have up to 4 cars, where they run them in "pairs". And they manage to reload two of them on a little shorter time it take the other two to make it round the circuit.

 

[Gazza]

And as far as I know, the "reliability" issues won't be addressed unless they're planning to basically re-do the entire ride system (they aren't).

When TOT was converted to TOT2 they managed to trim 1 tonne of the weight compared to the old car, which would correspondingly reduce power consumption, so perhaps this might have some benefit?

 

[Anonymous]

perfect just in time for my move next year!

 

[Xpress]

The problems aren't with power supply, and no, it wouldn't make a difference. The magnets on these first-gen systems are set to a certain power generation regardless of train weight. The only real difference weight makes is how high up the tower the car goes.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't those power levels be an added safety feature? :?

 

[Linus]

All I know about this power dicussion is that every year at West Coast Bash, someone asks The GM of operations why superman doesnt run both sides, and every year he says that it takes too much power for a double launch.

 

[Nic]

Is it that they don't have enough power.... or just that they can't justify the expense of using that much?