Park Updates......

[drstevenm]

So I guess I can say my biggest complaint is that they let Roadrunner go to crap. I loved the animations and remember the roadrunner in the train station at the beginning. Why would they just let it go?

Also why have they no updated the log ride. Same thing it had lots of cool stuff when you ride through it. You don't see someone like Disney letting their animatronics go to crap... I know they make more money, but still come on.

All of the things that your kids would remember are just deteriorating. I know for a fact that memory's are made on some of those rides. They need to cater to everyone!

[JIAGomez]

You got that right! Shame on you Fiesta Texas!

[jakefrost]

Originally Posted by drstevenm

So I guess I can say my biggest complaint is that they let Roadrunner go to crap. I loved the animations and remember the roadrunner in the train station at the beginning. Why would they just let it go?

Also why have they no updated the log ride. Same thing it had lots of cool stuff when you ride through it. You don't see someone like Disney letting their animatronics go to crap... I know they make more money, but still come on.

All of the things that your kids would remember are just deteriorating. I know for a fact that memory's are made on some of those rides. They need to cater to everyone!

Sadly, I have to agree you with this. I hope they will renovate those things.

[Arizonaguy]

Originally Posted by JIAGomez

You got that right! Shame on you Fiesta Texas!

Dude....seriously...is that the only thing you know how to say???

Yes...I agree with that they have let a lot of the animatronics go to crap but oh well......this isn't the Six Flags it was when it was owned by Time Warner. If it were the Six Flags owned by Time Warner, there would probably only be a total of 4 coasters in the park, no drop ride, no expansion to the waterpark in 1999, etc.......

The different owners have had different priorities. Right now that Six Flags has emerged out of bankruptcy, they are focused on PROFITS and not wasteful spending. They could give a rats @$$ about the animatronics since there is very little of it at SFFT to begin with and the park is not based on just theming, but also on thrill rides and family rides. Disney has quite a different focus and always has. Six Flags has never been and will never be on the same level as Disney is when it comes to theming and the animatronics that go into their attractions.

Anyways.....not a big deal. I'd rather see them putting in new stuff every year or other year than to see them fix little piddly stuff that most people actually really don't even care about.

Just saying.....

[drstevenm]

Ok, then here is a question. Why don't they take a couple of these old updated rides out and replace with more thrill rides????

When I first rode the log ride back in 99 it was a long long line. Now on any day I can pretty much walk up to the ride.

With Six Flags having such a cache of rides in the main warehouse they could easily move a couple of them in. I think the rotation is like every 10 years or whatever. Lets get rid of some and move others in? It has to be more cost effective!

Plus how much of this land do the own? Other than the park itself or parking lot?

I know, dumb questions but just wondering!

[JIAGomez]

Originally Posted by Arizonaguy

Dude....seriously...is that the only thing you know how to say???

Yeah, its the truth, and what are you going to do about it? Just face it!

[Arizonaguy]

Originally Posted by JIAGomez

Yeah, its the truth, and what are you going to do about it? Just face it!

There's nothing I can do about your lack of education on how theme parks are run and operated.....So yeh you're right..I guess I have to face it.

Ok, then here is a question. Why don't they take a couple of these old updated rides out and replace with more thrill rides????

When I first rode the log ride back in 99 it was a long long line. Now on any day I can pretty much walk up to the ride.

With Six Flags having such a cache of rides in the main warehouse they could easily move a couple of them in. I think the rotation is like every 10 years or whatever. Lets get rid of some and move others in? It has to be more cost effective!

Plus how much of this land do the own? Other than the park itself or parking lot?

I know, dumb questions but just wondering!

As far as with ride rotations, they don't happen very often or as often as we'd like. During the Time Warner era, Six Flags had a ride rotation program where rides would get shifted around to different parks every few years. That changed once Premier bought the chain and then bought Fiesta Texas in the process. A lot of the rides that are kept in the back(private storage areas of the park) are usually just stored back there for parts or even sometimes for other parks. Six Flags really doesn't keep a surplus of rides in stock to swap out every 10 years. It would be nice for Six Flags to have a "big closet of toys to play with" but it just doesn't work that way.
As far as the rides that are currently in park.......most all of the rides with the exception of some kiddie rides are installed on permanent foundations/footers when they're installed. Once they are installed, they are meant to be in that place for a very long time. Sometimes the rides stay for a very long time, sometimes they're gone within a few years depending on cost of operation and maintenance, etc(i.e. Choas which operated from around 1999 and was removed around 2005).

Now that Six Flags has restructured, it seems like Six Flags is resurrecting the old Ride Rotation program. DejaVu went from Six Flags Magic Mountain to Six Flags New England this year and is now Goliath. Iron Wolf left Six Flags Great America and opened at Six Flags America as Apocalypse.

As far as land that Fiesta Texas owns is pretty much the fenced in areas of the park that include the top of the cliff walls where the Rattler, Roadrunner Express and S:KC are, the park itself and parking lots, etc. The rest of the area outside of that is still owned by USAA as part of the La Cantera development. There is plenty of space in the park for more attractions.....it will be a very long time before Fiesta Texas runs out of room.

I still don't know why Wagon Wheel and SS Overboard were removed from the park. Could have been lack of ridership, or could have been the park making way for future attractions.

[drstevenm]

thanks for the response Arizonaguy. I like being on the forum cause people like you are great to respond back and forth with! Really appreciate it!

[Arizonaguy]

No problem. I used to work for Six Flags Fiesta Texas back in the day and I have a lot of friends in the amusement park industry which help keep me up to date on stuff that is happening around a lot of the different parks. Hopefully there is some Rattler news coming our way in the near future.

P.S.
Anyone have anymore pictures of SkyScreamer and the surrounding area like the entrance and queue???

[drstevenm]

I remember riding the Rattler back in 97, before the changes! Loved it. The only thing I would like is the track to stay wood. I like the refurb of the Texas Giant, but it is kind of a lie with the steel inner track. The Rattler is still listed 8th in the longest roller coaster category and the 4th tallest wooden roller coaster. Would they really want to alter it to steel and lose the titles?

I would really like them to extend the hill to what it was, and make some changes to the track, maybe a little longer, or more inside of the quarry. The one thing the US does not have is long covered quarry record. I would love for them to put a drop or 2 in the dark. I don't see them getting rid of the helix either cause their is nothing like it in the world! They could even extend the length of the first drop which would make the track even longer, faster, and maybe even steeper. That 3 records!

This is their baby and I want it to stay wood!

Does anyone agree?

[jpp858]

^ I completly agree with everything thing you say! I just want Rattler to be like it was back in the day, I havn't ridden it in the 90's but I think that if Six Flags just fixed the ride not like Texas Giant but make it like a new wooden coaster that it would be a great amazing coaster all over again!

[Arizonaguy]

Originally Posted by jpp858

^ I completly agree with everything thing you say! I just want Rattler to be like it was back in the day, I havn't ridden it in the 90's but I think that if Six Flags just fixed the ride not like Texas Giant but make it like a new wooden coaster that it would be a great amazing coaster all over again!

My first time riding the Rattler was in 1992 when the park opened which was totally awesome. I didn't ride it again until 1996 and it had already been altered a few times in those 4 years. After 1996 and into the 2000's they made quite a number of changes as well. The fan curve after the first drop was modified at least 3 different times in the off seasons that I remember...could have been more. If you look at the original fan curve and what the fan curve looks like now, it has been somewhat lowered and flattend a bit. Oh well...hope the new topper track system does wonders for the Rattler and they're able to do some major rehab to it here in the near future. I haven't ridden the Rattler in a few years so I have yet to ride it with the refurbed section that has topper track but I've heard it definitely makes a difference.