Six Flags America Opening Day?

mtbiker99 · #1 03-30-2005, 08:09 AM

I was thinking of going to Six Flags America on Sat April 9th. How is opening day, crowd wise? In the past, have all the coasters been open on opening day?

This will be my first trip to SFAm, any tips. What order should I ride the coasters?

Thanks

pretzel-loop · #2 03-31-2005, 03:08 PM

Opening day at SFA will depend on the weather. Cool temps and cloudy weather like early April can bring will mean slow day. Warm temps and clear sky could make the park extra busy. Typically most coasters are open on opening day. Again, with cooler temps expect Jokers Jinx may not be open. Most of the water rides will be open, exception will most likely be Renegade Rapids and Typhoon Sea Coaster. If past history serves as an indicator, hit Batwing first as it typically runs into problems and runs one train unless extremely crowded. From there, work your forward Superman, JJ, Wild One, Two Face, Roar, Mind Eraser hit your flat rides. Don't miss Rodeo or Iron Eagle.

Andrew W · #3 03-31-2005, 04:45 PM

All good tips. Thge last two years, the first 1000 people into the park on opening day got free sodas all day. While it may not be the same this year (SFGAdv just had free refills for everyone all day), it's still incentive to get to the park early. Go to the back of the park first like pretzel-loop suggested. Be watching Batwing, sometimes it doesn't open right away. If you see it running, go for it. If not, ride Superman and watch to see if Batwing is running when you get off. Penguins Blizzard River (PBR) should be open. If it's not too cold, try it out. You won't get soaked, you probably wont get much wet at all, but if it's warm at all during the day, the lines will get REAL long, REAL fast. Joker's Jinx may or may not be open. The new paint job could possibly delay the opening, same with Mind Eraser. Wild One is very reliable, and out of the two wooden coasters there, it gets the longer lines, so I'd hit that next. Hopefully Two Face will be up opening day, so that would be a good choice next. If Typhoon Seacoaster (TSC) is open, hit that next (it always opens at noon if it's going to open and if you go in that order and get there when the park opens, the times should be just about right). I'm guessing it won't be open, but you can always hit Iron Eagle on the way over. Take ROAR next, chances are there won't be any lines for that, one or two train wait at best. From there you can head to Mind Eraser, again, it's getting a new paint job, so there's a chance it might not be open opening day. They are moving along quickly on the paint job, but there's still a chance that it might not be open till the second weekend. Also like pretzel-loop said, try out Rodeo, it's a fun ride. A word of warning though, they insist on NO single riders... don't know if you're going qith someone or not.

I also suggest seeing the Wild West stunt show. Year after year it's proven to be a great show and the schedule says that it will open on opening day. Other than that, realize this.... SFA, to me, is a work in progress. Don't go expecting Cedar Point or Busch Gardens. When you go there, you'll notice right away that some area of the parks look like they were expanded REALLY quickly, Gotham City especially. Believe me, it's all improved a lot over the years. SFA truely is getting better and better over the years (which says a lot condsidering where it's come from), but I just suggest you go with an open mind.

SFA's strong points are their coasters and their water rides. Batwing, Superman, WildOne, Roar...all excellent coasters. Joker's Jinx and Two Face are a lot of fun too. PBR and TSC are VERY unique water rides. The reverseing turntables on TSC cannot be found anywhere else in the US and the spinning rapids ride that is PBR are few and far between in the US. They're a lot of fun and leave you laughing.

I hope you enjoy your day. I'll be their in either my black ACE Tshirt or my black ACE jacket depending on the weather...