SFMM Colossus Iron Horse renovation rumors
- Thread starter tomahawk
- Start date
^ How crowded was the park? I visited SFMM a number of times over the past year, and Tatsu was always running both sides of the station. Same for X2.
SFMM follows a policy of changing the number of trains-on-the-track and status of station operation, dependent on park attendance and line wait for rides. This is similar to many amusement parks throughout the U.S.
SFMM follows a policy of changing the number of trains-on-the-track and status of station operation, dependent on park attendance and line wait for rides. This is similar to many amusement parks throughout the U.S.
tomahawk
Strata Poster
Tatsu, if one train operation, is a MINIMUM of hour and a half wait since the crew sucks. It could be empty, and the wait still manages to be that long. The duel load station doesn't help when you have 2 trains on the track and you always end up with the second train unloading before the other leaves the station. Operations are a joke.
rollermonkey
Strata Poster
Hyde244 said:
How I wish that were true all the time. There are many days when the park is crowded and they don't bother adding trains. Some of that may be due to budget and attendance forecasts, though. I know that at American Eagle, we couldn't run 4 trains unless we had 6 people. If the attendance was forecast to be low, they wouldn't put that many people on the schedule and only run two or three trains. We couldn't go to 4 train ops even if it got crowded. Maybe 6FMM is just really bad at forecasting attendance?
Intricks
Strata Poster
Hyde244 said:
Lets see, for the 2+ train op rides the day I went:
Goliath - 1hr
Ninja - 1hr
Viper - roughly 20 minutes (others were waiting 45 minutes. Yay for that unique queue line)
X2 - 90 minites gove or take
Green Lantern - roughly 1hr
The rest were all 1 train:
Tatsu - Bordering 3hrs! They had to bring in extra gate JUST to make sure nobody tried cutting the line! Cattle pens were open and full
Superman - Granted it was only 1 side, but still a 2hr wait, if not more
Apocalypse - 90 minutes
Scream! and Riddler's Revenger were going on 2 hours.
Colossus - 1 to 2 hour wait.
Now, as to how busy the park was? I would say around Half the max capacity based on the parking lot when I left.
Seriously though, no **** excuse for that kind of **** operations.
That does sound like a crummy set-up. What time of year were you visiting?
I went to SFMM six times, three times in the fall (September - November) and three times in the spring (March - May).
All roller coasters operated with at least two trains during each visit. We would plan our day accordingly, such as hitting Tatsu first due to B&M Flyers being notorious for slow loading, and quickly mosey either back to Batman or Scream!, and work forward from there. Ride operation seemed pretty ok (especially compared to Hershey!) - it was line jumping policies that were laughable for us.
As to park attendance forecasting - all parks track attendance trends through the season, and appropriate staff availability according to how many visitors they believe will be in attendance. Ever see an amusement park have a "buy one get one free" or "pass holder bring a friend day?" Chances are this is a push to boost waning attendance figures to be on target for any given month.
Parks use these attendance figures to determine how many staff they will be needing in the park, train number operation, etc. All of these factors carry a high cost that require accurate projections in order for there to be profit. (Sounds like your Econ 101 coursework, doesn't it?) A good park looks to not understaff nor overstaff, but have just the right amount of staff for the right amount of visitors. E.g. NOT Halloweekends at Cedar Point
This is not to be confused with generally long lines at amusement parks however. There is no economic model that can account for what park guests will ride, in what order. For that, it is better to consider the political science realm of game theory, of which only 12 people in the world have true mastery.
At any rate, it could be SFMM is making inaccurate projections. Or it could be that you are simply hitting long lines from population density inside the park.
I still maintain however, that Colossus will see an increase in ridership following any refurbishment - otherwise there would not be enough benefit to rationalize investing money into such a project. It would be in SFMM's best interest to maintain both stations to allow for proper capacity.
I went to SFMM six times, three times in the fall (September - November) and three times in the spring (March - May).
All roller coasters operated with at least two trains during each visit. We would plan our day accordingly, such as hitting Tatsu first due to B&M Flyers being notorious for slow loading, and quickly mosey either back to Batman or Scream!, and work forward from there. Ride operation seemed pretty ok (especially compared to Hershey!) - it was line jumping policies that were laughable for us.
As to park attendance forecasting - all parks track attendance trends through the season, and appropriate staff availability according to how many visitors they believe will be in attendance. Ever see an amusement park have a "buy one get one free" or "pass holder bring a friend day?" Chances are this is a push to boost waning attendance figures to be on target for any given month.
Parks use these attendance figures to determine how many staff they will be needing in the park, train number operation, etc. All of these factors carry a high cost that require accurate projections in order for there to be profit. (Sounds like your Econ 101 coursework, doesn't it?) A good park looks to not understaff nor overstaff, but have just the right amount of staff for the right amount of visitors. E.g. NOT Halloweekends at Cedar Point
This is not to be confused with generally long lines at amusement parks however. There is no economic model that can account for what park guests will ride, in what order. For that, it is better to consider the political science realm of game theory, of which only 12 people in the world have true mastery.
At any rate, it could be SFMM is making inaccurate projections. Or it could be that you are simply hitting long lines from population density inside the park.
I still maintain however, that Colossus will see an increase in ridership following any refurbishment - otherwise there would not be enough benefit to rationalize investing money into such a project. It would be in SFMM's best interest to maintain both stations to allow for proper capacity.
Intricks
Strata Poster
I went on Sunday, the 14th of this month. I will admit that it was a Bring Your Friend in Free day, but I figured it would still be on one of the slower days. I was wrong unfortunately, and the crowd was more akin to a typical day at Cedar Point during the beginning few weeks of summer.
Also, something I will point out is that their staffing was comical as well. Viper had 6 staff, with two checking, one at the Flash Pass and the others were for speaking and the op box itself. On top of that, the girl speaking barely spoke english! "Welcam to Vipal, the costar with the werds tawest reck". X2 seemed a bit understaffed, but they were also the fastest and moat efficient at the job. Both Goliath and Ninja had 5 staff per ride. Why.....just WHY?!
It would see an increase, there is little doubt of it. As to how Colossus would run, it will be fine for the first few months it is open. Beyond that, they will kill its capacity with singular train operations.
Also, something I will point out is that their staffing was comical as well. Viper had 6 staff, with two checking, one at the Flash Pass and the others were for speaking and the op box itself. On top of that, the girl speaking barely spoke english! "Welcam to Vipal, the costar with the werds tawest reck". X2 seemed a bit understaffed, but they were also the fastest and moat efficient at the job. Both Goliath and Ninja had 5 staff per ride. Why.....just WHY?!
It would see an increase, there is little doubt of it. As to how Colossus would run, it will be fine for the first few months it is open. Beyond that, they will kill its capacity with singular train operations.
rollermonkey
Strata Poster
^^Hyde, Six usually has the BOGO/Bring-a-Friend days planned out for the whole year, in advance. They are all listed in the Season Pass coupon book. Having worked at two parks across 4 seasons, those things just aren't added spontaneously.
^ I am not saying that all BOGO and special promotions are spontaneous - all parks will plan them out to a certain extent - but it is common practice, at least with Cedar Fair, to plan sales/promotions mid-season to encourage higher attendance numbers if actual attendance is not meeting projections.
For instance, in 2009 Cedar Point ran a promotion mid August for discounted tickets that had to be used before the beginning of Halloweekends. Real attendance was a bit below, and CP wanted to stay on target headed into fall.
For instance, in 2009 Cedar Point ran a promotion mid August for discounted tickets that had to be used before the beginning of Halloweekends. Real attendance was a bit below, and CP wanted to stay on target headed into fall.
Xpress
Strata Poster
I only go on 2 days of the year:
Beginning of the school year for the district, and beginning of 2nd semester for the school district. Park occupancy is literally 200 people at the most. It's like a ghost town, and they open all of the rides (normally).
My thoughts on a Colossus renovation.
1. Remove the f***ing MCBR!!! That is such a horrible section of the ride, and the last 2 times I rode it, my legs were throbbing from me experiencing intense ejector upon exit of the MCBR. I want to see this:
Go back to this:
2. Top the track with full steel rails. I will not mind this, so long as the rails are painted white. It would make what is already a really smooth ride even smoother, and more comfortable for a guy like me with horrid back issues.
3. Re-design the inside of the trains with more comfortable and ergonomic seating, as well as more ergonomic restraints- none of this stiff foam padded tube restraint bull s***. Keep the same general external appearance for that nostalgia.
4. Faster through the 2nd half, due to lack of trims.
5. Keep the original support structure appearance.
This would be my ideal Colossus. I don't even care if they re-model the station, though that would be real nice. It's pretty much as plain and dull as it can get, a few railings, and a flat roof.
Beginning of the school year for the district, and beginning of 2nd semester for the school district. Park occupancy is literally 200 people at the most. It's like a ghost town, and they open all of the rides (normally).
My thoughts on a Colossus renovation.
1. Remove the f***ing MCBR!!! That is such a horrible section of the ride, and the last 2 times I rode it, my legs were throbbing from me experiencing intense ejector upon exit of the MCBR. I want to see this:
Go back to this:
2. Top the track with full steel rails. I will not mind this, so long as the rails are painted white. It would make what is already a really smooth ride even smoother, and more comfortable for a guy like me with horrid back issues.
3. Re-design the inside of the trains with more comfortable and ergonomic seating, as well as more ergonomic restraints- none of this stiff foam padded tube restraint bull s***. Keep the same general external appearance for that nostalgia.
4. Faster through the 2nd half, due to lack of trims.
5. Keep the original support structure appearance.
This would be my ideal Colossus. I don't even care if they re-model the station, though that would be real nice. It's pretty much as plain and dull as it can get, a few railings, and a flat roof.
Jarrett
Most Obnoxious Member 2016
I was thinking about this the other day, and had a crazy idea. It would require butchering at least one hill, but could they maybe do a zero-g roll where one train rolls over onto the other track and the other does the same under it? It would require some major support work but MAN would it be cool.
Hope the way I worded that made sense...
Hope the way I worded that made sense...
CoasterCrazy
Giga Poster
As much as it would be awesome, it would destroy the Mobius loop aspect of the ride, unless, of course, they added another two to just diminish the effect.
However, what would be brilliant, is if they added in elements during which the trains travel adjacent to each other such as corkscrews, and maybe even a station fly - over to the second lift hill (presuming they're joining the two up)? I know it's wishful thinking though....
However, what would be brilliant, is if they added in elements during which the trains travel adjacent to each other such as corkscrews, and maybe even a station fly - over to the second lift hill (presuming they're joining the two up)? I know it's wishful thinking though....
It's a classic coaster so I'm just hoping the add in which was once removed and join both sides up.
I'm so mixed on this coaster, yes it was not that great. But it was one of my reasons for going as its been in so many films.
I don't think the park needs another inverting coaster, but the park does need another air time coaster that's just a standard sit down type with no inverts.
I'm so mixed on this coaster, yes it was not that great. But it was one of my reasons for going as its been in so many films.
I don't think the park needs another inverting coaster, but the park does need another air time coaster that's just a standard sit down type with no inverts.