More cuts to be aware of

[WadeJ]

While this doesn't really affect most of you, it does affect me so I'm posting it lol

I noticed in Tom's update over at amusementpics.com that Bugs Bunny National Park and Looney Tunes Seaport now close nightly at 8PM regardless of park closing time.  Are they insane???

They are also closing down Rapids at 9PM.

While I'll admit this makes the most sense in terms of what and how to cut, it is still BS.  If I paid full price to visit Great Adventure as my VACATION, I'd be really ticked off if I found entire park sections closing early.  I hope and pray this is only a off-season issue until more staffing become available.

Six Flags - Guess what???  Not everybody wants to ride roller coasters!!!  Some of the best memories I have with my boys are from racing ride to ride in the kid sections and having a blast together (quite literally in the ball factory).   I can't even bring them now on a weekday because it is already 7:30 by the time I get there after work.   So at this point, those two season passes I purchased for a 3 and 5 year old will almost never get used this entire season because we avoid the park on the weekends.

And guess what Six Flags.... we are the guests that waste money on stupid crap because our kids talk us into it!!!!

Okay, enough of the ranting.  I will say the park looks amazing and the landscapers are doing a GREAT job.  And so far, the big coaster operations have been mostly outstanding.  Reliability seems to be great this season as well.  But will the tradeoff be worth it?

Perhaps they are right.  Perhaps the majority of their guests are showing up to ride Nitro, Medusa, Kingda Ka, El Toro and now the Dark Knight (alright, maybe Superman to).  Maybe these sections are so dead that it doesn't warrant having them open after 8PM.   I guess they should know best right?

[CycloneMan]

Sigh....

That's all I can say :\

[PcMan]

this is not good

they want to keep families coming back  ?
and after paying the high cost ?

it stays dark till about 9pm in the summer and this will just have people leaving the park earlier

doesn't make sense

[ChuckR]

Balin's Jungeland and the Ball Factory are awesome!

[Bubba Z]

Wade don't apologize.. Bottom line is you wanna have fun with your kids. Having pretty landscape isn't really going to make up those fun times will it. 

I know we love the park, and would do anything to stand up for it ,  but that's a stupid move.

[WadeJ]

I'm trying to find out for certain if this is temporary or a off-season deal because if this is just to get through til summer hits, I commend them.  I'd rather them specify the hours imstead of random rides being shut down.  But if this is for the entire season, shame on them.

[MRHSfalcon]

I have heard that this is only temperary until we get staffing but i could be wrong on that to. I can see both sides of this,  as a guest you have every right to be upset. But Also if you look at it from a managment POV we have four kiddie areas (Wiggles World, Seaport, National park, and Balins), they are closing two at 8 PM, (this is when staffing get really tight) and leaving the other two opened. You can send what staff you still have to either WW or Balins because most of the time after 8 PM the kids area are dead anyway. As i said i think this is temporary and as soon as summer staff comes we will have all four opened. thats just my two cents

[coastermom]

I have to say that Wade has a great point . If all my kids were that small and we were there paying over 60 bucks for the day to get in and the areas were closed at 8 and the park closed at 10 and we were still there I would be annoyed . I can see we have 4 kiddie areas but isn't this the crowd they are looking for to come to the parks?? They wanted families to come back and spend money . NOW to close two areas for the families that are there to do just that is kind of dumb.

[GADVwow]

And they need to remember that for the family that comes once a season, what the park may or may not do later in the season is wholly irrelevant.  Are they going to reduce the admission cost since they have limited hours for the kiddielands?  Somehow, I doubt it.

[WadeJ]

Thanks for chiming in mrhsfalcon.  I sincerely hope you end up being right but as wow said, for the guests that come once a year, they've already been burned.  And again, these are the guests they are milking for that wonderful in-park spending.  Perhaps if the sign said just until Memorial day someone might at least not be as offended.  I worry about the future.  I fully understand management is doing what they can with what they have but there are sooooo many frustrating things going on right now that I'm growing increasingly concerned with the shortsightedness.

[Dubya91]

I totally blame Dainan for this, him leaving his section early....

Aside from the joking, If im not mistaken, Shapiro's image and the image he hammered into my head was FAMILY FAMILY FAMILY! Maybe it's just me, but i see this cut as going against promoting the families in the park. Since there is a gap, what if you kept maybe one or two of the sections open full time and closed the other 2 at 8, compromise, everybody wins in that scenario. Guests and their little kids can get on the rides, and the management can cover the staffing.

I would love to see pics of Wade in the looney tunes ball factory/pit

Hey dan, Speaking of ball pits, I heard some things

[rjholla2003]

I still look at my radio crazy when they close them for the night.

[darkridedan]

It's a great move for budget reasons, even if it is temporary. There are   more ride employees than kids in BJL (as it was in BBL) often after 8.

In the past few years, the kiddie section employees have used clickers to count the number of riders per hour. Before that, we guessed the number of riders (at each ride*) per hour, but clickers often break. The guestimate often reflected a significantly higher number than the amount of riders who came through the section. (Often, the employees recorded 50 riders per hour each ride, although the truth would be closer to 15 or 20 in the last couple hours of the night.)

The (traditional/moderate/mainstream/adult) ride employees underestimated the amount of riders per hour by recording the turnstile numbers and did not often add in rerides. (Rerides are common during the last couple of hours.) It may be why kiddie rides are overvalued at the park and (traditional/moderate/mainstream/adult) spin and other flat rides are undervalued. The park closes (traditional/moderate/mainstream/adult) flats and leave the kiddie sections open.

I know a teen or twenty-something brings as many friends with them to the park as parents bring children. The park has worked hard to replace and rehab kiddie rides to keep the kiddie ride count unchanged since '99. The only logical reason for the decline in attendance over the past 6 seasons has to be the removal or closure of 15 (traditional/moderate/mainstream/adult) rides and the removal of the other 5 non-coaster, (traditional/moderate/mainstream/adult) rides.*

I also have to think that the maingate plays the most important role for the park's growth and future. The point of service cash registers inside the park can only be as good as the turnstile clicks at the main gate. Everybody spends money at the park. I think the 25 kiddie rides and attractions, a parade and cabanas are nice frills to have, but adult/mainsteam/traditional rides and shows are the bread and butter.*

*= 

[WadeJ]

Can't spend money at the park if we aren't there

Dan, those numbers are rather low.  I agree that it is a waste of FTE's to have them open if those are the actual numbers.  However, I've been in these sections during the summer in July and August and these areas are hitting that many kids every 10-15 minutes.  True, not every night but there are plenty when it is crowded which is why I'm still hopeful this is just a seasonal thing.

Seriously though, I personally wouldn't have as much issue with this if there were actual intermediate rides that existed.  Taking away the bumper cars, swings, musik express and more have made these sections the ONLY place to go with my older son.

With the closing of LTSP after 8, we lose the ball room, the only remaining large swings in the park and 1 of 2 kiddie coasters (which sucks since the 3 year old is still scared of BBLTT).

Again, while it does make sense from a budget perspective, no major theme park should be closing entire sections before park closing.  Even Cedar Fair hasn't stepped that low (yet).

Still hoping for it being a temporary measure

[darkridedan]

For sure, those numbers are more common in the early season. The park did this in 2001 too. It opened Bugs Bunny Land with the park and closed it at 6 and it opened Looney Tunes Seaport in the afternoon. In June, it went back to an open to close schedule. The park still closes the kiddie sections during Physics Days when the park is closed to the public.

It's a shame that Looney Tunes Seaport is in the back of Wiggles World. It would be better for the guests to leave it open and close Wiggles World early. Wiggles World is the only place to ride a drop tower tho.

[darkridedan]

^^^ It was riders per hour, not riders per section. 

[WadeJ]

okay, that makes more sense now LOL

That would be like a total ghost town.  I'll be pleasantly surprised if these sections begin staying open once the "real" season kicks in.  Otherwise, I'll just sit back and wonder.

This whole topic did get me thinking though about another favorite place of mine that put a sour taste in my mouth - Disney World.

On a visit last year we walked up to the Liberty Square Riverboat at 5:10PM.  There was the captain standing there in his outfit letting everybody know it was closed.  Why was it closed?  Because the park was closing in 1 hour!?!  Actually, the park was closing in 1 hour because of the stupid Pirate and Princess party but that is a complety seperate discussion.  Regardless, it pissed me off as it did many others.  Then I started noticing that the Tree House was closed, Mickeys Toon Town was closed and several eating establishments were closed.  So I guess if Disney can do it then so can Six Flags.  What I'm saying is that now that I look back, I guess this practice isn't all that unusual.

[darkridedan]

^ That does kinda stink. Skull Mountain at SFA closed an hour early and many of their flats were closed an hour before closing. I can understand Skull Mountain and any slow loading ride, but a scrambler, falling star and a drop tower? Ah, grr.

Trip report coming soon tho!