I'm sorry, what?
Looks at Madrid thread
Looks at Madrid thread
Project 2019: Finnegan's Flyer (S&S Screamin' Swing)
- Thread starter Adam
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Wow, great job! It looks as good as Invadr's queue.
Now about that willow tree they took out...
Now about that willow tree they took out...
Loved the ride. Fantastic floater hangtime and some nice positives. The surrounding area is just absolutely abysmal, however. A new low for Busch Gardens. The ground is all gravel, the station has no theming, and you can see employee backroads and the ugly backs of the Ireland buildings. I am so disappointed with the direction of the design team but at least the ride is fun.
The park announced it would be soft opening tomorrow.
Whether that counts as a soft opening is a different story.
Whether that counts as a soft opening is a different story.
So, here are my thoughts on FF.....the actual ride is great, huge hangtime and the view you get from the top looking at the ground was spectacular. My favorite part was when you get to the top facing the ground and you look toward your feet you are basically upside down looking across the tops of the trees. You move so fast and so smoothe. The line moves fairly fast, we lined up just inside the construction wall and only took about 20 minutes to get through the whole queue. Before you board you are placed in one of two corrals, one for the green side and one for the orange side. Today they were not letting backpacks past the construction wall but loose items were. They then either made you put them in secure pockets or put them in one of 2 rubbermaid containers on the ride platform. This appears to be temporary and will be refined over the next few days. The seats are odd to me, they are really deep and really I was sitting on my legs, the lap bar was a unusual design that was interesting. They basically fold down from the side and have a seatbelt latch. They then ratchet down, however I had plenty of room to put fist between the bottom of the bar and my waist. I had plenty of room to move around in the seat.
Now for the build quality I think it was very poor. The majority of the wiring I saw was run through pvc pipe. This will look horrible in no time as it expands and changes with the heat of the sun. Like was discussed earlier there was liquid tite connecting many of the light fixtures. The entire area surrounding the ride is covered in rock.
Now.....and im sure this is where I will hear complaints, but this ride should not have been open to park guests today. There were numerous things yet to be installed or finished. There was no attraction sign with the warnings of who shouldnt ride, there was no safety spiel, these are things to protect the park. I also saw no children checked for height. There was no pole for doing so that I saw. I am very happy I got to ride but it felt like not everything was quite ready.
Now for the build quality I think it was very poor. The majority of the wiring I saw was run through pvc pipe. This will look horrible in no time as it expands and changes with the heat of the sun. Like was discussed earlier there was liquid tite connecting many of the light fixtures. The entire area surrounding the ride is covered in rock.
Now.....and im sure this is where I will hear complaints, but this ride should not have been open to park guests today. There were numerous things yet to be installed or finished. There was no attraction sign with the warnings of who shouldnt ride, there was no safety spiel, these are things to protect the park. I also saw no children checked for height. There was no pole for doing so that I saw. I am very happy I got to ride but it felt like not everything was quite ready.
Here is everything else that I took for the day. Video is in 4K at 60FPS so they are quite large.
Employee Testing Video
View attachment FEA347FD-47F8-4F71-AD37-ABC486A7BC1C.MOV
Soft Opening
View attachment BEE27C0D-B498-4FB2-8012-A4023328F708.MOV
Random Photos of the ride and area
Employee Testing Video
View attachment FEA347FD-47F8-4F71-AD37-ABC486A7BC1C.MOV
Soft Opening
View attachment BEE27C0D-B498-4FB2-8012-A4023328F708.MOV
Random Photos of the ride and area
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Idk about y'all but I feel "The Birdcage" is a good name for that queue with that mesh fencing...
Complaining about lack of polish during a soft opening is really shitty. The fact that BGW trusts its guests enough to let them see something before it is totally finished should be praised, not criticized.
The whole point of a soft opening is to see if there's anything else they may need to account for before fully finishing the ride.
But if I'll say anything, thanks to Gavin's pictures, they should've given the footers a faux rock finish to make them blend in better instead of being slightly green.
But if I'll say anything, thanks to Gavin's pictures, they should've given the footers a faux rock finish to make them blend in better instead of being slightly green.
The lady letting you into the ride area at the construction wall did have a height stick and was checking people that appeared near 48 inches.
Safety Sign, Height Pole/Height Sign we’re there when I went through as you can see in this pic.
The safety spiels were working when I rode, but after that they weren’t playing them. They don’t seem to be automatically tied to the ride cycle yet.
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Please read my post and thansk for only quoting part of what I said...I wasnt complaining about "polish" I was saying there were no saferty warning signs or safety spiels. I see by a photo above there was a safety sign but it was behind the construction wall and we were rushed past it so fast I never saw it....I stand corrected on that sign. Again I wasnt complaining I was saying from a "cover the parks ass" standpoint those signs and spiels are important to cover the park.
I'm sorry, @Zachary , but I have to disagree. In my opinion, guests should never be subjected to seeing things not fully ready. Take my comments and others regarding the unfinished look and apply them to an out-of-town guest. They leave with, perhaps, a negative option of the ride and the park. They don't know anything about soft openings. They just see "unfinished". While BGW may be in the minor leagues (AAA) compared to Disney or Universal, they should at least try to mimic them. I've never seen either open anything that wasn't at least 99% ready. FF looks about an 80, tops.
Ill give them a pass on finishing touches, I know they need buts in the seat for real testing and to work out queue and loading setups. I only brought up things I saw as safety concerns...or things I didnt see I guess you would say. Now there is zero theming in the queue, not sure if any will be added but as of today it was plain as plain could be.
One other thing I noticed, the team members had to duck under the railing to get from the ride platform loading area to the operators area. There was no gate between the two. Again, minor detail.
One other thing I noticed, the team members had to duck under the railing to get from the ride platform loading area to the operators area. There was no gate between the two. Again, minor detail.
I didn't feel the need to quote your whole post because I already saw the ride regulations sign in person and a photo of the ride height stick in use. I knew you were wrong about both points but I wanted to address your post from a more abstract standpoint.
That said, since "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" apparently isn't enough...
You are accusing BGW of taking risks that could possibly open them up to some sort litigation risk. If you were a lawyer for the park, that would be reasonable. You're not though. You're a normal, everyday guest. Who are you to tell the park what level of supposed legal risk they should take?
If there was some level of gross negligence that clearly is outside the bounds of what is acceptable in a first world amusement park, it would be one thing. The fact of the matter is that what you are describing is in no way, shape, or form, unheard of.
I have been to many, many parks around this country and can tell you that safety spiels and ride information signs are in no way essential to ride operations. Just yesterday I rode multiple attractions at a well respected amusement park where there was no safety spiel and the ride ops quite literally never spoke to me. This isn't that uncommon.
The idea that it is at all reasonable for someone to criticize the park because a few nice-to-have elements are missing during a soft opening is mind-blowingly obnoxious if you ask me.
As long as the soft opening is presented with a disclaimer (which FF clearly is), I don't see how this is any different than the show previews or event previews that the park has a long history of running.
Also, more importantly to this conversation, FF is 99% done. We can have a discussion about the quality of the finished product, but that isn't the fault of the soft opening.
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I think its ok to discuss the rocks, water, supports, etc.as those aren't going to change before the first riders get on
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