Way to start the day.

[BavarianBeatle]

I would like to thank (crazy user name that I've spent too much time trying to figure out) for making me feel better about not being able to go. I'm still sad to not be there.

Sorry for rocky operations and I hope the trip gets better. When I go to opening days though, I expect big crowds and plan on focusing on just enjoying the park atmosphere and my friends. I don't expect to get a lot of rides in.

Reflecting now... I'm talking about CF parks and I fully expect major downtime on multiple rides. Should that be?

No, it shouldn't. They had two extra weeks and still looked completely unprepared and unprofessional. I feel sorry for anyone who drove a long way or paid money for that disaster.

[jdawg1998]

Beast was closed.

WindSeeker was closed.

Vortex was closed.

Action Theater was closed.

Flight Deck was closed.

The Crypt was closed for about a half hour.

That's all the downtimes that happened today. (well, besides WindSeeker).

[Oldschool75]

Beast was closed.

WindSeeker was closed.

Vortex was closed.

Action Theater was closed.

Flight Deck was closed.

The Crypt was closed for about a half hour.

That's all the downtimes that happened today. (well, besides WindSeeker).

You forgot Diamondback and The Racer. .

I think I will skip opening day for now on. Too crowded. I was there 5 1/2 hours and rode 2 things (Diamondback and the Crypt). Was in line for The Racer, it went down, In line for Flight Deck it went down. plus waiting over an hour in each the Diamondback line and The crypt. Today sucked. Glad I have a pass this year. I agree with the previous poster Seemed they were very unprepared today.

[bkroz]

And again, didn't Paramount used to have dry run days? Like a dress rehearsal where everyone would come in and put the rides through the paces, using other employees as patrons just to make sure operations ran smoothly on the first public day? I may be misremembering that, but I'm pretty sure that's something they did annually...

And it seems to have helped avoid days like this. It's a shame, and certainly doesn't cast the park in a good light for the rest of the season when it starts out like this. Of course, more than likely they'll end up getting their stuff together. But this clearly leaves a sour taste in many people's mouths... Imagine if you didn't have a pass. Would you return after your experience today? (And if your answer is no, than probably there are a lot of people who will say no next time someone asks them to go... Wouldn't an extra half-day of payroll be worth it?)

[74Gibson]

Oh silly Beatle, people gotta ride

Some of the things I've said recently seem so silly now... and Nemo, you're freaking me out. Care to elaborate why you didn't buy and what you expected?

I was giving CF credit for improving their parks aesthetics while I was railing them for how they treat their employees and guests and how highly some execs are paid.

PACEPALM Cause and effect

I've always been puzzled in the parks because they seem so amazing but yet so wrong in some way. I've never been able to put my finger on him... oh I mean it until now but it seems to all make sense.

Of course, none of this would have made any sense without the posters on this site and especially Terpy. You sir are an aha moment in and of yourself and I look forward to Raven about some more good times together... hopefully at a certain event I missed you at last year

[BavarianBeatle]

Invertigo and Zypher also had significant downtime today. I have also read reports of downtime on Firehawk, FoF, BooBlasters, the Sportacopters and Slingshot, but I did not see these myself.

[jdawg1998]

I forgot about Zephyr! That was down until about 3 today. Plus, I could not STAND the employees at Chick Fil A. Waited for FORTY-FIVE minutes to get darn chicken nuggets. Only two people were working there!

Edit: Also RFYLCB didn't have its water running for a while!

[Dieseltech20]

Yes slingshot went down today, lol. Beast just had another down and up moment with us in line. DB is only running 2 trains now.

[Pillsberry123]

Wow. Hopefully they get things straightened out in the next couple of weekends, or preferably before next weekend. I don't like the idea of Opening Day being used as a "test day" to see what can go wrong, because it seems like that's what's happening.

[Phil DeLong]

I would like to thank (crazy user name that I've spent too much time trying to figure out) for making me feel better about not being able to go. I'm still sad to not be there.

Sorry for rocky operations and I hope the trip gets better. When I go to opening days though, I expect big crowds and plan on focusing on just enjoying the park atmosphere and my friends. I don't expect to get a lot of rides in.

Reflecting now... I'm talking about CF parks and I fully expect major downtime on multiple rides. Should that be?

No, it shouldn't. They had two extra weeks and still looked completely unprepared and unprofessional. I feel sorry for anyone who drove a long way or paid money for that disaster.

My girlfriend and I were two of those unfortunate people, but on the up side of things. On the up side, we checked the web when we noticed none of the rides were running and managed to get out of there with our tickets and spent a nice day at the Kenwood Town Centre.

None of the employees had any idea what was going on. As we were walking up to the ticket gates, 3 separate employees told us everything was running normally, then we hop on the forums and twitter to see all of the disappointed customers saying the exact opposite. The breakdown in communication at the park was the most pathetic part.

[Oldschool75]

KI is getting bashed big time on FB. I feel sorry for the GP that paid full price for today. They should get some time of reimbursement.

[bkroz]

Fat chance.

Who else recalls a day [last season?] when a power outage left rides, shops, and restaurants without any power. Refunds? Not a chance. And they say the line to exit the park was longer than any of the ride queues...

Part of the business of amusement parks is unpredictability. Technology goes haywire. I'm especially surprised we didn't see more downtime with Firehawk, Flight of Fear, and Backlot Stunt Coaster, whose specific niches seem to be particularly hard to keep working right at the beginning of the season. The park does what it can to alert people before they visit by the LED sign outside and even online mediums (like telling folks that WindSeeker would be closed).

It could be worse. Imagine the people who travel by plane to visit Floridian parks, only to discover a ride like Harry Potter that they have planned a trip around is down for mechanical difficulties the day of their trip. What do you do? Request a refund or a rain check? Unlikely.

[Phil DeLong]

KI is getting bashed big time on FB. I feel sorry for the GP that paid full price for today. They should get some time of reimbursement.

Agreed. Fortunately our tickets are good for any one day in the 2011 season and we stopped when we realized everything was broken, but I feel bad for the people with specific day tickets or that entered the park only to learn nothing was working.

[bkroz]

KI is getting bashed big time on FB. I feel sorry for the GP that paid full price for today. They should get some time of reimbursement.

Agreed. Fortunately our tickets are good for any one day in the 2011 season and we stopped when we realized everything was broken, but I feel bad for the people with specific day tickets or that entered the park only to learn nothing was working.

I don't think that the park has any publicly-available tickets that are good only a specific day. You saw exactly what I assumed there would be - prior notice of the closed attractions on signs outside the park - and decided to turn around as a result. Others certainly had the same opportunity, but were caught up in the hooplah of opening day (while others entered the park before the rides began to break down). I don't blame them.

But, it was the same last year, and the year before that, and likely will be the same next near. When the ride operator's first encounter with the public, throughput, operations, mechanics, and rider organization is the park's opening day... You get exactly what you'd expect: confusion, question, and maybe even panic.

As anyone knows, your first day on any job is strenuous. It's a science and art to learn the physical operations of the job (be it computer systems, key strokes, operator panels) and to learn how to interact with the guests, how to perform crowd control procedures, how to optimize a ride's hourly throughput... To throw gangs of first-timers in control of a multi-million dollar ride with little leadership or practice results in what may saw today. The operators certainly did their best. They just didn't have a lot to work with. What a stressful day this must've been for them...

[KIfan1980]

Oh yea, today would have been a tough day to be in Guest Relations.

Like others, we were ready to get on Beast when it went down. We were in the Crypt boarding room when it went down. We were evac'd from Racer when it went down. Heck, even the final segment of American Country ha a technical glitch while we were watching.

That said, it was good to be back in the park, I had fun with friends and family, saw a good show, rode several rides, and tried to not let the crowds an downtime bother me.

And I'm still waiting to hear a complaint about the single train op on Firehawk. That line had to be brutal.

[Phil DeLong]

KI is getting bashed big time on FB. I feel sorry for the GP that paid full price for today. They should get some time of reimbursement.

Agreed. Fortunately our tickets are good for any one day in the 2011 season and we stopped when we realized everything was broken, but I feel bad for the people with specific day tickets or that entered the park only to learn nothing was working.

I don't think that the park has any publicly-available tickets that are good only a specific day. You saw exactly what I assumed there would be - prior notice of the closed attractions on signs outside the park - and decided to turn around as a result. Others certainly had the same opportunity, but were caught up in the hooplah of opening day. I don't blame them. Plus, it was the same last year, and the year before that, and likely will be the same next near. When the ride operator's first encounter with throughput, operations, mechanics, and rider organization is the park's opening day... You get exactly what you'd expect.

My mistake, I guess I'm not a park expert, I thought there were some specific day tickets. As for prior notice, I haven no idea what you're talking about, besides the fact you're putting words in my mouth. The "prior notice" I got was from people complaining through social media, the staff was incredibly useless.

[bkroz]

^

My mistake. I know someone in this thread commented on reading the scrolling signs outside the exit and leaving the park because of it. But yeah, it's a shame that today seemed to have such a feeling of unpreparedness surrounding it. As I said, it must've been incredibly stressful and unrewarding for the employees.

EDIT: There it is.

Scroll on the sign outside detectors said "Rides closed today, Vortex, WindSeeker, Action Theater"

[Phil DeLong]

^

My mistake. I know someone in this thread commented on reading the scrolling signs outside the exit and leaving the park because of it. But yeah, it's a shame that today seemed to have such a feeling of unpreparedness surrounding it. As I said, it must've been incredibly stressful and unrewarding for the employees.

I worded my response to you a little strongly so I apologize for that, but nope, I wasn't that person. Though I will say, as we were headed out, the one of the scrolling signs finally said that The Vortex was down, but at that point, we had confirmed through fb and twitter that the amount of rides shut down were far larger that just that single one, so it was still pretty frustrating that they were so far behind in keeping people updated. I've never been opening day, so maybe I should've done my research. Unfortunately I didn't, and it was just a horribly disappointing experience because of it.

[m2raptor]

I forgot about Zephyr! That was down until about 3 today. Plus, I could not STAND the employees at Chick Fil A. Waited for FORTY-FIVE minutes to get darn chicken nuggets. Only two people were working there!

Edit: Also RFYLCB didn't have its water running for a while!

Yeah that was a mess trying to walk by Chick Fil A. I just thought they were really busy. I ate at Bubba Gumps and several employees mentioned it was their first day. Good part is the food was still good and it didn't take to much time getting through.

I saw Slingshot down at about 2:30 pm. I know that Beast went down a little bit after 10 am. I was getting my restraint checked on Crypt at about 10:30 am, when all of a sudden they unlocked.

One plus for the day is that I really like the sign for WindSeeker and can't wait to ride it. Also if you like Dinosaurs there is now plenty of gear for you in the stores.

[Elkman]

Im glad/unglad I didn't go today. Never have gone on opening day, but i hate lines, except when you strike upon a good conversation with a friend, then lines become a relaxing experience. Got pass renewed yesterday, hoping to go to the park sometime in May.

[Pedro Cerrano]

At 8:15, we went to get a blue ice cream in Planet Snoopy and after being given one cup of ice cream I was told that they were out of spoons. I was told that I could go to the hamburger place next door and get a fork to eat my ice cream with but that they were out of spoons and couldnt get anymore.

Out of spoons on day one?

Other than that we had fun but it was definitely crowded.

[windshawne]

Was a madhouse today, and got a good sunburn but you know what? I don't give a rats ***. It was a good day, WindSeeker is beautiful at night and spent the day with some great friends. What more could you want?

Only complaint I have is the amount of pollen in the air on the next to last train on Beast-but thats not the park's fault. One asthma attack and one swollen eye-ah well. Will be taking it easy tomorrow.

[CoastersRZ]

Well, I`d like to state a couple things. Yes, rides did have some down time today (two trains away from riding The Beast in the morning and it went down, left line went to Racer where the ride proceeded to break down when we were on the lift). But all in all, with the exception of WindSeeker and Action Theater, most of the rides were open at some point throughout the day.

Yes, that is why the season pass preview weekend or preview nights were a nice thing to do. The employees could get their bearings with running the rides with customers. But because the customers were pass holders, they could simply return another day if a ride experienced down time. The park was pretty crowded. And I know I heard more than a few guests who paid to get into the park describing some displeasure with all the rides that kept breaking down. If I had paid to get into the park today (excluding season passes), I would have been a little upset too.

[Dieseltech20]

We stayed until 9:30 and the park was still packed, Beast was lined up almost into the midway, lol.

Still, even with all the problems, we had a fun day even if we only got 5 rides total. Will be back in 2 weeks and I'm sure everything will be straightened out by then.

[Flat Freak]

Here's my opening day TR:

We arrived in the parking lot about 8:40 and approached the metal detectors. Each of the lines was about 30 deep at the time. At 9:00 we went through the metal detectors and had our passes scanned with no delays. By 9:15 we were at Diamondback with only a one train wait. After riding, the speed rails were already starting to fill, so we headed back to Beast.

The line wasn't too long, we rode, and as we rolled into the final brake run, an employee came out to inform us that there would be a slight delay for mechanical reasons. One train sat at the bottom of the lift hill, and I assume the third was out on the MCBR (I know it went out because we saw it on our way in). It did have passengers. We sat in the train for about ten minutes before they rolled us back into the station. The release for the lap bars didn't work, so they were manually releasing each one individually with a tool. My daughter's lap bar wouldn't release for about ten tries. I tried to tell her don't worry, I'd come back to pick her up! It finally released and we got out about 10:15. I don't know how long the others had to wait out on the tracks.

We walked towards Coney to see the WindSeeker site and worked our way towards Racer. Only the blue side was running, with three rows of speed rails at the time. That ride was uneventful.

We intended to do AE on the way towards Action Zone, but that line was out to the midway already, and that ride is not worth that much wait (to me, I know some others love it). We decided on Delirium next, as the line was just barely out to the midway at the time, and that line moves quickly. Right when we entered the line one rider's restraint wouldn't release! The poor girl sat there strapped into her seat while her friends stood waiting for her outside the exit. After a few minutes of watching the Benny Hill show version of trying to get her out, we decided it was a good time for lunch, so we headed out to the car.

While eating, we noticed Delirium was running again, so we went back. The line was about eight rides long. (I wanted to do Drop Tower, but that line was almost to the Congo Falls entrance and never let up all day.) We were next up, still in the speed rails, when they announced it was going down again. I understand that someone else's restraint got stuck! Twenty minutes of waiting in line and they reopened it, so we rode shortly after with no problems.

We futzed around for a bit and found ourselves near Diamondback. The line was not quite to Rivertown Buffet, which I estimated as a 1:15 wait. We had decided that the combination of Opening Day, Saturday, perfect weather, Music in the Park, and enormous crowds left us with a choice between leaving early or dealing with waits. We elected to stick it out, as six months without rides needed a fix. So 1:15 wait it is. While in line, we noticed that Vortex was running and had passengers on it. My daughter had never ridden it and wanted to, so we decided to do it later that day. The Diamondback wait turned out to be 1:04, not bad at all, considering.

Another trip to the car for some snacks, then in towards Beast. Whoops, that line was almost to the fence by Diamondback's splashdown, so we went for Vortex. I explained to my daughter the intricacies of the ride, and suggested seat 5-1 was Terpy approved. That was good enough for her. She liked her first time, but we both left with a headache. I blame this on the sun, the waiting, and the day, more than the ride.

We got to check out WindSeeker up close at The Vortex exit. It's neat to see up close, but you can't see much that you can't already see on the webcam. One interesting story though. We're watching the activity for a minute, and the crew is using the JLG lift truck to pull a cable down through the tower (guided by a couple of pulleys). One of the workers is standing next to the lift saying "take it back, take it back," guiding the lift truck operator as he is pulling the cable (attached to the truck) by backing up. There is a crash, and the guide says "OK, hold it right there" completely deadpan. Really, buddy, thanks. I hope nothing (or nobody) was damaged!

By then, dusk was starting to set in, so it was time to plan the end of the day. We decided on blue ice "cream," followed by a Diamondback ride, followed by a nighttime Beast ride. The blue ice cream line was ten deep, and I swear it took us 25 minutes to get ice cream. I don't put this down as opening day jitters, as this happened last year too. I think KI needs to check the speed of their service at the various food stands.

The Diamondback line was about an hour again, so we queued up. A pleasant ride as always, and it was ALMOST dark, which is always fun. We walked out at 8:55 and walked back to Beast for our last ride of the day (detour to Rivertown Potato Works en route).

The Beast line was about 50 minutes by my guess. (Side note: isn't The Beast more fun when the station is packed with people?) (Side note 2: funny things ride ops say - "Step one - buckle the seatbelt. Step two - pull down the lap bar. If you do step two first, we WILL make fun of you. Then we will buckle your seat belt.") We were four spots away from riding when the fireworks shutdown time hit, as expected. A short wait, then a fun (as usual) night Beast ride to wrap up the day. We were in the car by 10:45, and only had a moderate delay getting out of the lot.

Notes on WindSeeker: on Diamondback and Beast, we saw a lot of WindSeeker lit up. I can say that it is beautiful at night. The ride carriage is covered with lights, but the best part might be the ultra-bright LEDs at the top of the tower that illuminate the tower itself. They cycle through all the colors of the rainbow every 15 seconds or so. This will be a great visual addition to the park (as well as a heckuva thrill too). One of the supervisors told us that the lighting package alone exceeded $500K. (It wasn't the Dippin Dots guy, so take it with a grain of salt.)

Ride count: Beast 2, Diamondback 3, Racer 1, Delirium 1, Vortex 1. Total 8 in 13.5 hours. Usually we can get eight in during ERT alone when we go on weekdays!

No serious complaints, though. We expected it to be busy, but not that busy. We'll rarely attend the park on a Saturday during the season, but this was Opening Day and we missed the rides, so it is what it is. There are some kinks to be ironed out operationally, but I really didn't hear anybody griping, and several out-of-towners in for the Music Days were pretty complimentary. On the way out to the car, we overhead a supervisor giving a pep talk to a cleaning crew, and he said something about this being the best opening day ever. I believe it.

EDIT: I forgot two rides on BLSC mixed in throughout the day. So ten rides in almost 14 hours. Woot.

[lj89]

Personally, my biggest frustration was music in the parks being held on opening day. IThis was my fourth opening day and I don't remember ever seeing schools. Normally I try my hardest to avoid those music in the parks weekends. I think that it just added to the wait times when things went down and caused already frustrated people to be even more frustrated by the teenagers.

All in all though, I do have to say that staying from open to close ( which I almost never do) was a great way to spend the day and I think that WindSeeker look awesome! Also, I think it is great that they opened The Vortex, while it was originally supposed to be closed for WindSeeker construction! Kudos to Ki for realizing that they needed to get another ride up and running because of all the problems they had throughout the morning.

[frisbeefan]

The park was very busy but it was still a fun day. I was stuck on Beast's second lift in the morning for about 20 minutes. The employees told us there was a power failure so it took them a little while to get the ride operational. I'm excited for WindSeeker though, it looks great in person!

[Bennett]

What an opening day....went with my daughter, arrived 5:30 or so. Had to be an embarrasing day for the KI folks. Ride after ride breaking down. Adventure Express went belly up while we were waiting in line, Congo Falls (seriously!!) went kaput while we were in the flume waiting to go up the hill, Delirium went on the fritz while in line for it as well...

Three in a row. Blowed up. Swell...

That said, they did get the red Racer running, where we saw that Firehawk was down as well....but, after 8:45, that, Flight Deck, and Adventure Express turned into walk ons, so we wore those three out.

WindSeeker looks awesome from The Racer, can't wait to give it a go.

Never been on an opening day, can say with certainly that I never will again. Glad I have passes, as I would have been furious to have paid for that day only. Long lines for walk ons, silly lines for the good rides...when they didn't break down.

[stuntvolt]

as to the comment about the rides not being put through their paces before opening day and the crews being tossed into the situation with little knowlege how the ride physically operates. the ride crews do hours of training before opening day to understand how the rides work. also the rides get alot of cycles on training days. im going to have to say that it was just bad luck that all the rides kept going down.

[gabelogan99]

For those who went yesterday, did you notice any increase in the price of preferred parking? I know regular parking is up $2 and just wondered if Preferred Parking was as well. Even if it is, it probably doesn't matter to me--assuming of course that your season pass will get you $12 off of the price of preferred parking..