A New Year

Changes are afoot here at the park.  I'm not going to reinvent the wheel, here, so I'll just post the release that went out over company email from Pete (with last names removed to, uh, protect the innocent).

"It with great pleasure that I announce the following reorganization to the Operations Department.  Beginning January 5, 2009 Matt L. will assume daily operation of the Park Services Department and cleanliness program for Six Flags New England.  Matt has been with SFNE since 2007 as the Full Time Admissions and Guest Relations Supervisor.  Prior to joining us, he was in charge of the Park Services Department for Geagua Lake Park in Aurora, OH.

 Jennifer J. will assume daily management responsibilities within the Rides Department.  Jen J. has been with the park since 2001.  She started her Six Flags career in the rides department and achieved the position of area supervisor.  Jen was then promoted to the position of Assistant Manager of Park Services in 2007.

 Sara C. will assume daily management of the Front Gate and Guest Relations department.  Sara started at Six Flags in 2002 and has experience in both retail and the rides department.  Sara became a Full Time Supervisor in 2008 in the Rides Department prior to her move to Admissions.

 Please join me in congratulating the Operations Team on their new positions!"

Oh, and I apologize for the long span of time between this post and the last one.  I've been on vacation o.O  When we return from the winter shutdown in January posting will resume as normal.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year (and don't forget to keep an eye out for that holiday party invitation)!

-John

Moving Day, Training and Turkeys! Oh My!

A few days before the Thanksgiving holiday, Sara and I decided to move our office down the hall. We had been planning on doing this since sometime in September, but we had some difficulty finding the time to actually make the move.

The new office is a lot nicer than the old one.  We've moved the conference room to the other end of the hall, so it now occupies our old office.

Last week, most of us were out of the office all week for Thanksgiving, either visiting family in the area or, in my case, driving across Pennsylvania in a freezing rain storm to visit family in Ohio.  Oh, the holidays.  It was a good time, but we had a little mishap when frying our turkey.

This is what happens when the oil is a tad too hot.  Fortunately, the whole thing tasted fine.

Only 2 more weeks until I do it all over again for the winter break.

This week I've spent preparing some things for the AIMS conference being held in early January.  If you're not familiar with AIMS, it is an organization of industry professionals that are focused on the safety of the industry as a whole.  This includes everything from major theme parks to travelling carnivals to go-kart tracks and FECs.  This will be my second year as an instructor for AIMS, and this year Sara is joining our faculty ranks, so congratulations to her!  You can check out their website at http://www.aimsintl.org.  

Finally, invitations for the seasonal holiday party being held in January have been mailed out, so keep an eye on your mailbox!  

Stay warm.

-John

PTC's Take Over

Hello teammates! Sara and Bryan your Operations PTC's here! Although John has been doing a great job keeping this blog up to date with the happenings of the off season here at the park, we thought we'd stop by and let you know what we're up to during this time!

Besides attending meetings and updating Gen Cert's for next we were also busy with a special project, cleaning out the Ride's office. Now as many of you know this area was left a mess at the end of the season (thanks Sups!) so it took us a few days to get everything cleaned up.








In between all the stuff we also took the time to go check out the transformation of Superman! It looks great (but Sara was still shocked by it).







Well that's all we have for now. We miss you all and will check back soon! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

p.s. Don't forget the Food Drive taking place tomorrow (Nov. 22) at HR 10:00-3:00!

Sweet November

This is the kind of week that can make us all miss daily operation. We've spent the past few days cooped up in the offices, working on SOP revisions, discussing training, retention, planning for 09's divisional layout... None of us have this job because we like to be stuck in an office all day. In short, it's been a long, and quiet week.

On Monday, Jen, the Park Services Manager, got a hold of a rather large quantity of taffy.

Now, in and of it self, there is nothing wrong with having a lot of taffy. I, personally, am not a fan of it and would rather eat glue, but there's nothing inherently wrong with a lot of taffy. Obviously, it makes a great snack (for most people--I still hate it) and keeps our nation's dentists in business. A little known fact, however, is that taffy makes a great sculpting compound.

(This was supposed to be a tree.)

...so, like I said, there is nothing wrong with having a lot of taffy.

That is, unless it's Jen who has a lot of taffy.

Before long, our innocent, break-time taffy craft session turned into a playground of destruction and pain, with sweet, sugary missiles flying in all directions.

That day, Sara learned that taffy has a dark side.

Aside from confectionary chaos, there isn't much else going on right now. We're planning details for our Winter Party, which will be held sometime in early January, so stay tuned for details.

Come to the party or else! (just kidding...)

-John

Winter's on its way....

The park has been closed for a couple of weeks now, and Fright Fest teardown is basically completed.

Every year, I forget how big Main Street looks without the graveyard and all that other miscellaneous Fright Fest stuff!  Shows still has a few things to take down, mostly in the Grove, but they're basically done, as well.  The park is nearly put to bed. 

A few shots I got today under a beautiful, cloudy, grey, cold, November New England sky:

....and I do mean cold.  It was 26 friggin degrees when I got to work this morning!

The last 2 Blizzard River boats to head to the shop are still waiting outside the ride entrance.

Crimewave has been disassembled for its winter rehab.

The last 3 Pandemonium cars are sitting on the midway next to the ride, ready for their trip to the shop.

Kontiki's roof is gone!

By now I'm sure you get the gist of winterization and the offseason--our maintenance staff disassembles and stores pretty much everything, rebuilds it over the winter, and makes sure it's ready for another safe, thrilling season the following year. 

There ARE a few interesting things going on around the park already, in preperation for 2009 and our Superman transformation.  Unfortunately, I can't post much regarding Superman just yet, but keep an eye on this blog for info once it becomes available.  Lets just say that Superman's startin

g to change, and from the looks of it it's gonna be great.  Whenever I get the go-ahead, I'll do a big update.

I can show you this, though.  Mind Eraser is getting some love this year and is getting a fresh coat of paint!  Look at that shiny track!

It occured to me that not everyone who checks this blog out may even know what this Superman Transformation is all about, so if you're one of those people check out this link for 

details.  We're doing some exciting things for 2009!

A couple of posts back I put up a photo of Sara and Bryan and asked people to pen a funny caption, and I promised that I'd post the best up on the blog.  Well ladies and gentlemen, that day has arrived!  Entries were FLYING in, and it took weeks to sort through all of them to present you with only the BEST!

....okay, actually, there was only one.  Kevin A. from Division 1 was our only entrant.

Bryan: "All cle- oh wait..."

Sara: "Too late!  Ouch, that had to hurt!"

Congratulations, Kevin.  You win my undying gratitiude for actually reading the blog.  Feel free to send in others.  sfneops@gmail.com, or just leave a comment.

Oh one final thing--this is an interesting shot, eh?  What is it, and where?

-John

Closed!

Fright Fest takes a crew of dozens about a month to get set up and ready for the droves of guests that flood through the gates to enjoy.

It takes just a few about a week to tear it all down.

Bryan really likes lifts.

There is something visceral about throwing jute netting and hay bales all over the place, after spending weeks making everything looks just right.  I suppose it's akin to kicking over a sand castle after spending considerable energy building it or strapping firecrackers to G.I. Joes and trying to blow their legs off.

What, you say you've never done that?

Hmm.

I digress.  Regardless of the rather, um, destructive nature of the Operations side of Fright Fest teardown, our Maintenance department is hard at work winterizing and getting rides ready for their offseason rehabs in a much more orderly and preservative fashion.   

 

The Pandemonium cars, along with the Thunderbolt trains, have already been removed from the rides and are waiting outside the Maintenance building to begin their rehabs. 

The Balloon Race's baskets have been removed.  Before too long the balloons themselves will be taken off the ride and all that will be left will be the center hub.

Most of the kiddie rides in the park are wrapped up and ready for the coming winter.

Finally, before I wrap this post up, I'd like to congratulate Bryan from Division 1 on his promotion to Aquatics Coordinator, and Karl from Division 6 on his promotion to Foods Coordinator.  Congrats, guys!

-John

Caption This!

Yesterday I was up at Skycoaster getting some shots for a corporate presentation to highlight some of our accomplishments for 2008, and I got this rather interesting shot of Bryan and Sara.


(Click to enlarge)

This screams for a caption.

Send your captions into sfneops@gmail.com. I'll post the best ones on the blog.

-John

Winding Down

Boy did this season fly by!

It seems like just a few short weeks ago that we were putting the finishing touches on the park, training the last group of Team Members to come through Gen Cert, and gearing up for what would become one of the most successful seasons we've had since the transition from Riverside Park to Six Flags New England back in 2000.  

And now it's nearly over.

I'd like to thank each and every one of you for everything you've helped us to accomplish this year.  We absolutely, positively could not have done it without you.  You have been a fantastic team to work with and I sincerely hope that we get the opportunity to see you all again next season.

That being said, keep an eye on this blog throughout the winter.  We'll keep everyone up to date on what's going on at the park, provide details on the Superman: Ride of Steel transformation and some other exciting changes that we're planning for the park for '09!

-John