Marti Gras at Six Flags Fiesta Texas

We headed down to San Antonio for a little rest and relaxation. At Six Flags Fiesta Texas, they were doing something new this year - Marti Gras! I know, according to the calendar, Marti Gras should have been celebrated back in February. In New Orleans this year, there were parties and parades all during the beginning January 6, up until "Fat Tuesday" — February 28, this year. Because it is based on the movable Christian holiday of Easter, Fat Tuesday varies from year to year.

Six Flags, of course, did its own thing. This sign at the entrance gate says it all. This year is the 25 year that Six Flags has operated Fiesta Texas and, for this park, this aniversary is a once-in-a-lifetime big deal for the park. Marti Gras is just the harbinger of the anniversary celebration!

Surprisingly, there were few Marti Gras decorations. Almost all of them appeared in the Rockville section. Here is a shot in front of the "High School" showing the Marti Gras king and queen statues.

In the late afternoon, they scheduled a parade. For this, they went all out. We were told that all of the floats were borrowed from this year's Marti Gras celebration in New Orleans. Many of the staff dressed up in costumes and demonstrated skills not normally a part of their jobs at Six Flags &endash including juggling, stilt-walking, musical instruments and acrobatics.

Here comes the parade!!

Note the Six Flag touch just behind the banner at the beginning of the parade. Warner Brothers cartoon characters were scattered throughout the parade.

Here comes the first float...

Although there were people on the floats, they were not as crowded as in the pictures I saw from the Marti Gras in New Orleans. The people on the floats did throw beads into the crowd — lots of beads!

This float had more of a Carnival feel to it, with the "Day of the Dead" theme.

Now, for a more patriotic theme....

A few costumed characters...

Now, float with an assortment of themes...

Photo-bombed by Sylvester!

The Jester Queen....

And now, the Royal Barge...and Lola Bunny

Although Fiesta Texas did a great job with their Marti Gras celebration, they missed an opportunity. As New Orleans has Marti Gras, our neighbors to the south celebrate ¡Carnival!. Perhaps, next year they will add this to the Fiesta section. They could also add distinctive Marti Gras and Carnival foods to the menu temporarily (at an extra cost, of course)

In total, Six Flags Fiesta Texas did a great job! May next year be even better!

Vacation Time!!

It has been a while,again. Life gets so busy and I just forget to take notes... This weekend, we are heading south to San Antonio. Six Flags, later today, then Sea World tomorrow. Of course, the weather report says rain for both days.

Tonight, Six Flags is doing fireworks - their Sprint Blast! Their water park is supposed to be open, too.

Sea World is previewing their new Discovery Point area. This replaces the old dolphin pool. The new facility will allow visitors to interact with the dolphins in the water. In another area of the tank, visitors can watch the dolphins under water. It should be interesting. Tomorrow is also the last day for their annual Seven Seas Food Festival. We went to Sea World about a month ago and bought passes for the Food Festival and sampled some of the fare. Tomorrow, we will sample the rest.

Six Flags - Fiesta Texas --- Batman The Ride

This month, the big event at Six Flags Fiesta Texas is the opening of their new ride: Batman: the Ride. We stopped by earlier today to check it out.

Because of the recent rains and the threat (90% chance of thunder storms) of rain, the park was not very crowded. The lines were unusually short for a prime season weekend.

The approach to the ride is flat, paved and well landscaped. This is important to my wife, who has a bad knee and can no longer climb lengthy stairs. Because this is a new ride, the landscaping has not grown tall enough to provide any shade. This may prove to be a problem to the park when the lines are long on those very hot high-summer days with the sun beating down.

The seats are in groups of four, one group on each side of the track. Each group consists of two pairs of seats facing each other. In the loading position, they are low enough for easy seating. With the restraints in place, the seats will hold fatties like me comfortably.

The following pictures are from the Six Flags website. The first shows the track layout:

The second shows an artist's rendering of one one the care filled with riders at the top of a loop.

Unfortunately, the ride did not thrill me. I much prefer Iron Rattler - that ride reminds me of the times I rode a mechanical bull... Only, the Iron Rattler cannot throw you off. Riding a mechanical bull is much more hazardous!

Halloween in San Antonio

Well, we headed down to San Antonio to do Halloween in the amusement parks. We visited Six Flags Fiesta Texas on Saturday and SeaWorld on Sunday.

Six Flags Fiesta Texas

Fiesta Texas was dressed for Halloween. There were ghouls, zombies and other "monsters" wandering around. The railroad had been stopped and the trains decorated. Each of the theaters had its own special Halloween show. The old restaurant became a haunted house, but they charged extra for admission to it.

They were also offering a good deal on renewing season passes: the parking pass was free! We took the opportunity to renew.

SeaWorld

SeaWorld, as usual, did a better job with Halloween. Their annual "Jack is Back" takes one-third of the park and marks it the "scare zone." They put together two, count 'em, two haunted houses.

Winter Vacation

We headed down toward San Antonio for a winter vacation on December 27th. The announced plan was:

• The River Walk


• Six Flags Fiesta Texas


• SeaWorld

The unannounced plan added stops in Fredericksburg and Johnson City. The reason for these stops is that, according to my research, these are places that know how to celebrate Christmas.

Our base of operations for this adventure was the La Quenta Hotel on Utex Boulevard in San Antonio. We have stayed there several times in the past. They are basically at the intersection of I-10 and Loop 1604. This is almost within walking distance of Six Flags Fiesta Texas and a short distance from SeaWorld. Their rates are usually reasonable.

San Antonio River Walk

The San Antonio River Walk is one south Texas's premier tourist traps. The City of San Antonio has build a loop in the San Antonio River one level below street level. It is well landscaped with well maintained walkways and pedestrian bridges. Many hotels, stores and restaurants open on the River Walk.

As with most urban tourist traps, free parking was virtually unavailable. Streets either have no curb-side parking or all of the spaces were filled. Free municipal parking lots, of course, do not exit near a tourist trap. We found fixed parking prices starting at $5.00 up through $10.00 for the evening, along with hourly rates. As you might expect, the $5 lot was full. We settled for a $7.00 lot.

We went down through an artist community whose name I have forgotten. We spent several hours just walking, looking at the holiday decorations. There was one Christmas tree near the mall end, but colored lights were strewn from the trees overhanging the river. We considered taking a river tour, until we noticed the price - $8.00 per person in a crowded barge with wooden benches. Most of the restaurants had menu prominently posted. Unfortunately, not all of them had prices along with the selections.

We selected an interesting looking restaurant, the Rainforest Cafe. The menu contains many interesting items. We started with an "Owesome Appetizer Adventure", followed by "Planet Earth Pasta", "Parmesan Chicken Expedition" and "Rasta Pasta." For desert, (as if I need a desert!) we sprang for their signature "Volcano," a stack of ice cream scoops with slabs of brownie.

Six Flags Fiesta Texas

On the 28th, we went to Six Flags Fiesta Texas. It was raining off and on all day. Only about two-thirds of the park was open; many rides, especially the water rides, were closed for annual major maintenance. The bumper car ride had been temporarily converted to an ice skating rink, using artificial, plastic ice. They added a few special shows - one in the Biergarten and one in the Fiesta Theater.

They were also selling hot chocolate in souvenir mugs. From what we saw, many people were put off by the price of the mug. The cocoa mix was provided by Starbucks. They missed a great advertising opportunity: instead of having Six Flags sell their cocoa mix, they should have put a coupon on the envelope and let Six Flags give them away. With a lower price, more people would have bought the mugs, and gotten the coupon. Some of those coupons might have led to new regular customers.

Once the sun set, the buildings were lit up with multicolored lights. The photograph above, which I took from an email Six Flags sent me, will give you an idea of the lights. When I was growing up, this is how all the local little towns decorated their Main Street. I miss those decorations during the holiday seasons.

SeaWorld San Antonio

On the 29th, we went to SeaWorld San Antonio. They decorated for the holidays in a very different way than their competition up Loop 1604. The only ride that was closed was the white water raft ride and, again, it was for the annual major maintenance. They aimed their decorations more for the younger crowd. They added a "candy cane forest" and a "snowman town."

In the Penguin Encounter, they added a nursery with two young penguin chicks that the parents abandoned, requiring them to hand feed them. For our daughter, this was the highlight of the trip. Within the large penguin enclosure, a number of mated pairs were raising chicks.

They changed the orca show and the sea lion show, adding a strong Christian theme. Finally, some business actually highlighted the Birth of Christ! Again, this is a part of the holiday season that we have lost over the years - a part that was important and prominent when I was growing up.

They changed the lighting at night, making the trees look like a part of a snow-scape. In the candy cane forest, the night lighting did not look right. They would have been better to use hollow candy canes and light them from within.

The Trip Home

On the 30th, we headed toward home. When we got to Johnson City, I hung a left down US 290 toward Fredericksburg.

Fredericksburg

This is an old town, originally settled by mostly people of German stock. It is the county seat of Gillespie County. Since World War II, it has become a tourist trap. Main Street is mostly small shops in old buildings. Check out their web site and their interactive map.

We wandered around through the shops on Main Street. Most of the shops had Christmas decorations. They even have a store window decodrating contest: this year, the Tea Rose Home linen shop won. In the Marktplatz (Market Square), a park in the center of the city, there was a huge traditional rotating Christmas tower.

We had promised our daughter either Italian or Chinese cuisine for dinner. We asked the locals and they recommended Pasta Bella Restaurant. We had only a short wait to be seated. It is a very small place - only a few tables and a wait-staff of three. Because the place was crowded and they were understaffed, there were a few problems - the appetizer was served after the salad and immediately before the entrees were served. Our drink orders were never taken. One entree was served cold, but that was replaced with a fresh one that was hot. The food was excellent.

When we left the restaurant, the whole street was lit with the Christmas lights. The theme was not just "holidays." it was "Christmas!"

Johnson City

We headed east on US 290 toward Johnson City. Yes, this was the home town of President Lyndon Johnson. Johnson's "Western White House" is just west of town along US 290.

Downtown Johnson City was ablaze with multicolored lights, all around the court house and along the downtown business district. The electric company encircled all of the trees on their campus with white lights. It was gorgeous!

What Ever Happened to Christmas?

When I was growing up, the day before Thanksgiving, all of the shop owners decorated their windows. In some, the store's products where displayed in a Christmas setting. In others, fraternal, youth and veterans groups decorated, partially as a recruiting tool. Some were commercial, some were deeply religious and some were secular - but almost all were Christmas. Colorful lights were strung everywhere! Some stores played music out into the street. Christmas was in the air! Christmas shopping was about how the recipients would react when they found your present under the tree and opened it. The decorations built up the mood.

This year, as with many recent years, Christmas shopping was a chore, not a joy. Most of the stores had little or no decorations and those that did kept it holiday, not Christmas. The mall had minimal decorations, except for the "get your picture with Santa" section. The downtown areas were dark: they made Ebenezer Scrooge's Counting House look festive. I had no desire to spend money and comparison shopped to get only what I absolutely needed. I did not even get gifts for everyone on my list - why bother?

Merchants want us to spend our money in their shops. But they do not encourage the Christmas spirit of giving. Now, I know of places that will appreciate my business, places where Christmas is in the air!

Happy Halloween

We decided to take a break from the ranch and, since it is October, that means Halloween fun. We decided to make a weekend of it. Down in San Antonio, there are two amusement parks: Sea World and Six Flags Fiesta Texas. We decided to visit Six Flags on Saturday and Sea World on Sunday.

We left on Friday night, rolling down US 281 toward San Antonio. We stopped at Marble Falls for dinner. After dinner, we rolled for San Antonio and checked into a motel very close to Fiesta Texas.

Six Flags Fiesta Texas

After we entered the park, we picked up a copy of the daily activities. It informed us that several of our favorite rides were not available. Although, they were advertising Halloween activities, which they call Fright Fest, we saw much less than in previous years. To top it off, their premiere activity required an additional fee. As usual, the water in the whitewater raft ride and in the fountains was dyed red. Some Halloween decoration were up.

Lunch, at the Fest Halle, was a comedy of errors. We selected two beers and got on line to check out. After we got to the front of the line, the clerk told us she was under twenty-one and could not check us out. We would have to get on another checkout line. We got on that line, but there was no one manning the cash register. By the time someone returned to the cash register and checked us out, our food was cold. A complaint to the manager got us fresh, hot food, but a simple sign directing us to the correct line and a cashier who was manning his post would have saved us time and frustration and would have saved the park money.

In spite of everything that went wrong, we had a fun day. We topped it off with a funnel cake - they had something unique: pumpkin funnel cake!

Sea World

On Sunday, we were welcomed with their Halloween theme: Jack is Back! and Howl-O-Scream. Pumpkins and other Halloween decorations were everywhere! Skeletons! Tombstones! A quartet of singing skeletons! Two animated skeletons who banter with the public! A special show at Shamu Stadium! Special food stands! After 6 PM, a whole section of the park became a scare zone!

They had not one, but two haunted activities! Up by the penguin encounter, they had a haunted house, Den of the Departed. Near Shamu Stadium, they had a longer, scarier haunted trail, Jack's Frightmare Forest. In the scare zone, they had staff members made up as evil clowns, zombies and other scary characters.

We had a much better time at Sea World.

In Summary

If you are going to San Antonio in the next few weeks, go to Sea World and skip Fiesta Texas. I wonder who will do the better job for Thanksgiving through Christmas? We will just have to come back to San Antonio and check both out.