Chris Spends Spring Break in San Antonio + Galveston

PART ONE: San Antonio Zoo

Hello everyone! This Spring Break I've embarked on a trip with my youth group to San Antonio making a few culture credits along the way, SFFT, and the Zoo! We arrived yesterday, went to a movie, but the real fun started today. This morning, we went to the zoo and the Alamo.

The Zoo:

Coming from Houston, I must say that the San Antonio Zoo is 10x better than Houston Zoo by far. It is much nicer and has more animal diversity than the Houston Zoo. The only thing Houston might have over San Antonio's is the park entrance and plaza.

The zoo had an amazing staff that spent a lot if time interacting with guests and answering questions. They were also really good with the young park guests that showed up.

The crowds were very light as we got there when it opened, but began to get crowded after noon or so. We spent four hours at the zoo and with some careful planning, we managed to see every [open] exhibit (I'll get to that later] in the labyrinth. I mean zoo. The layout was actually confusing.

We all had an amazing visit and it is definitely somewhere I want to re-visit in the future, maybe this summer if at all possible.

Part Two with the Alamo (where we went after the zoo) will be up either tomorrow or Wednesday with Part three (SFFT) the day after as we are going tomorrow and I need time to sort through all the pictures and select the pictures that will make the coveted trip report.

Now on to the zoo!

-Chris

First up, the park map. The zoo turned 100 years old this year! Please excuse our marks, we traced our path and marked off exhibits as we went along the way.

This is just the right of the park entrance. They put a lot of effort into keeping this park beautiful. The fauna was well kept and beautiful. To the left of this was some lemurs.

Like these guys. I totally had a fanboy moment here and started calling it Zaboomafoo but it did not reply.

This is one of the only really big trees I saw but it was absolutely beautiful.

They put a lot of effort into MOST of their exhibits, some of them were surrounded by quarry and it was really beautiful and a nice way to be resourceful and use the surroundings to make a killer exhibit.

Them we got a little further in. Quite a few closed exhibits and apparently, putting foliage in front if barricades makes them more pretty, so kudos to them for trying.

This was their butterfly house. We didn't go in as it was an up charge and we didn't really feel it was in our time schedule.

The aquarium was very small but was home to some interesting creatures . . .

. . . like this extremely photogenic puffer fish . . .

. . . and this two headed turtle (I think conjoined twins) that was born last year at the zoo.

They had a monkey exhibit further down that had monkeys swinging everywhere, and the even cooler thing is that as the park employee would announce them, they would show up and pose for pictures, like this fella. Actually, i think she was a girl. I don't remember. Whatever. One of the monkeys was 16.

This was one of THREE aviaries. Not much happened in this one, the other was somewhat boring, but the other (not pictures) was amazing. It had these green birds that would fly onto your shoulders and allow you to perch them on your fingers. However, if a kid with food walked by you can bet he'll fly away.

The park was really nice regardless of where you were.

This was the new restaurant they opened. Overpriced and mediocre food.

This was a themed area called 'the wetlands' that had bridges and swamp. It was so cool.

Further into the zoo, what seemed like an older part, they had these shoebox exhibits that really weren't that cool looking but the animals were happy and they were cool.

This was towards the African section that had some more shoebox exhibits on the left.

The exhibits started to look really barren and dry but it's a desert so you can't expect much. They still utilized the rock wall.

The [warthog] exhibit was cool though, he just sat there and ate hay all day.

Now, if you go up this seemingly hard miss thin, steep, brick path, you get to this entire awesome section (taken from an observatory they have there in the park section).

It was very nicely kept and was actually beautiful.

They had some mixed exhibits but most weren't labeled on the map.

And lastly, they had these mold-o-ramas everywhere, and the kids were very engaged in them. I vaguely remember Robb posting a vine of Kidtums getting one, and she seemed to like it. The kids here did too. There were a variety of choices to choose from.

I used to love the smell of the Mold-a-Ramas. And I'm no zookeeper, but that's no groundhog thatyou referenced in one caption. Maybe a warthog, but no groundhog.

Mmmm, I remember my first Mold-A-Rama in front of (then called)

Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. 1963, I was ten years old.

It was red and it was of the Chinese Arch there with a set of

footprints in the middle 'square'. Very cool.

And yes, Larry's right about the warthog - I was to mention that, but he beat me to it, lol.

Great tour of the zoo, Chris. And get 2 maps next time! If you can. One to mess and

mark up, the other clean and good, for memories... without the markings.

Actually (edit in here), if you had a clean map, you'd have an in-class contest/game of

"Where We Went?" etc. Using the clean map as the "game board".

^ I did get a fresh one too, but I threw it in my suitcase somewhere. I collect maps so I was sure to get one for the collection. I got a 2014 park map from SFFT today too.

I used to love the smell of the Mold-a-Ramas. And I'm no zookeeper, but that's no groundhog thatyou referenced in one caption. Maybe a warthog, but no groundhog.

Oh my gosh I'm such a turd. Thanks for pointing that out! Haha. Can't believe I didn't catch that.

...I did get a fresh one too...

Awesome! Just me, worrying as usual, lol.

PART TWO- Alamo

This was more of a Culture stop, but I did endure the crowds at Fiesta Texas today, and have a great trip report planned for tomorrow night! I did however post some Bahama Blaster construction pics taken from the parking lot in the SFFT thread, so check those out if interested.

So the Alamo . . .

Right after leaving the zoo (report above), we headed to the Alamo. We planned on spending about an hour at the Alamo but about 30 minutes in it began to shower so we retreated inside the gift shop to sample some fudge then met back with our youth group at our meeting point. The plans afterward were to go to the river walk but that was rained out, so rather than go to adjacent mall we went back to where we were staying instead. My group never really went inside the actual Alamo given the line was VERY long, but we did a lot of touring around the property. It was very historical and beautiful.

It's not as exciting as an amusement park, but I thought it should be included here. It's Texas History! Fiesta Texas TR will be up tomorrow! Onto these more artsy pictures [photography was prohibited inside the one exhibit we went to, so I was only able to get shots of the property. . .

People began sneaking in the exit when it began to rain despite the 'Not an exit' sign.

It was pretty busy. A lot of kids, too.

I only took this picture because it showed the huge contrast between the Alamo and it's surroundings.

It began to rain when I took this picture so small jets if water began to spring off the roof where those spouts are but it's hard to see.

Great report! However, I've got to disagree with you.... while they're both great Zoos, I think the Houston Zoo is significantly better that the San Antonio Zoo. I'm wondering if you've been in recent years since they've completed all kinds of refurbishments? Anyway, we've all got opinions Looking forward to your SFFT coverage.

I'm wondering if you've been in recent years since they've completed all kinds of refurbishments?

I have. Although it didn't have as many of the larger animals as I wanted, (*cough giraffes) I feel that maybe what had me sold on San Antonio was the park's landscaping and interaction with the terrain. It wasn't all flat and had some enclosures utilize the rock walls like mentioned earlier. I think it has a lot to do with me being too accustomed to the Houston Zoo as well as I've been there multiple times, but overall I liked the San Antonio zoo better. The Houston Zoo is still a great zoo, but the 'newness' of the San Antonio zoo I think had a lot to do wth it.

PART THREE- Six Flags Fiesta Texas

***There will be a part 4 from the Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier as I am going tomorrow. I have edited the title of the thread accordingly. Now onto the Coasters!

After the Zoo and Alamo [above], we retired for the night and woke up bright and early for a day of fun and traveling. We got to the park at park opening, and I got some nice shots of Bahama Blaster construction. We proceeded to the new park entrance, which is mighty fine by the way, which I found to be much more convenient. They were very quick at getting people through, and had wands ready just in case. Our youth pastor went to get the tickets from guest services and then we were in the park and ready to ride at 10:15. The rides at the from (Goliath and Boomerang) had already accumulated a lengthy line, so my group consisting of 10 members began running to Superman at the back of the park to get there before it too generated a line. A friend of mine stopped to ask where we were going, (I was voted by the group to navigate) when I tripped over her and ate it right in the middle of the main entrance pathway. It was hilarious, but I scraped up my knees pretty badly. After that stint, we speed walked the remainder of our way to superman to find a walk on line. She rode beautifully and that nasty rattle she was starting to get was nearly gone. Whatever they did in the offseason worked great.

We then went to Iron Rattler and waited about 20 minutes for that. I need not to explain the awesomeness of this ride.

. . . Then I rode the parks up charge slingshot from Funtime with a friend. It was amazing! A crazy experience. The group before us didn't flip at all, the group before them flipped once; we flipped three times. It was absolutely amazing and someone else in our group got great shots of us. We had been talking about it since before we left for the trip and to finally have that one moment was great.

From there we went to Goliath which was running a bit on the rougher side, but I rode it in the back. It is still pretty intense and fun. The line was about an hour, but it had technical difficulties for about 10 minutes in which many of the people in front of us left, so we only waited about 40.

Afterwards we ate lunch at the barbecue place across from White Water Bay which was actually good but horribly overpriced. My meal for me alone, a brisket plate with a drink, was $16. Very expensive.

We then went to a 30 minute wait on Poltergeist where I got a front row ride in and she ran great also. I'm still very happy they launch it faster than Joker's Jinx at SFA. It's a much better experience.

Afterwards we tried to ride IRat again but the like was too long and we were leaving at 3:30, so we headed to the Gully Washer and I chose to sit out and hold bags and jackets as it had warmed up significantly. The part of my group that went on waited only about 25 mins. We then met up with all the other groups at the front and left the park.

Overall, considering we only spent about 5 1/2 hours in the park, we got a lot done, more than other groups. We got in 5 or 6 rides while others from our youth group got in 2. Really the only ride that didn't seem to have had much of an improvement ride experience wise was Goliath, but it was still great.

Now here's the pictures with a little more detail on the trip:

Construction from the RV/Bus/Van parking area. Tube pieces are on site and the land has been cleared for construction. They had wood trough-like structures present as they were going to start assembling the pieces of the water slide tubing there in the parking lot.

Construction from the RV/Bus/Van parking area. Tube pieces are on site and the land has been cleared for construction. They had wood trough-like structures present as they were going to start assembling the pieces of the water slide tubing there in the parking lot.

Construction from the RV/Bus/Van parking area. Tube pieces are on site and the land has been cleared for construction. They had wood trough-like structures present as they were going to start assembling the pieces of the water slide tubing there in the parking lot.

Construction from the RV/Bus/Van parking area. Tube pieces are on site and the land has been cleared for construction. They had wood trough-like structures present as they were going to start assembling the pieces of the water slide tubing there in the parking lot.

Construction from the RV/Bus/Van parking area. Tube pieces are on site and the land has been cleared for construction. They had wood trough-like structures present as they were going to start assembling the pieces of the water slide tubing there in the parking lot.

Construction from the RV/Bus/Van parking area. Tube pieces are on site and the land has been cleared for construction. They had wood trough-like structures present as they were going to start assembling the pieces of the water slide tubing there in the parking lot.

Construction from the RV/Bus/Van parking area. Tube pieces are on site and the land has been cleared for construction. They had wood trough-like structures present as they were going to start assembling the pieces of the water slide tubing there in the parking lot.

Construction from the RV/Bus/Van parking area. Tube pieces are on site and the land has been cleared for construction. They had wood trough-like structures present as they were going to start assembling the pieces of the water slide tubing there in the parking lot.

Construction from the RV/Bus/Van parking area. Tube pieces are on site and the land has been cleared for construction. They had wood trough-like structures present as they were going to start assembling the pieces of the water slide tubing there in the parking lot.

Construction from the RV/Bus/Van parking area. Tube pieces are on site and the land has been cleared for construction. They had wood trough-like structures present as they were going to start assembling the pieces of the water slide tubing there in the parking lot.

Construction from the RV/Bus/Van parking area. Tube pieces are on site and the land has been cleared for construction. They had wood trough-like structures present as they were going to start assembling the pieces of the water slide tubing there in the parking lot.

Construction from the RV/Bus/Van parking area. Tube pieces are on site and the land has been cleared for construction. They had wood trough-like structures present as they were going to start assembling the pieces of the water slide tubing there in the parking lot.

Construction from the RV/Bus/Van parking area. Tube pieces are on site and the land has been cleared for construction. They had wood trough-like structures present as they were going to start assembling the pieces of the water slide tubing there in the parking lot.

Construction from the RV/Bus/Van parking area. Tube pieces are on site and the land has been cleared for construction. They had wood trough-like structures present as they were going to start assembling the pieces of the water slide tubing there in the parking lot.

Construction from the RV/Bus/Van parking area. Tube pieces are on site and the land has been cleared for construction. They had wood trough-like structures present as they were going to start assembling the pieces of the water slide tubing there in the parking lot.

Construction from the RV/Bus/Van parking area. Tube pieces are on site and the land has been cleared for construction. They had wood trough-like structures present as they were going to start assembling the pieces of the water slide tubing there in the parking lot.

Construction from the RV/Bus/Van parking area. Tube pieces are on site and the land has been cleared for construction. They had wood trough-like structures present as they were going to start assembling the pieces of the water slide tubing there in the parking lot.

Construction from the RV/Bus/Van parking area. Tube pieces are on site and the land has been cleared for construction. They had wood trough-like structures present as they were going to start assembling the pieces of the water slide tubing there in the parking lot.

Construction from the RV/Bus/Van parking area. Tube pieces are on site and the land has been cleared for construction. They had wood trough-like structures present as they were going to start assembling the pieces of the water slide tubing there in the parking lot.

Construction from the RV/Bus/Van parking area. Tube pieces are on site and the land has been cleared for construction. They had wood trough-like structures present as they were going to start assembling the pieces of the water slide tubing there in the parking lot.

Again, there will be a part 4 from the Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier up tomorrow night or Friday if I'm too tired. Until then, hope you've enjoyed these reports! It's my first time doing something like this and it's been a great pleasure to share my experiences with you all.

Until Part 4,

Chris

Such a pretty layout, such pretty terrain, such an UGLY coaster. It needs paint. BAD. The superhero is bright red and blue! The coaster is looking quite maroon and 300ft deep into the Atlantic Ocean dark blue. And then some bare steel showing here and there.

The line for Iron Rattler when we got there was already at the bottom of the ramp . . .

But it got to here when we had moved up some. Granted, the line wasn't already flowing through the switchbacks. The rattlesnake sounds were a nice addition to the cue experience and some signage about body proportions and restraint function were clearly visible.

It was fantastic! These shots are sort of cliché but I took them anyways.

After that tragic and embarrassing fall and attempt to be superman, we made it to superman to ride. It was a walk on! The temperature outside was pretty chilly still as the sun had not yet come out.

I went to the fence to get a picture of the construction site through it. It's a pretty large area, but according to the map 3 of the 4 new additions will occupy that space. The other will be built across from the Wave pool and Tornado tower.

The new park entrance looks fantastic. It's very pretty and had room for more medal detectors on either side if needed for expansion. Right now they have wooden doors on those spaces.

The metal detectors were quick, easy and made the whole process less crowded.

The anticipation grew. I have this exact same picture but from the original rattler I took before it closed. Anyways, we had 4 tag alongs that joined our mega group for a total of 14 members from our youth group riding.

Two ended up waiting for the front and while the remaining 12 of us were next, they held the gates and let some people taking a guided tour take some spots that members of my group were waiting for, so we let the people behind us go in front. It worked for all but one pair, so they rode and the remaining 10 of us all rode on the next train. It was a Southern Baptist takeover of the Iron Rattler. Amen.

I believe it was down for a few minutes later on the day, but I'm not sure. I saw an empty cycle ran, then it was open again. I was probably hallucinating again.

After a failed attempt to ride the Iron Rattler again, we decided to ride the Gully Washer. I chose not to, so I waited to watch them go by on the viewing area with two other friends from my group, then went down the exit path to wait for them when I got some awesome off- ride photos of Iron Rattler.

I had to take this cliche Goliath picture on the way out. Currently my home screen wallpaper.

When we left, construction crews had already assembled a sizable section of track. It was a great day. For spring break, we got a lot done on 5 1/2 hours!

They added a chair for the ride operator to take a mid-shift siesta in. Just kidding. All the ops today were very good at getting people on and off pronto.

So the Slingshot, expensive, but AMAZING! Not as much of a skydiving experience like a sky coaster, but more of a flung around feeling. Very smooth and thrilling.

We went to Goliath next, which had a technical failure but was up again ten minutes later. They had this new queue system working where everyone waited in the shaded queue under the zero g roll and loop and they let only a certain amount of people past that point onto the ramps that take you up to the station. It was effective and we weren't in the sun. This would be nice on a busy summer day but as it was still a bit chilly in the shade, some sun would have been nice.

Great ride! Another Southern Baptist Takeover.

After lunch we proceeded to the ballet show in the Poltergeist queue. It was brilliant. As for the ride, it was another Southern Baptist Takeover. 10/10 of the group rode on one train. I was told by a friend who was next in line that later on in the day the ride was shit down after some empty cycles and that they had to leave without riding, so fortunately I got to ride it before then.

. . . like my new lock screen

Thanks for posting all the pics of SFFT. Like the lock screen pic with Iron Rattler. Any chance you want to share??? I'd love to use it on my phone.

Thanks for posting all the pics of SFFT. Like the lock screen pic with Iron Rattler. Any chance you want to share??? I'd love to use it on my phone.

Sure, absolutely! Just move and scale! Enjoy!

The black boarders at the top and bottom will disappear when moved and scaled. I had to zoom out on the original and screenshot so I could fit the entire inversion in my screen as shown. Optimized for iPhone 5/5s

Thanks Chris! Looking forward to your next update!

PART 4- Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier

Unfortunately, Spring Break is over. Fortunately, I have one more update to post from the Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier. I'm not too thrilled as to how some of the pictures came out and I wish I would have gotten more of the buildings and pier itself, but I did get some great pictures of the rides.

I spent a while at the pier and despite it being spring break, the longest line I waited in was about 30 minutes for the Texas Star Flyer (Funtime Star Flyer) which was running its usual up-down half way- back up- down ride sequence instead of the shortened up and down sequence It ran last spring break.

The pier is clean, the ride attendants are AMAZING and the views are incredible.

A friendly reminder, they do sell wristbands as well as individual tickets, but there is a Walk on fee if you aren't riding. So your options are:

i) Purchase an All Day wristband

ii) purchase a walk on wristband at a discounted price and purchase additional tickets as needed.(Thus, if you wanted to stop by just to get the Iron Shark credit, it's a walk on fee of $10 plus the ticket for Iron Shark ($6 I believe) this making the credit $16.)

So just buy the wristband. The walk on is a great crowd control measure though. It keeps people who shouldn't be on it, off.

There were two minor changes the park has made over the offseason that should be noted and will be mentioned in the captions:

Overall, it was a beautiful day to be at the pier. A little chilly, but overall clear skies. This is probably one if my favorite pictures I've taken.

Overall, it was a beautiful day to be at the pier. A little chilly, but overall clear skies. This is probably one if my favorite pictures I've taken.

Overall, it was a beautiful day to be at the pier. A little chilly, but overall clear skies. This is probably one if my favorite pictures I've taken.

Overall, it was a beautiful day to be at the pier. A little chilly, but overall clear skies. This is probably one if my favorite pictures I've taken.

Overall, it was a beautiful day to be at the pier. A little chilly, but overall clear skies. This is probably one if my favorite pictures I've taken.

Overall, it was a beautiful day to be at the pier. A little chilly, but overall clear skies. This is probably one if my favorite pictures I've taken.

Overall, it was a beautiful day to be at the pier. A little chilly, but overall clear skies. This is probably one if my favorite pictures I've taken.

Overall, it was a beautiful day to be at the pier. A little chilly, but overall clear skies. This is probably one if my favorite pictures I've taken.

Overall, it was a beautiful day to be at the pier. A little chilly, but overall clear skies. This is probably one if my favorite pictures I've taken.

Overall, it was a beautiful day to be at the pier. A little chilly, but overall clear skies. This is probably one if my favorite pictures I've taken.

Overall, it was a beautiful day to be at the pier. A little chilly, but overall clear skies. This is probably one if my favorite pictures I've taken.

Overall, it was a beautiful day to be at the pier. A little chilly, but overall clear skies. This is probably one if my favorite pictures I've taken.

Overall, it was a beautiful day to be at the pier. A little chilly, but overall clear skies. This is probably one if my favorite pictures I've taken.

Overall, it was a beautiful day to be at the pier. A little chilly, but overall clear skies. This is probably one if my favorite pictures I've taken.

Overall, it was a beautiful day to be at the pier. A little chilly, but overall clear skies. This is probably one if my favorite pictures I've taken.

Overall, it was a beautiful day to be at the pier. A little chilly, but overall clear skies. This is probably one if my favorite pictures I've taken.

I want to thank y'all for sharing my doing break with me. It was a pleasure sharing my experiences with you, and hopefully this summer I can do the same. I'll be very busy with work and preparing to start at Texas A&M University in the fall, but I'll squeeze some time In for some coaster ridin'!

Until Next Time (And Gig 'Em!)

Chris

The revolution often has the longest wait in the park. It's a really great ride though, it swings you well off the side of the pier and over the water. It pulls some great forces and is definitely a crowd favorite. Ride dispatch times are slow, however, because it isn't for people with unique body proportions. And by unique I mean everybody that isn't skinny. Seriously, these restraints do not fit a lot of people. I didn't witness anybody get asked to leave but I have previously. It's not very 'larger-rider' friendly. We were also stuck on the ride for a couple of minutes when the ride platform didn't come up all the way and the harnesses wouldn't release but the piers amazing ride maintenance team corrected the issue promptly.

Also pictures is the Pirates Plunge flume, sea dragon, and Texas Star Flyer. It's very cool swinging 230 feet above the water and you get some pretty nice speed up there. Not for those who fear heights.

This is the sky shooter; you press a button in between the seats and you shoot out to the side; it's actually pretty cool.

The Galaxy Wheel is a 100ft tall Ferris wheel from Chance. It provides great views and is a nice ride to get on after lunch at Fish Tales to let the food settle.

In the distance (not pictured) you cold see ships sailing across the gulf. The water looks stunning far away. Close up, nope. Not even. Nasty, nasty.

While on Sea Dragon, Pirates Plunge, their log flume, stalled and they had to do a lift evac. Fair warning, stay to the far right when walking past the flume. YOU WILL GET WET.

They had live music going playing mostly covers of songs, and they had them in speakers throughout the pier, so if you weren't at the stage you could still hear the performance.

They also have a swinging ship from chance themed to a sea dragon.

They have so great flats too, like this Rock N' Roll. It runs a forward and backwards ride program.

The park layout is super simple. It's a line. Rides on the left and right. There are lights strung everywhere and at night the light package is stunning.

The Gulf Coast Glider or whatever it's called it's tucked away from all the other rides. The ride itself sits in front of the park entrance but is blocked off, so you have to go around it via a side path to get to it. There's a sign, no worries.

First minor change- Cyclone is sporting a new paint job! Gone is the tainted white and in is the new orange and purple. It stands out better against all the rides (especially because many of them are blue).

The King of the park sits ahead past the Pirates Plunge to the right. The iron Shark is an amazing coaster. A bit rougher in the front than the back row, but still a fun ride.

While waiting in line, they out a second car on the tracks. My sister had never seen a transfer done before so she was really intrigued.

And it's a Gerstlauer Eurofighter. It's also the second minor change to the park: it no longer slows down at the top of the lift. Now it just sends you right over, giving a nice pop of air in the front and and even bigger one in the back. Oh, and worth mentioning; once the second car was put on, THEY WERE AVERAGING 30-35 SECOND DISPATCHES.

The layout is fast paced, crammed, and the queue line takes you through it so you can get some pretty amazing shots.

Great update! I love the Pleasure Pier. They keep it really clean and the ops were very friendly when I was there last year.