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Whenever a theme park company has a bad quarter, people fall over eachother to explain that the reason for the bad quarter is whatever they don't personally like about the company to validate themselves. The reality though, is that 99% of these complaints would have applied for years even in times where they were making tons and tons of money. When you're trying to figure out why this year sucks compared to last year, the easiest place to start looking is wherever there has been an actual change between this year and last year. The main differences: 1) They raised prices dramatically, ended very popular programs, cut special events and cut hours so they're offering less for more. 2) Strong economic headwinds are impacting the entire industry to some extent. Most companies are weathering the storm, so the majority of the problem is likely #1, though #2 isn't helping.

Crack kills, bro.

To the people pointing out that other parks charge more, look... I'm with you but people are clearly willing to pay more for those places than they are for Six Flags. I didn't expect attendance to be impacted as much as it was, and I doubt they were either but clearly we were wrong. Day tickets have dropped a lot recently though, and attendance has improved slightly.

Dang I missed it. BUt I know what I won't miss again . . . the Zinger!!

They raised season pass prices a lot and made the day ticket prices certifiably insane (though they've recently started discounting them). They've also raised parking prices to pretty crazy levels. Great Adventure now charges $40 to park, $47.45 if you pay online. They also made food prices even more insane and discontinued dining plans. I didn't really think people would care this much since their passes are still really among the cheapest in the industry, but the public seems to be pretty loud and clear that the perceived value just isn't there with Six Flags.

In the tunnel after the second lift hill, about a quarter of the way through. Slight injury, nothing major. It probably didn't help that I am tall/lanky. Also, night ride on the beast was the best!!! We had a blast, and the park lived up to the hype.

Im gonna say this for the people in the back. . . Fast Lane is not giving you the ability to cut the entire queue and does not guarantee you NO wait at all, it gets you a reduced wait time. It's called FAST lane not NO lane. . . 50% less of a wait than the regular line is fine by me but then I never get fastlane so. . .

So, for this year's "big" park trip, I decided to focus on the mid-north states again, starting in western Pennsylvania with.... Idlewild, June29th. Beware, there are a lot of pictures from here, mostly since I know many of you have never been here. You pay for attendance at what would normally be the parking booths. My Palace Platinum Pass scanned without any issues. The parking lot. I think there was a bigger one somewhere else. The "entrance gate" LOL. They had a log flume, that was closed for the day. A kids climb-about play area, something you don't find in a lot of proper amusement parks. But no park would be complete without an Auntie Anne's pretzels...yes, that does say $8.00 for a standard pretzel. Moving along, we come across a dining area... ...A Tornado with a unique theme and decorations... ...some more scenic buildings.... ...a Monster... ...bumper cars (sadly nothing special)... ...your standard balloon ride... ...and a show venue. These were posted right in front of the drive-'em cars. The sign has definitely seen better days. Another few eateries... ...some games... ...and a scrambler. There was an antique carousel, dating back to at least 1931, which had stationary outer horses like Knoebel's, but sadly no ring-grab thingy. They have your standard Flyers... ..and of course, the reason anyone non-local ever comes here... Rollo Coaster! Sadly the original trains are long gone, replaced by a single PTC two-row car followed by 3 single-row trailer'd cars, but it was still a fun ride. I rode in the front and the back (minimal waits), and while the front row was pretty tame, the back row had one solid pop of air and some good laterals at the turnaround. It was also much much smoother than any ride from 1938 has being. 6/10. And here's a bunch of pictures of it: Moving along, we come across a Tilt-a-Whirl... ...And then the other reason for an enthusiast to come to this park... This was the first Vekoma mouse I've ever been on, and it did not disappoint. Despite the addition of magnetic brakes along the zig-zag portion, it still felt like the cars were coming to come flying off the track. It was super smooth and had some great positive and negative G's along the hills. And who can forget the banked lift hill with what have to be the loudest anti-rollbacks ever (yes, even louder than an RMC!)? Easily the best wild mouse I've ever been on. 8/10. And of course, a bunch of pictures: Everyone loves when coasters aren't bolted to the ground. Continuing onward, there's a long path back to the small water park, on one side of which is a not-very-friendly-looking lake. And onward into Raccoon Lagoon, their main kiddie section. Featuring a set of electric auto-drive cars with a well-themed entrance... ...the most ingenious installation of a boat-go-round I've ever seen... ...a mini Turtle... ...a very old car-go-round... ...a tram-go-round?... ..and finally Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. This is a trolley ride through various scenes from the show, which while being a huge fan of Mr. Rodgers growing up, I've never seen. Circling back around towards the front of the park, we come across another show venue... ...a standard Dippin' Dots and Gift Shop... ...and a really cool bridge. There was apparently a tiny train station here? And then some more rides, including a Round Up... ...Paratrooper... ... and a train ride. There was this nice fountain too: At this point I took a break for some food, and grabbed a custom mac and cheese from the Mac Shack (no relation to the one at Cedar Point, I think). $15 for an absolutely massive portion; I wasn't able to finish it all: And last but certainly not least for this park was Confusion Hill. This is a walk-through attraction with a narrator telling a story about miners. There are some awesome visual gags, including slanted floors, perspective skewing, balls roll and and water flowing the "wrong" direction...all in all very entertaining. And something that no one ever talks about from this place. The narrator would pour water into the trough, and it would flow "uphill" into the bucket. These balls rolled up. These balls rolled left. And that about does it for Idlewild. Not a whole lot for enthusiasts, but it is a very nice family park. Next stop: Kennywood.

I think it's pretty clever and cool idea to pay tribute to the ride, but also do something totally unique. So many people complain about cookie cutter Six Flags coasters: and here we have something original AND it looks like fun, with airtime

Perhaps the new CEO is looking at the big overall picture and isn't glued to what is happening in a clear transitional period? The fact is, they were giving away the gate for so long, and just accepting cheap guests and bratty teenagers,and that needed to change. If you wait until all the parks are in great condition to make that change, you'll be waiting forever, as we've seen.

Moreys makes carnivals look cheap. If you can't get a wristband, tickets are beyond absurd there. As for SF, I agree that things were priced unrealistically low but they probably could have raised prices and ended programs a little more gradually than they did. It became too noticeable to the average joe that they went way up on everything within a few months.

I legitimately almost spit my drink out when I read that SFGAdv now charges $40 to park. That said, SF pricing looks like a steal when compared to the Jersey shore. Admittedly we were there on a Saturday, but I was spellbound by how much tickets cost. I wanted enough tickets for us to take our daughter on the Ferris Wheel and carousel, and MAYBE have enough left over for a solo ride on Great White, and it still cost me over $50. There's really no middle ground anymore for someone looking to just dip there toes in and do a few things and leave. It's either go all-in and get your money's worth or just find something else to do.

Similar at SFFT, and with a new ride investment too. *however*. . after Salim visited the park ~3 weeks ago? almost EVERY food improvement and/or new menu item is now gone (and I mean it. . I'm not talking "dining plan" stuff, which has taken a hit too. . but you can't even BUY things like the Calzone, the schnitzel, the cinnamon bread, or the baked potatoes any more). FFS, they just took "Beef and Broccoli" off the menu at Chop Six. (no, really) yeah. . he's basically fucked the parks with his cost cutting - even the ones that were running fantastic independently. (and poor Jeffrey Siebert is stuck standing there watching all their hard work go down the toilet - huge investment in both time/effort, and money to refresh Sangerfest Halle, and improve the food options in the food court option. . . and now? all that is being offered is: Personal Pizza (cheese or pepperoni), Chicken strips, a prepackaged side salad, and if you wanna pay $17? a baked chicken and beans plate. it's wrong, and driving any customers who WOULD have eaten in the park, away. It did us, we went and found a better option.

I agree as a family that has kids who can ride WE and others who can ride FCE. My daughter can sometimes get 4+ rides on WE before we get one on FCE. Other times she only gets 2, but the norm is more than 2. She hates FCE, but she does like DF and so she goes on that with us, but that is always another longer line. So I am very much looking forward to this new coaster so that it hopefully lowers all lines for the 39" crowd. Honestly, while that sounds great, it would scare the crap out of my 4 year old and then defeats the purpose of the 39". Theming is great, but in the end it can't be too scary at 39". My kids and family will love it with or without theming. They love wildgrove.

OK so you originally replied to me so I'd like you to point out where I defended corporate Six Flags. You are delusional. (Sorry for the double-post, but I missed this absolute gem.)

I cleaned up this thread a bit. You can all disagree without personal insults. Debate is good, but no more of that crap. Also (once again), people are taking this way too seriously. Be civil. This is the last warning.

The advantage VF has is that the majority (vast majority) of the customer base is happy with how the park is and generally isn't bothered by a lack of a new roller coaster or other major additions year after year. The local community of the twin cities metro and surrounding area still regularly plan trips the park, just like they plan trips to Wisconsin Dells, MOA, State Fair, BWCA, Lake Superior, and their cabin, none of which change much year-over-year (the biggest exception to this being the Nick-U conversion at MOA several years ago, a one-time change for the most part). I've also noticed if people I know in the area want to see big, flashy attractions, most of them make a trip to Disney or Seaworld, and the small percentage of enthusiasts go to Cedar Point, Six Flags, or whatnot. Remember MN is in roughly the middle of the North American continent, so being able to go to the ocean while stopping by Disney in the same trip is appealing. As long as the locals keep buying tickets and season passes, the park is successful and doesn't need the draw of a major new roller coaster to stay financially stable. The property is pretty much in a wetland and the nearby airport caps any future ride at the same height as Power Tower, meaning major construction projects can be challenging. I want a big addition (roller coaster) just like the rest of you, but we are a small minority and this isn't politics so I don't think we'll get our way anytime soon...

Like @tndanksaid, no discount for Platinum Pass on FL at Kings Island; that's only at Cedar Point. The bring-a-friend tickets are limited to 6 per visit.

No fast lane discounts at Kings Island. That's for cedar point.

Same location, same name, same queue building, spiral lift hill, tunnel, track going around the spiral lift hill, track that races through the trees, both about 2500ft long, family coaster for everyone to enjoy. Not sure how you can say they aren't paying tribute to ZZ.

Ok the 8hr drive was definitely worth it for storm chaser, tons of wacky ejector! Park was slammed today, but still had a good time.

I'm guessing you meant for the phone flying out, not BGT actually having decent operations for once haha.

the coaster is a clone of this. . . Manufactured by the same people who made wonder mountain guardian.

What in the world was the voyage and how is my head still on?

I get what your saying, and largely agree- especially the statement "it's not CF's standard procedure to make major investment at parks that are doing just fine financially regardless of competition." I also understand that the websites have a standard design theme too that includes places to stay. But I will say that Minnesota and Valleyfair is a different market as well. For example the "amusement park mecca" is supported because it's also close to major population centers. Washington D.C, New York etc. Even Philadelphia alone is nearly 150% the size of the entire Twin Cities metro area that VF serves. Valleyfair is a different smaller market, in a much larger geographical area. Maybe they don't have to make the investment. I know many are willing to drive some extra here. Why? Because we have to... Otherwise it's a 400 mile drive to Six Flags. I know it sounds weird to people in Chicago, or bigger cities- States like Texas with larger meto areas that have more major parks close by to choose from. But if you're in Minnesota, and you don't easily have the ability to fly or drive across the country (which many people don't), then VF looks a bit different. So do the other smaller parks nipping at their heals (often with the water parks). More so, if you're in an outer area like Rochester. VF is big in comparison to the 250 mile radius now, but as the smaller parks grow, and VF doesn't... Just because it's a successful corporation doesn't mean they don't miss the boat too, so to speak. I think quite often they are doing exactly what you say- skip the investment and take a steady profit- even if it's a smaller one. Some of this is speculation. It's not like CF has the home address of all their guests to prove it. Just a name and a credit card number. So it's difficult to know for sure how far their guests are really coming from.

Here is a very good and accurate post on the current state of the company. Most of the employees are fed up and with the most recent cuts, something has to be done to save what’s left of the company. We are all hoping Selim is removed on Thursday’s call before he causes any more damage. https://screamscape.com/html/corporate_park_news.htm#SixFlags

What @AmyUD06 says. With our short time window, Flying Turns and Impuls ate the most of our time. It was (on a hot summer saturday) easily 45-60 minutes each. If the Turns are running and you want to do that for sure, scratch that off your list first. Same for Impulse. Twister can have a long line, too - but it's moving constantly, especially if they are running two trains. On my visit, in the morning was one train and we had more then half an hour of wait. Later, there were two trains. We started walking in the exact same sport as earlier, but waited only 15 minutes. It's definitely worth it. The Phoenix line is no line like you know it. The last four trains before we had our first ride were in and out of the station in 30 seconds each. They are incredibly fast. So don't worry if the line spills out of the station here. If you're not sure if you want to do a ride or not, do it. Every ride we did was incredibly better then comparable rides elsewhere. Even the antique cars. Go for the Whipper. I'm sorry, I can't stop raving about this park.

I'm calling it: SBNO, with a free spin in it's place. Just kidding. We won't get the free spin. A local splash pad is opening by our house. I'm pretty stoked for my daughter. I say this, because in the very large 2.1 million dollar park expansion, the entire ground was leveled, utilities were run, the splash pad was built, a nice concession stand was constructed, the parking lots have been completed, and phase 1 should be set to open shortly. It broke ground in September, 2021. Meanwhile, the carousel...

Got my finger on da pulse and my nose in da nooz. SixFlags' CEO has the right attitude. Broke customers do not keep the lights on.

Oh, that was not my theory (replacing corkscrew). I asked because I have only been to cedar point once and that was in 2014 so I was curious if that could be the case or possible.

I read somewhere that with this expansion, it seems they are clearing the area near corkscrew. Could that be the case they they are gradually getting ready for it's removal and clearing the area so it can house a replacement coaster?

not really. . . it's not even been two weeks since my Spouse passed. but I'm trying.