Lotologist492

Actually, the primary reason for considering year-round ops in a park like SFoG (or the already-year-round Texas SF parks for that matter) is that it is much easier to sell and retain memberships without any kind of 'off season'. The parks lose money on operating days in the winter with lower attendance but make up for it with an expanded membership (and season pass) base. It is no secret that SF considers members and pass holders to be their most valuable guests - they say it all the time. To be quite honest, I was a bit surprised this park did not take the leap to year-round this year. With attendance chain-wide in the tank and the membership base having shrunk by over a third (according to SF Q3 report), this could have been a way to make up for some of that. But I suspect the pandemic may have put the brakes on any such idea for now.

Superman was open for Holiday in 2019. GASM and Blue Hawk were not. I think the decision to open those two (plus Sky Screamer) for HitP 2020 was a late decision as there were no Christmas decorations in that area. I am not sure where all the fuss is coning from but I for one think SFoG did an excellent job operating the park through the pandemic, including the Hallowfest and HitP seasons. Employees were friendlier - but there were certainly exceptions. Had it not been for the pandemic, we might have seen year-round weekend ops begin this year. Its coming sooner or later.

The new look is fantastic! It is much easier to read and looks modern. Cheers!

Visited "HALLOWFEST" today and I have to say I am quite impressed with what I saw. OK - so my expectations were not all that high but this is a pandemic and I am beyond grateful of the efforts put together by the park to be open. Although this is not a real 'Fright Fest' I still thoroughly enjoy it for what it is - a unique year. A few items of note: As of today, SFoG is CASH FREE. There are six machines across the park where you can convert cash to a card at no charge / no fees. These are VISA branded cards and can also be used outside the park wherever Visa is accepted. There are no true haunted houses but there are a number of scare zones which are actually really good. Perhaps the best one was "Zombie Zoo", a walk-through set up near the Dare Devil stage. Most of the props used appear to have been taken from ZX-1. There are several others as well. There is a new haunted railroad attraction: "Terror Tales from the Rails". The narration sounds like an imitation of the Warrens on a paranormal investigation but I have to admit I had a difficult time understanding what it was all about. There is no Dr. Fright Dead Man's Party this year but there are new shows at the Dare Devil Stage. "Nightmare Cirque" was pretty good. On a side note, with the heavy rain over the past couple days, the picnic pavilion area appears to have been partially flooded. The mud covered some of the walkways - plainly visible from the Sky Screamer ride. All-in-all - props to Six Flags for giving us some fall fun. I know many here like to throw rocks at SF - and for some its like a drug - but this year the chain has really stepped up in a big way. Photos below - enjoy! New decor (and sign package) to greet the brave... Less intense scares and more fall festival vibe this year This hill looks pretty much like last year - pretty cool! ..........and after dark this hill comes alive! This might be the scariest thing I saw all night - a recycled sign with the old text still visible. Enter if you dare.... Fall festival at night I really do like the cheerful look of the entrance sign this year. IMHO the best scare zone... Several character encounters - social distanced of course!

I really liked the old Mindbender sign also. Even though the neon had been removed for many years, it was still cool. I do wonder - does the park send old signs like this to the scrapyard or do they give fans a chance to acquire them. I see a real opportunity for the park to raise money for a cause of their choosing - or just sell it....

I enjoyed one of the last summer days and got to see New "Hallowfest" decor has been added as the park ramps up their prep for their Halloween season. With a scaled-back edition of Fright Fest, this year looks to be more of a fall festival vibe and less on the intense scares. If you have friends that do not visit the park during Fright Fest because of the scares, THIS is the year to talk them into a fall visit. Any scare actors roaming the park will not be able to get closer than six feet anyway! It is somewhat disappointing there will not be a genuine Fright Fest but I do understand the reasoning. On the other hand, this will be a unique year and I will still enjoy it. Now all we need is matching weather. The past four years we have had 80-90-degree weather into October. Enough of that! I plan on visiting on Hallowfest opening day, Friday Sep 18th. Entrance sign package is still the same but oddly enough the Christmas lights canopy has been installed already! Not many things say 'fall festival' as much as hay bales and pumpkins! The grand entrance sign is much more cheerful than in years' past

Great Pics! This is one park I cannot wait to return to in the next year or two. If the Dare Devil Flying Machines is a success, I bet my next paycheck they will install a copy at SFoG in their new ScreamPunk District. They will need to pick another name since they already have a Dare Devil Dive Coaster.

There is the former Schlitterbahn Kansas City - stigmatized by the worst accident in water park history. Cedar Fair passed up on a bargain offer to buy it along with the Schlitterbahn parks they did buy. If SW were to buy up this property they could give it a full Sesame Place makeover, making a radical transformation of a property many want to forget about. And it would no doubt be a bargain

Bad news...no "Fright Fest" this year. Good news...The SF chain has created a temporary replacement event: "HALLOWFEST", to take place in the parks that are operating now, including here in GA. I looked at the calendar and the hours are more limited than years' past. The park closes at 9pm on Saturdays and Sundays, but is open until midnight on the Friday's they are open. I have already made reservations for a couple of the nights I know I will be attending. If anyone is planning on attending on Halloween - which falls on a Saturday this year - reserve it now. Of course everything is subject to change but it bears repeating - the pandemic is not their fault, but SF has really stepped up to make the best of a bad situation.

I received an interesting survey over this past weekend. This go around, the survey was all about 'ticket bundles', or added perks that could be added to single day tickets. While the subject has little relevance to me as I am a member, I did find some of the 'perks' very interesting. There were ten rounds to the survey and in each round you had to select three add-ons out of a group of eight. Most common were tickets with included items such as on-ride photos, merchandise discounts, flash passes, premium parking, skip the line passes and so on. Among the most interesting were "premium Wi-Fi access", "Access to shop in private DC superheroes store", "Two hour self guided VIP tour" (self guided??), "Stay one hour past closing", and "Enter the park an hour early". What makes this interesting is the SF chain is clearly looking for innovative ways to bring in more cash, which will be of utmost importance in a COVID recovery world, plus knowing there are more avenues to explore for memberships as some of these perks could create a new top membership level. Someday, Diamond Elite members will be able to upgrade to Titanium Member.....

SFoG just announced they will be extending daily operations through August 16th (excluding Thursdays). This is no doubt due to the delay of the Cobb County school year. At least it is some good news.......

The two new rides for this year are both in Gotham so looks like they have the whole area closed due to that. It is planned to open on 6/29 with the two new rides with the exception of mindbender which won't be back until 2021. Mindbender is missing track right now due to the work going on. So looks like it is just a construction thing while they finish the two new rides. Probably are behind schedule due to covid and by keeping the whole area closed a week or two can get things finished quicker. The entire Gotham area is closed not just due to the two new ride additions, but the entire section is getting a badly needed facelift. Looking at the park map, that area will likely look very different than we remember. In fact, it might end up being the best themed area in the park.

I have no doubt they are as I observed the "Clean Team" in light blue vests out and about all around the park cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and railings. They work their way around the park non-stop. If there are any cleanliness doubts, hand sinks and sanitizer stations are only steps away no matter where you are.

I have not seen VIP reserved parking offered yet but to be quite honest, with the limited capacity you probably will not need it. Only the main (front) lot is in use and even without the preferred parking I was still close to the front. I did see single riders on coaster rows; they will only seat one party per row at a time. The lines were largely non existent so it should not be a big deal. I hope you have fun Saturday! Let us know how your day goes

I had the same question on the bottle. Do I actually need the bottle or can they scan my membership or pass and see I have a plan that includes them and give me the cup? I'd rather not have to carrry it around all day and put it up on rides if I don't have to (have reservations saturday). And on a similar note - are they actually selling new bottles to people at this point? I am guessing the paper cups were used to minimize contact points. The attendant wore gloves, and just by having your member cup (or season bottle) the attendant knew you were entitled to free refills. The member drink cup is much easier to tote around the park than a flimsy cup so yes - I transferred my beverage. I did not see a scanning device being used so no - your member ID probably would not work. There was a register for those guests needing to purchase their drinks. Something I failed to mention in my above report is there is a new option for members to purchase a stainless steel metal member cup for $19.99. These cups do look nice and they are hot/cold so they can also be used for hot chocolate or your favorite warm beverage. From what I saw, season refill (and daily refill) cups were available and were being sold at dining locations.

Myself and a buddy decided to be 'lab rats' today, visiting the first Six Flags branded park to open to guests (Frontier City is not a 'flagged' park so it does not count!). As advertised there were numerous changes both physical and procedural to park operations. Yes - masks were required - and I really did not mind wearing one given the circumstances. One of the very first things out of the box I noticed when pulling in to the parking lot is the grass and weeds growing everywhere. This is plain and simple a symptom of the park being shuttered for three months. But to be fair, the shopping mall near my home has the same grass and weeds in their lot - and they have been open for six weeks now. Parking was in the main lot only and an attendant guided everyone as to where to park. Vehicles were to occupy every other space. (I did not use VIP parking.) And now...I was on my way to the gate! Things looked very different at the entrance plaza. Part of the ticket booth area on the east plaza was converted into a screening area. Upon entering this area, attendants are making sure all who enter are wearing a mask. There was even a kiosk of masks available at the entrance, both disposable and cloth, for those who arrived sans face covering. There were no DC-themed ones available. (According to park management, cool masks featuring the likes of Joker, Batman, etc, will be available soon.) The next phase was the walk-thru, non-invasive temperature check. I did not even know my temp was being checked. Immediately past that was the metal detector screening. These are not your father's detectors either. These were really nice in that they screen as you walk meaning no more bag checks! From adversity, good things sometimes come, and this is definitely one of them. This will speed up entry now and into the future! (Plans are in the works to add a similar screening area to the west ticket plaza as well.) As I was leaving the detector area, whom else should I bump into than park President Dale K. himself! He was on hand thanking each and every guest for coming to the park. That was a nice touch. This would be the first of a few times I would chat with him throughout the day. I could tell he was happy to be back 'at the office!' Next stop was the actual gate entrance. They scanned my membership and I was in. They did not even need to see my reservation; perhaps it was linked to my pass. All these aforementioned steps took only 2-3 minutes; it was fast. Once inside the park, I was greeted by a ghost town...very few folks walking around. In fact it seemed there were more employees than guests roaming the park. With only 3 1/2 hours available, it was time to get started.... First stop was lunch. I needed to use my dining pass so we went to JB's. There was about a 5 minute wait. After that, we decided to head to Thunder River. It was hot and a water ride was just the thing. The line was not very long but the wait time was about 20 minutes. There was only one party per boat, no matter how many guests. Most boats had 2-4 riders. Basically, no one shared a boat with a stranger. The water gun area was not open, as expected, but the waterfall was on full blast. Next up was Pandemonium. We used diamond elite STL passes for this ride (we get three of these now with the additional added benefits). Seating was simple - every other seat occupied. We attempted to ride Goliath but a nearby passing storm scratched those plans. On coasters, every other row is closed and not in use. There are markers on the floor at the queue entrance to each row indicating which rows are in use and which ones were closed. The rows that are open seat single parties only. On B&M coasters, this means 1-4 guests. Again, no one is seated next to a stranger. This was the case on Scorcher. This was more of an exploratory visit; I did not plan on doing a great deal of riding today. Justice League was closed; we did not even go to Metropolis. Gotham City was still closed with a planned opening in a couple weeks. Mindbender was still missing track as it undergoes a full rehab and a 2021 grand reopening. I can't wait! There were attendants in the restrooms cleaning and cleaning; I have never seen the restrooms so spotless before. We visited the Freestyle machines a few times. If you have a member cup, thee attendant simply asks what beverage you would like and dispenses it into a paper cup. You can transfer to your member cup (or not). And BTW the Freestyle store near the Crystal Pistol received a full renovation. There were portable hand sinks and sanitizing stations scattered all over the park. (Pro-tip: to make the hand sink dispense water, there is a foot pump at the bottom!) Another surprise: mobile food ordering on the app is operational! I had additional opportunities to talk to park President Dale. I did ask specifically about masks and water rides. He stated masks were not required while on a water ride. And the wearing of them would not be required inside Hurricane Harbor when they open next week. Visitors to White Water will be required to wear a mask when they enter the park but once inside, they will not be mandatory. The wave pool and lazy river will have some operational changes but will be open. This was a most interesting visit to say the least. It became readily obvious from the outset the park personnel and staff have been absolutely busting their tails to keep this park clean. Park staff were very friendly and it appeared they were all just glad to be back. These are unprecedented times and the park President and his management team are in daily communication with the state health department and are determined to make this work. At no time during my visit did I feel unsafe. I really hope that everyone waiting to visit will reserve judgement until they see the park for themselves. I stated months ago that this is Six Flags' chance to rise to the occasion and from what I saw today, they have. Social distancing cars! New signage on the way to the front gate Do the SIX!!! All benches marked this way New welcome sign paying tribute to all heroes of these times Nice sign package in the entry area. Hand sanitizer too! Thunder River queue sign It seems like the park did some landscaping work waiting for guests to return. The bamboo forest got a trimming This row of seats on Goliath not in use Mindbender in hibernation, awaiting its triumphant return in '21

Don't give up on DragonCon just yet. Governor Kemp just announced today more restrictions being lifted and relaxed. One lifted restriction in particular caught my attention: Live entertainment venues can resume effective July 1st (with guidelines) so there is still hope for Dr. Fright Dead Man's Party for Fright Fest. It is still June so who knows what may be permissible come Labor Day.

Another angle to this is we might see some parks like SFoG or SFStl actually add to their calendars with year-round weekend ops in an attempt to boost attendance figures. After all, closed parks do not make any money and these two SF parks would be the next logical choices within the chain to go year round after the Texas properties did it.

I have already reserved for SFoG for their opening on June 15th (next Monday) and I have no problem abiding by the safeguards in place. My main intention is to kick the tires and see how the park experience will be. My gut tells me the park will be very empty, particularly on Monday and the rides that are open will be walk-ons. At any rate, the simple act of visiting will return some normalcy to my life.

2021 for mindmender? ugh. love that coaste. Look at the bright side...we are getting a coaster in 2021!!!!!

Yep. Since the 12th is when they are allowed to my money is on that being the day. Maybe the 15th if they don't want to open on a weekend but no later then the 15th IMO. My money still that they will open on the 12th. I could be wrong but I doubt SFoG would open earlier than the two Texas locations (June 19th) as those two parks made their respective reopening announcements this past week. I do wonder if the park will keep the remodeled Gotham City section closed and save the new 2020 attractions for later. In the very least I think it makes sense to allow guests to experience the 'new-ness' of being open and leave Gotham shuttered for at least a few additional weeks.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp announced he is allowing amusement parks to reopen as early as June 12 (Friday). It remains to be seen if that date is when SFoG and White Water actually do open. IMHO the park (and really any other park) planning on reopening should do so on a Monday. This will keep the attendance very light and give the park a chance to see what works and what does not as attendance gradually ramps up toward the weekend.

I visited this park with friends last summer for the first time in 14 years and I admit it was a better experience than I remembered from years' past. It looked like the park was actually trying to improve - but still had a long way to go. I still say we need to give Spanos & Co a chance to make a difference. They have their hands full with a post-COVID world right now, but I have hope SF is listening. I do not expect to see VF-quality bathrooms overnight but at least we are seeing some improvements to dining / seating areas.

This also begs another question: will masks be required on water rides? What about water parks? The disposable masks are not waterproof and could actually be dangerous to wear while swimming. It could be that water rides and water parks do not open at all. And enforcing the use of masks might be difficult considering how many riders will have them fly off on coasters. Enthusiasts like us will be prepared for that but not necessarily the GP. Hopefully the parks that do open will provide disposables for their guests or otherwise they might only be able to limit the mandatory wearing of them to park entry.

While Governor Kemp is ambitious, he has explicitly excluded amusement parks (as well as concerts, bars, nightclubs, and others) from opening next week. While I do appreciate his motivation to restart business, I admit I am a bit nervous as well. I also bear in mind that although some business categories may be permitted to open on a limited basis, many national chains might opt to remain shuttered. Hopefully the public will follow the rules and make this soft opening successful.