SFMMGeek27 Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 (edited) ^Yesterday, I heard they only had the one processing center open and there were reported waits up to 3 hours. Today they had both processing centers open and the line was still insane. The employees at the entrance to the line were guessing 3.5 hours, but I heard it took about 90 minutes from some people, which I could believe a little more. On December 16th, I got my pass in 5 minutes... Oh hey, look what job is open! Looks like they need to hire more.. Edited January 7, 2013 by SFMMGeek27 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted January 7, 2013 Author Share Posted January 7, 2013 The employees at the entrance to the line were guessing 3.5 hours, but I heard it took about 90 minutes from some people, which I could believe a little more. Ok, that's a little bit better, but still, 90 minutes to give a park your money? "Hi, I'd like you give you my money, lock in some repeat business for you, and hopefully spend more money every time I come back to this park! Doesn't that sound awesome!?" "Great! Sounds wonderful! Stand here and wait for an hour and a half..." "Oh...." --Robb "And people are airing grievances about chipped paint at Walt Disney World? They need to go spend some time living next to SFMM..." Alvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6flagsbrad Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I went on Saturday and it took exactly 2 hours to get my pass (I actually timed it), and when I exited the park at closing, the line still looked just as long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Someotherguyuser Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 The employees at the entrance to the line were guessing 3.5 hours, but I heard it took about 90 minutes from some people, which I could believe a little more. I just renewed my SFMM pass last week and I stood in that horrid line. Yeah, it was NOT 3.5 hours. It was 90 minutes. When I first got to the park around eleven, I saw the line to process my pass and decided to wait around the late afternoon to get some rides in. Hopefully the line will die down. UH-UH! NOPE! It was actually slightly longer! Then you have to fill out all of the work at the computer. I thought I went to renew my season pass for SFMM, not my driver's license. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gisco Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 The employees at the entrance to the line were guessing 3.5 hours, but I heard it took about 90 minutes from some people, which I could believe a little more. Ok, that's a little bit better, but still, 90 minutes to give a park your money? "Hi, I'd like you give you my money, lock in some repeat business for you, and hopefully spend more money every time I come back to this park! Doesn't that sound awesome!?" "Great! Sounds wonderful! Stand here and wait for an hour and a half..." "Oh...." --Robb "And people are airing grievances about chipped paint at Walt Disney World? They need to go spend some time living next to SFMM..." Alvey The customer service of some companies amazing! I bought a new road bike last month. Went into a bike shop that a friend recommended. When I walked in I was the only customer. Two people behind the counter never acknowledged that I was even there. After 15 minutes of looking around I left. Went to another shop and was immediately helped when I walked through the door. When the guy helping me had to take a phone call he sent someone else over to help. I ended dropping over two grand on a bike, clothes and shoes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSum1_55 Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Examples like the season pass wait explain why I would rather spend my money on a pass to Disney, SeaWorld, and, though to a lesser extent, Knott's. I still cannot believe this park is number one in satisfaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCalCoasters Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 it took me less than 5 minutes to get my two year Silver Pass for Sea World today at Sea World at a ticket kiosk. No need for a whole drawn out process. Heck, they actually got rid of their entire season pass processing building a while back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Wouldn't it make more sense to have people come back at another date? That's what USH does when the line is bad. They just say "keep your ticket and process on your next visit." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 The employees at the entrance to the line were guessing 3.5 hours, but I heard it took about 90 minutes from some people, which I could believe a little more. Ok, that's a little bit better, but still, 90 minutes to give a park your money? "Hi, I'd like you give you my money, lock in some repeat business for you, and hopefully spend more money every time I come back to this park! Doesn't that sound awesome!?" "Great! Sounds wonderful! Stand here and wait for an hour and a half..." "Oh...." --Robb "And people are airing grievances about chipped paint at Walt Disney World? They need to go spend some time living next to SFMM..." Alvey Let's be real though...the SFMM season pass mentality is more like "$60 for a pass and I can drop my annoying teenager at the park for a day so I can sit at home and get drunk!". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted January 7, 2013 Author Share Posted January 7, 2013 (edited) The employees at the entrance to the line were guessing 3.5 hours, but I heard it took about 90 minutes from some people, which I could believe a little more. I went on Saturday and it took exactly 2 hours to get my pass (I actually timed it), and when I exited the park at closing, the line still looked just as long. I just renewed my SFMM pass last week and I stood in that horrid line. It was 90 minutes. I thought I went to renew my season pass for SFMM, not my driver's license. I just don't understand why this is even being allowed to happen! Seriously, I think we renewed all three of our WDW annual passes in less than five minutes, we renewed our SeaWorld passes over the phone, and I bought my Universal Pass online and exchanged the voucher at a machine for my pass. Hearing this just amazes me, but at the same time I'm not shocked. Additionally, Magic Mountain also leads the company in overall Guest Satisfaction. I'm sure they are very proud. Edited January 7, 2013 by robbalvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bostonlva Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Examples like the season pass wait explain why I would rather spend my money on a pass to Disney, SeaWorld, and, though to a lesser extent, Knott's. I still cannot believe this park is number one in satisfaction. today was the last day to buy a season pass and WAS the last day to upgrade to gold for free, They extended the "process" date I think, So IMO it was most likely everyone who delayed it to the last day, and they where overwhelmed. I think they used both the new processing center and FB (old) processing center, and they were still overwhelmed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bostonlva Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 (edited) Wouldn't it make more sense to have people come back at another date? That's what USH does when the line is bad. They just say "keep your ticket and process on your next visit." today was originally the last day to buy and "process" your season pass and upgrade to gold for free. They have extended the "process" date to upgrade to gold by a week I think (though you still needed to buy it by today) Edited January 7, 2013 by bostonlva Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted January 7, 2013 Author Share Posted January 7, 2013 (edited) Examples like the season pass wait explain why I would rather spend my money on a pass to Disney, SeaWorld, and, though to a lesser extent, Knott's. I still cannot believe this park is number one in satisfaction. today was the last day to buy a season pass and WAS the last day to upgrade to gold for free, They extended the "process" date I think, So IMO it was most likely everyone who delayed it to the last day, and they where overwhelmed. I think they used both the new processing center and FB (old) processing center, and they were still overwhelmed. You're defending this??? Some people have reported this has been going on for longer than just today. It's simply not acceptable. Edited January 7, 2013 by robbalvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bostonlva Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Examples like the season pass wait explain why I would rather spend my money on a pass to Disney, SeaWorld, and, though to a lesser extent, Knott's. I still cannot believe this park is number one in satisfaction. today was the last day to buy a season pass and WAS the last day to upgrade to gold for free, They extended the "process" date I think, So IMO it was most likely everyone who delayed it to the last day, and they where overwhelmed. I think they used both the new processing center and FB (old) processing center, and they were still overwhelmed. You're defending this??? Some people have reported this has been going on for longer than just today. It's simply not acceptable. NO, im not defending it. Sorry if it came out that way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 SFMM's operations department not prepared to handle something that should have been obvious (it's not like they can't figure out how many unprocessed passes were out there...)? I'm shocked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WFChris Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 You know, back in the day when I got SFMM season passes, I always remember waiting a stupid amount of time to get it processed. This was from 1998 - 2002. I don't think I ever waited less than 45 minutes for these. One time I recall the line stretching all the way back to where that sheriff station is today. Took over an hour and a half. Perhaps this is something that SFMM has just deemed okay since it has been going on forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disney4me2001 Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I was going to buy a 2013 Gold pass online and process it at SFMM, but I was in Texas over the holidays and ended up processing at SFOT instead. Over there it only took 5 minutes to get not only my pass processed, but the rest of my family as well. Based on what I'm reading about SFMM, I'm glad we made that decision! But SFMM definitely needs to improve their processing center. At SFOT they had the season pass center open well over 1 hour before park opening, and they had at least 10 processing stations open (meaning 10 employees with 10 cameras ready to take photos). And considering my passes from other parks (Knott's*, USH, SWSD) take almost no time at all to process, it's crazy that it would take 90+ minutes to process a Six Flags pass! *I know Knott's can sometimes take a while to process too, but ever since they went to reusing the same card each year, all I have to do for mine is renew online and enter my season pass number and it's automatically activated (meaning I can go straight to the main gate on my first visit) once I'm done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azza29 Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Sounds like the park should have been better organised, but season passes have been on sale for what, four months now? That's plenty of time to go get one processed - if you wait until the very last day then long lines are almost a given. That said, this is only a problem because SFMM said 'process by XX date to get the gold upgrade for free'. If they'd told people they had to purchase their season pass (i.e. give them the money) before the 6th everyone could have just done that online and processed the pass whenever. Problem solved, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skydye Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Wouldn't it make more sense to have people come back at another date? That's what USH does when the line is bad. They just say "keep your ticket and process on your next visit." As what was already posted. If you bought 4 thrill passes your thrill pass will be upgraded for free to a gold pass if you bought and Process them before Jan 07th. They now see that they have too many people so if you already brought the passes before Jan 07th, You now have until Jan 27th to get the free upgrade. I'm also not defending this, Simply reporting the new date to process up to a free gold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Clinksalot Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Yes, they extended the date until Jan 27th, but the same thing is going to happen again that weekend, and probably every weekend until then. We got ours processed the week between Xmas and New Years and purposely showed up to the park earlier than we would have to get our passes done. It took us about 10 minutes but by the time we were done the line was at least 45 minutes. They should have known then that the weekends were going to be crazier. Didn't they used to have a process where you could just use your previous years pass and they would mail them to you? I can't recall if Six Flags ever did this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJeXeL Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 (edited) Wouldn't it make more sense to have people come back at another date? That's what USH does when the line is bad. They just say "keep your ticket and process on your next visit." That's the problem. It makes too much sense. Plus not to mention it's clear that USH has always been ahead of SFMM in guest service. For the past 2 years I haven't processed my SFMM pass on the same day I purchased it. They do tell you multiple times "Must be processed before you leave the park today" however they NEVER give me a hassle when I go back on a different date to process. SFMM's operations department not prepared to handle something that should have been obvious (it's not like they can't figure out how many unprocessed passes were out there...)? I'm shocked. Maybe adequately staffing SP Processsing center was not in the "budget." Edited January 7, 2013 by DJeXeL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Didn't they used to have a process where you could just use your previous years pass and they would mail them to you? I can't recall if Six Flags ever did this. Back when I worked at the park the system allowed you to print a new pass with the previous years picture (or even an older picture). I would always ask people if they had a pass in the past and would mail them their passes out all ready to go with no waiting in line or issues. I would hate to imagine they've made the system so this can't be done anymore, but I wouldn't put it past them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Clinksalot Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 ^ I certainly never saw it as an option when renewing our passes this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFMMGeek27 Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 ^That isn't an option this year. And also, IT SAYS ON BOTH THE PRINTOUT PAGE AND THE RECEIPTS FROM THE TICKET BOOTHS THAT THE PASSES CAN BE PROCESSED ANY DAY UP UNTIL JANUARY 27th! It said this on my receipt from my pass that I purchased on 12/16. So it wasn't suddenly extended, and if it was, it was a long time ago. They should've been clearer about this and told people not to wait u Til 1/27 (or 1/6) to process. A couple people in my family still need to process and we are going to try next Sunday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COASTER FREAK 11 Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 At this point we don't really know if it is possible or not. Depends on how much they are tearing up in and around the area. But until they are ready to pour those footers, there's no reason to keep the ride down except to save money. But like I said, that's their business model and it works well for them financially. I was at the park on Sunday, and the whole back side of the mountain is torn up, along with lots of the Superman entrance area. So, at this point in construction, there is really no easy way to open the ride. But, it might be the reason they are doing that area first, when they have the least amount of guests in the park causing the least amount of guest issues. The employees at the entrance to the line were guessing 3.5 hours, but I heard it took about 90 minutes from some people, which I could believe a little more. Ok, that's a little bit better, but still, 90 minutes to give a park your money? "Hi, I'd like you give you my money, lock in some repeat business for you, and hopefully spend more money every time I come back to this park! Doesn't that sound awesome!?" "Great! Sounds wonderful! Stand here and wait for an hour and a half..." "Oh...." --Robb "And people are airing grievances about chipped paint at Walt Disney World? They need to go spend some time living next to SFMM..." Alvey I went to the park Sunday morning to process my pass. we got there at 9:30, processing opened at 10. We waited about 90 minutes (including the 30 minutes they weren't actually open yet. Once inside, they had all the computers working and pumping through as fast as they could. I was in and out in less then 5 minutes. I think the issue with the processing were the people who bought the passes at the park instead of filling in their info ahead of time on line. Because they had more info to give and fill out. SFMM's operations department not prepared to handle something that should have been obvious (it's not like they can't figure out how many unprocessed passes were out there...)? I'm shocked. They also had the processing center open inside the park which had barely any line at all. They were running at full capacity with the processing. Though the lines were long, they did their best to get people through fast, so I have to give them credit for that! Haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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