TR: Six Flags America

[pianojohn]

Well, I started off Sunday night driving from Roanoke, VA to Alexandria, VA to get an early start on Monday. Being 20 minutes from the park beats being 3 1/2 hours and fighting DC traffic!

 

Of course, I got lost getting to SFA but arrived at the gates at 10:30am. There was a line of cars coming into the park, so I assumed it was busy. Nah, it was just that Six Flags only had ONE parking attendant taking money. Ah, customer service at its finest!

 

I checked out the rides closed sign at the front gate, and it listed a few spin and barfs, nothing I had to ride. I was psyched to finally ride Superman. Woo hoo!!

 

I got through the gates and decided to upgrade to a season's pass since I would be hitting a few more Six Flags park this season. The processing center was crowded and "Surprise" only had 2 people taking pictures.

 

I got up to the counter, handed in my form, and also presented my driver's license to assure that my name would not be misspelled. The woman even asked me how I spelled my name, she typed it in, and I was on my way.

 

Of course, she spelled it wrong. When I returned to tell her, she copped her Six Flags 'tude and said "Well, I ASKED you how it was spelled!" As if I didn't know how to spell my own name! I informed her that I indeed DID spell my name correctly and she must have mistyped it. She then said, "Well, you'll have to come back and see a supervisor!" Oh joy!

 

Hmm, was this day going to be a total disaster? Stay tuned!

 

I headed towards Two Face but the line looked long and they were cycling the train pretty slowly. I thought I should do Superman and Batwing before the crowds got there.

 

After getting lost, I ended up in Gotham and headed towards Superman. Of course, it was not running. As I got closer, the ride attendant informed me of such. I then asked "What about Batwing?" He said, "Yes, it is." So I headed down the path toward the Vekoma torture machine.

 

After turning the corner, not only was there no one in the station, there was no one working there. Another coaster closed. Gotta love Six Flags!

 

I backtracked and finally got on my first coaster of the day: Joker's Jinx. After being stapled into my seat, I got a decent ride. The fun part was sitting on the brake run in the hot sun for about 5 minutes as they SLOWLY loaded the next train.

 

ROAR was next, and I had heard mixed things about it. I opted for the last seat. The layout and pacing were good, but how did they get the cars to run with square wheels?! I mean, come on! I guess if they would perform a little maintenance once in a while it wouldn't be so rough. But then again, this is Six Flags!

 

Spent the rest of the day walking back and forth to Superman to check on its status. There were three men working on the lift, but still no progress.

 

On one of my trips back there, I thought I would walk back to Batwing. And wonder of wonders, there were people in the station, and they were getting ready to load a train! I headed to the front row of station 2.

 

They actually had people in both stations! Wow! They were really going to get this thing moving! WRONG! After dispatching train one, they informed all of the people on the other side that they were only loading one side of the station. Those people then had to cross through the train, across the exit, and onto the unloading platform. And me without my camera!!

 

The best part is when they were loading the train. As each row was locked, the ride attendants would check a display on the back of each row to make sure all sensors were reading. If one was not, one of the ride ops would go over to that seat and SLAM the bar down to make sure it was locked! Classy!

 

Of course, one seat was not responding to the slamming. When the ride dispatcher informed them that "seat 4" was not working, they told her "Don't worry, that light bulb is burnt out." Hmm, so IF the seat ever did fail, they wouldn't know since the bulb was burnt out. I guess I was glad I was not riding in seat 4!

 

Anyway, got my ride of Batwing, zoomed through Two Face, and decided enough was enough. Yet another dissapointing day at a Six Flags park.

 

But rather than complain with no solutions, here are my ideas:

 

Instead of just coming up with a catchy marketing campaign, how about ACTUALLY making your parks better? Maintain your rides, assure their reliability, and if this cannot be accomplished, remove them! Typhoon Seacoaster was of course, NOT running, there was no water in the trough, and of course, no sign indicating that it was closed.

 

Better yet, Six Flags should realize they cannot run theme parks, and sell off the ones they can to a more reliable company. Could you imagine if Busch were to manage a Six Flags park? The grounds would be spotless and landscaped beautifully, the rides would WORK, and there would be entertainment and shops everywhere!

 

Speaking of shops: on my way out, I wanted to get a magnet of the park or maybe a coaster. I went to the main gift shop on Main Street and asked the girl working there. They sold TWO magnets: one had Mr. Six on it (I'll pass) and the other was a replica beer bottle/bottle opener with the words Six Flags on the bottle.

 

I guess after a day at Six Flags America, you'll need a drink. I sure did!!

Ah yes, Superman is NOT flying today!

Men working on the lift hill

[PhishyBrewer]

You gotta love Six Flags! Nice TR.

[coasterdude5]

Sound like you had a pretty crappy day! Did they ever fix your season pass? About the coming into the park with all the cars. That's happened to us at SFGam. Great TR with good ole' six flags!

[CoasterFanatic]

Sorry to hear that your day went so horribly, but your report was pretty entertaining because I think that most of us can really relate to the experience. What really saddens me is the people who only see parks like this and have a really warped perception of what the theme park experience really is.

[Coaster Palooza]

I liked your trip report. We went to SFA last year and experienced the Batwing being down. Luckily we were able to ride Superman. Sorry your trip wasn't fun.

[bgwfreak]

So you're saying your "Playtime" wasn't great?? Just checking

 

I had sort of the same experience at 02.

 

Batwing ran 1 train and I got my credit, but then was broke the rest of the day.

 

Superman ran great though all day.

 

Wild One was down until like 4:00 and I got the first train or second out.

 

I've been to 3 Six Flags parks now and 2 of the 3 were sub-par at best (SFA and SFKK).

 

SFKK was one of the worst parks I've ever been to as far as being well-kept.

 

BGW is always my "litmus test" (sp?) against other parks and so far no Six Flags has come even close.

 

SFOG is the best of the 3 I've been to, but it's got it's "ghetto issues" as well.

 

I agree that Six Flags should sell off a lot of the parks and let someone like Cedar Fair or Paramount run them.

 

Sea coaster was down when I was there as well, with no water in the troff (sp?) either. Sounds like they need to rip it out.

 

Roar was actually running really well when I was there and loved it. Maybe it was having an off day

 

 

Further proof http://www.wusatv9.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=40220

[jarmor]

Well I had an experience at the park but it wasnt that bad. The park in general is a great park but the ride ops and employees can use a boost in the customer service department. I never try to compare a park to another because no park is the same.

 

Now would I go back to SFA, ya damn right, but would I plan a trip just to go there nope!

 

I guess I liked it because I was able to shoot my DVD W/O any problems or flack for anyone and w/ the encourgement of some of the park guest and staff. SO its like a bitter/sweet thing going on for that park...

 

 

Jarvis "Starting to realize its not that bad of a park" Morant

 

Did I mention I was able to get on all of the coasters several times each day for 2 consecutive days...call me lucky!

[frozenflames]

Wow, man I think you just had a really off-day at SFA. Since it's my homepark, I go there pretty frequently, and have done so for the last nine years. Never have I ever experienced anything like that there. Normally all operations are fairly decent, and it's one of the cleaner theme parks I've been to. The only thing that makes me not like the park is the ride selection... a lot of the rides are clones, which can be no fun.

[Mind Eraser]

Most bad attitudes on the employees part are a direct result of being treated like shit from the guests constantly. I stand by my assertion that SFA has the worst-behaved guests of any park in the country (worse than SFMM or SFGADV) mainly because the inner-city kids can take public transportation to the park. And when people are constantly arguing with you, cussing you out, threatening you, and even throwing objects at you, your morale goes way down. Combine that with the hot sun and low pay, seriously, do you expect the average 16 year old employee to be cheery and polite? I used to work there. I can vouch first hand.

 

 

-kip-

[bgwfreak]

^^ I have to say though that SFA had pretty nice employees.

 

I even had two that were very helpful.

 

I think it helps when you don't go up to them with a frown on your face looking like you have an attitude.

 

It seems that the whole "ghetto" thing seems to only happen at Six Flags.

 

I've never really seen it that much or at all at the Paramount or Cedar Fair parks.

 

Security seems to be an issue overall at SFI.

[Coasterlicious]

The last time I was at a Six Flags (Darien Lake) I had a good time.. All the coasters were working.. so I got to ride one of my favorite coasters twice.. Superman ROS.

 

The only park ive ever been dissapointed at was Cedar Point, and thats because of Dragster and MF being down.. but I guess you can expect that...

The rest of the park was great though..

[shepp]

Y'know, part of it is the luck of the draw. Not to defend SF, but...

 

I was at SFA on 5/31 and 6/9. Yeah, I'd say the loading is thoroughly inefficient - Batwing and the Penguin were perpetually stacked. But on the 31st, we were told S:ROS would open a little late, so we rode Batwing twice and by that time Superman was running just fine. And yesterday we got six S:ROS rides in a row without having to leave the station, and one of the ops there was really friendly. Typhoon Sea Coaster opened late (it was posted for noon) but it did open a couple of hours later. The only ride that I missed because it was down was Mind Eraser. Small loss.

 

The park seemd generally clean and well-maintained, and the only even mildly discomforting "ghetto" thing I experienced was teenage black girls doing the usual shriek-at-each-other thing. Girlfriends, shut up! I was, frankly, more put off by a couple of white guys wearing Xtian T-shirts, one with a vivid illustration of a crucified hand, the other telling me I was doomed to Hell without Jesus.

 

At PKD, though, Volcano was down a full day and a half, I was almost paralyzed by Hypersonic, and when a thunderstorm broke out and we sought shelter at Spongebob Squarepants, the attraction was suddenly mysteriously down and the audience was chased out into the pouring rain.

 

It just shows to go you...

[Jordan Shankman]

Yeah, I had a pretty terrible time on my trip too. Batwing, Supperman, Roar, and Two Face was down the entire time. Sucked big time.