Six Flags America (SFA) Discussion Thread

[DorneyKid14]

So i was checking out the park on google maps and a few things i have questions about.

 

1) With this park being so close to DC, why is it not more popular, especially with tourist in the summer.

 

2) I would imagine that Six Flags owns a lot of the land around the park, could they or would they invest a lot of money into the park to expand and to bring in more people that travel to the DC area?

 

It looks like a nice park, just a little run down and unnoticed to the public/company. A little updating around the park and adding new stuff could boost this park big time.

[A.J.]

1) With this park being so close to DC, why is it not more popular, especially with tourist in the summer.

 

2) I would imagine that Six Flags owns a lot of the land around the park, could they or would they invest a lot of money into the park to expand and to bring in more people that travel to the DC area?

I don't go to Washington DC for Six Flags America, I go for Washington DC.

 

[One of] the [many] problem is the park's location. Everyone goes past it. The Capital Beltway is ridiculous. Washington DC is basically a danger zone for everyone in the Mid-Atlantic traveling south. No one wants to stop there. Example, I drive from my hometown in Pennsylvania to Georgia several times a year. I don't stop in Washington, I stop in York or Frederick. I make it a point to be able to get through the Baltimore-Washington area, and about forty miles south, without stopping.

 

Everything happens on the inside of the Capital Beltway. The Washington metro area, the smaller communities like Bethesda, all the "cool" stuff. Six Flags America is on the wrong side of the highway. There's very little development directly east of the park, and Annapolis is pretty far away. Now, granted, they can't really help their location at this point in their career, but I'd be willing to bet that it's definitely a negative factor.

[DorneyKid14]

Makes a lot of sense. I guess that there is so much to do in DC that people dont really plan to go to the park, if they even know its there. It seems like it is one of those parks in the company that just goes unnotice. They are pretty much like "oh we have a six flags america park?"

Do they market a lot in the DC area? Because i know there are a lot of colleges in DC and the surrounding area, so im wondering if college kids know about the park.

 

Im planning on going here for a day trip in the summer, but i just looked up Six Flags New England and its a 3 and a half hour drive from where i live. Both parks are the same distance from me, so now im second guessing on which park to visit this coming summer.

[blk_mamba]

So i was checking out the park on google maps and a few things i have questions about.

 

1) With this park being so close to DC, why is it not more popular, especially with tourist in the summer.

 

2) I would imagine that Six Flags owns a lot of the land around the park, could they or would they invest a lot of money into the park to expand and to bring in more people that travel to the DC area?

 

It looks like a nice park, just a little run down and unnoticed to the public/company. A little updating around the park and adding new stuff could boost this park big time.

 

The parks suffers from a combination of poor management, a lack of true capital investment to generate interest in the park and the perception alot of black people that go to that park which I think creates an extra layer or unfair racial stereotypes about the park and the people that attend the park.

 

To be clear the park is far from the best in the Six Flags chain, I personally think they need a some larger capital investment like a unique new roller coaster however I think the wet park is known as one of the best in the region and is the main driver for the park.

[coasterbill]

1) With this park being so close to DC, why is it not more popular

 

Because it's terrible...

[DorneyKid14]

So would i be better off going to SFNE instead?

[coasterbill]

Oh god yes. And this is coming from someone who bashes SFNE more than anyone.

[DorneyKid14]

haha okay. Thanks coasterbill!

[The Yeti]

The park also suffers from a lack of great rides. I moved to DC at the end of this summer and I easily could have visited the park this year, but instead I opted to visit Great Adventure. Of course, El Toro and Kingda Ka were on my bucket list - but I still would have gone to Six Flags America if they had anything that I felt warranted an immediate visit besides Superman.

 

Next season, I am most definitely planning to visit Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens and Hershey Park, and maybe even Six Flags Great Adventure again, but I still don't feel the need to visit Six Flags America. If I pick up a season pass, I'm sure I'll go, but I'm more interested in the season pass for the entry to other Six Flags parks.

[DirkFunk]

So i was checking out the park on google maps and a few things i have questions about.

 

1) With this park being so close to DC, why is it not more popular, especially with tourist in the summer.

 

2) I would imagine that Six Flags owns a lot of the land around the park, could they or would they invest a lot of money into the park to expand and to bring in more people that travel to the DC area?

 

It looks like a nice park, just a little run down and unnoticed to the public/company. A little updating around the park and adding new stuff could boost this park big time.

 

The parks suffers from a combination of poor management, a lack of true capital investment to generate interest in the park and the perception alot of black people that go to that park which I think creates an extra layer or unfair racial stereotypes about the park and the people that attend the park.

 

This pretty much touches all the most significant bases. If you wanted to add one in, it was that the infrastructure of the park was built poorly intentionally to save money, and it results in all sorts of problems that should have been obvious long term concerns but that was considered unnecessary to address.

[ericthewanderer]

So i was checking out the park on google maps and a few things i have questions about.

 

1) With this park being so close to DC, why is it not more popular, especially with tourist in the summer.

 

2) I would imagine that Six Flags owns a lot of the land around the park, could they or would they invest a lot of money into the park to expand and to bring in more people that travel to the DC area?

 

It looks like a nice park, just a little run down and unnoticed to the public/company. A little updating around the park and adding new stuff could boost this park big time.

 

The parks suffers from a combination of poor management, a lack of true capital investment to generate interest in the park and the perception alot of black people that go to that park which I think creates an extra layer or unfair racial stereotypes about the park and the people that attend the park.

 

This pretty much touches all the most significant bases. If you wanted to add one in, it was that the infrastructure of the park was built poorly intentionally to save money, and it results in all sorts of problems that should have been obvious long term concerns but that was considered unnecessary to address.

I agree.Having gone back when the place was first The Wildlife Preserve and then Wild World,there have been multiple owners with no long term master plan.Hopefully the Six Flags hierarchy will continue to believe in it and remedy the festering problems.At least SFA live shows have been winning the IAAPA awards 3 years running-now let's see them win for something else.

[Highridin]

Something tells me that they are in deep thought about putting HITP here. It's the only SF park (I checked a few) that I saw that doesn't have their schedule up for the year yet.

 

I love that idea simply because it's an indicator that the Great Adventure event was a success. I would think that they would just open the front of the park though and that's a shame since the only good coaster that would probably be open would be Wild One. I don't see them expanding back into Gotham City because then you'd basically have to open the whole park, wouldn't you?

 

I actually think that they would open the entire dry side. It's a relatively small park. Gotham is the most open area too. They need to keep Chesapeake closed though, so no one will mess up and ride Apocalypse.

[coasterbill]

That's a major staffing commitment though. Even if they close off Batwing they basically need to staff the entire park, something that Great Adventure was able to avoid which helped them reduce overhead / risk. plus there's nothing to decorate back there unless they just throw some strings of lights on the grass. There are no trees or buildings... Lol

 

Maybe they could just close off the path by the round up and force everyone to go through Whistlestop park to get to Superman but that still seems like a ton of extra staffing.

[Highridin]

So i was checking out the park on google maps and a few things i have questions about.

 

1) With this park being so close to DC, why is it not more popular, especially with tourist in the summer.

 

2) I would imagine that Six Flags owns a lot of the land around the park, could they or would they invest a lot of money into the park to expand and to bring in more people that travel to the DC area?

 

It looks like a nice park, just a little run down and unnoticed to the public/company. A little updating around the park and adding new stuff could boost this park big time.

 

The parks suffers from a combination of poor management, a lack of true capital investment to generate interest in the park and the perception alot of black people that go to that park which I think creates an extra layer or unfair racial stereotypes about the park and the people that attend the park.

 

This pretty much touches all the most significant bases. If you wanted to add one in, it was that the infrastructure of the park was built poorly intentionally to save money, and it results in all sorts of problems that should have been obvious long term concerns but that was considered unnecessary to address.

I agree.Having gone back when the place was first The Wildlife Preserve and then Wild World,there have been multiple owners with no long term master plan.Hopefully the Six Flags hierarchy will continue to believe in it and remedy the festering problems.At least SFA live shows have been winning the IAAPA awards 3 years running-now let's see them win for something else.

 

I agree with 'all' of this, especially the stereotype portion. I've heard this with my own ears. One need only to go to Trip Adviser for the increasing 'good' reviews from folks who used to hate the place (including me), that now like the park. I do not have any complaints. I have a great time every time I go. Maybe because I like water parks so much. The area around the park is about to be developed, big time. Two great big multi-use neighborhoods (Single family, townhouse, apartment, stores) are about to be built. MGM opening, etc. It would be smart of SFA to get on it, which according to 'a source' at the park...they will in grand fashion in 2017. Hasn't been wrong about anything yet.

 

Good news is that they have done some serious painting this so far this off season. You'll see it if you visit this year.

[coasterbill]

I do feel like this park has potential. Right now I see it as a terrible park, but it is improving (it just hasn't improved past the point of terrible yet). If they could just work on the back half of the park to make it look less like it was built in Rollercoaster Tycoon by someone who was just trying to beat the scenario and couldn't afford scenery objects then it would be a decent park. Everything in front of Wild One is perfectly respectable.

[Highridin]

That's a major staffing commitment though. Even if they close off Batwing they basically need to staff the entire park, something that Great Adventure was able to avoid which helped them reduce overhead / risk. plus there's nothing to decorate back there unless they just throw some strings of lights on the grass. There are no trees or buildings... Lol

 

Maybe they could just close off the path by the round up and force everyone to go through Whistlestop park to get to Superman but that still seems like a ton of extra staffing.

 

Yeah, I agree, but think it's possible. They had plenty of people working during Fright Fest (water park employees). I bet that they could get somewhere close to that many again. They could shut down Coyote Creek, but I bet it will be open thanks to that restaurant being back there,

[Highridin]

I do feel like this park has potential. Right now I see it as a terrible park, but it is improving (it just hasn't improved past the point of terrible yet). If they could just work on the back half of the park to make it look less like it was built in Rollercoaster Tycoon by someone who was just trying to beat the scenario and couldn't afford scenery objects then it would be a decent park. Everything in front of Wild One is perfectly respectable.

 

Lol,..at least they put in some good landscaping this past season. If they squeeze in two more flats on the way, that would be great. Sheesh, I'll take a Himalayan carnival flat. No disrespect to .Himalayan though; classic ride.

[coasterbill]

^^Yeah but Coyotee Creek is one of the few areas that could look awesome at Christmas with all of those buildings. It's a charming area and I would hope they'd leave it open.

 

I'm sure they could get staff by the way, but if crowd levels aren't there then you'd be losing tons of money. My concern is more about keeping operating expenses low to help make the event successful financially than staff availability.

[Highridin]

^^Yeah but Coyotee Creek is one of the few areas that could look awesome at Christmas with all of those buildings. It's a charming area and I would hope they'd leave it open.

 

I'm sure they could get staff by the way, but if crowd levels aren't there then you'd be losing tons of money. My concern is more about keeping operating expenses low to help make the event successful financially than staff availability.

 

Very true, and Coyote was the best Fright Fest areas too. I think the staffing will be there. The park has no where the area that SFGAdv has. Well, if they do not have the event, I will have to travel to NJ again.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

So i was checking out the park on google maps and a few things i have questions about.

 

1) With this park being so close to DC, why is it not more popular, especially with tourist in the summer.

 

2) I would imagine that Six Flags owns a lot of the land around the park, could they or would they invest a lot of money into the park to expand and to bring in more people that travel to the DC area?

 

It looks like a nice park, just a little run down and unnoticed to the public/company. A little updating around the park and adding new stuff could boost this park big time.

I honestly can't see tourists wasting a day in DC on Six Flags. I've been twice for a total of 17 days, and not once did I ever want to go to Six Flags. It's an awesome city, with so much to do. I still haven't seen all of the Smithsonian, and about half of my time in DC was spent there. The Library of Congress is an amazing experience, too. It's part museum of literary history, part shrine to the written word. All this in addition to its real function of providing Congress with any resource they could ever need to make informed decisions on bills (now if they'd just use it...).

 

In all my two and a half weeks, I still haven't seen some cool stuff like the zoo and the American Indian museum. When I go back, and I will be back, I'd have a hard time justifying Six Flags with all that DC itself offers.

 

Six Flags is really just for the locals, and that isn't in itself a bad thing. It could really shine as a regional park with the right decisions implemented.

[djcoastermark]

We go to DC a lot as my partners family is from there. There is sooo much to do in the area that we often do , from hiking up White Oak Canyon and Old Rag on Skyline Drive, the battlefields from the early wars, to Kings Dominion, Busch, and the awesomeness that is the Smith, that sometimes it is just nice to go to a smaller regional park like SFA. It is just that, a regional park that is trying to grow up. Granted, we have only been in the off season to SFA, but we had a lot of fun because we didn't expect a lot but were pleasantly surprised by the place. ( that. and we go on the saturday before the halloween stuff starts when admission is only 19.95 to get in that weekend with 1 dollar hotdogs , sodas and , my fave, cotton candy !) It really isn't that bad at all. Wild One is worth the trip alone!

[larrygator]

So would i be better off going to SFNE instead?

 

At SFA you get the worst employees in the chain.

At SFNE you get the worst clientele in the chain

[coasterbill]

Everyone has their own opinions and experiences but I never found SFNE clientele to be all that bad, I actually think they have a better crowd than Great Adventure does (except for Holiday in the Park of course).

 

I would say their staff and the SFA staff are about equal but SFNE is a much better park.

[Highridin]

So would i be better off going to SFNE instead?

 

At SFA you get the worst employees in the chain.

At SFNE you get the worst clientele in the chain

 

Worst employees? Someone hasn't been in a while.

[DorneyKid14]

So would i be better off going to SFNE instead?

 

At SFA you get the worst employees in the chain.

At SFNE you get the worst clientele in the chain

 

Worst employees? Someone hasn't been in a while.

 

I hear the same about dorney. I hear we have the worst, then i hear we have some of the best.