Highridin Posted January 19, 2016 Posted January 19, 2016 Lol,..at the end of the day, it's a matter of opinion. I've found that it's hard to form an opinion of somewhere without going regularly. You'll have some that have been to a place once, maybe twice in a few years. They'll form an opinion just from that. Not talking about rides. They are what they are. I can easily make a thorough analysis of SFA, KD, BG, Disney, Universal, and to a lesser extent SFOG because I may go a few times per year (I have family that lives in FL and GA). I'll never make a definitive opinion about ops, employees, etc from a visit or two. If I did, I'd never go back to CP, Hershey, or SFOT. My daughter wouldn't want to go back to SFGAdv thanks to the guy in the Sylvester costume...lol..We both actually look forward to going back there in the summer when everything is open.
Rollercoaster Rider Posted January 19, 2016 Posted January 19, 2016 For Me with Employees/Cleanliness/Clientele, Unless your staff is horrible or your park is dirty, I rarely notice this. I've met bad guests at Silver Dollar City and great guests at Six Flags Great America I've had bad employees at Dollywood and good ones at Fun Spot America
boldikus Posted January 19, 2016 Posted January 19, 2016 Im not of the most accurate opinion as Ive only been to SFA once on a quiet day last year, and Dorney a handful of times over the past few years, but I don't recall having a single issue with any of the employees at either - other than Dorney not letting us re-ride anything, but I know they are just doing their jobs and I'm spoiled to death w/ that at Great Adventure because they don't give a sh!t. The employees and ops at SFA were all pretty awesome - they weren't hustling yet they weren't sitting on their asses either but it was dead so its hard for me to say what they are like when its busy. They were all friendly, upbeat, etc, and the crew on S:ROS, even though it was quiet and the trains weren't even completely full, were getting the guests hyped up, telling us to scream, giving us high-fives as we dispatched, etc. As far as the clientele again thats tough since it was quiet but Ive run across many more undesirable types at Great Adventure than we did at SFA.
Highridin Posted January 20, 2016 Posted January 20, 2016 ^^Exactly. The employees are pretty awesome. I've never had an issue. Well, not including Batwing ops. Someone needs to do something about that. Still trying to figure out what Larry was talking about. May have not visited since 2010-11.
Vonni Posted January 22, 2016 Posted January 22, 2016 ^ I personally have not been on a Flying Dutchman, but from what I have read on several forums is that operations are slow on all of them. So I would guess its not the employees, but rather the design of the train and restraints.
ericthewanderer Posted January 22, 2016 Posted January 22, 2016 ^ I personally have not been on a Flying Dutchman, but from what I have read on several forums is that operations are slow on all of them. So I would guess its not the employees, but rather the design of the train and restraints. It's usually not the employees:most of the times I've been Batwing was only running one side/train(and is only able to run 2 train maximum from my understanding).
bill_s Posted January 22, 2016 Posted January 22, 2016 If you only have one employee checking restraints, for example, it's going to be a lot slower than 4 people checking them (see BGW). That's a management decision. Specific to SFA, the employees are friendly usually but somewhat laid back. They seem maybe used to the leisurely pace of MOST days there. To my mind the park doesn't do crowded well, they'd have almost completely compensate for the crowds by faster ops because you're not waiting for Kingda Ka. OTOH, go on a good day and it sounds to me 100 times better than waiting an hour a ride at some overhyped place like Cedar Point .
coasterbill Posted January 22, 2016 Posted January 22, 2016 I'd rather wait an hour for Gatekeeper when they're running 3 trains and dispatching with ridiculous frequency and tons of ops than 30 minutes for Superman at SFA in the station for the front row because they're running one train. Honestly I never found Six Flags America operators to be that bad, they're just understaffed and always running one train.
bill_s Posted January 22, 2016 Posted January 22, 2016 Well my post was a self contradictory, in also acknowledging there's things worth waiting for. Plus, extreme slowness can just be painful to watch, while a well-oiled machine is impressive. OTOH there's some advantage to not being popular. I'm sure CP can be better than some reports make it sound, but hour waits I'd do only once.
coasterbill Posted January 22, 2016 Posted January 22, 2016 You'd be surprised, I never had a problem with wait times at Cedar Points because of how well they keep the lines moving. There's also a good atmosphere in the lines... It's not uncommon for beachballs to make an appearance in the Maverick line for example. Plus there's always Fastlane Plus.
Highridin Posted January 23, 2016 Posted January 23, 2016 Fast lane plus is the only way to go at CP!
bill_s Posted January 24, 2016 Posted January 24, 2016 I understand the idea of Fast Lane, that if one spends a lot getting to the park then they can spend more to make sure to get their money's worth from the first chunk of change. Unfortunately, not only is CP out of budget in any case for me, any park that is within budget is only so without addons like Fast Lane. So, saying "fast lane is the only way to go" is basically saying I don't want to go there.
Highridin Posted January 24, 2016 Posted January 24, 2016 I understand the idea of Fast Lane, that if one spends a lot getting to the park then they can spend more to make sure to get their money's worth from the first chunk of change. Unfortunately, not only is CP out of budget in any case for me, any park that is within budget is only so without addons like Fast Lane. So, saying "fast lane is the only way to go" is basically saying I don't want to go there. I agree. You pay big money for that thing. CP couldn't be my home park. I'll take the short lines of SFA any day, and at KD on the weekdays. On another note, I'm getting conflicting info on whether or not I should get a fast pass at SFGAdv on a summer weekday.
coasterbill Posted January 24, 2016 Posted January 24, 2016 I've only bought a Fastlane Plus in all my visits to Cedar Point and we always go on Holiday weekends. Waiting in line really isn't the end of the world, and if you're there for early entry you'll never wait more than 20 minutes for anything.
larrygator Posted January 24, 2016 Posted January 24, 2016 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. It's been two years (if you consider that a long time). My opinion is based on 6 visits to SFA between 2005-2013. I encountered many more rude, uncaring and demeaning ride ops than I did happy and friendly ride ops on each trip of those 6 trips. I'm glad it has turned around.
Highridin Posted January 25, 2016 Posted January 25, 2016 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. It's been two years (if you consider that a long time). My opinion is based on 6 visits to SFA between 2005-2013. I encountered many more rude, uncaring and demeaning ride ops than I did happy and friendly ride ops on each trip of those 6 trips. I'm glad it has turned around. 05-13? Oh yeah, rough times there. Well, I didn't think 12-13 were that bad, but 05-11; ridiculous over there.
blk_mamba Posted January 26, 2016 Posted January 26, 2016 Last time I went the ride ops werent' the problem-- it was the operations that was the killer for me. Part of the reason why parks like CP do so well is b/c their operations are so solid. They move people in and out quickly b/c they are running at full capacity. I remember reading something on the boards about how Cedar Point took a third train offline for Millenium Force, they fixed the train and put the train back on at with like a hour left of operations. The first thing I thought was that would never happen at SFA.
Suspence1127 Posted January 26, 2016 Posted January 26, 2016 I understand the idea of Fast Lane, that if one spends a lot getting to the park then they can spend more to make sure to get their money's worth from the first chunk of change. Unfortunately, not only is CP out of budget in any case for me, any park that is within budget is only so without addons like Fast Lane. So, saying "fast lane is the only way to go" is basically saying I don't want to go there. I agree. You pay big money for that thing. CP couldn't be my home park. I'll take the short lines of SFA any day, and at KD on the weekdays. On another note, I'm getting conflicting info on whether or not I should get a fast pass at SFGAdv on a summer weekday. You should be fine on a summer weekday for great adventure. Especially if it's hot, because then everyone is going to hurricane harbor instead of the dry park. And also, because it's a weekday, many parents are still working and can't bring their kids. And honestly, if you feel that you need a fastpass when you get there, you can always just buy one after you survey the crowds. I've never really seen them run out before (I'm sure they have, just not when I was there)
blk_mamba Posted January 27, 2016 Posted January 27, 2016 Completely aside but didn't anyone know that Premier rides is in Baltimore only 30-45 minutes top from SFA? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_Rides I know there is a Joker's Jinx in the park but damn can we get a new coaster? At least a Sky Rocket. lol
mike541x Posted January 27, 2016 Posted January 27, 2016 ^Intamin's U.S Division is located in Glen Burnie which is about the same distance.
blk_mamba Posted January 27, 2016 Posted January 27, 2016 That is a tragedy but it explains why Hershey has so many Intamins. Not that location of the head quarter really matters just saying why can't Premiere Rides of Intamin adopt SFA and make it their test park...lol.
thrillseeker4552 Posted January 27, 2016 Posted January 27, 2016 The S&S headquarters is also just north of Lagoon in Utah, but they don't really test rides there. In fact, I think the only S&S ride at Lagoon is the turbo drop. I guess it's not very common to "test" rides at parks like that?
RCF Posted January 28, 2016 Posted January 28, 2016 The S&S headquarters is also just north of Lagoon in Utah, but they don't really test rides there. In fact, I think the only S&S ride at Lagoon is the turbo drop. I guess it's not very common to "test" rides at parks like that? Actually, Lagoon has the turbo drop and space shot towers, but after a legal dispute S&S actually owns the ride. That is why they haven't worked together since.
CoasterTony Posted February 19, 2016 Posted February 19, 2016 According to Jim Reid-Anderson, Six Flags America will be hosting their first ever Holiday in the Park event in 2016! I wonder which coasters will be open during this event, I am almost certain Apocalypse will.
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