Six Flags America (SFA) Discussion Thread

[alilstronger]

Was at Six Flags today not sure if this is a change on all wooden coasters there or just roar but while loading we weren't allowed to put down our own restraints only fasten seatbelts then the operators closed all restraints, Has anyone else noticed this ?

 

I have noticed this too with Roar. Sometimes they do not let you and sometimes they let you. This goes to show not every group of employees is following protocol.

[mike541x]

So I'm planning on visiting SFA sometime soon and I haven't been in about six or seven years. I might be visiting on a Sunday since they're my days off of work. How are the crowds on Sundays around this time of the year?

[eddie200330]

So I'm planning on visiting SFA sometime soon and I haven't been in about six or seven years. I might be visiting on a Sunday since they're my days off of work. How are the crowds on Sundays around this time of the year?

 

Don't know about the next few weeks, but if you could hold off till football season, Sundays are great.

[UrbanLegend]

So I'll be going to SFA for the first time this Tuesday? Will the park be crowded on a mid-August weekday? Any particular flat rides or even-slightly-above-average food places?

 

Also I took a wild guess at best/least horrible spots on each ride. How close am I to getting it right? Yes, I'm getting every credit if it kills me (it might).

 

Ride of Steel, Joker's Jinx (?), Wild One (?): Back

Apocalypse: Middle

Mind Eraser, Batwing, Roar: Front

[railryda]

As a seasoned veteran of the park:

 

I wouldn't worry about crowds on Tuesday August 20. First day of school for Prince George County, MD (the county where SFA is located) is August 19. I'd be more worried about the park having enough staff to run the rides.

 

Flat rides - Nothing particular about flat rides. If you don't mind wateparks, Bonzai Pipeline is pretty good.

 

I think your pretty far off on where to ride:

 

Superman:ROS gives lots of airtime in the front and a spectacular view going up the lift. I seem to sink in my sit in the back, never understand the fascination with the back of the ride.

 

Joker's Jinx: Could go either way.

 

Wild One: If you don't mind getting banged around the back. The front I feel is better.

 

Apocalypse: Do not do anything other than first two rows. You will bash your head into the restraints.

 

Mind Eraser: Best in the back. Not as much head banging.

 

Batwing: I like the back a little more than the front. Your on your back up the lift and the front pulls you over the top and flips you a lot faster.

 

Roar: Your going to get banged around where ever you sit, but I would ride in the front.

 

Above average food places: Not at SFA. Everything is pretty average or below average. BBQ Sandwich in Coyote Creek Restaurant is ok. I understand the pasta in Heritage House is decent.

Edited August 15, 2013 by railryda

[railryda]

So I'm planning on visiting SFA sometime soon and I haven't been in about six or seven years. I might be visiting on a Sunday since they're my days off of work. How are the crowds on Sundays around this time of the year?

 

Don't know about the next few weeks, but if you could hold off till football season, Sundays are great.

 

I like going to the park on Sunday mornings. Church crowd doesn't show up until around 2:00. You should be finished with the park by then. Expect a large crowd this coming Sunday with the parks Festival Fin de Verano (End of Summer Festival). Park is open MOST weekend days in September. That would be a good time to visit.

[larrygator]

As a seasoned veteran of the park:

 

Mind Eraser: Best in the back. Not as much head banging.

 

Really????? Not is not how the majority of people feel about SLCs.

 

I tend to agree with the original poster's suggestions.

Edited August 15, 2013 by larrygator

[alilstronger]

So I'll be going to SFA for the first time this Tuesday? Will the park be crowded on a mid-August weekday? Any particular flat rides or even-slightly-above-average food places?

 

Also I took a wild guess at best/least horrible spots on each ride. How close am I to getting it right? Yes, I'm getting every credit if it kills me (it might).

 

Ride of Steel, Joker's Jinx (?), Wild One (?): Back

Apocalypse: Middle

Mind Eraser, Batwing, Roar: Front

 

Ride of Steel: Back is the best in my opinion. I LOVE getting whipped over that first drop. I am not someone who cares for air time too much, I much prefer being whipped around by a coaster. Goes to show everyone is different.

 

Joker's Jinx: Front because of all the head chopping along the ride.

 

Wild One: Back to get whipped through the ride. The front is very boring in my opinion.

 

Apocalypse: SKIP!! Just kidding. The front seems to be the best for less head banging.

 

Roar: I prefer the back because of how violent it can be but if you prefer air time and less violent ride the front.

 

Mind Eraser: I prefer the front because I get more head hanging in the back.

 

 

Food: I always eat at Panda Express or Subway. But that is only because I am more health conscious. Depending on how many are in your group, the pizza places have a deal with a pizza and 4 drinks for like $40-50 I believe.

 

Flats: Penguins Blizzard River can be fun if you like spinning rides and get a raft that actually spins. I have a soft spot in my heart too for Falling Star - awesome ride. The drop tower may be small but its still pretty good. I also like Rodeo but they require two people. All the rest are blah and boring.

[railryda]

larrygator... I use to think the same thing then a couple of people working for the park told me to give it a try towards the rear. Sure enough, I found it to be easier on the head.

[coasterfreak101]

larrygator... I use to think the same thing then a couple of people working for the park told me to give it a try towards the rear.

 

This sounds exhilirating.

[cfc]

As a seasoned veteran of the park:

 

Mind Eraser: Best in the back. Not as much head banging.

 

Really????? Not is not how the majority of people feel about SLCs.

 

I tend to agree with the original poster's suggestions.

 

I think it's pretty painful no matter where you sit.

[CPmillenia94]

Just want to note that if you adjust the seat so that your head is above the otsr's, its a great ride I really enjoyed it when I rode it.

[ArundelHigh Coasters]

I don't find Mind Eraser painful. It's one of my favorite SLC's. I also agree that riding it in the back is the least painful. You can sit anywhere on Jokers Jinx and it will still give you the same experience. On Superman: Ride Of Steel, I prefer the back because it gives you a more intense drop. With Batwing, it really doesn't make a difference where you sit. riding Wild One and Roar in the front and back is best. Apocalypse is best in the very front, second row, and back. And also, about the lockers, that policy is out at SFA. You can bring your bags because they have cubbies in every coaster's station now .

[CoasterCarl]

I went to SFA for the first time a few weeks ago. Superman: ROS was great a little rough but still great! I wasn't sure about Joker's Jinx but I liked it. It barely made it over one of the turns Apocalypse was rough. Roar was my favorite coaster there! It was rough but I didn't think it was that bad. I went on multiple times and it was great! (My third GCII). Overall it was a great weekend.

[UrbanLegend]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! One more thing, is there anywhere decent near the park to get dinner, or should I venture into Silver Spring or DC to do so?

[CoasterCarl]

^ This is the Six Flags America (Maryland) thread not the Six Flags Great America (Illinois) Thread.

[jray21]

^Double Whoops! Thanks for catching that.

Edited August 19, 2013 by jray21

[alilstronger]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! One more thing, is there anywhere decent near the park to get dinner, or should I venture into Silver Spring or DC to do so?

 

There is a Carabba's not too far. I always use Google Maps to find food near parks.

[UrbanLegend]

Got back from the park, and it was about what I expected. Well, Mind Eraser was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The restraints kinda smelled sweaty though, which was unpleasant. Also everything was running one train today.

Is there any particular reason that this park has been so neglected lo these many years? I would think that Baltimore and D.C. would be a decent market for some decent rides. Everything just sort of seems like Corporate doesn't really care how the park does. Any thoughts on why?

[alilstronger]

^ I think the same thing. Both Six Flags Great Adventure and Six Flags New England have such a better feeling to them and both parks have a better selection of rides. You would think with Baltimore only 45 minutes and DC 15 minutes from the park they would use this to their advantage. Sadly, people in Baltimore/DC would rather travel to Hershey, Knoebels, BGW, Kings Dominion, Six Flags Great Adventure, Kennywood, etc. over Six Flags America. Mostly because of PAST experience. There are so many people that have been to the park in the past and had terrible experiences so now they are not willing to go back and give the park another shot. The park used to have terrible customer service and it used to be really dirty. Also it does not help the park has had stabbings in the water park as well as gun shots in the parking lot with people fighting over parking spaces.

[vacoaster09]

Most of the people I have come across in the area... even co workers who I work with in DC have never even heard of the park and/or never knew it was over there. None of them are away of the parks past from 10 years ago. Us enthusiast sure remember because there are some who will never put the past in the past.. however, I think the fact that people in the area haven't heard of the park is attributed to the park's marketing. They have been doing better in the past... People seem to know only know about Kings Dominion, Hershey, and when they think six flags they think NJ. Thing is the park hasn't really added anything significant like it did back in 1999 to garner huge local attention. The attention that they had back at the turn of the millennium, they lost post 2007 due to bad service. I am really look forward to the parks next Staple attraction. I am happy that it got featured on travel channel. Hopefully they keep up the recent trend. It's definitely on the climb... just not where it could or should be yet. The good thing, which hasn't been talked about a lot is that with all these lower cost additions (used coasters)... they have been able to put more money back into infrastructure improvements. I mean 2012 was full of new signs, fresh paint, and nice landscaping. 2013, saw new retail and food venues, more fresh paint (Batwing)... which a cheap ride like Cajun (if rumors are true)... That's more room for these infrastructure improvements. The park has to work on a budget given to them by Corporate. Ultimately it is up to Corporate.

[mike541x]

There are so many people that have been to the park in the past and had terrible experiences so now they are not willing to go back and give the park another shot. The park used to have terrible customer service and it used to be really dirty. .

 

I haven't been to SFA in about six or seven years, but my friends and I are visiting this Sunday to give it another shot. While my past experiences haven't been "terrible", they weren't exactly great either. It seems like the park has improved since last year, but we'll find out for ourselves. On that note, how should crowds be this Sunday? I understand school opened for most (if not all) of MD, so I suspect crowds should be ok in the afternoon/evening?

[alilstronger]

^ I love my home park. Its not the best and its not the worst. It is kinda just there and I can go for a day of fun if I go with the right people who won't tear it apart. This park has come A LONG way in just 2 seasons. The park is FINALLY clean and they are starting to update signs/paint all over the park which was mentioned above. All they really need is to start adding rides, primarily flats. They have lost so many flats over the years.

 

Sundays are usually not crowded at all in the park. You will not need Flash Pass more than likely. Get there when the park opens and as long as every coaster is up and running (they are getting 100% better with this) you will have all them all finished in 2 hours if that. There are not many flats so you could potentially have the entire parks (minus water park and if you like a lot of the spinny flats) finished in a about 4-5 hours. The draw for this park is the water park. If you go over there the lines can get to about 25-30 minutes for the bigger attractions (Tornado, Half Pipe, Bonzai Pipelines) but that is more on Saturdays. Schools starts the next day is most of MD so many people will probably not stay till closing. I would use that to your advantage. The EFX 2.0 show near the front of the park is the most decent show if you ask me.

 

Keep in mind to just take the park for what it is. Its clean and there are rides there, nothing spectacular. Try to focus more on having fun instead of criticizing everything about the park. I always tell people this when I go with them.

 

I was thinking about going to the park Sunday as well.

[mike541x]

So my friends and I finally got to visit SFA yesterday. I must say that ride operations haven't changed much since my last visit in 06 or 07 (Slow ride ops), and they were slacking keeping their restaurants clean. The Johnny Rockets next to the Looney Toons section was pretty gross. But we didn't let any of that ruin our day. We got to ride every single roller coaster, thanks to the light crowds. Every ride except for Joker's Jinx and Wild One were running one train which I thought was pretty weird.

 

Roar-Rough but still a fun. First drop is great in the back seat.

 

Apocalypse-It's a shame the park couldn't get a better roller coaster, but it's better than nothing. Had quite a bit of head banging.

 

Wild One-Good to see this ride still kicks major ass, but to bad it had the slowest ride ops. With two trains running, you'd think dispatch would be much faster.

 

Mind Eraser-Not as bad as a lot of people say it is. But like UrbanLegend mentioned, the restrains smelt pretty bad.

 

Joker's Jinx-Still of one the best coasters in the park. Two train operation and had almost no one in line every time we got on.

 

Superman-Best ride in the park (Obviously). They actually had a great crew working too.

 

Batwing-I found it an ok ride but I can see why Vekoma only made three of these.

 

Overall it was good day. I might come back for Fright Fest soon.

[SuperShawn]

I went to the park for an hour last week with a friend. Like everyone says, the operations are meh, but the park has always been empty when I have gone. if they are only ever used to empty stations I can get why the ops are not rushing to dispatch at any sort of pace. Not that it's excusable but just an observation. And given we walked onto every ride we wanted to I didn't feel the need for speedier ops that day.

 

It was interesting riding Jokers Jinx after just ridding Poltergeist at SFFT. The pacing is noticeably slower on JJ, those extra few MPH really make a difference in the ride experience. I also felt Mind Eraser wasn't too bad after giving it a curtsey ride, there are far worse running SLCs out there. Surperman while still a fun ride, seems to have gotten quite the shimmy and shakes. It's not painful but noticeable especially along the straight aways and in the both helixes. I recall Darien Lakes running much better when I rode it last year. Oh and their swing ride was making some god awful squealing noise that I hope gets taken care of soon.