Six Flags America (SFA) Discussion Thread

[JG-77]

Don't get me wrong, it's still rough, jerky and headbangy, it's mostly the shoulder-banging that it improved for me, making the ride less painful. With that said, I have a higher tolerance than many for roughness and awkward transitions, so take my experience with a grain of salt, you may still end up hating mind eraser.

[mary.pesik]

So if I ever go here, should I expect a bad experience? One poster above me claims it's the worst Six Flags park that's not La Ronde.

[bert425]

it's not a great park. . but they do have some good rides there.

go with low expectations, and they'll likely be exceeded.

[Canobie Coaster]

I've never seen two trains on Superman before so that's an encouraging sight so early in the season!

[JG-77]

53 minutes ago, mary.pesik said:

So if I ever go here, should I expect a bad experience? One poster above me claims it's the worst Six Flags park that's not La Ronde.

It's a good park, just not a great park. Some people have had bad experiences here, but I always enjoy my visits.

[jconsolmagno]

On 3/15/2021 at 7:39 PM, Canobie Coaster said:

I've never seen two trains on Superman before so that's an encouraging sight so early in the season!

Ran 2 in my visits last year. Ran 2 on Roar, FireBird, Jokers Jinx and Wild One as well during haunt.

Anyone know the last time they attempted 2 trains on Batwing? Seems that other station may have been dormant since shortly after opening based upon the track wear and tear. Interested to know how quickly they abandoned it.

And I really don't see them ditching Batwing anytime soon like the rumors suggest, that ride constantly has a wait... Yes, it runs one train and dispatch is slow, but it's also in nowhere land as it relates to the park's layout. You have to want to go there...

[JG-77]

Among my 1-1.5 dozen visits, I've seen Batwing run two trains exactly twice, I think most recently in 2018, maybe 2019. I think the reason is staffing rather than maintenance, since you need a crew twice the size. However, for whatever reason, I don't think I spotted Batwing's 2nd train (or ME and JJ's FWIW) anywhere on the track.

[jconsolmagno]

9 minutes ago, JG-77 said:

Among my 1-1.5 dozen visits, I've seen Batwing run two trains exactly twice, I think most recently in 2018, maybe 2019. I think the reason is staffing rather than maintenance, since you need a crew twice the size. However, for whatever reason, I don't think I spotted Batwing's 2nd train (or ME and JJ's FWIW) anywhere on the track.

Ha, really? Did they use the 2nd station when they run 2 trains?

[JG-77]

Appears so, I've never seen two train operation with just one station in action. 

[Jason Maier]

1. Maybe they're waiting until spring/summer to put the second train on JJ's track.

2. I didn't see ME's second train in use at all last year.

3. Only once have I seen two train operations on Batwing
3a. Perhaps at this point the other train is being used as a parts donor?

[disownedpear]

Had a decent half day at the park today, like people have been saying it's been surprisingly busy. Jokers Jinx and Batwing had decent lines due to one train. Although Wild One was running two, the dispatches were incredibly slow so that had a large line as well. However, Superman was running two all and the crew was hauling ass, often dispatching before the other train hit the brakes. Pretty impressive SFA! 

 

Couple other notes:

Mask compliance was pretty great but the amount of employees with it below their nose was a little annoying.

I've seen multiple measures to combat line jumping, including a phone line you can call. I've always heard that was a problem here but have never experienced it myself.  

Roar still sucks

Actually got the fliers to snap a bit, surprising as I've never been able to do it with the Larson ones.

Still think this park has the best employees of any Six Flags park, bar the shoddy operations.  

My restraint was not checked on Roar. The first time this has happened in over ten years of going to amusement parks. 

 

[VaCoasters]

34 minutes ago, disownedpear said:

Had a decent half day at the park today, like people have been saying it's been surprisingly busy. Jokers Jinx and Batwing had decent lines due to one train. Although Wild One was running two, the dispatches were incredibly slow so that had a large line as well. However, Superman was running two all and the crew was hauling ass, often dispatching before the other train hit the brakes. Pretty impressive SFA! 

 

Couple other notes:

Mask compliance was pretty great but the amount of employees with it below their nose was a little annoying.

I've seen multiple measures to combat line jumping, including a phone line you can call. I've always heard that was a problem here but have never experienced it myself.  

Roar still sucks

Actually got the fliers to snap a bit, surprising as I've never been able to do it with the Larson ones.

Still think this park has the best employees of any Six Flags park, bar the shoddy operations.  

My restraint was not checked on Roar. The first time this has happened in over ten years of going to amusement parks. 

 

Maybe an unpopular opinion but I wish parks would stop bothering to check restraints.  Disney hasn't checked restraints for years. It's really a waste of time and it's not necessary.

[AmyUD06]

It's not necessary to ensure that riders are secure in their vehicles and won't go flying out?  In 2021 America where companies get sued for everything?  What are you smoking man?

[coasterbill]

My restraint on Ragin Cajun straight-up failed 2 weeks ago. Maybe they should check them an extra time to be honest. 

I wasn’t even going to mention it since it’s the like of thing that enthusiasts will brush off as it basically never happens and I’ve never personally seen it before on any coaster ever but at some point mid-ride the bar was up around shoulder level and relying on the fact that it was chained to the other bar to keep it that low. It was still semi-locked if you lowered it again and it didn’t happen again but it was crazy.

The ride has a seatbelt too which in-itself is sufficient to keep you in the ride so I wasn’t freaking out about it but I had a major “WTF?” moment there for a minute.

[disownedpear]

1 hour ago, coasterbill said:

My restraint on Ragin Cajun straight-up failed 2 weeks ago. Maybe they should check them an extra time to be honest. 

I wasn’t even going to mention it since it’s the like of thing that enthusiasts will brush off as it basically never happens and I’ve never personally seen it before on any coaster ever but at some point mid-ride the bar was up around shoulder level and relying on the fact that it was chained to the other bar to keep it that low. It was still semi-locked if you lowered it again and it didn’t happen again but it was crazy.

The ride has a seatbelt too which in-itself is sufficient to keep you in the ride so I wasn’t freaking out about it but I had a major “WTF?” moment there for a minute.

I've had nearly the same exact thing happen, except on Windstorm at Adventure Park, another Zamperla in Maryland haha. 

I'll often tell a story of something I saw working rides and an enthusiast will go "that didn't happen"... like okay enjoy your bubble of safety. The rides are extremely safe but some people here act like nothing wrong ever happens!

[coasterbill]

Yeah, I mean if you told me that happened on Fury 325 I wouldn't believe you but Windstorms and Reverchon mice... lol. I'd have got right back in line, the seatbelt is fine by itself but that's still the only time I've ever seen that happen but... yeah.

Also yeah, I'm pretty sure Adventure Park USA has a "Jesus take the wheel" approach to maintenance on that thing.

[JG-77]

I actually had the same experience on Ragin Cajun. It wasn't frightening thanks to the redundant safety features as everyone's always mentioned, but several times the lapbar came up about half a foot if not more. I'd be very curious what causes that to happen mechanically, this is the first time in my visits anything like that happened.

It's also worth noting that both Bill and I had this experience on the same day, so for all we know it could be fixed by now, but I can certainly imagine it freaking some people out.

[disownedpear]

9 hours ago, coasterbill said:

Also yeah, I'm pretty sure Adventure Park USA has a "Jesus take the wheel" approach to maintenance on that thing.

The state of Maryland took Adventure Parks permission to run two cars on Wildcat since they kept colliding, because the park did an in-house modification to ironically increase capacity. It's pretty sketchy over there ha. 

[BRTeller]

On 3/16/2021 at 11:07 PM, JG-77 said:

Appears so, I've never seen two train operation with just one station in action. 

It's definitely been over a decade, but early on they used to do two train operation with one station and I distinctly remember it only due to the glaring sun on the brake run and sitting for what felt as an eternity with their operations.

Also, these comment on Adventure Park USA have me cracking up. The owner is, well, interesting of that place. He used to run "Put Put Golf" in Frederick MD before opening the park and he's had a reputation for decades on not paying contractors. They also attempted to crowd fund a water park awhile back by pre selling season passes. I rode Wildcat when it first opened and even then they had to manually release the brakes and push the cart to the chain lift. While asking each other if something was fixed on it yet, I honestly don't know how it made it back to the station from that ride.

It's always been one of those parks that when I see a "only in Europe, never in USA" type of trip report I always think "well you've never been to Adventure Park USA", haha. It really was and I feel still is a nice facility for what it is visually, but I have zero faith in their safety and maintenance of the rides. The only reason a major accident hasn't been reported is likely due to it's small size and that the rollercoasters are down a lot of the times and don't see too many riders.

[disownedpear]

The Owner of Adventure Park(Not the Manager who is an awesome dude doing the best with what he's given) is actually the worst person I have ever met, no exaggeration. In the years I worked there I saw things that had they happened at SFA, would have made state news at least. When people say SFA is the worst park in the country they forget the East Coast Mt Olympus is around the corner. They were seconds away from a Verruckt style accident on the Skycoaster. Enthusiasts don't always believe me when I say this but I know what I saw. The employee that prevented the accident(and wasn't even working) did not receive a promotion or anything. The two responsible for it received no punishment.

The place is pretty and everyone, including the owner really care about the park in other ways I wish it would extend to their maintenance/operating procedures....

[Canobie Coaster]

From what I've gathered from this thread, Six Flags America will keep their rides open in rain.  Does this park tend to close early on a rainy day like Great Adventure?

[MisterBrow]

I think it is more of if there is lightning in the area than rain.

[Canobie Coaster]

From what I saw today, the only coaster that wouldn't run in the rain was Wild One.  Thankfully, I got a dozen rides on that coaster in between the rain at the start and end of the day.

[jconsolmagno]

Would have guessed Batwing myself...

[Canobie Coaster]

Speaking of Batwing, the crew working that ride was incredible.  They were averaging 30-60 second dispatches (as long as the ride didn't go down, which was beyond their control).  That's amazing for any ride, let alone that one.  Especially since it usually has dispatches in the 5-10 minute range.

The operations at Six Flags America were way better than usual.  I'm convinced they kidnapped a Cedar Fair staff.