Six Flags America (SFA) Discussion Thread

[QueerRudie]

I did get the employees names- but still have not heard back from ANYBODY in the park over the events that occured- for which I am quite surprised-

 

As for the power failure- Yes, I can understand a power failure knocking off the coasters, etc.- But the flat rides were all operating (As many of them were; Some of the rides had "Not in service today" signs on them-)

 

And I can only hope that PARC managment is offered the parks- but I have severe doubts considering where Dan Snyder lives- and where his (non-winning) football team is as well.

 

I'm giving SFA one more chance next week- and as a stockholder (SADLY!) and as an enthusiast, I hope that it will turn out better than in the past- It's far too sad that parks such as this decline as bad as they have. I have many fond memories of SFA between 1998 (still as AW) through 2002/3- when the decline began, and I can only hope that a return to a better state is in it's future- DC NEEDS a 'local' park that fits the standards that most major cities have in it (Sorry, Houston- but look behind a BUSCH for that in the future-)

[Footballteen58]

Hey im going to Six Flags America sometime this month. It was either SFA or KD and ive been to KD multiple times and SFA 0. Also the $25 ticket helped. This will be my second Six Flags after SFFT(believe me im not expecting it to be close to the quality of that park). I'm hoping to GOD two face will somehow REPOPEN by then so I can walk out with all 8 credits like I did at SFFT. But I doubt it......Any advice for a first time to SFA?

[SFAfan#1]

^If you are looking to get all the credits then leave, head straight to Batwing. Lines for that are always 30+ minutes everyday. Everything else should be manageable, unless you go on a holiday or Saturday. If you go on a holiday or Saturday, get flashpasses!!! Two Face most likely won't open so don't get your hopes up

[KDCOASTERFAN]

According to Screamscape Two Face has in fact been down all year, and may not reopen at all and may be removed after this season.

 

So does that mean SFA will have THREE coasters in their boneyard area next year?

 

If they remove Two Face then thats when I'll finally believe when people say that SFI is slowly getting rid of SFA and will become the new Geauga (did I spell it right) Lake.

 

SFNE's cancelled BDK coaster would probably fit in that area minus the building off course but knowing Shapiro he'll just say "let's build another show stage there instead of an expensive ride of any kind".

 

Anyone remember what happened with the rotoshake & enterprise pads when those rides were removed?

 

Sadly I do see SFA becoming SFI's version of GL,they've been removing rides without replacing them with new ones lately leaving guests with even LESS to ride than before.The park was medicore enough what with the lack of new rides (in the ride side) over the course of the past 5 years but it's even worse now that there's even less to ride than before.

 

SFI doesn't get it that in order to bring people in they need to add new rides( and not just to the waterpark) or guests will go elsewhere like KD for instance.Like GL the drop in attendance is due in part to no new rides to draw people in & when the attendance continues to drop SFI sees it as "ohh they're not coming to the park so it's not worth adding new attractions at this park,we'll just keep giving them to SFMM,SFGRADV & SFGRAM instead where the attendance has remained slightly higher & cut our losses with SFA & close it".

[airtime]

Same arguement/different site KDCOASTERFAN/BATWINGFANSFA?

 

1999 - Two Face/Joker's Jinx

2000 - Superman

2001 - Batwing

2002 - Off Year

2003 - Penguin's Blizzard River

2004 - Off Year

2005 - Hurricane Harbor remodel

2006 - Off Year

2007 - Off Year

2008 - New water slide

 

Avalanche was added somewhere in there. Four new coasters in ten years. The park has averaged one new coaster every two years and your not happy. Yes, sure they probably should have spread it out a little more but that wasn't the mentality at the time but now they didn't.

[Capitalize]

Hey im going to Six Flags America sometime this month. It was either SFA or KD and ive been to KD multiple times and SFA 0. Also the $25 ticket helped. This will be my second Six Flags after SFFT(believe me im not expecting it to be close to the quality of that park). I'm hoping to GOD two face will somehow REPOPEN by then so I can walk out with all 8 credits like I did at SFFT. But I doubt it......Any advice for a first time to SFA?

My only advice is to try and relax and enjoy your day. In all honesty with the way SFA operates you can get lots of rides on all the coasters without even trying since the crowds are normally very light. And the ops may be slow, but I don't stress too much about it anymore, because it may add a tiny bit to my wait of 10 or so minutes... Either way, I'll be getting on every ride as much as I really care to by the end of the day.

 

And don't be surprised if rides go down with simple mechanical problems... Especially Superman or Batwing. But don't worry and don't get too stressed because they just need to get reset and then their good to go which shouldn't take more then 20-30 minutes depending how long the mechanics take to get there.

 

I would just wonder around the park one coaster to the next, I normally start off in SW Territory with a ride or two on Wild One. O yeah, don't bring a back pack unless you want to deal with locker nazi's at a couple of the coasters...

[Capitalize]

Although the new rides haven't been pouring in like before, the parks has been making smaller improvements and has continued to do so over the past few seasons. They aren't as noticable as a new coaster or flat, but they do improve the park at least slightly.

 

I do really hope that SFInc will wake the hell up next season and actually get SFA a new thrill ride of some form, however. SFA has the possibility to be a huge destination in the DC area, but they are completely squandering the opportunity year after year. With the new bridge helping get traffic into MD from VA, Metro access, and the increasing traffic going down south to Kings Dominion making less and less people want to make that drive you would think they would say "hmm, we could actually have lots of people in this park...."

[SFAfan#1]

Yeah, SFI needs to step their game up with SFA. Im tired of losing so many attractions and not gaining any. SFA is probably the only park I can go to and get bored.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

Yeah, SFI needs to step their game up with SFA. Im tired of losing so many attractions and not gaining any. SFA is probably the only park I can go to and get bored.

 

I agree with you on that 100%.In order to remain profitable they need to spend money first.I read on SFNEOnline last night that SFI will probably send SFNE's coaster to SFM however.

 

Why send it down there when MD. is much closer & the park is rumored to loose yet another ride next year?See this is what really convinces me that the end may be near because,like at GL they've been removing rides but not replacing them...sure the rides that were removed were maintenance nightmares but if they cared about their guests they'd at least replace them with something new.

[Footballteen58]

I'm going to SFA 7/17. Can't wait hopefully the park will be empty. I hope to the dear lord that two face is fixed by then. Does anybody know the story behind why Two Face is closed?

[airtime]

SF hasn't replaced any of the flat rides they have removed from any park. So, try again KDCOASTERFAN. From what I heard, you wouldn't like Batman :TDK and you would be complaining about how SFA was cheated.

 

Footballteen, I wouldn't count on Two Face running when you go to the park.

[Capitalize]

I'm going to SFA 7/17. Can't wait hopefully the park will be empty. I hope to the dear lord that two face is fixed by then. Does anybody know the story behind why Two Face is closed?

In all honesty, I'm essentially talking out my ass here. But if I had to make a guess as to what is wrong with the ride it would be an issue existing in the train as every time I have visited the first car has had the fiberglass off... I dunno, though.

[SFAfan#1]

From what I heard, you wouldn't like Batman :TDK and you would be complaining about how SFA was cheated.

 

I wouldn't care if I didn't like the ride, just knowing that they still care about the park enough to add a new coaster is good enough for me. Also that could bring more people into the park.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

From what I heard, you wouldn't like Batman :TDK and you would be complaining about how SFA was cheated.

 

I wouldn't care if I didn't like the ride, just knowing that they still care about the park enough to add a new coaster is good enough for me. Also that could bring more people into the park.

 

I agree.

 

It's not just the lack of new rides that turned me off,it's the horrible policies & operations as well,namely the mandatory lockers & the inept manner in which the flashpass system is being abused by the operators.

 

Last time I went in 07 the operators at two face loaded all seats except the front row with flashpassers(my friend & I should've been allowed to ride that cycle as we were next in line & there was nothing wrong with the ride) but they sent it out with that row empty anyway & we had to wait an extra cycle as a result.Afterward we went to GR & filed a complaint about it to which they didn't even seem to care because the park never contacted either of us to apologize for it.

 

The other horrid abuse of flashpass can be found on superman,I mean why on earth is one entire train reserved for flashpassers instead of assigning them two at a time to the clearly marked seats in the middle of the train?

 

It's policies like these that make the experience at the park all the more unbearable...and in the end not worth the time & money.SFI is slowly but surely destroying what could be one of their better parks by not putting for the effort to maintain & expand it especially in a region where there's some hefty competition.

 

You know,I may have figured out why Snyder won't sell SFA to another owner such as PARC.He surely knows that if another company buys it said company might make the necessary investments needed to turn the place around & become a major contender in the mid-atlantic market.....just look at how well PARC has managed to turn things around at DL for instance.

[airtime]

As I said, you wouldn't be happy even if they added B:TDK. The Flash Pass policy is the same flash pass policy at all SF parks. When there are flash passers waiting, they wait one train and then board the next.

 

Again, your argument that there isn't any investment in the park doesn't hold water. There is plenty of investment, just not the investments your wanting.

[packfanlv]

I really believe this park is now beyond fixing without putting a lot of money into it and I don't think Six Flags can or will. It is a shame because Superman is such a great ride and I really enjoyed Batwing and Roar as well. I visited 10 Six Flags parks last year and this was by far the worst of them all. (Ok, La Ronde was in the same category!) I do wonder what the company has planned for the park, but it can't be to simply continue on like this, can it?

[Jcoaster]

Im going to SFA in August. Any advice I can use?

[Footballteen58]

UGHHHH I have a problem. The thing is with my trip to SFA I live about 5 hours from SFA youd think i'd of been there by now I'm 16. The trip is planned out like this me and my friend with me driving drive to my sisters house in fredericksburg and her and her boyfriend drive us the rest of the way to the park. Now that she told her boyfriend he doesnt wanna go to SFA cause his friends at work said it's a $%#@hole. He's never been but because of them he thinks we should go to Kings Dominion. I've been to Kings Dominion 4 times the only achievable credits without a little kid with me left are Dominator and Flight of Fear. I'd rather ride Superman It looks like a load of awesome. I'd rather go to the park that has a cheaper admission ticket and a brand new experience for me. Anyway you think I could convince my sisters boyfriend otherwise? I really don't want to go to Kings Dominion again already.....

[airtime]

I usually recommend people go on Sunday's between 10 and 2. The park is fairly deserted and you can usually get multiple rides on the coasters. Start with Batwing and work your way forward. See the Stunt Show, eat at any of the chain restaurants in the park, Uncle Roys has good hamburgers and the Saloon has a pretty decent meal of chicken strips, bean, curly fries, corn bread and desert for around $13. If you go to Kings Dominion your going to have fight lines for Dominator and Volcano.

[SFAfan#1]

UGHHHH I have a problem. The thing is with my trip to SFA I live about 5 hours from SFA youd think i'd of been there by now I'm 16. The trip is planned out like this me and my friend with me driving drive to my sisters house in fredericksburg and her and her boyfriend drive us the rest of the way to the park. Now that she told her boyfriend he doesnt wanna go to SFA cause his friends at work said it's a $%#@hole. He's never been but because of them he thinks we should go to Kings Dominion. I've been to Kings Dominion 4 times the only achievable credits without a little kid with me left are Dominator and Flight of Fear. I'd rather ride Superman It looks like a load of awesome. I'd rather go to the park that has a cheaper admission ticket and a brand new experience for me. Anyway you think I could convince my sisters boyfriend otherwise? I really don't want to go to Kings Dominion again already.....

 

If you really want to go, I'd lie to him lmao. Tell him that the rides are awesome but the park management is some @#$%! (which is true)

He might want to go then but if not, then lie your @$$ off.

[Wood Dragon 1988]

Tell him you are a freakin' coaster enthusiast and need your credits damnit!!!!!!!!

 

No, I would just tell him to go somewhere close, new, and with a pair of great coasters.

 

Tell him Superman and Wild One have a little thing called airtime, which is a forbidden word at the Dominion

 

Also, show him pics of the place. The waterpark looks (and is) awesome after the 2005(?) Hurricane Harbor makeover. Superman looks great in pics and Jokers Jinx makes most GP cringe.

 

I would volunteer to meet up with you, but I should be in North Carolina at Carowinds that day

[Jcoaster]

Im going in August. Can't wait to ride Superman for the first time and Jokers Jinx! Is the Joker Jinx similar to the Chiller in breakdowns, Capacity, Type of ride and noise?

[SFAfan#1]

^Im not sure about breakdowns being similar to Chiller, but everytime I go to SFA, its been open, but whenever someone else from the forums goes, its closed! Keep an eye out for Joker because you never know when it will randomly close/open. It makes a very loud noise also.

[Jcoaster]

I thought it would be similar in sound to the Chiller because there both Premier coasters, and boy do they get loud. Do you know what coasters I should ride in order to aviod lines.

[SFAfan#1]

If you go on a Saturday, then all of the coasters will have huge lines. Roar is probably your only exception from huge lines. Wild One's line will move fast. Everything else will take some time. On weekdays and Sundays, Batwing will be the only huge line. Go there first. Superman and Joker will also have lines, but they won't get as long as Batwing, so ride those two next. Then choose either to ride Wild One or Roar and Mind Eraser next. They shouldn't have crazy lines since most of the gp stay in Gotham all day.