Six Flags America (SFA) Discussion Thread

[CreditCrazy]

SFA really needs this, and I am glad they will get a Thomas Town, I'm just glad they're getting anything! But...

 

Are families really going to come to SFA after what they've seen and heard about the park before? I don't think this would make much a difference...it'll probably end up very empty, but that's just my guess.

[CoasterNERD502]

Families always go to SFA. This is just going to keep them in the park longer. I think the crowds of SFA are mainly teen groups, then families with small children, then adults without any children at all. If you go to Looney Tunes Movie Town on any day, you'll see hundreds of kids running around getting on rides. And what do you mean

"Are families really going to come to SFA after what they've seen and heard about the park before?"

What have they heard or seen? I dont understand.

 

I'm very glad that SFA announced it so soon! And I'm very glad they are getting something new for 2010, even though I already knew that we were getting something next year. I guess I kind of ruined the surprise a couple pages back....

From page 65

They also told me that they are adding a new family ride next year where Two Face stands, and another new ride the year after that.

Whoops

[CreditCrazy]

What have they heard or seen? I dont understand.

 

I can't exactly back this up, since I have never been to SFA, but from what I have heard, the park is not the best in the world.

 

A family goes to SFA. They don't have a lot to do compared to other parks. Like SFMM, it is focused more on thrill rides and not family rides. That is why Thomas Town will be good for the park. But after a family that had went there before Thomas Town comes, I'm sure that family didn't have a lot of fun. So what will make them come back? Thomas Town? Not enough. Plus, the park is in a bad area and gets a bad crowd, putting it even farther away from "family friendly".

[CoasterNERD502]

Its not in a bad area. Prince Georges County isnt the best area, but its certainly not bad. Everywhere you go you get the people that think there "bad" or think "they go hard" I guess, but they fakin'. PG is the richest African American county in the state and maybe the country, (somebody told me that before and I believe them, but I never researched it) so if you can afford a big house, and can afford to go to a good school ,you are CERTAINLY NOT BAD lol. But, you shouldnt go on what you've heard about the area/park if you've never been. I live here and work at SFA and I know have a different understanding of the area that you've never experienced. (I'm not trying to put you on the spot, or whatever, I'm just saying) Its not like they smacked SFA right down in the middle of Southeast, DC. Its in Bowie, MD. With a name like Bowie, you are deffinantly not bad lol.

[fallen xxi]

^^ Have you been to SFA? Because if you have, then you've taken a different route to get there then me. Marlboro is a very nice upper middle class area with nice houses, shopping centers, and neighborhoods around it. The people within driving distance are a different story, but it's like that with any local park.

[ajinaz]

but it's like that with any local park.

 

I'm not real sure what you consider a local park. Because in my experience, most local parks are not "like that."

In my trips to SFA I found the atmosphere to be much different than most other parks. And not in a good way.

[cathyJ]

Its not in a bad area. Prince Georges County isnt the best area, but its certainly not bad. Everywhere you go you get the people that think there "bad" or think "they go hard" I guess, but they fakin'. PG is the richest African American county in the state and maybe the country, (somebody told me that before and I believe them, but I never researched it) so if you can afford a big house, and can afford to go to a good school ,you are CERTAINLY NOT BAD lol. But, you shouldnt go on what you've heard about the area/park if you've never been. I live here and work at SFA and I know have a different understanding of the area that you've never experienced. (I'm not trying to put you on the spot, or whatever, I'm just saying) Its not like they smacked SFA right down in the middle of Southeast, DC. Its in Bowie, MD. With a name like Bowie, you are deffinantly not bad lol.

 

while you are correct about PG County being the richest African American county in the state, I believe one big reason why so many people consider SFA and the like to be in a "bad area" can be traced back to the now defunct Capital Centre arena and the now defunct Landover Mall..both of which are close to SFA.

 

For years many of the old DC retail chains like Hechts for example claimed the mall said the surrounding region was "in a bad area". Hechts I believe Hechts even refused to fully stock that store with its upscale items because of that. of course on the flip side that mall did have problems with management so maybe that "its in a bad area" was just an excuse on the part of Hechts.

 

Then there was the Cap Center. Before MCI Center ( or whatever it is now ) was built, I remember watching DC TV about how so many people wanted a new arena to be built so they would "feel safe". However to my knowledge I don't recall anyone ever dying at the old Cap Centre. Fights? Drug Use? Sure..that has happened at ALL sports arenas at one time or another. But murders? People disappearing and were never seen again?

The rumors I remember hearing but did those actually happen? Doubt it.

[CoasterNERD502]

Yeah I see where your going with that, but isnt the Cap Center or Verizon Center (MCI) in DC? Every large city has its share of problems. But SFA is aout 20 minutes outside of DC, so the area in a 5 mile range of the park is really nice. Right across the street from the park is a giant church and a retirement neighborhood, down the street to the left are many nice neighborhoods and elementary schools, to the right is two shopping centers that are also very nice.

So what I'm saying is that there are some nice places around the park, but SFA does get some of the "bad" people (they are all called guests to me, I don't discriminate on good or bad people lol). since the park is so close to some "bad" parts of DC. But honestly, I've seen a lot more fights on youtube from SFMM than SFA. I think I've never seen a fight on youtube from SFA. Also, does anyone call SFoG's area a bad area? Remember the kid that got jumped there? The worse we have at SFA is theft, but thats everywhere.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

Well, it's no coaster, but I think deep down most people will agree that this is more along the lines of what the park really needs... if nothing else, good to see the park is planning ahead!

 

(Photo courtesy of SFAFans.com, but unfortunately we do not have any additional information at this time)

 

Well I guess this confirms the rumors for 2010 but how are they gonna fit a new kids area into two face's footprint with the go karts being there?Hopefully they'll recieve a much needed coaster or thrilling ride package to perhaps lure me back in the future but A LOT of issues with park operations & management have gotta change first before that will happen.

[CoasterLover]

Well I guess this confirms the rumors for 2010 but how are they gonna fit a new kids area into two face's footprint with the go karts being there?

 

Who says it's going where Two Face was? Granted, that space is a lot bigger than a lot of people think...

[QueerRudie]

Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 2:38 am Post subject:

 

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CoasterNERD502 wrote:

Its not in a bad area. Prince Georges County isnt the best area, but its certainly not bad. Everywhere you go you get the people that think there "bad" or think "they go hard" I guess, but they fakin'. PG is the richest African American county in the state and maybe the country, (somebody told me that before and I believe them, but I never researched it) so if you can afford a big house, and can afford to go to a good school ,you are CERTAINLY NOT BAD lol. But, you shouldnt go on what you've heard about the area/park if you've never been. I live here and work at SFA and I know have a different understanding of the area that you've never experienced. (I'm not trying to put you on the spot, or whatever, I'm just saying) Its not like they smacked SFA right down in the middle of Southeast, DC. Its in Bowie, MD. With a name like Bowie, you are deffinantly not bad lol.

 

 

while you are correct about PG County being the richest African American county in the state, I believe one big reason why so many people consider SFA and the like to be in a "bad area" can be traced back to the now defunct Capital Centre arena and the now defunct Landover Mall..both of which are close to SFA.

 

I can see this point of view completely. SFA does earn a reputation for being somewehat 'downtrodden' due to it's location. That should not reflect the local populous or related for any reason. If anything, SFA sufferes not from urban blight, but lack of direction or of planning for that matter. It's a bad case of management not doing the right directions at the right times, or to allow for proper control of the park.

 

SFA, if I had my way (And I did speak of this earlier) would have MUCH better control of it's own STAFF and THEN the people in the park. For the most part, SFA has the potential to be a -GREAT- park with the right control and the right reasons to operate. But when the staff just don't care, you won't ever get a good product. And the staff do that: They JUST DON'T care. The location is GOOD. It's got a great cache of people around the area (See the DC map for that matter) and even has good Public Transport access. If they could JUST figure out what those people want. Another Kids attraction area? Nope. ENORMOUS RIDES of scale? Nope. A good, clean and FUN atmosphere? YUP.

 

As I get ready to move to the Bay area, I think of SFA with some good memories, outnumbered by BAD ones nowadays. Sadly, too.

[okinawaboy11]

I have a lot of friends that won't go to the park because of it's reputation and/or their previous visits.

 

Most of the people I know describe the park as "ghetto" or "run-down."

 

One of my co-workers said she'll never go back because last time she went on a summer Saturday and all the coasters, except the Roar and Wild One were broken for most of the day.

 

Another thing mentioned by another co-worker is that she described the park as one giant baby sitter. A lot of people drop their kids off there before work and pick them up on the way home. I mean with the 50 dollar season pass, you can't really beat the price though.

 

All my friends or co-workers prefer KD or Hershey...

 

The park just has a really bad reputation, and just bad operations. It's still my home park, I'll still get a season pass, and I'll still go at least 10+ times this season. But what can you do when the GP despises this park.

 

SFAfan+1....uh I mean coaternerd, please don't attack me I still love the park.

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

^The same could be said for just about any park that they're nothing but cheap baby sitters. I still think that SFMM is a pretty ghetto park, based on the fact that some of the same things still go on that SFA gets critisized for. I've been to five seperate Six Flags parks and they all pretty much seem to be ran the same, with the worst one actually being the one near me. I hate to digress, but I promise I'll tie up loose ends into the mainpoint. PROMISE! I don't understand why people are in love with Gadv and MM whn every single Six Flags park I've been to at least seems to deliver an equal subpar experience. I have yet to make it out to SFA, but I can't see it being worse than MM, which has cleaned up it's act, but still underdelivers when compared to other themepark operators. I think SFA gets an unnecessary bad wrap. It could be alot worse.

[okinawaboy11]

^ I went to SFGAv last year and operations were superb (minus one of 2 days for a short time Medusa's crew was slow as hell). SFGAm and SFoT also had nice operations that I remember. Anything has to be better than SFA. The employee's are lazy, rude, and disrespectful.

 

Do you know how many times I've seen employee's talking on their cell phones while either holding a train or checking restraints? Almost every visit. Or the ones that are just plain lazy, it took a good 5 minutes to dispatch a train on JJ one time just because the employee took his jolly freakin' time checking restraints.

 

Okay, done ranting.

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

I went to SFGAv last year and operations were superb

 

Now let me ask you this question...were operations SUPERB, or SUPERB compared to years past?

 

I ask this, because of all the praise given to MM, I find most of it undeserving. I still go to MM to this day and see employees ignoring people, ride ops screwing around, filthy bathrooms, employees from all departments on phones, and flat out bad operations. The only difference is it's not as bad as it was 3 years ago. So by definiton the park is doing better...but is it at it's BEST? I'd say no. I mean after all, The park has the same corporate model as MM and Gadv, so who can you really blame? The "lazy" employees or the management who neglects to run the park the same way every other park in the chain is being ran?

[ghost007jas]

^ Sorry, that's like blaming the teachers or school system for kid's not trying in school.

 

Whether there are consequences for negligence, it's the employees JOB (literally) to be courteous and put their best foot forward. Don't blame the corporate model for employee's behavior.

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

^I'm blaming the model for NOT CORRECTING bad behavior. Who's responsibility is it to reprimand lazy employees? You can blame frontline employees all you want and say that they're the reason the park has the image it does, but ultimately. it's not up to them who the park hires and who stays on staff. It is not at all like blaming teacher for students not trying. It is like blaming students for a classroom being out of control when the teacher has the right, power, and ability to remove unruly students, yet doesn't.

[Homeboy23]

I was there for about an hour yesterday morning. I went there basically to just process my Six Flags season pass but I decided to go in to ride. I got all the coasters done in less than an hour. The ride ops were moving at a normal pace, not fast or slow, so no complaint there. And they all seemed to be rather enjoyable compared to my trip last year where they all seemed to not care.

 

My one complaint from yesterday was walking down the path to Wild One where you go through 4-6 game booths. Everyone was open and each employee was on their mic talking loud as fast as they could which was annoying. It felt like they were doing it just to compete with each other on who can talk the loudest. The park was dead and no one was there to play. When I walked through that area it was 4 people total.

 

The noise I can deal with, but after I got past them one of them yelled out that I was a loser for not playing. That part was uncalled for.

 

Anyway, I don't plan on going back this year, I just wanted to get my pass for the other parks.

[CoasterNERD502]

^Its there job to talk and "try to convince people to play". If they sit there quiet and wait for people to walk to them, then they get in trouble by the managers. Trust me, I know, I was one of those annoying employees yesterday. (I worked at the Hi-Strikers game next to Basketball and Johnny Rockets

[cfc]

^Yeah, maybe, but this is probably not the best approach to take.

 

The noise I can deal with, but after I got past them one of them yelled out that I was a loser for not playing. That part was uncalled for.

[CoasterNERD502]

They probably didnt call him a loser, remember it was so much noise and they were talking fast? Somebody probably said something about winners and losers but all you heard was losers. Or maybe they werent even talking to/about you.

[Homeboy23]

It was only about 4 people going through that area, the 2 ahead of me and my friend were already past there (Already close to Wild One). As we passed they stopped talking then I heard one of them say that.

 

This was about 15-30 minutes into opening, so around 11.

 

Compare that to the guy at the 3 point shootout. He was trying to get me to play but he was being nice about it and after I said no thanks he let go and just said have a good day.

[cfc]

^That's probably the best approach. The "3 Point Challenge" spielers at KD and BGE are pretty good about that, too.

 

Perhaps the best approach is to avoid the word "loser" completely--less chance for someone to misunderstand what you're saying.

[Homeboy23]

Ya, the guy at KD yesterday was offering someone a couple of practice shots if they played when I was walking by.

[CHILLERLC1]

So just when I thought there was only one train by the old Two Face site there's two? The regular train and a mini train I just read about?