Six Flags America (SFA) Discussion Thread

[Jason Maier]

So after closing early on Saturday night because of fights, this:

Six Flags America Fright Fest to close early after fights.

Yeah, next year I could totally see them doing some kind of age restriction thing.

[disownedpear]

"Thank you for being a Six Flags Pass Holder.

At Six Flags America, the safety of our guests and team members is our top priority. Recently, we've made some changes to our park policies that you should be aware of. In order to make the most of your visit, please consider the following:

During Fright Fest, there is no new entry and no re-entry allowed after 6 p.m. Please plan to arrive with plenty of time to get through the park entry process. If you think you'll need a jacket, bring it with you.

All our rides, themed walkways, and Halloween shows are included with your admission. If you wish to come face-to-face with our ghouls, make sure you purchase a Fright Pass, which allows access to all five of our premium haunted attractions.

Two of our premium haunted attractions, Twisted Fairy Tales and Total Damnation, will open at 4 p.m. to allow you to begin the scares sooner. A Fright Pass is required for access to these and our other premium haunted attractions.

All guests upon arrival will go through a contact-free electronic security screening process. To make the process go as quickly and smoothly as possible, please limit the number of items that you bring with you into the park.

We are proud members of Prince George's County and the State of Maryland who are committed to doing our part to create a safe, strong, and vital community for generations to come. The operational changes we have outlined above are just a small piece of the work we are doing to ensure our mutual success in reaching that goal. We thank you for your dedication, patience, and support as we move forward together.

Richard G. Pretlow II
Park President
Six Flags America"

 

So my understanding is that I know have to pay for something that was promised with my season pass because kids can't behave? And there are still no age restrictions whatsoever. 

 

 

 

[MisterBrow]

The mazes have been an extra fee as long as I can remember.

 

I think I may skip FF. Swing in for HITP. I normally would have already purchased my season pass and dining for next year, but not so this year. I think I will try something a little further away for a season.

[Jason Maier]

2 hours ago, MisterBrow said:

The mazes have been an extra fee as long as I can remember.

 

I think I may skip FF. Swing in for HITP. I normally would have already purchased my season pass and dining for next year, but not so this year. I think I will try something a little further away for a season.

True, they've always sold the regular/express line passes for the mazes.

I'm also mixed about renewing my membership for 2022. If I do change, I may do Hershey Park

[Jason Maier]

So I actually managed to do Fright Fest last night.

Weather was very unseasonable for early October (high of about 80 and only dipped to 72 at night); whereas with past Fright Fests I've had to wear long shirts/pants and one time in 2016; the day was actually halted early because of heavy rain.

But anyhow, it just felt weird this year. Maybe it was the aftermath of the early closure after the fights on September 25th? Also interesting with two of the mazes (Twisted Fairy Tales & Total Damnation) opening at 4pm. As usual, the longest line was of course The Haunting of Hall Manor; this year the path went a way where you could actually see part of the Manor house itself (past years have seen the path take routes where you could see the crumbling interior).

Dead Man's Party in the stunt arena was just .... meh. Another show in the BBQ saloon was ok; but there was actually a magic show (Aaron Radatz) in the Grand Theater. 

Overall, even though Fright Fest this year at SFA seemed dull to me (post COVID hangover); it was glad to see a Grand Theater show for the first time since 2019!

[MisterBrow]

I was also thinking Hershey for a year. I have not seen anything as cheap there as the SFA flash sale .

 

Scrapping Batwing wouldn't be the worst thing; end that scorching death march to the back of the park only to find it broke. Put a parking lot and rear entrance (Who doesn't like a rear entrance?) back there and that would basically split the dry and wet park crowds. Field trip busses could also park back there by the picnic area.

[MisterBrow]

It also addresses that age old- there needs to be a path to Superman plea.

Money saved on BW toward new trains on ME and then... RMC ROAR which creates a much better lay out. Until then Gotham to Mardi Gras is a good 2 hours of rides, walk with food, and sitting out the DC traffic when heading through.

[Jason Maier]

MisterBrow,

As far as I'm aware, Vekoma doesn't even provide spare parts for Flying Dutchmans anymore (I think the second BW train is a parts donor now) and it's up to maintenance at the park to keep the ride going.

But I like your idea of bulldozing it and making it a parking lot; it certainly has more uptime than Batwing!

Yeah, I haven't seen any cheap HP sales like the SF flash sale; but maybe a change for a year will do me good.

And of course, DC traffic is a ballbreaker!

[MisterBrow]

I am only 10-15 miles away and certain times it isn't worth the traffic.

For that matter, scrap ME and extend the water park all the way into Coyote Creek. That would also save money. Mind Eraser: stupid name with wild west theming.

And when the RMC Roar finally happens and I am too old to ride it, it should have a name that fits the Chesapeake theme better than Firebird. LOL. ICE CRAB! Firebird's logo should have looked like an Oriole. 

[thepoint4life23]

Can someone tell me when this park normally opens for the year? I have a wedding I am going near in April and hope the park is open. 

[Jason Maier]

1 hour ago, thepoint4life23 said:

Can someone tell me when this park normally opens for the year? I have a wedding I am going near in April and hope the park is open. 

The usual opening weekend for the park in either the last weekend of March or the first weekend of April.

[coasterbill]

They opened on March 6th this year which is a full month earlier than they've ever opened before.

[JG-77]

Visited this park this past Saturday, and had a good time. Some notes from my visit:

-Harely Quinn is a great addition to the park. Ton of fun, with strong positive G's followed immediately by blissful floater, super happy to have it in the lineup.

-I think I might like JJ more than superman now. To be fair, I only got 2nd row rides on superman this time, no first row rides, but I forgot just how intense and whippy JJ can be.

-I tried Roar in the back row for the first time in years. The last time I came off with a headache, but at least for me, this time I was spared, and actually enjoyed the extra whip in the drops, as well as the extra legroom compared to the front row. I did lean forward a little bit in an attempt to reduce the vibrations, so perhaps that helped.

-Batwing too was smoother than I remember, tho perhaps that had to do with getting the front row (this wasn't intentional, just worked out that way)

-Firebird is way overhated IMO, that first half inthe back row is actually a lot of fun, especially the loop and drops, and the corkscrew didn't feel as bad as in prior years.

-Pretty much all the crews were doing surprisingly good jobs two trains on everything except Roar and Batwing (which opened late, but still opened). Superman in particular often dispatched just as the 2nd train hit the brakes, sometimes even earlier! There were also employees at Batwing and Superman who would fill up the queue lines for each row for the next train while the current train was being loaded.

-Crowds started out light-moderate, with sub 10 minute waits on most rides, but certainly not dead, and got more and more crowded as the day went on. By the time I left around 8, JJ's line was well past the bottom of the stairs, and the station for Wild One was pretty much full.

-Plenty of security guards throughout the park, including on the midways and in the parking lot, more than I recall in the past. I think some of those groupers I mentioned earlier might have also been security guards, not sure. At no point did I feel like I was in any sort of danger due to patrons.

-They also had a very thorough bag check, most of the pockets in my backpack were opened, and the guy checking by bag actually pulled my sweater and raincoat out to ensure there wasn't anything underneath (he put them back, but in the wrong pocket). I didn't really mind this, but some people were wondering what measures the park had taken since the incident a couple weeks ago, so I thought I'd report on what I experienced.

[AmyUD06]

1 hour ago, JG-77 said:

-I tried Roar in the back row for the first time in years. The last time I came off with a headache, but at least for me, this time I was spared, and actually enjoyed the extra whip in the drops, as well as the extra legroom compared to the front row. I did lean forward a little bit in an attempt to reduce the vibrations, so perhaps that helped.

-Firebird is way overhated IMO, that first half inthe back row is actually a lot of fun, especially the loop and drops, and the corkscrew didn't feel as bad as in prior years.

Please tell us what drugs you are on that either of these coasters are tolerable, let alone "fun."  The rest of us would like the same experience.

[bert425]

^ I thought Roar was 'ok'

I mean, it's not like he raved how much fun he had on Mind Eraser.

now THAT would make me question. . . LOL

[disownedpear]

Wait Batwing is open? It was listed as closed indefinitely just last week.

[BRTeller]

8 hours ago, disownedpear said:

Wait Batwing is open? It was listed as closed indefinitely just last week.

It's SFA, there's a 99% chance the sign for the temporary closed broke so they brought out the indefinite closed one instead of purchasing/fixing the old sign. 

[Jason Maier]

Don't know how exciting HITP will be here; considering Gotham City is closed off.

May as well check it out one day.

[tndank]

35 minutes ago, Jason Maier said:

Don't know how exciting HITP will be here; considering Gotham City is closed off.

May as well check it out one day.

Could be worse...

 

[boldikus]

10 minutes ago, Jason Maier said:

Don't know how exciting HITP will be here; considering Gotham City is closed off.

May as well check it out one day.

Hasn't it always been closed for HITP?

[coasterbill]

9 minutes ago, boldikus said:

Hasn't it always been closed for HITP?

Yes. This event is exactly the same as it's been for a half-a-decade. Firebird, Mind Eraser, Ragin Cajun, Roar and Wild One will be open along with all non-water rides in the front of the park. Everything behind Wild One will be closed.

[disownedpear]

The park's christmas setup is very pretty this year. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos, I will try again on Sunday.

If you're someone who usually skips Roar, I would recommend riding it this year in the front it's absolutely fabulous especially in the dark.

Wild One's trim is really hitting, anyone know what's up with that? Does the cold make the wood more brittle or something? The change was made right before the festival, was running nearly totally off all summer. Still a 9.5/10 coaster.

The straight up lies on the station signs always make me laugh. One sign claims it was reprofiled to install the log flume, but there are POV's of the ride in its original configuration with the log flume running. Another claims the top speed was increased with the reprofile, it wasn't it was actually lowered. It was the net speed that was increased due to the removal of a trim in the first half. 

[JG-77]

7 hours ago, disownedpear said:

it wasn't it was actually lowered

Just curious, where did you hear this? This is news to me, I assumed that the heavier trains allowed for a top speed increase.

[disownedpear]

The bottom of the first drop was raised about 10ft in the modification. I'm not sure if the trains were changed in that same year, but even if they were I don't think the heavier trains would have made enough of a difference to offset the drop size change. I suppose it's possible it reaches a higher top speed at the bottom of the second hill than it used to at the first but who knows. 

[coasterbill]

Per the app, it looks like Opening Day will be March 26th, 3 weeks later than last year…

It’s like Cedar Fair and Six Flags switched places.