Six Flags America (SFA) Discussion Thread

[StarWars]

If not that, maybe it would good for them to start approaching SFI about a signature attraction. I've always had an idea for a Riddler themed coaster. Think of something about 175 feet, that takes you up to the top backwards but drops you back down a different way than what you came in a forward position. It could be built by the same people who made Hollywood Rip Rockit coaster. As your going up your hear the Riddler tell you a twisted riddler, and before you drop down the opposite way of what you came, he gives you the answer to your riddler and you plummet down the course through a series of tight twist, and inversions.

 

If they were to install Chang they could use the riddler theme,but alas that's probably not going to happen.

 

I'd like to know what this "source" is that you keep talking about? Seasonal staff(ie ride ops) don't know & aren't given information on future attractions that are in the planning stages.Unless the park removes renegade rapids then there's no way for them to complete a full loop around the park as there's not enough space between ME & RR to allow for a path to go between the two rides.

 

This is pure fantasy, but if it was possible, I'd like to see SFA remove Mind Eraser (I have disliked it for years) and replace it with a B&M invert elsewhere in the park. Then, with Mind Eraser removed, SFA would be able to expand Coyote Creek or the connecting loop to Gotham or the new Thomas the Train section. In fact, since this is just pure fantasy, I would also like to see them replace Batwing with a B&M Flying Coaster. I generally dislike Vekoma coasters and love B&M coasters.

[iplf]

I went for a quick coasterrun 2 days ago and had mixed feelings about the park. I liked how the park looked and most of the buildings looked nice and colorful. Even though the attitude of some operators wasn't that professional, I still think they did a good job. What made me really mad is the fact that their 2 signature rides, Batwing and Superman both had a 1-train operation which made the waiting after 8 pm about 45-60 minutes. All other rides had a 10-minute wait.

 

I was very impressed by Batwing! Smooth, intense and a real flying feeling. Maybe even better than the B & M's. Too bad we never got our flying dutchman in Walibi Belgium.

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

^^Dislike a Vekoma SLC? I never would've thunk it!

[SFA Regular]

The management staff at the individual ex-Paramount parks are probably still in place. Just because Weber resigned when Cedar Fair took over doesn't mean the staff of the individual parks leaves. You're operating under the assumption that everyone exited at the same time, when it reality probably a good majority of these people are still in their same exact positions.

 

Six Flags corporate is also the one who doles out the money to the individual parks for refurbishments and maintenance. It's a cold reality that SFA probably doesn't deliver the attendance numbers and revenue where they would get priority over more profitable parks. Magic Mountain is more likely to get more money for upkeep than SFA. SFA will have to deal with what it gets as a bottom-rung park on the SF totem pole.

 

When it comes to safety SFI should NOT be short changing the park just because of it's performance attendance wise,that's how accidents happen & is probably one of the reasons why two face kept malfunctioning.

 

I checked out SFA's facebook page recently & quite a few people in the area are indeed asking for a new coaster to be installed but unfortunately SFA says in response that they don't know when the next coaster will be installed yet so it's not just SFA Regular & I who are complaining,it's alot of people.

 

Thanks KDCOASTERFAN. I've been saying for years that most locals have been wondering when the next coaster is coming. Until then people are forced to take the 2 hour drive to Kings Dominion. I'm almost willing to agree with you about the Two-Face malfunctions. I still wouldn't have gotten rid of the ride. I'm pretty sure Weber would have told the park to open it back up, with him being the CEO now. Or at least bought the parts that they need in order to properly fix the ride.

 

Another thing we all want to improve is Fright Fest. When are we going to get scarier attractions?

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

^It does seem though that as long as the park is SIX FLAGS America and not anything else, its just going to be a D list park. I'd like to see it grow into more, but I don't really see that happening.

[SFA Regular]

^It does seem though that as long as the park is SIX FLAGS America and not anything else, its just going to be a D list park. I'd like to see it grow into more, but I don't really see that happening.

 

Altogether it is possible for the park to under-go a new owner. Here are some of the things that could cause Six Flags to sell it. One, the park could lose so much attendance that SFI just says, we have no luck with this place. Two, a ride accident could happen just like KK experienced and it could be sold. The thing we don't want to happen is for it to close and Six Flags Inc starts removing rides for relocation. That still takes a good bit of money to do, so maybe Weber would just sell it. If not the county would fight it if there is some sort of contract that they had in operation of running the park. Shapiro was known for relocating rides, and would probably keep it close for as long as it takes to remove everything. Weber on the other hand may be different.

 

The real question is, what company would buy the place if it got sold? You don't just want any company buying it, because not every theme park company is good. You want someone like Merlin Entertainment Group or Paramounts to purchase them. The county would probably do better using tax money to buy the place from Six Flags Inc and then proposing a sweet offer to Paramounts themselves. Who knows, maybe Paramounts would turn the place into a Paramounts Movie Park. It's a good location and close to DC, sense their buyout of Kings Entertainment, which gave them Kings Dominion. They wanted to get people from DC area coming to their park, so SFA land would be a perfect fit for them to do that.

[Wes]

Maybe Disney and Universal will each buy 50% of the park and turn it into a really cool resort!

[SFA Regular]

Maybe Disney and Universal will each buy 50% of the park and turn it into a really cool resort!

 

As nice as that would be, I don't think we would be that lucky. We stand a better chance of Paramounts taking interest in the land, with it being so close to Baltimore and Washington DC. The only ride I would hope Six Flags would leave there is Joker's Jinx. With it being a Premier Launch, Paramounts may decide to have it under-go the same indoor treatment that Flight of Fear got back when it was first built as Outer Limits. You never know; maybe it would adopt the same name and theme. Reduce it to being five cars, rather than six, so that it gets the same performance as Flight of Fear. Other than that, Paramounts could really do some serious work with the place, given the fact that they have a tone of land. For once in the parks history, it would be a must see attraction when people come to the state of Maryland. Build a big old sign on the highway that tells traffic coming in both directions that the park sits on 214 Central Ave, rather than just state highway signs.

 

It would turn into an amazing place.

[Wes]

Viacom obviously made a conscious decision to get out of the North American theme park industry. The proposed "new" Paramount parks seem to be focused on foreign markets areas with large draws (Singapore, Spain, Osaka). There's nothing that's remotely hinted that they'd re-enter the North American market, and with how the economy is here, it would most likely be an unmitigated disaster in terms of investment. There hasn't been a successful US theme park built in the past 10 years that didn't have Disney or Universal attached to it, and even both of them have had to pump an excessive amount of money to get close to the kind of numbers they thought they could get.

 

SFA will never be a destination park. No major corporation is going to want to purchase it. You're probably stuck with Six Flags. Get used it.

[Meteornotes]

Anything added to SFA now is only going to be something they're going to have to move/bulldoze when they sell the place as land for a housing complex/shopping center.

 

dt

[djbrcace1234]

Like I said maybe five pages ago:

 

I just think if Six Flags does not want to properly take care of this place, then why should they continue to operate it?

 

And they don't it still seems like, and even if they wanted to sell, no one would budge. It makes no sense how Six flags gave up parks like Darien lake, and Elitch gardens, when a park like SFA is hurting for business. So if they can't sell the damn park, just make it better!

 

But with all the competition around, I can see why it looks like SFI just abandoned the park.

Edited July 20, 2010 by djbrcace1234

[SFA Regular]

Viacom obviously made a conscious decision to get out of the North American theme park industry. The proposed "new" Paramount parks seem to be focused on foreign markets areas with large draws (Singapore, Spain, Osaka). There's nothing that's remotely hinted that they'd re-enter the North American market, and with how the economy is here, it would most likely be an unmitigated disaster in terms of investment. There hasn't been a successful US theme park built in the past 10 years that didn't have Disney or Universal attached to it, and even both of them have had to pump an excessive amount of money to get close to the kind of numbers they thought they could get.

 

SFA will never be a destination park. No major corporation is going to want to purchase it. You're probably stuck with Six Flags. Get used it.

 

Never say never. Never is a very very long time. Who ever would have thought that Cedar Fair would buy the Paramounts locations. Anyone could have thought that PARC Management would have bought them and down-sized the amount of spending put into them. But Cedar Fair came to the rescue and did their thing. The same could happen for SFA, if a foreign theme park company were to take interest in it. After all it's just one big piece of land that is very close to the Nations Capital. How much money do you think they could make if they put some real investment in it? It's like saying no to the best opportunity.

 

Just think of it like this. You know how bad Disney wanted that spot over in Virginia so that they could build their park and attract people from DC area? Reason why it had to be VA was being it was the only major spot they could get. If SFA's land was un-occupied at the time, they would have bought it and built the place there. So don't don't tell me that building a theme park close to Washington DC is a bad investment.

[djbrcace1234]

^

 

Even if Disney made Disney America, I doubt it would do well for a "Disney" theme park. Half the ideas for that park are now over in DCA, and DCA only gets a third of the attendance seen right next door. Plus, Disney Ameica was to be a "Learning expierance as well. They would be branding History, but with Mickey hosting instead. If Disney wanted to take SFA, I doubt they will.

[SFA Regular]

^

 

Even if Disney made Disney America, I doubt it would do well for a "Disney" theme park. Half the ideas for that park are now over in DCA, and DCA only gets a third of the attendance seen right next door. Plus, Disney Ameica was to be a "Learning expierance as well. They would be branding History, but with Mickey hosting instead. If Disney wanted to take SFA, I doubt they will.

 

Well no, not now because it's already occupied by Six Flags Inc. And Six Flags Inc has mentioned no word of ever selling it. You see, the key to getting a company like Paramount's to buy SFA is for the county itself to approach them. You have to explain to them that a good deal can be made if they buy it. It's a lot closer to DC than their former location in VA. Anything such as height restrictions, zoning, and operation hours can be easily negotiated if they are willing to buy or take a look at the property. You have to be willing to cut these deals as a county board member in order to get the big names in. And whats the worst Paramount's could say? "No we are not interested". It's not like your going to get sewed for harassment. That and it's only one location. It's not like they are buying into another company like Kings Entertainment and obtaining to properties instead of just one. And if the county board approaches you to make deals of negotiation, you know they want you to come. So Paramounts would be making a good decision.

[BeemerBoy]

We're still discussing SFA?

[SFA Regular]

We're still discussing SFA?

 

Sorry about that. I went off into a tangent about SFA being bought out. It was along the lines of county board discussion. Sorry about that. Didn't mean to neglect the discussion.

[Wes]

Just think of it like this. You know how bad Disney wanted that spot over in Virginia so that they could build their park and attract people from DC area? Reason why it had to be VA was being it was the only major spot they could get. If SFA's land was un-occupied at the time, they would have bought it and built the place there.

 

Pure BS.

 

You're just making up stuff at this point in time to support your argument. Enjoy your fantasy world where SFA gets a new coaster every year.

[ArizonaGuy]

^^

Totally agree with Wes. Need to get over the "Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda"

[KDCOASTERFAN]

A good reason for SFI to NOT sell SFA as a park would be the prospect of a new owner coming in and actually fixing up the place thus creating more competition for SFGRADV.As it stands now they have incentive to skip over SFA in terms of new rides while adding rides to SFGRADV & marketing the park to the DC metro area....trust me I've seen plenty of SFGRADV ads in my area during the season,especially when marketing SFA season passes.

 

They sold off DL,GL & EG because they didn't want to invest the neccessary cash into staff training & new rides that were needed to bring people into these parks, they had no SF parks nearby to compete with so selling to rival companies wasn't a problem.GL was a fine example of how SF ruined the place so badly that CF couldn't repair the damage that had been done.

[atem122]

^So you're saying that SF should keep SFA so that it can compete for business with another SF property? I'm afraid I don't quite understand how that makes sense as a business model...

[djbrcace1234]

^

 

What he is saying is that keeping this park is vital to help out in a way Six Flags "flagship" park stay alive, but I find that hard to believe. Even with Great Adventure being in a nice loctaion, it still has to compete with SFA, so even new mangement will not take away much. Great adventure has to be what? 3 hours away? I don't think running SFA into debt as it is not wise. At this pace, you'll see these coasters being relocated just so nothing can be taken and rebuilt.

 

And why did GL fail? They over expanded and just ploped down things without the cpatial required for that job. SFI screwed up, and they still will. I don't think it was tacky business on SFI's side, I just think they screwed up with how over confident they were. HAd they gradually expanded, GL will still be thriving.

[Capitalize]

I've never bought the argument that SFGAdv and SFA remotely compete for the same audience. Each has their own major population areas to draw from. People from NYC, Philly, Jersey, etc. aren't driving to SFA and people from NOVA/DC/MD aren't driving to SFGAdv. The GP by and large aren't driving 4 hours simply to go to a park for the day, and given that there is essentially nothing else to do outside of the parks people aren't scheduling extended vacations for Landover , MD or Jackson, NJ. I have never seen an advertisement/brochure for SFGAdv south of Delaware or a SFA ad/brochure north of MD. Both parks can and do co-exist.

[SFA Regular]

A good reason for SFI to NOT sell SFA as a park would be the prospect of a new owner coming in and actually fixing up the place thus creating more competition for SFGRADV.As it stands now they have incentive to skip over SFA in terms of new rides while adding rides to SFGRADV & marketing the park to the DC metro area....trust me I've seen plenty of SFGRADV ads in my area during the season,especially when marketing SFA season passes.

 

They sold off DL,GL & EG because they didn't want to invest the neccessary cash into staff training & new rides that were needed to bring people into these parks, they had no SF parks nearby to compete with so selling to rival companies wasn't a problem.GL was a fine example of how SF ruined the place so badly that CF couldn't repair the damage that had been done.

 

KDCOASTERFAN does have a point with a new owner fixing up the place. If a new owner came in and actually did some serious work to the place, that just reflects on what SFI could have done with it. All they would see is opportunity that they missed out on. I believe that the tops reason why SFI never sold the place. If SFI really could, they would do everything to grab more people out of the DC and Baltimore area and bring them to Great Adventure. But if a new owner turned SFA into a super park, they wouldn't be able to do it.

 

I think Palace Entertainment, which are the people that own Kennywood could do some serious improvements with SFA. From what I have researched, Kennywood is a good theme park. They do a lot more for their Phantom Fright Nights, than what SFI currently does for SFA's Fright Fest. There is no telling at what they could do to our wooded area and pavilion area for haunted attractions. If they owned SFA's property, they would have to update the way they do things. I would enjoy getting more signature attractions, rather than clones and nothing at all.

[Team Thriller]

Just think of it like this. You know how bad Disney wanted that spot over in Virginia so that they could build their park and attract people from DC area? Reason why it had to be VA was being it was the only major spot they could get. If SFA's land was un-occupied at the time, they would have bought it and built the place there. So don't don't tell me that building a theme park close to Washington DC is a bad investment.

 

 

So just because you put a theme park by a large city means it will be a good investment?

There are more than 25 cities in the United States with more population than D.C. (Which means if what you are saying is correct, and a Foreign Company wanted to build a park in the U.S,they have plenty of better places to invested in.) So with your logic, if we build any theme park just randomly by a large city, if the park is large with tons of attractions, the park will do great?

 

Houston is one of the top five most populated cities in the United States. Six Flags Astroworld would love to disagree with your statements.

 

I think what gets attendance is not quantity, but quality. So maybe the reason Six Flags America doesn't get a lot of attendance is because maybe Six Flags America just sucks, and building three huge coasters won't fix the problem as well as you think it will.

 

I think Palace Entertainment, which are the people that own Kennywood could do some serious improvements with SFA. From what I have researched, Kennywood is a good theme park. They do a lot more for their Phantom Fright Nights, than what SFI currently does for SFA's Fright Fest. There is no telling at what they could do to our wooded area and pavilion area for haunted attractions. If they owned SFA's property, they would have to update the way they do things. I would enjoy getting more signature attractions, rather than clones and nothing at all.

 

Or they could just keep all the money and invest it into new things for Kennywood. This isn't RCT, making those huge changes would cost millions and would take years, and during a bad economy like this, I doubt that would be a smart move.

 

 

--James

[SFA Regular]

For your information, I have mentioned quality in the past. Basically thats what I meant when I said that SFI needs to invest in SFA. I didn't mean for them to build three clone coasters. I have said before that they need more signature attractions. And for the record, it's not that easy getting a good spot near a major city. Different things come into effect such as zoning, height restrictions, and people complaining about traffic. The reason why I always mention other theme park chains by Six Flags America is because it's already zoned for a theme park. The local residents are use to the traffic conditions from people going to and exiting the park. The place has a 200 ft height restriction which gives a theme park company more flexibility in building tall stuff. Plus, a height restriction is better than a height limit. With a height restriction, you can negotiate with the county on getting things that are taller, approved. Height limits set a cut throat limit on how tall you can build. Not only that, but where SFA is, you are close to Washington DC/Baltimore/Virginia. Try and see how easy it is getting a spot any closer to a major city that has those good zoning aspects and a tone of land to build on.

 

I bet you there are theme park companies out there that could really do a lot of magic with that much land and being that close to DC and Baltimore. The place is not far from a major highway so it's not like people are driving down a tone of back roads to fine the place.