Six Flags America (SFA) Discussion Thread

[Jcoaster]

Im pretty sure I will be going during a weekeday. I will get there at the park opening. I will probably run to Batwing first due too its horrible dispatching.

[SFAfan#1]

Thats a great idea. Also hardly anybody goes to the park at opening on a weekday so nothing should have lines that early. Not even the waterpark, I'd recomend trying the Halfpipe out. Its a great ride and you can ride with your regular clothes on.

[Jcoaster]

^ That sounds sweet. Dosen't that Penguin raft also allow regular clothes? How is Superman Running? Does it provide ejector air or floater air?

[Capitalize]

I went out to the park today from 2:30 to 5ish.

 

It was a great day to be there, the crowds were very small and all the coasters (minus Two Face of course) were open. I was happy to see everything was a walk on, except Batwing which had a 2 train wait. Clearly with getting on all the coasters (minus two face and mind eraser) with a couple re-rides describes how nice a day it was in terms of crowds.

 

I was surprised to see Wild One has been completely pimped out to AAA... They have a huge banner on the lift facing the front of the park and dozens of ads in the station. It doesn't look horrible, but its definitely less "classy" the the other ad's that have been added to the park the past couple seasons. I asked one of the attendants if he knew when they added all the ads he said he had no idea... I can only say for certain it was sometime in the past 2 weeks or so.

 

The park is really pushing the concerts coming up (Flo Rida, Mario, and of course the big MTV concert) with some signage around the front of the park.

 

 

I'm just going to hold out hope that some kind of larger investment is coming next season as it really looks as if Two Face is on the way out. Absolutely nothing is being done to it that makes it look like they have any intention to reopen it.

[Capitalize]

^ That sounds sweet. Dosen't that Penguin raft also allow regular clothes? How is Superman Running? Does it provide ejector air or floater air?

Both, ejector air on the final hills and floater air on the first two. Front row rides are a must, lots of them.

 

Its running really well this season, blue train is running a bit faster right now as it has been operating all season and red train was added recently, it seems it hasn't fully broken in yet as I can feel a difference in the speed it carries through the ride compared to the blue train.

[Jcoaster]

^ Ok awsome. Glad to see two trains running. I probably going to ride Batwing and Joker Jinx first due to the fact that they have capacity issues.

[Footballteen58]

I just realized >. The day im going to SFA is a thursday which means its on the stupid starburst concert thing series. Has anybody been on a thursday this season? Has it been crowded?

 

EDIT: Okay im a little shaken about going after reading like 22 tripadvisor reviews. They were all horrible. I might decide to go to Kings Dominion instead afterall but I'm not sure yet. Like for example one review said they were scared to death walking back to their car in the poorly lit parking lot.......But then they love Kings Dominion and I've thought Kings Dominion is ghetto before. What do you guys think of Six Flags America in terms of people and operations NOWadays.

[QueerRudie]

I can say this: It depends on 1. the crowd itself, and 2. if they're actually on the ball.

 

1. The crowd itself: My experience has been mixed with this- as in there have been good days, and REALLY AWFUL DAYS. Some times if there are large groups of teens/'kids campers' it can become unbearable with bad attitude and SEVERE line jumping (Expect that to happen QUITE a bit there; I've yet to go the park where I didn't have people pushing ahead of me at least two or three times per ride. In other cases, if the crowd is more managable, then it's not too bad, and you can often make several trips through the lines quickly- Check their calendar to find out if there are any of the 'larger' groups- and AVOID at all costs....

 

2. If they're on the ball: As of late, this has been a REAL downer- It's been a while since I've seen less done to keep rides up-and-running, and although they're quite prompt usually to repair/restart certain rides, there are often days where some larger attractions will either be running at 1/2 capacity due to few operators, or not at all.

 

Good luck if you choose to go to SFA, but for me I'd prefer to KD.

[SFAfan#1]

I just realized >. The day im going to SFA is a thursday which means its on the stupid starburst concert thing series. Has anybody been on a thursday this season? Has it been crowded?

 

EDIT: Okay im a little shaken about going after reading like 22 tripadvisor reviews. They were all horrible. I might decide to go to Kings Dominion instead afterall but I'm not sure yet. Like for example one review said they were scared to death walking back to their car in the poorly lit parking lot.......But then they love Kings Dominion and I've thought Kings Dominion is ghetto before. What do you guys think of Six Flags America in terms of people and operations NOWadays.

 

That depends on who is performing. I was there when Aly and Aj were performing and the lines were extremely short. I think you said you were going on the 16 (am i right?) and if thats true then expect crowds because alot of the teens are going to be there to see Mario.

 

SFA is not ghetto to me since I've been around these parts all my life. Some people think its ghetto but honestly, they don't know ghetto. Ghetto is when your at a park and you would have to run to your car and hope your radio is still there. SFA is nowhere near that. The most ghetto thing you might see is a bunch of kids cursing and hitting each other. Who hasn't seen that though. Since alot of area teens are going to be there that day, they might start joaning on each other and yell really loud at the person next to them, but just ignore them and enjoy your day. They are just trying to get attention. Like babies lol. Honestly KD is alot more ghetto than SFA.

 

Since you'll be there whenm Mario will, I would go to Wild One, Roar and Mind Eraser first. Then around 7, when everyone is at the concert, hit up Batwing, Superman, and Joker because they wont have lines. I did that at the Bobby Valentino concert last year, boy was that a great idea! 5 back-to-back rides on Batwing with barely a line.

[Jcoaster]

I don't think the park looks ghetto at all. Im sticking with my choice to go here because S:ROS looks great and so does Joker jinx.

[SFAfan#1]

^Oh yeah and for your question about Penguins Blizzard River, You can wear regular clothes aswell. Your shouldn't get wet but you might get sprinkled. Your shoes will be soaked though lol.

[Jcoaster]

^ Will you be around the week od August 17th, maybe we can meet up there

[SFAfan#1]

Im not sure, I'm going to Orlando some time in August. Im not sure yet.

[Footballteen58]

I'm goin the 17th. I might take your idea it sounds pretty good. Tripadvisor makes the place sound really bad........

[airtime]

I was at the park today. I thought things were running pretty smooth considering it was the first day back from a very long weekend for the park. Everything was up and running as far as I could tell, with the exception of Two Face and Avalanche. I rode Superman three times within 45 minutes of arriving at the park (I could have rode more, but I chose to ride the front row which had a two or three train wait each time). In all a good day as far as I could tell. I arrived not sure what to expect (since I typically don't go on Monday's).

[Capitalize]

I just realized >. The day im going to SFA is a thursday which means its on the stupid starburst concert thing series. Has anybody been on a thursday this season? Has it been crowded?

 

EDIT: Okay im a little shaken about going after reading like 22 tripadvisor reviews. They were all horrible. I might decide to go to Kings Dominion instead afterall but I'm not sure yet. Like for example one review said they were scared to death walking back to their car in the poorly lit parking lot.......But then they love Kings Dominion and I've thought Kings Dominion is ghetto before. What do you guys think of Six Flags America in terms of people and operations NOWadays.

 

Wow, really? Afraid of walking to their car at night? I'm sorry but that is just plain silly and if anything just sounds like some repressed racism in the reviewer if they're terrified of walking in a darkly lit parking lot that happens to more then likely have a lot of african american families and groups of kids...

 

SFA is not that bad. I think its better then SFGAdv, (not the coasters, the guest experience) simply because it has the same general quality of employees and guest relations people but crowds that are normally 100X worse... And Kings Dominion like I said before is more "ghetto" then SFA imho recently.

[Erik Johnson]

I have to add my 2 cents in here. While I really do like the coaster collection at SFA, I have found that operations (especially on Batwing and Superman) as well as guest relations to be abysmal. This is from 2 seperate visists to the park within 2 years of each other (2006 and 2008). There were several instances where they had to call park security for unruly park guests. While the park is in a somewhat nice area, it still seems to draw out some really questionable park guests. Hands down I would choose KD over SFA if you are trying to decide which park to visit. I visited SFGadv and SFA in the same weekend, SFGadv hands down is a much better park than SFA....in ALL areas of operation.

[Capitalize]

I have to add my 2 cents in here. While I really do like the coaster collection at SFA, I have found that operations (especially on Batwing and Superman) as well as guest relations to be abysmal. This is from 2 seperate visists to the park within 2 years of each other (2006 and 2008). There were several instances where they had to call park security for unruly park guests. While the park is in a somewhat nice area, it still seems to draw out some really questionable park guests. Hands down I would choose KD over SFA if you are trying to decide which park to visit. I visited SFGadv and SFA in the same weekend, SFGadv hands down is a much better park than SFA....in ALL areas of operation.

Eh, in my visits to SFGAdv I would essentially describe it as SFA with longer lines and more people (and much better coasters). The guests at SFGAdv at least to me are a whole lot worse, more cutting in lines and more general douchebaginess. Basically in my 4 trips to SFGAdv I had one trip that I would all in all describe as a truly great experience. In my other trips either the huge crowds and their terrible behavior, or awful operations by the park made it anywhere from an unmemorable to downright terrible day.

 

But this thread is about SFA, so I'll get back on topic. I think part of the reason many of the people who live around the park and have season passes think its a fine place it simply because we have the benefit of being able to visit the park dozens of times a season, so even if the park has a bad day, the next time we come it could be great, so the good and bad go hand in hand and kind of cancel each other out. Also, we don't care about slow operations on coasters because we've already been on every coaster loads of times and will get on them plenty more.

[SFAfan#1]

^Yeah I agree with you 100% with the locals not caring about slow operations. I go to SFA atleast 2 times a week and I always have fun, whether I ride all the coasters or just hangout with friends. I also think the "ghetto" statements are kind of racist since alot of black people (including myself) live around and visit SFA. I think people just shouldn't call a mainly black area park ghetto because that can start up some really crazy comment wars.

[Satchboogie3]

Am I the only one who think the SROS at SFA and Darien Lake are boring? Little airtime, little speed, way to much straight track, and lack of forces in the helices.

 

The rest of the coasters are decent (Roar and Wild One are good), but I've always thought those Superman's were ridiculously over-rated.

[Jcoaster]

I am looking forward to visitng the park. It will be a "different" experiance. I am looking forward to riding S:ROS and Jokers Jinx. But IMO the park needs a B&M.....Desperatly.

[ebl]

"I also think the "ghetto" statements are kind of racist" (SFAfan#1)

 

First of all, I'm beyond tired of the "racist" accusation of all too many things. "Ghetto" may be a term used to describe an area where black people live, but another definition of it is "run down" or "crummy looking."

 

Is the term "run down" racist in some way?

 

Eric

[Capitalize]

"I also think the "ghetto" statements are kind of racist" (SFAfan#1)

 

First of all, I'm beyond tired of the "racist" accusation of all too many things. "Ghetto" may be a term used to describe an area where black people live, but another definition of it is "run down" or "crummy looking."

 

Is the term "run down" racist in some way?

 

Eric

Well, to be fair, I would guess at least 90% of the employees at the park are african american and the majority of the guests are african american... So in a way calling it ghetto can kind of be interpreted as a slight against the people visiting/working there...

 

edit: also, the ghetto comments don't stem from the appearance of the park. If there is one thing you can say nice about SFA the past couple seasons is it has become extremely clean and well groomed the majority of the time, and some parts of the park are maintained very well and have great scenery (in particular the front of the park, the only area that doesn't look decent scenery wise is Gotham). So I would say that the "ghetto" tag on SFA isn't in regards to it appearing run down or crummy.

 

 

I don't find SROS to be boring in the least. It has far more airtime then a coaster like MF for example... I don't see how anyone could say it has "little" airtime... The 3rd hill alone gives you around a second of sustained airtime. Then the final 3 hills give you lots of ejector airtime. I've never been bothered by the long straightaway before the 3rd hill simply because the train is going so fast at that point in the ride, if anything gives you a moment to enjoy the speed it has... I do wish the helixes were a bit tighter so there were more positive g's.

[packfanlv]

Am I the only one who think the SROS at SFA and Darien Lake are boring? Little airtime, little speed, way to much straight track, and lack of forces in the helices.

 

The rest of the coasters are decent (Roar and Wild One are good), but I've always thought those Superman's were ridiculously over-rated.

 

I disagree with this as well. S:ROS at SFA may not quite be up there with the version at SFNE, but it is still one hell of a ride with a lot of speed and airtime. IMO it is worth it to go to SFA just for Superman. (Of course Batwing and Roar are good coasters as well)

 

Now on the other hand, I really don't see how anyone likes Joker's Jinx. Both Jokers and Poltergeist at SFFT are slow and pointless to me, but that is just my opinion.

[airtime]

A lot of the fun riding Superman is the ejector air you get on the hills. That was shifted from the rear of the train to the front with the restraints that were added to the ride. You will pretty much get zero air the further back you sit. So if your a rear train rider, I could see your point of it not being fun. Ride the front and your going to get some really great ejector air.

 

As for the park being "Ghetto". I don't like the term either. The park has done a lot of cleaning up the past couple of seasons. There are some rides that need paint and in other areas concrete needs to be replaced. In a few years, Gotham is going to look really nice. The trees are really beginning to grow in between Joker's Jinx, Superman and Batwing. It would also look a lot better if they would take all of the ride parts and move them out of sight.