Six Flags New England (SFNE) Discussion Thread

[coasterbill]

When your park has the worst customer service of the Six Flags chain by a mile, it says a ton. And my home park is SFA, I've seen a lot.

 

... Awesome!, sounds like you had a typical experience at the 5th friendliest park in the country!

 

The crew has been awesome since it opened.

 

I'm not trying to be mean or sarcastic so don't take it that way, but I'm really wondering... how many other parks have you been to?

[saweetdude05]

Well Wicked Cyclone is absolutely amazing, and the operations are absolutely atrocious. Maybe the worst I've ever seen. They somehow got WORSE than they were before the RMC overhaul. Surprise, surprise, SFNE.

 

I'm honestly surprised that operations could get worse from what they were on the original Cyclone. The original always seemed to have the worst crew, moving at a snail's pace, no sense of urgency, and staff that just didn't seem to care. They honestly made it seem like Tatsu had a Cedar Point crew working it

[thrillrider]

It's been awhile, but last time we were at the park I remember operations as being on par with other theme parks. The only lines that I can remember that was slow was thunderbolt and Bizzaro. If I remember correctly,thunderbolt only had one train. I also remember that the line for Bizzaro was bad because they kept letting 10 fast lane people into the station for every 1 standby person.

 

I also remember being turned away from the trabant ride for being too tall?...Weird

[Paradox]

Thunderbolt can only run one train because of its skid brakes so it almost always has long lines.

[Oryp]

When your park has the worst customer service of the Six Flags chain by a mile, it says a ton. And my home park is SFA, I've seen a lot.

 

... Awesome!, sounds like you had a typical experience at the 5th friendliest park in the country!

 

The crew has been awesome since it opened.

 

I'm not trying to be mean or sarcastic so don't take it that way, but I'm really wondering... how many other parks have you been to?

 

When I say bad customer service, I mean a general disregard for the guest, both in organization of ride operations and execution of them. For example, you don't get to pick your seat for efficiency's sake, but then you have to watch them send rows empty on way too many trains because the employees are doing their hair instead of their jobs. Assigned seats are fine if they are well-run, but that's rare at SFNE. Saweetdude05 is so right, there is no urgency at all. Reminded me a little of the crew working B:TR at SFOT.

 

I have been on 191 roller coasters at 30 parks.

[ScreaminNewEngland]

SFNE is far from the worst but certainly nowhere near the best, people on here are really exagurating it. The ops are usually hot and cold here, Batman and Mind Eraser usually crank out pretty well. Sky Screamer and Goliath (when running consistantly) are also good. Scream can really crank out as well.

Wicked Cylone and Bizarro are usually a shot in the dark. Sometimes decent, most of the time not.

 

My home parks are Canobie and SFNE, Canobie obviously blows their service out of the water but SFNE is certainly getting better.

Honestly, I think Funtown Splashtown's crew is getting worse each year, they're all rude foreign kids who have no personalities.

[coasterbill]

^^The question of how many parks was directed at WiCy13, believe me I agree completely with your assessment of SFNE. I bash the park but I still enjoy going there because they have some very good coasters, it could just be so much better if they had decent staff too.

[Oryp]

^^The question of how many parks was directed at WiCy13, believe me I agree completely with your assessment of SFNE. I bash the park but I still enjoy going there because they have some very good coasters, it could just be so much better if they had decent staff too.

 

Ah I see that now. It was late and I was tired after a day of SFNE, then driving to Lake Compounce, then back to SFNE for night rides on Bizarro and Wicked Cyclone

 

And I completely agree with you. It's a really pretty park with a great lineup of rides (excluding the 3 Vekomas). The lack of efficiency is painful to watch, mostly because it would be so easy to fix.

[njcoasterguy34]

Is it just me, or does the Scrambler at SFNE seem to run slower than models at other parks? I know when I ride Deja Vu at SFGAdv and the Scrambler at Dorney Park that they seem to run faster.

[WindexCyanide13]

Is it just me, or does the Scrambler at SFNE seem to run slower than models at other parks? I know when I ride Deja Vu at SFGAdv and the Scrambler at Dorney Park that they seem to run faster.

It does run slower, but it's also an older model.

[coasterbill]

Hey guys!

 

We made our first visit of the year to the park yesterday and had a great time. I'll try to keep my mini trip report brief but I really would say this was the best visit we've had to this place in a long time. Rather than a traditional trip report I'll just focus on a few pros and cons. There were more pros than there were cons so I'll get the cons out of the way first (so for the SFNE fanboys who expect this to be a bash-session, please read the entire thing before freaking out because like I said, we had a very good day ).

 

Cons

1) The Skyway towers are embarrassing and look ridiculous. They're rusty and crappy looking without having any visible reason for being there and they bring down the entire midway. They painted Pandemonium but as we walked up to it we kept seeing a useless blue, rusty tower blocking out view of it and kept laughing at how they painted the coaster to make the area look nice when they could have just spent that money on removing the towers (or you know... a new cable for the ride) and that would have done much more for the atmosphere of the area. Seriously... this is an embarrassment.

 

2) I almost don't even see this place as a park any more, I just see it as a field with a bunch of coasters in it (kind of like Magic Mountain only a field and not a desert). They desperately need flats, and while this has been a problem for awhile the Skyway being removed really just set this over the edge.

 

3) Operations were amazingly slow. During the day the Bizarro ops were on such a power trip that they would routinely cause 5 minute dispatch times by freaking out about loose articles. We knew better so we didn't have them, but either the person at the front of the line needs to do a better job catching these things (At Cedar Point a few weeks ago we never saw anyone walk onto Dragster or Millennium Force with a loose article, those people are (pardon the pun) on Point). There's no reason SFNE can't be just as good at catching these things. If something does slip through the cracks though, just hold it or let them put it on the side. This may be more of a management thing than a ride op thing as I'm sure they're just doing their jobs but the no loose article policy is supposed to speed up dispatches, not bring them to a screeching halt.

 

Okay, and now for the pros which greatly outweigh the cons.

 

1) The staff was generally nice to the guests today. Generally we see tons of employees talking about how they hate their jobs, or want to go home or arguing with guests but yesterday while they still made up their own rules (no waiting for the front on Batman while leaning against a pole that says there's a front row line on the right side of the stairs), no holding an adjustable hat with your hand through the back of it on Bizarro but it's totally fine on everything else... stuff like that), they were generally relatively nice. It's not like we confused it for Dollywood, Cedar Point or Knoebels but the staff wasn't a detriment to our day for the first time in awhile. I would say they were average, and that's a huge improvement.

 

And again, we know what we're getting into with this park and we always go along with what the ride ops say but we always see them arguing with other people multiple times throughout the day but that didn't happen yesterday.

 

2) Wicked Cyclone is great. I may have hyped this up too much and while I loved it I initially wasn't blown away. All the reviews had my hyped up for this to be my new #1 coaster and I found it to be fun but an obvious step below top tier rides like Millennium Force, El Toro, Phoenix, Maverick and Fury325. I still find those rides to be better, but for our 2nd and 3rd rides (one of which was in the front seat) I just forgot about the hype and enjoyed it for what it is, which is an amazing, very smooth and very innovative ride that easily falls within the best 15-20 coasters I've ever ridden and delivers a ton of airtime in very unique ways.

 

Walking in I think I expected something like Maverick with insane, unpredictable transitions with incredible ferocity but it's actually very smooth and fluid with everything it does and not snappy like I305 or Maverick (2 rides that I absolutely love, but this isn't really better or worse... it's just different). The hang time in the barrel rolls (especially that first stall) is wonderful, the airtime is relentless (more of a Thunderhead style of rapid fire airtime than an El Toro style of prolonged ejector airtime) and even after a few rides I still had no idea where the train was going because this layout is just so incredibly twisted.

 

The ride is great, it's incredibly unique and it's worth traveling to ride it. It gives the park an excellent 1-2 punch with Bizarro as the 2 rides are both excellent but have very unique styles. Bizarro was predictable but great elements and prolonged ejector airtime and Wicked Cyclone has unpredictable, insane elements and brief pops of ejector airtime. Wicked Cyclone is an excellent addition to the park and once we started to appreciate it for what it was we absolutely fell in love with it.

 

3) Thunderbolt and Batman were both running as great as ever. Sorry Wicked Cyclone, Batman still has the best zero g roll in the park. As for Thunderbolt I just can't get enough of this ride. It's smooth, it's fun and I'm glad Six Flags takes such great care of this ride.

 

4) I know this park seems to love removing flat rides but Tomohawk and Buzzsaw are both great rides. Everyone seems to love Buzzsaw (I know we do), and even though Tomahawk is basically by itself with Rodeo long gone and the path to the main midway long gone also people still walk up the hill just to ride it in droves which is pretty impressive for an older flat ride (I know Houdini is up there too but it doesn't seem to be much of a draw).

 

5) With the park closing at 9 we expected to get home at a reasonable time but on the way in we were greeted with signs about passholder ERT and we both decided that whatever rides it was on it was probably best to just leave at 9 anyway since we had a 2 hour ride home. That plan didn't last long though when we figured out that the ERT was on Bizarro. We must have ridden it at least 10 times, all in the front seat and sometimes without getting up. Even with half full trains the ride was hauling. All of the effects were working and we had the best rides we've had on that ride in years. If it could run like that all the time it would be a top 10 ride for sure. Last night it almost seemed like Bizarro was out to prove that it was still the best ride in the park, and I have to say that as much as we loved Wicked Cyclone, Bizarro stole the show yesterday. It started to rain a little for the last 30 or 40 minutes of ERT which only made it more awesome and we didn't leave until ERT ended at 11 because when we kept pulling into the station with nobody waiting for the front we had no intention of getting up just so we could be wide awake for work in the morning. Bizarro takes priority over real life responsibilities.

 

So overall we had a great day. The park has it's fair share of problems but Bizarro and Wicked Cyclone made up for them yesterday and we had an absolute blast. They have a great 1-2 punch now... and we had so much fun that I'm going to try to bite my tongue and not mention that it could be a great 1,2,3 punch if they would just put the old train back on Goliath.

 

... oh crap, I just did it again, didn't I?

[WindexCyanide13]

Good Report. The park is most likely removing the poles this offseason. On batman, you should have pointed out the sign because maybe the person was new. They only added the front row line this season. Houdini is also a flat located next to Tomahwk, and it's a great ride. It all depends on which crew is where. I've had ops on Bizarro where it's dispatched as soon as the other hits the brakes. It really is a hit or miss.

[coasterbill]

We actually rode Houdini and while I like it a lot (even though I've read about how the illusion works it's still amazingly convincing) it was disappointing to see how few effects it had compared to the Great Adventure version both in the pre-show and on the ride. Also, ridership was quite low but there's basically no signage letting anyone know that it's a ride. I'm sure 9 out of 10 people just walk by the building without realizing it's an attraction. They really need to do something about that.

[michaellynn4]

We actually rode Houdini and while I like it a lot (even though I've read about how the illusion works it's still amazingly convincing) it was disappointing to see how few effects it had compared to the Great Adventure version both in the pre-show and on the ride. Also, ridership was quite low but there's basically no signage letting anyone know that it's a ride. I'm sure 9 out of 10 people just walk by the building without realizing it's an attraction. They really need to do something about that.

 

Yea, the SFGAdv counterpart definitely benefits from a great location in the park. When I first visited SFNE, I almost forgot a Houdini copy was at the park, it's so far buried in the back of that section.

[WindexCyanide13]

Believe or not, they actually fixed up all of its effects and are running a longer cycle this season.

[Brassinthegrass]

I truly think the major problem with the loose article is that they want you to use the locker (hehe) system so they make more money. I like Cedar Fairs operations with the sliding door cubbys much better... Done ask me to buy a cup for drinks, and then tell me I can't hold it and leave it at the station while I ride the ride!

[Paradox]

Kontiki is also a fun ride that barely anybody goes to. There are pretty much like no signs telling you that a ride is back there.

 

Quassy runs a better cycle on their model though.

[njcoasterguy34]

Kontiki is also a fun ride that barely anybody goes to. There are pretty much like no signs telling you that a ride is back there.

 

Amen. I was looking on the park web-site today and realized I missed one of my favorite rides. Then I realized I now have an excuse to make another trip up to SFNE.

[TyRush]

Does Wicked Cyclone have a single rider line? Probably has been asked before but too lazy to search back, thanks.

[Paradox]

Does Wicked Cyclone have a single rider line? Probably has been asked before but too lazy to search back, thanks.

No. Only a standby and flash pass line.

[WindexCyanide13]

Does Wicked Cyclone have a single rider line? Probably has been asked before but too lazy to search back, thanks.

No it doesn't, sadly. Stupid on Six Flags part.

[Brent York]

I stopped by the park on Wednesday 6/10 just long enough to ride WC twice (2nd and last rows). A few things:

 

WC is definitely fun, but I much prefer Iron Rattler, possibly even NTG. I haven't ridden Outlaw Run (or Goliath). I'm sure people love the little "angled the wrong way turn plus a small hill" thing, but to me it's like riding a Little Dipper.

They don't let you pick a row, which I don't understand. The line was maybe 15 minutes.

On my first ride, they stapled the restraint down so, which has a protruding section in the middle, so it was very uncomfortable.

The coaster sure makes a lot of scraping noise in the turn before the lift; a little surprising given the age.

 

Goliath valleyed between the loop and spike just as I was walking by it. I stopped and watched it roll back and forth for a few minutes but didn't seem like it'd ever stop and I was in a hurry so I continued on to WC.

 

I was there all day two years ago, and never knew they had Houdini. Luckily I have ridden SFGAd's.

[Superbatboy]

It seems like WC is getting such mixed reviews. Some sre saying it's their #1 by far, while others are saying it's good but only top 15-20 material. I read one review that said it was meandering around the course so slowly that they thought it would valley.

 

I'm kinda conflicted on whether or not to make the 3,000 mile trek to SFNE

[coasterbill]

I finally had some time to kill and it ended up at #10 for me out of 250 or so, behind only Millennium Force, El Toro, Phoenix, Maverick, Fury 325, Kumba, Raptor, Tatsu and I305. It's in pretty good company and a world class ride for sure.

 

Assuming if you're traveling 3000 miles and visiting some other places while you're here (Lake Compounce / Boston / Coastal New England), I'd say it's absolutely worth the trip.

[Brent York]

I read one review that said it was meandering around the course so slowly that they thought it would valley.

 

Funny, the first time I rode NTG (my first Iron Horse) last year, I was surprised how much slower it seemed than I expected. Still fun. I didn't really get that sensation on WC until maybe the last quarter of the ride, though maybe I'm just more Iron Horse experienced now.

Edited June 16, 2015 by Brent York