robbalvey Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 I would love to see SF drop prices for food, season passes, merchandise and everything else. If they did that, it would be more affordable for families This is the mentality I don't understand. Sporting events, movies, and Disney parks are *MUCH* more expensive for what you get and the length of entertainment offered and those all seem to be well affordable for families. As much as getting a season pass to Great America for a family of four may be expensive, have you seen the prices for a season passes to Disneyland here in California? All of a sudden a combo season pass for SFMM + SFHH (remember they are both seperate admission parks here with seperate season passes) looks like a GREAT deal! Here is an example - at our local movie theater, if a family of four wanted to go see "Up" today at 5pm, it would cost them $43 just to get into the theater, and that's not including sodas and popcorn for all of them. So for a 2 hour experience you're looking at spending about $65, and that's a "one-off" price. There is no "season pass" that will allow me to come back and see every movie this summer. And I certainly know families that go to see at LEAST 10 movies per year. Have you ever been to a place like Chuck E Cheese, Mini-Golf, Scooters Jungle, or any other local family destination? At our local "mini-golf" place, you can get a family of four combo ticket which is $86 and that gets you one round of Go Karts, Mini-Golf, and 2 slices of pizza.... **EIGHTY SIX** DOLLARS!!! And that's got to be, what, 90 minutes of entertainment at the MOST? And god forbid you want to play a few games in the arcade while you're there...you're looking at about $100 for a coulpe of hours! Once again, I see theme park season passes to be a GREAT deal over the other entertainment options that are out there. --Robb "This is why we go to theme parks and don't go to movies..." Alvey ps. lockers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjaco Posted May 29, 2009 Author Share Posted May 29, 2009 I'm so glad to have finally created a thread that has made quite a stir. My work here is full of lockers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electerik Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 I would love to see SF drop prices for food, season passes, merchandise and everything else. If they did that, it would be more affordable for families This is the mentality I don't understand. Sporting events, movies, and Disney parks are *MUCH* more expensive for what you get and the length of entertainment offered and those all seem to be well affordable for families. I've said it before, but the problem with Six Flags isn't that they're too expensive, it's that they're too cheap. Charge me more, but give me more. My $200 Busch Platinum pass was a much better deal than my $50 Six Flags pass because the Busch parks simply have more to offer me. When I was 12, a bunch of coasters was enough. But I'm not 12 anymore. /As with most arguments, this one is more about who you are than the actual facts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 ^ Right. And I agree. My point is that even your more expensive Busch pass is a better deal than most of the other entertainment offerings out there. $86 for one round of golf, go-karts, and cardboard pizza is such a horrible deal compared to Six Flags, Busch, or a Disney pass.... and that place is PACKED every weekend! --Robb "Read my previous post if you don't get the reference..." Alvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netdvn Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 They are adding too many decent attractions that everyone can enjoy, like Evel Knievel, Terminator Salvation, new waterslides for various parks, the Dark Knight coasters, Buccaneer Battle, Tony Hawk's Big Spin, and Thomas Town and Wiggles World on top of upgrading Monster Plantation, which under old management would probably replace it with some Scooby Doo shooting ride or something like that (a kids ride that adults can go on is the basic definition of family attraction) FIXED I wasn't comparing them to Cedar Fair--which in my view, is largely similar. Not really aimed at you, but CF fanboys in general... I should've worded it differently. Nevertheless, Six Flags still largely ignores their most serious weaknesses: Operations (running 1-train with a line, too few ride ops checking trains, etc.) I remember reading somewhere that operations have generally improved over time, and the $1 overmedicated fluffy goo filled bunnies are actually contributing because riders won't have to place their lose stuff in bins/bags in the station, which slows down ride operations. Busch does it and it doesn't really hinder operations at all. Dan - wanna see bad operations? I remember on a number of busy weekends in 2007, they were running 1-train operations on Griffon, which led to 2+ hour waits... It might've been an illusion, but I'm pretty sure they were one train operations. - Nguyen PS: Didn't Revolution recently receive a retro-upgrade where the trains reverted to their original color and the OTSRs were improved? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top Thrill Dragster Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 PS: Didn't Revolution recently receive a retro-upgrade where the trains reverted to their original color and the OTSRs were improved? Nope, still the same horrible OTSR and lapbars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rawrtotheargh Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 ^ But nice retro paint job. On one of the trains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeemerBoy Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Six Flags Great America -One day Admission - $34.99 Parking - $15 Total cost - $49.99 Six Flags Over Georgia One day Admission - $29.99 Parking - $15 Total cost - $44.99 Six Flags Magic Mountain One day Admission - $59.99 Parking - $15 Total cost - $74.99 Six Flags Over Texas One day Admission - $31.00 Parking - $15 Total cost - $46 Six Flags Great Adventure One day Admission - $39.99 Parking - $15 Total cost - $54.99 Busch Gardens Williamsburg One day Admission - $59.99 Parking - $12 Total cost - $71.99 Kennywood One day Admission - $33.99 Parking - $6 Total cost - $39.99 Hersheypark One day Admission - $51.99 Parking - $10 Total cost - $61.99 Islands of Adventure One day Admission - $73.00 Parking - $12 Total cost - $85 Cedar Point One day Admission - $43.99 Parking - $10 Total cost - $53.99 Dorney Park One day Admission - $36.99 Parking - $10.00 Total cost - $46.00 Honestly, after seeing this comparison, I'm amazed at what a great deal Cedar Point is. Naturally, most people here are only concerned with arguing until they're blue in the face about the merits of their coaster lineup. But seriously, $53.99 for a day at that park as compared to the others? I guess anyone can include themselves in the "I hate Cedar Point because it's ________ and en vogue to do so" category, but realistically, there's plenty to do at that place to appeal to just about any of us on some level. And they don't even offer an upcharge QBot/FlashPass/Skipthelinethingy. Maybe if they did, we could have more 200 page speculatory threads on what CP's installing with the revenue......and whether that new coaster will have lockers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electerik Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 My point is that even your more expensive Busch pass is a better deal than most of the other entertainment offerings out there. Indeed. But going even more wildly off topic (if that's possible).... I wonder how all day at a theme park versus two hours at a movie really compares for most (non coaster enthusiast type) people. I mean, how much of one's theme park day is actually spent on rides? There's usually lots more waiting at the park than at the movies, right? You're indoors, you're cool, you don't have to walk anywhere.... Obviously, I'll go with the park. But, looking at it like that, I could see where a lot of regular folks would disagree with us. /No real point. Just an interesting thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 And they don't even offer an upcharge QBot/FlashPass/Skipthelinethingy. And I really wish that Cedar Fair would offer this. It pains me every time we take a TPR tour to a Cedar Fair park that we have to either spend an unnecessary amount of extra time at each park or have to tell our group to prepare to do less at each park because there is no quicker way to get through the queues. We easily get TWICE as much done at parks that offer a "Flash Pass" type option than ones that don't. --Robb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electerik Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 I remember reading somewhere that operations have generally improved over time, Wait...you read it somewhere? Does that mean your own experience doesn't support your assertion that operations have improved, or that you have no experience? /*sigh* I think I'm going to have to start making people fill out a form before I argue with them.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPDave Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 I don't mind the locker policy at the Six Flags parks. It was great when I was on the east cost to slip my junk into a locker and just leave it there until I'd had my fun and wanted to move on. And it was only a dollar when we were there. I think lots of people would pay a dollar to put their bits and bobs in a locker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 ^ Dave, just admit you only posted that because you wanted to say "locker" --Robb "I don't blame you!" Alvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost007jas Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 I think anyone who says that operations have not generally improved at Six Flags parks (Tatsu is still icky) hasn't been to a Six Flags park in a while! The Goliath crew at Magic Mountain is fantastic, as well as the Terminator crew and Batman: The Ride. .....lockers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teacups Make Me Sick Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Does the fluffy...fluffy thing come up when you type locker policy? EDIT: Seriously, why couldnt somebody just say that locker policy came up with fluffy bunny thing (it was hurting my head trying to understand what does the fluffy bunny w med's meant)?? What a hoot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsterfan99 Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 And they don't even offer an upcharge QBot/FlashPass/Skipthelinethingy. And I really wish that Cedar Fair would offer this. It pains me every time we take a TPR tour to a Cedar Fair park that we have to either spend an unnecessary amount of extra time at each park or have to tell our group to prepare to do less at each park because there is no quicker way to get through the queues. We easily get TWICE as much done at parks that offer a "Flash Pass" type option than ones that don't. --Robb Dear god I would have loved to see them at Kings Island during Ride Warriors Weekend. Even after 3 days, there were still rides left undone. I would have gladly given them 100 for 2 of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Does the fluffy...fluffy thing come up when you type fluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo policy? EDIT: Seriously, why couldnt somebody just say that fluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo policy came up with fluffy bunny thing (it was hurting my head trying to understand what does the fluffy bunny w med's meant)?? What a hoot! I think this could be my new favorite post ever on TPR!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPDave Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 I still think it's something to do with animal rights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teacups Make Me Sick Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 ^^How embarrassing. After I posted that...I saw that Larry PM'ed me this: Robb was getting sick of people bringing up fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo, so he put in a word filter to change the word "fluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo" to "fluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo." Like that would have clarified my question!! I have been thinking all day, what the heck does this mean and why would the CEO of SF talk about fluffy bunnies??? What kind of prizes are they giving away at SF? Are the stuff they are giving away filled with glue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 ^ It's not embarassing! It's awesome! Seriously...you have brought more smiles today than anything else on TPR! --Robb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gisco Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 I don't see a problem with the lockers at each ride. If you don't want to pay a buck at each ride, store your stuff in a locker at the front of the park while you ride. And yes I'm posting just to say locker! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygator Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 I wanted to tackle one thing Robb said. About the leaving the stuff in the car, what do school kids on a trip or kids dropped off by their parents do? I saw that problem a lot today and I was only there 3 hours. Let me tell you how to address this. Preparedness. I was part a school trip to SFGAm last Friday. An all day trip from open to close with 5th and 6th graders. When you arrive on a bus, security gives the adult in charge a fact sheet to read to the whole bus. It didn't say anything about storage but the bus leader reminded all the kids of the loose items policy and that a $1 fee was needed for the big rides. You know what these 10 and 11 year olds decided to do? They left their bags and unnecessary items on the bus. If 10 and 11 years old can figure it out so should everybody. For the most part, most of them also decided that buying souvenirs and playing games should be left to late in the day, because not only is paying for storage a hassle, carrying stuff around isn't fun either. Agreed there are instances where people may have a need to carry personal items into a park but most of the people complaining here are not in that category. locker, locker, locker, locker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Starr Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 I love this thread. Something completely boring turn into awesomeness. What the heck- lockers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameron Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 One thing that I can think of is the refillable souvenir soda bottles. They look like a great deal at $12.99 for the season with free refills all day and then $0.99 refills the rest of the season but you can't take it with you in line or leave in the station. Pretty much every food/drink counter at every Six Flags park I've been to will you give free cups of iced water whenever you want. Totally free .. in a cheap, plastic, throw-away cup. I can typically spend 6 hours in a park and not spend a cent .. I eat on my way there (or on my way home), and then drink water all day. As an added benefit water is much better at hydrating you, and is also significantly more healthy. Like Larry said, if 5th graders can figure this out... Cameron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rawrtotheargh Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 ^ But if everyone ate outside of the park then they would lose A LOT of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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