Six Flags Great America (SFGAm) Discussion Thread

[coasterlvr]

I haven't been to Great America since Raging Bull was new. Maybe first or second year, I don't exactly remember. Without flash pass, I would not have made a detour out of my planned trip to Ohio to stop in Chicago. I also agree, it's not going away. Without flash pass, it would have been a total waste of time, imo. I'm so happy for it, for someone who doesn't have the time. I guess it's just never bothered me when I see the flash passers go by at Magic Mountain, my home park. Or even the first day I got there, we went for a few hours, and didn't get one. I will say, I did feel like a dick some times doing the re-ride. I wouldn't be upset if they got rid of that, although it was really awesome.

 

I also didn't see loads of flash passers all over. It looks like there aren't that many available when you go to the flash pass distribution center? Unless there are more hidden than the spaces that they keep them in. I know only a few times I ran into re-riders.

 

Anyway, had a great time. Those complaining about employees and park operations should come to Magic Mountain. LOL

 

Goliath was awesome and I do hope for a Colossus retrofit!

[GayCoasterGuy]

Oh no it's the flash pass argument again

 

I'm more on the not sell line cuts side, but I think there is a nice middle ground. I've warmed up to it more and more... I think the BIG issue is Six Flags operations and how they have made the decision (years ago, now) to capitalize off their extremely poor operations.

 

If Great America was run *on the dime* like Cedar Point, it wouldn't be such a big issue. I would guess our ride capacities are 60% of what Cedar Point runs.

 

It's not an issue of the employees so much (there are some damn fine ones that do their best to carry the load and go above/beyond), as a trickle down from people that don't care as much as would be nice. The high efficiency/friendly/know-whats-going-on-at-your-ride stuff simply is not a part of training anymore. It was lost long ago.

[beenagins87]

Oh no it's the flash pass argument again

 

I'm more on the not sell line cuts side, but I think there is a nice middle ground. I've warmed up to it more and more... I think the BIG issue is Six Flags operations and how they have made the decision (years ago, now) to capitalize off their extremely poor operations.

 

If Great America was run *on the dime* like Cedar Point, it wouldn't be such a big issue. I would guess our ride capacities are 60% of what Cedar Point runs.

 

It's not an issue of the employees so much (there are some damn fine ones that do their best to carry the load and go above/beyond), as a trickle down from people that don't care as much as would be nice. The high efficiency/friendly/know-whats-going-on-at-your-ride stuff simply is not a part of training anymore. It was lost long ago.

 

I understand some rides like Batman are short, and don't have a simple loading procedure, but I was shocked by Raging Bull stacking all 3 trains, and only a clamshell restraint, not to mention time wise it's closer to the longer than short side, although I do think maybe a lack of lockers is the problem. SFOG is my home park, and on Goliath they have someone out front making sure you put up bags etc, I didn't see one ride like that at SFGA, and they were just throwing they're stuff into whatever bin they could find, even though they had 3 bins, 1 for each specific train, I know people bitch about lockers and stuff, and it really doesn't make sense to only have it on specific rides etc.., but I do know 3 of the rides at SFOG that have lockers [ Goliath, Cyclone, SUF] were all loading and dispatching faster than their Great America counter parts, which makes it even worse for Great America considering Cyclone & Superman are probably the slowest dispatches at SFOG behind GA Scorcher.

[coasterdude5]

I have to say, while slow ride ops are certainly at fault in some regards, you have to keep in mind the idiot park guests who can also slow things down considerably. More times than not this season (I've been to the park weekly at least), a delay is caused by a guest who is (a) not paying any attention to what's going on around them/moving slow, (b) is not following posted guidelines/not listening to operator instructions, © has a loose article on the ride with them, (d) is arguing over something irrelevant, (e) too large/short to ride, etc.

 

Some of those you could blame Six Flags for not having practices in place to help prevent those issues. But you have to admit that stupid people are somewhat to blame. I'm sure other parks have them as well. Maybe more of them visit Six Flags. I've seen many.

[neil009]

^Stupid people visit every park in existence equally. They're everywhere.

[SingleRiderWill]

Just a question, is there a line for Season Passholders at the flashpass processing center? I've read that the line can get very long.

[beenagins87]

I have to say, while slow ride ops are certainly at fault in some regards, you have to keep in mind the idiot park guests who can also slow things down considerably. More times than not this season (I've been to the park weekly at least), a delay is caused by a guest who is (a) not paying any attention to what's going on around them/moving slow, (b) is not following posted guidelines/not listening to operator instructions, © has a loose article on the ride with them, (d) is arguing over something irrelevant, (e) too large/short to ride, etc.

 

Some of those you could blame Six Flags for not having practices in place to help prevent those issues. But you have to admit that stupid people are somewhat to blame. I'm sure other parks have them as well. Maybe more of them visit Six Flags. I've seen many.

 

 

I totally agree.. One of the stupid things I saw on my 2 days were people just throwing stuff in any random bend, and running over people who were boarding the train and putting their stuff away, which kind of seems like a fault of stupid people, and park policy involving lockers.

[GigaG]

Oh no it's the flash pass argument again

 

I'm more on the not sell line cuts side, but I think there is a nice middle ground. I've warmed up to it more and more... I think the BIG issue is Six Flags operations and how they have made the decision (years ago, now) to capitalize off their extremely poor operations.

 

If Great America was run *on the dime* like Cedar Point, it wouldn't be such a big issue. I would guess our ride capacities are 60% of what Cedar Point runs.

 

It's not an issue of the employees so much (there are some damn fine ones that do their best to carry the load and go above/beyond), as a trickle down from people that don't care as much as would be nice. The high efficiency/friendly/know-whats-going-on-at-your-ride stuff simply is not a part of training anymore. It was lost long ago.

 

I read something that said that SFFT ran Rattler with one train on its last day and forced people to sit in certain seats, possibly to sell Flash Passes.

[beenagins87]

Oh no it's the flash pass argument again

 

I'm more on the not sell line cuts side, but I think there is a nice middle ground. I've warmed up to it more and more... I think the BIG issue is Six Flags operations and how they have made the decision (years ago, now) to capitalize off their extremely poor operations.

 

If Great America was run *on the dime* like Cedar Point, it wouldn't be such a big issue. I would guess our ride capacities are 60% of what Cedar Point runs.

 

It's not an issue of the employees so much (there are some damn fine ones that do their best to carry the load and go above/beyond), as a trickle down from people that don't care as much as would be nice. The high efficiency/friendly/know-whats-going-on-at-your-ride stuff simply is not a part of training anymore. It was lost long ago.

 

I read something that said that SFFT ran Rattler with one train on its last day and forced people to sit in certain seats, possibly to sell Flash Passes.

 

I know at SFOG Batman & Great American Scream Machine have 1 or 2 rows roped off in the station for flash pass users, although if they don't have any, they'll take people waiting in other rows and open them up.

[GigaG]

Oh no it's the flash pass argument again

 

I'm more on the not sell line cuts side, but I think there is a nice middle ground. I've warmed up to it more and more... I think the BIG issue is Six Flags operations and how they have made the decision (years ago, now) to capitalize off their extremely poor operations.

 

If Great America was run *on the dime* like Cedar Point, it wouldn't be such a big issue. I would guess our ride capacities are 60% of what Cedar Point runs.

 

It's not an issue of the employees so much (there are some damn fine ones that do their best to carry the load and go above/beyond), as a trickle down from people that don't care as much as would be nice. The high efficiency/friendly/know-whats-going-on-at-your-ride stuff simply is not a part of training anymore. It was lost long ago.

 

I read something that said that SFFT ran Rattler with one train on its last day and forced people to sit in certain seats, possibly to sell Flash Passes.

 

I know at SFOG Batman & Great American Scream Machine have 1 or 2 rows roped off in the station for flash pass users, although if they don't have any, they'll take people waiting in other rows and open them up.

 

I saw the same at Skull Mountain at Great Adventure. I didn't see them filling the rows, though. And the line was long and slow. And they were only running one train...

[GayCoasterGuy]

^Stupid people visit every park in existence equally.

 

I'm sure someone could explain how incorrect this is (and why), but it's not me.

 

(I just re-read what I wrote and it sounds abrasive. My apologies. I'm sure someone can explain the YOLOish guest phenomenon.)

[batmanfan80]

Flash pass equivalent are much much cheaper elsewhere. Just booked a Busch Gardens trip. Looked like $20 for a flash pass on the big rides and $35 for one that goes for everything else. Great America does have two big problems that contribute. #1 the lack of non-thrill stuff and #2 the aformentioned operations. There are a lot of times where I'd like something non-thrill, non-spin to ride and there just isn't anything. Cedar Point has two Great America Raceway type rides and a lot of other non-intense stuff. Flash Pass should exist and it should be reasonable. Maybe 100-200, not 1000-2000. I've been on X Flight maybe 40-50 times in the last two years. I know how long the line usually takes depending on length. The only time you cannot count the flash passers is when you're on the stairs(and that's assuming they go back to not instructing people to let the flash passers up the right side stairs). Demon may be the other ride where it's possible to count flash passers. It's simple math. If I'm stuck in the same spot for 10-15 minutes and just counted 10 groups of flash passers averaging 5 per group, then approx 50 people just increased my wait time. This happens multiple times, your 35 min wait now becomes a 70 min wait.

 

Those wait time signs are never accurate. I've seen signs for X Flight saying 120 min and it took 45ish on days when we didn't get bombarded with 100+ flash passers. Viper often has signs that say 45 or 60 and it takes 25-30. When I've bought the regular flash pass, I found little difference in wait time between that and the Gold. There are also times when the signs underestime wait time. Flash Passers are like this unseen variable. There's no way they can factor it in unless someone keeps a tally and knows the average wait time increase per flash passer. I would not be surprised if X Flight or Bull sees something like 3 or 4 thousand flash pass scans per day with people going back for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, rides, etc.

 

When you sell ridiculous amounts of flash passes, you end up giving the majority of guests a miserable time and a small minority lots of extra rides. It would be a godsend if Great America would add something like Sky Whirl and the raceway back. When I came back there 3 years ago after not going for 18 years, I was really taken aback by how different it was from before. Seemed like everything had to be some kinda thrill ride. And while there is a lot of riff raff Yolo people there, there's still a lot of families who are going because the parents liked the park in the 80s and were expecting something similar.

 

I wonder what % of season pass holders go more than 5 times a year. I go pretty often but by the time I get there we basically end up having dinner and getting like 3 rides in before it closes. Without the pass maybe I could get the wife to make an effort to get there early. I think there was maybe two days this year where we got there in time for lunch. Even with all our visits I think we only got in 3 rides each on Batman and Bull this year. Most likely we coulda had a bunch after riding Goliath on the ERT day but the wife wanted to leave.

 

I bet a large majority of pass holders barely go. It's like gym memberships. My advice to pass holders who don't want to gamble on crowds would be to go on all the ERT days and the first weekend of Fright Fest. They've had a lot of ERT days this year. I think this month I won't be going any other days but those. Normally 9pm is kinda like ERT but the other day was the first time I actually saw lines get significantly worse at 9.

[neil009]

^Stupid people visit every park in existence equally.

 

I'm sure someone could explain how incorrect this is (and why), but it's not me.

 

(I just re-read what I wrote and it sounds abrasive. My apologies. I'm sure someone can explain the YOLOish guest phenomenon.)

 

Yeah I don't buy the "trashy policies attract trashy people" argument, pretty sure that's just blatant classism. Go ahead and dump out all the anecdotal evidence you want, I still won't believe it. It's like reading a horoscope, people take all the myriad of amusement park experiences and pick out the ones that correspond to their worldview and ignore everything else. You'll always see what you want/expect to see.

Edited August 2, 2014 by neil009

[GigaG]

What ERT events can passholders get into? I know about the ones on the 10th and the 15th, are there any others? Also, do they have early entry, and if so, what rides? I have Six Flags passes, so I would like this info.

 

New question edit: Also, do the vests lock on X-Flight?

[batmanfan80]

https://www.sixflags.com/greatamerica/special-events

 

7, 10, 15, 16 of this month for ERT plus the Citgo ERT possibilities. The YOLO phenomenon is not exclusive to here. Just google YOLO and Six Flags and see it pop up for other parks. I don't see it as a class thing. There are plenty of low income people who are not trashy. I equate the YOLO types with guests who look and act like they belong on 1998 Jerry Springer or Jenny Jones's "my teen is out of control". Boisterous, arrogant, and obnoxious. Key Lime Cove was full of em when I went there 5 years ago too. These are the type of people who will physically fight over cheap dollar store junk thrown out in the crowd during the Pride parade, even after someone else has already caught the 99 cent plastic necklace. There's just an arrogant sense of entitlement and "look at me" narcissism about them.

 

There's often a lot of equally annoying stereotypical upper middle class teens too. And I say that because I grew up around a ton of obnoxious upper and upper middle class teens and college kids who wear brands like North Face and Abercrombie as a cultural thing. It's done to establish that you're part of that culture, the clothes being one sort of gatekeeper to being accepted in those circles. Of the two groups, I would say the YOLO types are more antisocial and aggressive. They're probably the reason there's all these new line-jumping signs with phone numbers to call if you want to report someone.

 

WWE wrestling went to a PG show and all of a sudden the trash factor in the audience went down a lot. Not saying the product was better as a result, but getting rid of some lowest common denominator elements drove a lot of aggressive and obnoxious people away. If Great America started a marketing campaign saying they were going to go back to the more family friendly Marriott style that would drive off a lot of the trashy types because that type of environment doesn't appeal to them because they can't act out. They could build a Millennium Force clone and these miscreants wouldn't show up if they thought there were any standards for their behavior.

 

That's probably why Cedar Point is so different despite there being a good amount of sketchy looking people living near the park. It doesn't have a rep as some kinda free for all place where obnoxious people can act out. Didn't gangs drive Astroworld out of business? And I heard Great Adventure almost suffered a similar fate. The gun being found on someone at Great America really stained its rep with a lot of people. Forget what year that was.

 

Guess the most important thing they could do to reduce miscreant behavior is just run a tighter ship aside from their GSA security. I'm not sure why they let everyone tail gate in the lot. That costs the park a lot of money in missed sales and leaves a lot of extra garbage. They should just replace some of the Midway games with food places and build extra bathrooms while lowering the food prices. When I was at Cedar, I don't recall there being a ton of tailgating.

 

Great America has this no swimsuit dress code thing that they don't enforce but probably should. Six Flags should raise the standards for themselves and the guests. The flawed operations and other effects of their greed and lack of care probably contribute to people acting out more than they normally would.

[willthegolfer]

^^ Last time i rode the vests locked making what would have been a decent ride, (back row left) painful.

[beenagins87]

I felt like one side of X Flight the vest were more painful than the other one.

[neil009]

^^My only experience with wing coasters was Gatekeeper, back when the vests were still miserable (literally one of the worst rides I've ever had), though now they're supposed to be better. I thought on the other wing coasters, the vests weren't as big a problem, but are the ones on X-Flight pretty bad?

[prozach626]

I'll be heading to the park next Friday, 08/08. How should I expect the crowds to be?

 

I'm going with a buddy of mine from work, so I'm looking forward to seeing a first timer at the park.

[ilrider]

^^My only experience with wing coasters was Gatekeeper, back when the vests were still miserable (literally one of the worst rides I've ever had), though now they're supposed to be better. I thought on the other wing coasters, the vests weren't as big a problem, but are the ones on X-Flight pretty bad?

 

I do not think they are that bad. I did not even notice the tightening effect the first several times I rode it until I saw others mentioning it online. Since then, I have noticed it some, but it does not ruin the ride for me in any way. Mild discomfort as the train reenters the station is all. I have a feeling it varies depending on body type. They do not start too tight, though; it happens during the ride.

[beenagins87]

^^My only experience with wing coasters was Gatekeeper, back when the vests were still miserable (literally one of the worst rides I've ever had), though now they're supposed to be better. I thought on the other wing coasters, the vests weren't as big a problem, but are the ones on X-Flight pretty bad?

 

I've rode X Flight & Wild Eagle. Wild Eagle didn't really bother me till we were in the brake run, X Flight is a super ride, but the right side on me, the vest were tight as hell, and a bit uncomfortable, but not uncomfortable enough to deter my enjoyment of the ride.

[rcjp]

I've only been on Gatekeeper while they still tightened and I must say it didn't really bother me until we hit the brakes. I naturally knew they were getting tighter because I had already been told it. Having said that, while I didn't really find them unpleasant they do make the experience a bit less exiting as they nail you to your seat. I couldn't feel anything on the big hill even though I know it has some floater air.

[ZeroGravity55]

Hasn't there been reports this year that Cedar Point has fixed the tightening vest issue with Gatekeeper? Also, hasn't B&M been able to solve this problem as there have really been no complaints about any tightening vests on Banshee?

[rcjp]

^I think so. At least that's what I've been reading.

[Geauga Dog]

I've ridden Gatekeeper a few times this year and have not had the restraints tighten like they did last year.