Six Flags Great America (SFGAm) Discussion Thread

[Jojo19799]

^Works for me too. Should we meet out front by the flags? It would be less crowded than meeting in the park.

[monsterfan99]

Want to do around 7:15 by the flags outside then?

[Jojo19799]

^I will be there. I've never been to CAD, but I'm hoping its not too crowded. I was a little spoiled on Monday using the Q-bot.

[monsterfan99]

Hopefully it won't be too bad. Oh, I'll be in the lime green pert plus for men shirt. I'm also one of the only males with a ponytail and beard you will see there.

[Jojo19799]

Oh, I'll be in the lime green pert plus for men shirt.

 

That shouldn't be too hard to find. Then again, the SF employees are pretty easy to find. I'll be blending in with the crowd myself since I don't have an awesome bright shirt to wear.

[monsterfan99]

Oh, I'll be in the lime green pert plus for men shirt.

 

That shouldn't be too hard to find. Then again, the SF employees are pretty easy to find. I'll be blending in with the crowd myself since I don't have an awesome bright shirt to wear.

Was the only non-white or black shirt I have clean. Yay for free world record attempt shirts.

[Jojo19799]

I completely forgot that was today. How did it go? I would love to see pictures of it. I'd hate to say it, but I think they were setting themselves up for failure there.

[monsterfan99]

^I'll post the links later tonight that they gave us for the pictures.

 

 

The event bombed. They had maybe 100-110 people there WITH all the life guards participating as well. They needed over 200 plus. The water was ice cold with no presure. They also booted us out at 9:30 am to go stand in line to get in. I figured they would let us use the Hurricane Harbor exit to get in the park, but no dice.

 

Problem was, the park gave out zero info on it. Even asking last night in guest relations, the person there had no info. He was stunned they did not have the time listed and after first told me "we are not open then" when i said 8 am.

 

It sucks, because the Pert people did an outstanding job with free stuff. Everyone got at least a shirt, towel, full bottle of shampoo, a small backpack style bag, coupon for any pert shampoo for free and a free ticket for the day. I ended up with 4 bottles of shampoo, 2 towels, 2 shirts, a bag, 2 coupons and a free ticket. Plus everyone got free premium parking.

 

It just seems like they told everyone but the public. A radio station had a van there, all the local news stations were there filming. Pert even had their own staff there. Even Pert was doing a ton of twitter updates in the days leading up the event. It just seems like SF Great America's PR staff just dropped the ball in informing the locals. Which sucks because it was an odd, but fun event.

[mcjaco]

Guys (and gal), I'll probably be there around 8:30. Couple of errands to do.

[Mr. Starr]

Alright, I was too late again for the meet-up, but still had a good time at CAD! They were at least checking season passes at the front of the lines, and I got a couple rerides on TDK. Viper was running better, but not it's best, even though the awesome crew was! Left the park at around 12:30 and ended up home at 2 AM.

 

(Oh, and Yankee Clipper was open!)

[Cameron]

Looks like I missed a fun little event last night! How'd it all go? What were the crowds like?

 

Cameron.

[mcjaco]

Next time, we'll plan a bit better. None of this same day planning!

 

Crowds when I arrived at 8:30ish were really heavy. Both parking lots were pretty full. I waited for monster and jojo at the TDK exit, and we rode Viper, Demon, and Whizzer and headed home.

 

They closed the lines at 9:30 to the GP, and started new lines for pass holders. If we'd stayed, I think we could have gotten in at least two, maybe three more rides.

 

It was fun, I just don't know if I'd do the next one on a Friday night in August.

[kumba830]

Sorry Matt and JoJo...I left my phone at home because I had forgotten to charge it. So I didn't get Cameron's message that you guys were there.

 

 

Oh well there is always later in the year.

[THE ONE]

Next time, we'll plan a bit better. None of this same day planning!

 

Crowds when I arrived at 8:30ish were really heavy. Both parking lots were pretty full. I waited for monster and jojo at the TDK exit, and we rode Viper, Demon, and Whizzer and headed home.

 

It was fun, I just don't know if I'd do the next one on a Friday night in August.

 

I would believe it. My wife has a friend their that's in management and he said their was over 30,000 people their when he left at 3pm.

 

He also said Friday July 3 they had over 40,000 people their.

 

 

Just talked to my wife and their was 39,000 people yesterday.

[monsterfan99]

^ That is insane.

 

Thanks to Matt and JoJo for a fun night despite the lines.

[Airtime&Gravity]

From yesterday (sorry, no photos since I wasn't expecting much).

 

The park had decent sized crowds due to the great weather and the fact that it was the annual Muslim Family Day festival.

 

-crowds for most major rides were the typical 45+ minutes

 

-Viper had a short wait, but many problems with the restraints. Whole cars were getting roped off, and it was taking a long time to load/unload. I think the train I was on took at least 10 minutes to dispatch due to the problems. I think the train two or three before mine took close to 30 minutes to dispatch.

 

-Dark Knight actually had a line again around 30 minutes, which is where it probably should be. Those who I rode with really liked the ride despite being teenagers, and the group I was talking in line to were still excited to ride despite knowing it was a family coaster (they were also teenagers). I think that those who ride it now do know what to expect, and even if they don't they still seem to enjoy it from what I've heard this year.

 

-The elephant ear covered in sugar, cinnamon, and honey sold by Raging Bull is really good

 

-Buccaneer Battle had a good amount of people riding, even close to closing time, due to the great weather.

 

-----------------------------------------------

 

-So even though I was only at the park for a few hours in the evening, it was really enjoyable. Even with the crowds, Viper's problems, and rude people waiting for American Eagle red, it was one of my most enjoyable visits of the season. Sometimes it is nice just to take a stroll around the park and enjoy the night.

 

-As for what I think happened in American Eagle(it began as I was entering the station to queue): A person who had ridden once already tried to get a second ride with a single rider member of his group. The ride ops told him he couldn't do this. I'm going to give the man the benefit of the doubt and say there might have been a language barrier. It took a while and a ride op to come up to him for him to understand. Meanwhile, these two groups of people got pissed off with the guy because they wouldn't be able to race their friends on the blue side due to it taking so long to tell the first guy he couldn't ride again. After probably about 5 minutes or so, both riders took the walk of shame. I think one of the groups yelling at the guy were threatened with being ejected from the ride/park for the comments that were being said.

 

-The whole Muslim Family Day festival is actually quite nice, and even though I'm not Muslim, I've visited the park on the day it has been held in 2006, 2007, and 2009. I think I missed the 2008 day by one day. I haven't planned it that way, but after repeated visits during the festival and with each visit being among my most enjoyable of the year, I just might start to plan to visit during it.

 

- Outside the Southwest Territory Amphitheater, various Middle Eastern restaurants were selling food. The first time I walked by, all I saw were the tents, so I assumed that they were giving information on the jet ski across the plaza/ some travel booth like there have been at the park. It wasn't until after i had my "dinner"(see elephant ear above) that I realized that they were selling food. The food was the traditional Middle Eastern/Indian-Pakistani food, and it was being prepared fresh up until closing when they had to get rid of what was made. Obviously, food fresh off the grill is going to be better than something that's been sitting under a heat lamp. The prices were also pretty good. I think you could get some kebabs for $4-$6(don't remember exact prices), so for amusement park food, it is a pretty good deal. If you bought the food at closing, the food was considerably cheaper. My cup of tea cost $2, but you could get hot tea for $1.50(before the prices were lowered)

 

-The Southwest Territory Amphitheater was set up for Salat. I don't remember this from previous years, so it is nice to see the park accommodating those attending.

 

-I had a good discussion with the Muslim teenagers, and even though they were thrill-seekers, they were still excited to ride Dark Knight. They even talked to me about how great the q-bot was on their previous visits this season, and how they wished they had bought one that day.

 

-Even though the park was crowded, it wasn't uncomfortable like fright fest, and the guests were much better behaved. It was great not having the park over-run by teenagers, screaming little kids, and screaming teenagers like at Fright Fest or other weekend visits. Just a lot of families, and teenagers, out for a nice visit to Six Flags. Overall, I would say that about 1/3 was Muslim.

 

-Even with the festival, the park didn't seem any more crowded than what should be an average Saturday. In fact if the demographics were that of a typical Saturday, the park would have probably been pretty dead for a Saturday.

 

So yeah, next year, visit on Muslim Family Day. Sure the park won't be dead, but that is what a q-bot is for. It is just a really enjoyable day to visit if you don't mind the crowds.

[mcjaco]

Sometimes it is nice just to take a stroll around the park and enjoy the night.

 

You bet. And it's good exercise.

 

If you stay away from elephant ears, and funnel cake!

[Jojo19799]

I like to people watch when I go there. I've seen a lot of interesting people there like "sexy", leg warmer girl, villian looking mustache guy, a guy wearing (and probably using) heeleys, a guy wearing bunny ears oh and a guy dressed up as Batman.

[Mr. Starr]

a guy wearing (and probably using) heeleys,

 

Whenever I see them, I try imagining tripping them over as they "roll" past me.

[Cameron]

^ Had heeleys been around when I was a kid, I surely would not have lived to this ripe-old-age..

 

oh and a guy dressed up as Batman.

 

Umm .. I think he's supposed to be there

 

Cameron.

[Jojo19799]

^Ok so maybe he was supposed to be there, but I'm putting him on the sexy countdown anyway.

 

I really wish I had heeleys sometimes. I'm literally running around this place and doing that in heels hurts a bit.

[Mr. Starr]

Trust me, I've seen kids go over one crack in the sidewalk and end up getting stitches, all while making a complete idiot of themselves!

[traincrossin]

Just got a Funatics email with a pretty good deal.

 

Flash Pass discount for Season Pass holders

 

Now through August 2 Flash Your Pass and Save $10.00 off the purchase of a Flash Pass. Not valid with any other discounts or online purchases.

[Jerrykoala2112]

Has anyone gone recently and would like to share a report?

[Mr. Starr]

Has anyone gone recently and would like to share a report?

 

I'm trying to get out there this weekend! (And hopefully I'll bring my camera)