Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread

[coasterfreak101]

Yeah, they did just get a good flat-ride package with Adventure Alley. Really helped that area of the park out, so I really hope that sort of renovation can continue to Movietown and Old Country to make that entire side of the park feel a lot more complete.

 

Sidenote, was there an opening date announced for Zumanjaro? I'm hoping it's ready to go in April seeing as it's attached to one of the park's most popular rides (and certainly their biggest talking point for anybody looking to visit) and not being held off until Memorial Day, leaving Ka out of service until then.

[Hercules]

I agree that the park is not really complete. However, when you are completing with New York City and Philadelphia attractions you need big additions in order to peak interest and get people coming in to the park year after year after year.

[Dr. M]

I agree that the park is not really complete. However, when you are completing with New York City and Philadelphia attractions you need big additions in order to peak interest and get people coming in to the park year after year after year.

 

That's no excuse, Busch Gardens Williamsburg competes with DC and yet somehow they find it within their budget to keep their park pristine and beautiful every year. There's no reason SFGA can't build big new rides AND work to improve infrastructure. They're just cheap bastards who don't care about the customer experience. Seriously, the layout of the park as it is now is one of the worst of any park I've ever been to.

[coasterbill]

Seriously, the layout of the park as it is now is one of the worst of any park I've ever been to.

 

It's my home park so I never really think about it since I know how to get to everything but now that you mention it you're absolutely right. You have to cut through an arcade to bypass the boardwalk from the main midway area, there are 2 Golden Kingdoms since the area is no longer connected and Old Country just kind of ends.

 

I know a lot of people are complaining about Old Country but the Golden Kingdom thing drives me insane. I hate the fact that there are 2 sections of it that aren't connected and they turned a short walk from El Toro to Kingda Ka into a really long walk through the most congested area of the park (which became more congested when they cut off Golden Kingdom). I hope whatever they do for the new drop tower entrance area involves re-opening this area.

[Dr. M]

Not to mention just finding the right path that takes you to Kingda Ka is a headache and a half. Maybe that's a problem only I have, but I don't have trouble navigating at any other park I've been to, usually I don't even need a map.

[schotj]

^^I'm sure people are lining up for a ride just like Shoot the Rapids right now . I love the other 2 ideas but don't see either of them happening.

 

Haha, you're definitely right...it's just a ride that I think would tie the whole park together. Regardless, Gadv needs to work on it's current infrastructure before planning any other expansions. Perfect what it currently has, THEN move on to bigger and better things.

 

Just curious, why don't you see the other two ideas happening? I LOVE those rides, and think they would do well there

Edited December 4, 2013 by schotj

[KingdaKaDude1]

I agree that the park is not really complete. However, when you are completing with New York City and Philadelphia attractions you need big additions in order to peak interest and get people coming in to the park year after year after year.

 

That's no excuse, Busch Gardens Williamsburg competes with DC and yet somehow they find it within their budget to keep their park pristine and beautiful every year. There's no reason SFGA can't build big new rides AND work to improve infrastructure. They're just cheap bastards who don't care about the customer experience. Seriously, the layout of the park as it is now is one of the worst of any park I've ever been to.

yea but Busch Gardens only competition is Six Flags trashmerica

[Dr. M]

^And King's Dominion.....? SFGA's competition is Dorney amd Hershey, so yeah, same situation.

[coasterbill]

Just curious, why don't you see the other two ideas happening? I LOVE those rides, and think they would do well there

 

Unless I'm just forgetting a park I don't think any Six Flags park has a giant Frisbee or an S&S Swing ride. Both rides also have a lot of mechanical problems. I absolutely love them and think they're great, but I'm worried that the maintenance headaches combined with the fact that Six Flags has never purchased either of them before (that I can think of) make it unlikely (but not impossible) that they'll be coming to Great Adventure anytime soon.

[Hercules]

I agree that the park is not really complete. However, when you are completing with New York City and Philadelphia attractions you need big additions in order to peak interest and get people coming in to the park year after year after year.

 

That's no excuse, Busch Gardens Williamsburg competes with DC and yet somehow they find it within their budget to keep their park pristine and beautiful every year. There's no reason SFGA can't build big new rides AND work to improve infrastructure. They're just cheap bastards who don't care about the customer experience. Seriously, the layout of the park as it is now is one of the worst of any park I've ever been to.

 

The clientele is those two areas are totally different. Great Adventure attracts those who do not care as much about a pristine atmosphere. Busch Gardens attracts families that are typically on a vacation to the Colonial Williamsburg area, and some nicer suburbs of the DC area so they are looking for that kind of experience. I am not saying it is an excuse, but calling Six Flags a bunch of cheap bastards is not correct in this situation. They are making multi-million dollar additions and improvements during the off season, they are just different than what Busch Gardens makes.

[Dr. M]

I agree that the park is not really complete. However, when you are completing with New York City and Philadelphia attractions you need big additions in order to peak interest and get people coming in to the park year after year after year.

 

That's no excuse, Busch Gardens Williamsburg competes with DC and yet somehow they find it within their budget to keep their park pristine and beautiful every year. There's no reason SFGA can't build big new rides AND work to improve infrastructure. They're just cheap bastards who don't care about the customer experience. Seriously, the layout of the park as it is now is one of the worst of any park I've ever been to.

 

The clientele is those two areas are totally different. Great Adventure attracts those who do not care as much about a pristine atmosphere. Busch Gardens attracts families that are typically on a vacation to the Colonial Williamsburg area, and some nicer suburbs of the DC area so they are looking for that kind of experience. I am not saying it is an excuse, but calling Six Flags a bunch of cheap bastards is not correct in this situation. They are making multi-million dollar additions and improvements during the off season, they are just different than what Busch Gardens makes.

 

Sorry, I don't buy it. BGW caters to a wide variety of clientele, including thrill seekers, seeing as they have two B&M's that are both the tallest and fastest of their type. SFGA also caters to a wide variety including families. They don't mainly attract people who don't care about atmosphere, why would that be true? They're cheap bastards when it comes to doing anything to the park other than building new rides. BGW is simply a nicer, better-run park, as is Hershey, as is King's Dominion, as is most of their major competition.

 

No excuses, Six Flags sucks plain and simple.

[Vonni]

I see a lot of people mentioning Old Country. I've never been to SFGdv, so could someone fill me in on where exactly this area is? I study the aerial views often so I have a vague idea of layout, just not the names of the areas.

[necoastergp]

I see a lot of people mentioning Old Country. I've never been to SFGdv, so could someone fill me in on where exactly this area is? I study the aerial views often so I have a vague idea of layout, just not the names of the areas.

 

It's the area where Batman & Robin the Chiller used to be basically behind the dark knight ride building. It's a dead end now in the movie town area which used to go straight through to the front of the park, which is really inconvenient and is really the biggest downside to the area being shut down. It used to house other rides as well like Stuntman's free fall like Demon Drop at Dorney.

[Vonni]

^ Thanks. Its hard to tell how it is a dead end from aerial veiws, but I can see how it could get congested.

Edited December 5, 2013 by Vonni

[Hoppy]

Edit due to the flame war - I'll PM you coasterbill.

Edited December 5, 2013 by Hoppy

[coasterbill]

So.. let me make sure I'm following you on this one.

 

First you would have "killed off" the "fake mouse" ride instead of scrapping it (you just contradicted yourself, are we removing it or scrapping it?).

 

Then you would have called up Cedar Point and asked if they would be willing to sell you their beat to crap bobsled coaster with a ridiculously low capacity completely ignoring the fact that there is already a beat to crap bobsled coaster in the chain that's rumored to be on it's way out at Great Escape that you could just move here without having to buy anything. You're also ignoring the fact that said beat to crap Bobsled was removed in 1988 FROM GREAT ADVENTURE because it has terrible capacity and can't run in any rain at all.

 

What I'm not sure about is if you want to put Disaster Transport in the Dark Knight building where it wouldn't fit at all or if it would become an outdoor coaster that can't run in the rain. I'm also not sure why you'd put a ride with a capacity too low for Great Escape at Great Adventure.

[Hercules]

I agree that the park is not really complete. However, when you are completing with New York City and Philadelphia attractions you need big additions in order to peak interest and get people coming in to the park year after year after year.

 

That's no excuse, Busch Gardens Williamsburg competes with DC and yet somehow they find it within their budget to keep their park pristine and beautiful every year. There's no reason SFGA can't build big new rides AND work to improve infrastructure. They're just cheap bastards who don't care about the customer experience. Seriously, the layout of the park as it is now is one of the worst of any park I've ever been to.

 

The clientele is those two areas are totally different. Great Adventure attracts those who do not care as much about a pristine atmosphere. Busch Gardens attracts families that are typically on a vacation to the Colonial Williamsburg area, and some nicer suburbs of the DC area so they are looking for that kind of experience. I am not saying it is an excuse, but calling Six Flags a bunch of cheap bastards is not correct in this situation. They are making multi-million dollar additions and improvements during the off season, they are just different than what Busch Gardens makes.

 

Sorry, I don't buy it. BGW caters to a wide variety of clientele, including thrill seekers, seeing as they have two B&M's that are both the tallest and fastest of their type. SFGA also caters to a wide variety including families. They don't mainly attract people who don't care about atmosphere, why would that be true? They're cheap bastards when it comes to doing anything to the park other than building new rides. BGW is simply a nicer, better-run park, as is Hershey, as is King's Dominion, as is most of their major competition.

 

No excuses, Six Flags sucks plain and simple.

 

That is fine. Six Flags sucking is your opinion. I personally don't enjoy the atmosphere at most of their parks either. And sure, you are going to get a mix of people at parks (families, teens, twenty-somethings, thrill seekers, grandma's etc.) I"m just saying that Six Flags chooses to spend their money in a certain way, and that is usually on rides, and it is kind of tough to change that now. In order to make the improvements you would be looking for at Great Adventure I would venture to say it would take 3 years worth of off season improvement expenses and all of that time in order to make the park full of nice surroundings. 3 years of no ride or thrill improvements/upgrades to the ride lineup. They are were they are right now, so they almost kind of have to keep running the course with it.

 

And I am not making excuses for them, I am just being a realist here.

[YoshiFan]

I don't know how true it is but a while ago I remember hearing that before Red Zone took over, the plan was to retheme.or add to the theme a section of the park each year. They had started with Golden Kingdom in 2005 and then Plaza Del Carnaval the year after but that was the end of it after the change in management. If it was true, it's a shame it didn't work out because if the entire park was themed as nice as those 2 sections it would have been awesome.

[Dr. M]

I agree that the park is not really complete. However, when you are completing with New York City and Philadelphia attractions you need big additions in order to peak interest and get people coming in to the park year after year after year.

 

That's no excuse, Busch Gardens Williamsburg competes with DC and yet somehow they find it within their budget to keep their park pristine and beautiful every year. There's no reason SFGA can't build big new rides AND work to improve infrastructure. They're just cheap bastards who don't care about the customer experience. Seriously, the layout of the park as it is now is one of the worst of any park I've ever been to.

 

The clientele is those two areas are totally different. Great Adventure attracts those who do not care as much about a pristine atmosphere. Busch Gardens attracts families that are typically on a vacation to the Colonial Williamsburg area, and some nicer suburbs of the DC area so they are looking for that kind of experience. I am not saying it is an excuse, but calling Six Flags a bunch of cheap bastards is not correct in this situation. They are making multi-million dollar additions and improvements during the off season, they are just different than what Busch Gardens makes.

 

Sorry, I don't buy it. BGW caters to a wide variety of clientele, including thrill seekers, seeing as they have two B&M's that are both the tallest and fastest of their type. SFGA also caters to a wide variety including families. They don't mainly attract people who don't care about atmosphere, why would that be true? They're cheap bastards when it comes to doing anything to the park other than building new rides. BGW is simply a nicer, better-run park, as is Hershey, as is King's Dominion, as is most of their major competition.

 

No excuses, Six Flags sucks plain and simple.

 

That is fine. Six Flags sucking is your opinion. I personally don't enjoy the atmosphere at most of their parks either. And sure, you are going to get a mix of people at parks (families, teens, twenty-somethings, thrill seekers, grandma's etc.) I"m just saying that Six Flags chooses to spend their money in a certain way, and that is usually on rides, and it is kind of tough to change that now. In order to make the improvements you would be looking for at Great Adventure I would venture to say it would take 3 years worth of off season improvement expenses and all of that time in order to make the park full of nice surroundings. 3 years of no ride or thrill improvements/upgrades to the ride lineup. They are were they are right now, so they almost kind of have to keep running the course with it.

 

And I am not making excuses for them, I am just being a realist here.

 

It's true that it's taken years of neglect and bad decisions for the park to become the disjointed mess it is now, and it would take years to do a full turnaround. But it can happen in small chunks. There's no reason they have to "stay the course" and continue screwing stuff up, it's just not in their business model to have a nice park, apparently. But they have a chance here to really fix the Golden Kingdom, make it more cohesive and clear up some of the congestion in that main midway. That would be a start. Let's hope they don't f*ck it up.

[A.J.]

Honestly, it may be that I have kind of low standards, but the only parts of Six Flags Great Adventure that I think completely "suck" are the games midway near Superman/Green Lantern, Dark Knight just being plopped down in the middle of everything and the ridiculous visual scan that they do before doing anything else.

[3Mutts]

^ Lets not forget the abandoned Old Country and to some people (not on this site I'm sure) the graveyard below Nitro as well.

 

Anyways I agree, back in 2005-2006 I remember how bad the clientele was (pretty much all teenage gangs and no family's at all) and I think the park has made a huge turnaround since then with additions like Adventure Ally, including the Safari with the park (it was VERY expensive to get in before), cleaning the gangs out (you still get that classic Jersey vibe but there is nothing they can do about that), improved operations (is it Cedar Fair or Disney? No, but it is better than in 2006 where they would purposely run 1 train to generate lines and then let 5 people from the regular line in and 50 people from the flash pass line on El Toro. It took two hours to ride the damn thing because of this, we have since waited in a similar line [all switchbacks filled] and it took forty minutes), and including some REAL police along security guards.

[YoshiFan]

I agree the park has gotten better. I had such a bad trip to the park in 2002, that I stayed away in 2003 - 2006. Then I decided to give the park another chance in 2007. I had the total opposite visit compared to 2002 that I decided to get a season pass in 2008 and have gotten a season pass every year since then. Now it's rare to see 1 train on any coaster that has multiple trains except on days the park is so empty that even with 1 train, it isn't going out full and the park is a lot cleaner than it used to be.

[Dr. M]

Honestly, it may be that I have kind of low standards, but the only parts of Six Flags Great Adventure that I think completely "suck" are the games midway near Superman/Green Lantern, Dark Knight just being plopped down in the middle of everything and the ridiculous visual scan that they do before doing anything else.

 

Let's just talk layout and atmosphere for a moment. We've got the games midway, the area around Dark Knight, abandoned Old Country, the devided Golden Kingdom, the way the new queue line for the Safari is smushed right up against the Best of the West restaurant, the two mediocre B&Ms dropped in a field between the park and the parking lot and the amount of wasted space their ridiculously shaped queues take up, the depressing state of Skull Mountain's facade and how it totally dominates that side of the park... I'm pretty sure the only area of the park I don't hate is the area right around Bizarro. That area is so quiet and wooded, once I'm there I never want to leave.

[netdvn]

If you truly have a vendetta against Great Adventure and their operations/clientele/atmosphere, then quit spending your money there and take trips to other parks instead. No point in doing business with a park that makes you unhappy right?

 

Nobody's forcing you to go and I'm fine with one less person in line for Toro and Ka.

[Dr. M]

If you truly have a vendetta against Great Adventure and their operations/clientele/atmosphere, then quit spending your money there and take trips to other parks instead. No point in doing business with a park that makes you unhappy right?

 

Nobody's forcing you to go and I'm fine with one less person in line for Toro and Ka.

 

It happens that El Toro is my #1 ride overall, if there was somewhere else I could go to ride it, trust me, I would. Nitro and Batman also make it worth the trip. But I have no problem with their clientele, read through my posts and you'll find I never even made a sarcastic crack about it being located in Jersey. The problem isn't the people that go there, the problem is the behemoth corporation that takes their money for granted and repeatedly reinforces the idea that the park means nothing more to them than a giant dirt field upon which to place rides and queue lines. The only reason I have such resentment towards Six Flags is I LOVE Great Adventure, or at least I did, some of my happiest childhood memories belong there. I care about it much more than Six Flags ever could, and they treat it like crap.

 

When I go to Knoebels, I can feel that these people understand that this stuff matters, that classic coaster design matters, that dark rides matter, that carousel organs matter, that a theme park is much more than the sum of its parts, that when I think of my best friend from when I was a kid, I remember us at amusement parks, that these things become a part of you. When I go to SFGA, well, let's just say I don't. Ok, enough ranting for now.