Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread

[coasterbill]

I know I keep saying this but this company is clueless and while Six Flags and Cedar Fair are often referred to on about the same level it's really an insult to Cedar Fair. Six Flags will do anything possible to save a few bucks and they seem to have no interest whatsoever in customer satisfaction. It wasn't this way early in the year and it really doesn't seem like a coincidence that these insane cost cutting measures of closing rides early and cutting capacity everywhere really started happening after they reported lower attendance figures. I'm no expert but as a customer of theirs it seems like they're desperately trying to do anything they can to report revenue growth and don't care about park guests at all. They'll cut anything they can get away with cutting.

 

Cedar Fair on the other hand isn't freaking out or doing anything differently and still has the grace period policy in place in many parks where they leave rides open a few minutes after park closing so people can get one last ride in. Cedar Point does this on just about all of their coasters... even on the lower profile ones. When you compare that to this new policy at Six Flags it's flat out infuriating.

 

Again... I'm speculating and I'm on the outside looking in but it seems like Six Flags is seeing fluctuations in the industry and freaking out about them while Cedar Fair sees the same fluctuations and isn't freaking out at all (probably because these kinds of fluctuations are nothing new and there's no reason to freak out like Six Flags is). I never like to speculate this much but this is what it feels like from a consumer standpoint.

[larrygator]

Just as it is unfair to compare "All" SF to "All" CP parks it is unfair to generalize about all "SF". Some parks in each chain do a much better job than others. Hearing about closing two lines closing 15-20 minutes early doesn't sound like a cost cutting move to me. I could be wrong if this is something happening every night. At this time in the season, it is sometimes difficult to get as many hours out of employees with school in session. It might not be a cost cutting situation, but a situation where they need to stay in budget. I know it is a minor distinction, but there is a difference.

[OrlandoGuy]

Just as it is unfair to compare "All" SF to "All" CP parks it is unfair to generalize about all "SF". Some parks in each chain do a much better job than others. Hearing about closing two lines closing 15-20 minutes early doesn't sound like a cost cutting move to me. I could be wrong if this is something happening every night. At this time in the season, it is sometimes difficult to get as many hours out of employees with school in session. It might not be a cost cutting situation, but a situation where they need to stay in budget. I know it is a minor distinction, but there is a difference.

 

Um...staffing is nearly always about budgeting. If they had the budget to hire more people (that weren't in school), then it would be a non-issue. It was also stated explicitly in the post about the early ride closures that it was done because the capacity was low in the park--not only does this completely screw everyone who paid for a ticket under the assumption that the park would be open a certain amount of hours, but it proves that the staff WAS there, the work is available, they just wanted to get rid of them and shut down early...which is a cost-cutting measure. Im not a Cedar Fair fanboy or a Six Flags hater by any means, but it is definitely clear that Cedar Fair places more emphasis on the overall guest experience, which requires more money (training, hiring enough staff that aren't affected by school schedules, keeping attractions running for as long as promised, etc.).

[Nitro1118]

It was also stated explicitly in the post about the early ride closures that it was done because the capacity was low in the park--not only does this completely screw everyone who paid for a ticket under the assumption that the park would be open a certain amount of hours, but it proves that the staff WAS there, the work is available, they just wanted to get rid of them and shut down early...which is a cost-cutting measure.

 

What if those hours are being saved for busier days during FF when a ride like Ka is approaching a 2 hour wait at park closing and they need to extend the employee schedules?

 

15-20min isn't a huge deal, and I've never had this issue at SF. I remember at my trip to HW in 06 they closed Voyages line 45min before closing in the middle of summer...I was NOT happy with this but it does ensure the ride op's get home close to when they are supposed to.

[coasterbill]

It was also stated explicitly in the post about the early ride closures that it was done because the capacity was low in the park--not only does this completely screw everyone who paid for a ticket under the assumption that the park would be open a certain amount of hours, but it proves that the staff WAS there, the work is available, they just wanted to get rid of them and shut down early...which is a cost-cutting measure.

 

What if those hours are being saved for busier days during FF when a ride like Ka is approaching a 2 hour wait at park closing and they need to extend the employee schedules?

 

Fine, but then don't say the park is open until Midnight. Do what you did last year and say it's open until 11 and if you're crowded announce that the park will remain open until Midnight.

 

I had never heard of this happening at Six Flags until recently but ever since they reported down attendance there are reports coming from everywhere that the park is closing rides early (They close the Log Flume hours before the park closes now even on the day we went where the line at night was over an hour long), running rides at reduced capacity (Skyway) and cutting lines off before park closing. This has been happening at Six Flags New England too.

 

The fact is Cedar Fair would never do this without at least posting signs and letting guests know that a ride may close early and as I said earlier many parks leave rides open late as a grace period. There is no reason Six Flags can't continue to operate their parks in the same way.

[OrlandoGuy]

It was also stated explicitly in the post about the early ride closures that it was done because the capacity was low in the park--not only does this completely screw everyone who paid for a ticket under the assumption that the park would be open a certain amount of hours, but it proves that the staff WAS there, the work is available, they just wanted to get rid of them and shut down early...which is a cost-cutting measure.

 

What if those hours are being saved for busier days during FF when a ride like Ka is approaching a 2 hour wait at park closing and they need to extend the employee schedules?

 

15-20min isn't a huge deal, and I've never had this issue at SF. I remember at my trip to HW in 06 they closed Voyages line 45min before closing in the middle of summer...I was NOT happy with this but it does ensure the ride op's get home close to when they are supposed to.

 

I used to work at Universal and they would NEVER let us home early unless we 1. wanted to and 2. we could leave without affecting daily operation. So if I was closing, I would not leave early, no matter how dead it was, because the guests were promised a certain closing time, and like Coasterbill said, in a service-oriented business, the only time it should be appropriate to deviate from the schedule is to extend. If Universal needed to cut hours, they would send a mid-shift home, or thin out the employees in a more crowded area, but not just send everyone home and close early.

 

If Six Flags really has that hard of a time finding staff that can work through school, then dont promise hours that conflict with that. Theme parks (and tourism in general) are a SERVICE-oriented industry and the priority should be on the guest experience rather than the bottom line.

[larrygator]

Um...staffing is nearly always about budgeting.

 

Of course it has to due with budgeting, but I was merely pointing out the nuances of budget cutting and staying on budget

 

 

 

It was also stated explicitly in the post about the early ride closures that it was done because the capacity was low in the park--not only does this completely screw everyone who paid for a ticket under the assumption that the park would be open a certain amount of hours, but it proves that the staff WAS there, the work is available, they just wanted to get rid of them and shut down early...which is a cost-cutting measure.

 

I neglected to remember the part about the guests being told that the rides were being shut down due to low attendance. You are 100% correct.

[Nitro1118]

It was also stated explicitly in the post about the early ride closures that it was done because the capacity was low in the park--not only does this completely screw everyone who paid for a ticket under the assumption that the park would be open a certain amount of hours, but it proves that the staff WAS there, the work is available, they just wanted to get rid of them and shut down early...which is a cost-cutting measure.

 

What if those hours are being saved for busier days during FF when a ride like Ka is approaching a 2 hour wait at park closing and they need to extend the employee schedules?

 

Fine, but then don't say the park is open until Midnight. Do what you did last year and say it's open until 11 and if you're crowded announce that the park will remain open until Midnight.

 

I had never heard of this happening at Six Flags until recently but ever since they reported down attendance there are reports coming from everywhere that the park is closing rides early (They close the Log Flume hours before the park closes now even on the day we went where the line at night was over an hour long), running rides at reduced capacity (Skyway) and cutting lines off before park closing. This has been happening at Six Flags New England too.

 

The fact is Cedar Fair would never do this without at least posting signs and letting guests know that a ride may close early and as I said earlier many parks leave rides open late as a grace period. There is no reason Six Flags can't continue to operate their parks in the same way.

 

The park was open until midnight, that promise was fulfilled....rides however aren't guaranteed. I used my example of HW doing this in the middle of the summer, and not just 15-20min early.

 

Also, I've had days at Dorney where they opened the park and the smaller rides at a certain time, but not opened the rest until a half hour later. Also, I've heard CP has only been running certain coasters on Friday during September. Even if they posted it online, that would be far more irritating then closing some rides 20min early.

[coasterbill]

CP has only been running certain coasters on Friday during September. Even if they posted it online, that would be far more irritating then closing some rides 20min early.

 

Cedar Point has always done that on Friday's in September and October and they make sure everyone is very aware of it. I don't have a problem with parks closing rides early or not opening them if they tell their guests about it ahead of time before they buy their tickets.

 

And if the park is open until Midnight then the rides should be too because that's how it works in pretty much every other park. I know Kennywood was brought up earlier but they don't post closing times so I don't see that as an issue either.

[Nitro1118]

CP has only been running certain coasters on Friday during September. Even if they posted it online, that would be far more irritating then closing some rides 20min early.

 

Cedar Point has always done that on Friday's in September and October and they make sure everyone is very aware of it. I don't have a problem with parks closing rides early or not opening them if they tell their guests about it ahead of time before they buy their tickets.

 

And if the park is open until Midnight then the rides should be too because that's how it works in pretty much every other park. I know Kennywood was brought up earlier but they don't post closing times so I don't see that as an issue either.

 

Not everyone checks online beforehand...most guests go and just expect the rides to be open. Hours of operation for the rides inside the park are never guaranteed. To me, keeping a handful of flats closed in slow times of the season (many parks), or closing a list of coasters every Friday is more inconvenient than closing some lines 20min before closing.

 

As I said, it's not ideal, but things like this are not uncommon in the industry, and really not much of a big deal. A little disappointing, but that's it.

[kdt511]

Anyone know what the crowds are usually like for Columbus Day?

[coasterbill]

The place is absolutely dead.

[boldikus]

^ I wish I knew that, I would have taken a hooky day today.

 

re: them closing the rides early, while we couldn't see how long the queue for Zumanjaro was (it did have a 2 hour line when we went on around 7:30/8ish - tho with our FP we didnt wait), we could see when we were turned away from KK @ 11:40 there was a full station and people on the path leading up to the stairs, so it wasn't a big deal to us. The wait on our FP for KK all night was rather short, we didn't spend our time wisely and could have gotten on earlier if we tried, but we stupidly saved it for last. That's our fault, I wasn't pissed off at the park or anything. My bro-in-law really wanted to ride it, I could take or leave it so I didn't care so much, and seeing how many people were waiting, could totally understand why they turned us away. The only thing that bugged me is that we did have it reserved, so I kind of think that's not fair to be turned away. At least with Zum the FP told said "FULL" before we could even reserve it. Did either of these things didn't ruin my night? Absolutely not. Still got 3x on Toro, 1x each on Zumanjaro, Nitro, Bizarro, Batman, Sky Screamer, Superman and Runaway Train and time to stop for beers more than once, all within 5 and a half hours on a moderately busy Friday during Fright Fest. I can't be mad about the park closing off the line for their most popular ride a few minutes early.

[TBpony414]

re: them closing the rides early... ... The only thing that bugged me is that we did have it reserved, so I kind of think that's not fair to be turned away. At least with Zum the FP told said "FULL" before we could even reserve it. I can't be mad about the park closing off the line for their most popular ride a few minutes early.

 

2-3 pages back I posted my experience a couple weeks ago when they closed the park more than 1 hr earlier than advertised with no warning whatsoever. We had reserved El Toro and when we arrived at the queue a little before 11pm were denied access, in fact they were running the last train empty at that moment and the place was deserted (except for crowds of folks just like us who were clueless) so they had closed the line at least 20 minutes before. No warning whatsoever. We were able to reserve Bizarro after that and when we arrived that too was dead and they had closed up shop, lights were off, etc. Very irritating. I understand closing early due to lack of attendance but more than 1 hr, with no warning whatsoever? No. Say the park is open until 11, keep the park open to 11, and if things are going well extend to midnight. There were plenty of workers and scare actors there on Saturday night so if they were short-staffed it was not at all obvious like it normally would be.

[gecomet92]

People have to realize that scare actors, games attendance and food workers are not Ride ops. There may have been a lot of staff in the park but that doesn't necessarily mean they had a lot of ride ops. They may have had a shortage in ride ops.

[Lightnin Loops]

its time for SF to raise the cost of a season pass. $61.99 for a Gold season pass is way to cheap. time to get with the other chains out their and raise them. CF charges $180 for platinum, Hershey charges $140 for the SP. this will also help SF make more $$$$$ and get rid of some of the trash that visits the park. and maybe they wont have to close rides 20min early.

Also, maybe if SF would pay a living wage, they would have more ride ops. more people would want to get a job at the park.

[OrlandoGuy]

People have to realize that scare actors, games attendance and food workers are not Ride ops. There may have been a lot of staff in the park but that doesn't necessarily mean they had a lot of ride ops. They may have had a shortage in ride ops.

 

A shortage in ride ops would lead to one, maybe two ride closures. I highly doubt the entire ride op staff had to go home an hour early on the night in question.

[YoshiFan]

It looked like rides didn't close early today. I got to Kingda Ka at 9:40 hoping it was still open and it had just reopened either because of rain or a breakdown. Crowds weren't too bad today. I got there at 4:30 and some rides were 30 to 40 minutes and around 7, most rides were no more than 10 to 15 minutes and Zumanjaro was a walk on right before closing.

[jray21]

re: them closing the rides early... ... The only thing that bugged me is that we did have it reserved, so I kind of think that's not fair to be turned away. At least with Zum the FP told said "FULL" before we could even reserve it. I can't be mad about the park closing off the line for their most popular ride a few minutes early.

 

2-3 pages back I posted my experience a couple weeks ago when they closed the park more than 1 hr earlier than advertised with no warning whatsoever. We had reserved El Toro and when we arrived at the queue a little before 11pm were denied access, in fact they were running the last train empty at that moment and the place was deserted (except for crowds of folks just like us who were clueless) so they had closed the line at least 20 minutes before. No warning whatsoever. We were able to reserve Bizarro after that and when we arrived that too was dead and they had closed up shop, lights were off, etc. Very irritating. I understand closing early due to lack of attendance but more than 1 hr, with no warning whatsoever? No. Say the park is open until 11, keep the park open to 11, and if things are going well extend to midnight. There were plenty of workers and scare actors there on Saturday night so if they were short-staffed it was not at all obvious like it normally would be.

 

And people wonder why Six Flags gets such a bad rap. I understand things happen, but things like this seem to be the norm.

[Jcoaster]

Im writing this trip report a bit late because I got home late last night but I made it down to the park for a nice evening with some friends. Weather was awesome with the fog and it being frightfest, also no lines whatsoever we basically rode everything we wanted to and more. El Toro was hauling ass through through the course, this thing really is a beast. My new thing is on the final hill holding one arm up with the other holding on to the grab bar, it gives the great sensation of riding a bull (I've never ridden one). Batman was being its usual awesome self, I prefer it more than Nitro at this point. Nitro gets more and more "meh" with every ride on it. Zumanjaro at night was something to behold, especially with the fog. We wrapped things up on Superman and the awful Green Lantern. I let out shouts of true pain throughout the course. Six Flags dumped a piece of its history with the coaster that saved Great Adventure for an awful stand-up. Fitting.

 

Ride Count:

Nitro - 1x

Batman - !x

Bizzaro - 1x

El Toro - 2x

Zumanjaro - 1x

Superman - 1x

Green Lantern - 1x

[Superbatboy]

Visited for the first time last night...

 

El Toro- I've been wanting to ride this for the longest, it was every bit as amazing as everyone says. The ride never lets up and is smoother than most steel coasters. The hill right before the twisty part at the end is just uncanny Rode it 6 times (5 of them in a row and a couple of times the ride ops let us stay on the train since it didn't get crowded until later)

 

Kingda Ka- Ummmm, not much I can say other than it's basically a rougher, less-themed, less-maintained version of TTD. The launch was awesome but once you get to the incline it feels like you're in a blender.

 

Green Lantern- I was pleasantly surprised, it was a lot better than I had anticipated after reading many negative reviews about it. I thought the ride was a good mix of Mantis' intensity and Riddler's length and smoothness.

 

Bizarro- I was also pleasantly surprised by this one, considering Scream is its younger sister I wasn't expecting much. However the ride was very smooth and nicely themed (definitely a lot nicer to look at than a heap of rotting steel built over a parking lot)

 

Nitro- I was very disappointed riding this, all those years appearing in Golden Ticket's top 10 had me thinking this would at least be semi-decent. The only part of this ride I enjoyed was the helix, everything else was very meh.

 

Dark Knight- Very fun, and a couple of surprising elements. I think it's a perfect ride for a park like Gradv

 

Skull Mountain- Very slow and meh, but it's a family coaster so what can you do?

 

Superman- Didn't get to ride, broke down while we were in line so we decided to skip it in favor of one last ride on El Toro

 

Skipped Batman, been there done that...MANY times

 

Didn't go into any of the haunted houses, had coaster credits to get

 

All in all it's a decent park that is relatively clean and landscaped compared to a park like say SFMM, BUT the operations are absolutely terrible. Like if Fright Fest starts at 5pm, why let guests through the admission gates only to stop you feet later at the fountain and keep you waiting an additional 30 mins before you REALLY can get in? Also not letting cars come into the gate until like 4:50pm forcing cars to sit on the expressway blocking traffic didn't make much sense to me either.

 

Rides were also continually breaking down throughout the night, and they didn't even open Kingda Ka or the drop tower until like an hour after they let the guests in.

 

Another gripe is just how many remnants of old/defunct rides are still sitting in the park left to rot.

 

Anyhow, the only thing that would keep me coming back for now would be El Toro...what a gem that ride is

[YoshiFan]

They changed the opening to 5:30 on Friday nights a couple of years ago. I don't like the rope drop by the fountain and they had it better set up last year. They didn't open the gates to the park until 5:30 and gold passholders had their own entrance gates which opened at 5:20 so there was no crowding at the fountain with everyone trying to push past each other.

[coasternate]

This is the park I would like to visit the most. El Toro is #1 on my coaster bucket list; it looks AMAZING. And Nitro looks fun too.

[El Toro_Ryan]

For those complaining that the park hasn't been using both sides of the skyway, apparently the one side the park hasn't been using has been having problems since early in the season. So, using one side wasn't because the park was trying to save a few bucks like we all thought, but actually for mechanical reasons. Two sided use should return for 2015 when the other side is properly fixed.

[ScreaminNewEngland]

This is the park I would like to visit the most. El Toro is #1 on my coaster bucket list; it looks AMAZING. And Nitro looks fun too.

El Toro is amazing. Superman, Batman, Skull Mountain, Kingda Ka and Bizarro are awesome too. Nitro was fun but nothing amazing like people say.