New Six Flags Management

[liftsifter]

So Alvey's, it's been almost a year since new management invaded Six Flags (well at least Al). What are your thoughts on how things are being done? Do you miss Mark Shapiro being CEO?

 

-- David

[MJL12785]

This post is going to be somewhat negative and I hope I'm not breaking any rules or guidelines and hope this post doesn't get deleted. These are my opinions and honestly hope that maybe some good will come out of this, maybe if enough people state similar problems maybe someone will get these simple things corrected.

 

I personally do not know who is doing the better job. I do know, the park needs help in the management dept. I'm not sure what the problems are or why they are happening but I think they are minor which could be easily be fixed which will leave a much better impression on guests when they leave the park. My home park is SFGADV. With Dorney Park and Hershey park in the vicinity it surprises that they let the little things go. I'm not sure if these problems occur just at this park or it is a national problem. I would be really interested in hearing some other opinions on this subject as well.

 

This park is about 2.5 hrs away and we make the trip about 10 times a year, at least. We really do love the park. The rides are amazing. I get the feeling that they know this so they ignore the little things.

 

They really need flat rides, and honestly, we wouldn't ride them now anyway. We go for the coasters. However, this reason also kept me away from this park for several years until my youngest one reached the 54 inch mark.

 

3 of us got season passes last year. I signed up for funatic club awards. Depending on how many times you visit you get free drinks, parking, 20% off next years pass etc. I never got email notification like you are supposed to when you qualify. I kept track so I knew what I was entitled to. HOWEVER, I don't want to have to call, email every few weeks because I'm entitled to something that they can't keep track of. I don't want to be a member to something that is causing me more aggravation. The biggest problem here is, last year I qualified for the 20% off of this years season pass. They couldn't get this corrected in time last year before they closed for the season when the pass was cheaper. Of course no one is there to answer the phone. Fast forward 4 months they did get it corrected but now the pass is $99 because I had to wait. When I got my season pass for $79 a few years ago I knew about the 20% off if I had visited enough times, I thought this was great, I was thinking my next pass would be about $64. NO...NOW I can only get a pass for $79 if I buy 4, I only need 1. Because they couldn't get this straightened out last year I now have to pay $99. Basically with the 20% off I still have to pay $80. SO basically my 20% does me nothing. I didn't save anything.

 

Lets move on to drinks. We all know that food/drinks etc are way over priced. I can deal with this. I know this when I go there. HOWEVER.....near the end of the year I didn't get a lid. I thought maybe they were out, no. I'm told that they are no longer providing lids and straws. When I called to complain about this they told me that it was the new "GO GREEN" policy. BS. This is not practical at all. I'm sure everyone here has been to a park during the halloween frightfest or peak summer times when there is 40,000 people there. Having kids carry a soda with no lid, straw, getting bumped into spilling it all over their clothes is unnecessary and stupid. I had to return one drink last year because bees kept flying in the soda. What gets me is, this is not about the "GO GREEN" policy. Here comes my opinion. The "GO GREEN" policy doesn't exist. If this were true every employee would know about this policy. THe park would have signs...."we are going green" but they don't. There was a corporate meeting that said how can we save money...NO LIDS, NO STRAWS. We just saved hundreds of thousands of dollars. If anyone questions this we will tell them it is the "GO GREEN" policy. This is the new bandwagon that every one is jumping on so they will believe it. If I pay $4 for a drink, I want a lid and a straw.

 

Park needs better lighting. There are areas when you get off rides that is hard to see steps, the lines are too dark. It is just not safe.

 

Signs for rides really need to be painted. I'm not talking paint chips, I'm talking about rust from the rain running down the side of the building and it has been like that for years, it looks horrible.

 

I really don't mean for this post to be so negative, I would just love to have these simple things corrected and give us the best park experience available. We really love this park and want to be loyal but these things are really making me question if it is worth it. Hershey park is only about 30 min further away. It may be worth changing for the 2012 season.

 

MIke

[liftsifter]

Customer Relations is your friend.

 

Shapiro whipped Customer Relations into shape at the parks, and given GAdv was closest to home, I'm sure he was crackin' the whip weekly. At Great America, I've seen guests complain of line jumping, and get skip the line passes. GO TO GUEST RELATIONS !

 

But that is a park problem, and has nothing to do with Al Weber, or Jim Reid-Anderson. Hope things are better for you this year.

[Homeboy23]

At Great America, I've seen guests complain of line jumping, and get skip the line passes.

 

Am I the only one who finds this kind of a double standard?

[beatle11]

^ If I paid a high price for the Flash Pass and then have others line jumping without the pass, that would piss me off. I like the Disney Fast pass system better though as everyone can use it for no extra cost, and it works.

 

Six Flags parks have always seemed to me more like an "Amusement Park", rather than a "Theme Park". For example, places like Dollywood and Disney may not have as many rides/coasters as Six Flags parks but they work hard to make you feel welcome and give you a great experience for the whole family. Six Flags seems more focused on thrills and seem to cater more to a younger crowd. They build as many coasters/rides as they can but don't focus so much on the full experience that parks like Disney do. Fact is, Six Flags has some of the best coasters around in their parks and that's enough to attract people. Having good customer service, and good operations will keep them coming back. The last thing we want is another Fuji-Q.

[chrisdanger]

When it comes to my local SF park (SFoT), I really have no complaints, as its a different setup when it comes to ownership. The park feels the same as it has since I was a kid. I will say much of the Dan Snyder-introduced ideas were pretty decent, most including guest services, which were up to snuff, if not better than, the Time-Warner era of park operations. My major concern with the post- dan era is the customer service angle, which will more than likely slip in quality with the corp-owned parks.

[DJeXeL]

At Great America, I've seen guests complain of line jumping, and get skip the line passes.

 

Am I the only one who finds this kind of a double standard?

 

Line jumping is OK as long as you pay for it