Six Flags Over Georgia (SFOG) Discussion Thread

[Wood Dragon 1988]

^I agree with your post, including the Chick-Fil-A part. 90% of the ones I've been to have had extremely fast service.

 

On the SFOG thing, I went last year, and personally I thought the staff was the worst aspect of the park. The park was beautiful and had great rides, but the staff were not the best I've seen in an amusement park, but certainly not the worst. If you care that much about service, then you may not want to go back.

 

I certainly would give the park another try though. It is much better than my local Six Flags in Maryland.

[Coasterlvr_nc]

Good luck trying to get high school kids to give a damn about anything except texting their friends on their cell phones....

 

-James Dillaman

 

I give a Damn....

 

back on topic... Monster Mansion was definitely the best crew there!

and believe it or not, but i found goliath's crew to be one of the worst. They easily stacked trains for over 20 seconds sometimes, often, actually.

[Solid Gold]

I'm going to be there tomorrow, so I can provide a crew evaluation for each ride (except Superman, probably won't ride) if it's going to affect whether or not you visit.

 

Crew Operations don't ever make me want to visit a park or not. But it definitely adds to the experience, Robb is dead on. Waiting in line for Dragster or anything at Holiday World will usually be a better experience than what happens on any Six Flags ride. Not that important though, especially with the recent almost industry-wide rediscovering of this aspect of a guest's experience.

[HatetoFLY]

I live just outside Orlando so I am spoiled with the great operations we have down here.

Really? Last time we were at Islands of Adventure operations were terrible. Hulk and Dragons were just abysmal.

 

But that doesn't stop me from going back...

 

--Robb

 

 

I have not had problems with Hulk ever but for the last couple of months Dragon ops especially in the morning are terrrrible. All I'm saying is that when I was there the operations sucked. Most of the coasters were dispatching so slow, we stood at papa johns maybe five minutes before asked if we could be helped cause they were chatting with their friends. It wasn't just one employee it was several throughout the day that just depleted from the experience and it pissed me off. After visiting Dollywood just days before where people had character and I felt welcome and then going to the wal-mart of parks. Welcome to Six Flags ride our rides and GET OUT!

[nitrofan]

Their operations drastically improved between 2008 and 2009 IMO.

[DarkStitch626]

They are still like that... But I do believe that it has gotten better, better than my visit in 06 anyways.

 

Although, there are a few employees that are just that much better than the rest. A few really surprised me.

 

I agree a few did suprise me. Though some like on Mind Bender were idiots. "Ya'll can bring your camera and film ON ride if you get atleast one pic of me on your update" moron..

 

Also yes, on Goliath they stacked several times. They have a train count for the hour and time between dispatch counter going for each cycle. That thing was showing they were doing poorly but hey we did ride at least.

[almightyfire]

I might get blocked for this but, everyone knows that when u patronize a business, if the employees are rude and non observant you wouldnt go back. Now, I was there last year and I have NEVER seen such horrible operations in my life. When I went to guest relations and asked for an Operations Supervisor, i got a child that i saw sweeping earlier that day. When I said, "sweetheart please dont insult my intelligence, you are NOT a supervisor". So I went back to the window and asked again for a supervisor that wears a tie and then I got one, but guess what, he looked to be 18 yrs old, so i just gave up. I worked at Six Flags when I was 16 back in 1976 and most of the employees were under 18 but the Supervisors were well into their 30's and up. We did our jobs because we were in fear of being fired. I was waiting for the Georgia Cyclone last year and there was a supervisor there playing WITH the employees and the train made a complete cycle and sat there for 3 to 5 mins for the train in the station to be dispatched every time. I got out of line and went up the exit ramp and talked nicely to the supervisor about how everyone was just standing around and i had been waiting for 1 hr in a cue that had almost no line. he just looked and me and said he was sorry. That was 99% of the parks ride ops. I rode 4 rides in 2 hrs in an empty park. I dont know about anyone else but that will sure make me not return to a park when I get to ride only 4 rides in 2 hrs in an empty park. That is wasting peoples money. I will never go back.

[sam06pr]

I'm not even sure why the staff should be a deciding factor if you should or should not go to a park.

 

I don't go to the park to hang out and talk to the employees, I go to the park to ride the coasters.

 

While yes, a park with a good staff that seems to care and offer good customer service DOES make a park better, I've never let the staff of a park decide the fate of my visit.

 

--Robb

 

Agreed. When I go to a Theme Park I don't expect teenagers to really give a damn, I do however expect that from an older staff, just not the too old lol.

I do try to put my younger employees on the same shoes as the guest and some do understand and try to be nice

[PKI Jizzman]

During my SFOG visit...

 

-I got my seat stolen by a ride op at Cyclone

-Goliath was stacking two trains; one train would leave the station, train 2 would enter as train one goes around the track. train one waits on the brake run for 5 minutes while train 2 sits in the station.

-Superman's line was just out of the station, but took THIRTY minutes.

-Batman was slow because the ops were just messing around

 

Everything else was good...but don't let the operations keep you from coming to suck a GREAT park!

[DarkStitch626]

Well in respect we got a fair amount of rides in when Me,Andrew and Collin went. I mean like 6 or so rides on Goliath, and at least 1-3 rides in on each coaster from 10:30AM-8:00PM. We buzzed through season pass processing like the snap of a finger.

 

I also can also speak as to the fact I worked at SFGADV. I've never messed around as an employee there. I worked my butt off and was actually happy there.

 

2 key points I remember were, Nitro Crew rolling 38 trains during 3 train op without stacking. Also when Kingda Ka crew beat Intamin's spec of 1550 people per hour , they hit 1558.

 

I also worked at Carowinds on several major attractions and never had any problems.

[themeparkman25]

Is anyone going to be at SFoG on June 14th or 15th?

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

Long story short, you get what you pay for.

[NINCUB]

I would have to agree with Robb.

 

I do not go to a park for the employees, but for the coasters. So I really could care less the attitude of the employees. What does get a little under my skin is when SFOG feels it is only necessary to run one train on Batman which will give park guests sometimes an hour wait, when Goliath is only a 15mins wait. THAT is ridiculous! For what EVER reason, RIDICULOUS!

 

Sorry, just my 2 pennies! :0)

[rollin_n_coastin]

Went for the first time in April and loved the park. A big part of it was being with great company but above all, I really liked the look of the park and the rides. Overall, it has what you need to have a great experience. Yes, people do complete the experience but really, in a themepark, they should blend into the background and make the experience seamless except for the rare occasion something isn’t right and you need assistance at a supervisor or higher level for example. I don’t think that that’s a huge % of the people attending a park in a given day. Unfortunately, we’re all human and not everyone is experienced enough in dealing with guests, especially challenging guests, but hopefully a supervisor or manager can assist.

 

I do agree that the supervisor should be properly trained to deal with guests as they really do have the ability to save the day, in a fair and reasonable way. Of course, not everyone is fair or reasonable these days unfortunately. This would definitely impact a day if something escalates to that level and they’re not properly trained or qualified and would create a halo effect as to my opinion of every employee at the park. Is age really a huge factor? Some of the best supervisors I’ve dealt with (if necessary) have been in their late teens or 20s. Overall, it’s about the right attitude and experience in the right positions. If this isn’t the case at SFoG, hopefully they’ll work on it.

 

I noted, only on one occasion a sterile/ uncaring attitude of some employees when getting food but made no big deal about it as I did get what I needed through kind points (literally) in the right direction. They blended into the background otherwise and were doing their jobs. As long as the employees do not go out of their way to ruin your day or be rude to you or your group in a singled out manner, then it shouldn’t really have an impact on the main park experience for the most part.

 

Bad operations? I remember Hershey being worse. So, that can happen at any park as well. I’d still go back to both because the product is great.

 

Sorry, just my who knows how many pennies

[Teacups Make Me Sick]

I dont know what your age is...but if you see kids goofing off and not doing there job.

 

I do confront kids when they are not doing a job (baring that it is just that they are ignoring me...if they dont know what they are doing, thats another story). I'm a customer and I would like to: pay for an item, have them retrieve something for me...etc. If giving an authoritative/respectful tone, most kids respond well. If they give you an attitude, then ask for a manager.

 

Because as Robb said...there is no reason not to go to a park b/c of the staff.

[BeemerBoy]

When I leave my house each day, I don't expect to encounter good, competent service ANYWHERE. If I do happen to find it, I consider it a blessing and a bonus.

 

Note: Amusement parks fall into the category of "ANYWHERE."

[tuxedomask5432]

Hi all,

 

Just went this past weekend on Saturday, the 30th. It was pretty packed. The Scream Machine was running AWESOME, as well as the Mindbender. I posted a video on another site:

 

 

will probably try to get it up on coaster tube soon. AS for the staff, I was generally pleased throughout the day. There were constantly people sweeping, tons of park "managers" and higher personnel walking around the park, and plenty of friendly encounters with food staff.

 

The rides? Mind Bender, Cyclone, and GASM had NO stacking, and the staff seemed energetic enough. The ride op on the Cyclone was so funny, like some mean 3rd grade teacher: "Push down, and pull up on your lap bars, you have 3 seconds!!!"

 

Batman, Dahlonega Mine Train, and Ninja had light stacking. Goliath, Georgia Scorcher, and Superman had long delays between dispatching. This may have to do with the NEW stupid rule they have concerning "refillable souvenir cups" which must now be stored in lockers, FOR 1$. What a rip-off.

 

And of course everyone else thought so too, so the ride ops were stopping the line and making people get rid of their cups, or people had to find some stranger to hold their cup while they rode, or they took the cups on the ride with them!!!! This definitely contributed to the long loading times for these rides, because the staff had to enforce rules that did not make much sense. And not every roller coaster had this rule. Why should the Georgia Cyclone require lockers, and Batman the ride should not???

 

Well i'm off my soap box now. It was a really pleasant experience for me except for this ONE problem. I liked the staff for the most part this time.

[tuxedomask5432]

Hey, I don't know what fluffy bunnies with medicine and gooo means, but the cups are to be stored in lockers now on certain rides.

[BeemerBoy]

Hey, I don't know what fluffy bunnies with medicine and gooo means

 

It's the gift from Robb that keeps on giving.

 

EDIT: Your answer lies here.

[ParkTrips]

When I went to guest relations and asked for an Operations Supervisor, i got a child that i saw sweeping earlier that day. When I said, "sweetheart please dont insult my intelligence, you are NOT a supervisor". So I went back to the window and asked again for a supervisor that wears a tie and then I got one, but guess what, he looked to be 18 yrs old, so i just gave up.

I think thats terribly disrespectful towards us younger people and the folks who work there. Plenty of young people move up quicly in the theme park business... I mean just look at Joey, who looks like he's 12 years old!

 

I'd also say its admirable that he was helping clean the park, since I doubt thats a part of his job description. Give these people a break!

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

I do agree that the supervisor should be properly trained to deal with guests

 

If they invested the right amount of money in properly training frontline employees, most issues would not need to get that far...which brings me back to original point...

 

...you get what you pay for.

[rollin_n_coastin]

Agree. You can have an amazing training program but frontline employees have ample time to mess up after that. Once the training is over, if the supervisor is properly trained, frontline employees would be acting as they are supposed to on a daily basis. Maybe standards haven't been updated, who knows. There are those instances where things just happen though. Maybe too much so at SFoG based on comments. I personally didn't notice enough to negatively impact my first visit.

 

You're right, a themepark isn't the Ritz, but many may expect and receive a different level of service entirely in foodservice or retail as compared to a themepark, even though employees may make around the same.

[almightyfire]

u are missing the point. the person that they sent to me want NOT a supervisor he was a regular grounds employee. That is what I mean. They didnt not send for a supervisor they sent for one of their friends. They thought I was a fool. He was gonna take my complaint and watch me go out of the gate. I don't care what anyone says, if u go to a theme park or any business and you aren't getting your monies worth then you have been cheated. This is an amusement park that is only open for 12 hrs max and to watch ride ops DRAGGGGGGGG their feet and play around and it takes 5 mins to 10 mins to load a train is unacceptable. So the attitude is apart of the work ethic. I worked at Six Flags Astroworld back in the day and we had a time frame to get those trains out and they were much harder to load. I don't care who's feelings I hurt but when u are the same age as your employees, you have a tendency to befriend them and not be firm. I don't care how grown an 18 yr old thinks he is, he is still a child. It is hard to respect and somewhat fear your supervisor when he is your age and u are 17. We had to smile and greet the guest and if we didn't, we got what they call a CI (corrective interview) and if u got 3 you were fired on your 4th. Sorry if I have offended some of you under 30 but lets face it if u are 20, you are NOT mature enough to run a theme park.

[ParkTrips]

Its hard to really to take you seriously when you type like a 12 year old.

 

So who's the grown-up now?

 

Just saying... don't knock the kids based solely on their age

[Solid Gold]

Well, since I went today and have information from today, I'll make a few comments here.

 

First, every rollercoaster ran one train except Superman and Mine Train. The park barely had enough people in it to fill each train, and it was a fair policy due to the rain that fell all day. Batman and GASM almost needed two, but it wasn't any more than a 15 minute wait for either (for any seat other than the front).

 

The one exception here was Goliath. It sorely needed two trains, considering that, according to the station counters, it was releasing a whopping, amazing, astounding, ELEVEN trains per hour. The line was on the stairs or in the station all day, but it would take about 20 minutes to get on any row, and about 45 to an hour for the front. I am horribly spoiled by how fantastic the Nitro Crew was three weeks ago, but the lackluster operations by the employees there were enough to get comments from the general public.

 

Park employees were very slow everywhere, uncomparably worse than GADV a few weeks ago, but it was ok this time due to the emptiness of the park. I could easily see myself getting pissed off if the park had double the people of today, which would have been easy. Very slow ops. Superman's quickest dispatch was 3.5 minutes by my watch.

 

Also, GASM in the 6th row was RIDICULOUSLY rough. The worst ride I have ever taken on any coaster ever, worse than Son Of Beast, Mean Streak, GA Cyclone, Twisted Twins or anything else a million times over. If you ride GASM this year, get OUT of the wheel seat (last row in any car). I would rather have been punched in the face by Floyd Mayweather.