Why Does Everybody Hate on Six Flags?

[rcjp]

People just wish them to be better because their great coasters deserve better operation. At least for me, there isn't a Six Flags park that I hate. Sure there are things they can do better but every park have their own flaws. They have amazing coasters so I can ignore those advertisements and slightly lower capacity. At least their things are not insanely over priced.

This.

I also like how they're not too expensive (well, at least until you choose to buy a flash pass)

I also think that people tend to criticize what they like, so that it will become better. For example, I'm a huge B&M fan and I do criticize them a lot (especially their new rides) because I would like them to be perfect.

SF parks may not have outstanding operations and may not care that much about theming but they have great collections of coasters and I do praise them for that. Still, if I (and many of us, I think) do point out some of their more negative aspects it's with the intention of trying to make them see them in order to get better.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

I absolutely loved Six Flags St. Louis in the '90s. Batman and Mr. Freeze were mind-blowing to me. Those were my first inverted and launch coasters, and I didn't know coasters could look like that. I've been to more Six Flags parks than any other chain (3: St. Louis, Great America, Fiesta Texas), and some of their coasters are absolutely amazing. Others, though, are better off scrapped--Ninja, I'm looking at you. So I'll make a short list of pros and cons.

 

Pros:

- Season tickets get you into nearly all SF parks. Makes it easy for vacations. Get a season ticket to St. Louis, go to Great America for free. Awesome.

- Batman. That's a huge plus in itself.

- They make an effort to have all kinds of rides, mild rides the whole family can ride together, to total insanity. This is the chain that's building Tsunami Soaker and Goliath in the same year.

 

Cons:

- Lack of shade. Maybe SDC has spoiled me, but when I go to Six Flags, I miss having TREES everywhere. A hot day at SDC is still doable, because of the shade. A hot day at Six Flags can be miserably hot indeed.

- They focus on quantity of coasters rather than quality. SF St. Louis has been advertising that they have 9 coasters, but only half of them are actually worth riding. By contrast, SDC only has 6, but every one of them is great, and unique in some way.

[Rollercoaster Rider]

I absolutely loved Six Flags St. Louis in the '90s. Batman and Mr. Freeze were mind-blowing to me. Those were my first inverted and launch coasters, and I didn't know coasters could look like that. I've been to more Six Flags parks than any other chain (3: St. Louis, Great America, Fiesta Texas), and some of their coasters are absolutely amazing. Others, though, are better off scrapped--Ninja, I'm looking at you. So I'll make a short list of pros and cons.

 

Pros:

- Season tickets get you into nearly all SF parks. Makes it easy for vacations. Get a season ticket to St. Louis, go to Great America for free. Awesome.

- Batman. That's a huge plus in itself.

- They make an effort to have all kinds of rides, mild rides the whole family can ride together, to total insanity. This is the chain that's building Tsunami Soaker and Goliath in the same year.

 

Cons:

- Lack of shade. Maybe SDC has spoiled me, but when I go to Six Flags, I miss having TREES everywhere. A hot day at SDC is still doable, because of the shade. A hot day at Six Flags can be miserably hot indeed.

- They focus on quantity of coasters rather than quality. SF St. Louis has been advertising that they have 9 coasters, but only half of them are actually worth riding. By contrast, SDC only has 6, but every one of them is great, and unique in some way.

 

 

You could mention those cons to various Cedar Fair Parks. Shade for Michigan's Adventure and Quantity with Kings Dominion

[GayCoasterGuy]

It's a thin line between love and hate

 

We love what's in the parks, and what the parks could be (and maybe once were), but we hate some of the operations and ride conditions. It's not all about hate

[Noporian]

They hate on SF because excessive uncreative name copying and ride copying, ride moving and calling brand new, trying too hard to be great, all this other stuff.

[Diamondbacker27]

But GP probably don't even know any other Six Flags parks exist. They think the ride names are set to one ride and that's it. GP think they're Six Flags park is great.

[Rollercoaster Rider]

They hate on SF because excessive uncreative name copying and ride copying, ride moving and calling brand new, trying too hard to be great, all this other stuff.

 

Name Copying:

Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Toy Story Midway Mania, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear ______, Rock N' Roller Coaster, Manta, Journey to Atlantis, Coastersaurus, Corkscrew, Woodstock Express, Taxi Jam, Top Gun, Drop Zone, Drop Tower, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Coasters Drive In Restaurant, Timberline Twister, Flight Deck, Thunderhawk, Dominator, Back Lot Stunt Coaster, Italian Job, Runaway Reptar, Intimidator, Flight of Fear, Mummy, Jurassic Park, Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean

 

Ride Copying:

Transfomers, Radiator Springs Racers, maXair, Skyhawk, Goofy's Sky School, Triceratop Spin, Dinosaur, Dumbo, Mad Hatter Tea Cups, Helicopter Monorail

 

Ride Moving and Calling Brand New:

Firehawk, Dominator, Possessed, Demon Drop at Dorney Park, Carolina Cobra, Borg Assimilator, Cheetah Chase/Sand Serpent, Lego Technic Test Track, Jasmine's Flying Carpet, Infusion

 

 

I'm not saying Six Flags is the greatest thing since (Insert your own here) but you can't rip Six Flags for doing stuff that MANY theme parks do. Alot of chains copy names, rides, and relocate stuff every other year. Marriott, Busch, Disney, Paramount, Cedar Fair, Premier Parks, Legoland, Six Flags, Kennywood, Blackpool, Universal, Herschend, PARC Management, Tussauds, Merlin, Hershey, have all done at least 1 of those things.

[cmullin]

Their parks are filthy too, spend one day at SFMM and you'll see more trash than there is in a garbage dump.

[urzishra]

^ I've seen trash at most amusement parks. While I'm not saying it isn't as big of a problem at other parks, you can say that about almost any park.

 

I can't get behind purposely running at below capacity (I've heard that happens...) and I think that is despicable. However though you can also make a lot of these claims in this thread about most amusement parks.

 

The "advertising" thing makes me laugh. Isn't Star Tours just a big advertisement for Star Wars stuff? Isn't most things at Disney World brought to you by some major corporation? Do train wraps *really* bring you so far "out of the experience" that you can't have a good time on a ride?

 

It's also super hard to be consistent at multiple theme parks when you are charging what Six Flags is charging.

[GoBears]

^ I've seen trash at most amusement parks. While I'm not saying it isn't as big of a problem at other parks, you can say that about almost any park.

 

I can't get behind purposely running at below capacity (I've heard that happens...) and I think that is despicable. However though you can also make a lot of these claims in this thread about most amusement parks.

 

The "advertising" thing makes me laugh. Isn't Star Tours just a big advertisement for Star Wars stuff? Isn't most things at Disney World brought to you by some major corporation? Do train wraps *really* bring you so far "out of the experience" that you can't have a good time on a ride?

 

It's also super hard to be consistent at multiple theme parks when you are charging what Six Flags is charging.

 

The difference between advertising at a Six Flags park (such as train wraps) and rides at a Disney park is that Disney's rides are themed after movies (or in some cases have inspired movies). I guess it is sort of advertising but at least Disney advertises their own products and franchises. Plus, Disney owns the Star Wars franchise so they can do whatever they want with that. I think what people are saying about advertising at Six Flags is that they'e advertising things such as Stride gum on trains or plastering ride stations with Axe and Got2Be ads like at Vertical Velocity's station. It's just a bit unsightly and has nothing to do with the rides themself. Whatever brings them money though.

[Barge84]

^Disney actually does a lot of advertising with their rides/pavilions. It's not as obnoxious as the train wraps, but Disney definitely makes money off of outside companies. Just off the top of my head:

 

Siemens - Spaceship Earth

GM - Test Track

HP - Mission Space

Kodak - Imagination Pavillion

Used to be Nestle, now it's Chiquita - The Land

Coke, IBM, Velcro - Innoventions

 

I know there are more, and I guess these are just in Epcot, but it's hard to go anywhere at WDW without seeing some sort of advertising.

[urzishra]

I don't really see it all that differently.

 

I mean Star Tours (and many other rides, movie themed or not) spill out immediately into a store where you buy something that the ride was based on. Maybe it's a Darth Vader plush or a Coaster T-shirt. I find that far more irritating then what the ride trains say on the front of them. How often do you see posters for Coca Cola or Pepsi around the park? How often is the park trying to upsell you something that you don't necessarily need?

 

Point is, most attractions are already rolling advertisements. Just because Six Flags slaps a gum ad on the side of the ride vehicle, at least they aren't making you walk through a candy store when you go down the exit ramp. (or maybe they do, I don't know.)

[cfc]

Sometimes, an attraction's sponsor can have a positive influence on Disney. Dole's dismay over the condition of the original Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland was the key to a major refurbishment of that attraction.

[SteveStL]

I think it boils down to Disney has Class, Six Flags does not.

[OrlandoGuy]

The advertising in Disney is aesthetically pleasing and sometimes adds to the theming of the park. A bilboard for Coke in the middle of a huge concrete slab is different from a small sign integrated into the environment saying a certain ride has a sponsor. At Six Flags, the ads are garish and stand out...at Disney parks any ads do not stand out or define the experience. The comparison is so off-base Im actually wondering if those making the comparison have even been to both parks.

[Rollercoaster Rider]

I don't really see it all that differently.

 

I mean Star Tours (and many other rides, movie themed or not) spill out immediately into a store where you buy something that the ride was based on. Maybe it's a Darth Vader plush or a Coaster T-shirt. I find that far more irritating then what the ride trains say on the front of them. How often do you see posters for Coca Cola or Pepsi around the park? How often is the park trying to upsell you something that you don't necessarily need?

 

Point is, most attractions are already rolling advertisements. Just because Six Flags slaps a gum ad on the side of the ride vehicle, at least they aren't making you walk through a candy store when you go down the exit ramp. (or maybe they do, I don't know.)

 

 

The Dark Knight, Superman Ultimate Flight, and Viper all end in a Gift Shop at SFGAm.

[urzishra]

I personally don't like walking through a mall when exiting a ride at Disney (or any park.) I don't mind advertising on ride vehicles or in queues.

[Rollercoaster Rider]

I personally don't like walking through a mall when exiting a ride at Disney (or any park.) I don't mind advertising on ride vehicles or in queues.

 

 

I'm OK with it if the shop is themed to the ride and not just M&M World. The shop that Dark Knight and Superman go into is Superhero themed and Viper goes into a Western themed shop.

[JonnyRCT3]

The chain is recovering from bankruptcy, so, yeah, nothing shiny to see.

[GoBears]

The advertising in Disney is aesthetically pleasing and sometimes adds to the theming of the park. A bilboard for Coke in the middle of a huge concrete slab is different from a small sign integrated into the environment saying a certain ride has a sponsor. At Six Flags, the ads are garish and stand out...at Disney parks any ads do not stand out or define the experience. The comparison is so off-base Im actually wondering if those making the comparison have even been to both parks.

 

I guess that's basically what I was saying. I've been to 4 Disney parks and couple Six Flags parks and I know there's advertising at both. However, Disney makes their ads to either go along with the theme of whatever attraction the ads are placed on or integrates it well with the surrounding themed area. Six Flags just places ads wherever and can actually take away from a theme, if that's even possible at a Six Flags park. For example, Demon at SFGAm was covered in Stride ads not long ago (from the station to the trains) which ruined its theme but fortunately they took those down, or at least most of them. I just worded my original post on the previous page poorly when trying to get my point across.

[OrlandoGuy]

^yeah, I was definitely in agreement with you when I posted, I thought you put it well!

 

Also, as annoying as Disney gift shops may seem, theyre not only always themed well, but they also move a lot of merch...theres definitely an audience for them, in fact shopping is part of the draw for some people. Most people are more inclined to buy souvenirs from a world class theme park that a vacation to can take years to save up fr vs a regional theme park with generic T-shirts about a basic steel roller coaster most of the GP doesnt care about.

[TheDarkMaxim]

Yeah see, this....I consider this to be the epitome of trashyness. And it just looks like they're catering a lower class group of people.

 

[Kenny B]

One cannot compare unsightly Stride train wraps, to exiting through a gift shop.

 

The gift shop doesn't take away from the ride experience, it reinforces the branding.

 

Waiting in a loading station, with new visuals that should be on TV, or somebody's Kia - is distracting and gaudy. It also makes me think about horrible marketing, and how hard it is for theme parks to say no even to a few extra bucks ---- only to change, and in my opinion, ruin the overall atmosphere of a certain area. For example, thinking of the ride Demon at SFGAm, at one time people had the idea in there head to wonder if the Demon chewed gum, and if he did - it was definitely Stride brand.

 

I don't agree with the people who don't like exiting through gift shops. Again, it doesn't change the atmosphere or the overall ride experience. As where obvious, and obstructive advertising ON a ride or in its loading station - can be distracting and disheartening.

 

Has advertising, having nothing to do with the home team(Six Flags hocking gum or hair gel for example) become an essential part of theme parks?

[Superbatboy]

I think at times people have the tendency to over-nitpick.

[gerstlaueringvar]

Come on people! Comparing Six Flags parks to Disney parks? They are two completely different chains going towards different directions! I would like to put Disney, Universal in one category, Six Flags and Cedar Fair in another category with Herschend have the benefits of both categories. Six Flags and Cedar Fair mainly gain profit from their parks while Disney and Universal have their movies, their TV shows, their music productions, their music hall, their toy productions, their resorts etc. Of course Six Flags need some advertisements around their parks to get more money while Disney is making money from their movies and overpriced everything.