Just got back from SIX FLAGS, boy it isnt DISNEY!

[bopper]

And you went this year after they re-landscaped and did some work fixing the place up! Imagine what it was like before.

 

[disneyfreak74]

I LOVED six flags when I was young!!! I LOVED it when I first got married and we would go for the weekend!!!! Then in 2001 my wonderful DH took me to WDW (his first trip)!!! We do NOT even consider going to 6 flags!! We did 1 time because my brother and sister were invited for the CURE foundation "Off Thereapy Party"!! We both said NEVER again!!! Everything was dirty, people were rude (even to my DS that was not quite 3) , and all in all it wasn't DISNEY!!!!! I LOVE THE MOUSE!!!! The Mouse has NEVER let me down (a little broke yes but) NEVER dissapointed!!!!!

 

[Zip-A-Dee-Lady]

When I was 5, I went to 6F over GA and rode the American Scream Machine. OMG!!!!!!!! The ride operators didn't even check the seat belts on the ride and I was literally bouncing out of the seat. The seat belt almost came undone by the time the ride was over. Scared my parents and me NEVER going back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edit: Reading that it sounds like GA is Great Adventure. GA= Georgia

 

[melaniemiller2002]

We went to Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo, CA (outside of San Francisco, CA) at the beginning of the summer and was happily surprised....the park was relatively clean, lots of families with young children, the people working the coasters and other rides were friendly and helpful. I loved all the greenery around the park....plenty of shade. There was a nice mix of "scary roller coasters" for my husband, my 8 year old stepson, and myself....and "kiddie rides" in Looney Tunes Seaport for the little ones.

The best part is that there were not only roller coasters and other rides, but they had great shows. My stepson and I were picked to participate in the Dolphin Show, which was amazing!! And their orca, Shouka, has quite a few tricks up her sleeves, some of which I've never seen "Shamu" perform. They had a show with sea lions, places to feed stingrays, dolphins, giraffes, etc. My stepkids rode an elephant for the first time (their mother ADORES elephants so we bought a nice photo and will frame it for her birthday).

My husband and I discussed buying season passes (they are around $50) for next year...it's only about 3 hours away from us (the only park that close) and the kids loved it. The pass also gets you into both their Sacramento and Concord water parks, so that would be a nice deal. My husband and I get saying how different it was from the one in Southern CA. Like night and day. No, you can't compare it to Disneyworld or even Seaworld, but it was a really nice park for the kids. I didn't notice many teenagers swearing and wearing next to nothing and I only saw a handful of people smoking.

There were a lot of family rides where kids over 42" inches can ride with their parent, which made it nice for my stepdaughter. The employees all carry these yard sticks specific for each ride and if you don't measure up, you can't ride. My stepdaughter was turned away the first day because she was 1/4" too short, but on the second day, she was wearing her tennis shoes that added a tiny bit of height and rode her first big roller coaster, Roar. I was shocked that she enjoyed it because truth be known, it was kind of scary....LOL. But I guess ya gotta start 'em off early so when they're older, they can keep up with us. My 8 year old begged to ride Medusa over and over again.... a ride that made several grown men and a couple of teenage boys vomit after getting off. Then again, I was surprised he loved California Screamin' and Maliboomer at California Adventureland as much as he did....he rode when he was 6 and had a great time.

All in all, we found the SF Marine World to be a pretty enjoyable time. It didn't have the magic that DL and WDW hold, but for a quick 2 or 3 day trip over the mountains, it was great. We did spent a fortune on food and pictures....ugh!! But we had to get some photos since it was the first time we've all ridden "real roller coasters" together. My stepdaughter will have something to look back on and smile about.

Melanie

 

[BuddyGenie]

There was this one time where I stayed home during vacation and needed to find something that could substitue for Disney. DM took me to SFGA, and I was truly disappointed. Had to wait in long lines just to enter the park, the food was expensive, their idea of Fastpass is flawed (you have to buy a gizmo to access the FP feature. BUY!), and the lines for the popular coasters are way way long. That's why I only chose the Superman coaster to wait for 2 hours or so. And don't get me started on the Batman "stunt show" (prerecorded dialogue does not make for entertainment, unless your main characters are furries).

Bottom line, once you've been spoiled by the Magic of Disney, everything else is just fop (except for Universal, because they have to keep the same high standards as Disney for competitive purposes).

 

[funhouse8]

Yes, We go every year to six flags GA and we do enjoy it. The thrill rides are great. My kids love Roller coasters and no it is not WDW or Cedar Point it is close enough to us to go for the day. Nitro is a great ride! While we were there this year we noticed they had new characters out and about which was nice. We didn't get to ride the new Kanga ka because it has been down for quite some time now. We are taking my daught and 11 friends to GA for her 16 BD and she is so excited. Wish I lived closer to WDW or Cedar Point but this will have to do.

 

[MandM-Mom]

But for some it may be all they can afford, they may have even scrapped together just enough to take their families there.

No we all know its not Disney Nothing will ever be anything close, but are these places really that awful?

We have Six Flags Season Passes for The Great Escape in Lake George NY and while it is not Disney my family still enjoys a day to play there. We only can afford one family vacation a year to a BIG place like Disney and I will not be instilling in my children the fact that they should not be greatful for getting to go to such a place.... in this day and age when so many children go without how can you let your children be ungreatful for the things they are so lucky to experience, even if it is a small park with cheesey pre-recorded shows and old rides. They still will enjoy themselves, kids love rides no matter what they are!!!

 

[Planogirl]

Six Flags over Texas isn't too bad. Sure it's not Disney but it's not trying to be. It's a great coaster park and that's all it strives for as far as I can see.

 

[summerrluvv]

i decided to buy an AP (called season pass) at Six Flags great adventure in NJ. It was the second time i went this season, and i found myself comparing the park to disney the entire time. now i know six flags is more of an "amusement park", not a theme park, but it was interesting to make the comparisons. six flags great adventure blatently ripped off a lot of stuff from disney...they have a fantasy land, the "tea cups", a wanna be thunder mountain railroad, and the best one was the total rip off of Haunted Mansion music on Six Flag's Skull Mountain. I never noticed it before, but I was standing in line, and I kept hearing the same chords from Grim Grinning Ghosts.

also, the park was very dirty, very unlike Disney, and the rides were so poorly themed. they just opened a new area that looks somewhat what AK, with the new ride Kinda Ka, and it was funny to see how hard they tried to make this new area Disneyesque. I think they failed miserably.

anyway, it was an interesting experience to compare the two parks.

We went a couple of years ago to Great Adventure. I was less than impressed. They had rap music blaring upon entry into the park, the teenagers walking around barely had any clothes on and it was dirty. The children's rides were so run down it was horrible. We stayed about 2 hours and left. It's definately not Disney! We just go to Adventureland (in Farmingdale) when DS wants to ride some rides. It's inexpensive, very clean there and very kiddie oriented.

 

[Lizzybee]

Well we just spent a rainy day at Six Flags Great America. My daughter and I have season's passes and we used a free ticket for my cousin's daughter so I didn't want to just turn around and leave when it started raining a half hour after we got there. Besides I figured, it'll stop.... well 5 hours and 3 ponchos later we gave up, it was only raining harder. BUT since I know I'll be at WDW in 29 days, I figured I was in training and I passed the test with flying colors. I thought of how many Disney rides are enclosed and don't have to close with some rain. I decided ponchos really are a very good thing and we can manage in some rain with them. I got new socks to try out.