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

[pittypat]

Ditto on the comments about Six Flags Astroworld-absolutely nasty and rude, rude , rude employees. But here's what I don't get: WHY does it have to be that way? It isn't exactly cheap to get into that place, so you know they have plenty of $$ coming in. We've noticed that since TimeWarner bought out the Six Flags chain, things have gone downhill alot. I'd compare that to HersheyPark which is delightful and clean. Wish someone could explain to me why the Six Flags parks seem to be almost universally badly run. (although Fiesta Texas in San Antonio is WAY better than Astroworld IMO)

 

[tdsryan]

One incident I remember was we were waiting in line for the rapids ride and there were a group of about 6 'teenagers' (prob anywhere from 17-21) waiting in front of us. They were speaking another language and also cursing in english. They were hitting on all the girls around them and being VERY loud, rude and obnoxious. When we got to the front of the line, ready to board the boats, NO ONE wanted to sit with them. The STUPID employees couldn't figure out why and told everyone in line that no one would move unless someone stepped up to sit with them.

That's due to the marketing of the park to the inner city animals of NYC and NJ. When you can get your baby's mother and the whole family in with six Coke cans and Shoprite register tapes, this is the kind of crowd you get.

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

That's due to the marketing of the park to the inner city animals of NYC and NJ. When you can get your baby's mother and the whole family in with six Coke cans and Shoprite register tapes, this is the kind of crowd you get.

O......K.?

 

[Harmony]

Wow, after hearing all of these comments, I now consider myself lucky to be so close to a SF that is actually fun to visit. No, it's not Disney but our SF is nice and clean and the employees...from what I've experienced...are nice and friendly. (actually, they have accommodated me on more than one ocassion) I guess it just depends on the manager?????

 

[Cindy B]

I have had Six Flags Great Adventure passes for a few years. We just got back on Friday, and had a great visit. Kingda Ka is incredible, and the Golden Kingdom is wonderful.

We had caring ride ops, and extremely conscientious employees. We have gone three times so far on our season pass for day trips, and had great ride ops. Six Flags is getting new employees, and they have hard work ethic, and say please, thank you, excuse me, and some even bow as they check the ride. (the bowers were of Asian descent)

This may sound racist, and this is not my intent. The new conscientious ride ops were of Asian descent. There was a noticeable difference from this year to theh previous years.

It isn't Disney and can't be compared to it. It is a different experience. You will never find the world fastest coaster at WDW! (maybe universal, but thats another discussion).

We have also gone to great Free with admission concerts at Six Flags. My concert with the B52's, was one of the best concerts I have ever gone to.

Yes, the prices can be high if you don't utilize deals. Yes, the soda cans, shoprite tapes do bring in the visitors, but those patrons tend to come as I am leaving at 1 pm! Yes, school groups can be diffulcult there as well. I was there on Friday when a lot of groups were there. I went into a restaurant and saw a large group of middle schoolers, and thought "Oh brother,!". (See, I work at a middle school, and I know how terrible my own students are). These student were polite, gracious and cleaned up after themselves. I never heard a curse word out of there mouths or rudeness. You bet I walked up to the chaperone and told him how great I thought his students were doing. This teacher looked so happy to hear compliments.

Anyway, if you go in there knowing it isn't Disney it can be fun. I have a good time going there. Hey, if you don't go, less lines for Nitro and Kingda Ka!

 

[xraydave]

Bravo Cindy B.

 

[southjerseymom]

Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ is awful. My DS still asks me if we will "ever go back to that dirty place!" We went last spring. The park was filthy and the characters had stains all over their costumes. We drove through the animal safari first. There were signs all over Do Not Feed the Animals. I saw carload after carload of families letting their kids hang their arms out of the windows coaxing the animals with snacks. It was just another example of the nastiness of the whole place. If I have to be with masses of people - give me Disney any day!

 

[aimeeme]

I was wondering if I was the only one who compared Six Flags to Disney. I guess I am definitely a Disney snob too. I just couldn't resist responding to this post because so much of what others are saying here are true. I live about an hour away from Six flags NJ and figured I would buy a season pass for me, DH, (who really dislikes this park) and kids. I talked him into it because DS is starting to get into the thrill rides & it would be nice to have Dad to go on them with. I am not a thrill ride person so they arent impressive to me. However, if you do like them, then I guess you would have a completely different opinion about the park. They have alot of fun rides for the kids, and they really seem to enjoy them so you cant lose there. We live very near a beach and boardwalk and I have to say in the end its so much less expensive to buy the pass rather than drop a hundred dollars to buy them a book of tickets up on the boardwalk rides. There is a new area that someone had previously mentioned which I thought SCREAMS Animal Kingdom. It was done fairly nice but pales in comparison to AK. They had a nice jungle gym area that would have been alot of fun for DS, unfortunately it was not open. This place has changed over the years. We used to buy season passes every year when I was younger & into teen years, and I have to say the "atmosphere" is not family oriented at all. It seemed that It used to be a family type, "locals" place to go .
Great points to Six Flags NJ.
Great rides for the kids.
1. Awesome thrill rides.
2. I really like the Safari. I've been to Bronx zoo, Philadelphia, AK and think it beats them all. Yeah I know AK is Natazu, but if you want to see alot of animals, sometimes right next to you, go to Six Flags.
3. Fright Fest is awesome for kids and adults. They do a great job.
Not so great points to Six Flags.
1. When park is busy, can be very dirty. (I have to mention here on our last trip DH mentioned how parking lot at Epcot was immaculate at the end of the park day. I really think it has alot to do with the crowd that visits Disney, majority of people are more consientious about not littering. And of course because the employees keep the place so clean.
2. Long lines on busy days. But you get that at any theme type park.
3. Staff not as friendly. (Theres something to be said for that wonderful Florida southern hospitality). I notice that everytime I'm in Florida. Wish some (more like alot) of that would spread up here!!!!!!!
4. Smoking permitted anywhere in park, and no ashtrays.
All in all on a slower day its an ok park to go visit. But whenever I'm there I miss Disney even more.

 

[Brer_roadrunner]

Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ is awful. My DS still asks me if we will "ever go back to that dirty place!" We went last spring. The park was filthy and the characters had stains all over their costumes. We drove through the animal safari first. There were signs all over Do Not Feed the Animals. I saw carload after carload of families letting their kids hang their arms out of the windows coaxing the animals with snacks. It was just another example of the nastiness of the whole place. If I have to be with masses of people - give me Disney any day!

You would think that's bad... But I've seen worse... My first trip to GA in NJ we saw car load after car load of knucklehead's feeding the animals, the thing that got me is when the animal came over and poked their head's into the vehicle the knucklehead's didn't know how to react... You don't want a wildabeast as a passenger don't feed them! One poor giraffe actually had a car window shut on his head! The moron's tried to roll it up before the giraffe got there but that giraffe was determined to get that Oreo... Poor guy didn't get the cookie and had a window shut on him to boot! Been to GF 3 times... That's 3 day's of my life I will never get back....

 

[Harmony]

*note to self* Never visit a theme park in NJ.


*lol*

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

We have been to Great Adventure a number of times. They really market to the thrill ride crowd though they do have a few indoor rides, but hardly Disney like. There are amusement parks and there are theme parks. I think the lines have been blurred between the two now. A lot of parks seem to try to imitate Disney, and that's okay; I don't think they quite measure up. What annoys me is when parks take shots at Disney. We were in Universal Orlando a few years back and on two different rides, the operators made snide remarks about Disney. Oh well. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

HAHA. When you hear them do that just tell em you're glad they know disney's still their daddy.

 

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

Hey, if you don't go, less lines for Nitro and Kingda Ka!

Ohhhhh, good point!!! Very important point!!!! So give me the review of Kingda Ka. We haven't been able to go this season yet and I'm dying to hear a review. Send me a pm, so we don't upset the GA "haters"

 

[ncgolfer]

The only park I've ever visited that has employees as friendly as WDW is Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, TN. That being said it is mostly retired folks who just work there because they enjoy it (not your usual punk 16 year old thug). We have season tickets to both Dollywood and Splash Country the waterpark next door.

 

[Lizzybee]

We went to Six Flags Great America yesterday to check out the new waterpark and it looks nice. We'll have to wait and see how it is when it's crowded (it was chilly and rainy yesterday). I did notice though their "food court" area was like Disney's now...the cash register is out front and then you go in a line to get the food (like Disney counter service) and they have it separated by foods...chicken and hot dogs in one area, burgers in another, then pizza. It reminded me of an outdoor versions of Cosmic Rays or the counter service area near Fantasmic at MGM.

 

[cheerdancer11]

You can't compare disney to great adventure. I love great adventure, but in a totally different way then disney. Its good for thrill rides like roller coasters, and the drive thru safari is a blast! We got season passes in the past, like 3 years in a row. Its just a fun place to hang out, and yes it is totally different than disney. They workers are not as friendly, it gets dirty, not a magical aspect. Its just a park purely for rides, and they had a couple of cool shows too like the one on the lake

 

[Disneyglobegirl]

We have passes for Six Flags New Orleans and it is definately not Disney - LOL however it is fun for the kids to go a few times during the summer and we have used our passes at other Six Flags parks in Texas so we usually get our money's worth.

 

[Magalex]

I really don't have a comment about Six Flags but the thread reminds me of the delimma I am having about finding places to visit. We came back from Disney with(DH, myself and 4 yr old DS) and always it was wonderful to be at WDW. We stayed at POP 4/22-4/30. I would go to WDW every year if I could. In the real world we will try to go every 2 - 3 years But in the meantime I have been looking for any friendly family vacation spot in the Northeast( We live in Pittsburgh PA) We are not total beach fans. I have looked up Wildwood NJ and some other places. But the lack of info and not too good reviews I end up saying WDW has everything(including Orlando) for us. WDW is fun and the most comfortable themed attraction for us( I would just wished bossy and noisy family members would keep their opinions to themselves)
We did visit Six Flags Cleveland before Geauga Lake reborn. We didn't enjoy Six Flags. We haven't been to Cedar Point or Kings Island for years.( Our DS is still under 46' which doesn't allow him on alot of rides). We had a quick trip to Hershey park last summer. It was nice and Hershey is very clean.

Magalex

 

[ericafny]

I really don't have a comment about Six Flags but the thread reminds me of the delimma I am having about finding places to visit. We came back from Disney with(DH, myself and 4 yr old DS) and always it was wonderful to be at WDW. We stayed at POP 4/22-4/30. I would go to WDW every year if I could. In the real world we will try to go every 2 - 3 years But in the meantime I have been looking for any friendly family vacation spot in the Northeast( We live in Pittsburgh PA) We are not total beach fans. I have looked up Wildwood NJ and some other places. But the lack of info and not too good reviews I end up saying WDW has everything(including Orlando) for us. WDW is fun and the most comfortable themed attraction for us( I would just wished bossy and noisy family members would keep their opinions to themselves)
We did visit Six Flags Cleveland before Geauga Lake reborn. We didn't enjoy Six Flags. We haven't been to Cedar Point or Kings Island for years.( Our DS is still under 46' which doesn't allow him on alot of rides). We had a quick trip to Hershey park last summer. It was nice and Hershey is very clean.

Magalex

How far are you from Williamsburg, VA? There is tons of stuff to do there! I remember going when I was a kid. There is colonial Williamsburg and also Bush Gardens. I think they may have a waterpark there too! I would check it out seeing Pennsylvania isn't TOO far of a drive from VA.

 

[dznyacct]

My annual company picnic is next Saturday at a local amusement park (Indiana Beach ~ advertised as "the Riviera of the Midwest" ha!!). We started our WDW journies when my son was 4 (he's 15 now), so he knows a quality theme park. Every time we go to Indiana Beach, after 5 minutes or less he always turns to me and says "This sure isn't WDW, is it mom?". Unhappy workers, trash everywhere, filthy bathrooms. I know that WDW has spoiled me for every other theme park in existence. They have set the bar, and it is certainly a high bar! At least our company picnic is free!!

 

[poohluvr]

Magalex,

You should definitely check out Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown. They have a really cute Peanuts themed area for kids. It's my favorite park in this area.