Local theme park not the same after Disney!

[ncgolfer]

The wife and I went to Paramounts Carowinds in Charlotte, NC yesterday to ride their new coaster and the darndest thing happened. My wife who by her own admission is very un-observent turned to me and said, "this place is not the same after Disney." She commented about the condition of the grounds (big dirt spots in middle of grassy areas & dead plants), backstage areas were visible and very messy, the ride operators were grumpy and obviousely not happy to be at work. The #1 thing was how dirty the property was with paper, cig butts, overflowing trash cans etc... all over the place. We both agreed we had been spoiled by Disney and can't wait to go back in Sept.

Charlie

 

[Tinkim]

ncgolfer, I feel the same way. Disney has ruined all other theme parks for me. They just cannot compare. My friend who is a Disney nut like me went with me this year for her first time. I warned her that she will never step foot in another theme park without comparing it to Disney and finding it lacking but I couldn't explain it until she saw it for herself. Now she understands. There are a few parks around here but while I enjoy them I find them kind of ho-hum and think to myself "this ain't Disney!" Thanks a lot WDW for setting my park standards so high that no one else can ever compare!

 

[NCRedding]

ncgolfer: I agree with you regarding Carowinds--we went there last weekend, and the water park area was filthy. They are also horrible at lines--they just aren't efficient. My DH is like your wife, and he said the same thing. Of course, my Annual pass at Carowinds cost $60 compared to the almost $400 at WDW.

 

[YCFAN]

Ditto.

 

[Chicago526]

Yup, I do the same thing at Six Flags Great America outside Chicago. The park isn't too dirty, they do make an effort, but it's nowhere NEAR Disney's level. The only think SF does better than Disney is the BIG roller costers. But give me MK anyday!!!

 

[MamaLema]

Our family is going for the first time ever in the fall and we are actually afraid the same thing will happen to us.

Up here we have Paramount Canada's Wonderland but *sigh* we know we will look at it completely different after returning

 

[HunnyPots]

I can no longer enjoy Six Flags parks after WDW. We visited Oklahoma City's Six Flags park a few weeks ago and I was shocked at the filthy conditions and employees that looked like skid row bums. The restrooms were so bad that I wanted to take a bath in Purell when I came out!
Our local Six Flags is better but not by a whole lot. Still no where near WDW standards. People who complain that Disney has "lost the magic" need to get out and make some comparisons!

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

I feel the same way about a local theme park. The admission goes up every year (It's now well over $20) and I only rode one ride the last time I went. The other rides just looked cheesy. I think I stayed there for a total of 2 hours. Add me to the list of those who are spoiled by Disney.

 

[puffkin]

I feel the same way!!!!!!

We live about an hour from Hersheypark in Pennsylvania and while it is a very, very nice theme park, it just doesn't compare to Disney. I always notice peeling paint, terrible landscaping, gum stuck to everything, ect. It is still a nice park and I like to go, but give me Disney anyday!

I love thrill rides, however I will not be returning to Six Flags Great Adventure anytime soon! That place was filthy and in terrible condition. And, I almost fell over with the prices. I don't care what anyone says, Disney does a pretty good job at keeping their prices reasonable.

 

[DumboFan]

People can't believe that I would rather fly to get to WDW than drive 30 minutes to get to Great Adventure! I absolutely hate that place!! Puffkin isn't exagerating! It is a dump with no hope.

I don't mind HersheyPark as much (we're about 2 hours away). If my DD (6) begs enough I will take her there. We do try to go once a summer. I'm actually taking DD & DNs (9 & 13) to the Hilary Duff concert in July & we're making a weekend of it.

 

[tar heel]

Gee -- Carowinds is usually in pretty good shape at this time of year. Usually, it's clean and the landscaping looks good. It's toward the end of the season that it starts looking shabby.

Well, what did you think of the new coaster anyway?

 

[laceemouse]

We have enjoyed Silver Dollar City in Branson, and Dollywood in Tennesse the last couple of summers. We will be going to Busch Gardens Williamsburg in a couple of weeks and Hershey Park next summer. We enjoy trying different things, and also visit the non-amusement park attractions in these areas. We do care about cleanliness but are not coaster people (we have no desire to go to SF here.) But I must admit, nothing compares to WDW!!! No one else does the slow moving dark rides that the entire family of multiple ages can do TOGETHER. When people want WDW to do more and more thrill rides it breaks my heart, the family rides are the real draw for many of us. Just MHO.....Lacee

 

[Texan]

We have Six Flags Fiesta Texas here. Very dirty, gum stuck everywhere, employees don't really want to be there, etc. Food is HORRIBLE. And the prices are around $36.00 for each adult! I really don't like going but maybe once a year if one of our DS gets a free ticket which they do as incentives at school. It can't be in the same comparison field as WDW. Some people gripe about the ticket prices at WDW, but look at all what you get, plus that good old WDW Magic to boot.

 

[MEM]

I felt the same way about Hershey Park -- what a let down. We went during its spring event 2003 when admission was free and you paid per ride. I actually lost money by buying the all-day wristband.

We have a Six Flags here in Mass and I have no desire to visit it (even before the disabled man fell out of the roller coaster!). My kids still like Santa's Village in New Hampshire but I think its more the theme of Christmas in the summertime. For a small park out in the middle of nowhere they do a great job! Story Land is good also.

My family will be checking out Busch Gardens-Tampa this summer for a few days before we head to Orlando so I'll let you know -- I do have high expectations for that park, esp.the Serengeti.

 

[Johnfish]

I have had season passes to Busch Gardens Williamsburg for the past 2 years. I love the park. Its very clean and has a great park like setting. They have 4 excellent coasters and many of the shows are great. However I found that this year I am getting kinda bored with it as they are not adding any new attractions and they took out a wild mouse coaster that I loved. They did add one new show which is great (Pet Shenanigans) But its going to take more than that to make me renew my pass for next year.

As for Kings Dominion I have never been. I hear they have great coasters also but I hear too much about stabbings and gangs to make it attractive to me.

I am sure that Disney will make BGW pale by comparison. I wonder if any of the local AP holders get bored after visiting time after time?

John

 

[stacilee]

We live down here in SC and made the trek to carowinds last summer after all the kids' friends raved and raved about it.
To make a long story short, the place was filthy, we had a miserable time with all the rude, unruly hoards of kids, a horrible t-storm ruined the day by starting and refused to let up for 2 hours, the drive home was terrible and we were all soaking wet (3 out of 6 of us woke up with colds the next day) and it made DH and I - flat out DEPRESSED for the next week.
Once you have experienced WDW it is really hard to go back to "regular" theme/amusement parks without constantly comparing the two.
I doubt that we'll ever return to carowinds.

 

[tinkerbell81284]

Same thing with Busch Gardens in Tampa... and I worked there!

Tink

 

[welovedisneyx4]

I think BGW is one of the nicer parks. They pay attention to the theming and atmosphere and landscaping. That said, it still isn't DW. When we go to BG, we know that and are not disapointed. However, I have been to Carowinds, Kings Dominion and a couple of 6 Flag parks and can understand what people are saying about those parks.

For us, BGW is only 4 hours away vs. DW, which is 12 hours away, BGW is a nice weekend trip just to get away. Sometimes we combine it w/ VA Beach. It does make for a nice family vacation, but no, it isn't DW. I wish we were only 4 hours from Disney!!!

 

[Chim Chiminy]

We feel the same way!

After our first WDW trip, we went to Knoebel's here in PA a month later. Free entry because we support our public television station.

Even with free entry we walked around grumbling. We only stayed about 4 hours. Compare that to the previous years PBS day at Knoebel's, when we stayed from opening till 7pm and had a pretty good time.
After going to WDW, I think we just noticed the surroundings more.

Later that summer, while visiting family in Texas, we took the kids to Six Flags over Texas. I was feeling all nostalgic, since that is where we went as kids. I wanted my kids to feel the same.

Just didn't happen! First, the price. For four tickets, 3A and 1C it was nearly $200!
Then going through security, they wanted me to throw away my 2 year olds juice and dump out her milk sippy cup!!!!!!
I pretended to do it while the guard was checking my mom's bag, but kept it in my backpack. Who in the world would spend a 102 degree day at a theme park giving their toddler sodas from a stand?????? Not me!

Then, it was 102 degrees. Not the parks fault, but the fans they have mounted on buildings and in queues were not running! I thought we were all going to pass out from heat stroke.

The park was filthy, bathrooms horrid, and the staff even worse.
They have that stupid Q-bot thing you pay for if you want to skip the line, which just seemed too complicated.
The backstage areas were in no way hidden.....

Should I go on?

The whole time we were all grumbling and saying, "this just isn't Disney".

We left after just a couple of hours.
I will never go back to a Six Flags again (the one in NJ is just as bad).

 

[petula]

I've had a lifelong WDW love and I'm also a general parks freak ever since working with an amusement publication, so I enjoy them all (but consider anything non-Disney a warm-up!) It's true that the six flags parks i've been to are probably the least nice, especially since they began buying parks that were not very nice to start with.

I got a huge kick out of going to King's Dominion, my boyfriend's "home park," after his first trip to WDW and hearing him exclaim as we were getting into a line, "Hey! Where's my theming???"

Though this is the same guy who said out loud, "This is no Disney!" in the Salem Witch Trial Museum presentation.