Six Flags vs WDW

[Jonas Grumby]

I had the day off from work yesterday, and having nothing better to do, I decided to head on over to Six Flags for the day. I live about 20 mins away from Six Flags over Georgia, but do not make it over there very often. I even have a season's pass, but this was only the second time that I have even been this summer. But being the crazy thrill ride junkie that I am, I was in a much needed fix of adrenaline rush. But every time I go I can't believe the shape that the park is in. I don't know about other Six Flags across the country, but SFOG is just dirty and nasty all the time. I was there at opening, and there were over flowing trash cans everywhere! And the food is just awful, it is hard to find anything that you would dare to put in your mouth. But like I said I'm just there to ride the coasters and get out. And don't get me started on the merchandising. There I was, money in hand, trying to find a Six Flags T-Shirt. All they have is total junk!! I could not even find a decent T-Shirt! Now the whole point of my long winded rambling is, as much as I am firmly seated in car #3 right now, is if WDW was one tenth as nasty as SFOG is, people would really lose thier minds. Now I'm not saying this gives Disney any right to be slack, but it blows me away when I compared the two. It made me appreciate WDW more than ever, but I also realize that there is so much more Disney needs to do so that it will never "become" like Six Flags.

 

[ohanafamily]

Six Flags over Texas (in Arlington near Dallas) isn't super clean either, but it is still a nice place to go walking.

They have an 800 #, I would call them and complain. Let them know that they are not doing their job. (BTW, I just tried to look up the phone number for six flags off of their website, but half of the pages don't work!)

I will say that Disney does do a good job of keeping the parks clean, Not as good as 10 years ago, but I think that is partly because of a less caring guest.

Universal does a very good job of keeping their parks clean, but then again, they have something to prove.....

 

[DisneyFanGuy]

Six Flags purchased Chicagoland's Great America back in the mid-80's. Prior to that, Marriott had owned and operated it, and it was clean, well maintained, and had absolutely wonderful food. The park has become filthy, and even though we visit every year because it's close, it breaks our hearts to see it.

A couple of years ago, I had a day filled with experiences so incredibly bad that I wrote a three page letter to the park. When I didn't get a response I tried to track down their corporate office. It took me days to find an address, but eventually I sent it off. A week later I received a call from the park manager and he offered to bring us back for Fright Fest.

This year, the park was a little better, but still horribly dirty and filled with poorly trained employees that don't speak english very well. The ride operators seem to be the exception, and treated us very well this year.

I know people who live near Six Flags parks all over the country. They all describe the severe deterioration of the parks over the past decade. Great new coasters every year surrounded by absolute filth everywhere. Whenever I get irritated with a Disney visit, I just go to Six Flags and immediately feel better.

This year there have been stories of Great America being down 20% in attendance, and they are offering 2 for 1 passes at the entrance. I would rather they just swept the lot once and awhile.

 

[WDWHound]

One Six Flags park I know of seems to buck this trend. If you are ever in San Antonio, make a point to visit Six Flags Fiesta Texas. Its not a big park, but it is clean, very well maintained, rarely crowed and features some very nice coasters. The food there is not bad for amusement park food either.

 

[ohanafamily]

And Mr. Hound, please don't forget that that is one of the few/only six flags that water park admission is included.

And as I meant to say in my previous post, the one in Arlington is still fairly clean, not super clean, but fairly clean.

 

[barbeml]

When New Jersey's Great Adventure was owned by Warner LeRoy it was a beautiful family park. We were there the year it opened and several times after, and it was clean and fairly well maintained (altho nothing as nice as WDW). Once Six Flags bought it, it went down fast. You could not pay me enough to set foot on that property these days, not even in head-to-toe kevlar. It is an absolute pit and the food has always been way overpriced. While WDW food is not cheap, they do give large portions. GA was always high-priced and small portions.

 

[Bob O]

There are no SF that are up to the standards of disney/universal or even come close.
Now i havent been to Six Flags Great America in about a month and never go on weekends due to teenagers running amok but i have found this park to be the best of the Sf parks i have been too.
The times i have been there this year i found the park to be clean and maintained well by SF standards which granted are low. And i would agree i would much perfer that they spend more time/money on cleanliness/maintence then they do.
But in fairness to SF i think with these parks being seasonal they do have a harder time getting better employee's to work there so are stuck with high school kids who arent looking at this as a possible career but as a palce to make some money without putting in the effort that they should. Even in Wisc dells they are shipping in people from europe etc who speak little english because they cant attract employee's from the area with the wages they are offering.
From people i have spoke to who have been to SFGAM they have said the lines at the park this year are longer than in past years even with the addition of new coasters over thew years to spread out the people.
I guess it comes to what your expectations are and at a Sf park they are only to enjoy the great coasters and not much else.

 

[KNWVIKING]

I've been to Great Adv. one time and that was once too many. I saw one thing though that I appriciated:

While in line for some coaster, a bunch of degenerate kids were jumping ahead in line - one friend way up in the line invites his 15 friends up to join him- they still had a good long wait and just when they were ready to board the ride a manager stepped out and sent them ALL the way to the back again. I thought that was great. He let them waste a good 20 minutes in line before he punished them.

 

[Texowl2]

In the past two years, we have been to the SF parks in San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Cleveland and Jackson NJ.

You should see Astroworld (owned by SF) in Houston. As a former employee, though it has improved, it is a bit embarassing. We found the other four to be much nicer though not on par with WDW or Universal. OTOH, given that our annual pass (good at all SF parks) worldwide is about the same as a one day pass to WDW, what do you expect. Our attitude is ya gotta take it as it is, get their early, have a fun time with their coasters, and leave when it gets crowded. BTW, the cleveland park is the old SeaWorld and we thought it was pretty nice and certainly can't be the price. Jackson wasn't too bad awful.

They have their market niche, they just can't compare to WDW, Universal or Cedar Point (all of which we have been to this year-long story).

 

[Grog]

You should see Astroworld (owned by SF) in Houston. As a former employee, though it has improved, it is a bit embarassing.

I can't bring myself to go to SFAW anymore. I used to go every couple of years just to get a thrill ride fix but it has just gone too far down hill. Two years ago I was there on opening day, in the morning, when the park opened for the first time since October of the Previous year, five months earlier. The place looked run down, trashy, and there was a LOT of gum stuck on various benches, signs, and even a loudspeaker on one of the rides. You would think that given five months they could at least scrape off the gum. It's sad because I remember SFAW when it was just AW, before SF bought it. It was a great place to go, always clean, friendly staff (as opposed to the "I'm going to be as rude as I want because my Dad made me get a Summer job here" help they seem to have now). It was no WDW, but for the price it was a nice day out.
Last year my employer threw a party for eveyone at SFAW. Free admission for myself and a family member/friend, free food...I couldn't bring myself to go because it's just too depressing.

And Mr. Hound, please don't forget that that is one of the few/only six flags that water park admission is included.

They recently started doing that at SFAW as well.

 

[eclipseSD]

Allow me to lose all tact and be blunt:

Who cares about food, cleanliness, kindness, etc when at a SIX FLAGS PARK? You don't go to Six Flags for an all around fantasy experience, you go there to ride the COASTERS!

Six Flags Magic Mountain and Six Flags Great Adventure combined have some of the best thrill rides on the planet. To deny yourself that experience because the bathrooms weren't clean is.......interesting. Don't go expecting Disney/Universal immersion. Go there expecting some of the best rides available. If your family doesn't like thrill rides at all, your kind of stuck. These parks aren't really geared toward every age group (1-90). They are geared for people aged 10-50 who don't suffer from motion sickness or vertigo.

In addition; Cedar Point, Hershey Park, and Knotts Berry Farm have clean environments, tons of thrills, and great children oriented areas. Sure, its not the Magic Kingdom, but if your expecting every amusement park on planet earth to try to equal Disney, your sadly mistaken.

As a matter of fact, this whole comparison is totally unfair and biased. Many people here go to Disney twice a year for 1 or 2 weeks at a time and then expect every small 1 day visit amusement park to compete with Disney in terms of quality, which is NOT the goal of any Six Flags, Cedar Point, or small town amusement destination.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

Gotta agree with the prior post.

But for those of you who are pretty skeeved out by these parks...go in the fall after the college and high school kids have gone. The weather is pleasant and the parks are clean(ish).

 

[FindingNemo]

Originally posted by WDWHound
One Six Flags park I know of seems to buck this trend. If you are ever in San Antonio, make a point to visit Six Flags Fiesta Texas. Its not a big park, but it is clean, very well maintained, rarely crowed and features some very nice coasters. The food there is not bad for amusement park food either.

Totally agree WDWHound! I just recently visited this Six Flags park and I was impressed. Definitely not Disney or Universal but also not your average Six Flags either.

My only dissapointment was the Scooby attraction. The best part of the attraction was the music in the queue.

 

[doombuggy]

I have been to both Astroworld (back in 1981), and I have been to Great Adventure several times (from 1976 to 1990). While I atill live near SF, I have not been there since Bugs Bunny's 50th birthday.

They do have great thrill rides - i have a matchbook around with a pic of that awsome wooden coster at AW which, at least at the time, was one of the steepest coasters in the country. Yes, I would go to thest places to ride the thrill rides, among other rides, but if I am spending the day there, I will need to eat, preferably something edible and not costing an arm & a leg. A one day ticket here isn't mcuh different than the cost of a one day ticket at a WDW park. Yes, there are more thrill rides, but there should be more to the park than that.

Hershey Park is kept in better shape. I have gone there several times since 1983, the last being in 2000. Park was pretty clean and the food was decent. All rides were great, but it was so hot, I had a headache (probably b/c we rode all the coasters in 100 degree heat).

I guess my opinion is that if I have a good time, I will be back. Part of that good time is a clean environment, decent food and fun rides!

PS: I haven't been to Houston since 1989; I was there at Christmas time but the park was pretty much closed during the season. That's why i have not been back there, not because it's crappy. Maybe it is, i just haven't been in that part of the country lately.

 

[tdsryan]

I live in the NY/NJ area, but I haven't been to SFGA in many years. I am afraid that I may got shot at for wearing the wrong colors in the wrong section of the park.

Seriously, the disgusting conditions of the park are second only to the clientle: ghetto trash from NYC who got themself into the park with $5.00, a six pack of empty Coca Cola cans, and Shoprite register receipts. It's the heavy discounting of Six Flags admission that attract the low-lives, which hence, leads to the conditions.

 

[HauntedMansionFan]

Originally posted by eclipseSD
Allow me to lose all tact and be blunt:

Who cares about food, cleanliness, kindness, etc when at a SIX FLAGS PARK? You don't go to Six Flags for an all around fantasy experience, you go there to ride the COASTERS!

Six Flags Magic Mountain and Six Flags Great Adventure combined have some of the best thrill rides on the planet. To deny yourself that experience because the bathrooms weren't clean is.......interesting. Don't go expecting Disney/Universal immersion. Go there expecting some of the best rides available. If your family doesn't like thrill rides at all, your kind of stuck.

Whoa, whoa whoa.... who said anything about total "immersion"? It doesn't matter if its Hershey, Disney, Six Flags, Universal, or Busch Gardens, if I'm dropping close to $30 to get in for the day I expect a little more then "the best thrill rides on the planet". I expect not to have to step over garbage that hasn't been swet up in walkways. I expect not to have to read grafitti about how "John and Sally are 4 EVA" or "Tim is a british cigarette or pile of sticks used for burning (HAHA take that censor thing!!! lol)" while I was in the que line. I expect there to be a clean table when I sit down to eat. I expect that the trash bins aren't overflowing on to the floor or ground. I went to Six Flags New England in 2000, and won't ever set foot back in the park. I don't/didn't expect Disney standards when I go. But is it to much to ask to wipe down the tables? Fill the holes in the bathroom stalls? Or wipe off the pee that some immature teenager thought would be funny to write his name on the bathroom wall? No it isn't. But what shocks me is that some people are actually "ok" with this kind of uncleanliness.

I have a friend that refers to any Six Flags park as: "SFOWT" which stands for SUX FLAGS OVER WHITE TRASH.

 

[Grog]

I don't think anyone here is expecting SF to be anywhere near Disney when it comes to customer service, themeing of rides, etc.

I don't think that it is asking too much for the parks to be kept clean, the rides given an occassional coat of paint, and the employees to at least be semi-polite.

 

[ohanafamily]

You might want to check out this thread...

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=417810

 

[Testtrack321]

I'd rather die than go to a Six Flags park again. Cedar Fair parks, Busch, even Paramount parks are nice, but NEVER Six Flags.

But I'd rather than Disney's America near me...

 

[ohanafamily]

If Disney did buy SF, at least they would clean up the parks... I hope