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Postby American Eagle 1981 on June 18th, 2018, 7:55 pm
This was all mentioned in the minor updates and rumors but I think it belongs in a separate forum. Many of you seem to find it tough to talk about so I will absolutely talk about it. The park fights that have occurred are 1000% not acceptable. This is the single-greatest problem with Great America. I can think of very few other parks with problems this extreme. The crowds that the park attracts from the area are completely trash. As Chicago becomes a trashier city, the park will suffer too. Prices need to be raised, the park needs to transcend into a more family park, and security needs to be STRICT. I’m not going to go in depth with race although there is a very clear correlation. If garbage like this is scaring enthusiasts like me that would spend every second of their life at the park if given the chance, I can’t imagine how average families will view this. What do you think should be done? I just want strict filtering of the crowds they’re letting in. It’s really making me uncomfortable though.
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Postby _FuryBull_330_ on June 18th, 2018, 8:22 pm
I know right. I had to experience a fight at La Ronde once, do not reccomend it.
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Postby Mr.EveryDaySFGA on June 18th, 2018, 8:37 pm
Well when i whent yesterday gurnee police were in the park even before the park


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Postby hook13 on June 18th, 2018, 11:48 pm
agree with most of your statement, although I saw just as many issues with some older white guys getting out of control in domestic violence situations on Saturday....and some significant child neglect issues as well.

The family areas in the park seem to be in disrepair and aren't looking very sharp these days, you go to a park like six flags over georgia and it's night and day compared to ours as far as family friendly....even st. louis has a much better presentation with just having a playground/fort with slides....the former camp cartoon is looking pretty sad after losing the license, and so is the other kids area with the swamp of a water feature and the sad slides that are way to small for the park....to have a DC and Looney toons license and not use it for kids rides makes zero sense-
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Postby SFGAMNUT9302 on June 19th, 2018, 3:26 am
Agreed! Raise the pass prices and let them be an automatic filter! Works fine for Cedar point, it could easily work here if Great America spent more money beautifying the park and enhancing the family experience.
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Postby LordMagnus101 on June 19th, 2018, 8:54 am
Raise the prices and keep the riff raff out.

Six Flags needs to stop trying to be the Wal Mart of the amusement park industry and raise their standards.
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Postby LordMagnus101 on June 19th, 2018, 8:56 am
Also, they need to drastically cut back on the bring a friend free days....
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Postby JT2002 on June 19th, 2018, 9:12 am
They need to stop trying to have more and more sales and discounts on tickets and season passes locally and they need to raise those ticket prices (but not too much). Management definitely needs to use some of the money from their tax refund from Gurnee to go towards increased security and overall park maintenance. I have heard from park employees that many of their coworkers are seriously thinking about quitting due to an unsafe working environment, and the park needs all the help they can get as they are understaffed anyways.
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Postby SFGAmFan12 on June 19th, 2018, 7:11 pm
SFGAMNUT9302 wrote:Agreed! Raise the pass prices and let them be an automatic filter! Works fine for Cedar point, it could easily work here if Great America spent more money beautifying the park and enhancing the family experience.


Great America has problems bigger than just raising prices will solve, unfortunately, and that’s not what solely works for Cedar Point. You need to take into account that Great America is midway between Chicago and Milwaukee, and a stones throw from Gary and Rockford (okay, more than a stones throw but you get the point). These cities have some of the worst violence in the country to begin with and the people making the easy drive to the park don’t really care about price. Cedar Point, meanwhile, only has to contend with Cleveland an hour away, and while it has its own set of problems it isn’t nearly at the level of Chicago, Milwaukee, Gary, or Rockford.

I agree Six Flags is having issues because it’s leaned away from family in recent years to more thrill rides which attract young adults. The park needs to double down on security, reinvest in beautification (I.e. installing more lights, painting, freshening up areas), and spend a year without any additions. Why no additions? Well if a family area is added next year you won’t benefit fully as families are becoming more scared to visit. But don’t add thrill rides because that paints the wrong picture. Simple park improvements and correct advertising paints the picture that the park is improving and in a year or two announce new family expansions and restate that Six Flags is here for families to make memories. Families will be more likely to come back and the back can tour their improvements made in the last year.

That’s my take. The violence is incredibly ridiculous and is a culmination of a lack of discipline and respect.
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Postby Goku1910 on June 19th, 2018, 7:28 pm
hook13 wrote:agree with most of your statement, although I saw just as many issues with some older white guys getting out of control in domestic violence situations on Saturday.


I don't think anyone here mentioned race but I still have to agree with the OP, the cheap and affordable memberships and low priced season passes are almost definitely the source of the bad crowds.

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Postby Lizardgi on June 19th, 2018, 8:35 pm
This is a chronic issue and I hope that Six Flags upper management is taking it seriously. The press really seems to be latching onto these types of stories and they're not going to let it up if/when these events happen again. I grew up going to the park with my parents, spent plenty of years going as a teen and young adult, and now visit the park with my two kids age 6 and 4. It's been fun to go to the park with a different perspective in mind but at some point the poor behaving crowds will not be worth it anymore. In the rare event someone from Six Flags gives a crap, here's my thoughts as to ways to help this issue:

- Improve general infrastructure of the park. Fix up the tattered roofs, peeling paint, overgrown weeds, and trash. The park isn't a total wreck, but there is a lot of room for improvement. I'm reminded of this quote from the Broken Windows Theory: "Consider a building with a few broken windows. If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break a few more windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it's unoccupied, perhaps become squatters or light fires inside. Or consider a pavement. Some litter accumulates. Soon, more litter accumulates. Eventually, people even start leaving bags of refuse from take-out restaurants there or even break into cars."

- Bring back the atmospheric themed music to each area. Drop or significantly reduce the amount of loud pop and rap playing in the park on a mind numbing loop.

- Reduce the amount of games that end up being hang out spots for teens and crowds - stop giving out basketballs as prizes that end up being bounced all over the midways.

- Stop treating the park like a cheap strip mall where advertising is placed on every available wall and pole. Get rid of the aggressive sales people in the park hawking ripoff time shares and gift cards from energy companies.

- Double the price of annual passes or memberships and significantly reduce the number of free days. The strategy of packing the park with every breathing body sucks for anyone who truly wants to enjoy the park. Focus marketing efforts on attracting families and young adults with disposable income.

For now we'll keep going to the park when we can, but it's not as much as we used to go and mostly in the off-season. Nights at the park are pretty much avoided altogether.
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Postby chicagoperson on June 19th, 2018, 11:07 pm
I guarantee the ability to come all year and everyday for $59.99 is what attracts this stuff. I deal with this crap everyday at work, and the best counter is higher prices & zero tolerance for obvious trouble. Big group of teens yelling and swearing, smoking in non-smoking areas, trashy clothes, etc. Stop the little stuff that's already against the rules and you cut the path to real problems, like these fights. A shooting/stabbing is on the horizon if they're really looking for a PR problem.
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Postby hook13 on June 19th, 2018, 11:42 pm
Goku1910 wrote:
hook13 wrote:agree with most of your statement, although I saw just as many issues with some older white guys getting out of control in domestic violence situations on Saturday.


I don't think anyone here mentioned race but I still have to agree with the OP, the cheap and affordable memberships and low priced season passes are almost definitely the source of the bad crowds.

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It was referenced in the OP
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Postby SFGAMNUT9302 on June 20th, 2018, 5:35 am
Me and my girl friend were standing in line for Dark Knight a few weeks ago and there were a bunch of idiots in line with us.... Loud and obnoxious as all hell..... and every other word out of their mouth was N*gga or Mother F*cker >:-(

I'd gladly pay a flat $150 for a season pass that includes parking, if it means keeping this garbage out of the park and increasing park quality and security. Good paying customers will be chased away if this trend continues.

This BS is what brought River View to it's knees and forced it to close. I like Six Flags business model of strict spending caps, but they really need to take some advice from Cedar Fair and ironically, the old Marriott's model.

and I agree 1000% with Sfgamfan12. Take a year off from adding attractions and invest heavily into security.
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Postby CoasterDemon on June 20th, 2018, 11:19 am
SFGAMNUT9302 wrote:I'd gladly pay a flat $150 for a season pass that includes parking, if it means keeping this garbage out of the park and increasing park quality and security. Good paying customers will be chased away if this trend continues.


I would totally go over $200, then we would be at least price matching quality operation and guest parks like Holiday World and Cedar Point. If the corporation has more money, then they would work on those operations... the have a very long way to go. Six Flags parks have the rides, they just need to come way up in the service department.

SFGAMNUT9302 wrote:and I agree 1000% with Sfgamfan12. Take a year off from adding attractions and invest heavily into security.


Our park is super-saturated with thrill rides. Personally I don't think they need any new rides for several years. They need to work on operations especially in the ride and food department, and general employee awareness: being connected with each other and guests. People skills: other parks run circles around Six Flags (this is a true statement, not critical.)

If they are going to add anything, I would focus on family attractions - and marketing those family attractions.
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Postby Ilovthevu' on June 20th, 2018, 12:00 pm
SFGAMNUT9302 wrote:Me and my girl friend were standing in line for Dark Knight a few weeks ago and there were a bunch of idiots in line with us.... Loud and obnoxious as all hell..... and every other word out of their mouth was N*gga or Mother F*cker >:-(

I'd gladly pay a flat $150 for a season pass that includes parking, if it means keeping this garbage out of the park and increasing park quality and security. Good paying customers will be chased away if this trend continues.

This BS is what brought River View to it's knees and forced it to close. I like Six Flags business model of strict spending caps, but they really need to take some advice from Cedar Fair and ironically, the old Marriott's model.

and I agree 1000% with Sfgamfan12. Take a year off from adding attractions and invest heavily into security.


I think the park used to care way more about bad language, but they don't seem to care anymore like they used to, so that problem is all on the park. I remember the times when they used to say if they hear someone constantly saying bad language, they would actually get security, and kick them out of the park. Gone are those days. Remember, the garbage cans all used to say family friendly. Now they play songs where the singer says lets get our freaky on - in carousel plaza. "I was born to get wild That's my style If you didn't know that.... We gon' rock it to the top Until the roof come burnin' down Yeah, it's hot in here The temperature Has got these ladies Gettin' freakier We ain't messin' with no maggots Dirty bit Dirty bit (shortened swear rides right there) Light a fire, make it hot I don't wanna take no pictures I just wanna take some shots "
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Postby SFGAmFan12 on June 20th, 2018, 12:56 pm
chicagoperson wrote:I guarantee the ability to come all year and everyday for $59.99 is what attracts this stuff. I deal with this crap everyday at work, and the best counter is higher prices & zero tolerance for obvious trouble. Big group of teens yelling and swearing, smoking in non-smoking areas, trashy clothes, etc. Stop the little stuff that's already against the rules and you cut the path to real problems, like these fights. A shooting/stabbing is on the horizon if they're really looking for a PR problem.


Zero tolerance: yes. Higher prices: no. Unless you plan on drastically raising single day and season passes, thus pricing out a lot of the market, higher prices won’t make much difference. And these people can still buy cheaper single day tickets if they really want to come in and cause trouble.

The issue is the demographics around Great America, Six Flags marketing more to young adults vs families, and Six Flags laxing their own policies.

Single day tickets cost more now than any point in park history when taking into account inflation. Parking is also at its highest cost ever. Yes, pass pricing is lower but if the violence is attributed to more passes, why would it not have shown up years ago when there was lower single day prices (I.e. when it was $30 with a Coke can or bought online)? That’s why I disagree pass pricing is what is causing this.
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Postby _FuryBull_330_ on June 20th, 2018, 1:58 pm
The only calm spot with music is Southwest Territory and Metropolis Plaza. But even then I still here crazy songs like Starboy where he says a bunch of cuss words that Six Flags cuts off. Before you know it kids look that song up and they will be in for a big surprise.
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Postby Sven18 on June 20th, 2018, 5:01 pm
Goku1910 wrote:
hook13 wrote:agree with most of your statement, although I saw just as many issues with some older white guys getting out of control in domestic violence situations on Saturday.


I don't think anyone here mentioned race but I still have to agree with the OP, the cheap and affordable memberships and low priced season passes are almost definitely the source of the bad crowds.

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The cheap passes is SF''s business plan and most of the pass holder are white suburban families. Some almost use SF as day care/camp with kids going to the park 3 or more times a week during the summer The prices cheap draws people b/c if you go to the park twice it's worth buying a season pass. People sometimes show up, see the difference between a pass and 1 day tickey and just get a pass or do the 1 day ticket upgrade they offer. If SF had season pass prices like Cedar Fair, Busch Gardens, Hershey, etc...SF would lose a ton of business.

SF is trying to test the market with the more expensive memberships. I believe the conversion of people with the means will be okay. They are devaluing the passes as they move previous pass benefits to membership, besides the membership extras. I still would put a good bet on the low cost season passes being very dominant, unless the pricing changes substantially with the membership push. I however don't really see that happening b/c of sticker shock, even if it's hidden in a monthly over lump sum. There will likely be a significant difference between the season pass regular and gold price during sales(last year gold $65) compared to the lowest membership which is 8.40/mth or $100.80/yr(which they claim is the lowest price, but word it with a hedge or up to their discretion).
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Postby Sven18 on June 20th, 2018, 5:01 pm
CoasterDemon wrote:Our park is super-saturated with thrill rides. Personally I don't think they need any new rides for several years. They need to work on operations especially in the ride and food department, and general employee awareness: being connected with each other and guests. People skills: other parks run circles around Six Flags (this is a true statement, not critical.)

If they are going to add anything, I would focus on family attractions - and marketing those family attractions.


The operations problems are thru most if not all SF parks, not unique to SFGAM. Yes, other chains are mich better in general Cedar Fair and Busch Gardens, etc...Not adding any rides for several years is not feasible if they want to grow the EBIDTA of SFGAM.
Last edited by Sven18 on June 20th, 2018, 5:15 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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Postby Sven18 on June 20th, 2018, 5:01 pm
Sorry double post SQL error
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Postby Viper 88 on June 20th, 2018, 11:50 pm
I hope passes don't get to be that high! My family barely made it as is. It's the only thing we do at all during the summer. We haven't been on vacation in over 16 years, Barely go to the movies, We pay our bills and pay for our medications, Even getting the passes on sale with dining was a stretch. Bottom line don't make it unaffordable for the good people ie my family and I, just because ghetto trash wants to take over. They need plain clothes off duty Gurnee Cops patrolling the park. Also drug sniffing dogs at the entrances, plus policiing the parking lot for tailgaters drinking.
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Postby _FuryBull_330_ on June 20th, 2018, 11:52 pm
Today in the park I saw a group of four on the Whizzer who were swearing in front of little kids. I told them to stop because they were a bad influence to the kids. I'd figured they stopped, but nooooo. They started swearing at me telling me I wasn't in charge of them (since I'm 13 but didn't say nothing). They told me that I keep talking and we're going to have a problem. I stopped for my own risk and headed the opposite direction they were going (toward Bull). They need to do something fast.
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Postby hook13 on June 21st, 2018, 12:23 am
_FuryBull_330_ wrote:Today in the park I saw a group of four on the Whizzer who were swearing in front of little kids. I told them to stop because they were a bad influence to the kids. I'd figured they stopped, but nooooo. They started swearing at me telling me I wasn't in charge of them (since I'm 13 but didn't say nothing). They told me that I keep talking and we're going to have a problem. I stopped for my own risk and headed the opposite direction they were going (toward Bull). They need to do something fast.


Sorry to hear about your experience, I think you made a wise decision given recent events. I'd suggest submitting your comments to 6flags, I"m going to do the same about my weekend experiences...I think bringing it to their attention, over and over, would be helpful. As many posted, I agree that enforcing the code of conduct, even on simple issues like swearing, would be a positive first step (and having staff available to do this in a safe way for the employees).
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Postby Coaster Justin on June 21st, 2018, 4:31 am
SFGAMNUT9302 wrote:...This BS is what brought River View to it's knees and forced it to close...



Wrong. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Your Wrong

Apart from one incident, Race relations were never a problem at Riverview.
It mainly closed cause 2 of the 3 owners sold their shares before they died and the final guy owned less than 15%
Also the land was worth more than the park and the revenue had gone down due to increased wages, maintenance, etc.
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