Is SFGAm Underrated?

[SFGAM_Hog]

I'm sorry for making an irrelevant topic, but I wanted to know if anyone else thought that our park in the Six Flags chain is underrated. To me, it seems that it doesnt get much talk out of most parks in the chain. Tell me what you think.

[Guy_With_A_Stick]

I think we are(in most people's perspectives) in the top 5 Six Flags parks, but people don't talk about us in the likes of Magic Mountain or Great Adventure because we really only have one "record-breaking" coaster that people care about- Goliath. Bull is seen by most as one of the weaker hypers, we have a fair few clones, and the other unique coasters aren't 'big' enough to foster random conversation between enthusiasts or GP

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[FParker185]

Being the best Six Flags park is sorta like being the Worlds Tallest Midget

[Dan The Coaster Man]

I don't think it's underrated. I think SFGAm had a lot of respect from enthusiasts but it's not to the point it's brought up in conversation that much.

[maxwellt]

I feel like we are a bit underrated, considering that many people consider us an elite park, but we have work to do on it

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[Jodon]

in my opinion, SFGAm isn't underrated at all. I just don't see this park as a destination park at all and it really doesn't have anything that is a must ride. To me it is a good enthusiast starter park. The one thing that Great America has going for it is that it has great variety in style of coasters. However, the park only has 5-ish non-cloned coasters: American Eagle, Raging Bull, Goliath, X-Flight, Batman/Whizzer, I'm counting Batman and Whizzer as half custom as Batman was the original and Whizzer had a clone that no longer exists. I don't feel like any of the custom coasters are good enough or revered in the enthusiast community to warrant a trip to the park.

Don't get me wrong, SFGAm is not a small regional park, but in my opinion it does not belong any where near the upper echelon of theme parks in the US. It doesn't help that SFGAm ride and food operations are severely lacking. While the park has quantity, the quality is fairly lacking and it doesn't look like that will change any time soon with the current corporate strategy. The park doesn't excel at anything but is still able to get people through the gates because it's the only park of substance within 5 hours drive.

To me, SFGAm is a slightly worse Kings Island and after visiting Kings Island a few years ago, I have little desire to visit again any time soon. I imagine that out of town enthusiasts will not make SFGAm a priority to revisit, particularly if the park continues their current trend of adding smaller annual additions that are popping up at other SF's around the nation.

[CoasterCale]

As far as corporate sees us, I would say we're up there. In the Coaster Community, our park is underrated. Finally I think the park overall, is a lil overrated. Yes it's good. But SFMM and SFGAd have better lineups. SFFT, and SFStL have a better overall experience. That's the way I see it. The positive is that our park has a good variety of attractions for the whole family, which a lot of Coaster Enthusiasts don't take into consideration because we like the big boy rides.

[Viper 88]

Coaster Cale good to see you around, hope you're doing much better.

[Wisco Woody]

In terms of coasters and variety of flats, the Park has a great offering and clearly 3rd best among Six Flags parks and top 5 or 6 in the US. Where the Park shows inconsistency and draws valid criticism is everything else that a top 5 or 10 theme park should have and excel at. All of the 2016 season prior to Fright Fest showed many of these problems. No new special themeing and decoration outside of the new Justice League, Scenic Railway train never operating, terrible food operations and lines, major rides often closed for hours with no explanation or updates, and worst of all no consistent major shows or entertainment outside of Mach 4 and Party Gras.

The Park has seemed to address most of these issues for this year. With the combo of EFX 360° and improved Mach 4 and Party Gras shows the entertainment is much better, although the Pictorium is still not being used and the Grand Finale show might not take place outside of July 4th weekend. From my 2 weekday visits thus far this season, the Park is now almost on par with King's Island and Magic Mountain for overall experience to me, possibly even better overall coaster experience than KI with how great RB and AE Red have been running. But there needs to be a lot more to a park's greatness than just coasters, and with how short many of the rides at Great America are, the park must continue putting work into the other areas to measure up or surpass the stiff competition in the greater Midwest if they want to be as respected as KI or possibly even Cedar Point if they become more ambitious.

[CoasterRiderSC]

^ Some great points, Woody.
I would like to add that I think one of our strengths is our diverse and deep selection of coasters!
No, we don't have a giga or strata coaster and no we don't have a giant Skyscreamer but consider what we DO have:

Eagle - racing wooden coaster
Superman - flying coaster
Raging Bull - Hyper coaster
X-Flight - wing coaster
Batman - 1st invert
V2 - launched Invert
Goliath - tallest, steepest and fastest wooden coaster (to me, Broken Rod isn't fastest because it's usually SBNO!!)
Viper - a Coney Island coaster
Demon - classic Arrow looper
Whizzer - the "heart and soul" of the park as some call it, and a truly fun family coaster
Spacely and Little Dipper - TWO kids coaster
Dark Knight - a dark coaster
Joker - 4D free spin coaster

What other parks have such a diverse lineup??

[ChiGuy]

As versatile as our park is with the coaster lineup, I think SFGAm needs a more intense launch coaster. This is why I'm hoping V2 stays (since I'd rather a weaker launch coaster than no launch coaster at all, since I worry we'd be left with nothing if V2 were to be removed). If V2 is removed, I think it should immediately be replaced with a more intense launch coaster, either inverted or sit down -- no preference there.

I'm really worried about the rumors of V2's removal. I think that to remove V2 and not have another launch-type coaster ready in its place would make it a little harder to argue the case that our park is underrated.

[Ilovthevu']

^The only way they will keep that ride is that if people start telling everyone they know about it. Some of you might be in high school or college, and if some of you tell 10 people you know in a high school or college, that will spread like anything to a 1,000 people, and a 1,000 people will tell more and more people. Soon, every one in IL will know what they are planning to do to V2. Get that ride up in attendance, and they will have no choice to leave it, and change their plans. If you sit silent, that ride is going.

If you are courageous, even talk to random people at that park and tell them it's rumored to go in order for them to ride it.

I think their plan is to send it to Six Flags St. Louis in their old Shoot the Chutes area. To me, this is dumb as they already have Mr. Freeze which I feel is better than V2. Switching the 2 rides would also be dumb in my opinion. Mr. Freeze would be already 20 years old. If that's the plan, St Louis people will be disappointed big time. Mr. Freeze to me is the superior launched coaster out of any of them. V2 is probably 10 spots below Mr. Freeze in my opinion. V2 is great at our park because we don't have a Mr. Freeze though. I think St. Louis needs another B&M - flyer / dive machine / sitdown or floorless. They should get Scream from Magic Mountain. Not another launched coaster that does them no good. If not that, than another S&S 4d spin. Does St. Louis not understand how good of a launched coaster they already have?? To me, that's their main attraction - Mr. Freeze. Six Flags management is really messed up if they send V2 somewhere else, and especially to St. Louis.

The other idea is always Six Flags America. Six Flags America doesn't need one either because they have a launched Joker's Jinx. By getting rid of V2, we than have lost our launched coaster which I feel we should have.

[Whizzer Whiz Kid]

800 would be amazing for V2. That would mean one minute dispatches and there is now way they are doing that. With an average 1 minute ride time and 2 minutes for loading, they are getting between 500 and 600 people through, assuming it doesn't break.

[RollingCoasting]

is that some SFGAm home park person

What happened to "homer"?

[maxwellt]

To be fair, there is a large argument on which one is better. Although more people say gatekeeper is better, there are a good amount of people that say xflight is better. 60% will say gatekeeper and 40% will say xflight

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[JaminOut]

In my opinion, there are more forces on X-Flight. Gatekeeper is taller and faster. X-Flight's elements are closer together not allowing you to catch a break, Gatekeeper's elements are more spread out. X-Flight has theming, Gatekeeper has keyholes. X-Flight is a better overall experience, but Gatekeeper is a better ride overall.


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[Wisco Woody]

While I also prefer Gatekeeper as a ride due to its length, world class operation, and visual beauty, X-flight does provide a more intense, faster paced, and less generic ride experience. X-flight, in the same lineage of our Batman The Ride having the world's first zero g roll, was the first coaster to feature 2 zero g rolls and in addition a full inline twist, plus the first dive drop in the US. Following the same lineage, Goliath was the first coaster in the world, wood or steel, to feature a zero g stall. To say that SFGAm has not offered great innovation in thrills and ride experience is ridiculous, and there are many enthusiasts who prefer a few of the more compact, fast paced, and intense coasters of Great America to some of their slower paced counterparts at a Cedar Point or a Kings Island.

[maxwellt]

That's the reason why I think our park is underrated. If you look at our coasters, we have had worlds firsts all around, we have created some of the most innovative rides in the world. Remember iron wolf? It shaped B&M, or Batman, first invert. Or how about shockwave, with it's 7 inversions and opening as the tallest and fastest in the world. And that's just only a couple of coasters. I could keep going on man. Yes we have clones, but we also have innovation.

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[BCarroll]

Growing up in West Toledo, Ohio, I was able to call Cedar Point my home park until about 2000 when I moved to Chicago. Now yes, SFGAm doesn't have a TTD or Millennium Force, but it is home to some great rides. Innovations like the first Hyper-Twister, first Invert, are great things to be proud of. Just how I like Raptor more than Batman, but Batman is way more intense by far. And as frequent riders of both X-Flight and Gatekeeper I have to say I do enjoy X-Flight a tad more, however Gatekeeper still offers a fantastic ride. Just because SFGAm has clones doesn't mean their not good rides and they're not an elite park. SFGAm will always be one of my favorite parks on top of the 54 I have visited. It has its downsides but no park is perfect, and it continues to please me every visit I take. Even if it doesn't have staple rides like SFMM SFGAdv CP Kings Island or whatever!