Hurricane Harbor Separate Gate?

[DJMikey]

So I'm not usre if this was ever talked about on here or not, but I am wondering why Six Flags decided to ditch the separate gate and include it with the general admission? Does anyone know? I know when they announced Hurricane Harbor they were selling combo passes and even the Artwork had the separate gate on it as well. What made them decide at the last min to include it with the general admission?

[david]

I personally think that it's a great park that could be separate gated, but I guess it brings more people to the dry park, and boosts park attendance.

[Galvan]

I think that having it free with general admission was great for getting people to the park (After all SFGAm did see a nearly 30% spike in attendance in 2005)

However, today with in my opinion the dry park pretty much at capacity, it would make a lot of sense to make it a dual gate.

[tribar]

I agree

[Coastermonkey61]

I still think there's a way to have a combo ticket and separate passes for each park. HH has been such a huge success in large part because it's free with park admission, taking that away could be a marketing nightmare. If you still offer that deal, but have a waterpark only admission and even a dry park only admission, you might have something there.

[RobSFGAm]

I agree that it should be separate gates, with the option to up charge (at a discount) if you purchase both theme and water at the same time.
I would like it better because it does become annoying when you go to HH and are looking for a chair and people are there (not even in swimsuits) just lounging in the chairs (especially by the wave pool).

[Ilovthevu']

^Vice versa, I think that enthusiasts would really hate this idea because what's going to happen is that you are going to have a less people going to the waterpark because it's not free, and the regular park is going to be more packed, and thus the lines are going to be even more packed than they are right now. I'm fine with it now. The way I look at is basically this way. The regular admission is supposed to be something like $55, and with admission to the waterpark being "free" they could get away with that with them charging that amount. I think the year right after the waterpark came in, the regular admission increased because of it, but now the admission to the park has become dirt cheap due to heavy discounts in my opinion isn't really needed.

[bsntech]

I tend to agree with Ilovethevu.

Plus - what are they going to charge for water park admission? Another $20?

I think a lot of the traffic to HH is because there is no cost to it. Once there is a cost to it, I wonder how much of that traffic will stop. Not to mention - after you get into HH, you have to buy a locker to store your stuff in. Maybe that should be included in the HH admission price of they chose to go with two gates?

I think there is more to do in the dry park than the water park. I've been to the St. Louis water park a few times but really didn't do much; went to the wave pool for maybe 15 minutes and then went on the Tornado ride and left.

You also have to consider that Six Flags is also like a babysitter for families - parents buy their kids a season pass and then drop them off at the park all day. Surely the kids wouldn't want to stay in a water park all day.

[TwistedSTEEL666]

I agree, although I haven't been in HH since 2006 so I could just ride Tornado.
There isn't much to do in the water park, and frankly I don't like the idea of spending half the day at HH, I'd rather be on Raging Bull, then riding a water slide or swimming. There is something about being in the water too long that you get bored with it quickly and you want to do something more exciting. You get hungry a lot faster swimming at HH then walking around at SFGAm.
I do think that keeping the water park free with admission would be the best bet.

At this point I could care less about what could happen to HH next year with that rumored expansion in the SSA area. After the death of the Chang rumor, I don't care anymore about that little area. SFGAm will probably screw it up or worse.

[DJMikey]

I was not saying that they should make it an extra gate, I was just wondering if anyone on here knows why they changed their mind after announcing that it was going to be separate? They were selling combo season passes for it for a few weeks, and then all of a sudden it was included with admission and the separate gate was scrapped! I know there has to be someone out there that knows why, or at least thinks they do!

[Coastermonkey61]

People spend full days at waterparks all the time around the country. Not sure why that's so hard to believe.

And frankly, upsetting coaster enthusiasts is probably not high on GAm's priority list. Families have the money, and I find it hard to believe there wouldn't be families out there who would pay a lower price than $55 and stay in the waterpark.

[bsntech]

I have no doubt that there would be people willing to pay to just go to the water park for the day. But also keep in mind that they then have to pay another $20 on top of that for parking too.

By doing so, however, I think you are looking at potentially increasing park attendance - because folks that just want to go to the water park will pay the lower price to just go to the park. Those that want to go to the dry park will still pay full price - although I think there would then be some backlash from the public to try to lower the cost of the dry park gate price since it is no longer free to get into HH.

When the gates would be separate, this may cause additional overcrowding of the dry park since people are not free to roam to HH at no cost.

My question is - is there a "capacity" for the dry park? I heard announcement several times a few weeks back that HH was at capacity and to return after 5 pm. That means they don't let more in to HH than it can handle - but I haven't heard of any official capacity at the dry park.

Brian

[Necropolis]

I don't think its fair to have the dry park and HH together in the same admission. I would love to see a separate gate for people going to HH. Besides the people who are only there for the dry park should have the advantage of not having the park more crowded due to people from HH coming over to the dry park. I know the lines would be shorter and less crowded the park would be. Maybe charge an extra $10 for people from HH to come into the dry park. Ugh. I mean Im sure most of the people who go to the dry park don't go and populate the water park after riding coasters. Its mostly the other way around. Straight to the point, making a separate gate for HH in the long run would make the dry park less congested, more accessible, waiting time less for food and rides, more seating available to rest/eat.

[BP317]

Besides the people who are only there for the dry park should have the advantage of not having the park more crowded due to people from HH coming over to the dry park. I know the lines would be shorter and less crowded the park would be

That's the whole point of having the theme park and waterpark as one gate. People will go into the waterpark, rent a locker, eat lunch, etc. Then after the waterpark instead of leaving and eating at Burger King or whatnot they instead will go into the theme park to enjoy the parks entertainment offerings, buy snacks and/or dinner in the park, and have more merchandise sales opportunities before they leave.

My question is - is there a "capacity" for the dry park? I heard announcement several times a few weeks back that HH was at capacity and to return after 5 pm. That means they don't let more in to HH than it can handle - but I haven't heard of any official capacity at the dry park.

Yes there is and it rarely ever happens. Normally they put the "Park Crowded - We Recommend Visiting Another Day" sign out at the tollbooths before they would have to start denying admission.

[tp41190]

I personally think a separate gate admission would benefit the enthusiasts. I remember in 2005 when HH just opened the park would be dead most of the time because everyone was in HH all day. And that usually makes people tired so they go home right away. Think of all the people that come back in the park after HH closes which usually causes Viper, Bull and Eagle to have long lines in the evening. It's also kind of annoying when people have all there stuff with them and it slows down capacity on the platforms, not to mention sitting down in a wet seat. The GP has a fascination with water parks. I think that if it were hot enough most people would just buy a HH ticket for the day.

Also if people would go for two days they would do the park one day and HH the next. Instead of doing both parks both days.

[Ilovthevu']

People spend full days at waterparks all the time around the country. Not sure why that's so hard to believe.

It isn't hard to believe that people do spend a lot of time in waterparks, but at Great America a bunch of them go in and out all the time. You charge separate money for the waterpark, and there won't be those people anymore. If people look at the real price of $59.99, and not the discounted price, than people are going to think a waterpark alone for the whole day isn't worth the $59.99 at all, so of course they aren't going to want to stay there the whole day because they want to do other things. If you really think that separate admission waterparks really help regular parks in capacity, more power to you, but I visit Cedar Point, and that park is still a crowded park even with a separate admission waterpark. What are the lines like for Great Adventure? They have a separate waterpark, and so does Magic Mountain. I have been to Magic Mountain, but it was the "off-season", so that doesn't count for nothing.

I understand the complaint though. The complaint being that Viper is going to get packed after people leave the waterpark, and eliminating those people in people's thoughts would be a good idea, but I think less people are going to go in the waterpark to begin with because it wouldn't be free anymore, and than all those people that don't care to spend the extra $30 to go in a waterpark are just going to go the regular park, and here come a lot of those 7100 people to the regular park (of course not all of them wouldn't go to the waterpark).

For separate entrance, there is a dilemna for the park itself. Sure, they might get more money in admission for the waterpark, but if you think about it, they won't let you leave the waterpark unless you changed into regular clothes. If you have a separate entrance on the outside of the park, that means people are not going to want to pay for lockers because maybe they would want to change at a Mcdonald's or something like that somewhere outside the park. Let's say they keep their dry clothes in the car. The way they have it without separate admisson, you get to go through the games through Southwest Territory, and they try to get people to get a high priced locker because they need to be in dry clothes in order to leave Hurricane Harbor.

[BrianPlencner]

Most people on here probably don't remember this, but in 2005, the park actually was going to charge separate for the water park and the dry park. In fact, they had 3 options for Season Passes that year. They were

1) Dry Park Season Pass
2) Water Park Season Pass
3) Combo Dry / Water Park Pass.

These options were on the SF web site for about a week or so, and then they changed it to one Season Pass. I actually called the park to ask what happened to the Waterpark Season Pass, and the Combo pass, as I was going to purchase the combo one. They told me that the park had changed its mind, and they were not going to have two different admissions.

To me, knowing that the park was going to do this from the beginning, and then change their mind, tells me that the park probably won't switch it now. Something then told them it was not going to work out the way they thought it would.

Could it change again? Of course, nothing is set in stone. But, knowing that it was suppose to start out that way, and then changed, tells me they won't switch it any time soon.

--Brian

[Luxornv]

I'm not sure what they were charging for Hurricane Harbor, but when I go to SFGAm, I'm going for the coasters. To this day, I have not set foot in Hurricane Harbor simply because it's a long drive for me to get to the park, and I'd rather ride the coasters and flats rather than go to the water park. Everyone I go with usually wants to ride the coasters as well and doesn't have as great of an interest in the water park either. If they charged separately, then the choice is simple for me, I just won't go to the water park. However, I don't see them charging more than the price of a ticket to the dry park for Hurricane Harbor; if anything, then the admission price would be less for Hurricane Harbor. If they charged different prices, I don't see them making as much money as they could if it was the same for both, which is probably why they continue to do it the way they do.

I'm also not saying I hate Hurricane Harbor, I'm just not as fanatical about it as I am about coasters. If any of my friends ever wanted to go there, I probably would. I've just never taken the time myself to go. I think it's a great part of the park, and helps to really diversify the collection of rides and appeal to a wider demographic. Rip Tide Bay will be a good addition to the park. However, that doesn't mean I'm not disappointed about the park not getting a new coaster. I'm just not going to complain about it.

[BLADE]

That's usually how I am too and the people I go with.

I'm disappointed with this Riptide expansion too, because
1. it doesn't look like it will improve capacity.
2. I can do all this stuff and more at the Dells. The area is overload with waterparks. How many more do we need? I much would rather have gotten someting unique that I can't do nearby already.
3. it's seasonal and will only be usable when the weather is nice.

[tribar]

3 very good points

[DJMikey]

Most people on here probably don't remember this, but in 2005, the park actually was going to charge separate for the water park and the dry park. In fact, they had 3 options for Season Passes that year. They were

1) Dry Park Season Pass
2) Water Park Season Pass
3) Combo Dry / Water Park Pass.

These options were on the SF web site for about a week or so, and then they changed it to one Season Pass. I actually called the park to ask what happened to the Waterpark Season Pass, and the Combo pass, as I was going to purchase the combo one. They told me that the park had changed its mind, and they were not going to have two different admissions.

To me, knowing that the park was going to do this from the beginning, and then change their mind, tells me that the park probably won't switch it now. Something then told them it was not going to work out the way they thought it would.

Could it change again? Of course, nothing is set in stone. But, knowing that it was suppose to start out that way, and then changed, tells me they won't switch it any time soon.

--Brian

Thank you Brian!!!
This answers my question