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Postby zrosen34 on June 18th, 2018, 10:51 pm
I looked at some of the new t-shirt designs in the Carousel shop and I was really impressed. Usually I don't like the designs on them but the new ones, specifically the Demon one was really awesome.
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Postby hook13 on June 18th, 2018, 11:32 pm
Just logged on to say I though the park was pretty "rough" friday and saturday, and wow didn't know all that went down...even early in the day I saw trouble brewing in many spots around the park. Seemed like a mix of gang/youth issues, as well as older adults having "domestic disturbances" and fights with family members. Honestly was questioning if it was safe to have my 3 year old at the park, as i had to keep monitoring situations around me that had potential to get out of control. It's too bad, because he loved his first whizzer ride. The food situation doesn't help, just horrendous service, and very, very angry people trying to get food, especially in water park. Problems are way way worse than last season in my opinion, not sure if the month to month memberships that have been pushed are contributing to this, but they need to do something. I saw theft of drink bottles at strutters, and an adult rip a phone and throw it down the walkway by entrance...park employees did nothing. All of this before 5pm, so issues aren't just after dark-
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Postby ilrider on June 19th, 2018, 7:47 am
hook13 wrote:Just logged on to say I though the park was pretty "rough" friday and saturday, and wow didn't know all that went down...even early in the day I saw trouble brewing in many spots around the park. Seemed like a mix of gang/youth issues, as well as older adults having "domestic disturbances" and fights with family members. Honestly was questioning if it was safe to have my 3 year old at the park, as i had to keep monitoring situations around me that had potential to get out of control. It's too bad, because he loved his first whizzer ride. The food situation doesn't help, just horrendous service, and very, very angry people trying to get food, especially in water park. Problems are way way worse than last season in my opinion, not sure if the month to month memberships that have been pushed are contributing to this, but they need to do something. I saw theft of drink bottles at strutters, and an adult rip a phone and throw it down the walkway by entrance...park employees did nothing. All of this before 5pm, so issues aren't just after dark-


The hot weather can make people pretty agitated. Not excusing their behavior, but it probably was a contributing factor.
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Postby CoasterDemon on June 19th, 2018, 7:31 pm
And ridiculously LONG and horribly crowded exit walkways to some of the main rides: Raging Bull, Viper, American Eagle, Superman... that is one annoyance that really urks me. They were designed like that on purpose. Keep people busy, and work up their thirst and appetite. Try pushing a wheelchair up one of those sometime.
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Postby diggerg56 on June 20th, 2018, 6:05 pm
momlovescoasters wrote:Just went on Yelp and several people have already posted one star reviews who were at the park last night. I agree with the others in regards to raising ticket prices. Between the horrendous lines and kids/gangs it’s getting completely out of hand.


I'm an older adult and because of my work schedule I hadn't been able to make a Coasters after Dark event for several years although I do visit during the daytime quite often as a season pass member.

I was stunned at the difference in behaviour from just a few years ago. Large groups line jumping, fighting, pushing, language (I'm not a prude but it was ridiculous), etc. I had my member sports bottle stolen at Raging Bull. I said something to the male who took it and he and his friends flashed what I would presume to be a gang sign and then did a fingers to the head (like a gun) sign. I tried to follow them hoping I would encounter security but no luck. (A side gripe.....I wish Six Flags would go the Cedar Fair route with their drinks and offer a plan that allows you to use cups instead like Cedar Fair's drink plan.Then you don't have to tote the bottle around)

I complained at guest services and through the contact us portal on the website. Guest Services said " sorry about my bad experience" and I could buy a new bottle for $29 since it was a member bottle . I haven't got a response otherwise. I expect I'll write a letter to Hank Salemi just to make myself feel better.

I don't have any magic answers but something needs to happen.
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Postby CoasterDemon on June 20th, 2018, 11:02 pm
^That's awful, sorry to hear about your lousy night at the park. I have never been to one of the SF "coasters after dark" events... even before the first one, I knew there would be issues (minimal rides open, etc.).
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Postby hook13 on June 21st, 2018, 12:30 am
diggerg56 wrote:
momlovescoasters wrote:I had my member sports bottle stolen at Raging Bull. I said something to the male who took it and he and his friends flashed what I would presume to be a gang sign and then did a fingers to the head (like a gun) sign. I tried to follow them hoping I would encounter security but no luck. (A side gripe.....I wish Six Flags would go the Cedar Fair route with their drinks and offer a plan that allows you to use cups instead like Cedar Fair's drink plan.Then you don't have to tote the bottle around)

I complained at guest services and through the contact us portal on the website. Guest Services said " sorry about my bad experience" and I could buy a new bottle for $29 since it was a member bottle . I haven't got a response otherwise. I expect I'll write a letter to Hank Salemi just to make myself feel better.

I don't have any magic answers but something needs to happen.


It was this Saturday when member cups were taken from a table at Strutters, a guy grabbed them and ran, at least the staff at Strutters replaced the drink cups, but they never bothered to contact security, which I thought was bad, the guest seemed shaken up over what was essentially a robbery....that is terrible they didn't at least replace your cup, let alone file a report/follow up on the actual incident.
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Postby hgonzo on June 21st, 2018, 12:50 am
Went to the park for the first time this year today. About an hour in, my wife took our 2 year old to camp cartoon. In the 10 minutes she was there, someone stole my 10 yr old daughters medical supply bag with all her diabetes supplies in it (minus insulin thankfully), off the stroller. It looked kinda like a purse, but had a large medical supply sticker on it. So disappointed that this would happen. It takes a pretty low person to do this. I hoped that once they saw what it was and that it had no money that they would ditch it or turn it in saying they found it but no such luck. Luckily there was nothing in there that couldn't be replaced, and first aid had glucometers and said they could test her as much as we needed, but it really put a damper on our first visit of 2018. Holding out hope it turns up the next couple of days, but probably slim chance of that happening.
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Postby Sven18 on June 21st, 2018, 8:15 am
hook13 wrote:
diggerg56 wrote:
momlovescoasters wrote:I had my member sports bottle stolen at Raging Bull. I said something to the male who took it and he and his friends flashed what I would presume to be a gang sign and then did a fingers to the head (like a gun) sign. I tried to follow them hoping I would encounter security but no luck. (A side gripe.....I wish Six Flags would go the Cedar Fair route with their drinks and offer a plan that allows you to use cups instead like Cedar Fair's drink plan.Then you don't have to tote the bottle around)

I complained at guest services and through the contact us portal on the website. Guest Services said " sorry about my bad experience" and I could buy a new bottle for $29 since it was a member bottle . I haven't got a response otherwise. I expect I'll write a letter to Hank Salemi just to make myself feel better.

I don't have any magic answers but something needs to happen.


It was this Saturday when member cups were taken from a table at Strutters, a guy grabbed them and ran, at least the staff at Strutters replaced the drink cups, but they never bothered to contact security, which I thought was bad, the guest seemed shaken up over what was essentially a robbery....that is terrible they didn't at least replace your cup, let alone file a report/follow up on the actual incident.


SF could make stolen cups useless if they did like Cedar Fair where at most fill up stations and all actually restaurants/food locations your picture appears on the screen when they scan your pass for a paper refill or cup. Same things with entry and parking your picture appears so people can't use others passes. I know for a fact people use friend's passes at SF. Also, haven found passes in SF and CF parks which I turned in. At SF a foun pass could be used for meals if it were on the pass, not at CF. The thing is this switch would cost money SF isn't likely willing to spend. FYI, the finger thing for entry is silly and accuracy questionable, as they explained the process of not storing an actual full print. I have been to many SF parks where they don't even bother so using others passes would be easy.
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Postby Sven18 on June 21st, 2018, 8:16 am
Sorry double post.
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Postby diggerg56 on June 21st, 2018, 12:16 pm

It was this Saturday when member cups were taken from a table at Strutters, a guy grabbed them and ran, at least the staff at Strutters replaced the drink cups, but they never bothered to contact security, which I thought was bad, the guest seemed shaken up over what was essentially a robbery....that is terrible they didn't at least replace your cup, let alone file a report/follow up on the actual incident.


SF could make stolen cups useless if they did like Cedar Fair where at most fill up stations and all actually restaurants/food locations your picture appears on the screen when they scan your pass for a paper refill or cup. Same things with entry and parking your picture appears so people can't use others passes. I know for a fact people use friend's passes at SF. Also, haven found passes in SF and CF parks which I turned in. At SF a foun pass could be used for meals if it were on the pass, not at CF. The thing is this switch would cost money SF isn't likely willing to spend. FYI, the finger thing for entry is silly and accuracy questionable, as they explained the process of not storing an actual full print. I have been to many SF parks where they don't even bother so using others passes would be easy.[/quote]

Cedar Fair does have the ID thing down pretty well. As I said, I do love their drink plan (with cups)! as well and the fact that they have self-serve drink stations helps as well.
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Postby _FuryBull_330_ on June 24th, 2018, 2:08 pm
Went to the park today saw the lines and we were out of there. I think the lines are just getting worse and worse each week.
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Postby jmanporty7 on June 24th, 2018, 3:21 pm
I mean it makes sense considering its the weekend. How have crowds been the past couple of weeks during the middle of the week? (Mon-Thurs) I haven't been able to go much because my family is always busy, and everytime we plan to go we get rained out.
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Postby SaveTheWAVE on June 24th, 2018, 3:33 pm
jmanporty7 wrote:I mean it makes sense considering its the weekend. How have crowds been the past couple of weeks during the middle of the week? (Mon-Thurs) I haven't been able to go much because my family is always busy, and everytime we plan to go we get rained out.

I went last week when it was 95+ degrees and the forecast called for afternoon storms. Every coaster was sending half-empty trains at various points in the day because attendance for the dry side of the park was minimal. I got lucky. It did end up storming around 5:30 pm that day.
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Postby UnclePennybags on June 24th, 2018, 3:42 pm
jmanporty7 wrote:How have crowds been the past couple of weeks during the middle of the week? (Mon-Thurs)


I was there Wednesday, June 6. There were two lines. I chose the one that went towards the entrance to Hurricane Harbor, then took a 90 towards Six Flags Drive. It went about a 1/4 of the way to the Drive, then looped back 180 degrees. That's the longest I've ever seen it, but it only took us 15 minutes to get into the park.

I found out the following day that it was a "Bring a Friend Free" day, so that may have had something to do with it. Wednesday's are typically not that bad. Yesterday was a bonus BAFF day; this may have exacerbated the length of the weekend lines seen by _FuryBull_330_.
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Postby Sven18 on June 24th, 2018, 4:56 pm
UnclePennybags wrote:
jmanporty7 wrote:How have crowds been the past couple of weeks during the middle of the week? (Mon-Thurs)


I found out the following day that it was a "Bring a Friend Free" day, so that may have had something to do with it. Wednesday's are typically not that bad. Yesterday was a bonus BAFF day; this may have exacerbated the length of the weekend lines seen by _FuryBull_330_.


School just got out. SF will thus have a bring a friend free , 9.99, 19.99 etc..for almost every day till the end of August. Ie...SF sent out an email last Saturday that it's bring a friend free every day June 17th thru June 29th, extra bonusdays They will surely add more bonus free days like last year.


June 17 - 29th free
July 10 -13 free
July 23 - 27 1/2 price
Aug 6-10 - 1/2 price
Aug 13-17 - 19.99
Aug 20-24 free
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Postby Ilovthevu' on June 25th, 2018, 12:18 am
About crowds, you wonder why this place is so packed, it has to do with really cheapening the admission price. Of course, till the end of June it's bring a friend free (season pass), but they also had this promotion this weekend (at least) in which they sold tickets for 1/2 price. It's all discount / free / free / discount this and that. So, when you look at those attendance number figures, this is why they gain attendance. Who doesn't want free or cheapened admission?
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Postby Sven18 on June 25th, 2018, 8:42 am
Ilovthevu' wrote:About crowds, you wonder why this place is so packed, it has to do with really cheapening the admission price. Of course, till the end of June it's bring a friend free (season pass), but they also had this promotion this weekend (at least) in which they sold tickets for 1/2 price. It's all discount / free / free / discount this and that. So, when you look at those attendance number figures, this is why they gain attendance. Who doesn't want free or cheapened admission?


It would be interesting to know what actual attendance was with out BFF days, 9.99. 19.99, days. I concur that the SF chain attendance numbers are inflated. Other chains don't do this number of discount days and as big. I don't remember CF, BG, Hershey doing free days on any consistent basis. 1/2 price is about as good as it gets for these chains and that's not ubiquitous.

The only possible hopeful thing is that SF seems to have realized they have essentially reached a plateau on the benefit of these discounts to grow attendance significantly. The attendance increases across the chain have been in a decline from 3M to 1.5M to just 300K last year. Actually, attendance would have been slightly down without the Concord Water park addition last year. SF has realized they need to get more money from some patrons, hence the membership push. SF actually alluded to this in the last of their series of investor presentation in the last month. They talked about getting up to $240 from higher level memberships when talking about growing per caps, where they lag their competitor such as CF, BG, etc..

Attendance numbers are going to show growth in 2019 b/c of the new parks they are operating. If the increase is minimal that would support the plateau concept.
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Postby SFGAMNUT9302 on June 25th, 2018, 9:24 am
It would be interesting to see Six Flags test the Cedar Fair model at just one park (Preferably Great America) Get rid of almost all discounts and sales, and charge a flat rate for Season passes. Say, $100 for a Season pass and $180 for a season pass with parking.

There would obviously have to be a major attraction or a major beautification of the park in order to avoid sticker shock, but it would be interesting to see what happened.

Would it chase too many customers away and hurt them? Or would it benefit them and increase revenue?
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Postby Sven18 on June 25th, 2018, 9:45 am
SFGAMNUT9302 wrote:It would be interesting to see Six Flags test the Cedar Fair model at just one park (Preferably Great America) Get rid of almost all discounts and sales, and charge a flat rate for Season passes. Say, $100 for a Season pass and $180 for a season pass with parking.

There would obviously have to be a major attraction or a major beautification of the park in order to avoid sticker shock, but it would be interesting to see what happened.

Would it chase too many customers away and hurt them? Or would it benefit them and increase revenue?


The model could sort of be tested depending on how SF price season passes during the flash sale. The cheapest membership is a $100, so if they don't sell gold passes for $65 like last year, it will test the model. In fact, if they are really trying to convert people to memberships selling the passes for $35 less would be bad marketing. After getting flash sale gold passes for $63 and then $65 the last 2 years, any significant increase could cause sticker shock for some . SF however could make the same or more money on lower attendance, which would make it more enjoyable for patrons with shorter lines for rides, food, etc..Just drive up the per caps and they would be fine.
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Postby SFGAMNUT9302 on June 25th, 2018, 10:08 am
Sven18 wrote:
SFGAMNUT9302 wrote:It would be interesting to see Six Flags test the Cedar Fair model at just one park (Preferably Great America) Get rid of almost all discounts and sales, and charge a flat rate for Season passes. Say, $100 for a Season pass and $180 for a season pass with parking.

There would obviously have to be a major attraction or a major beautification of the park in order to avoid sticker shock, but it would be interesting to see what happened.

Would it chase too many customers away and hurt them? Or would it benefit them and increase revenue?


The model could sort of be tested depending on how SF price season passes during the flash sale. The cheapest membership is a $100, so if they don't sell gold passes for $65 like last year, it will test the model. In fact, if they are really trying to convert people to memberships selling the passes for $35 less would be bad marketing. After getting flash sale gold passes for $63 and then $65 the last 2 years, any significant increase could cause sticker shock for some . SF however could make the same or more money on lower attendance, which would make it more enjoyable for patrons with shorter lines for rides, food, etc..Just drive up the per caps and they would be fine.


I like the direction they're going with these memberships. I wish they would create at least a $100 floor, making the cheapest membership the lowest they will go at any time during the season.

You and me would obviously pay more for better quality and operations. Can they convince the GP to do the same? It would be very interesting to see!
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Postby Ilovthevu' on June 25th, 2018, 11:10 pm
^I don't think for the most part, the operations of rides are bad. The only flaw with RIDE operations is that they don't have 2 people for Rue Le Dodge, Lobster, or the Balloons & Sky Trek Tower closes during the middle of the day for no reason. Yes, sometimes you do see 1 lady employee out of the bunch that is very, very, very, very, very slow (cough Ricochet Monday June 25th, 2018 at 5:45pm); but otherwise I don't see it for the most part, bad ride operations. 1 more person for 3 rides is not a back breaker deal. The reason for Lobster is because it has a lot of cars / lap bar + seatbelts. Balloons have locks with keys + seatbelts, and Rue Le Dodge is a gigantic floor (One of the biggest bumper car floors out there).

And I don't think everyone giving them $40 more dollars is going to make them have 2 employees for those rides - 2 people for those rides is NOT a lot at all.
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Postby ChicagoCoasters on June 27th, 2018, 2:13 pm
Ilovthevu' wrote:^I don't think for the most part, the operations of rides are bad. The only flaw with RIDE operations is that they don't have 2 people for Rue Le Dodge, Lobster, or the Balloons & Sky Trek Tower closes during the middle of the day for no reason. Yes, sometimes you do see 1 lady employee out of the bunch that is very, very, very, very, very slow (cough Ricochet Monday June 25th, 2018 at 5:45pm); but otherwise I don't see it for the most part, bad ride operations. 1 more person for 3 rides is not a back breaker deal. The reason for Lobster is because it has a lot of cars / lap bar + seatbelts. Balloons have locks with keys + seatbelts, and Rue Le Dodge is a gigantic floor (One of the biggest bumper car floors out there).

And I don't think everyone giving them $40 more dollars is going to make them have 2 employees for those rides - 2 people for those rides is NOT a lot at all.

They can use the people who assign rows as another operator for Rue Le Dodge, Big Easy Balloons, and Lobster. Make operations faster and no assigned rows will make everyone happy, the GP and us enthusiasts.
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Postby SFGAM_Hog on July 1st, 2018, 2:28 pm
The park was not crowded at all today! Most coasters were a 1 cycle wait, most flat rides were walk-ons, and a lot of rides overall, you could ride over and over again. Last year, 4th Fest seemed crazy busy, but not this year. It could be because of the heat.
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Postby B&MGuy35 on July 1st, 2018, 4:36 pm
Park was dead yesterday as well. I stayed in water park all day but I saw several cycles in Viper & Raging Bull with half empty trains. Water Park of course was packed but most everyone just seemed to leave after water park closed at 6. We stayed till around 8 and the park was surprisingly slow.


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