Rumor After the Boardwalk Renovation & Coaster

[netdvn]

If the park really wants to be the destination it strives to be, more hotel rooms on-site would really benefit them in the long run. Jackson and the surrounding area is completely devoid of hotel rooms and it takes a minimum 25 minutes to get to the closest hotel. I'd love to see them either expand on the glamping thing and drop the hotel prices. Should they keep them the same, add benefits to staying onsite. Free Fast Lane, included admission to the 3 parks, free breakfast, free shuttle to the park, free shuttle to the outlets. Give people a reason to justify the high cost.

Or build a traditional hotel on-site in conjunction with the glamping experience. The glamping thing will be the deluxe option while there's a moderate option similar to the on-site Springhill Suites at Carowinds or Hershey Inn & Suites. They can even have Hilton or Marriott or Holiday Inn step in and run the place.

I know there was supposed to be a Hilton Garden Inn built where Wawa and 7-Eleven are right now, but it looks like those plans fell through.

 

[RDL]

If the park really wants to be the destination it strives to be, more hotel rooms on-site would really benefit them in the long run. Jackson and the surrounding area is completely devoid of hotel rooms and it takes a minimum 25 minutes to get to the closest hotel. I'd love to see them either expand on the glamping thing and drop the hotel prices. Should they keep them the same, add benefits to staying onsite. Free Fast Lane, included admission to the 3 parks, free breakfast, free shuttle to the park, free shuttle to the outlets. Give people a reason to justify the high cost.

Or build a traditional hotel on-site in conjunction with the glamping experience. The glamping thing will be the deluxe option while there's a moderate option similar to the on-site Springhill Suites at Carowinds or Hershey Inn & Suites. They can even have Hilton or Marriott or Holiday Inn step in and run the place.

I know there was supposed to be a Hilton Garden Inn built where Wawa and 7-Eleven are right now, but it looks like those plans fell through.

The hotels don’t even need to be on site, just some hotels in the Jackson area would be good, even though that isn’t really a SF problem

If the park starts to improve and gain traction, more hotels should get built

 

[Zachary]

The glamping experience was a Selim pre-merger move so I highly doubt expanding it is something they're gonna try, plus they're a business at the end of the day and if the glamping thing isn't bringing in a good enough return, I'd bet money on it going away entirely over it being expanded upon for sure, especially with how much debt the chain is in

Looking at all the moves the park has made these past few years, especially with how ambitious Shoreline Pier as a project has been (atleast for how quickly it's all come together), none of them would've been made the merger didn't happen and Selim was still in charge

Sorry, I didn't mean they should expand the glamping thing. If there's money in it, it's not like I'll object, but they need a widely accessible version too in my opinion. By "more mass market version of the experience" I really meant a standard theme park/family resort hotel with direct safari views from the rooms and an all encompassing safari theme.

SFGAdv's destination park amenities should, at minimum, be on the level of Cedar Point's current offerings at the end of whatever huge turnaround plan for the property Six Flags should be working from. That will mean multiple hotels and resorts at multiple price points. For some inexplicable reason previous management built the ultra-deluxe, limited market tier first. A mid-premium-level property with its own pool facilities, direct park access from the hotel building itself, and views from at least half the rooms of the safari would have been a much better starting point in my estimation—and it is what I'd like to see them attempt next time lodging is on the menu. Long term though, a lower-tier hotel out in the parking lot should definitely be on the menu too.

Would they be willing to take away space in the park already used for rides/entertainment to put in a resort when there is still so much unused land elsewhere on property?

Edit: For example the other side of the safari near Hurricane Harbor.

Would they be willing to? Unsure. I hope they are willing to though. Great Adventure's layout is an absolute mess and the only way to fix it will be many years of smart land (re)allocation. In my estimation there's a ton of development and redevelopment opportunities available for decades to come closer to the core of the park than the arena area.

 

[GASM]

Would they be willing to take away space in the park already used for rides/entertainment to put in a resort when there is still so much unused land elsewhere on property?

Edit: For example the other side of the safari near Hurricane Harbor.

Would they be willing to? Unsure. I hope they are willing to though.

All I can think of is the years of bullshit and drama they went through over the removal of trees for the solar farm, and that they’re likely not keen to relive that for a hotel. Obviously it would be on a much smaller scale, but I almost wonder if Savannah Sunset was an (overpriced and misguided) attempt to avoid this.

An onsite hotel would certainly get me to visit more often, I’m already trying to figure out where the hell I’m staying when I visit next year. One of those things you never think about when the park was an hour away for most of your life.

 

[sharpr1]

All I can think of is the years of bullshit and drama they went through over the removal of trees for the solar farm, and that they’re likely not keen to relive that for a hotel. Obviously it would be on a much smaller scale, but I almost wonder if Savannah Sunset was an (overpriced and misguided) attempt to avoid this.

An onsite hotel would certainly get me to visit more often, I’m already trying to figure out where the hell I’m staying when I visit next year. One of those things you never think about when the park was an hour away for most of your life.

An on-site hotel was something I heard talked about under the last regime. The idea was put it off in a corner of the vast parking lot. Not sure the concept has survived the merger. But even a Holiday Inn Express with limited capacity vs a full hotel would be a help to allow at least some families to stay overnite.

 

[GASM]

I know there was, at one point, a plan to put a hotel right next to Kingda Ka, pretty much exactly where Project Purple is. That would’ve been an, uh, interesting location of choice.

 

[michaellynn4]

I know there was, at one point, a plan to put a hotel right next to Kingda Ka, pretty much exactly where Project Purple is. That would’ve been an, uh, interesting location of choice.

Here’s the article from Great Adventure History on it.

 

[sharpr1]

I know there was, at one point, a plan to put a hotel right next to Kingda Ka, pretty much exactly where Project Purple is. That would’ve been an, uh, interesting location of choice.

Here’s the article from Great Adventure History on it.

Yes, and there was another in the late 2010s, too. Wouldn't have been as big. But it vanished like the new giga almost as soon as there was some talk of it.

 

[warfelg]

I wonder if they would ever go to the opposite side of Switlick Lake from the park. Then that keeps that arena area available for redevelopment, they could have a boat shuttle service from Hotel to Park, use the existing Safari area access (like the glamping iirc). Additionally that offers the best expansion area if they wanted more hotels or an entertainment district.

 

[northdetective]

I genuinely don't feel like Great Adventure is a multi-day park at this point unless you're really into the safari or the water park. I'm not saying it's a great option but 25 min west in Bordentown there's a strip of cheap hotels along 206 if u really need one. I just think the number of people willing to travel to the park as a destination is at an all-time low (in my lifetime, that I can recall, anecdotally, other hedges)

 

[Zachary]

I wonder if they would ever go to the opposite side of Switlick Lake from the park. Then that keeps that arena area available for redevelopment, they could have a boat shuttle service from Hotel to Park, use the existing Safari area access (like the glamping iirc). Additionally that offers the best expansion area if they wanted more hotels or an entertainment district.

If they're allowed to develop (and dredge?) the lakefront like this and run ferries on it, I'm all for it. Lovely idea.

I genuinely don't feel like Great Adventure is a multi-day park at this point unless you're really into the safari or the water park. I'm not saying it's a great option but 25 min west in Bordentown there's a strip of cheap hotels along 206 if u really need one. I just think the number of people willing to travel to the park as a destination is at an all-time low (in my lifetime, that I can recall, anecdotally, other hedges)

It's not right now, I agree. I think everyone is talking on the 10 to 20 year scale at the moment. Technically fits with the thread title I suppose, but definitely not the original purpose... and I think I started it with my post-Medusa theorycrafting.

 

[warfelg]

If they're allowed to develop (and dredge?) the lakefront like this and run ferries on it, I'm all for it. Lovely idea.

I’ve got like three other concept ideas, but yea, it would rely on them having the clear to develop along that lake. Jersey can be kinda iffy with that and wetlands development so that would remain to be seen.

For the record the 3 other ideas:
- Disney World like gondola system over the lake
- A train/monorail system around the lake
- Just swivel it closer to the arena area to have a back entrance, so very similar to your concept just build it to the side rather than in place of arena/Medusa. That could leave the space directly across from the park open for a entertainment district and not have to connect the two sides.

 

[michaellynn4]

pretty sure they’re not able to do that, a lot of the area around the lake is protected wetlands. Someone shares a schematic of it a while back, I’ll have to dig for it sometime.

 

[sharpr1]

pretty sure they’re not able to do that, a lot of the area around the lake is protected wetlands. Someone shares a schematic of it a while back, I’ll have to dig for it sometime.

Colin showed a GIS map in a video. GIS viewers are publicly available if you know where to find them. But not all wetlands are the same. The wetland classified sections in the park, like around PP, aren't as protected as the wetlands and preserve south of the park around and below the lake. That would be a major, major hurdle, and probably no-go, to build down that way. Along the lake on the park side, maybe doable.

 

[warfelg]

Colin showed a GIS map in a video. GIS viewers are publicly available if you know where to find them. But not all wetlands are the same. The wetland classified sections in the park, like around PP, aren't as protected as the wetlands and preserve south of the park around and below the lake. That would be a major, major hurdle, and probably no-go, to build down that way. Along the lake on the park side, maybe doable.

And (just in my experience) wetland testing can change over time. I’ve seen a project go from protected (can’t build) back when I tested (2008) to built on (2022) when the testing showed different results (basically a protected species left the area).

 

[RDL]

Aside from redeveloping frontier adventures down the line, I don’t think it’s worth doing anything near the lake

 

[warfelg]

I (personally) feel the lake (and water in general) is one of the most underutilized great features that SFGAdv has to use.

Most sight-lines are blocked by rides, trees, or buildings from what I recall. Would really love to see the park do more to integrate that into their design of areas and sight-lines. I know this gets a little more concept-ish but (apologies for how crude this is, at work using iPad to do this) here is what my “dream” changes here would look like:

RED: HQCT would get relocated into some of the newly cleared out areas This area would consist of some small flats centered on a new indoor dining option.
PURPLE: New SkyScreamer location
DARK GREEN: New Big Wheel location
BLUE: Stage location that can be set as just some peaceful sitting day to day but used as a stage for special events.
YELLOW HIGHLIGHTED: Entry plaza to a new coaster and some stands to surround the area
YELLOW: This might be my ‘biggest risk’ but this could be a future sight for a dive or tilt coaster going along the waters edge and interacting with Saw Mill Log Flume
BROWN: Relocation spot for Air Jumbo, Swashbuckler, Buccaneer, and Jollyrodger
BLACK: New building built off of the side of Skull Mountain that can act as a pass holder lounge with a deck into the lake that is quiet and away from everything.

I saw all this to acknowledge the likelyhood is about 0.000001% (never say never).

 

[ski4ever5]

So I just saw the Reddit thread of people speculating that FunSpot Atlanta may close, which would mean that there’d probably be a world-class RMC I-box for sale.

It’s a shame there’s not a six flags park that doesn’t already have an I-box and is fleshing out the Americana-boardwalk section of their park…

…oh wait

Superman entrance via a path under the ArieForce stall would be pretty sweet.

Paint the blue rail red and call it the Great American Scream Machine

 

[Clear]

So I just saw the Reddit thread of people speculating that FunSpot Atlanta may close, which would mean that there’d probably be a world-class RMC I-box for sale.

It’s a shame there’s not a six flags park that doesn’t already have an I-box and is fleshing out the Americana-boardwalk section of their park…

…oh wait
View attachment 43340
Superman entrance via a path under the ArieForce stall would be pretty sweet.

Paint the blue rail red and call it the Great American Scream Machine

Put that over by Medusa. You need to add something to that area and that would be ideal!
Keep a more family woodie possible near the shoreline pier

 

[ski4ever5]

Put that over by Medusa. You need to add something to that area and that would be ideal!
Keep a more family woodie possible near the shoreline pier