Park Improvements 2023 and Season Dining

[outhikn]

A list of the general SFA park improvements for 2023 can be found here

• Two updated park bathrooms – modernized, restored and refreshed with new paint and
  fixtures;
• New shade structures in Looney Tunes Movie Town;
• Restored fountain & kids splash area in Looney Tunes Movie Town;
• New deck and enhanced seating areas at Heritage House Food Court;
• More than 125 new umbrellas throughout the park;
• Restored Capital Railways train with restored 1940’s locomotive, added car & expanded
  operating hours;
• Refreshed and enhanced game opportunities throughout the park;
• New strategic landscaping by themed areas;
• New rest & recharge areas;
• Premium coffee coming to Coffee & Cones;
• New Guest Upgrades Center;

But the big news seems to be Season Dining coming back


Overall, I feel the KD season dining is a much better value - given the lower price for the KD plan itself and the much better food options. (Though only waiting 3 hours between meals with the upgraded SFA option here, is better than the 4 hour wait for KD's plan.) But still nice to see this return.

 

[Crunchewy]

SF food is pretty bad. I really wish one of the improvements was "better food". The dining plan used to be dirt cheap. That was what it had going for it. Actually, Chop Six isn't bad. That was always my go to. But still, without it being dirt cheap I'm not sure I will get the dining plan now.

 

[Blauer]

Capital Railway isn’t even listed as an attraction on their website!

All of the rides in the Frontier section snd Whistlestop are missing as well as the Flying Dutchman that came from KD

All of these pitiful, low-cost improvements don’t matter when there’s this kind of mass removal of attractions. I see this park closing altogether.

 

[CoasterAuditor]

I will not I do like this overall shift in SFAs tone to improving the park experience. I do wonder what the plan is with Coyote Creek though. Maybe they'll put new trains on Mind Eraser for 2024? I certainly wouldn't be complaining I've heard that dramatically improves SLCs if it's the new ones like SFNE has.

 

[Zachary]

I'm actually pretty fine with SFA downsizing the dry park. It's no secret that SFA has struggled for a very long time now—and, much of the "success" the park has seen is thanks to its water park.

The dry side needs dramatic and ambitious change to bring it more in line with the desires and expectations of the DMV area. If begining to accomplishing that with Six Flags' current financials means closing off areas the park sees as financial dead weight, I'm pretty okay with it.

I, of course, hope that in the not too distant future demand for SFA will improve as the park (hopefully) continues to and, in turn, will hope that SFA grows back into the park it should be. I just don't think it's wise for a company like Six Flags to try to make it all happen at once. Slow and steady wins the race.

Hell, SFA still has a serious reputation problem too—it will take years to fix that anyway.

 

[rswashdc]

I'm actually pretty fine with SFA downsizing the dry park. It's no secret that SFA has struggled for a very long time now—and, much of the "success" the park has seen is thanks to its water park.

The dry side needs dramatic and ambitious change to bring it more in line with the desires and expectations of the DMV area. If begining to accomplishing that with Six Flags' current financials means closing off areas the park sees as financial dead weight, I'm pretty okay with it.

I, of course, hope that in the not too distant future demand for SFA will improve as the park (hopefully) continues to and, in turn, will hope that SFA grows back into the park it should be. I just don't think it's wise for a company like Six Flags to try to make it all happen at once. Slow and steady wins the race.

Hell, SFA still has a serious reputation problem too—it will take years to fix that anyway.

I‘m in the camp that the only way to fix SFA would be a major surge of investment across the park in rides, food, cleanliness, and safety that totally changes the perception of the park. Small yearly investments will never move attendance there or fix its reputation as the average potential customer will never get excited about minor ride updates or fixing some benches. I seriously can’t see SF making the level of investment needed to compete with KD and HP, which is unfortunate as this could be a top tier park just based on the DMV demographics alone.

 

[Crunchewy]

No park should be without bumper cars. The water coaster is a good addition, but I hope they plan to put in new, better bumper cars next year, if nothing else. Preferably not located off the beaten path.