Or the diehards on WDWMagic that mock others for “reading comprehension” or younger users for their age and don’t get any rule violations. I ponder on how they would’ve reacted to KA and GAdv’s state…..
News Six Flags America & Hurricane Harbor to Close Following 2025 Season
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Every post I see on Reddit, Facebook, and Twitter about Great Adventure is complete gloom and doom. Talking about it here is such a breath of fresh air, because most can see that it was going to take drastic measures to fix the park and that it’s clearly not going to be an overnight change, but they’ve already done plenty of work and it shows. The rides are far from the only flaw of Great Adventure, and while it does suck that we lost so many at once, several of them weren’t particularly rides people cared about until they were gone.
I think the merger is bad for consumers strictly from a competition/monopoly standpoint, but I will STAY thrilled that former Cedar Fair management has a chance to fix up parks that SF screwed up. My only worry is for some of the smaller parks, but I think CF did a good job at carving out niches for their Dorneys and Vallerfairs; I doubt that'll change all that much
It’s just a bit funny to me that when merged SF stated they were exploring the option of closing parks, people went straight to “yeah lmao SFA is done, whatever the park sucks anyway” and when it actually happened, they were shocked and angry.
I’m mostly indifferent to this specific closure aside from Wild One’s fate not looking good, but that’s not to say I’m glad about it. It makes sense and it’s not necessarily a huge loss, especially with KD, BGW, Hershey, and SFGAdv all within a 3 hour drive, but at the same time, I think we all wish (almost) every park could stay open forever.
I’m mostly indifferent to this specific closure aside from Wild One’s fate not looking good, but that’s not to say I’m glad about it. It makes sense and it’s not necessarily a huge loss, especially with KD, BGW, Hershey, and SFGAdv all within a 3 hour drive, but at the same time, I think we all wish (almost) every park could stay open forever.
Yeah, I feel like wild one and the oh-so-smooth Joker's Jinx will be the biggest losses for me, but the others are just eh
Or the copium addicts using goomba fallacy. Most of the people who are upset about KK removal were not complaining while it existed. Most either stayed silent or talked about how good the ride experience was. Its the KK removal supporters who badmouthed the ride.
As for the entitled 40 year old meanies, nah we seen GAdv on the decline since the late 2000s. Last year with all the removals was simply the last nail in the coffin, and there were many previous nails. Ever since ET was built, GAdv continuously downgraged and removed things and only installed a couple of small gimmick coasters nobody asked for nor wanted. All the minor improvements like paint and pavement are nothing more than putting lipstick on a pig in GAdv's current and dire situation. The only positive arguments being posted are vague "trust the plan bro, the future will be epic" statements from people who openly disapprove of the merger, its just bizarre doublethink. Many people forget that CF also let several of its parks go stagnant for decades and left many empty spots where rides used to be even in KD and KI.
Then its a case of not appreciating something until its gone forever and then realizing how special it was. In a way a loss is extra sad when it happens in this manner. People go to parks for rides, not for fresh paint or pavement which can be accomplished at home. Yes shiny paint and pavement improves the atmosphere, but they are very poor substitutes for missing rides. Sometimes I wonder if corporate management understands this? While major gutting of a park sucks hard, its still better than closure, which isn't saying much.
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The mentality above is the reason parks feel like they can cut corners and make the overall guest experience worse by just distracting us with a new ride every year. I don't go to parks for rides, I go to enjoy my day. If that means sacrificing ride count in exchange for better atmosphere and guest experience, count me in
I do go for rides, but that’s the enjoyment for me and I’m also far less inclined to return or stay for long if the park is a dump. With my home park being Great Adventure for a collective 22 out of 25 years of my life, and not very many trips to other parks before I left NJ the first time, I really didn’t have much of a point of reference for how a park could/should look and operate. My second trip to Kings Island (first was a quick trip after dark almost solely to ride The Beast) made me realize just how much Great Adventure had been neglected in this aspect.
The small fixes and remodels really add up. The park’s going to look INCREDIBLY different when I return next year, but I truly don’t mean that in a bad way by any means. If I wasn’t doing SFA during my Hersheypark trip in August, I’d be going to Great Adventure, even if this is an off year for the park. An off year with a new coaster is still much better than many parks get.
The small fixes and remodels really add up. The park’s going to look INCREDIBLY different when I return next year, but I truly don’t mean that in a bad way by any means. If I wasn’t doing SFA during my Hersheypark trip in August, I’d be going to Great Adventure, even if this is an off year for the park. An off year with a new coaster is still much better than many parks get.
I went to SFMM for the first time last weekend and while the coasters are great, the whole park looked so rundown. Half of the buildings looked abandoned, all the queues were covered in nasty chewed up gum, and there were tons of cracks in the pathways. Yeah its great that the park gets regular additions but its pretty clear the park cares more about adding new coasters at the expense of the rest of the park.
When you visit a park that looks half abandoned, that lowers the overall guest experience. Would I like to go back to SFMM again? Yeah their coasters are top notch, but I think its the worst operated of the 3 flagship SF parks. Would I rather go to SFMM over a Knott's Berry Farm or a Six Flags FIesta Texas? Well those parks are in far better shape and have far better atmosphere than SFMM ever will so I would go with Knotts or FT.
Infrastructure improvements can make or break a park. When half of the park looks abandoned, that lowers my enjoyment of the park. When every queue looks like its been neglected for decades, that can ruin my park experience. There's a reason I dislike Kentucky Kingdom as a park and think its one of the worst parks in the country. I'm glad Herschend is trying to bring the park up to snuff with Dollywood and SDC.
When you visit a park that looks half abandoned, that lowers the overall guest experience. Would I like to go back to SFMM again? Yeah their coasters are top notch, but I think its the worst operated of the 3 flagship SF parks. Would I rather go to SFMM over a Knott's Berry Farm or a Six Flags FIesta Texas? Well those parks are in far better shape and have far better atmosphere than SFMM ever will so I would go with Knotts or FT.
Infrastructure improvements can make or break a park. When half of the park looks abandoned, that lowers my enjoyment of the park. When every queue looks like its been neglected for decades, that can ruin my park experience. There's a reason I dislike Kentucky Kingdom as a park and think its one of the worst parks in the country. I'm glad Herschend is trying to bring the park up to snuff with Dollywood and SDC.
I concur with the above. Magic Mountain has a legendary coaster lineup. It’s one of the most run down parks I’ve been to and I’m pretty sure I ate the worst cheeseburger I ever ate in my life at that park. Tatsu was one train ops in OCTOBER. I had been to SFFT, SFOT, SFNE, SFOG, GADV, and SFA and in terms of “park appearance and atmosphere” I’d compare it to……..SFA maybe a small step above. I went to SFGAm the year afterwards and that park is much nicer appearance wise than Magic Mountain. Making the matter worse? We went to Knotts the day before. It is more enjoyable to be in a nicer park than a run down park with great coasters.
That said I was more focused on that batshit insane contraption that is X2 on my visit.
That said I was more focused on that batshit insane contraption that is X2 on my visit.
Having just been to SFMM, CGA, and SFDK in April... I can say SFDK is by far the worse looking park. From some angles it is acceptable but there is a lot of refurbs needed to bring this place up to Cedar Fair/Six Flags chain standards. SFMM had some peeling paint and some overgrown landscaping, CGA had some Vortex paint peeking through the Paramount-era fencing, but it was not comparable to how rundown parts of SFDK looked.
Boomerang was rough; it and Kong (the SLC) need some upkeep and deep refurbs, along with new trains if they want to keep this park around. It looked like it was an abandoned ride from some angles. Just look at this queue (and the trashcan which was half full about 30 mins after park opening):
For what is a big statement coaster, Superman had peeling signage, cracked pavements, and faded colors:
Cobra's trains had all kind of knicks all over the paint job, lab bars were super loose, and the station needs new safety paint:
It wasn't all bad; the Sidewinder area gives a glimpse of what a new ride could look like in the park could look like with more TLC:
I think the US consumer base is slowly gravitating towards higher expectations in general; a big part of that is social media. People (non-enthusiast people) regularly see cool, highly themed stuff at European parks and Disney/Universal, and want that at their local parks. There's also more open discussion about the shitty practices of old Six Flags, which I've seen a few times in the comments of viral theme park TikToks. Everyone wants to go to Universal, not everyone has the time or money. Even the Busch parks and Herschend big two get much more love on social media than your average SF park. My hope is regional parks are starting to realize this and want to market themselves more as complete themed experiences.
Odd segue, but the same thing is happening with infrastructure and transportation. Social media is showing young people how good Europe has it in a lot of respects (trains, walkability, etc) and we're seeing more of a push for that here in the states among young voters. If nothing else, social media can be good for showing people a higher standard for their lives and entertainment. I'm likely overstating the role it's playing in SF's pivot (seemingly) towards guest experience, but I don't think it can be discounted.
Odd segue, but the same thing is happening with infrastructure and transportation. Social media is showing young people how good Europe has it in a lot of respects (trains, walkability, etc) and we're seeing more of a push for that here in the states among young voters. If nothing else, social media can be good for showing people a higher standard for their lives and entertainment. I'm likely overstating the role it's playing in SF's pivot (seemingly) towards guest experience, but I don't think it can be discounted.
On the flip side, if a park has little or nothing to do its a waste of time no matter how nice it may look. SFMM just like GAdv engaged in massive ride removals over the decades along with poor upkeep. That park once had skyride, monorail, and even a quad wheel Ferris wheel, now its mostly coasters and little else. Infrastructure improvements are not a substitute for rides which is a false narrative that CF is pushing. Moreover such improvements mean nothing if they are quickly vandalized by low class partons which both MM and GAdv attract. GAdv has historically had a high vandalism problem. Bored guests waiting in long lines for fewer rides will not help this problem and shiny, fancy new Infrastructure make prime targets.
If the choice is between a ride like a skyride or Infrastructure improvements like new paint on the stupid icee stand, most are going to prefer the skyride. Really only enthusiasts would even notice inconsequential improvements like a slightly fancier railing for a snack stand, most of the GP wouldn't even notice let alone care. But they care a lot more if several iconic rides are gone. This is why these minor improvements are just lipstick on a pig because the parks have more important and glaring issues than the color of icee stand railings. Frankly, these inconsequential improvements being promoted as worthwhile reward for ride sacrifices comes off as patronizing and insulting.
I disagree ardently with like most every line of your post, but this bit seems pretty core to your point of view so I'm going to counter it and move on.
Guests notice when the railing for the snack stand looks bad/is poorly maintained/is cheap/is deteriorating/when the railing doesn't exist. Fixing that with "slightly fancier railing" mitigates NEGATIVE experiences and impressions.
Anyway, this is the SFA closure thread, not a second "@The Master's grievances about Cedar Fair" thread. If people want to continue the discussion re: the fallout of the merger, the general merger thread is the right place.
Guests notice when the railing for the snack stand looks bad/is poorly maintained/is cheap/is deteriorating/when the railing doesn't exist. Fixing that with "slightly fancier railing" mitigates NEGATIVE experiences and impressions.
Anyway, this is the SFA closure thread, not a second "@The Master's grievances about Cedar Fair" thread. If people want to continue the discussion re: the fallout of the merger, the general merger thread is the right place.
Like I've stated in many posts before, a theme park is a whole package experience comprised of quality rides, customer service, aesthetics, food, merchandise, entertainment and general upkeep to name a few things. Do the the legacy Six Flags parks need help in some, if not all of these areas? Yes. Am I going to knock the new Six Flags / CF management for placing a greater emphasis right now on improving infrastructure, food, entertainment, and customer service rather than rides? Absolutely not.
The main reason being is that most Six Flags parks have more than enough rides to keep the ship sailing. Most Six Flags parks like magic mountain, as you mentioned, need help in areas of infrastructure. I completely disagree with the notion that paint, railings and infrastructure are inconsequential. Being someone who has worked fulltime at multiple Six Flags parks for over 6 years I can tell you that the "infrastructure" is foundational to the overall success of a park and is something that is seen very obviously by both the GP and enthusiasts alike. I am not just talking aesthetics either. If buildings, paths, IT devices, electrical wiring and other structures are in disrepair it actually makes it harder for a park to function properly, thus not able to support more rides.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a rides guy too. I love 'em and a park does need them. But I also want to be greeted by friendly competent employees in a nice welcoming environment with yes, nice paint and shrubbery. I know I'm not the only one who holds this sentiment.
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Anyways as for SFA and HH - I know @Zachary has tossed the concept of it being just a water park around a bunch, I wonder if there's some sort of company that would come in last minute and work out a deal to buy just the HH part of the park to run it as a community pool/waterpark and allow the rest of the land to be developed.
Yeah, I'm on board with that. Too bad I'm not a decision maker or could have any influence whatsoever on that motion... but yes... that would be nice.
I doubt the Waterpark will be saved, especially if SF takes any of the water attractions out for relocation or simply scrapping them all. Moreover, potential residential developers may not want to purchase property next to a Waterpark that may produce noise, attract traffic and lowlifes, or being viewed as an eyesore. Even commercial developers for something like a warehouse probably would not want a Waterpark for a neighbor with guest traffic interfering with commercial traffic. Furthermore, park investors probably will view an isolated Waterpark as not having enough draw by itself combined with a limited operating season. Waterparks tend to perform better combined with a dry park. In addition to this, splitting up the land to keep the Waterpark could devalue the property, the land is liely worth more complete than broken up into separate tracts.
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There are plenty of very popular water parks, including in the DC metro area, that are in residential and/or public areas. In fact, there are a ton of stand-alone water parks around the Beltway.
Also, for what it is worth, I find your repeated decision, when posting on a theme park forum, to use words like “lowlifes” to describe the types of people who go to parks to be tone deaf and possibly insulting to the other members.
Also, for what it is worth, I find your repeated decision, when posting on a theme park forum, to use words like “lowlifes” to describe the types of people who go to parks to be tone deaf and possibly insulting to the other members.
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I feel like you haven't been to many water parks.
Second highest attended water park in the country, Volcano Bay: bordered by residential. Third highest attended water park in the country, Aquatica Orlando: bordered by residential. Fourth highest attended water park in the country, Schlitterbahn New Braunfels: BISECTED by residential—seriously, look it up. Fifth highest attended water park in the country, Water Country USA: bordered by residential. Sixth highest attended water park in the country, Aquatica San Antonio: bordered by residential. Seventh highest attended water park in the country, Adventure Island: bordered by residential. Eighth highest attended water park in the country, Knott’s Soak City: bordered by residential. And rounding out the top ten, the tenth highest attended water park in the USA, Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Arlington: bordered by residential.
Major citation needed as all of the wildly successful water parks listed above are standalone properties.