A Terrible Day at Six Flags Great Adventure
Six Flags Great Adventure: Title says it all....
Great Adventure.... many people have comments about it. Well, so do I. I would like to report a HORRIBLE day at GAdv.
My friends and I arrived at the park around 12:30. We were meeting my other friend at Superman around 1. So, of course, Superman had a 2 hour wait. So, we went across the way to The Great American Scream machine, which had about a 5 minute wait. It was a great ride, and it seemed like less of a headbanger than ususual for me. The boomerrang is great! After that, we were pretty hungry, so we tried to get some Dippin Dots. You wouldnt believe it, the lady didnt have any change for a 20! Just goes to Show how disorganized GAdv is. So, we decided to head over toward near by Nathan's. This place is SO expensive. 20 bucks for 2 hot dogs, 2 SMALL fries, and two SMALL drinks for my brother and I. We couldnt believe it. Just goes to show how expenive GAdv is. Around 115, my friend arrived, and we headed toward Rolling Thunder, which was a 15 minute wait for the front. Not bad. A a good woodie, but probably not one of my personal favorites. Still a good ride though. Next, we headed striaght for Medusa. 25 minute wait for the second row. Again, not bad. This is my favorite ride in the park. just how its laid out makes it a great ride, including all the inversions. My friend thats scared of big rides actully went on this one. My other friend and I got off before they got on, so we stood down by the cobra roll. We could actully see his face and he looked terrified. But after it was over, he said he enjoyed it. Then it got ugly. It started to rain, so we thought we could get a quick ride on Nitro. Wrong. Ntro had at least a 2 hour wait. The line was out of the que line. We thought we could hit some of the other rides in Movietown. wrong again. Batman had at least a 1hr and 30 min. wait. Stuntman-45min. Chiller-1hr. 45 min wait. Finally it struck me. FASTLANE. It was a great idea. We headed to the fatlane booth. It was rediculous. about an 1hr and 15min wait JUST for the fastlane. I couldnt believe my eyes. We werent waiting for it. So, we went on the swings. 5 min wait. nice relaxing ride after walking all over the park. Then I suggested Taz Twister. 15 min wait. This ride was pretty fun, but made me dizzy. It was fun to put your feet up. We then checked the line for Superman. 2 and 1/2 hours. We headed for Freefall, because it had the shortest wait. about a 35 min wait and it ended up being our last ride of the day. It was fun, but short. I put a quarter on my knee for the drop. It was so cool. The quarter actully rotated in mid-air. After that, we made a decision. Nitro or Superman. We chose Nitro because it had a little less short line than superman, even though it was still out of the que. I got a popcorn and tried to get a drink from the machine, $3 for a soda and it doesnt take 5's. Just goes to show how poor GAdv is. I never got a soda. We waited a long time for the ride, so we planned to go front row. You will never believe what happened. We were about 10mins. away, and it closed down. Basically all the rides closed down due to lightning. What kind of luck is that. We were so close, but it was time to go home so we didnt get to ride Nitro front row in the rain in the dark. It would have been awesome. I was so mad. If a ghoul tried to scare me I would punch him in the face. Unfortunately we didnt see any. We left after a disapointing day. By the way, my scared friend didnt go on, so it took us a while to find him in the dark.
Overall, I was very disappointed with the park. it was so crowded, so dirty, and so many people smoking where they werent supposed to. i didnt see 1 guy sweeping up garbage. They have to try to control the park better. Also, and more themeing and landscaping to make it nicer. Overall Grade- C to be nice. they have to control the park better. Espically with kingda ka coming next year. That place is going to look like a bomb hit it. Feel free to respond.
What did you expect going to a Six Flags park?
lighting and metal don't mix very well. You gotta respect that, it's for own safety. Most of your wait times didn't seem too bad. Yes the food is expensive, but it's like that every park even USH, disneyland, Knotts..etc
The worst place to be at, when there's nothing but bad weather, is a theme park, any theme park.
Finally! Someone agrees with me about SFGAd. I wrote an article about rural parks and listed this place as the worst. I got some feedback that SFGAd was a good park. I'm happy to see I'm ot the only one complaining.
SFGAdv has to focus on other things, not only the big thrills. Scenery, pricing, cleanness, merchandise, keeping the rides up and going, kids areas, making it family friendly, Control the huge lines, smoking areas, and espically keeping their guests happy during their trip. I dont know what their going with Kingda Ka next year. That place is going to be a mess and will be jam packed. Opening day it will probably have a 6 hour wait. People from all over will come to ride it, and it will have a huge wait and will break down probably alot and many people will ask for refunds if its not open. Respond with your comments.
"I was so mad. If a ghoul tried to scare me I would punch him in the face. Unfortunately we didnt see any. We left after a disapointing day."
I cannot believe you wrote that.... This is funny? You find that humorous?
There were lines, some change issues and it rained and thats a ghouls fault? And for that one deserves to be punched in the face?
::::sigh:::
Why am I not surprised I just read that?
unbelieveable....
Do you have any idea what those actors go through due to people like you? The fact of if you have done that or not isnt even relevant, the fact that you found that humorous or even wrote it is disgusting and sad.
Cherri I realize that ur an employee and I appreciate you standing up for them, but listen. If a guest is unhappy they are expected to do that stuff. And considering that SFGA gets a lot of angry people, it kind of shows. When I went the place was a dump. Trash all over. I went the weekend before labor day. I hate to say it but if I were Ryan I would punch the stupid ghoul in the face. Honestly, don't you think they could tell if they should scare a person?
I didn't mean to upset anyone by my post. I'm sorry if you got upset. I was just trying to write a TR about my day there. The park was disappointing to me, so I included it in my post. I;m sorry if I upset you, but that's just my feelings about his topic. And about the ghoul, again, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, but that's just how I feel and I'm not going to change my mind about punching him in the face. I wish Gadv would decide to take a few years off for building coasters, and try to work on the scenery, garbage problem, smoking problem, keeping the rides running, and heeping their guests happier. Also, they should lower their prices a bit. That's how I feel about Gadv and I'm sorry if I if I hurt anyone's feelings.
PS- They could also work on the fights coming in the park coming up constantly.
I also did nt want to insult anyone with my commen. The point I wanted to make is that if a person is unhappy then you expect some off them to act out. I guess it the risk you take. And Ryan is right about the rights. I feel like im in South Philly
I used to live 10 minutes from NJ's 6 flags Great Adv.. now I live 35 min from Walt Disney World! I've seen many 6 flags around the U.S.--and Great ADventure is pretty bad-- There's cool rides and it's POSSIBLE to have fun-- but the employees are, in my opinion, generally rude or incompetent...the place SEEMS dirty-- the 2+ hour line waits are usually BORING with nothing to look at or do.. ride closures and problems SEEM frequent... It's just NOT a fun park.. I think the best NON-disney/universal/busch parks are those owned by Cedar Fair...some 6 flags are cool--but there's just something about the NJ one that needs clean up and improvement
I dont give a damn how anyone "feels" when they go anywhere....not only is it wrong to punch someone in the face its ILLEGAL and there would NEVER be any excuse for such a thing. Im not getting into anything else posted, just this. Its ignorant and wrong to think that would ever be acceptable. Do you think the ghoul is responsible for your unhappiness?? I suggest some of you grow the heck up and learn to respect people. I offer the same suggestion to those who defended that statement and think it was acceptable. In your "world" it would be equally acceptable for an employee to punch a guest in the face because the employee was having a bad day....but Im sure you would all go crazy if that happened. Not to mention the strung out ghoul sick of being hit by guests that decides enough is enough and beats the living crap out of someone.....
hitting someone is not acceptable when someone is not being attacked or assaulted. Walking up to someone and hitting them is called assault, and unlike linecutting is criminal.
:::::unbelieveable::::
Like I said in my other post, I'm sorry if I hurt anyone's feelings. But if I look depressed and unhappy, and a ghoul tries to scare me, for no reaon at all and triesto mess with me, then yeah im going to get mad. Would'nt you? No to mention that the ride closed down because of a storm was NOT the only reason I was mad. The park was disgusting, enough said. They take your money, and give you a bad time and the park. Also, with the ghoul, I didnt hit him, so I dont see why you all are getting upset. I'm free to my opinion, Arent I? So why dont we just stop this bickering. But,Its my opinion, not yours. Mike, Back me up on this one!
Ryan, you didn't mention what day you were at the park. I only remember one thunderstorm
during FF this year. If it's the day I'm thinking of, I pulled into the parking lot, saw the crowds around 6p and left. I can understand your frustration, but mentioning you would have like to punch someone in the face isn't very mature. If you don't like crowds or ghouls who may try to scare you why did you go during FF?
Yes, it was that day. If I got to ride Nitro, I wouldnt have tried to punch the ghoul in the face. I was just mad about Nitro and the park. But, yes, that storm was terrible and i understand they had to shut it down. I was just really mad about the park and Nitro, so that's why I worte that. Sorry!
It NEVER ceases to amaze me why people always want to take out their frustrations on the wrong people. If you had a terrible day at the park, your frustration should be directed to the people that run the park, not some kid in a costume trying to make a little money dor the summer. I do,t think that the person in question had the training or experience to determine weather ror not you would be "in the mood" to be scared. His job is to be scary. give the kid a break.
Looking at it from both a guest and park viewpoint, there was a thunderstorm, which was not the park's fault, but you still were unhappy not to be able to do some rides. Safety first. It was crowded which added to lines, but parks need lines (people to spend money) to survive. Expect long waits on more popular rides. Even at Disney.
I personally wouldn't wait two hours for ANY ride, even Pirates of the Carribean or any roller coaster. I'd do something else and plan a ride time either early when the park opens or just before closing time or on a slow day. Rushing to ride to ride, expecting to ride every ride is not the way to enjoy a park IMO. You don't get gold stars for most rides done in the least hours!
Expensive food, usually not more than most outside restaurants or a movie theater. The company has to make a profit you know to keep the doors open.
Trash, that definitely is the park's problem and Six Flags has a so-so reputation. IMO Busch parks are much cleaner and Cedar Point hit & miss.
Fights - the park can't control who comes through the gates and needs more security and stricter regulations with zero tolerance attitude for troublemakers. Also, people are people no matter where. I've even see an heated argument at a Disney park!
If you were that unhappy with the day, write a letter to SFGA management, post more complaints on the internet, offer your experience to a local TV station which will likely get the park's attention.
The saying is that the customer is always right. Not always. Punching an employee is not right, as you should kwow.
Give SFGA another chance on a better weather day, less crowded day (maybe on a Monday or Tuesday, if possible) and with a more positive outlook yourself. You are there to have fun, not be critical.
omg how old is this topic? 6 months? wow.........
All right you make good points Ill probably right a letter.
From JR Walker
Posted April 5, 2006 at 7:00 PM
I agree. This is horrible. All i've been reading the past 2 weeks about Six Flags is having a horrible day and will never go back again. I'm thinking we wont be seeing any more Kingda Ka's poping up anymore. I can't beleive the lines for those rides are all over an hour. That is rediculous. It's called crowd control...and the Six Flags chain hasn't got to the concept yet.
Well, our day at SFGA was an Adventure, but it surely wasn't Great. We went yesterday for the day, after flying from Chicago. We got to the park at 10:30a, and the first ride we got on was El Torro- almost 2 1/2 hours later! And we bought the Gold Flash Pass. That alone was 1 hour to buy. They definately need a better system, or get rid of it altogether. After the wait, we went right to KK and put our FP up to the board- "Ride shutdown". So, we went over to El Torro, and after only waiting for about 20 minutes (Gold FP really works) we were the next to ride. But, the lap bars had a technical difficulty, and we waited for about 1/2 hour for the ride to be fixed. Also, only 1 train operating ??. Staff not to pleasant, and seemed kind of lazy. Went to concession stand to buy pretzel. "I'm not open". ??? No TP in mens toilets near KK, all stalls completely out in AM!!!. Some great rides, ,but all of the other problems with the park (Bankruptcy) sure make it hard to go back. Hopefully Cedar Fair will purchase because they have some great rides.
Wow, 2 years on and still going strong. Ryan McCarthy deserves a medal!
Six flags Great adventure is horrible! Their flash pass system stinks. People are coming in the exits on the older rides with their passes and you are always bumping into them. I am a season pass holder (live about 20 minutes away, that is the only reason) but I refuse to spend $40 extra for one day of flash pass. Disney offers it free, why should I pay $40? I have been on Kingda Ka once (due to average wait being like 2 hours) in 2 years of being a pass holder. El Toro is also a joke, average wait is also two hours. Guess what? They only run one train just so more people would buy flash pass, it must be the reason. Why else would you run one train?
The staff is very bad. Everyone moves so S L O W . Go to Busch Gardens (Williamburg) and Hershey Park to make a comparison. Their ride operators are moving fast. They must pay them more than the $6 / hour six flags is paying them. When we went on August 8th, the following rides were not operating: Batman and Robin (The Chiller), Rolling Thunder, Kingda Ka, Free Fall. The lines on the other rides were ridiculously long, El Toro was 2.5 hours, Nitro was 1.5 hours.
More on their Flash pass system: On some rides they have empty seats going because these are reserved exlusively for flash pass. What a waste. They also never try to fill the train, for example if there are two empty seats, they will never ask for a party of 2.
The place is also falling apart. Look at the parking lot - it is a mess. There are cracks and crevices, trip hazards all over the place.
1. If you want to see a bad parking lot, King's Dominion or pretty much any former Paramount park. Some parts of the lot would be in better condition if they just gravelled it.
2. Any park that I've been to, no one smokes in the designated smoking areas. Parks should really force that, sometimes the smoking can get out of hand just walking around.
I didn't have a long wait w/my flash pass at SFOG except toward the end of the day, I had like an hr & a half wait but I think if I would've gone around to all the pass rides & reserved them rather than one at a time, I probably wouldn't have had to wait long. I waited 30 min for Scorcher. I do wonder, however, if the system monitors each ride I put on there, like if I reserve Scorcher, then Batman, then Superman would I end up w/the same times for all three or would I have enuf time in between to get to the ride? I never thought about that, does anyone know? As for the punching ghoul comment, I didn't think you were referring to a real person, I thought you were referring to a spirit entity of some sort. I think the person who commented about it initially took it the wrong way but I didn't, I understood how you ment. As far as parking lots, I was at Kings Dominion in 2004 & the lot was okay to me, it must've gotten rough in the past 2 yrs, has it really gotten that bad? You wanna talk about slow service, when Astroworld was closing, I went the second weekend before closing. The cashiers were SOOO FREAKING SLOW, it took 45 min or longer for 4-6 ppl to check out at the gift shops. I knew it would take long at the food counters but ALLLL of the gift shops were like that. Granted there were EXTREMELY long lines & GRANTED the park WAS closing but it was totally uncalled for for the clerks to purposely (sp?) go slower than turtles in the mud KNOWING they were & knowing they were holding ppl up. The more ppl griped in line, the slower the clerks got. Plus we even had customers trying to cut in line! I know what ppl are gonna say to respond here but it was totally rediculous. That wasn't the only park either. The SFOG had slow clerks in the burger place across from the indoor scrambler & flies EVERYWHERE. There was food all over the place. They really need to keep it cleaned up. The rest of the park itself in the outside areas was kept clean though. King's Dominion had THE nastiest bathrooms EVERYONE of the bathrooms & the waterfountains didn't have barely any water pressure so I couldn't get a drink. Those were my only complaints about King's D.
What can you expect when you visit a Six Flags? As we all know, Six Flags is a chain, and outlets of chains have no heart and atmosphere. Every Six Flags has Superman and Batman, it is boring. Also, out of all of them, Great adventure is the worst.
I'm not a huge fan of Great Adventure either. I love most of their roller coasters (when they're not broken down or have a 2 hour wait) but they've really gone in the wrong direction. Their only concern is to build roller coaster after roller coaster. Lately they've gotten into building kid's sections too. If you don't love roller coasters or you're not under the age of 5, there's nothing for you to do in the park. The park is so trashy too. Lately they've been trying to make it a family park, and it's just not working at all. And the $60 admission doesn't work well either.
From Stephen A.
Posted September 6, 2006 at 3:30 PM
Then buy a season pass.
At the moment Six Flags is actually trying to turn around, the new manager is doing all he can to get the park out of debt to get it to a good condition with all the rides running and stuff. So there should be a major change in the next couple of years.
Is it just coincidence or have I spotted a pattern here?
2 Six Flags great adventure threads (Which are both 2 YEARS old I might add) have been brought back on the main discussion board. Can't we just let the topics drop now?
The 2 threads are:
A hot and ugly day at Six Flags Great Adventure
A terrible day at SFGA
From Matt Hill
Posted September 10, 2006 at 1:11 AM
I havn't been here before, but on other sites too, this park must be really messed up. That's too bad, it looks like they have awesome rides.
In my opinion, almost every Six Flags park I have been to the employees are lazy. I don't really care, I mean it's their job, but it get's everyone frustrated when they are acting up holding all the lines up. The best Six Flags park with the best employees is, in my opinion, Six Flags Over Georgia. They are the hardest working employees out of the Six Flags parks.
Overall, out of every park i've been to, the best employees are at "Carowinds." They are nice, and hard working.
I personally thought that SFOT had the best for my opinion. I haven't been to that many parks but so far of the SF parks I/we've visited, SFOT has the best. I wasn't impressed w/the shop/food clerks at SFOG. They really weren't even that friendly. Most of them were frowning like they just couldn't stand being there wking. They should quit if they're unhappy. Busch Gardens VA had great clerks. Very friendly, nice, & helpful. SFMM had a couple of nice store clerks, one lady from Alabama who wkd there helped me out w/the park map. Very nice of her although she DID get my order wrong & I didn't catch it til after I left the park! lol. But she still was extremely helpful otherwise.
From Jenna V
Posted December 17, 2006 at 4:00 PM
Hey Ryan,
I understand your frustration. The first time I came home from SF during the FF, I was so dissapointed like you. You need to go back and give it another chance. After you went once and know the do's and dont's, your next visit will be garunteed excellent. Never go back during FF or in July - August, very crowded. I suggest going Late April - Early June on weekdays, and arrive at the park around 9:00 when it opens. Yes, the Flash Pass line is ridiculous. But believe me, it is really worth it. The first time we went we also only got on a couple rides. The second time we waited for 1 and 1/2 hours in the morning, and got on all the open rides, and even KK and ET three times. It is worth the time and money in line to get on every ride in the park. Also, get the Golden FlashPass. That actually reduces your time. With FP, your garunteed to hop on Nitros 5 times in one day. Hope your next visit is better, best wishes.
- Jen
I know this is an old topic, but I just joined a couple weeks ago.
I just had to contribute: Anyone who doesn't arrive to an amusement park until 12:30 is a victim of his or her own bad planning and should EXPECT to wait in long lines for EVERYTHING. If you can't be there when it opens, then don't whine about long lines. Plenty of people have already chimed in about the ghoul-punching, so I won't bother.
I go to GA all the time. I know the park is dirty, I've seen much better parks and more properly run parks, but it sounds to me that you had a poorly planned day in the middle of busy season that mixed with some bad weather and exagerrated theme park prices. Take a step back, next time you go, if you go back, go with an open mind. Try to get there for opening on a weekday, most of the time the lines will not be close to the times you described. I would advise going to El Toro first, then KK before the crowds. I don't mean to say GA is the best park I've ever been to, but I think you are blaming the park for cicumstances beyond its control.
If you didn't try to ride front row you would have got on Nitro.
Ryan..Hi. I wish your day had gone better. I had an experience years ago at the Alice Cooper haunted house..never forget it. One of the "ghouls" ran at me and really hit me hard with the shoulder,(on drugs?) Consider your thought one to work on, though. I can understand how you feel.
Many people are slobs of the worst kind, as we witness in the bathrooms. The Western Burger place had its garbage bins overflowing, and it took twenty minutes for a burger even though only two parties were in front of me. Place has improved over the last couple of years. If you visit again, definitely get the special pass, and go on El Toro followed by Nitro, a couple of times because they really rank up there. Also try to go on a weekday and skip Fridays. Try after Labor Day again. Best of luck to you.
First and foremost, I am so appauled that you guys are bashing the best park ever, I have been going to SFGA every year, sometimes twice a year, since I was 7 years old, I am now 21 and the older I get the more I love this park. I've never experienced more than a 30 min wait for any ride, especially if you get there when the park opens at 10am, the park has great scenery and I've never seen any smoking issues, or disrepair or garbage, and the only ride that was ever closed was The Chiller, which is now being replaced anyway, all parks are expensive and no parks are fun in the rain, however all the shops do help, if you haven't been there, go and form your own opinion, you may love it just as much as I do, and for the rest of you, if you don't like it, don't go but don't ruin it for others and try and discourage them from going, shame on you... SFGA is the best!
Um, ya, this is a really old review and Six Flags has changed a lot since then. The wait for the lines have almost cut in half all the time and with Kingda Ka all of the other lines are much shorter. I always ride Kingda Ka while going to SFGA, but I have to say, it is definitely worth the wait and worth the awesomeness that cuts the lines shorter for other popular attractions. Last time I was their I only got there for 5 hours because of my school being cheap, but I still got on four rides even though I had to eat 2 meals and having the line for medusa extended almost an hour compared to a 20 minute wait because of someone throwing up, someone passing out, and a violent fight. Besides, SFGA has rides that are uniqe in themselves. You can't find any rides like them anywhere else. That is why SFGA still remains my favorite Amusement Park.
Wow this post just shows the great strives that six flags great adventure has made. YOu cant even walk a foot without there being a garbage can. People are friendly. Prices are still high though. Getting rid of viper and chiller are great improvements on making the park look nicer. Those were two gross rides. Substitute with el toro, Kingda ka, and the pathetic dark knight. Good strives. B and M dive machine is a possiblilty for 2009 lets hope so.
From Tim W
Posted September 9, 2008 at 6:47 PM
wow this is an old post from all the way back in 2004
From Andy B
Posted September 17, 2008 at 4:52 PM
Um, I don't think that you are cut out for theme parks. I mean high prices and long lines are the standard. It's no different anywhere else. The park can't control the crowds or where people smoke, it's just to big a park. And you're going to wait in ridiculous lines on peak days at a huge theme park.
I've been to theme parks all over the United States, and top rides and long lines are the norm. I've seen up to six hour waits for new coasters but I never waited. And talk about getting upset. Try planning a trip from the east coast to Magic Mountain California, just to ride a specific new coaster, only to find out that the coaster was closed down for the entire week you were going to be there. Upset,ya, but we got over it, and ten years later, I got to ride that same coaster and loved every second, maybe the wait time made it sweeter.
"B and M dive machine is a possiblilty for 2009 lets hope so. "
Well, Jim, guess THAT didn't work out. I only wish...
Opening Day is one month from today!
I know this is an old thread, but I only recently discovered the discussion board. So here's my two pennies worth:
I've been going to GAdv since it opened in 1974. I've had great days, mediocre ones, "meh" ones, and awful ones. I've gone to see Foreigner and got on only Runaway Train. I've had 53 Toro rides in one day. I've been a passholder a few times. I won a season pass at Fright Fest. I spent my prom night there instead of going to the dance, drove down after my H.S. graduation, and skipped my college graduation to go there. I've gone with friends, family, and romantic interests. Bottom line is, GAdv has improved in the last few years after reaching a low point in the preceding decade. I rarely encounter trash problems, smokers in the wrong place, or unfriendly staff. Two hour lines? I'll skip 'em. I've been on El Toro probably 250-300 times (I count coasters, but not individual rides) and have never waited more than 90 minutes. The park has changed over the years, but so have I. I can't wait 'til next month for my first '10 visit.
Thanks for reading
Mike
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