Passing on a season pass 2009 -- Who else?

[JForceFC014]

I may not get a season pass next year, but not because the park is getting worse and worse. I live about an hour and a half south of the park, and sometimes it's a bit difficult for me to even get there. I was there 4 times this year, and that's a record for me. Next year though, I may not even be able to go to the park. Considering that there likely won't be a good new ride, it's not a huge loss for me. This doesn't mean I'll never buy a pass again, it just depends on the other things going on in my life. If I can, I will always buy a pass because I love going to the park and riding the rides.

[TonyMichaud]

I will get a season pass every year. No questions asked.

I get one every year simply to go to Fright Fest as much as possible. I am a coaster lover, and that's the added bonus - but highly Halloween themed land rides and Haunted Houses make it a no brainer.

The only time you can see the Demon in full effect is at Fright Fest.

Everyone has to agree that when you hear the Halloween Theme faintly while walking in from the parking lot, as the sun is setting and you look above and see the fog rising from within the park, you can't help but smile.

Hell, I'm smiling writing this.

[Trailblazer Tony]

Yep, I agree, the park is going right down the crapper. ....and another... , and another one.......

I started going to the park long before most of the members here were a twinkle in their daddy's eye. I have seen the best, and have seen the worse. I have been on every single roller coaster built at Great America. Been to the park every year that they have been in operation, and have seen them change hands, what, 5-6 times. My Mom took me to the park when I was a kid, just as I am starting a new generation with bringing my kids to the park, and hopefully my grandkids can experience it as well. My family and I will always have a season pass. I hold 32 years of memories of that damn park, and I don't think I can ever say that I will not renew my season pass, or not go to the park because of no new roller coaster, or I have to look at that Gieco sign and read, "Excuse me, but did you know.....", while I am standing there taking a leak.

This crap of, "were not getting a new coaster, just another stupid family ride" is old, and tiring. Let's not forget one of the reasons why we have to have these advertisements all over the place. We have them everywhere because the old regime of half-whitted morons thought it would give what most of you wanted; a new rollercoaster every-other year. While that was great for thrill-seekers, it did little to draw in the money makers. Families like mine. I don't recall to many people complain, and moaning during the Burkhe years when a family ride in Sky-whirl was taken out in place of a coaster with a reputation of breaking down as much as TTD. Now that the piece of crap is gone, and the possibility of a family ride taking it's place, everybody is up in arms.

Is Great America perfect. No. There was a time during the Marriot years that it was close to being perfect, but times change. Is there an amusement park that is. Maybe, and don't say Cedar Point cause I go through a laundry list of things wrong with that park.

Since you are not getting a season pass, you probably will be the first one to complain about ticket, and parking prices.

Let me just say that it was refreshing to read this post!!! It's always interesting to read from people who have been a park goer for this long, and I completely agree with all of what you are saying. I guess it must just be a phase for me that it doesn't feel the same. A lot of the things I have been disliking about the park lately might just be because a few years ago, i was too young to notice them. The same things that all these 13-14 year olds on here don't seem to realize. Who knows, maybe age is a big factor, but as a 21 year old I'm only noticing the earning tactics, especially since this is my first year being completely seperate from my parent's income. Nevertheless, for the reasons I stated, and for having a similar situation as Ally with living and working downtown and not having anywhere near as much time as I used to to visit the park, I am contemplating not getting one this year. Like you've stated, I really hope the day comes that i get to take my own kids to the park I grew up and spent so many years in, but for now, as a broke college kid, I think I might need a short break!

[RBull4life]

^ We all go through that Tony. There was a time when I couldn't afford a season pass, and could only manage to go twice a year, but everybody has a place that they hold dear to their heart, and Great America is that place for me. I hope you do have the chance to take your child on their first "big" rollercoaster ride. Mine was the Whizzer, and it was also my son's, and daughters first "big" coaster experiance. I can tell you that there is nothing in this world that can make you feel better than sharing the joy that you just bred a new generation of coaster, and amusement park lovers.

My daughter is getting to the point where she is starting to drift away from the kid's section, and go for the bigger rides. My son, on the other hand, still enjoys the smaller, less, shall we say, intense rides. So by doing that Six Flags is giving my entire family a chance to enjoy the park.

[cycamps]

^It's refreshing to hear some positive feedback towards SF. It's nice to have something different for a change.

[coasterkidd100]

^^You sure don't here anything positive like that about the park anymore!

[Chitown]

RBull4life couldn't have said it any better.

Totally agree.

[Demon_07]

Yep, I agree, the park is going right down the crapper. ....and another... , and another one.......

I started going to the park long before most of the members here were a twinkle in their daddy's eye. I have seen the best, and have seen the worse. I have been on every single roller coaster built at Great America. Been to the park every year that they have been in operation, and have seen them change hands, what, 5-6 times. My Mom took me to the park when I was a kid, just as I am starting a new generation with bringing my kids to the park, and hopefully my grandkids can experience it as well. My family and I will always have a season pass. I hold 32 years of memories of that damn park, and I don't think I can ever say that I will not renew my season pass, or not go to the park because of no new roller coaster, or I have to look at that Gieco sign and read, "Excuse me, but did you know.....", while I am standing there taking a leak.

This crap of, "were not getting a new coaster, just another stupid family ride" is old, and tiring. Let's not forget one of the reasons why we have to have these advertisements all over the place. We have them everywhere because the old regime of half-whitted morons thought it would give what most of you wanted; a new rollercoaster every-other year. While that was great for thrill-seekers, it did little to draw in the money makers. Families like mine. I don't recall to many people complain, and moaning during the Burkhe years when a family ride in Sky-whirl was taken out in place of a coaster with a reputation of breaking down as much as TTD. Now that the piece of crap is gone, and the possibility of a family ride taking it's place, everybody is up in arms.

Is Great America perfect. No. There was a time during the Marriot years that it was close to being perfect, but times change. Is there an amusement park that is. Maybe, and don't say Cedar Point cause I go through a laundry list of things wrong with that park.

Since you are not getting a season pass, you probably will be the first one to complain about ticket, and parking prices.

Let me just say that it was refreshing to read this post!!! It's always interesting to read from people who have been a park goer for this long, and I completely agree with all of what you are saying. I guess it must just be a phase for me that it doesn't feel the same. A lot of the things I have been disliking about the park lately might just be because a few years ago, i was too young to notice them. The same things that all these 13-14 year olds on here don't seem to realize. Who knows, maybe age is a big factor, but as a 21 year old I'm only noticing the earning tactics, especially since this is my first year being completely seperate from my parent's income. Nevertheless, for the reasons I stated, and for having a similar situation as Ally with living and working downtown and not having anywhere near as much time as I used to to visit the park, I am contemplating not getting one this year. Like you've stated, I really hope the day comes that i get to take my own kids to the park I grew up and spent so many years in, but for now, as a broke college kid, I think I might need a short break!

I'm 14 but I definately feel there is more to the park than coasters. I still say the park has a certain special atmosphere although some would disagree. The park (Like it or not) needs something everybody can enjoy. A ride kids AND thrill-seekers can find enjoyable. I'm very much for having rides fit the theme and somebody please tell me the last ride that fit the theme. Revolution? It's quite frankly just sad.

[coasterfan71555]

Let me start by saying that I have had a season pass every year since 1983, which makes 2008 the 25th anniversary of me being a season pass holder. I am 53 years old now, and although I don't go to the park as often as I used to, I still enjoy visiting. I have been there about 8 times this season. Back in the 90's I would go 20 to 25 times per season, but I have other interests now and a home life that is very important. Here is my stance: for the first time in 25 years, I have been thinking about not renewing my season pass for 2009. Why is this? Well, the fact that NO MAJOR THRILL ATTRACTION has been added since 2001 (V2 and DejaVu) is a contributing factor. Superman-Ultimate Flight does not do it (boring!), and the Dark Knight is weak at best. Yet, this year, we lost (1) Deja Vu; (2) Splashwater Falls; (3) Space Shuttle America, and (4) Theatre Royale. And what do we have in their places? (1) Ugly Weed Patch (2) a concrete monolith (3) Nothing (4) an interminable, leaning queue line. Worthy replacement? I THINK NOT! We also lost any semblance of a show package. Video reruns of old award shows in our Grand Music Hall? Showstoppin' started so late, it was a weak effort at best. Mark Shapiro hasn't got a clue of how to run a theme park, and the people in charge at Great America are do-nothings. Aside from the beautiful repaint of Raging Bull, and new asphalt in Hometown Square, what do we have? Oh, the redo of Carousel Plaza gifts is wonderful, and merchandise is top-notch. Food, however, has declined. We now have two Johnny Rockets that do not serve real Johnny Rockets food. I bet a third will be added next year, maybe in Southwest Territory? Why not, the theme areas mean NOTHING anymore. What does the Dark Knight have to do with New Orleans? Anyway, the park is looking tired, landscaping has deteriorated, trees around the reflection pond are dying, lights are allowed to burn out, and not be changed. The park is a shadow of its former self. I am beginning to think that Six Flags is deliberately allowing the park to deteriorate so they have a good reason to close or sell it. Please, let Cedar Fair buy and rescue it before it is too late. Attendance is down substantially this year. This trend is going to continue until Shapiro and his cronies wake up and realize that this market demands new attractions that mean something. Parking is $25.00 (or $15.00 if you don't mind a long hike), the tollway will be under construction through 2010, and things are being removed, not added, and the end result is less attendance. You can get two days at Cedar Point for what one costs at Great America, and parking is just $10! It is not that far away...and neither is the end of Six Flags if Shapiro and his crew remain in power.

[Bob O]

To me visiting a theme park is much more than a collection of rides. Besides having excellant rides, you also need excellant shows, a clean enviroment, and theming/music that go together to give you a different experience that what you have outside the park.
And while Marriots/SF''s used to have that, it doesnt anymore and is now just a place to enjoy some of the good rides.

You dont build on ambience by having employee's wear ugly uniforms that say clean up because your all slobs, that everywhere in the park you go you are assaulted by advertising and hear awful music that isnt themed to the area of the park you are in. Besides the overpriced food/pay to skip scam which makes line's horrible/taking away free bins to force people to rent lockers. So what class the park had is now gone and unlikely to come back. And while adding a excellant ride will help, there are MANY other things that go into making a great time at the park and current managment is clueless in how to achieve this.

[bobbinbop20]

ill go to cedar point! world class thrills my friend world class thrills!

[CoasterCruiser]

The day I go to cedar point, will be the best day ever

[Chitown]

Cedarpoint this, Cedarpoint that.

Probably one of the most overrated parks in existence.

You see 17 coasters, I see about 4 coasters that are actually decent.

Even after that, not much is happening there. If you look at CP as the best park out there, you have a one track mind. It's kind of like music. If you only like Rock or only like Rap, you won't appreciate anything else.

Whatever, not going to get people to understand other aspects.

All of you CP lovers move your asses to Sandusky.

[Bob O]

Im no fanboy like alot of Cedar Point fans on this site, or other sites are, Cedar point is a very good park, but not the best by along shot.

But having visited Cear Point for two days this summer, I can say I had a great time, and enjoyed the park more than I have SFGAM the past fews years.
It was nice to see employee's in decent looking uniforms and not some trashy neon crap. It was nice to see all the rides I rode on fully staffed with every ride open at rope drop and all the rides running to full capacity. It was nice to walk around the park and not have everywhere you look some crappy advertising. Nice to have paper towels in bathrooms rather than useless hand dryers. Nice to have a snack of a freshed baked cookie that was reasonably priced rather than some pre-packaged/over priced cookie. Nice to have long lines move in a steady manner with no pay to skip line scam make the lines far longer than they appear. For families they had a nice petting zoo.They had area's that were well shaded with alot of area's for people to sit down,. They had a area where craftsman were showing guests how they there make crafts and you had the ability to have somtheing home made for you or buy items that were made right in the park. In some rides they had DJ's playing music. And it WAS GREAT that in the lines you didnt have TV's playing awful music videos (being played over and over etc) and then have to see more crappy advertising along with the awful Kit Hoover SF skits that make you want to puke rather then return to the park!!!
These are just some of the things that come to mind when copmparing my visits to SF and Cedar Point, a sadly most of the qualities that I found better at CP were common at SFGAM but are now a thing of the past which why SFGAM is good for its rides, but little else!!!

[SFGAm07]

Last time I went to CP Maverick and Millennium Force opened late, and Millennium Force broke down while I was in line, Dragster broke down while I was in line, Wicked Twister broke down while I was in line, and Maverick broke down 4 or 5 times while I was in line. It was quite difficult to have a good time there when they buy so many POS Intamin contraptions! Its unreal that they would get that many high-tech Intamin coasters in such a brief period of time that all break down so much. It was kind of hard to have a good time there, plus their operations were way worse in 2007 than they were in 2006 which made me not want to go back there.

[RBull4life]

For families they had a nice petting zoo.

And as for their kids section, they were staffed with ride-ops who are staring off at the big rides wishing that they were working there, and not really giving a damn about the rides they were staffed on.

And it WAS GREAT that in the lines you didnt have TV's playing awful music videos (being played over and over etc) and then have to see more crappy advertising along with the awful Kit Hoover SF skits that make you want to puke rather then return to the park!!!

Would you rather see advertising???? Jesus C!!!!!!

[coasterkidd100]

I would rather have music playing while in line instead of watching advertisments. If I wanted to see advertisments I would just go home and tun on my tv.

[bobbinbop20]

i just go to cedar point. world class thrills my friend world class thrills

[cycamps]

^We understood you the first time. No need to re-iterate it my friend, no need to re-iterate.

[Bob O]

I would much rather have no tv's in line at all, than what they have at SFGAM.

Or have some type of music that is themd to the ride if it can be done, which was the case while in line for Maverick(as it used to be for SWT at SFGAM).

And while I is was at CP, you had a few rides break down, but that happens at most theme parks and cant be avoided. But i give the park kudo's for TTD. The ride did break down at 9:15pm, but the park did get the ride up and running shortly before 10:00pm amd kept the ride open till 11:00pm so everyone in line did get to ride.

[Demon_07]

As far as I can think of, the only rides with music themed to the ride is Batman, Demon, SUF, and possibly TDK. I always thought it'd be cool if they played Werewolves of London in the IW queue and Fly Like an Eagle in AE's queue.

[rico28]

I had a season pass in '07. Then, saw a great deal 25% off for '08 passes but didn't have money at that time in Dec. '07.
The news in 2009 Passes now available online for $69.99 including FF '08 and HH '09. Parking is $65.00 still! This is a good deal keeping HH in the season pass price!
http://www.sixflags.com/greatAmerica/tickets/seasonpass.aspx

No News on rides for 09

[Ilovthevu']

I for one will still without question get a Six Flags Season Pass, though as usual not from SFGAm, will wait for SFStL to offer next years pass, and buy it as an out of market pass, and hopefully they do the "parking renewal", I got this years season pass for under $60 with parking. At that price, I cant not get one, and I get to ride Evel Knieval to boot. Plus the freak show during fright fest alone makes it entirely worth every cent I spend on the season pass. I've gone twice so far this year, then used my SF pass at SFGAdv once, still paid off easily and then some.

The problem I see with that is that if your pass is lost, or ruined somehow, you have to go back to St. Louis, and get a new one. I doubt they would be able to send one in the mail unless I'm wrong on this. It's like a free vacation, but yet what happens if something happens to your season pass.

The reason to not go back would be that the park start tearing stuff out right and left. Say goodbye to V2, Batman the Ride, Whizzer, Demon, and so on, I would only go once a year. However with the waterpark too, I doubt that I would stop getting a pass anytime soon. I think I'm more concerned about will they honor my season pass next year if Six Flags is no more? What company would take over Six Flags if they go out of business? Will this new company allow rerides on rides, or be like Cedar Fair?

Should I buy my season pass now, because I think the waterpark will be separate admission, and they will only let the people that buy it now go in the waterpark for free with pass, or buy it later hoping to get something more? This year, I got it cheaper by waiting for the next Six Flags deal, and it worked out. It's been like that 2 years in a row already. The ert stuff on the new ride, or waterpark early entrance to me is stupid. Do you know how many people are season pass holders, and want to go to those rides on those days?

[LAFFfan4lyfe]

I completely agree about Cedar Point. Maybe it was the fact that it was Halloweekends and I was freezing half the time, but I really didn't like the park as much as everyone hypes it up. I thought there were only a few good coasters, and the lack of theming really turned me off. Sure, the sit down Johnny Rockets were nice, but it's not a place I would like to go to over and over again.

I also sometimes wonder if they are letting the park deteriorate. For the most part, I like to think that I've been pretty supportive of Mark Shapiro's ideas for making it a family park. Things are just changing for me there that when asked a few times over the summer if I wanted to go to the park, I actually said no. Some policies that I think were meant to be great ideas have made people angry and made some think about never coming back.

It makes me think about the 2005 season. I loved that season. The park was amazing in my eyes, and I was enjoying myself a lot when I went there. Now when I go there, sometimes I'm just asking if we can leave because I don't want to be there anymore. Like Tony, I'd like to bring my family there one day maybe and tell them about how I used to go there all the time, but at this rate, I don't know if there'll be a great park to go to. If this steady decline keeps going, there might not even be a great time when I start having a family in 7 to 10 years.

[coasterkidd100]

Ya, I would love to bring my kids to the park when I am older. But at this rate I am wondering if there will even be a park there by then.