Minor Updates, Rumors, and Happenings

[Revi]

Six Flags Great America is a THRILL park... look at the lineup. This new CEO is horrible... Cedar Point is going to eat this one up. So will Kings Island. Giving one of the top 3 parks nothing for thrills is a bad idea for doing so for a long time. UNLESS they are saving up for something massive (no way i know)

[Tardis1972]

It’s simple. They want less thrill seeking teens and more families visiting the park.
A overall to Camp Cartoon seems to be up first. After that it’s between the spots where BB and the go karts are for the next two projects. Again this is coming SC so who knows if it’s true.

[Coaster Justin]

It’s simple. They want less thrill seeking teens and more families visiting the park.
A overall to Camp Cartoon seems to be up first. After that it’s between the spots where BB and the go karts are for the next two projects. Again this is coming SC so who knows if it’s true.

True but you can't just invest in families for a park like Six Flags, You need something for all 3 groups (Kids, Families, Adults) and just installing family stuff might not work.

Look how good adding... Well nothing the last 2 years has done. We've gotten rowdy groups. I agree a major overhaul of whatever the kids area is called is needed (Especially to Looney Tunes) but we also need to replace what we've lost with Buccaneer Battle and DDD and 1/2 Eagle.

[CoasterRiderSC]

They need to enforce behavior rules, enforce a dress code, etc.

I was at Busch Gardens and Sea World last week and I didn't see anyone acting up at all. I closed both parks.

I don't think having thrill rides necessarily brings out all the trouble makers: Cedar Point and Kings Island both have thrill rides and when I visited there I didn't see any of the riff-raff that our park has.

I think the relatively cheap passes plus the bring a friend free (in the past) or cheap is what brings out the riff raff. I think if a person is ejected from the park for fighting they forfeit their season pass. PERIOD.

And they're not allowed to buy another one!

[SFGAmFan12]

Camp Cartoon has needed an overhaul for at least five years, if not longer. Kidzopolis isn’t great either, and I think is even worse for families now that it is missing tent structure that provided shade—it was a great idea to utilize it for families but they let it go. The Hometown Square rides were cool as a homage to the early days of the park, and that it’s three kid rides in an area that didn’t have any.

Bugs Bunny National Forest should have stayed—it was well themed, used IP the park has had access to for decades, and was sort of timeless versus the remains of Camp Cartoon and Wiggles World/Kidzopolis.

I think the coming year will be around kids and families with a small single rail coaster in the mix like St Louis got and a couple other parks. Then, I think, they will find out (again) that catering to families isn’t going to solve their crime problems, it’s raising ticket prices and offering a better overall product. Every CEO they have had has taken the family approach, learns after a couple years, readjusts, and then the cycle repeats after a decade or so.

[Tardis1972]

^ Yeah no thanks for the Skyline single rail family coaster. We’re halfway through July and as far as I know SFFT and SFOG haven’t opened third yet.
SFStL got a Vekoma family coaster this year actually and that hasn’t opened yet either.
On positive note all my visits to the park this year have been good. It’s just too bad RB and Maxx Force aren’t running with all their trains.

[Goku1910]

Didn't think this needed a whole new topic but stay classy.

https://wgntv.com/news/north-suburbs/po ... -attacked/

[briphotoguy]

Didn't think this needed a whole new topic but stay classy.

https://wgntv.com/news/north-suburbs/po ... -attacked/

Forgive me for saying this but the park has turned Ghetto… I haven’t been in 3 years or so, but I hear nothing but this type of nonsense. I remember being excited about Coasters after Dark events. Nowadays it’s get outta there before dark type of park.


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[CoasterRiderSC]

Perhaps our park should adopt a Chaperone Policy like Worlds of Fun (and perhaps all Cedar Fair parks) does

Chaperone Policy
The safety of our guests and associates has always been our top priority at Worlds of Fun. Over the past two years, there have been increasing incidents of unruly and inappropriate behavior across our industry and at other major entertainment venues. We are committed to keeping Worlds of Fun a place where families and friends come together to enjoy a one-of-a-kind park full of fun experiences and immersive entertainment.

As part of that commitment, we are implementing a chaperone policy beginning Saturday, April 15, 2023.

Under this policy, all guests ages 15 years old or younger must be accompanied by a chaperone who is at least 21 years old in order to be admitted to, or remain in, the park after 4:00 p.m. local time to close. The chaperone must present a valid government-issued photo identification with date of birth at ticket entry. One (1) chaperone may accompany no more than ten (10) guests ages 15 or younger per day. In addition, the chaperone must accompany their party during entry, remain inside the park during their visit, and be available by phone throughout their stay. Guests ages 15 years old or younger who are found inside the park unaccompanied by a chaperone will be subject to ejection. This chaperone requirement applies to all Worlds of FunE ticket and season passholders.

We believe these changes will help ensure that Worlds of Fun continues to have a positive atmosphere where generations of families and friends can gather for a day of safe fun and good food. Millions of guests have counted on us for exactly that, and we will continue to deliver on that promise for generations to come.

[Tardis1972]

What’s going on with Demon? Seems like it’s been down the last few weeks.

[CoasterRiderSC]

What’s going on with Demon? Seems like it’s been down the last few weeks.

I'm wondering the same thing!!

Six Flags Great America site lists all the Kidzopolis rides open 12:00 to 8 but Demon is closed?? Why have kids rides open till 8?? Is Demon closed due to staffing??

[Tardis1972]

I don’t think it’s a staffing issue. Demon was open during my June visits. But since my later afternoon July 4th visit it’s been closed.

[B&MGuy35]

^ Yeah no thanks for the Skyline single rail family coaster. We’re halfway through July and as far as I know SFFT and SFOG haven’t opened third yet.
SFStL got a Vekoma family coaster this year actually and that hasn’t opened yet either.
On positive note all my visits to the park this year have been good. It’s just too bad RB and Maxx Force aren’t running with all their trains.

This is only happening because they had announced there would be no new attractions in 2023 and then Salem changed his mind and bought things for certain parks at the last min. In reality they are behind about 6 months or where there would usually be with attractions since the planning didn’t start happening until the new year. I’m kinda shocked they said these would be open when they announced them…it will prolly be close to the end of the season.

[coasterfanatic]

The one at Fiesta Texas is going up quickly. They don’t need to pour footers or anything for them. I imagine it will be ready for Fright Fest.


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[CoasterRiderSC]

Those Kid Flash Cosmic Coasters are super short! Does the train go through multiple times??

[Tardis1972]

Logger’s Run has finally opened. Time for Condor to open and Demon to reopen next.

[CoasterRiderSC]

Logger’s Run has finally opened. Time for Condor to open and Demon to reopen next.

YES! Long overdue for all these rides. I heard Rapids finally opened?

[Agent]

Does anyone know what ever happened to the original parade floats? While on the Scenic Railway (which seems to have a new soundtrack?), to the left of the train near the Roaring Rapids, I observed beyond many trees a structure which looked familiar. It looked exactly like the old County Fair parade float. In particular, I was able to make out the ferris wheel on it (see 0:10 in the video here for an idea of how the County Fair parade float looked like). Just a curious sight as I had heard that the floats had been overhauled entirely in 2000.

Speaking of the railway though, it appears that the railway has a new soundtrack. Scrolling through videos on YouTube that people have recently posted of the scenic railway in the last few weeks, I wasn't able to hear it on any video (the latest video of the scenic railway was 2 weeks ago by 'JiggidyNDG') so I'm guessing it's a new addition added either last week or this week. It's rather nice, it gives you a tour of the park as you leave the station. In the background, it plays the instrumental version of the original "Marriott's Great America" theme song. Once you're near the next station, it transitions to playing the full "Maybe a Great Day is Just What You Need This Year" song (see here for a little clip of the song, I don't think the full extended version of the song is available on the internet?) which has some pretty cool guitar riffs not in the clip I linked so it's quite enjoyable as a song. Only complaint I have about it is that the last song starts blaring out at full volume which can give you a headache (you can definitely hear it from outside of the station) but when I rode a second time, the volume was much more bearable so I'm guessing maybe the conductor can control it.

[batmanfan80]

Got my first visit in this year. After helping someone move for weeks my previous car had engine failure and it took weeks and weeks to get something else. Now I got a Prius and that makes driving so much easier. So, this was the first time since 2013 that I've been able to do Fright Fest that I can recall. After the Goliath hordes of 2014, it took Covid and a lack of new rides to wipe out the insane levels of demand. I would be perfectly fine with the park basically staying as it is with reasonable crowd levels instead of adding another huge ride that draws the hordes back. Luckily I don't think there's a big move to be made. They can relocate Raging Trimbrake or Pretzelman elsewhere and put something new in, but then after five years or so they will need something new again to drum up demand.

I've got the season flash pass Gold and that was a tremendous help. Though that Eagle line must've been 45-50 minutes as opposed to the 25 min stated on Queue-times. Just moved so slow. The ops weren't that slow dispatching the train when I got there. Luckily it was red and it was running as good as ever. I had started with Whizzer and that sorta scrambled my brain a bit. It's never been a particularly smooth ride. Viper was good but I didn't feel much exhilaration from it. Takes a little time to readjust to riding everything. They should make it so you don't have to say excuse me to everyone just to reach the flash pass line there.

Batman also running better than ever. Even in the 4th row it was awesome. They had a grouper. Justice League was me using the single rider line as it was faster than flash pass. I still can't figure out how that ride works but it's always pretty cool. Looks like they added some skeletons at a table for FF.

We did two haunts. The Gates of Hell and 13th Order. Never done haunts before as I can do that sorta thing without driving to Gurnee. These were pretty cool, scare actors can get pretty loud close to your face so you may want to plug your ears. Too bad the Saw X one wasn't open. I'm not sure what constitutes a good haunted exhibit and what doesn't. It reminds me a bit of what Brookfield Zoo used to do and some of the Chicago Hauntbuilders stuff.

Pretzelman was more fun for me this time than ever before. Maybe the last time I was on it was earlier in 2018 or even 2017. It's kinda just a bunch of hang gliding after the loop, but it's good if you're not desiring a big thrill at the moment. Then I did the carousel. I wasn't with someone who wanted to run to all the rides, so I didn't do as much as I could. But I rode what I really wanted.

Yankee Clipper was actually running but my Flash Pass section on the app said it was closed. Most of my wait times were around 22 min. Around 8 PM I noticed that Maxx Force said "add-on only". Not sure what that was about. It did that with another ride too around that time, maybe Raging Trimbrake. Does anyone here know why that happens? I am quite sure I didn't see that earlier in the day.

Lots of bees out, maybe yellow jackets pestering everyone. I'm pretty sure that was how it was last time I was there around this time. They kept flying around but didn't seem very aggressive at least. Tried the new LA Grill with the Mediterranean stuff. Chicken Shawarma turned out really good.

The pass setup was a little cumbersome. I made sure to go to the place in Hometown Square to make sure it was all set and it turned out that I needed them to do something to get the season flash pass going. The park needs to do something to allow Diamond holders to use the Diamond lot even if they haven't reserved anything when the lot is barely full. Luckily I just found another spot in the regular lot right by the Diamond one. But the whole lot was maybe 50% full. Food lines were good, maybe 5-10 people in them in the Food court. Only 1 or 2 people at most snack stands.

The rides themselves all had full queues most of the time. X-Flight a little less than full. Not sure about Raging as I didn't walk by it. Sky Trek was running and the walkway was full. Pretzelman was all the way to the back but they didn't have the whole thing open, it was basically a straight line. Joker very full. Hangover was running but I'm not sure if people were on it. The app had it labeled "closed" if memory serves. Batman was maybe half full when I got on it using my flash pass and then filled to maybe 75% after that. Whizzer was spilling outside its structure. Wait times of 35-50 minutes are probably what I would say these lines were given the speed of the ops today.

All the food and snack places were open from what I could tell. Maybe not Moosejaw, but they had the Oktoberfest outside. There was no line for Gates of Hell at 6 PM. Line for 13th Order got to around 200 people with a lot of express guests. But it's not like flash pass and ADA where you have to wait for all of them to enter before you move an inch.

As far as scare actors walking the park, there were a lot and they were more interactive than a decade ago. Several with chainsaws near Little Dipper and the Go Karts. But I did not go over by Southwest Territory and County Fair after 6 PM.

I'd say the waiting experience was back towards 2012 and 2013 normal levels but more than those years were in September. The lines and crowds would maybe be lower than 2012 and 2013 if all the rides were open. The big question is if the hordes return during the middle of next month and if they open anything else back up.

[RobSFGAm]

Dare Devil Dive deconstruction has started. Saw the crane yesterday and this morning the one tower support was down and they were starting on the second one.

[CoasterRiderSC]

Dare Devil Dive deconstruction has started. Saw the crane yesterday and this morning the one tower support was down and they were starting on the second one.

WOW! That's an early start! I imagine the building of Sky Striker won't take very long.

[HCF]

SFGAm Fan Base on Facebook just sent out two tombstone photos, one of Dare devil dive. Plus, two more on coffins that say "2004-" & "2018-" with the writing "all good things must come to an end, so that we can make new friends". Very subtle

[coasterfanatic]

SFGAm Fan Base on Facebook just sent out two tombstone photos, one of Dare devil dive. Plus, two more on coffins that say "2004-" & "2018-" with the writing "all good things must come to an end, so that we can make new friends". Very subtle

Yep. Here is the photo I took yesterday. Looks like the StupidLoop and Revolution are in their final days.


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[CoasterRiderSC]

Thanks for the updates!!!

Revo-LOSE-ion is obvious since we're getting Sky Striker. As for the superloop, are they doing it because that one got stuck upside down for hours??

Isn't Suck-a-neer Battle going away also?? Was there gravestone for that sorry ride??

[coasterfanatic]

Revo-LOSE-ion is obvious since we're getting Sky Striker. As for the superloop, are they doing it because that one got stuck upside down for hours??

Isn't Suck-a-neer Battle going away also?? Was there gravestone for that sorry ride??

I doubt that has anything to do it with. The rides were a poor investment. And they’ve slowly begun removing them from other parks.

There wasn’t anything for Battle yet but given that there isn’t, I imagine it will be SBNO until they use the land.


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