Platinum Flash Pass Clarification

[wishman35]

I went an inquired about the platinum flash pass since nobody has really discussed it and some were confused about how the re-ride process worked...

I guess you receive a wristband, and are actually entitled to stay on the ride for a second ride. I was actually surprised and thought that maybe you would just get to enter the flash pass area without a wait.

This seem pretty damn cool and I may have to do this on a busy Saturday with some friends for the hell of it. I mean the waits are cut down 90% .. meaning probably 1-5 minutes per ride AND you get to re-ride every single ride.

Front row for V2 twice in a row on a busy Saturday in July is a good hour wait each way.

Sure it is $75, but put a little change away and consider it your platinum pass fund. Nothing better than the look on angry, sweaty peoples faces when you are re-riding Bull after they waited 2 hours for it.

[UWW-10]

To me, I don't think this new Platinum level is really worth it in the long run. The only times of the year when it's that busy would be July 4th weekend, end of Read to Succeed, and Fright Fest. The added "perk" of the re-ride is really the bonus perk that makes it cool (besides the extra cut in time) because a gold flashpass worked wonders and if you re-reserved right away as you walked past the attendant, you could basically ride, get-off and have the thing buzzing again telling you it was time to ride. The only difference being that you couldn't just stay in the seat.....but that's not a big deal to me anyways.

I also would have thought that they'd track the re-ride thing better than a wristband....but maybe they have kinks to work out. I can just see multiple complaints to GR. I understand how the program works, but like you said....try telling it to the sweaty person who has just waited 2+ hours and now the have to wait another cycle (especially for V2...as you stated).

[wishman35]

I agree with you totally. I didn't think you would actually get to stay on the ride. I thought it would be a free flash pass entry without wait.

When I asked them though they said the Gold flash pass had actually been cut back in terms of how much the wait is reduced... maybe like 10-15% they said?

I think it is like 60-70% now and it was 75-80% before? That is just a guess.

You are right the gold makes for way to much riding as it is lol ... but you are right I was planning maybe to go on July 3rd. The day before 4th of July and on a Saturday?! Perfect!

It really may be worth it just for the fun of walking past 2 hour lines. Not being an ass, but if you are willing to put up for it, you deserve it!

[onyxhotel08]

Gold is up to 75% less. I never waited more than 5 minutes for any ride on Gold Flash Passes. Yeah re-rides are fun but about $20 more? Pass. I have a good meal for that AND a few drinks IN the park.

[wishman35]

Yeah like I said, I would consider it only a very busy looking Saturday in July.

[onyxhotel08]

July/October are the worst yes but it does get very busy once Hurricane Harbor opens up. Very few stay there the whole day. People like to wonder around.

[CoasterNick3157]

Who knows if six flags will jack up the price during busy days.

[onyxhotel08]

For 6 people the Platinum is almost $400. Let them try to increase the price. The Flash pass Center will be a ghost town.

[CoasterNick3157]

^ you can buy a 32 inch hdtv with that.

[onyxhotel08]

And a lot of other stuff. For something you only use once and neve ragain this is a ridiculous sum of oney to spend.

[Necropolis]

I would get any flash pass but i have a weak stomach lol. Im kinda glad I have to wait in line for coasters because I can use the wait time to recover from the last coaster. When I went opening day, I rode 4 coasters in 40 minutes and I had to recover for a good hour and a half. I waited outside the coasters while my friends rode em. I was originally gonna get a flash pass with my friends but after going opening day, I changed my mind. Right after Iron Wolf I ALMOST threw up. Wish there was a smily for vomiting lol. I think SFGAM is one of the few parks with an electronic flash pass system. The others that don't use batches of tickets, which stinks because If u run out of tickets, u gotta purchase more.

[monsterfan99]

^Almost all the SF parks have moved to the Q-Bot system. I do know SFKK was on the ticket based system last year.

[onyxhotel08]

Why would you need a flash pass for SFKK? They only did about 400,000 people last year! And they barely have any rides worth riding anyway.

[monsterfan99]

^We bought one when we got in as we were only going to be there 3 hours and everything was only 1 train. Never ended up using it and gave it to some family who loved it.

[Luxornv]

It sounds incredibly overpriced compared to the Gold Flash Pass. This is personally something I would never do at Great America since I've been there many times and have ridden everything I want to at some point. If you don't get to ride everything in a day, and happen to be in town another few days, an easy remedy is to just go another day. That said though, I think a lot of people will buy this because it clearly cuts lines and has some obvious perks. I'd do this at another park if I could only spend one day there and the lines were absolutely insane. Past few times I've been to any park though, lines have been very reasonable though.

[shockwave guy mark]

They also are very limited with the Platinum flash passes too. When I got a gold flash pass last weekend they told us they can only give out 100. Once they reach 100 they can't give out anymore. I will buy one just because I hate waiting in line and I go to the park just to ride the roller coasters and I dont mind paying that price on a nice crowded day.

[onyxhotel08]

This would be a must at a park like SFMM or SFGADV but yeah I don't get that rush anymore for any ride that says "I need to get on it today!"...And yeah I never saw flash passes sell out and I have been to the park on pretty busy days

[wishman35]

Ive seen them sell out of them before, and definitely have seen them sell out of the gold's at the least.

[Necropolis]

Ive seen them sell out of them before, and definitely have seen them sell out of the gold's at the least.

yep, im pretty sure they have a limited supply of flash passes so that way there isnt this HUGE line of people with flash passes and a HUGE line of people with no passes waiting.

[monsterfan99]

^For the regular one, there is no limit. It' how you end up with weird problems on rides with assigned rows. On Batman at SFOG, the wait time in the line for the Flash Pass was longer than the stand-by line earlier this year.

[diggerg56]

I'm curious about something.....Over on TPR someone posted they were only allowed one ride (all day) on Goliath with the Platinum Flash Pass. Anyone know anything about that? The website doesn't say anything about restrictions like that.

[jackparanoia]

I know X Flight was two rides per day when it was new, but that's all I know.

[Sporlo]

I'm just waiting for the day when Flash Pass is discontinued (and exit passes too)

[CoasterCale]

I'm just waiting for the day when Flash Pass is discontinued (and exit passes too)

That'll never happen, FP is a better portion of the park's profit. Think about it, besides the FP employee's minimum wage, How much does it cost to let me go in a separate entrance and skip part of the line? Absolutely nothing.

[FParker185]

Flash Pass is run by an outside firm(Accesso/Lo-Q), the park only gets a percentage of the $$ made, from what I hear all the flash pass employees are technically not park employees.