Six Flags Great America Attendance

[ttd rox]

Does anybody know the attendance this past season (2011) for SFGAm? Is there a place to find out the estimate so I can compare it to the other Six Flags parks?

[Ilovthevu']

It won't come out for a little bit. Last year, I guess it was June for 2010, but I thought it was a little earlier than that before. It's the TEA Theme Park Attendance.

This is from 2010:
http://www.themeit.com/etea/2010Report.pdf

The problem with this list though is that they only show Great Adventure, and Great America because they are in the top 20 (towards the bottom but in the top). Though, Magic Mountain is always around Great America, and Great Adventure. Sometimes, it's a little higher than us, and sometimes it's a little lower.

This will show you more parks (top 50 from North America) from Amusement Business, but this is 2003 which I know is almost 10 years old, but at least you get to see SFOG, SFOT, SFStL, and SFNE, etc.
http://www.amusementbusiness.com/amusem ... merica.pdf

[ttd rox]

Thank you very much!

[Chitown]

We will never know accurate attendance figures because Six Flags doesn't release individual attendance numbers. They only report total attendance at all of their parks.

[BP317]

TEA (Themed Entertainment Association) releases a calculated estimate which is not always accurate. No parks release their attendance figures to the press anymore as they don't want a huge fluctuation in the stock price.
I don't know how many season passes SFGAm sells in a season, but it's a lot, and probably just as much if not more than any other SF park does.

[Jerrykoala2112]

This will show you more parks (top 50 from North America) from Amusement Business, but this is 2003 which I know is almost 10 years old, but at least you get to see SFOG, SFOT, SFStL, and SFNE, etc.
http://www.amusementbusiness.com/amusem ... merica.pdf

Thank you for posting this! I love looking at attendance figures to show how we compare to other parks. It's a shame, that SFMM dropped so much and now SFGAM has passed it. Just goes to show how much SFMM has gone down hill, or how much SFGAm has improved since then.

[Chitown]

^10 years ago, yes, SFMM was going downhill but since Shapiro became CEO of SF back in 2005, park operations have improved dramatically. I hear nothing but good things about the park now.

[Jerrykoala2112]

^10 years ago, yes, SFMM was going downhill but since Shapiro became CEO of SF back in 2005, park operations have improved dramatically. I hear nothing but good things about the park now.

Really? When I visited the park last year and in 2010, once in May and once in September, both days had crazy long lines and the employees seemed to not care about their jobs. Except for the X2 crew, other ride ops could have shuffled around a bit more to get lines movie. Although it is still nothing compared to La Ronde.

[Necropolis]

I can tell you that X-Flight will bring in a record number of people this year since X-Flight is "One of the first of its kind in the World!" Isn't there a counter at the turnstiles when you exit a coaster?

[FParker185]

Actually the only real attendance record year was when the waterpark opened. They had hoped to hit 3 million people with Demon in 1980, but didn't hit it until Hurricane Harbor opened. don't think they've hit it since, and guessing it wont happen this year either.

[CoasterNick3157]

Question are they going to open it up at 10 or 11 since it's in county fair.

[DejaVu2001]

^ All rides opened at 10:00 last year except for water rides, Railroad, and the second side of Eagle.

[Coaster Justin]

Actually the only real attendance record year was when the waterpark opened. They had hoped to hit 3 million people with Demon in 1980, but didn't hit it until Hurricane Harbor opened. don't think they've hit it since, and guessing it wont happen this year either.

What about Raging Bull's opening year?

Batman's Opening Year in 1992 was supposedly at 3M
An Arrow Video said Shockwave gave GAm it's highest attendance yet in 88

[FParker185]

I don't have the stats since they aren't released, just 2 newspaper articles, one from 1979 saying the park wants and expects to hit 3 million people with the introduction of Demon. Then an article from the year after Hurricane Harbor opened saying the park hit the 3 million guest mark for the first time in it's history.

[Necropolis]

Thats kind of surprising. Im not calling anyone a liar lol but havent there been multiple coasters where they've had their one millionth rider for the season? I remember in 2010 there was a decent number of coasters that achieved that milestone that season, so in a way wouldn't the park have hit their 3 millionth visitor that year? idk just a hunch lol.

[FParker185]

Well that would imply that people who visit SFGAm ride one coaster one time than leave. If one visitor rides 10 coasters, then that counts 10 times towards each rides ridership. Also the 1,000,000'th rider is never accurate. Even asked one of the demon op's as I was there for it's 1,000,000'th rider. Numbers don't really mean anything. It will always be a kid. It's really just a marketing thing (pretty good one at that)

[woohoodude11]

^^Also keep in mind when we go, we ride our favorite rides multiple times as well. I can't leave the park until I've ridden Bull, BTR, and V2 at least 3 times.

[Necropolis]

Yeah haha I didn't realize those good points until after I made my last post. Makes total sense. So yeah if everyone rode on average 10 coasters in one day, (which is a lucky number of coasters to ride in one day), and if a coaster reached it's three millionth rider, then on average wouldn't the total number of riders have to be like 300,000 or something. Im finding it hard to put this into words. IDK if Im even making sense. Thats kind of discriminatory that the park only rewards kids something for being a "one millionth rider." I am greatly offended they are not being fair.

[FParker185]

The easiest way to put it, is they go by turnstile numbers to come close to their millionth rider. Every time anyone passes though the ride's turnstile turnstile they count as one towards that ride, or 50 if some bored kid sits there and spins it.

well, adults want better and more expensive prizes than kids.

Plus some happy kid holding a certificate and giant stuffed animals makes a much better and less creepy photo opportunity

[bucks699]

Would anyone happen to know how you think the 2012 opening day attendance will be? I'm thinking of going opening day or the 6th to get my season pass processed. I'm guessing the 6th would be less crowded since its Sunday.

[BURTONxBLUNT]

Would anyone happen to know how you think the 2012 opening day attendance will be? I'm thinking of going opening day or the 6th to get my season pass processed. I'm guessing the 6th would be less crowded since its Sunday.

All depends on the weather...If it is a muggy cold day im sure alot of people wont go opening day but if its in the high 60s expect waiting in line for a good hr or so but im hoping opening day is like last year were the lines were a 30 min wait tops all day