1) I agree that theming in the park is badly diluted. The only consistent area is SWT. But I don't see this changing anytime soon, and I don't see them re-naming major rides. Most Six Flags parks put in new rides regardless of how they impact the area. Remember, Superman was originally going into old-timey Hometown Square. Yukon Territory has go karts. I'd love to see this happen, but consistent theming isn't a priority in the Six Flags business model.
2) Lots of aesthetic improvements are possible. I think Busch Gardens in Williamsburg sets the gold standard in the category (excluding Disney, since they run very differently from Six Flags). Busch Gardens puts in great coasters and invests in great landscaping, aesthetic maintenance, etc. Giving the park a great look gives more people more reasons to come. SFGAM will never look as good as BG, but it'd be nice to see them strive towards it. Heck, just start with a small section of the park, spruce everything up to a new standard, and see how people react. A 40th anniversary "re-birth" of an older area of the park would be nice to see.
3) Replace Demon with something that's worth the real estate and maintenance. It's a huge space, especially if you take out the midway from Orbit to BB. (I know people complained that they blocked the path years ago but that's because it was artificial. Stick a big coaster in the way and nobody will care). Take out BB and put in a ride helix. Trust me, it'll get utilized more than BB. With Demon out, you can change the path from SWT to County Fair to go over the Scenic Railway tunnel rather than across the tracks. That'll save the park from having to pay employees to stand at that crossing
4) Someone mentioned a coaster in the flumes area, with the flumes still there. That'd make for a cool coaster, but unless the ride is quiet, the noise would have a strong negative impact on the flumes. Peaceful flumes family ride and then ROAR!!!!!!
5) I don't mind having both Mardi Gras and Orleans Place. They're separated by the train bridge, and at least Mardi Gras feels like a carnival. Orleans Place is just a hodge podge now.
6) With the exception of Whizzer, it's basically a walk-through zone from the front entrance to SWT. They need something to drive pedestrians to Hometown Square. It's landlocked, but a signature flat ride could help.
7) Move the go karts back to the parking lot where they belong.
I see a few flaws. First off, the train gates are automatic, so the nearest employees would be at the Slushee stand. Second, the Flumes are already relatively loud, with water, the old "drop changer" mechanics, and hard rubber wheels hitting the sides, it would pretty much make no difference. Third, between Orbit, Demon, and BB, I don't think a big coaster would help. You said we need to focus on theming, right? So wouldn't another big coaster just add to the "County Variety Fair" mix. Also wouldn't it be better to replace 3 rides with another 3 or 4? Perhaps, orbit can be the location of "The Great American SkyScreamer", BB can combine spaces with Go Karts and add a small coaster or medium or large flat(Screaming Swing, Disko, or something fun), and Demon could be a small coaster, maybe a flat where corkscrews were. And finally, there is no where to put the Go Karts. The best place is the Pictorium. And we want to save that space for a coaster, right? Thus concluding my rant. Good day
The nearest Marriotts is a Fairfield Inn on the Gurnee Mills area behind the parking lots. Its like Cedar Point promoting a Comfort Inn. But I guess some coupons for Six Flags could be sold at Marriott hotels around the area.
Guy_With_A_Stick wrote:The nearest Marriotts is a Fairfield Inn on the Gurnee Mills area behind the parking lots. Its like Cedar Point promoting a Comfort Inn. But I guess some coupons for Six Flags could be sold at Marriott hotels around the area.
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I was thinking more of SFGAM ticket holders that day (or for a limited time) get 40% off Marriott hotel rooms nationwide and/or, and Marriott hotel guests get 40% off SFGam tickets or at Marriotts original parks. I know it would take some doing but it's just one way to promote the 40th celebration.
Guy_With_A_Stick wrote:I see a few flaws. First off, the train gates are automatic, so the nearest employees would be at the Slushee stand. Second, the Flumes are already relatively loud, with water, the old "drop changer" mechanics, and hard rubber wheels hitting the sides, it would pretty much make no difference. Third, between Orbit, Demon, and BB, I don't think a big coaster would help. You said we need to focus on theming, right? So wouldn't another big coaster just add to the "County Variety Fair" mix. Also wouldn't it be better to replace 3 rides with another 3 or 4? Perhaps, orbit can be the location of "The Great American SkyScreamer", BB can combine spaces with Go Karts and add a small coaster or medium or large flat(Screaming Swing, Disko, or something fun), and Demon could be a small coaster, maybe a flat where corkscrews were. And finally, there is no where to put the Go Karts. The best place is the Pictorium. And we want to save that space for a coaster, right? Thus concluding my rant. Good day
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I think you misread what I wrote. Consistent area theming is nice, but what I said in my post is that it's clearly not a priority. Futuristic X-Flight is already in County Fair, so it doesn't really matter what theme a Demon replacement coaster has. I think the only place where the park could add new inconsistency is by putting something in SWT that's totally out of character.
You can't combine the BB and go karts lots into one flat ride because the park's main service road runs down the middle. I guess a small coaster could straddle the service road but I'd be surprised if the park did that.
When I operated Scenic Railway, an employee would stand at the automatic gates because inevitably, guests would try to run across while the train is approaching.
The flumes make noise but they aren't roller coaster loud. I think there's a big difference between clinky clanky wheel noises and a B&M 'roarer' coaster. Maybe they could fill the box track with sand.
It'd be nice if Pictorium were re-purposed as a new indoor attraction, but if they tore the whole thing down I don't think most people would care. It's just wasted space right now anyways.
Then again, maybe they could use Pictorium to show social awareness documentaries inside. Because my comment about the go karts was intentionally glib (so is my comment about social awareness documentaries).
Good day
Last edited by sfgam-fan on June 30th, 2014, 10:28 pm, edited 2 times in total.
New idea (for the 40th or whenever) - tear down the Pictorium. Use the land (and the area around Sky Trek Tower) for a new kids area, which would be a much needed thing on that side of the park.
Reopen Theater Royale if they need the space for the Susan Rosen show or whatever.
Now that they have a third kids area, this would open up the possibility of removing Camp Cartoon down the line if they were ever going to do anything with the flume area.
4) Someone mentioned a coaster in the flumes area, with the flumes still there. That'd make for a cool coaster, but unless the ride is quiet, the noise would have a strong negative impact on the flumes. Peaceful flumes family ride and then ROAR!!!!!!
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The flume rides really aren't that peaceful though. The boats are loud and V2's screams and launch are clearly audible from just about any point on either flume ride. Plus I don't think Mack coasters are that loud either. I don't see the park doing it though. If a coaster goes there, the flumes will not be staying.
On a side note, I wouldn't really expect much of anything special for the 40th - this is Great Adventure's 40th season, and from what I can tell they didn't really do any sort of special anniversary thing for it. Based on that...
Really the only thing Great Adventure has done was selling t-shirts saying "40th Anniversary". And apparently those shirts are season pass holder exclusive.
Consecutive Trips Riding X Flight: 92 SFGAm Lifetime Trips: 104
kossdude1 wrote:Really the only thing Great Adventure has done was selling t-shirts saying "40th Anniversary". And apparently those shirts are season pass holder exclusive.
Maybe they'll use the t-shirt proceeds to buy a fresh coat of paint
4) Someone mentioned a coaster in the flumes area, with the flumes still there. That'd make for a cool coaster, but unless the ride is quiet, the noise would have a strong negative impact on the flumes. Peaceful flumes family ride and then ROAR!!!!!!
.
The flume rides really aren't that peaceful though. The boats are loud and V2's screams and launch are clearly audible from just about any point on either flume ride. Plus I don't think Mack coasters are that loud either. I don't see the park doing it though. If a coaster goes there, the flumes will not be staying.
Peaceful was too strong of a word. I don't see six flags putting in a coaster there w/o re-developing the whole area. I was just pointing out one reason why I didn't think it would happen. Should have been more exact in my wording.
Great Adventure teamed up with Greatadventurehistory.com to set up a little history museum for the anniversary. I'd love to see Great America do that, especially since they also have a history site, greatamericaparks.com, that they could work with.
DeathbyDinn wrote:Great Adventure teamed up with Greatadventurehistory.com to set up a little history museum for the anniversary. I'd love to see Great America do that, especially since they also have a history site, greatamericaparks.com, that they could work with.
That would be awesome! They have to have some old stuff somewhere. They could probably put old pictures and stuff in that giftshop in Mardi Gras.
Personally I just think getting all the theming and landscaping back in line would be great with each area of the park. Southwest Territory currently hits the nail on the head, but the rest of the park could use some work. Even a re-theme/re-name of a few rides/coasters. V2 could use a re-theme to fit that area, same with x-flight. Just my opinion though.
skibum101184 wrote:Personally I just think getting all the theming and landscaping back in line would be great with each area of the park. Southwest Territory currently hits the nail on the head, but the rest of the park could use some work. Even a re-theme/re-name of a few rides/coasters. V2 could use a re-theme to fit that area, same with x-flight. Just my opinion though.
Yeah we should retheme one of the best themed coasters in the park.
This is an outlandish idea, this will probably never happen.
We could solve a bit of the theming problem, what if we transformed Mardi Gras to Gotham City. I know this would be stupid. What if moved Dark Knight's line area, move it under the train track hill (make a tunnel) and have the entrance by Mardi Gras. Then, we could possibly move Batman's entrance to where the overflow line leads to and have the front portion of Yankee Harbor be also Gotham. The only problem left is Superman. An option is a re-theme to something Orleans themed.
^The park really doesn't care about rides fitting it. A few examples: Goliath in County Fair X-Flight in Country Fair The Dark Knight in Orleans Place Superman in Orleans Place Batman in Yankee Harbor V2 in Yankee Harbor Bucaneer Battle in County Fair
I think they are going the right direction with double rides on flats, but I also hope they turn the trains on another coaster backwards. Maybe American Eagle and Whizzer. Any thoughts?