Six Flags Great America: I Must Vent

[ItlngrlBella]

Currently at Hurricane Harbor taking a break from slides and trying to get a tan... And I feel I need to vent...

My daughter's ticket was free due to an awesome reading program they offer (read x amount of minutes, your child earns a free ticket). It's brilliant and evil all at the same time...

For me to take her, it was $101.00 that included my "discounted" park ticket (because I bought it online), $8.99 online processing fee, $25 for parking and another $15 for us to get into the waterpark.

In addition you can't wear your swimsuit in the park (only in waterpark - understandable).

Ok, so we will need a locker in the waterpark to store our clothes for later. That's another $15 for a locker. The waterpark closes at 6 so we will need to change and a place to store our suits outside the waterpark (car was waaaaaaaay out in the lot). So I will be spending another $15.

Thank God we had a large breakfast at home because we split a $10 cheese/chips nacho for our "lunch" today.

Our favorite waterpark stuff is broken: All the giant water dump buckets in kids play-waterpark aren't working and the large swimming pool is closed and they won't tell anyone why, when or even if it will reopen.

Grrrrrr.

 

[Bairstow]

Preach.

GA is a giant ripoff. I've been twice in my 24 years living less than an hour away, and never once found myself having fun.

I feel your pain.
We're two hours away and bought season passes last year. We're not doing that for a long, long time, despite Six Flags constantly e-mailing us with progressively lower offers to re-up.
Maybe if they offer to pay me to go I'd consider it.

It's a real shame, too, since they've got some great coasters and you can tell that some talented people have made some commendable efforts to theme the place over the years. However, the attitude of the employees, other guests, and general way in which the place is run is so disagreeable that I can't stomach the thought of having to spend the day there.

 

[ItlngrlBella]

Got home about 1 hour ago.

It's just very sad.

I grew up in Green Oaks/extreme north Libertyville, adjacent to Gurnee - about - 5-10 minute drive up the I(94) from Great America. I interned at Six Flags in HR & special events in college and I had an awesome time doing so. So I have a soft space in my heart for the place - plus, we share the same birthday - the park and I both turned 40 this year. I have great childhood memories from there.

I felt nickel and dimed - wait, no - I felt $5'ed and $10'ed to death. A few years ago the waterpark was included in your park ticket, then it cost an additional $5, this year it's $7.50. (I'm sure next year it will be $10) Parking was $10 (when I interned)... 2 years ago it was $20... It's now $25 to park.

When the waterpark closed today I refused to get another locker in the park to store our wet suits and towels nor trek back to our car - so I carried it in a backpack, on my back, like a pack mule. We brought our giant Six Flags $15 refill bottle from last year and drank ice water all day - fight the power!!! Attendants tried to pitch us on buying a new one and refilling with soda. I didn't budge - they didn't seem happy. Oh well.

For dinner we split a $13.00 "chicken tender dinner."

The pic on their sign showed tenders as long as your hand. What we got were 3 McNugget sized chicken bites and a crapload of fries:

(Yes that is a FULL tender, actual size - smaller than our honey mustard packet)

Today while in line...

- We smelled a variety of bodily odors that I didn't know existed.

- We heard expletives used in ways I've never dreamed.

- We saw enlarged and bloated body parts squeezed into articles of clothing that seemed to defy the laws of physics (not in good ways).

And...

Beside sucking the $ out of my wallet, along with the will to live from my soul, - - they had no free wifi. 3G sucked the battery life out of my phone which would have been bad if someone needed to reach me in an emergency... So the phone had to go in airplane mode most of the day. Dear Six Flags: if you're asking people to take pics and hashtag them - at least provide some free wifi).

It was 9th layer of hell... but with odd smells, trashy language, mullets and hoochie-mama butt cracks.

For what I paid today for my daughter and I, my entire family could have gone to a large indoor/outdoor waterpark hotel in Wisconsin Dells or I could have rented a condo in Orlando for a long 4 day weekend.

The only thing GA has over WDW... Slightly smaller crowds, 0 Brazilian tour groups and it's actually cleaner than WDW.

The two best things out of today:

1. My tan will be deeper
2. Our daughter gave me a hug at the end of today and thanked me.

The latter is priceless but I know if I just took her to the local pool I could have had the same end results above for about $200 less.

I'll secretly wish my daughter doesn't do the reading promotion this coming school year.

Thank you for allowing me to vent - it's cheaper than therapy.

 

[ItlngrlBella]

I feel your pain.
We're two hours away and bought season passes last year. We're not doing that for a long, long time, despite Six Flags constantly e-mailing us with progressively lower offers to re-up.
Maybe if they offer to pay me to go I'd consider it.

It's a real shame, too, since they've got some great coasters and you can tell that some talented people have made some commendable efforts to theme the place over the years. However, the attitude of the employees, other guests, and general way in which the place is run is so disagreeable that I can't stomach the thought of having to spend the day there.

I don't feel bad for not getting season passes - we love on the WI/IL border and only 20 minutes away. Most of our friends' kids have them but I refuse.

I do agree that theming has improved over the years along with cleanliness. I just don't understand the rate of price hikes - that's not jiving with inflation.

 

[Bairstow]

It just now dawned on me that when @akayw0718 said "GA" she was also referring to Six Flags Great America.
For some reason I thought she was talking about Six Flags over Georgia.

Never been to Great America, though it sounds kind of fun. Goliath looks cool.

 

[ItlngrlBella]

It just now dawned on me that when @akayw0718 said "GA" she was also referring to Six Flags Great America.
For some reason I thought she was talking about Six Flags over Georgia.

Never been to Great America, though it sounds kind of fun. Goliath looks cool.

That's funny and definitely not the first time it has happened! So your park has gone through more detailed theming too over the last 10 years? I'm sure it was handed down by corporate.

They've changed how they've done business at our park to save costs. No more themed costumes in specific areas - it's all general polo and khakis (like they work at Target or Walmart), and they do their own scare-actors for Fright Fest (they used to contract JPM out of Alpharetta GA for haunt entertainment when I was there). It's too bad because JPM rocked.

 

[Bairstow]

That's funny and definitely not the first time it has happened! So your park has gone through more detailed theming too over the last 10 years? I'm sure it was handed down by corporate.

Just the opposite, actually.
There was some really cool themeing installed in parts of Over Georgia in the 90s, like the Japanese garden and bridge at Ninja, the man-made bayou around the Viper, and the extremely impressive Gotham area in its original incarnation, but most of this has been gradually removed, simplified, and homogenized over the years, most of it replaced with bare concrete. Every queue now has the same TV monitors installed playing the same insufferable loop of commercials and insipid pop culture trash.

Even some of the more modest attempts at creating themed entertainment, like the way our version of Goliath (a B&M Hyper with a '50s alien invasion motif) was gradually reduced to nothing because Six Flags wanted to save money by re-using the same signage as the other Philistinian-themed Goliath coasters at other parks and the neat, custom-edited '50s "alien invasion" oldies rock music loop assembled for the coaster was turned off so that guests could be better subjected to the garbage blaring out of their televisions.

It breaks my heart, because at some point, someone tried to do something creative and interesting, but no one making decisions for these parks cares.

 

[stevehousse]

I haven't been to GA in about 5 years! There prices have increased so much in that time it makes WDW look like a deal!?!

 

[Disneydreamer23]

So your talking about the one in gurnee? I had season passes years ago but I will not re up for a while they left a bad taste in my mouth in 2007 ish? I had season pass so did my best friend when we went to get in they told us they revoked our passes because we were kicked out of the park the week before, we were good kids never did any thing wrong after 4 hours in the office they played tapes and the girls were NOT us! They just looked through the system and thought they looked just like us, after the embarrassment and harassment we didn't return

 

[ItlngrlBella]

So your talking about the one in gurnee? I had season passes years ago but I will not re up for a while they left a bad taste in my mouth in 2007 ish? I had season pass so did my best friend when we went to get in they told us they revoked our passes because we were kicked out of the park the week before, we were good kids never did any thing wrong after 4 hours in the office they played tapes and the girls were NOT us! They just looked through the system and thought they looked just like us, after the embarrassment and harassment we didn't return

Yes Gurnee. So did they even apologize to you for mistaken identity? you should have wrote the local papers or something. They should have given you an apology and free vouchers for food or speed passes - at minimum.

I think they were close to bankruptcy in the mid-late 2000's and things spiked in price and value went south. I know they had gang problems in the 90's but c'mon - they were wrong with you and should have made up for that.

Just the opposite, actually.
There was some really cool themeing installed in parts of Over Georgia in the 90s, like the Japanese garden and bridge at Ninja, the man-made bayou around the Viper, and the extremely impressive Gotham area in its original incarnation, but most of this has been gradually removed, simplified, and homogenized over the years, most of it replaced with bare concrete. Every queue now has the same TV monitors installed playing the same insufferable loop of commercials and insipid pop culture trash.

Even some of the more modest attempts at creating themed entertainment, like the way our version of Goliath (a B&M Hyper with a '50s alien invasion motif) was gradually reduced to nothing because Six Flags wanted to save money by re-using the same signage as the other Philistinian-themed Goliath coasters at other parks and the neat, custom-edited '50s "alien invasion" oldies rock music loop assembled for the coaster was turned off so that guests could be better subjected to the garbage blaring out of their televisions.

It breaks my heart, because at some point, someone tried to do something creative and interesting, but no one making decisions for these parks cares.

Our Gotham section (fountain and statues) is the only area that saw a downgrading in theme. They cleared it for a go kart track... Which I think is lame because those are a dime a dozen between Milwaukee and Chicago.

The Yankee Harbor has less of the harbor feel since they removed 2 boat drop rides (only have Loggers Run and Whitewater Rapids) - less of a water view.

I noticed several vacancies that were either stores or counter service now closed and in their place kiosks. Also noticed carnival games are every 100 ft spread throughout the park.

Most of the staff were very friendly. one carnival game kid was super nice and chatty and asked me if I had been there before. When I told him I interned he wanted to know how the park changed. He couldn't believe they had themed wardrobe handed out to them in the last and told me that his required uniform polo cost him $40, and most people have to purchase 2. Even the customer service button cost him $. They fleece their own employees too I guess.

 

[Bairstow]

So your talking about the one in gurnee? I had season passes years ago but I will not re up for a while they left a bad taste in my mouth in 2007 ish? I had season pass so did my best friend when we went to get in they told us they revoked our passes because we were kicked out of the park the week before, we were good kids never did any thing wrong after 4 hours in the office they played tapes and the girls were NOT us! They just looked through the system and thought they looked just like us, after the embarrassment and harassment we didn't return

They didn't offer to comp you anything for wasting your time and falsely accusing you?

 

[ItlngrlBella]

I haven't been to GA in about 5 years! There prices have increased so much in that time it makes WDW look like a deal!?!

Yes - every year they go up - especially waterpark and parking, food, etc . You are better off supporting a family-run park like Santa's Village Azoo'sment park in Dundee or Bay City Beach in Green Bay where rides are under $1 each. (Both good if you have little kids)

 

[Tuvalu]

@ItlngrlBella, reading about your experience reminded me of the proverb "The more things change, the more they stay the same." I could have written your exact complaints nearly 20 years ago, when my children also received their "free" tickets to Six Flags from completing the reading program. That "free" day cost a pretty penny after paying for hubby & my admissions, parking, snacks and crappy food (served by teens who couldn't care less about their customers.) Ride operators were disinterested and rude, janitorial service was lacking and we marveled about how opposite a Six Flags experience was from a Disney experience.

Yet, every year for the next several years we found ourselves back at Six Flags to redeem more "free" tickets from the reading promotion...like your daughter, our kids always had fun there...the sweet ending came when the youngest reached middle school and we could say, "If you want to go to Six Flags, you need to pay for your own ticket". Fortunately for us, they all agreed to save their money for our summer Disney vacation!

 

[Bairstow]

@ItlngrlBella, reading about your experience reminded me of the proverb "The more things change, the more they stay the same." I could have written your exact complaints nearly 20 years ago, when my children also received their "free" tickets to Six Flags from completing the reading program. That "free" day cost a pretty penny after paying for hubby & my admissions, parking, snacks and crappy food (served by teens who couldn't care less about their customers.) Ride operators were disinterested and rude, janitorial service was lacking and we marveled about how opposite a Six Flags experience was from a Disney experience.

Is Disney's outlook on customer satisfaction and guest experience unique, or is it Six Flags that has the unique perspective?
I ask, because I visit a lot of theme parks and none of them come to close to the near total disregard for guest happiness that Six Flags shows. If anything, Six Flags demonstrates actual malice against the people that come there.

 

[Tuvalu]

Is Disney's outlook on customer satisfaction and guest experience unique, or is it Six Flags that has the unique perspective?
I ask, because I visit a lot of theme parks and none of them come to close to the near total disregard for guest happiness that Six Flags shows. If anything, Six Flags demonstrates actual malice against the people that come there.

I truly think it is a Six Flags issue. When Six Flags purchased White Water, I cried. White Water was a clean, affordable, friendly and wholesome park prior to the buy-out. We had season passes for years. Once Six Flags took over, the rapid deterioration began. We haven't been in several years.

 

[ItlngrlBella]

^^^ I think you're right. Many of the awesome administrators who were my bosses back then left... It was a mass exodus. They went onto other areas within themed entertainment, waterparks & hospitality industry - I am so glad they moved on to bigger and better things.

 

[Disneydreamer23]

Yes Gurnee. So did they even apologize to you for mistaken identity? you should have wrote the local papers or something. They should have given you an apology and free vouchers for food or speed passes - at minimum.

I think they were close to bankruptcy in the mid-late 2000's and things spiked in price and value went south. I know they had gang problems in the 90's but c'mon - they were wrong with you and should have made up for that.





Our Gotham section (fountain and statues) is the only area that saw a downgrading in theme. They cleared it for a go kart track... Which I think is lame because those are a dime a dozen between Milwaukee and Chicago.

The Yankee Harbor has less of the harbor feel since they removed 2 boat drop rides (only have Loggers Run and Whitewater Rapids) - less of a water view.

I noticed several vacancies that were either stores or counter service now closed and in their place kiosks. Also noticed carnival games are every 100 ft spread throughout the park.

Most of the staff were very friendly. one carnival game kid was super nice and chatty and asked me if I had been there before. When I told him I interned he wanted to know how the park changed. He couldn't believe they had themed wardrobe handed out to them in the last and told me that his required uniform polo cost him $40, and most people have to purchase 2. Even the customer service button cost him $. They fleece their own employees too I guess.

I truly think it is a Six Flags issue. When Six Flags purchased White Water, I cried. White Water was a clean, affordable, friendly and wholesome park prior to the buy-out. We had season passes for years. Once Six Flags took over, the rapid deterioration began. We haven't been in several years.

They offered for us to come back and for free ... I had a season pass dummies lol I said since I have season pass can we bring 2 friends they said no .

 

[Tuvalu]

They offered for us to come back and for free ... I had a season pass dummies lol I said since I have season pass can we bring 2 friends they said no .

Typical!

 

[MichWolv]

Currently at Hurricane Harbor taking a break from slides and trying to get a tan... And I feel I need to vent...

My daughter's ticket was free due to an awesome reading program they offer (read x amount of minutes, your child earns a free ticket). It's brilliant and evil all at the same time...

For me to take her, it was $101.00 that included my "discounted" park ticket (because I bought it online), $8.99 online processing fee, $25 for parking and another $15 for us to get into the waterpark.

In addition you can't wear your swimsuit in the park (only in waterpark - understandable).

Ok, so we will need a locker in the waterpark to store our clothes for later. That's another $15 for a locker. The waterpark closes at 6 so we will need to change and a place to store our suits outside the waterpark (car was waaaaaaaay out in the lot). So I will be spending another $15.

Thank God we had a large breakfast at home because we split a $10 cheese/chips nacho for our "lunch" today.

Our favorite waterpark stuff is broken: All the giant water dump buckets in kids play-waterpark aren't working and the large swimming pool is closed and they won't tell anyone why, when or even if it will reopen.

Grrrrrr.

I love that reading program. Allowed my kids to go SFGA every year during elementary school. I always picked up my ticket with mycokereward points.

This year we have annual passes because of the stupidly low price they offerred last fall. For $65 per person for a family of four, annual passes good through Dec 2015 inlcuding parking, admission to the water park, and admission to all other Six Flags parks, and parking at those parks. Crazy.

We were at Hurricane Harbor last Sunday, and all was operating just fine. I wonder happened in the past few days.

But I usually vent after visiting GA because invariably, lines are longer then they should be because Six Flags refuses to staff the place correctly. Last Sunday, they had one attendant working the top of a four waterslide tower. That meant only one slide could really be used at a time even though all four were open, because they (understandably, really) don't let you get into your tube until the attendant is there. So the line took about 15 minutes when it probably would've been about 5 minutes if they had just added one more employee.

 

[MichWolv]

Yes - every year they go up - especially waterpark and parking, food, etc . You are better off supporting a family-run park like Santa's Village Azoo'sment park in Dundee or Bay City Beach in Green Bay where rides are under $1 each. (Both good if you have little kids)

I think Six Flags' annual passes are such a deal that I had to buy them this year. Parking and food, however....nuts.