Six Flags won’t let pandemic scare off Fright Fest - OCR/SCNG

[Darkbeer1]

Six Flags won’t let pandemic scare off Fright Fest

Six Flags teams are working on modified versions of Fright Fest and expect to finalize their plans in the next few weeks.

www.ocregister.com

 

[Magicart87]

a new low for Six Flags.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Good on them. We can't just cancel all fun because our lives have been ruined.

 

[Darkbeer1]

You do know that many Theme Park Chains, including Disney, Cedar Fair and Merlin and independent operators, like SCBB, use the special 6 month visa program for foreign students.

The park arranges for shared housing, and provides jobs for them. The students are supposed to work on their English skills and learn about the USA. Yes, the job doesn't pay the best, after housing and other things are deducted. But these jobs are very much sought out in most countries, as the perks are good.

 

[Phroobar]

You do know that many Theme Park Chains, including Disney, Cedar Fair and Merlin and independent operators, like SCBB, use the special 6 month visa program for foreign students.

The park arranges for shared housing, and provides jobs for them. The students are supposed to work on their English skills and learn about the USA. Yes, the job doesn't pay the best, after housing and other things are deducted. But these jobs are very much sought out in most countries, as the perks are good.

Don't they do the same thing on cruise lines?

 

[Phroobar]

The trick to doing fright fest is to buy the flash pass for the event. The teenagers running the stand by line don't keep track of their flash pass vs stand by ratios very well. You could spend hours in a stand by maze line because the 15 year old minding the switch is unconscious of time.

 

[Rich T]

Well, here’s hoping all the guests will be smart, unselfish, and diligent about taking steps to NOT spread and/or bring home a dangerous virus to their friends and families...

 

[PiratesMansion]

The trick to doing fright fest is to buy the flash pass for the event. The teenagers running the stand by line don't keep track of their flash pass vs stand by ratios very well. You could spend hours in a stand by maze line because the 15 year old minding the switch is unconscious of time.

Definitely the way to do Halloween events in general, but Six Flags being Six Flags, I've also experienced the "standby line being let in to the house appreciably faster than the flashpass line" version of the event too (in this case, in St. Louis).

But yeah, mostly having a flashpass for the houses translates to an instant walk-on. And lately they've been offering a $25 admission-to-every-house-for-all-of-FP deal when you renew your pass, which works nicely on Friday nights when (even if the rides are crowded) the houses are dead.

I've heard MM's houses are better than average by SF standards, which is good because Chicago's are garbage except for the very newest house. It's a complete joke out here.

Well, here’s hoping all the guests will be smart, unselfish, and diligent about taking steps to NOT spread and/or bring home a dangerous virus to their friends and families...

I wish, but I'd say that's optimistic based on the past week of park visits I had. I had fun and am glad I got to get away for awhile...but people either don't know or don't care how to wear masks properly and social distance. Not that I feel that all guests are intentionally being malicious-it can take awhile to just unlearn habitual park behavior and mores-but it's definitely an issue (and lots of people whipping the masks down as soon as they were out of sight of the operator both waiting for and while on rides), and parks can (or are willing to) only do so much to combat it. The only real exception was Kings Island because, being a CF park, they enforce all their rules to the letter. Because of that, almost all the guests were actually wearing masks properly and distancing, and every employee was on guests about it (most other parks had ops harping on it but no one else doing so at all). But the other parks were far more lax, and so mask/covid policy abuse or ignorance was rampant. Even moreso once weather got unpleasant in the afternoon.

What I'm interested to learn is just how Six Flags thinks it can run haunted houses when Universal, who makes bank from their event, determined they can't. I know that they don't charge for their event, just the houses, and it's different in that way, but a lot of the basics are similar (albeit at a much higher level at Universal). I suppose they could just play creepy music and put up creepy lighting and call it Fright Fest, but I imagine they're going to try to find a way to do everything they do (but worse than usual) because that's the Six Flags way.

 

[1HAPPYGHOSTHOST]

Not gonna happen. It will be cancelled.

 

[Phroobar]

Definitely the way to do Halloween events in general, but Six Flags being Six Flags, I've also experienced the "standby line being let in to the house appreciably faster than the flashpass line" version of the event too (in this case, in St. Louis).

But yeah, mostly having a flashpass for the houses translates to an instant walk-on. And lately they've been offering a $25 admission-to-every-house-for-all-of-FP deal when you renew your pass, which works nicely on Friday nights when (even if the rides are crowded) the houses are dead.

I've heard MM's houses are better than average by SF standards, which is good because Chicago's are garbage except for the very newest house. It's a complete joke out here.


I wish, but I'd say that's optimistic based on the past week of park visits I had. I had fun and am glad I got to get away for awhile...but people either don't know or don't care how to wear masks properly and social distance. Not that I feel that all guests are intentionally being malicious-it can take awhile to just unlearn habitual park behavior and mores-but it's definitely an issue (and lots of people whipping the masks down as soon as they were out of sight of the operator both waiting for and while on rides), and parks can (or are willing to) only do so much to combat it. The only real exception was Kings Island because, being a CF park, they enforce all their rules to the letter. Because of that, almost all the guests were actually wearing masks properly and distancing, and every employee was on guests about it (most other parks had ops harping on it but no one else doing so at all). But the other parks were far more lax, and so mask/covid policy abuse or ignorance was rampant. Even moreso once weather got unpleasant in the afternoon.

What I'm interested to learn is just how Six Flags thinks it can run haunted houses when Universal, who makes bank from their event, determined they can't. I know that they don't charge for their event, just the houses, and it's different in that way, but a lot of the basics are similar (albeit at a much higher level at Universal). I suppose they could just play creepy music and put up creepy lighting and call it Fright Fest, but I imagine they're going to try to find a way to do everything they do (but worse than usual) because that's the Six Flags way.

MM's houses are good but nowhere near the quality of Knotts and Universal. MM's houses to me are one stop above the neighborhood garage version. The kids rely on very little makeup and do a lot of screaming while Knotts uses the pass by and sound in the ear approach. Universal loves their boo boxes. MM is typically packed on Fright Fest days. Even the rides are full.

 

[Darkbeer1]

Don't they do the same thing on cruise lines?

Not really, Cruise Ships are Foreign Flag ships. So no need for a US Work Visa.

All they need to do is follow the laws of the Country whose flag they carry. And Disney Cruises flies the Bahamas flag.

 

[SplashGhost]

The Magic Mountain houses have gotten better over the years. Aftermath 2 is a great and very long outdoor maze, and there is nothing similar to it at Knott's or USH. One thing that I really like about Magic Mountain is that the scare actors are more aggressive from my experience. They also come up with some creative ways to scare, so they aren't as predictable as USH. Knott's has far better sets, but the scare actors at Knott's rarely ever try to scare me, probably because I am a 6'4 male and they think it won't be possible to scare me. Overall, I really like Magic Mountain Fright Fest, and if you go on a Sunday, it will be a much more relaxed experience then Scary Farm or USH Horror Nights. Plus, most coasters have very short waits, unlike Knott's where it can be 2 hours plus for most major coasters. Scary Farm, USH Horror Nights, and SFMM Fright Fest all have their own pros and cons, but I think they are all worth visiting.

That said, unless something radically changes by October (which seems more and more unlikely everyday) then no park in America should be having a Haunt event. It just isn't possibly to do a quality haunt safely during a pandemic. Haunt season is my favorite time of the year, so it pains me that we won't have any haunts this year.

 

[Phroobar]

The Magic Mountain houses have gotten better over the years. Aftermath 2 is a great and very long outdoor maze, and there is nothing similar to it at Knott's or USH. One thing that I really like about Magic Mountain is that the scare actors are more aggressive from my experience. They also come up with some creative ways to scare, so they aren't as predictable as USH. Knott's has far better sets, but the scare actors at Knott's rarely ever try to scare me, probably because I am a 6'4 male and they think it won't be possible to scare me. Overall, I really like Magic Mountain Fright Fest, and if you go on a Sunday, it will be a much more relaxed experience then Scary Farm or USH Horror Nights. Plus, most coasters have very short waits, unlike Knott's where it can be 2 hours plus for most major coasters. Scary Farm, USH Horror Nights, and SFMM Fright Fest all have their own pros and cons, but I think they are all worth visiting.

That said, unless something radically changes by October (which seems more and more unlikely everyday) then no park in America should be having a Haunt event. It just isn't possibly to do a quality haunt safely during a pandemic. Haunt season is my favorite time of the year, so it pains me that we won't have any haunts this year.

IIRC, Aftermath 2 is where they let you wander around their junkyard next to Apocalypse. They still have the crane from the old Batman stunt shows back there. They still have the old queue from Deja Vu back there too.

 

[Darkbeer1]

I don't think the company is doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. It is more like an easy way to get cheap labor. You are correct though, it is worthwhile for people to come over financially.

There are multiple reasons why. The labor costs are about the same. But unlike a typical worker who might not like the job and quit, find a better job and quit. Etc.

These students are going to work 6 months or go home at their expense.

These workers also tend to be more motivated, show up on time. Etc.

The point is that the industry uses the visa program, and these jobs are sought out overseas since they are at Theme/Amusement parks.

 

[truecoat]

There are multiple reasons why. The labor costs are about the same. But unlike a typical worker who might not like the job and quit, find a better job and quit. Etc.

These students are going to work 6 months or go home at their expense.

These workers also tend to be more motivated, show up on time. Etc.

The point is that the industry uses the visa program, and these jobs are sought out overseas since they are at Theme/Amusement parks.

I noticed the same thing happened over at Wisconsin Dells in Wisconsin. The place started years ago as a place with scenic boat tours and then had the Duck tours. (WW2 amphibious trucks) Then sometime in the 90's started becoming this giant resort waterpark area.

Anyway, about 10+ years ago while down there, I noticed a lot of eastern European and other nations making up ride operators, wait staff and other positions instead of the normal high school/college students you usually see. My guess is the huge expansion of resorts and water parks was too much to staff.

By the way, here's a duck boat in case you're wondering.

 

[Nirya]

It's a genius plan on their part. If none of the better haunts (aka Knotts, Universal, and the Queen Mary) are open this year, Six Flags could be the only big game in town and maybe people won't notice the drop in quality.

 

[cmwade77]

There are multiple reasons why. The labor costs are about the same. But unlike a typical worker who might not like the job and quit, find a better job and quit. Etc.

These students are going to work 6 months or go home at their expense.

These workers also tend to be more motivated, show up on time. Etc.

The point is that the industry uses the visa program, and these jobs are sought out overseas since they are at Theme/Amusement parks.

These visas should simply not be allowed until unemployment drops below 0.5%.

 

[October82]

These visas should simply not be allowed until unemployment drops below 0.5%.

Presumably you mean 5%. In any case, immigration isn't linked to increases in unemployment for domestic workers.

 

[cmwade77]

Presumably you mean 5%. In any case, immigration isn't linked to increases in unemployment for domestic workers.

No, I meant 0.5% unemployment and actually, it is, because those are jobs that are filled by those from outside the country, if there is more than a very small number of unemployed domestic workers, we shouldn't allow immigrants that haven't already been in the U.S. to take a single job and we should never allow illegal immigrants to take a single job.

 

[October82]

No, I meant 0.5% unemployment

It's counterintuitive, but you actually don't want near 0% unemployment because this results in very large inflation. It also means that there is little turnover in the economy, which further reduces long run economic growth. As a result, the Federal reserve targets 3-5% unemployment and values below that are not desirable.

and actually, it is, because those are jobs that are filled by those from outside the country, if there is more than a very small number of unemployed domestic workers, we shouldn't allow immigrants that haven't already been in the U.S. to take a single job and we should never allow illegal immigrants to take a single job.

Regardless of how you might feel about immigrants working in the US, again, immigrants do not depress real wages or keep domestic workers from being employed, even in a recession.

(In any case, this is off topic for this sub-forum, happy to chat further via DM)