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So Disney is just all about the money, huh? They got nothin' on Six Flags!
- Thread starter djkidkaz
- Start date
sar1980sweetie
Member
Welcome foolish mortals....to the Viagra Haunted Mansion....raising "the dead" in more ways than one!
This just made me :lol:! I think the difference is that overall Disney is promoting Disney and it's companies (ABC, ESPN) and usually in a much more subtle way then the other parks do. Disney has a much more "captive" audience too, you're expected to see Disney related stuff everywhere and the advertisements just "blend in" better then at other parks. Of course has anyone taken into consideration the advertisements you DO see that are themed "better"... you know, like Test Track or Ellen's Energy Adventure or the Kodak stuff?
Dragonrider1227
Well-Known Member
See, the difference between Six Flags and the Tronorail is that Disney doesn't plaster the ads on actual ride vehicles and rather just on the transportation that gets you to the parks with the rides in them. Disney doesn't have ads in rides like putting "Princess and the Frog now on DVD" on the It's a Small World Boats.
And when Disney DOES put "ads" in their rides, they make them fit with the theme of the ride. Unlike Six Flags where they slapped a gum ad on a roller Coaster with a bull on it. I know Six Flags isn't know really for it's theming but that's just an eyesore. You don't see a random Phineas and Ferb pop up in POTC or The Jungle Cruise with a sign saying "WATCH PHINEAS AND FERB ON DISNEY XD At least it looks cool when Disney does shameless self promoting. For example, we all know Jack Sparrow was added to POTC to promote the movies (and because of overwhelming fan demand) but in doing so, they gave us super high-tech animatronics that move so life-like it's creepy.
And when Disney DOES put "ads" in their rides, they make them fit with the theme of the ride. Unlike Six Flags where they slapped a gum ad on a roller Coaster with a bull on it. I know Six Flags isn't know really for it's theming but that's just an eyesore. You don't see a random Phineas and Ferb pop up in POTC or The Jungle Cruise with a sign saying "WATCH PHINEAS AND FERB ON DISNEY XD At least it looks cool when Disney does shameless self promoting. For example, we all know Jack Sparrow was added to POTC to promote the movies (and because of overwhelming fan demand) but in doing so, they gave us super high-tech animatronics that move so life-like it's creepy.
the-reason14
Well-Known Member
Here is what's left of Six Flags Astroworld after they let the thugs and gang bangers put them out of business here in Houston.
Uhm, I dont think "thugs and gang bangers" had much to do with it. The last few times I went there it was absolutely dead. Out of the 3 six flags' in Texas, Astroworld was by far the worse, it hardly had any room for expansion, and when they did they added crappy carnival rides that weren't about nothing. Over Texas and Fiesta Texas continue to thrive and while they aren't up to disney standards, they were miles ahead of Astroworld with it's limited ride choices.
dandaman
Well-Known Member
1. Word.
2. Why do they necessarily have to be separate? The main thing I always tell people is never to compare Disney to Six Flags and to appreciate each park for what it is. Consider me a dual-citizen.
Way ahead of ya.
sweetpee_1993
Well-Known Member
1. Word.
2. Why do they necessarily have to be separate? The main thing I always tell people is never to compare Disney to Six Flags and to appreciate each park for what it is. Consider me a dual-citizen.
Way ahead of ya.
Winner!!!! :sohappy::sohappy::sohappy:
Dan, again, you rock in a way entirely your very own. My faith is restored in your generation.
Thank you!
:wave:
Some of you people are too much. The amount of advertising seen at Six Flags this year is reprehensible, for sure. But the all-out bashing of Six Flags and other non-Disney parks is ridiculous. Not everything is about themeing, and Six Flags knows this. Personally, I am fine without the themeing, but I wish they'd do a better job of hiding the inner-workings of the rides and park (Great Adventure is the worst offender, you can see all of their backstage areas from almost every coaster queue). The ride experience is what matters most. And you don't need themeing to have fun on most of the rides Six Flags offers (and at Disney, the themeing can make-or-break the ride).
I certainly wouldn't call Six Flags the Wal-Mart of theme parks, either. Those rollercoasters aren't cheap, and are much more advanced than any of the Disney Coasters (save for maybe Expedition Everest). Also, much of current ride technology is due to Six Flags (the inverted rollercoaster, for example, was the idea of Six Flags Great America's president, Jim Wintrode). And while the Matterhorn is credited with being the first tubular steel roller coaster, it was Six Flags that really tested the limits of what a coaster can do.
And safety at Six Flags is stressed much more than what I've seen at Disney. I've seen CMs, in the normal operation of their attractions, perform tasks in a manner that would have gotten an employee at Six Flags fired. Disney seems more concerned about show and guest relations (how long, for example, did it take for Space Mountain to get air gates?) There are employees stationed on every flume lift/drop at a Six Flags park, where a guest could climb out of their boat/log. Employees staff railroad crossings, etc.
Six Flags, contrary to what another poster has stated, KNOWS it is not competeing with Disney. Six Flags Great America, where I worked for five seasons, considers its competition to be Cedar Point and Kings Island (and, to a much lesser extent, the Wisconsin Dells). And all the operations management employees worked at the park when I did, and NONE of them would ever say they are better than Disney or that they compete with Disney. The former Park Operations manager, who is now a VP for Six Flags in New York, goes to Disney once a year and LOVES the Food and Wine festival. So any claim that Six Flags managers say they are better than Disney is false.
gettingsmaller is 100% right that the seasonal nature of the parks is a large factor in Six Flags' financial situation. While bad management is definitely the main reason, Six Flags cannot make the investments it needs to because the income isn't there. Each park is open, on average, 150 days a year. Disney's biggest expense on attractions is themeing (Expedition Everest's roller coaster alone is only about $10-15 million, the rest is the mountain and Yeti). Six Flags could never make that money back. It bleeds money when closed. Six Flags Great America is the only Six Flags park that even attempts to theme. Instead of cheering them on, people state "they are trying to be Disney." It's hypocritical to bash a company for it not being Disney, and when it tries to offer something that may be influenced by Disney it gets bashed for copying.
Six Flags isn't Disney. It knows it. It doesn't try to be. It offers rides that Disney won't build. And you know what? People go to Six Flags. I love Disney. But I love roller coasters, and Disney just isn't enough. Six Flags builds much better thrill rides. Can the parks be improved? Absolutely. But to trash Six Flags because it isn't Disney is absolutely ludicrous. Six Flags is definitely price-gouging its customers, and these ads all over are extremely disgusting. But let's not pretend Disney is pure. They're just more subtle about it.
I certainly wouldn't call Six Flags the Wal-Mart of theme parks, either. Those rollercoasters aren't cheap, and are much more advanced than any of the Disney Coasters (save for maybe Expedition Everest). Also, much of current ride technology is due to Six Flags (the inverted rollercoaster, for example, was the idea of Six Flags Great America's president, Jim Wintrode). And while the Matterhorn is credited with being the first tubular steel roller coaster, it was Six Flags that really tested the limits of what a coaster can do.
And safety at Six Flags is stressed much more than what I've seen at Disney. I've seen CMs, in the normal operation of their attractions, perform tasks in a manner that would have gotten an employee at Six Flags fired. Disney seems more concerned about show and guest relations (how long, for example, did it take for Space Mountain to get air gates?) There are employees stationed on every flume lift/drop at a Six Flags park, where a guest could climb out of their boat/log. Employees staff railroad crossings, etc.
Six Flags, contrary to what another poster has stated, KNOWS it is not competeing with Disney. Six Flags Great America, where I worked for five seasons, considers its competition to be Cedar Point and Kings Island (and, to a much lesser extent, the Wisconsin Dells). And all the operations management employees worked at the park when I did, and NONE of them would ever say they are better than Disney or that they compete with Disney. The former Park Operations manager, who is now a VP for Six Flags in New York, goes to Disney once a year and LOVES the Food and Wine festival. So any claim that Six Flags managers say they are better than Disney is false.
gettingsmaller is 100% right that the seasonal nature of the parks is a large factor in Six Flags' financial situation. While bad management is definitely the main reason, Six Flags cannot make the investments it needs to because the income isn't there. Each park is open, on average, 150 days a year. Disney's biggest expense on attractions is themeing (Expedition Everest's roller coaster alone is only about $10-15 million, the rest is the mountain and Yeti). Six Flags could never make that money back. It bleeds money when closed. Six Flags Great America is the only Six Flags park that even attempts to theme. Instead of cheering them on, people state "they are trying to be Disney." It's hypocritical to bash a company for it not being Disney, and when it tries to offer something that may be influenced by Disney it gets bashed for copying.
Six Flags isn't Disney. It knows it. It doesn't try to be. It offers rides that Disney won't build. And you know what? People go to Six Flags. I love Disney. But I love roller coasters, and Disney just isn't enough. Six Flags builds much better thrill rides. Can the parks be improved? Absolutely. But to trash Six Flags because it isn't Disney is absolutely ludicrous. Six Flags is definitely price-gouging its customers, and these ads all over are extremely disgusting. But let's not pretend Disney is pure. They're just more subtle about it.
Chrononymous
Well-Known Member
I'm not here to trash the Six Flags either. I worked at Great America as well.
And the advertising aspect is nothing new...
but ick...
this kind of advertising is a little hard for me to swallow.
Especially on my beloved Demon.
And the advertising aspect is nothing new...
but ick...
this kind of advertising is a little hard for me to swallow.
Especially on my beloved Demon.
blackthidot
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- Yes
That looks hideous.
loveofamouse
Well-Known Member
Yankee Mouse
Well-Known Member
Even though I haven't seen it in person yet the pictures look pretty cool. The monorail does remind me a little bit of the bikes they ride in the movie with the walls behind them. I thought that was why they put it on the monorail in the first place.
I agree. Great America was really the only parked that was themed (in a Disney-sense...though not nearly as detailed). It seems as the years go on, it's nothing but ad upon ad. I remember a time when the sponsors just had a small logo underneath the ride's sign. Now I feel like I'm at a marketing convention.
Cmdr_Crimson
Well-Known Member
No these are from Six Flags Great America (Gurnee Illinois) My Hometown Park. The coasters are The Demon and The Whizzer. The coolest thing to see right now at the park is the return of the 1978 scale model they have on display in Carousel Plaza Gifts and I can stare at that for quite sometime. This is pure musuem material and it's just soo cool to see!
Andrew54
Active Member
Just got back from Six Flags over Texas in Arlington "The Original Six Flags". It was alot of fun the coaster are much larger and a much different park. But every surface needs paint and the streets are dirty. It just makes you appreciate Disney that much more.
On the note of Six Flags trying to copy Disney. Every cast member and recordings in the park now say "Have a Six Flags Day"
On the note of Six Flags trying to copy Disney. Every cast member and recordings in the park now say "Have a Six Flags Day"
MUTZIE77
Well-Known Member
YES!!! That might be the single worst theme park attraction ever built. Waiting in line the first time I rode was over 2 hours because of numerous breakdowns while in line and while riding. Got to ride with the lights on on my first and last ride EVER! I can't wait to go down and see those coaster ads in person one of these weekends.
ccarter30
Member
I can add one to this. We were at Six Flags Over Texas two weeks and the park was covered with ads. All of the monitors in the lines were showing them. When we were waiting in line to buy lunch, the menu cut away to go to an ad. I couldn't believe this because it stopped me from being abloe to decide what I wanted to eat. It just seems like overkill to me.
Tater48
Well-Known Member
I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. From about 2000 to 2005, I can't tell you how many disturbance calls we made at this "park", and I bet 99% of them were gang related. It got to a point towards the end that families were rarely seen in the place, it just wasn't safe anymore, and personally and professionally, I do believe that these miscreants were a major factor in this place shutting down. They basically took it over and yes, they paid their admissions, so Six Flags had no problem with their presence, wearing their colors, toos and everything else. The thugs usually just stayed in the parking lot and extracted others belongings from their personal vehicles. I for one was glad when the end of October 2005 came and they closed that ****hole forever.
Fosse, just want to clear something up about your post...
We don't have CMs stationed on our lifts/hills because we have a very sensitive, impressive intrusion system in place. Every major (and most minor) attractions are able to detect movement in places where there shouldn't be. Although the news and recent situations would have you think otherwise, our attractions and the systems we have in place are about as safe as you can get just short of making people wear rubber suits.
Try getting out of a log on splash mountain and you'll be met by a CM very quickly.
We don't have CMs stationed on our lifts/hills because we have a very sensitive, impressive intrusion system in place. Every major (and most minor) attractions are able to detect movement in places where there shouldn't be. Although the news and recent situations would have you think otherwise, our attractions and the systems we have in place are about as safe as you can get just short of making people wear rubber suits.
Try getting out of a log on splash mountain and you'll be met by a CM very quickly.
EpcotServo
Well-Known Member
Anyone who thinks that is as bad as the Tronorail needs a good swift kick in the brain.