Having the season pass so cheap allows for more of an "inner-city" crowd.

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TV/Event Guide Editor

[QUOTE=Montu Man]What does the price of the tickets have to do with the parks problems?[/QUOTE]

You could read my earlier post (#4) or I can explain it again, I suppose. With the season pass being so cheap at some of the Six Flags park, some people that never got one in the past will now get a season pass over just a day of regular admittance. So that means they're there more often as well as the fact that since they're there more often, they don't have to feel the need to focus as much as riding rides since they can go whenever. If they aren't as preoccupied with going on rides, what do you think some of them might do instead?

I know some people disagree with the area theory I and a few others have and instead say it's because of the crowds they're getting due to the new exciting and thrilling rides. Saying that these new rides bring in younger crowds like teenagers and less families. That's true to an extent but parks have always built thesse rides. Almost all big parks get a new thrill ride of some sort every couple years or so. This has been the case for decades. So why now would this become an issue? Also, look at parks like Cedar Point, they get as big of rides as anyone that would bring in teenagers, yet they don't experience nearly as many as these types of problems and they don't even have metal detectors.

While a lot of that has to do with their great security by having their own police force as well as other measures, I think a lot of it still has to do with their location. Their surrounded by small towns and farms for miles. Not to mention, a lot of the people who go there are tourists on an actual vacation. These are people including teens who actually want to ride the coasters and rides, not to start trouble. They came and travled far distances to have fun not worry about getting kicked out for doing something stupid. Last, since a lot of those teens are on vacation, they might be with their parents and of course that will usually keep a kid in check to some degree. Unlike a parent just dropping off their kids and their friends at the front gate of their home park and left unsupervised all day.

I think a lot of that plays into effect. Of course, that's just my opinion.

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And you can't forget that the park has to actually care about maintaining a family friendly atmosphere. As for the rides aspect, Magic Mountain is advertising themselves as the X-treme park. Now, who do you think that attracts? A lot of teens and not very many families. Cedar Point advertises themselves as an all-around place, which is very true. Thus they not only get the thrill seeking teens and young adults, but they also get a lot of families. I believe that families make up around 60-70% of CP's yearly attendance, and for that matter most of those attending any Cedar Fair park. Now when it comes to location you have a different story. CP is located on Lake Erie, which is known for its pristine tourists areas, and is really an expensive vacation location if you're going to be there for a few days or more, so you are not going to get a lot of the "inner-city" crowd that the SF parks tend to get becuase they are right outside a major city.

Here is another example, this time a SFI park turned into a CF park, Geauga Lake. When the park was the old family-owned Geauga Lake there were very few crowded days and the park had that small, intimate feeling to it. The park is also located in an area where per capita income is very high, which adds to the good feeling you got. When SF took over and it became Six Flags Ohio I thought the park was very nice and the employees were very nice, but it was VERY crowded even for a weekday. Once Sea World of Ohio had been bought and the park transformed into SF Worlds of Adventure I heard some nice comments, but I also heard far more negative reports starting that year. I really don't know what could have contributed to such a rapid change in the park, but whatever it was, it wasn't good. Now Cedar Fair runs the park and I hear very few bad comments about it. As I'm sure you know GL now has its own police force, as seems to be the status quo with CF parks. I really don't know how to assess the park since I haven't been there during a full operation day, but from the Community Day that they held it looked like they had done some major rehab around the park.

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Well, everyone pretty much nailed it. Low prices and thrill rides that cater to the teenage crowd and more inner city people. They bring problems to the park, and that's when stuff happens. Dorney isn't too far from Philly, but the high price of season passes means that teens and low income inner city people can't come to the park as often. Public transportation to the parks is another factor, and security as well. There are plenty of factors as to why they draw the crowds they do.

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Gemini, I totally agree with you and everyone else...Obviously Cedar Fair recognized the problems Six Flags Worlds of Adventure had when it was under SFI control. Before SFI was even in the picture, Geauga Lake was the best kept secret, I used to go there all the time and usually the only people you would see there were families trying to have a nice time at the water park as well as the few but thrilling coasters and flats they had. The park did get pretty bad when SFI got control of the park, and even worse when X-Flight was put in. But the 2003 season had to be one of the best under SFI control because people didn't really come, there were walk ons on every ride even though teens were a big population, there weren't any problems because there weren't as many people at the park.

Now that Cedar Fair is in control and noticed these problems early on, they were able to get permission to hire their own police patrol which is very smart. With the 25 dollar admission this year, theres bound to be tons of teens flocking to the park in the summer. At least now that they have this police force, the park is prepared for anything that will happen. Hopefully the park will adopt Cedar Point's way of handling these situations over time.

^I agree with that.

I also think Teenagers know that Six flags has all the "Big Thrills" over other parks, so they prefer to go to six flags, because they want the thrills. Teenagers are apt to start trouble, especialy gang members.

I kinda agree with the "big city" theory . Big cities have more crime, and many if not all of the SF parks are near big cities or are in big cities. Knots, busch, cedar, and other parks are not as popular as SF to the GP.

Just ask some teenager if he/she would rather go to Knots or SFMM. I bet 85% would say SFMM.

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KILL YOUR T.V.

^ Well nowadays you'll see Six Flags commercials everywhere...Just last year they were still playing Six Flags commercials here in Pittsburgh and the closest Six Flags to us is in Buffalo. But even when Geauga Lake was Six Flags, they advertised massively. You would see tons more discounts to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure than you would see Kennywood or Sandcastle on Coke or Pepsi cans. When there is that much advertisement and publicity going towards these parks, obviously they are going to attract way more thrill hungry teenagers or those who just want to "chill" at the park. But even now, you rarely see commercials for Cedar Point, Hershey Park or Dorney here in Pittsburgh...Every once in awhile you'll see them for Geauga Lake but they aren't as desperate to get people to come as Six Flags is. Six Flags just likes to advertise...advertise....advertise. Why do you think they got Mr. Six? :D

They advertise, advertise, advertise to pretty much try and be in the same sentence when thoughts of Disney, amusement parks, and getaways come up.

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[QUOTE=Maxamillious]So personally, it doesent quite have do to with the location[/QUOTE]

YES IT DOES.

Schools in the city compared to schools in the suburbs have vast differences in the kinds of people in them. Thus a theme park easily accessable by the city cheaply will have "bad people" in it because believe it or not they find amusement parks fun too.

Just curious, but doesn't Six Flags have rent-a-cops and not an actual police force...I don't think I've seen actual cops at a Six Flags parks. Maybe that's another factor. The only people I actually saw driving around the parking lot of SFMM is the Six Flags security.

[QUOTE=Snaussysoul]

Just ask some teenager if he/she would rather go to Knots or SFMM. I bet 85% would say SFMM.[/QUOTE]

I'm 45 minutes both ways North and South of Magic Mountain and Knott's - call me lucky, but to the point - everytime I suggest to friends to make a trip out to Knott's, more than 90% of the time, I get in return "Why do you want to go to Knott's? That park blows." - "Why? Magic Mountain has better rides." - "Knott's sucks."

I am a teenager myself, and I have solutions to the SFMM problem:
- Put security cameras all over the park
- If a guy arrives dressed like a gangster, don't allow that guy in. Girls dressed in sexy clothing, ALLOW, while the guys dressed like gangsters, TURN AWAY.

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DRAGON MOUNTAIN

AstroWorld had season passes for nearly $70 - $80, yet it still had difficulty on the Fourth of July with the rumble in the parking lots. AstroWorld was smack dab in the city of Houston, but it never really had any problems with crime, as far as I know.

Dragon Mountain, you can't just judge a person on how the dress. That's not right. I mean, yeah don't allow them in the park if they have vulgarity on their clothing, but not if it's just the style of the clothes they are wearing. And even 'nongangster' clothed people can do harm.

According to SFI's latest marketing 'results', they say Mr. Six is very responsive to teenagers and mothers. Maybe they want Moms with 16 year olds to ride their rides.

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Just because a park is by a big city, doesn't mean disruptive crowds should be an issue. SFGAm isn't really [I]that [/I]close to Chicago, yet the crowds are obnoxious and I'm sometimes suprised a gang knife fight doesn't break out. So, I don't really support the "near a big city" theory for most parks as much as I do the "Six Flags just doesn't give a sh!t about enforcing rules and keeping a friendly atmosphere as long as they get their money" theory.

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[QUOTE=Dragon Mountain]
- If a guy arrives dressed like a gangster, don't allow that guy in.[/QUOTE]


Now there's a law suit waiting to happen.

I personally agree that it's may be some of the location but it's also mainly because SF are such poorly maintained parks and not very family friendly and what security they do have don't really care. Their just there to get paid.

There's alot of different reason why SF draws a bad crown.

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