I just returned from six flags in NJ. (07/2009) I will never go there again. I am requesting a refund. My family had the worst experience at this park. People were cutting lines with no way to stop them. This happened on almost every ride. A lot of rides were closed. There is no visible management overseeing the running of the park. One of the gates to a ride nearly crushed my son’s hand as it slammed shut. They promote that you can bring your own food and eat it in a picnic area, however there are only 6 tables in this area to accommodate thousands of guests. We had to eat on the rock covered ground making a sandwich in our hands. The park is so poorly run and has a bad element running through the park with no visible security we the patrons can go to if needed. The people ( teens ) running the rides seemed to want to keep it going fast that safety was sacrificed. We did not feel safe at all. We had a horrible time and left so mad. My son is 12 years old and he wanted to leave the park early. There is nothing like waiting an hour and a half on line to be cut again and again. Also, they are checking for weapons coming into the park, but when you get a stamp and re-enter they do not check. Makes no sense to us. Water was almost 4 dollars a bottle. Food prices were so high as well. They charge almost the same price for fast pass as a regular ticket. Fast pass is nothing like Disney ( free at Disney ). You have to pay extra for some rides. They are having money issues and we the patrons are paying for it. Shame on you six flags it was really a no flags day for us.

First of all, welcome to the boards.

Secondly, it sucks about your day, but several of your complaints are things that happen daily at any park, Six Flags or otherwise; you should have known about them before going.
Let's see...
Food and bottled water is expensive at any entertainment venue including theme parks, sports stadiums, and movie theaters. This is something you should have expected when taking your family. It is also easily avoidable by either a) taking your own water bottle and refilling it at fountains or b) asking for cups of ice water at food stands.

Picnic areas are small because parks don't want you eating in there; they want you eating their food at their prices; it's just business. If you don't want to eat their food or pay their prices, you can either eat at your car, or go to one of several fast food joints that are probably all in the park's area.

Park managers like to drill things like capacity into their crews, which is why they are working fast. They are doing their best to make sure the lines are as fast as possible. Your problem with your son's hand confuses me though, every gate I've seen at every park has a decent sized gap between the gate and the post and probably wouldn't have done any damage besides a small squeeze. I've also never seen a gate "slam" shut, I see them, more or less, close slowly. I think you're just trying to make as many complaints as possible.

Charging for other rides happens at pretty much every park. Some rides cost extra to run, so the park will usually charge to cover that cost. Go-Karts for example have to use gasoline, so parks will usually charge extra for them.

Line cutting is unavoidable, but if you do catch it, just tell the ride ops when you get within earshot of them, they will be able to deal with them.

Management is usually visible at the parks I go to, but that might be because I used to work at my home park and know what some managers look like, so they're easier to spot. If they're not visible it's usually because they are dealing with things like closed rides.

Again, most of your complaints are things that happen every day at parks and things that are usually known before going. I really doubt they will give you a refund...an apology maybe, but I doubt a refund.

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I know you probably do not want to hear this, but it has been raining since around 12:00. A lot of the kiddie rides, including 3 of the major coasters do not run in the rain. Batman: The Ride, Superman, and Kingda Ka. KK has been closed for a while now.

I have never walked through the park without seeing security, or management for that matter. I find it odd that you did not see much at all.

Yes they do. If people were not checked, then it was the offices fault and not the parks. That office was just not doing their job correctly in that situation.

It does not matter what park you go to, the food prices will be high. It is just the nature of the industry.

From what I understand, Disney owns and operates the system on their own (I may be wrong) while Great Adventure doesn't. Lo-Q is an outside company that is in charge of that, and they can charge whatever they want for the product. It is not up to Six Flags price wise.

How are you paying for it exactly? Yes, the old management of Six Flags put the company in debt, but the company is in much better shape and has made a complete turn around under Mark Shapiro. The company had a record year performance in 2008.

I don't mean to sound harsh if I was, but that's my take on everything. The park has improved over the years. It sucks you had a bad time, but it was a bad day with the weather that came in. I would highly recommend you coming back one Saturday to see the fireworks. To be honest, it is the best fireworks show I have ever seen in my life, and they are getting great reviews from it.

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Medieval, you are correct that Disney owns and operates FastPass with no outside affiliation, but what I'm not sure about it the outside influence of SF's Flash Pass. I was under the impression that Flash Pass was SF's own device. But, I may also be totally wrong!
And to YouNeed2Know2, I recently went to SFGAdv, and to be perfectly honest had many of the same problems you had, with the exception of line jumpers. KK was closed when I went, El Toro borke down for several hours in the middle of the day, and we had god awful food for the price we payed (several dollars more than most other parks I've been to, and worse food). However, like Ryan said, these are things that happen daily at virtually any park. Rides are going to be closed. Food will be expensive (though I'll admit that SF's food is far too overpriced), and ride crews will do their best to maximize capacity. The difference was, I tried my best to enjoy what I could that day, and it ended up actually quite productive. From my point of view, a lot of the problems had were very minor in comparison to what could have happened. For example, as opposed to the rides not "feeling safe" (which by the way happens to be a major player in the popularity of roller coasters), they could have actually not been at all safe. Also, the rock-covered ground you ate on could have been covered in trash, or worse. I apologize if I am falsely accusing you of being a total pessimist, but that's really the vibe I'm getting from that post.

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AP Classes are so worth it...

Wait, KK has been closed for a while now? What's the ETA as to when it will reopen? I'm going to GADV on August 3rd, and the last time I went, I was only able to get on GASM, B:TR and S:UF. (long story.) I probably won't be there again for several years, so how likely is it to be open by the time I get there?

I don't really take much weight on all this because I make it well known it's SFGADV, not SFNJ unless you go to Safari, the park, and Hurricane Harbor, the whole complex. It's not our site's font and do you think I take anyone seriously with "1" post? This is clearly a GP post as more seasoned amusement industry theme park fans probably would drink from the water fountains - free and plentiful at our park, made a sandwich a head of time to take out of a bag or cooler and eat at their car. I am concerned about line cutting though. I thought the park had a handle on this the last few seasons. I generally go early in the day Sundays and stay away from the main season.

Kingda Ka has not been the same since supposedly being struck by lightning. I've seen a pic on the 'Scape of its hydraulic motor being lifted by crane the last month or so - not good. It was kinda fried and they have to get it back into a regular running condition/rhythm. Dont' count on it Tanks. I usually ride it once a season. It's much more worth it to get a second cycle on El Toro.

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
2008 & 2009 TN Coaster Draft Champion
You knew I wanted the other repeat too

Damn. Sigh. Not much has been too good for me this year.

I agree. It's a little upsetting that KK is down, but the only person to blame is mother nature. I'll be there Saturday night and Sunday for my first and probably only time. El Toro here I come!!

Lightning damage and 5 inches of rain the night before screwed me out of Kentucky Rumbler during my visit this year. That coaster is a promising young pup too.

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
2008 & 2009 TN Coaster Draft Champion
You knew I wanted the other repeat too

I was there on 7/20 and I thought they were running too slowly in the stations. Lots of rechecking riders(especially on El Toro), tons of arguing with guests about leaving belongings off to the sides...Also didn't notice any line cutting on any of the major rides. And while I didn't get there until about 1 PM the only ride I saw closed was KK, which has been closed for a while and there are signs out in front of the park about this. It was mega crowded though.

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"Hey Mark!"

The place is the summer cash cow right now. Stay away from Saturdays - intense packing. El Toro does need the redundant checking though.

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
2008 & 2009 TN Coaster Draft Champion
You knew I wanted the other repeat too

I'm going to play Devil's advocate. First, there's some contradicting statements in your post? You say there was no security, but yet they checked you for guns? That's called security.

Second, how about some more specifics, like what rides?

Third, most parks have a guest services or park operations... did you think of going there?

Last, why did you go copypasta with TPR as well? I thought your post looked funny.

Six Flags NJ Really Zero Flags - Theme Park Review

I suggest coming back when you've really complained to Six Flags and they've done nothing.

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Everytime I ride a coaster, it valleys. I've never been on a stalled coaster or had one roll back (except Wicked Twister and what was Superman: Ultimate Escape, which does that by design).

I will admit that I have not been to SFGADV in a number of years, and I do not know when I specifically will be back as I no longer live in NC/VA, but much further away in TX now. That said, I did want to weigh in on a few thoughts.

A lot of the complaints, as stated, are generally every day truths when it comes to amusement parks and others businesses a lot of times. A lot of this is not seen as a major problem because they exist everywhere. A lot could also be how you react to such commonly accepted issues. For example, line jumping. First, realize it happens everywhere to some degree. Then decide how much it bothers you. Let’s say you have young kids with you and one decides that they have to go to the bathroom after you are in line, if access is easy, even though it is technically line jumping, I don’t sweat it. You are holding a place for 5-6 or more people…and that is too much.

High food prices…hmm, hot dog at a ballpark can be ? Oh, we are not talking about a ballpark, but an amusement park. Again, this is a normal thing…but the park DOES make cheaper alternatives available (free cups of icewater) upon request, or during hotter days, some parks will make them readily available so that all you have to do is pick it up.

You said you did not see a hint of management or security in the park. Ever heard that the best security is the one that you do not even notice. When I was there several years ago, I seldom saw any uniformed security – but when there was a minor incident at Nitro, Security were on the scene in less than a minute. That told me that security was there, but as a guest, you were not aware that they were there.

And as far as closed rides, yes this does happen too. If something breaks, and they do go out, then they will close the ride. If weather conditions (rain or not) make running the ride risky, they will close the ride. Sometimes these things do not take long to fix or resolve and other times, as in the case of KK, there could be a quite extensive down time. The point is, is that these rides are not toys, but they are meant to be enjoyed and if not safe, then it should be closed until safe operation of the ride can relatively be guaranteed. So is it an inconvenience? Yes. Just the same as every year my former local parks would only run their Rapids ride during the main season, or it would run on a very short day. Inconvenient and disappointing? You bet. But I also knew that it was with my safety in mind that they did not want to run it in the capacity that they would have had to, to have opened it.

So, I am sorry you had a disappointing experience, but it sounds like maybe you went in with some slightly off-kilter expectations. I would encourage you to adjust your expectations and try visiting that, or even another park again soon. Although, I would not recommend Six Flags America if you have a pet with you, since last time I checked (and this could have changed since then) they did not offer an on-site kennel like most other parks do.

Who in their right mind would eat a picnic on rocks? I think they had to come by bus from the City or something. I believe the bus depot is gravel fenced in area behind Old Country in the parking lot. Administration/Employee parking is on the opposite side of that area.

Speaking of food prices I think my cousin posted in her Facebook pic at New Yankees Stadium her hot dog was $7.00. At $5.00 at Citizens Bank Park I'm even saying "No." Eat a big breakfast before coming in.

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
2008 & 2009 TN Coaster Draft Champion
You knew I wanted the other repeat too

I was going to reply to the OP's post point-by-point for the whole thing, but all of you above me did that for the most part. There are some things I wanted to reply to though. YouNeedToKnow2, I'm hoping that you read this post. I fear though that all of us are wasting our time posting because I have a feeling you just wanted to whine in as many places as possible and keep it moving.

1. You're either unobservant or blatantly lying when it comes to re-entry. You say that they don't screen you when you re-enter the park, yet you must walk through a metal detector to a security guard to re-enter the park!

2. There are line-cutters everywhere you go. If it's bad enough that you want to report it, stop the next Team Member you come across, and make sure you have at least one other party ready to say the same thing to security when they come.

3. Food prices are expensive anytime you step out of your house. Shoot, AMC charges ~$12 for two hot dogs and a large soda whether I'm at AMC Empire 25 in Times Square, or an AMC in suburban NJ. Stadiums have notoriously high prices with their food. I learned in a college course, and had this knowledge confirmed by a course during my WDW College Program, that food prices at entertainment venues, restaurants, whatever is marked so that it's 50% profitable. Because of that standard, you always should expect prices that feel rather exorbitant. I've never in my travels been outside of my house and thought "wow, this food is cheap!" unless I was at a convenience store like Wawa, QuickCheck, or 7-11.

4. FlashPass (SF) and FastPass (Disney) are two completely different animals. They are both ride reservation systems, and they both annoy the guests that aren't holding one. The differences are not because Disney owns their system and SF has one run by Lo-Q, but because the benefits and operation of each are vastly different.

Let's start with Disney's FastPass. This system is free to all guests, and all one has to do to obtain one is put their park ticket into the FlashPass machine. This is very fair to everyone, but it comes with shortfalls as well. Because it's free, they have to limit how many are floating around. This created the need to limit how many are given out per time slot. The more people draw from the machines, the further up this pushes the time. On a busy day, one could arrive to an attraction at noon, and get a ride reservation for 7PM...or later. Or even worse, a guest could arrive early afternoon, just to find out that as of 2PM all of the FastPasses in the Magic Kingdom have been distributed. During my stay as a CP, I saw both of those things happen multiple times, and guests were not happy. Another thing that annoyed guests was that you had to wait two hours to receive another FastPass, or two hours, whichever is less.

Now let's go to SF's FlashPass. The fairness factor comes in with the price. A lot of guests have the feeling of "well, at least they had to pay extra if they wanna cut". HOWEVER, that is a misunderstanding of how the system works. It is best described as having an invisible friend that waits on line for you, then alerts you when they are at the front of the line. The FlashPass system gives you a return time based off of how long the standby line is. If Nitro has an hour wait, then with FlashPass you still must wait that hour. The benefit you have is that you're not marching in line physically for that hour, so you can get some food, catch a show, and ride some other rides in that time. Also, because it's based off of the physical queue's time, you'll get to use it for more than one or two attractions during your visit.

I'm sorry you had a bad visit to the park, but a lot of it to be honest sounds like exaggeration by you, and also some unreasonable expectations, with misunderstandings to boot. I suggest next time you visit ANY theme/amusement park that you do some homework first to spare yourself the aggravation.

P.S. I thought you all might find it interesting to see that Disney may be looking to modify it's FastPass system.
http://miceage.micechat.com/kevinyee/ky072109a.htm
Look toward the bottom.

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I would bet money she doesn't return to read this.

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
2008 & 2009 TN Coaster Draft Champion
You knew I wanted the other repeat too

I'm closing this thread. This is either a troll, or it's someone who just posted a bad day at numerous sites and left for good.

They're here:

The Motley Fool

Hotel review site for a Motel 6 in Georgia

Theme Park Review

YouNeed2Know, if you want this thread reopened, please send me a private message. You can do so by clicking on my name by my personal picture and clicking on the appropriate link to send me a message.

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Voyage is the best roller coaster ever.
Raptor ride count - 1,146.