Are Six Flags Thrill Parks?

[cellarhound]

Here is another example of what I was talking about on another thread...

From The Newest Six Flags 'Species of Fear' Revealed

"Six Flags Magic Mountain exemplifies the powerful Six Flags thrill brand," stated Paul Ruben, North American editor of Park World magazine and noted roller coaster historian. "Besides strapping yourself onto a jet fighter, no where else can you experience this unique acrobatic flying experience. TATSU is a tremendous addition to this renown thrill park and the missing link to their remarkable world-class coaster collection."

Six Flags Marine World is at it's heart NOT a thrill park... It a park with an identity crisis... of being an Animal Park or a Thrill Park... And trust me the trills aren't really that thrilling there...

[MandaBella]

Sounds that six flags is in the minority then. Everyone I have been to is definitely a thrill park....especially Great Adventure.

[sediment]

I think that SFMW is an exception to the rule/goal/strategy of SF.

And whatever that guy is saying is a bit different from the new Board's apparent strategy to draw more families (especially the one member of the family with the money).

[Hector]

Hmmmm I wonder if Mark Shapiro (the new SF CEO) Will opt to actually buy SF Marine World from the City of Vallejo now that they want to go in a more family oriented way. SFMW is one of the few SF parks that I've been to that actually feels like the whole family can spend a good amount of time at that park and it would be a shame to lose it.

[cellarhound]

Originally Posted by Hector

Hmmmm I wonder if Mark Shapiro (the new SF CEO) Will opt to actually buy SF Marine World from the City of Vallejo now that they want to go in a more family oriented way. SFMW is one of the few SF parks that I've been to that actually feels like the whole family can spend a good amount of time at that park and it would be a shame to lose it.

I don't think it will Six Flags is happy with it, they pull a profit from MW... Partly because it is at it's root an animal park that does infact draw in families...

City of Vallejo is happy that they are on the map... with a big name company in their back yard...

[sir clinksalot]

First of all ... Tatsu is going to SFMM not SFMW.

Second ... don't listen to Paul Ruben ...

Third ... I will agree that SFMW has an identity crisis. From the outside it looks like any other Six Flags park, thrills, thrills, thrills. Once you get inside you can see that they are trying to be a thrill park and an animal park. IMO they don't do either one very well.

The Animal portion of the park

When we went in May we didn't see any shows but we did see the dolphins, penguins and the whale through their observation areas.

As people who frequent Sea World on a regular basis what we saw, frankly appalled us.

First you couldn't even see the dolphins because the water was so cloudy.

The Penguin habitat was falling apart and it appeared that the penguins were as well. And as a penguin lover (yes even before the penguin movie came out) this upset me.

The Ride Portion of the park

While they do have some good coasters (V2, Roar, Medusa) the operations make SFMM and Knott's look like Disneyland. Seriously. What should have been a 20 minute line for Medusa ended up being an hour long.

We were only at the park for 4 hours, did all of the rides (including the hour wait for Medusa) and we were done. We didn't do the Boomerang or the SLC (Suspended coaster). We will most likely do them this year when we go up to the bay area.

Overall the park has the potential to be a great park. Hopefully with this new CEO concentrating more on the 'family' aspect of the parks will see the family park potential this park has. While I don't think they will remove anything I think they can certainly move past the 'thrill' after 'thrill' park.