Whats wrong with Six Flags? Great Escape Report

Heres my trip report of my day at the great escape today, (9/9/07) Please, tell me, what has gotten into Six Flags???

Well, i was all ready for a great day at Great Escape, mostly just to ride the Comet about 25 times in a row. Things were great, I got to the park about 20 min early, and things were looking great. There weren't too many people, but it wasn't completely dead, one of those days where every ride is a walk-on, except for the few popular ones.

Everything was looking great until about 10 minutes later, when my day was ruined... They decided they would close the Great Escape today because of the overcast (not raining) weather. "WHAT THE F***!!?!?! A YOU F***ING SERIOUS!!!!??!!??", im yelling out loud. One of the employees there said that shed been working for 16 years, and she'd never seen anything like it done. The families I was talking with after said they came for about an hour drive, along with many other pissed off people in the park that had came a long way.

Now, I'm not sure what Six Flags is thinking here, closing down a park, on a not-so nice day, but it wasn't pouring or anything.. and it wasn't even that slow. Also, at such late notice. No employees knew, and even the elvis impersonator employee who lives an hour + away supposedly, had to turn around and leave, he was very upset.

Now, i really want to know what Six Flags is thinking, are they really that smart to close down a park?? Im thinking that this is one of there dumbest moves ever. Now, everytime i go to the park i have to hope for it to be open?!? i don;t live that close.. comon...

I'm sorry if you think this is ridiculous or something, but i'm just absolutely disgusted with Six Flags at the moment. And thats my awesome trip report.... Hope you enjoyed reading about my awesome coaster experience.......... [:(]

[jayman]

that sucks!!!!!!

yes it did, and i also wanna why... #1 my random roller coaster on rcdb was comet, and #2 theres a coaster named the great escape on this site...

why do things keep reminding me of my awful day [:(]

Looks like SF made a "great escape" with everyone's money.

I feel your pain though.

Yeah, they did the same when I was in a 2-hour KK line.

lmao, kk is nothing to a whole park closing....

[jayman]

especially if comet is in that park.

^ for what, lightning?

That's a bummer, Austin. Everytime I've gone to Valleyfair this year, the rides have been closed down for hours at a time because of weather.

That would suck, I'm glad to see that all the employees were upset too, hopefully they complain about it enough so that it won't happen again.

Eelover, why woudl you wait 2 hours for a rollercoaster, nevertheless KK? LOL.

That sucks big balls, but is there any proof it actually hapenned? JW.

I waited 2 hours for Maverick but there was no avoiding that.

I dont get why Six Flags didnt give out refund tickets. Last year i went to kennywood in Pittsburgh pa, and the whole day it was off and on rain. Finally the park closed do to bad conditions and on the way out they gave evryone a refund ticket, which u can use any day for the remainder of the season. I geuss SF doesnt do that kind of thing since its a big park.

wow that sucks, you were sooo pumped about that trip too...sorry austin.

Get over it... You're "Disgusted"? Jeez that sounds harsh... They probably closed it because there was lightning within 40 miles or whatever the standard is.

^get over it? Have you ever worked in Retail or the entertainment biz?

Theres no "get over it" here. Austin has every right to be disgusted, angry, furious or any other synonym you can think of. CP doesnt close down even when lightening strikes pretty much in the park. KI wont. Neither will alot of other parks I have seen or been too.

Closing a park is just complete BS. You mean to tell me theres not anything else that people couldnt do or spend money on? Even if they got some money for tickets, the taste they left in the mouths of the people who were wanting to attend is so sour that I would bet many will NOT come back. Ive had some bad experiences at various places and I do NOT return. Even if I have to pay more somewhere else, I will support the business that treats me with an ounce more respect than the other place.

Heck, alot of people probably would have been fine with going in, doing indoor stuff and spending some money on games and waiting out the "overcast" day.

Plus you never close an entire park without some legit reason. Like if you lose total power or something else serious like a water main or gas leak break. Even still, you could work around the water main or the likes.


Id have a letter in the mail to Shapiro faster than I could email. But a letter, its alot better if its physical than some random email you can delete in a heartbeat.

i have sent emails, but ive never thought about a hand written letter, ill definatly consider it, lets see what i get in the email first...

You're very likely to not get anything. Because hardly anyone writes actual letters any more they have a much higher impact.

Thats why I considered it. Taking time to write out a letter shows you had some serious intent. Even if you type and print, its very very effective these days of conveying your seriousness.

Originally posted by Real

^get over it? Have you ever worked in Retail or the entertainment biz?

Theres no "get over it" here. Austin has every right to be disgusted, angry, furious or any other synonym you can think of. CP doesnt close down even when lightening strikes pretty much in the park. KI wont. Neither will alot of other parks I have seen or been too.

Closing a park is just complete BS. You mean to tell me theres not anything else that people couldnt do or spend money on? Even if they got some money for tickets, the taste they left in the mouths of the people who were wanting to attend is so sour that I would bet many will NOT come back. Ive had some bad experiences at various places and I do NOT return. Even if I have to pay more somewhere else, I will support the business that treats me with an ounce more respect than the other place.

Heck, alot of people probably would have been fine with going in, doing indoor stuff and spending some money on games and waiting out the "overcast" day.

Plus you never close an entire park without some legit reason. Like if you lose total power or something else serious like a water main or gas leak break. Even still, you could work around the water main or the likes.


Id have a letter in the mail to Shapiro faster than I could email. But a letter, its alot better if its physical than some random email you can delete in a heartbeat.

I just hope you realize that if theres not enough people at the park to make it profitable to keep it open its usually a good idea to close. Also Other factors like staffing may have also been an issue. And i recall Cedar point closing all its ride in any thing close to a drizzle so stop your rambling about how their perfect. I doubt Mark Shapiro had any influence on a decision to close for the day. I'd contact the General Manager of Great escape instead.

The Great Escape
Don McCoy, Park President
Route 9, P.O. Box 511
Lake George, NY 12845

Originally posted by Real


Plus you never close an entire park without some legit reason.

Exactly my point... I'm sure they had one...

[jayman]

i bust my ass to make sure the shop is open all day, if some customer needs to pick up his machine and we've gone home he's screwed.
you're right that does suck..give the poor dad who just drove 3 kids and a skeptical wife 150 miles something to make it seem like, in spite of the weather, it was worth it.

Originally posted by blackhand1001
Also Other factors like staffing may have also been an issue. And i recall Cedar point closing all its ride in any thing close to a drizzle so stop your rambling about how their perfect.

Obviously you have just made the most n00b comment Ive ever seen.

1. Ive made it quite clear I dont like CP. So why would I imply they are perfect?

2. Ive ridden every single ride at CP (cept Maverick) in anything from drizzles to downpours. Even MF when they sent us up the hill well after it had started "drizzling" and after it started to downpour.


Its also a very ignorant statement that just because when they opened there wasnt 100,000 people standing there to bust down the gates. So, whenever any retail store or amusement park opens up and theres not enough people right there to make the park profitable that day you close it?

You can argue but none of you can come up with any remotely reasonable cause for shutting down an entire park. You lose money that way.


You still had to pay employees to be there, to set up.
You still have to pay for certain services that will run 24/7:
Freezers, fridges, computer systems and other things that probably run all day and night.
You still have to close the park now so you will pay employees another hour or so to make sure everythings buttoned down.


I bet that some days every year even a park like CP falls below the margain line. But you have those days, thats the biz. You make it back on those Saturdays when you have to use the external parking or the days when the kiddie rides have the 30 minute wait. When you get to working in the work force for some years and you get into the retail biz youll understand what Im talkin about.

You do NOT close down your park because:

Its overcast
You dont have enough people at the gate at open.

I cant count the times Ive been at a park when it opened and there was no one there. Then, 4 hours later, almost midday, the flood gates open and its PACKED.


I used Shapiro as a default answer. Nice call on the GM. But everything else is rubbish. I will never, ever claim that CP is close to perfect on anything. Not even "best" or "above average".

They instituted a new policy this year after the Magnum incident which reads as follows.

Adverse Weather Conditions/Rain

Rides will close due to weather conditions, particularly rain, high winds and/or lightning. A specific answer as to which rides close or remain open is not possible because varying degrees of inclement weather cause different effects on different rides. Those rides affected the most are the roller coasters and the high rides. Cedar Point makes every effort to reopen the rides as quickly and safely as possible after the adverse weather conditions cease. Sorry, no rainchecks or refunds.

Generally, the following weather conditions will affect the listed rides and attractions:

* HIGH WINDS - These rides MAY close depending on wind speed and direction: Demon Drop, Gemini, Giant Wheel, Mantis, maXair, Mean Streak, Millennium Force, Power Tower, Raptor, RipCord, Sky Ride, Skyhawk, Snoopy Bounce, Space Spiral, Top Thrill Dragster and Zoom Flume
* ANY PRECIPITATION - These rides WILL CLOSE: 4 x 4's, Challenge Raceway, Demon Drop, Giant Wheel, Raptor, Magnum XL-200, Top Thrill Dragster, Maverick, Wildcat, Millennium Force, Iron Dragon and Woodstock Express.
* STEADY RAIN - All rides listed under ANY PRECIPITATION and the rides listed below will close: Calypso, Corkscrew, Disaster Transport, Gemini, Mantis, Matterhorn, Mean Streak and Snoopy Bounce.
* HEAVY RAIN - All rides listed under ANY PRECIPITATION or STEADY RAIN and the rides listed below will close: Blue Streak, Junior Gemini, maXair, Mine Ride, Monster, Ocean Motion, Power Tower, Sky Ride, Skyhawk, Snake River Falls and Wicked Twister.
* LIGHTNING and SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
All rides will be closed during the severity of the storm and will start to reopen as soon as the storm or lightening passes.


I have also seen Posted on many sites that any rain now they just close everything but maybe the indoor stuff.


PS: Sorry about thinking you were going fan boy on me Real.

[Brtnboarder495]

Originally posted by Real

^get over it? Have you ever worked in Retail or the entertainment biz?

Theres no "get over it" here. Austin has every right to be disgusted, angry, furious or any other synonym you can think of. CP doesnt close down even when lightening strikes pretty much in the park. KI wont. Neither will alot of other parks I have seen or been too.

Closing a park is just complete BS. You mean to tell me theres not anything else that people couldnt do or spend money on? Even if they got some money for tickets, the taste they left in the mouths of the people who were wanting to attend is so sour that I would bet many will NOT come back. Ive had some bad experiences at various places and I do NOT return. Even if I have to pay more somewhere else, I will support the business that treats me with an ounce more respect than the other place.

Heck, alot of people probably would have been fine with going in, doing indoor stuff and spending some money on games and waiting out the "overcast" day.

Plus you never close an entire park without some legit reason. Like if you lose total power or something else serious like a water main or gas leak break. Even still, you could work around the water main or the likes.


Id have a letter in the mail to Shapiro faster than I could email. But a letter, its alot better if its physical than some random email you can delete in a heartbeat.

+1, I agree so much with you on this it's not even funny.

This is probably why the SF group is going down the drain. They're getting what they deserve. Both of my visits to SFNE have been nothing more than just decent or sub par. One time, okay, maybe I'll let them off the hook. Twice, no way, I'm sorry but this isn't acceptable.

If I had it my way, I'd have SF be bought by someone else or sell off at least the park near me (SFNE) . Preferably, I'd have CF as the buyer, man would that be heaven!