Matt Kaiser

To answer your question, you are not getting any extra benefits as a Gold Combo Membership compared to Gold Plus. Gold Plus is everything that you have now plus more. So yes, you are paying more for less and should "upgrade" to at least Gold Plus.

That raising and resetting is what they're referring to with the "sales", so they're saying they won't do that. They will be the same price throughout the year, but they are reserving the right to increase it, just like how Netflix increases their subscription price every few years.

I do have to fold them in half, but I think that's just the trade-off for how I'm storing them.

I upgraded from Season Pass to Membership at the park. Let me know if anyone has questions about memberships or the upgrade process and I'll try to answer them. From the Membership FAQ:

Thanks! These were all taken with either a Panasonic Lumix GH5 or my phone (Google Pixel 2 XL, sometimes with a Moment Wide Angel lens) I also sometimes use a Canon eos m, but didn't bring it this time.

All Cedar Fair and Sea World parks have used these for a while. They're more annoying to use, hold, and transport home safely, but I do prefer them for saving in a binder. I found fold-out plastic binder protector sheets that they fit perfectly into, which display them nicely.

We visited the park Saturday 3/31, the second day of the season. It was a very stressful visit due to hours spent on Pass/Member issues and other circumstances stemming from lack of employees, training, and overall preparedness, but I look forward to those hopefully getting better over the season and for the future. I photographed as much as I remembered to check out, from Cyborg construction, restaurant changes, log flume work, and so on. Full album here: https://imgur.com/a/phtDx (LOTS more photos than I posted below) Some highlights: Cyborg Cyborg Wide View Cyborg Aerial View Go Fresh by Nitro will soon be Primo's Pasta (Menu close-up in full album) Liberty Pub removed for construction of the "Ale House" Right across from that is construction on (what I assume to be) Liberty Snacks & Dippin' Dots Log Flume Drop Refurbishment (Also, Best of the West was closed) A very vibrant Sugar Shack has replaced the Cold Stone attached to G.A. Cafe The preferred lot now has these pole barriers to protect pedestrians along the fence. They are also along Superman's fence. The ever-changing building right outside the main gate is now Membership Services The new Season Pass Headquarters, next to Skyscreamer, where you should NOT go for Membership questions. (read the sign) The best sunset photo I've ever taken Swashbuckler is not quite there. Assuming it's still in maintenance. New 2018 Great Adventure shirt The new Membership Priority Entrance at the main gate

I suppose... I almost died on Soarin' Eagle where at least on Thunderbolt I only had my legs almost amputated.

According to the park newsletter from 3/7: And Sugar Shack accepts the dining plan according to: https://www.sixflags.com/greatadventure/food-and-dining/ice-cream-sweets

That's interesting. For those who don't know, Sansei owns most of S&S (which is now officially named "S&S - Sansei Technologies")

One of the most uncomfortable coasters I've ridden.

That map is not to scale, there's really not that much room there. The park map makes it look like you could fit 5 more Justice Leagues in there, but really you couldn't even fit 1 more. There is room to squeeze a coaster, but it would most likely have to be custom.

That's crazy. It was 80 degrees in February.

I got 12 inches of snow Wednesday, but a decent amount melted by Thursday night. We still have a good 4-6 inches left, though.

They do not sell Gold memberships any more, just as a season pass. I am interested to see how they handle that issue with grandfathered regular & gold members not being able to use the member-only entrance. If they let them use the member-only entrance then they also need to let season pass holders use it for this year since they had sold these passes for months with the selling point that they have the same benefits as their equivalent memberships. To clarify about the dining pass issue: because of the increasing dining discounts, the issue is the worst with Diamond Elite, but not as bad with Platinum. (Deluxe Dining comes to $78 per year with a Platinum membership, compared to $52 per year for Diamond Elite membership) If you only want Gold Plus, it's actually cheaper! Premium Dining is $108 per year with Gold Plus, so if you only paid $85 for your Premium Dining Pass this year, you're actually making out with a $23 discount on dining! That would come out to $170 ($85 Gold Plus + $85 Pr.Dining) for the first year of Gold Plus and transferred Premium Dining.

Also, you need to choose which rides you want to skip when you pick up the skip-the-line passes. (That's how Texas is currently doing it, and how Great Adventure handled the skip-the-line pass for people who purchased during the Flash Sale)

What they've had for the past few years are just some loosely labeled lanes. The new member entrances should have much better visibility, separation, and enforcement (based on photos I've seen from SFMM). I'm hoping there's member entrances at both security and the main gate, otherwise it's a bit of a bust. This also just reminds me how much of a gamble upgrading right now is. There are so many unknowns about how SF will implement and execute many of these perks, that many of them are probably going to end up being too good to be true.

So the main things I want from Diamond Elite membership are below, with my thoughts on each: member-only entrance: hopefully it's adequately staffed preferred parking: more of a nice to have, but I will gladly use this to its fullest 50% off food and merch: I don't usually buy that much, but I will probably buy some more merch with this discount. Plus I may use this to eat at Panda more often. Member-only appreciation days and ERT: I'm not expecting much from these, but I'll list them. Sort of a FOMO thing. Two skip the line passes per visit: Possibly the biggest seller for me Fright Fest Wristband every visit: This is like a $45 value. I'm just hoping there's some option to cheaply upgrade to Express for when I need it Premium Show seating? Maybe? Could be nice? Not really until Fright Fest, though... On the question of "do I need it now?" - I would definitely like most of these benefits this year. Could I wait a few months without them? Maybe, but then the season pass "refund" gets pro-rated, so it's still losing money. (They don't say how much it will get pro-rated, just that it's based on the number of times you visit the park. So If I visit too much in spring... I may just lose out on that $67, potentially effectively spending more for the first 2-3 months than I would have with a Diamond Elite Membership.) It's also worth noting that I'm only paying for myself, and not a whole family, so I don't consider it that expensive. It's still less than Cedar Fair, but has way more benefits/perks. (quantity over quality, I guess, but not necessarily a bad thing) In closing, the only thing holding me back from upgrading right now is the dining pass. They won't "refund" it like the season pass and will just transfer it to the membership. That sounds fine and great, except for the fact that I paid $85 for it, and the same service actually only costs $52 per year for Diamond Elite members, so I am still being overcharged. Plus, even if I give in and absorb that $33 scam, it will be a nightmare to add-on dining membership next year due to Six Flags' absurdly broken "work-arounds" to do simple actions like upgrading your membership level or adding anything on. They have to do some work manually, make you cancel your current membership, buy a new membership, and re-enter a new 12-month contract because of "technical limitations". So, I could potentially lose out on the current rates for both the membership itself and the membership dining.

I think we'll get some very soon.

Final Update: As of today, the upgrade button is now available for 2018 season pass holders in the season pass portal: https://mypass.sixflags.com I haven't done it yet, but as previously announced, you get the amount you paid for your season pass in Bugs Bucks to use at your home park for food and merchandise. Any existing dining plan or season flash pass will be transfered to your membership at the park.

Update: The system for 2018 season passholders to upgrade to the new memberships, which was supposed to be available March 15th, has been pushed back to March 19th.

Gotcha, so it's "canceling", but not "canceling."

I'm not sure if this counts for "upgrading", but for canceling, you need to give 2 weeks notice before the desired final payment date. So you may need to cancel/upgrade by March 21st in order for April 5th to be the last payment. But like I said, not sure if that counts for their convoluted "upgrade" process. https://feedback.sixflags.com/membersupport/cancelyourmembership.aspx

According to Jenn McGrath's interview with SFNEonline, you will be blocked from reserving parking for 30 days if you reserve and don't show up. http://sfneonline.org/2018/03/09/six-flags-membership-passes-q-six-flags-new-england/

Where do you see that? The welcome guide has always said you need to reserve, but it says by 12am the night before, not 5am. You can cancel by 5am. https://static.sixflags.com/website/membership/guides/Six-Flags-Diamond-Elite-Membership-Guide-2018.pdf