RobertDavid

Maybe I'm a little too critical, but I don't really think 95% in 2 weeks is something to brag about. The people who come to the park during those 2 weeks have a diminished experience. Remember for some people this will be their only visit to the park. They do not have annual passes and come frequently to see the "progress" that has been made over 2 weeks.

Does anyone know exactly where the land is that they are going to use for the solar farm? How about they use the current parking lot instead and use the forest for parking, taking out only a few trees. This would allow guests to park in a forest under the shade of trees, eliminate the destruction of more forest, and use the space that has already been cleared for solar panels.

Being first may get people to the park once, but being better will keep them coming back. This is a lesson I believe Six Flags may never learn.

I'm glad they're gone and wish the rides would change from super hero themes to park-appropriate themes, but I guess most of the park would have to actually be given "themes".

It would probably be difficult to stay open later because all the Fright Fest stuff would need to come down, and knowing them they would take forever to do it, so you would have Halloween decorations up through November. I used to love Fall at the park before Fright Fest. Cool, crisp weather with small crowds.

Worst Ride: Chaos Worst Coaster: Viper

Not very excited about either, but namtab has to be more exciting.

I cannot imagine there is no better way of going about this than plowing down 90 of the last few remaining acres of forest on the property. Apparently it is just the cheapest way of doing it. As far as planting 25,000 trees in exchange; I'll believe it when I see it. Where are they going to plant them? If there's room to plant 25,000 trees, why don't they use that space for the solar panels. It just kills me that they are so intent on destroying forests when the forest was the reason that spot was chosen for the park. The forest was the greatest asset the park had, until it was destroyed. Why can they not learn to use the forest to create an amazing atmosphere instead of destroying it.

I liked that ride. It was like The Buccaneer on steroids.

I don't know about that. I don't think they would spend the money on two identical flat rides. A double roller coaster is one thing, but I don't think they'd do a double flat.

I LOVED Fantasy Factory!! That was a show that appealed to the whole family. I was a teenager then and loved it, and adults loved it too. Even children loved it. That's what they need, something appealing to everyone.

Personally I am not that upset about Rolling Thunder. It is a little sad, but it is an outdated ride that hardly anyone rides anymore. I will also be glad to see something removed from that overcrowded area. My problem with Zumanjaro is that they are giving it an African theme and there is no African section in the park (yet). This led to several people claiming that theming does not matter as long as we keep getting thrill rides because that is all people come to the park for and as long as we keep adding thrill rides people will flock to the park. This is the philosophy that has led to most of the park's problems and has failed over and over again. Yes, there have been children's rides added to the park. However parents do not want to bring children to the park because the parents do not like the park and have nothing to do themselves. The rowdy teenagers also make the atmosphere inappropriate for children and unpleasant for adults. Theming and atmosphere are very important to adults and it is not blowing anything out of proportion to point out how poor the theming and atmosphere is at GA. The unpleasant atmosphere costs the park a great deal of business and the idea that the atmosphere is unimportant as long as we keep adding thrill rides is going to keep chasing people away and continue adding to the bad reputation of the park. The people that come to the park next year to ride the new thrill ride would be coming to the park anyway for the most part. The park is full of thrill rides and teenagers will come to ride them, even without a new one next year. Teenagers are not the demographic the park needs to work on attracting. They need to attract adults and yes, the poor atmosphere is hurting their chances of doing this.

We realize you do not care, but a lot of people do. Not caring is what is wrong with the park. If it doesn't matter, why theme it at all? Why take the time, energy, and money to give it a theme that does not fit? Just call it "Drop Tower", and call all the roller coasters "coaster 1, coaster 2, etc." The point is it does matter. The company and the park have serious problems. Just playing ignorant and being glad for whatever they do is not going to solve them. Those of us who do care want the park to be as great as it could, and should, be. No, it is not "good enough". They're talking about building a hotel and entertainment complex next to the park. Making it a "destination" as people like to call it. Whatever you call it, people are not going to come to Jackson, NJ and stay at a generic hotel to go to a generic amusement park that only caters to teenagers. Teenagers cannot afford hotels. If they want to do better, they have to offer better. Yes, I remember when the park first opened, how magical and beautiful it was. Everyone loved it; children, teenagers, and adults. That is what it takes to have a successful park. It's depressing and frustrating to see what Six Flags has done to it. It is also frustrating to see the park fall into the same hole over and over, never learning from their mistakes.Thrill rides alone will not sustain them. Making thrill rides fit into the theme also makes them more fun for the people that ride them as well as interesting to the people who do not. Believe me, if you knew better you would care.

This is the thinking that drove them to bankruptcy. They have proven time and time again that just putting in new rides does not create business. If it did, Great Adventure would be the busiest park on earth. The park has hardly any shows, the dining consists of restaurant chains you can go to at the local shopping center and pay less, and the atmosphere sucks. Rides are the main reason people go to AMUSEMENT PARKS. Great Adventure, however, is a theme park. Granted it's not a very good one, but it is a theme park and people expect a theme and a park. Adults do not go to theme parks for the rides. They go for the shows, dining, and atmosphere. Six Flags ignores adults, and this is their main problem. They will never survive relying soley on teenagers.

I wouldn't exactly call it "revamping" when you add something to a themed area that does not fit the theme. If they want to make it Africa, they should stop calling it Asia. Also if they are going to make it a "safari theme", then they should have put the Safari in it, instead of in Frontier Adventures. You can try to make any excuse you want, the truth is the theming keeps getting worse. As much as I would hate to see it happen, they need to just call that entire end of the park Africa and get it over with. However, that would require actually retheming, not "revamping" or just adding a few safari themed elements. Get rid of the Asian and Western elements and actually make it Africa. If they do not intend to do this they need to stop haphazardly dropping African themed rides all over the place.

Holy crap people! The Golden Kingdom is NOT Africa, it"s ASIA! We really need to fix our school system. Golden Kingdom and Frontier Adventures were the only real themed areas in the park. Now they are destroying what little theming that is left. The budget excuse is rediculous. It cost just as much to give the drop tower an African theme as it would to give it an Asian or Western theme. Rides being given inappropriate themes has nothing to do with budget, just bad choices. Noone expects Great Adventure to be Disney, but it does not have to be tacky and ugly. They CAN have theming, without additional cost. Just give the rides appropriate themes to begin with, it wouldn't cost any more than the themes they do give them.

Exactly. They do so well because they appeal to a bigger population. Great Adventure is near NYC, one of the biggest tourist destinations in the world. The park is an easy day trip, but people do not go because it is not worth the trip. They can't just send the teenagers and leave the rest of the family behind, and the adults do not want to go because it is an ugly, tacky, roller coaster mecca that they do not enjoy. Even just considering the population that lives near the park, it should be the most visited park in the country. It is not because families stay away. To say that the park has to stay this way is rediculous. There is no reason it needs to be so tacky and ugly. It costs just as much to paint a ride flourescent lime green as it does to paint it sky blue. It costs as much to give a ride a superhero theme as it does to give it a theme that matches the park. These decisions have nothing to do with money or whether the park is regional or a destination. They are just the result of bad decisions made by people who apparently know nothing about theme parks. Great Adventure would be a destination if it was worth the trip, and there is nothing stopping it from being so except bad decisions.

Daved Thomson and GAFanatic, well said. JJ2K, This idea that Great Adventure will always be a sub-standard mess and can not change is just wrong. This thinking is what's wrong with the park. There is no reason they can not properly theme rides or market to families instead of just teenagers. The idea that building a new thrill ride will draw massive crowds has been proven wrong time and time again by Six Flags. People do not drive hours and spend hundreds just to ride one ride. They want to experience a whole park, and if that park is a mess they will not come back, regardless of how many roller coasters it has. This is why Busch Williamsburg does better than Great Adventure, even though it only has 5 roller coasters. It is themed appropriately and appeals to families. Everything from the rides to the food to the merchandise enhance the experience. You enter the park and you enter a whole new world. You enter Six Flags and it's like entering a shopping mall. I've lost count how many times Great Adventure has admitted they were wrong by abandoning families and marketing soley to teenagers. Yet they keep making the same mistake over and over, hoping for different results. We do not need the strength to accept what cannot be changed, they need the strength to change.

It doesn't cost any more to theme something appropriately. They are theming it anyway. These decisions have nothing to do with cost. It costs just as much to give the drop tower an African theme as it would to give it a western or asian theme. All of the inappropriate theming decisions are just stupidity, not financial. Cedar Point was not built as a theme park. It is a lakeside amusement park. It has a lot of history as such and people forgive it's lack of theming due to it's history. Great Adventure is not Cedar Point, and never will be. People expect a theme park and there is no reason it is not one except for bad decisions. It cost just as much to retheme Medusa as Bizarro as it would have to give it an appropriate western theme. Money had nothing to do with it. It's the same with all the other bad color choices and bad theming. It has nothing to do with money. Appropriate colors and themes would not cost any more.

Well said. I'm glad I'm not the only person who thinks theming and atmosphere are important. It's also crazy that after many past failures trying to cater soley to teenagers and failing miserably, they just never learn. The only parks that are successful are those that attract families, and Six Flags does everything possible to drive them away.

While I'm said to see RT go, it is time. I'm excited about the drop tower and I'm glad they are building it on an existing tower instead of building yet another giant metal tower in the park. I don't understand why they are painting it orange and yellow on a tower that is blue and green. Are all their designers color blind? I also don't understand why it has an African theme in the Golden Kingdom? I gather the entrance is going to come from the direction of the Safari? Two African themed rides, however, in areas that are not African themed seems stupid. Are they planning on changing Frontier Adventures to an African Village? I know I'm probably alone on this, but I hope they do not put anything in RT's footprint. It was way too cramped there. They need some space. Replant some of the trees that have been removed and make the atmosphere better for what is already there. Put a new coaster somewhere else.

While I think a hotel / Entertainment Complex near the park would be good, I have a few problems with this particular idea. First of all, the pictures seem to indicate the removal of all remaining forrest in the area. Second, the ultra modern coorporate business park appearance of the project seems to be completely wrong for Great Adventure.

From the start I was not happy about Six Flags purchasing the park. From the start they began destroying the magical Enchanted Forrest atmosphere and stripping the park of it's identity, turning it into a generic amusement park. These changes have accelerated throughout the years, but they began immediately. From day one of Six Flags ownership, the beauty of the park has deteriorated and it has become a tacky amusement park instead of the magical theme park it was when it opened.

Does anyone know why so many parks have removed their Skyrides? Is it parts, maintenance, safety, insurance...? I'm always afraid Great Adventure will remove theirs.

I do not think either entrance has a huge advantage over the other. The original did have a better visual with the tents, the Carousel and Yum Yum Palace, and the Big Wheel. My only real problem with the current entrance is what they've done to it recently. It was built during the Bicentennial and had a colonial theme, and you walked through the woods to get to it. Now the trees have been cut down and the buildings have been painted rediculous colors that changed them from colonial to generic.