RobertDavid

SFFT was built by Opryland as a "musical show park" which focused on shows. But as with all Six Flags parks the shows have deminished and the rides have increased. I went to SFNE 2 months ago and the only show was a game show with Mr Six where audience members went on stage and threw rings on each others heads and other silly things to win points, it was really lame, and the only show in the park if you can call that a show. Adults can not jump in the car and go to Broaway to see a show while their kids are on rides. Not to mention one Broaway show costs more than an annual pass to Six Flags. Families can not just go to Broadway anytime they want to see shows. Everyone expects shows to be part of the offerings at a park and, believe it or not, when a park puts on a good show people watch it. There are many people that go to theme parks just to watch the shows. Six Flags has got to learn that a theme park is more than just roller coasters. I love coasters as much as the next guy, but you need more.

Hydro Flume. or Moon Flume as I will always remember it, and Flying Wave. Aside from being a tame ride that a lot of people could enjoy, the swings just gave that section of the park character and atmosphere. That thing they have on the swings old spot is just plain ugly.

I don't believe the parks proximity to New York has anything to do with it. People do not expect Broadway when they see a theme park show. They just expect "good", and Six Flags has not produced good shows. It's not just Great Adventure, it's all Six Flags parks. There are elements of theme parks that do not directly create revenue, but are necessary in order to attract business. Mainly these are rides and entertainment. Six Flags has only focused on rides and it has always hurt their business. They will never be successful as long as they refuse to offer entertainment for ALL age groups and not just teenagers. Time and time again they admit this and say they are going to change their ways, but they do not and they suffer for it and will continue to do so.

Some adults like stunt shows. However most adults, including men, like musicals. Seniors LOVE musicals, and they flock to the parks that have them. Seniors have a great deal of free time and are very loyal and regular customers. Seniors want nothing to do with Six Flags because they have no shows, no unique dining, and a roudy, loud, unpleasant atmosphere.

The music played at theme parks is called BGM ( background music ). The idea is to enhance the atmosphere with subtle, quiet music you don't really notice. The sound comes out of hidden speakers, such as rock-shaped speakers or ground-level green speakers hidden in the landscaping. While walking through an area the music makes you feel that you are actually in that area. Walking through Great Adventure is like walking through a rock concert. The music overpowers everything. They attached ugly black speakers to anything that didn't move and then stuck poles in the ground and attached speakers to those. Not only is the music way too loud, it's not even appropriate. A Bicentennial-themed entrance plaza should not be playing loud pop music and Frontier Adventures should not be playing loud contemporary country music. Not to mention the rediculous DJ commentary. The Boardwalk is actually the only place loud pop music actually fits. That's what boardwalks have. It just doesn't have to be so unbearably loud.

Dance parties and stunt shows appeal to younger audiences, the one group that Six Flags does not have a problem attracting. If they want to survive they need to offer something for adults. Adults like singing and dancing. That's what they go to theme parks for, and that's why they do not like Six Flags, because they do not have them. Shows WILL attract people if they are good. One of the things that attracts so many adults to Busch parks are the shows. They have quality shows that people come back for again and again. Williamsburg has a high quality Irish dance show that they bring actual Irish dancers from Ireland to perform. Tampa is opening a show that ran on Broadway, Vegas, and Atlantic City: Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy. The shows are actually themed to enhance the park experience and offer adults something they really enjoy, along with a pleasant atmosphere and great food, all things Six Flags lacks. Teenagers do not go to parks for shows, they go for the rides. Therefore it is a waste to produce shows that appeal to teenagers. The demographic Six Flags has trouble attracting are adults, that's why they need musicals.

It's all their effort to make the park atmosphere loud and "exciting". Themes and scores are not loud and obnoxiuos enough. They're really making the whole park a loud, obnoxiuos mess.

Just because everyone has heard of the Green Lantern doesn't mean they should theme a coaster after him. Everyone has heard of Osama Bin Laden but I wouldn't want to see a coaster themed to him. My pont is, if you are going to use superhero themes, make a superhero section in the park and put them all together. Use MovieTown, it's a stupid theme anyway and already has a superhero coaster in it. Just balance the park so that there is something for everyone, not just superhero fans.

I have yet to meet one single person who knows who or what Bizarro is. If they want to build a superhero section in the park for people who like them, that's fine. My point is that making everything in the park superhero themed is very limiting and appeals to only one group of people, and it is not the majority of the population. They are continuing the mistakes of the past by marketing to only one demographic and alienating everyone else.

I'm not sure what land availability is like, but I would like to see the safari moved away from the park so that it feels more like a safari, without roller coasters passing by the animals.

^A stretch is putting it mildly. It's rediculous. Anyone who doesn't ride the ride and read the storyboards would have no idea they even tried that silly explanation. They would just see a huge, out-of-place coaster in an old west section. But as usual the park is only concerned with the people who ride the coasters, and even most of them think it was a poor choice of themes for a ride in Frontier Adventures. There are a million things they could have done with the ride to make it exciting and fit the theme. Every ride in the park does not have to be themed to a comic book character. They're limiting themselves to one small demographic of people and alienating everyone else.

Bizarro is not in Movietown because it is not themed to a specific movie, but it IS themed to the old west?

Actually, a lot of parks have eliminated their dolphin shows. They are not as popular as they used to be. Everyone has seen dolphins flip and it's pretty boring now. Even Sea World had to add live performers, divers, and birds to their dolphin show to make it interesting. I really like the dolphin stadium, with the lake in the background, but they need to do something to the show to make it interesting.

Busch wasn't built by the same people that run it now. They sold the parks to InBev, who then sold them to Blackstone.

They give each ride a different theme that has nothing to do with each other, or the park itself which does not have a theme. They just don't understand the concept of themeing. A carnival has a bunch of rides with unrelated themes, a theme park has a park with themes and rides that fit those themes. Six Flags treats their parks like large carnivals. People expect much more from a theme park and are very dissappointed by Six Flags.

I must say I'm very relieved. I was afraid they were going to change the "Old Country" feel, and they seem to be adding to it. I'm still a little confused about the statement they released earlier saying the look and feel of more than one area would be changing and that this was an expansion.

Actually, the animatronics were a pre-show for a live stage show.

A theatre would be great, but I doubt they would do that. They already have 3 theatres sitting dormant already.

Tear down the big ugly warehouse.

It looks like a good coaster. I just wish they were not putting it in the parking lot and naming it after a superhero. At least it will be green. If only there were some trees left it would blend with them.

A couple of weeks ago I went to the park and was waiting in line for the skyride at the station near Skull Mountain. There were 2 speakers on the roof. An old white one and one of the new black ones they've thrown all over the park. The white one was playing traditional theme park music while the black one was playing pop music. They were both way too loud and put together they were just excruciating.

I didn't care much for the fair being held at the park. Half the fun of a fair are the carnival rides, carnies, and carnival atmosphere. It was kinda boring going to the fair and riding all the same rides we rode every day, in the same atmosphere. It also seemed like there was not enough space for all the exhibits the State Fair usually has.

Also, they use the word "expansion". Putting an attraction where they removed one would not really be an expansion, nor would changing the theme of an existing area. So the impression I'm getting is that they are going to be adding additional area to the park as well as changing something about existing areas. Again, whatever they do I hope they do not ruin the great atmosphere of the park.

That's a possibility. But will adding a new attraction in Germany really change the "look and feel" of the area? They also made it plural, "some..areas". What other areas are they changing? Maybe they are planning to change a theme altogether, as they did by changing Hastings to Ireland. I miss Hastings. To me it was the heart of the park. Maybe they will be doing something with Scotland, since the Clydesdales are gone and the Loch Ness Monster is the only thing in that area now. I just hope they do not change the whole "old Europe" theme and feeling with something more "exciting". I'm afraid the music change is the first step in that direction. It would alienate a huge demographic they have been very successful attracting, adults and seniors, that have a lot of time and money to spend at theme parks.

A new themed area would be great, but changing the "look and feel of some of the most recognizable areas" would be disastrous. The look and feel of that park is what makes it so great. It provides great coasters and thrill rides for younger guests in a beautiful atmosphere that older guests enjoy. There is something for every age group, which is what Six Flags lacks.