29yrswithaGApass Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 Click here to see the whole Spotlight! Comments and discussions welcomed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 I remember at the time (while I was working at the park) there was serious talk of changing the park's name, which would have most likely been tied in with this massive remodeling of the park's entrance. While there was never an official name mentioned, I have to wonder from the theme elements if they were thinking of a name like "Six Flags Worlds of Adventure" or something. It wouldn't surprise me if the name was developed and trademarked, then brought out of mothballs 10+ years later with Six Flags Ohio. While looking at the plans all I could picture was the 1964-65 New York Worlds Fair theme center: That would have been fitting with the same Skyride in the background! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted January 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 Constructing the main entrance to look like the NY World's Fair and than advertising it would have sparked a lot of interest from the NYC markets. Changing the park name to Six Flags World of Adventure would have made sense. It would have allowed them to relate the park to Great "Adventure" while promoting it as something "new and improved". I always thought that name didn't quite fit the Ohio property, and that it might have been a left over from another proposed park. Maybe we can find out when the name "Six Flags Worlds of Adventure" was registered! It was interesting to see the name pop up in Great Adventure's advertising when Hurricane Harbor was built. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThemeParkRider Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 (edited) ^ That is rather interesting. Were there any plans to happen with the Entrance and Name change other than that? Nevermind, I just read the first paragraph of the spotlight. Edited January 1, 2010 by ThemeParkRider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warnerleroy Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 I remember at the time (while I was working at the park) there was serious talk of changing the park's name, which would have most likely been tied in with this massive remodeling of the park's entrance. While there was never an official name mentioned, I have to wonder from the theme elements if they were thinking of a name like "Six Flags Worlds of Adventure" or something. It wouldn't surprise me if the name was developed and trademarked, then brought out of mothballs 10+ years later with Six Flags Ohio. While looking at the plans all I could picture was the 1964-65 New York Worlds Fair theme center: That would have been fitting with the same Skyride in the background! PERFECT IDEA! It would be very unique to the park and not be a "copy"(there are multiple types of Main street type lands in other parks) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 (edited) Constructing the main entrance to look like the NY World's Fair and than advertising it would have sparked a lot of interest from the NYC markets. Changing the park name to Six Flags World of Adventure would have made sense. It would have allowed them to relate the park to Great "Adventure" while promoting it as something "new and improved". I always thought that name didn't quite fit the Ohio property, and that it might have been a left over from another proposed park. Maybe we can find out when the name "Six Flags Worlds of Adventure" was registered! It was interesting to see the name pop up in Great Adventure's advertising when Hurricane Harbor was built. I wonder if they were using that because Islands of Adventure had recently opened. The Bugs Bunny Land style arch would have made SFGAdv's front entrance look similar to SFMM's front entrance since they have a arch. Edited January 1, 2010 by The Master Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 I've always thought the entire property should have been renamed "World's of Adventure". Six Flags Great Adventure is the name of the theme park, but also the name of the property...it would make more sense to give an overarching name to the entire property like SFWOA, and then just refer to the theme park as Six Flags Great Adventure. I wonder if the globe was being relocated from Houston: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafreak Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 that would be an amazing entrance , i would love to see it built Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 Ever since putting this spotlight together the other day, all I can think about is how AMAZING this could have been. It's funny, I hadn't seen these plans but I had thought of something very similar to this (when I mentally redesigned parts of the park), but the change I would have made would have been creating a tunnel/underpass where the two buildings are set, allowing an access road to transport people and materials backstage instead of through the park. It would have been similar to Great America's central access road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertDavid Posted January 3, 2010 Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 I'm kinda glad that never happened ( I'm sure this is no surprise to anyone ). I like the idea of walking into the forrest to get to the front gate, instead of having it in the parking lot ( although they destroyed that by cutting all the trees down anyway ). I also would hate to see the fountain taken out, it's an original park icon. The globe thing has been overdone, and it's Universal's icon and they have one at their front gate. I would hate to see GA copying other park's icons. The arch kinda bothers me too. If it looked anything like the Bugs Bunny Land arch. Something that big made of piping and flags would look strange, like a cheap attempt at a large structure. Just my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thechiller15 Posted January 3, 2010 Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 I really hope that they one day bring this back to life because this is something else. That is something that would set this park apart from all others I don't understand why they wouldn't do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted January 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 I think the entrance woulld have looked similar to Magic Mountain's. I prefer the Colonial America look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Up_Up_and_Away Posted January 3, 2010 Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 Very dated and cheap looking... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted January 3, 2010 Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 (edited) Very dated and cheap looking... I like it, and I don't think it looks cheap, maybe a little dated looking but it will be retro soon. Edited January 3, 2010 by The Master Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbolt Posted January 3, 2010 Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 (edited) I'm actually kind of glad the park didn't waste resources on a new entrance gate. Great Adventure needs to add staffing to the entrance gate more than anything, and figure out a better way to cycle guests through those turnstiles more efficiently. I can't speak for the 2009 season, but the previous year was aggravating to just enter the park. It was an unruly mess past the ticket booths, and not every gate was open despite being it being a mid-June Saturday. My mother made me chuckle when she said, "This would never happen at Universal". Even with our Season Passes, it took almost 40 minutes to enter the park. On a July weekend at IOA, we entered the gate in under 5 minutes, with the included security check time factored and a park near full capacity. Thank God Six Flags is bankrupt in one case. A few years ago, Six Flags's CTO discussed implementing RFID tagging into the ticketing and Season Pass system. He went on to say (paraphrased), "I'm sure ticket takers aren't looking at every photograph on Season Passes, or reading tickets to make sure they're valid". RFID Systems are ridiculously expensive to install, and can easily be read and forged. If the current system has a hard time processing paper tickets and photo-ID passes (one day the attendant claimed the system crashed, slowing down the entrance on an unrelated visit), what's going to happen when the system crashes and the RFID "cloud" can't be energized? Why invest that kind of capital, on a product you virtually give away for free? P.S. I know this "spotlight" regards a 1989 project. I just want to emphasize resources need to be spent on staffing and refurbishment first. Big projects can come later. This issue has been outstanding since the 1980s. Edited January 3, 2010 by Thunderbolt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike13 Posted January 3, 2010 Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 (edited) I actually find Six Flags to be faster than Universal and IOA when it comes to entering.IOA and Universal use use those finger scanner things,and when the tickets don't match a finger print or an error happens or something it takes awhile and is annoying.So I give Six Flags the upperhand on that one,but that's pretty much the only thing at Six Flags I prefer over Universal. Edited January 3, 2010 by Mike13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 I always have trouble with those dumb finger scanners at Universal, and they are gross too with all those people that get scanned. Grime must build up on those scanners very quickly and probably need constant cleaning. In the past GAdv has had front gate problems with the lines backing up into the ticket booth line and leaving no place for season pass holders to get in line. I really wish they would bring back a SP only front gate line like they used tohave for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbolt Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 How were gate staffing levels for 2009? Were all gates open on peak days, during A.M. hours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 They did MUCH better this season. I don't think it ever took us more than a couple of minutes to get in even on the busiest days. There were none of those days with the turnstile lines backed up past the ticket booths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted January 6, 2010 Report Share Posted January 6, 2010 I was just playing with one of FlyinPhilsPhotos of the entrance plaza and with my limited Photoshop skills I did an overlay of the plan with what exists at the park to give a better idea of how it all would have fit: Maybe Phil can get a direct overhead shot to match it up better on his next flight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbolt Posted January 6, 2010 Report Share Posted January 6, 2010 I'm getting a "permissions" error when trying to view that PNG. "Sorry, but you do not have permission to use this feature. If you are not logged in, you may do so using the form below if available." I am logged in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted January 6, 2010 Report Share Posted January 6, 2010 Hmmm...let's see if this works: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafreak Posted January 7, 2010 Report Share Posted January 7, 2010 kinda hard to figure out whats going on there Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted January 7, 2010 Report Share Posted January 7, 2010 I need a better match photo along with improved Photoshop skills...basically I was trying to show how the one fountain was taking over the footprint of the Emporium/Main Street Market, the big world map would have replaced the current ticket booths, the other fountains would have taken up the Outer Mall, and the "new" gate and ticket booths would have been right up to the edge of the parking lot, taking over the tram circle and planter area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterPrince Posted January 7, 2010 Report Share Posted January 7, 2010 That looks a little too much. Good for a Disney park but unless we expand beyond the lake...our little entrance is good enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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