I went to a local theme park here (Six Flags) yesterday. YUCK. I know I will endlessly compare everything to Disneyland, but gesh, they don't even try! Well, they TRY to look like Disneyland fail MISERABLY. They have a "Main Street" and even a flower garden sign that says "Six Flags". Everything was filthy, rusted, or peeling paint. They seem to have no shame whatsoever in bleeding every cent they can out of you. $3.49 for a medium (very small medium) soda. They charge extra for some attractions. The employees were the most apathetic, lazy, and rude I have seen anywhere in a long time. We encountered ONE employee who was cheerful. The ride operators ran their schpeel together so fast you couldn't even understand them. I would guess they probably get paid about the same as a CM at DL, but they were no where near the quality. OH, the best one was a girl working the bumper cars in their kiddie land who wore see through shorts with thong underwear. That was SO nice for all the kids to see!

There was almost nothing that my sister and I could take our 3 kids on with us (they are 5, 6, and 7). And they do not let you do a "baby swap" type of thing there. Seems like all they concentrate on are cheap tricks and short, wild rides, while Disney concentrates on the entire experience for the whole family. I was totally disgusted I had spent $38.00 on a ticket to get in!

There is only one and all others fall far short! I MISS DISNEYLAND!!!!

(ok, end of rant....)
:)

Sorry to hear it wasnt a good trip.Well come to Disneyland and we can have a big gathering and do a whole day with some awesome mouseplanet people

sorry to hear your trip was bad. We have a six flags near me and we go occasionally. On our last trip I was surprised at how clean it was. They even had a japanese garden area with geese out. The baby geese were so cute. We usually just buy the fast lane pases, ride those rides and leave. We don;t eat in the park. I thik because I live so close it's easier to juts go home or stop at one on the wonderful restaurants that are close by. :)

I think there are only really 4 good rides at MM:
Goliath
Superman
Batman
X

X is the wildest by far.... a must ride if you go to the park, it's just so unusual .... I can't believe they still have phyclone, yuck! That has got to be the biggest pile ever! It's really like stepping back in time 80-100 years, you might as well, strap paint cans into the seats, to mix paint colors to gether, because that it what it paint you feel like you are on, a paint shaker!

ginakai, which Six Flags are you talking about?

Since you're from "Colorful Colorado" and you say the park has a "Main Street", I'll assume you're talking about Elitch Gardens.


If so... you're absolutely right, SFEG is a "B" list park at best. It's just kind of a big lame carnival.

They do have some pretty good rides (Intamin drop tower, Vekoma suspended coaster, "Twister II" wooden coaster). But the place gets a big "0" for atmosphere.

The last time I went, the most fun I had was the Batman stunt show. It was pretty entertaining, and surprisingly elaborate, though still a couple of notches below something like Waterworld at Universal.


Elitch's was one of the truly great parks in its old location.It's really painful to see it in its current iteration.

...so while in Denver, skip Elitch's. Instead, go to Lakeside and Hyland Hills Water World. Water World has 3 (!) full-blown Sally dark rides that you experience in your bathing suit!


(Oh, and if you weren't talking about Elitch's in the first place... never mind!) ;)

You have to know that the Six Flags chain is pretty financially strapped right now, and has been for quite some time. Disney's income from their parks division totalled 2 + billion dollars, so to compare what Disney is able to do to a chain of parks (30+) that is on pretty shaky financial ground, is really an apple to oranges comparison. I'm sure the GM's of SFEG would love to have the capital to to revamp the entire park from new rides to upkeep, but the money just isn't there and whatever money that is marked for improvements, is split among all the parks. Poor customer service is something that they could work on though.

Sad to hear that Elitch's isn't working in its LoDo location. The original park was a good trolley park with lots of history and character. Excited to hear on the posting that some find Lakeside working - back in the 1970s it was a bit of a rough place and not really good for kids.

Interested in Hyland Hills - will definately check it out next time......

AND ANY them park fan worth their salt has got to check out Casa Bonita at least once in their lives (and it probably will only be once). Bad Mexican food (TV dinner quality) but the cliff diving, gorillas, western shoot outs and theming make it a must see......and gorge yourself on Sopapias with honey!!!

ginakai, which Six Flags are you talking about?

Since you're from "Colorful Colorado" and you say the park has a "Main Street", I'll assume you're talking about Elitch Gardens.


If so... you're absolutely right, SFEG is a "B" list park at best. It's just kind of a big lame carnival.

They do have some pretty good rides (Intamin drop tower, Vekoma suspended coaster, "Twister II" wooden coaster). But the place gets a big "0" for atmosphere.

The last time I went, the most fun I had was the Batman stunt show. It was pretty entertaining, and surprisingly elaborate, though still a couple of notches below something like Waterworld at Universal.


Elitch's was one of the truly great parks in its old location.It's really painful to see it in its current iteration.

...so while in Denver, skip Elitch's. Instead, go to Lakeside and Hyland Hills Water World. Water World has 3 (!) full-blown Sally dark rides that you experience in your bathing suit!


(Oh, and if you weren't talking about Elitch's in the first place... never mind!) ;)

Hi SimpTwister! Yes, I was talking about Elitches. I have such found memories of the park from my childhood (when it was in the old location and had some character). Now "big lame carnival" surely describes it! We *almost* went to Lakeside or Waterworld, now I wish we would have.

I don't know if this is the policy at all Six Flags park or not, but at the one near us, they do have a baby switch policy. Basically, you both stand in line, and when you get to the ride one goes on and one waits right there until the other gets back. You then hand the kid to the departing rider as he exits the ride. Not nearly as nice as the way Disney does it, huh?

Also, here's a link to a recent article about Six Flag's financial situation, in case you're curious and bored. link (http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20050808005933&newsLang=en)

Overall, I think Six Flags parks are fun, but I don't go to them expecting the same type of experience I'd get at a Disney park. If every park was as nice as Disneyland, then DL wouldn't be as special, right? :)

sand20go, Lakeside is still a little rough, but at least it has that authentic historic atmosphere. And the circa-1930's Cyclone Coaster is better than anything at Elitch's. :cool:

Magic Mountain may not be the cleanest, but they have some pretty awesome roller coasters. The only one that is not great is Psyclone. That ride is not nearly as old as Colossus, but Colossus is smoother and more fun. X is something else. You get to see the entire park from the lift, but when you take that first drop, oh, I can't even describe it. Revolution is a nice roller coaster, but must they have those shoulder restraints, I mean, there is only one loop. (I don;t understand why they use shoulder restraints for California Screamin'. The ride goes so fast, you don't need it. Goliath, The Riddler's Revenge, Viper, and Superman The Escape are just classics. Deja Vu is just scary, but fun.