My last visit to the park was last Friday, a rainy soggy day. I had fun, got on a decent amount of rides, and overall enjoyed myself moreso than if I had stayed at home. But ultimately, I found out a plain and simple truth.


I've grown out of Six Flags.


That's not theme parks in general. I can't wait for Holiday World, Indiana Beach, Cedar Point, but Six Flags has just lost me. If this was Shapiro's idea, well then he won. I hold no anger or frustration to the guy, but his product isn't what I'm interested in. No, I can do without the food service that takes WAY too long and is WAY to overpriced. True, wherever you go, theme park food isn't cheap, but only Six Flags has the audacity to call it value. Frankly, the lockers piss me off. If they don't bother you, or find 'em convenient, cool. I'm sick of not having a dry place to sit in the rain (for some reason it ALWAYS rains when I go...). And I'm sick of parking. I'm also sick of the noise. I couldn't hear myself think with all the attractions (mainly crappy music) shouting. And really, I'm only going to miss Demon, Raging Bull, Superman, Batman, American Eagle, Viper, and the Whizzer. And maybe the train ride. It's been fun.


Goodbye Six Flags Great America! Thanks for the memories! Really, I'm not kidding. The best times of my entire life seem to be while on American Eagle. I don't know what I'll do if they tear it down!

Walk to Burger King across the street. Problem solved.

Bring your iPod and put it on as loud as it needs to be to drown out the ABSOLUTE SHIT that plays in the park. Problem solved.

I've found myself going less and less as the years go by. In 2005 or 2006 I believe I was there on a weekly basis for about 2 or 3 months. It got to the point that around Fright Fest they had to reprint my season pass because it had become so worn.

Now, I'm lucky if I go once or twice a month. Even though on Monday and Friday nights I drive right past or near the park going to and from car shows, I still don't seem to go. Mostly because I don't normally like going alone I suppose.

The friends I have met there, and this site are right now the only reasons I still go.

I get like that sometimes myself while I am actually in the park. I'd be there and I would be like "Why am I here so much, I've been coming here since the eighties!" I don't know if i would say I wouldn't go back, but I might cut down on my visits because I seem to go to the park more than anything else and thats kind of scary lol and living like 15 minutes away doesn't make it easier. I treat GA like a city park almost because of the convenience to get there so when i am not doing nothing, which is most of the time, i tend to find myself there or the Mills.

Over the years we saw changes happen with the park live removal of theming and music and that is what brought most of us to the park and kept the mood (well, some of us). Now, when you go its like "Where's Great America?" because the original park is slowly vanishing in front of us. When I was at the park earlier this week, I boarded the train and to my amazement, they totally covered the passenger cars (including seats backs) in PBS kids advertisements! My friend and I was like this looks like an overgrown kids train from a kids section! lol So, we knew ads were all over the place in the park and weren't going any were soon, we just accepted it and rode it and believe me, we KNEW that there was a show coming to PBS this fall because that is all you saw for in your face the whole time on the train. So, i can see how a person can kind of grow tired of the park in a sense, but i dont think i'll ever completely stop going, I will just wont go as much as the park as i used to...

I feel that way too but once I'm there I think of old memories and thats what makes it fun. I don't go to SFGAm nearly as much as I did 2 or 3 years ago.

There's a million other reasons, but mostly I just don' find it fun anymore. Even with friends.

I dont know why i feel like i dont want to go anymore.

I might be going to Cedar Point in October, and I think I'll be able to say the same thing after I go there.

I still go, honestly I don't like going alone either but the reasons i go alone is because I don't have any friends that want to go with me, heck I don't have any friends so I don't know why I care so much. After me and my ex broke up, I started going alone and sometimes it bothers me sometimes it doesn't. I will tell you that I refuse to go to FF alone, I still get scared even though it's not as scary as when I first started going in 05. I would like to go with someone but it isn't the end of the world if I go alone and people ask if it gets boring after awhile, no to me it really doesn't, yeah I'd like to go to another park but I can't afford to take a road trip anywhere else.

I'm still addicted to the park even though they took out Deja Vu. I like the Dark Knight roller coaster, and I like the waterpark so it might be different for me. I imagine people don't like either of those, or just don't go to the waterpark, so that doesn't help.

For the people that like shows, they are limiting the selection of shows with video stuff, and that could hurt some season pass holders who liked that sort of stuff.

Than, I said this before, people have said the last MAJOR roller coaster is Superman. Well, a number of enthusiasts (not me) don't like that ride. So, than you go what's before that, and it's V2, and Deja Vu which is gone. Well, some people say V2 launch is boring, or tame, and no excitement. So, you go back to 1999 with Raging Bull, and all the stuff before. We know about Iron Wolf for a lot of people. Remember, in 2003 they took down Shockwave, and you know the some people really liked that ride (I don't know why, but there have been topics before Shockwave is better than Superman stuff.).

So, I can really see why the park could be getting boring for some people (They don't like the newer atractions, and that's there opinion - I don't like Ragin Cajun, Jester's Wild Ride, King Chaos, or Revolution either.)

I think if the park gets Chang, people will be excited if it's a floorless, or sitdown because that's a bigger coaster with something different. It's a 5 inversion coaster at least. It even has 2 different inversions than we have at the park which are inclined loop, and dive loop.

That sucks.

I stopped visiting very frequently after 2006 (I worked at SFGAm during the 2006 season) and the previous season I had visited 48 times. However since 2006 I haven't visited more than 10 times in a season. And as much as I love the rides it's hard to say they offer me much these days as I've been on each one hundreds of times. So I really don't go for the rides as much as I go to hang out with the cool people I've befriended over the years through sharing a hobby. And as much of a coaster nerd as I am I have always seen the roller coaster hobby as a ways to have fun with friends and meet people with a common intrest.

So with all that said, if I wasn't having fun I would stop going also.

It might be a good thing then that I'm from Green Bay and only get down there MAYBE 3 times a year...(Two regular season visits and one FF visit.) That way. the novelty doesn't wear off as much and I have more time to enjoy the little things. Just go less often and every visit will mean more.

Where the hell have you been?

Oh...you know....around :twitch:

Since I went to Orlando earlier this year, I haven't had much of a desire to go to SFGAm. It's a combo of visiting the park about 20 times over the past 3-4 seasons and spending a week in Orlando to ride only roller coasters. I'd go again if some friends were going and asked me to go, but I'm not going to be disappointed if I don't make it for Fright Fest. I'll probably go at least twice next season since I will very likely be in the Chicago or Milwaukee area next summer.

Sometimes the park does gets boring riding the same rides all the time with no major ride in the last what 6 years to really get you to want to come back.

That's sad to hear!

Everything changes. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. Mostly we change. If you ever get to go back to your childhood home, everything looks smaller, landmarks and other things that evoke good memories are gone.
There are a lot of things that changed at a place as small and as new as Hurricane Harbor. Some things I liked, others I didn't care for, but each year it is exciting to count down the days until the park reopens. I visit at least two times a week and I visited about the same amount when we lived in Gurnee.
I still love that place and as long as I can I will still go there as often as possible. I will support SFGA as much as I can through purchases, etc. while I am there. I hope all of you will too. Even if there's something there that really pisses you off, it's worth seeing it so you can come here and rant about it!

^"I will support SFGA as much as I can through purchases, etc. while I am there. I hope all of you will too."

You can purchase all the things you want, but to me I go to Six Flags Great America for the rides. If Six Flags offers things like shirts, and food that are worthy - great enough- for me to buy, than I will. I'm not going to spend money on stuff that I feel I don't care for just because Six Flags corporate wants me to buy this and that at that park.

Take Six Flags St. Louis for example. I was looking for a Mr. Freeze shirt. I could careless about buying a Six Flags St. Louis shirt, but if they had a Mr. Freeze roller coaster shirt, I would have bought it, but they didn't. I'm not going to just waste my money on stuff at Six Flags just because. I pay money to get in the parking, pay the ridiculous parking pass too for the rides. That's what I really care about at the parks.

If you aren't getting enough money for the rides, and the employees than they should raise their season pass prices. $65 is a steal to get in any Six Flags park!! That's not my fault they are cheapening themselves.

The same thing can be true if I go in a store. I don't have to spend a dime in the store if your merchandise is either what I don't want (care for), or it's too high priced. Of course, any corporations wants people to spend, spend till they are broke, but the reality is if you don't offer great products, or sometimes at Six Flags great service (in the food department), people aren't going to spend mone their.

I'll give you some more problems I had with amusement parks, and buying stuff (especially shirts).

Last year, at Kings Island I couldn't find an Invertigo shirt. They had mostly every other shirt at the park except that ride. One year at SFOT, they had no Mr. Freeze or La Vibora shirts. At Disney World Magic Kingdom, they had a Space Mountain shirt, but it had the 3 mountains on it. Yes, I do like all the mountains, but the shirt looked like it was made by a 4th grader. It looked terrible. I look and see they have on the Internet a new Space Mountain, and holy cow that one looks good, but I'm not going to travel there soon.

For Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, I couldn't find a shirt of that alone at Walt Disney. For Six Flags St. Louis, I was also looking for a Mine Train shirt (besides Mr. Freeze), and nope, no Mine Train. For Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom, I wanted a shirt, and all the stuff they have is just kids dinosaurs shirts.

Even when Deja Vu came out, I was very hesitant of getting a shirt. The one shirt I really didn't like, and I just hate the logo shirts. Those are dumb to me. The third one at first I sort of liked it, and I sort of didn't. I like it better than I did before, but still they could have made such a much better design for the shirt.

To me, parks need more roller coaster shirts that are better looking designs.

You should forward your opinions to six flags corporate. Sometimes we just assume that they must know about something like that and they really don't unless a patron writes a letter. Very often, they not only respond with an apology, but will offer you the particualr item you were looking for. It's certainly worth a try!

Also, I am not implying that people should just go there and spend money for the sake of the park. I certainly don't go in and buy things I don't want or need either. But when given the opportunity of buying something there for a few bucks more than I can get it somewhere else, I generally buy it there. Food is a good example. I could go across the street to BK and get a cheaper meal, but on the otherhand, I can eat in the park and avoid all the hassle of going in and out and losing our seats at the Harbor, etc. I believe I am helping the park stay open by doing this and I enjoy some of the food at the park.

Outgrowing things is sad, I don't care what I look like going to an amusement park in my 20's through the rest of my life the fact is i love amusement parks and theme parks and i always will. Even if i cannot ride i would just go to watch and see the shows.

That's exactly right! No matter what, there's nothing better than the sights, sounds and smells of an amusement park!
Even though I am only 11 days shy of 45 and cannot tolerate some of the more bumpy, bangy rides, I still love the park, the shows and of course Hurricane Harbor!

tiki knows what i am talking about

Yes I do! And best of all, we are a mere 65 days away from OD!