Yeah the lack of announcement made me think it was gonna be sticking around a bit longer despite the rumors. They could get away with it with Green Lantern, not something iconic like Ka
I’ve only noticed this at Thorpe park but they had free sunscreen dispensers all over the park, that’s honestly one of the simplest yet smartest things a park can have
@@AirtimeThrills Lake Compounce introduced free soft drinks late this year (but this might be just for their fright fest). When you get 26 Boulder Dash rides in one day, it's very important to stay hydrated.
@@AirtimeThrills Holiday World also has free pop. I’m not talking free refills; absolutely free. You never buy one, and it is self service. What a concept. Their admission is still very economical. Very smart. Thanks Holiday World!! Come on Sux Flags, get with the program!!
Smart thing: parks like Disney don’t allow anyone under the ride’s height requirement into the ride’s queue, so it speeds up operations and reduces the amount of guests trying to cheese their way onto a ride
Smart Idea- Theme parks installing sky rides, makes it easy to get from end to the other. Also, there are some unique overhead views of rides/coasters.
These were some of my favorite attractions when I was a kid and they also help with crowd flow. A lot of parks took theirs out because they had Von Roll sky bucket rides from the 1970s that were getting harder to maintain. I remember Hersheypark had one that went from what is now Founder's Way to what was then the back of the park, near Coal Cracker. (They also had a tiny chairlift-style ride that didn't take you anywhere, and that one is still there.) What they should do today is put one in that takes people back to somewhere around the waterpark area. Even better would be a triangle like they have at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
Not so smart thing: parks not cracking down on guests who cut in line, or act unruly. Some parks may have while other parks may need to be more stringent on those who don’t follow the rules
I now realize how thankful I am that Silver Dollar City gave us a warning that they were closing the original Fire in the Hole. If Great Adventure had given us a couple months' warning, we would have taken off from work and gone to Kingda Ka for the first and last time. Once, before I had a decent job, I got free tickets to Frontier City for donating blood, but at that time I wasn't able to afford the parking, so I know the parking fee is too much for some others as well.
3:03 That is me every time. I always get behind the person who takes 10 minutes to get through the parking gate (park entry gate too), often with needing to call a manager to come over. In terms of running 1 train, it's amazing to see such huge differences at parks. At Dollywood this week, coasters have been running 2 trains, despite such light crowds. Today, they learned & put LRod, Wild Eagle, & Thunderhead on 1 train, and they were still walk-ons. Meanwhile, Knoebels always runs 1 train on Phoenix, Twister, & Impulse, even if the lines are an hour. The workers there consider a 1-hour line a "dead day".
Funny you mention dollywood and knoebels. Both parks got me while i was in line and had a 2nd train added. One on wild eagle, one on twister. Both times pissed me off
Smart thing: Giving rides a proper sendoff before a permanent closure (e.g. Vortex [KI]) or major reformat (e.g. Colossus [SFMM) when possible. Dumb thing: Failing to give a ride a proper sendoff when it was clearly possible to do so (e.g. Kingda Ka [SFGAdv]), whether the ride is closed forever or undergoing a major reformat. Rides where circumstances forbade a proper sendoff, such as Top Thrill Dragster (accident) and even Volcano (closed early because maintenance issues became too much), get a pass here.
The Ka removal is dumb. People flock to Great Adventure because Ka (GP). GP will now be less attracted to the park, and I will expect a slight decline in attendance. At least Flash is opening.
I only know this to be true at Kings Dominion and Carowinds but if you put your wallet in a locker and time runs out you cant get your wallet out to pay for it. It should automatically charge the card for the extra time or be like Six Flags and allow you to rent an all day movable locker.
I’m not sure how many parks do this now but Great America started requiring separate admission to Hurricane Harbor and I think that’s really dumb. Maybe it works financially, but not for guest satisfaction. It just makes me angry now whenever I walk by the old entrance gate on my way to Viper and Raging Bull and see the sign telling people to go to the front of the park. Great America also cut out their single rider line due to people bringing large groups in it, which is also infuriating. It used to save me a lot of time waiting for rides like Goliath.
I was at SFGA for the last day of Ka. Despite the crush of enthusiasts grabbing last rides on Ka and the rest of the park being not too busy, Ka wasn't the longest line I waited in. The Ka ops were amazing, the line 40-50 minutes (the locker line was long but we used Superman lockers). The longest line was Superman - only one train and super slow ops. The line took us 75 minutes and it probably should have been around 30. And then the ride itself was pretty lame.
Dumb Idea - Bringing in a third party company (Aramark) to manage all of the food, not getting rid of them when people complain that the food is awful, and then having to introduce budget cuts because nobody is spending money in the parks. (Merlin Entertainment)
The main reason I don't want DC IP at legacy Cedar Fair parks is unless they do a very immersive and well themed land, I don't want the legacy Six Flags treatment where they just lazily throw a character's name on the ride and give it a matching paint scheme.
So like as a Brit only our Merlin parks make you pay for parking on site (BPB Has No Exclusive Parking) and that's only around £12 or $15. So to see that some parks charge nearly 3x is insane.
Smartest thing done in a while was definitely the six flags cedar fair merger, the two competing companies set aside their differences to better each other
9:53 could not agree more with the family coasters idea. My kids just hit 54” a couple months ago and finding things for all of us at Busch Gardens and Sea World was difficult. Adding rides without a 54” height requirement gives the family more to do. Add to that, my son isn’t the same daredevil that my daughter is so he was nervous of rides like Cheetah Hunt or icebreaker and wouldn’t dream of going on an Iron Gwazi or Mako. Adding Phoenix Rising and Penguin Trek definitely encourages the whole family to come and enjoy.
Dumb Thing: Haunted Castle (WARNING: this will be disturbing and this is also an engineering fiasco with widespread effects outside of amusement parks)
Silver Dollar City: Has interactive bubble wands for Christmas to use around the park or during the lighted parade at night. Concerts are a big thing at SDC that draws people of all ages. In the Fire District, there are USB charging stations if you have a cord or you can buy one at Lucky’s Toy Shop
When I went to Blackpool, a bunch of rides were running with one train. On most occasions it wasn't too bad, but with Big One and Avalanche it was awful. Pretty easy to see why Big One having one train ops would suck given it's a 2 minute ride, but Avalanche might have actually been worse because the trains only have six seats, and while you can have two people in the same seat, this typically wouldn't happen more than 2 or 3 times on one train. Both of these rides had 40 minute wait times when almost everything else was a station wait.
I work at sfgadv and we get loads of free tickets but we have to pay for parking. It’s annoying because I wanna go to Dorney more frequently but it’s 30$ everytime I go on top of tolls. So I just got a gold pass with the all park so I can save 30$ everytime trip
@ we don’t pay for our own park and it was outside of the chain so might not have had to buy the pass. We also pay for parking at Hershey but free tickets. Times change We might get parking at six flags parks and not legacy cedar fair
I noticed at least for me, when it came to that, it’s limiting on how many times you can use it. It was like that when I visited SFMM for the first time and SFDK too. But at SFOT (my home park), I didn’t have that limitation. I wonder if that’s different from what you’re bringing up. 🤔
Dreamworld (and afterwards, the other parks) reduced the upcharge prices to ~$15 ($27 for 2 people for Steel Taipan) but is more so dynamic pricing. Its way easier for the pocket and you kinda see a bit more people on them.
Went to Magic Mountain a few weeks back and Full Throttle closed down after I stood in line for about an hour for it. When I came back to try again later in the day it had an even longer line, and I saw the one shot fast pass option and thought "Man I can't have Full Throttle close on me again!" I paid the $15 it and cut straight to the front, was on the train within like 2 minutes of purchasing the one shot, it was kind of insane. Totally worth, Full Throttle was incredible, especially around sunset!
Raging Bull or other coasters should have the line split off with a separate line for back row. That way the GP that don’t realize how awesome the back row is, they will stay in main line.
About Parking. My home park Liseberg in Gothenburg, Sweden have some parking. But i never use them cause there are busses going to Liseberg. Its about 100 meter walk from the busstop to main Entrance. I heard that Liseberg may implement free bus ticket together with the entrance if you prebook the entrance. I dont know of its true or not. If it is true it should be easier for many to just park at a free parking and take the bus. For me that live close to Liseberg can take the bus home, Im home before those that take the car even have left the parking space. Some times it can take like 1 hour to leave the parking after the park closed.
Hersheypark is seemingly the only park that still does concerts, I wonder how they are still successful in that field. I ain’t complaining though, listening to music next to candymonium is awesome!
Canobie Lake Park does the store-brand version: lots of celebrity impersonator acts, often at their modest outdoor stage. (Their Taylor Swift tribute has been getting some online attention lately--when it's nearly impossible to get actual Taylor Swift tickets, she's attracted a fan following for being a pretty faithful substitute.) Way back in the big-band swing era, their ballroom was a major concert venue. One of my all-time favorite weird bits of area amusement-park trivia is that the downfall of Milli Vanilli happened at Lake Compounce.
I think there is a hidden negative cost to these outrageous parking fees. I had no idea they were getting to $40 plus now, that absolutely will turn away repeat visitors and potential customers. Like spitting in the face of your customer at that point. As always with Six Flags, I think their cost cutting and general cheapness actually hurts them in the long run, you'd be shocked about how many people I have heard say they will never go back to a Six Flags because of how awful their experience was last time. Hell, I'm a coaster enthusiast and I don't really care to go back to a Six Flags park anytime soon. At least not until Cedar Fair management is able to radically transform them.
No doubt, if people have a better option they choose it. So many people from the mid Atlantic say SFA is closest to them but they never go there, they choose Hershey or GADV or BGW or KD
@@AirtimeThrills Oh it's coming down! Lance Hart from Screamscape just got direct email confirmation from the Great Adventure PR and marketing manager that Zumanjaro is closing as well, meaning the entire structure is coming down for the new for 2026 coaster.
You can thank ticket master for ending time park concerts. Big artists are contracted to set areas. Small time acts don't have the ability to fill the seats....so the concert venues have become defunct Sad, there were great concerts at wonderland in the 80's and 90's
Huss Rides used to use Darien Lake as a proving ground for their rides back in the 1980’s along with an Arrow looper when Arrow and Huss rides were briefly the same company
1:29 I love single rider lines! I am very into the mechanical side of roller coasters, and not so much into riding them (I have been doing better tho, I did cheetah hunt) so anytime my family wanted to ride a ride at six flags (New England) I would always marathon pandemonium using the single rider line, it’s a fun ride, and it’s really fun when you get with someone who’s terrified of roller coasters. But then this season they removed it and I was really sad :(
Now that Great Adventure removed Twister they won’t have in my opinion the parks best flat ride. They shouldn’t have done that. I would hope they replace it with something even better
The pros part of this video is much more to highlight the business part of the parks than customer-service wise, respect for doing that... we gotta remember that those parks are companies, and we're just customers, we won't be directly involved in the decision-making process of what's happening in a certain park
This list makes me appreciate Silverwood even more. Parking is $10.00 for the day and free for season pass holders, no up charges for "skip the line/fast pass services," affordable food prices, and smart and steady growth plans. It's a cashless park, but you can buy an "in park cash card" if you want to set a budget. Only downside is slow 1 train operations on all their coasters except Stunt pilot.
Smart idea - vantage points and walkways specifically built to get a closer look to rides. For instance, Voltron has dedicated pathways under its track and an observation tower you can access to get better views on elements you can't see that much from main pathways. Dumb idea - Imposing a reservation system to get on low capacity attractions, thus reducing their capacity even more. Think about Volcano Bay trapdoor slides, or about Tonnerre 2 Zeus backwards seats on its first year of operation.
Dumb idea: Inconsistent ride policies. Six weeks ago, I rode Kinga Ka (RIP) with a backward ball cap and sunglasses with a strap. I also had my wallet and phone in my pockets. Next, I rode El Toro with the same stuff. An hour later, I walked to the entrance of Jersey Devil. An attendant with a metal detection wand asked if my bulging pockets were empty... He told me I would have to put my things in a locker or leave them with a non rider. I went to SFGA to ride, so I didn't argue. And, I don't blame the ride ops. But, the management should have clear and consistent policies. Kingda Ka and El Toro are the fastest and most intense rides at the park, but I can't take my wallet on Jersey Devil... 🙂 Oh well; I had a great day despite a couple of hiccups.
Europapark has a bus connection between the train stop and the entrance to the park with frequent service. They managed to make some IC and ICE trains stop there… I like the Virtual Lane system for free with the EP app too.
Enjoyed both videos. I think three smart ones would be a transport ride, solar panels in the parking lot and a hotel. A transport ride like a skyride or a train provide relief from walking and the whole family can go on. Plus it does well with seasonal events. A solar array offers extra revenue and can keep cars cool during the summer. A hotel is an extra source of revenue and can help people that live further from the park and encourage a daily admission from an out of market guest. Hershey does a great job by offering a perk of getting the last few hours the night before free.
I, 100%, will reconsider something based on whether they'll charge for parking. I haven't been to any theme park in the last 20 years where i've had to pay for parking. It is a huge deterrent for me.
at Phantasialand we get some shit from people because parking is now 7€ instead of 5€. And the funniest thing: Phantasialand doesn't even own the parking. It's another family.
@@CoasterCaleb-22 It has always been a maintenance headache, I do not have first-hand experience, but have heard many of the stories from employee's of it and Dragster. Both were very resource intensive for the maintenance department and had obesely high operating costs. Due to the fact it will no longer hold any records, the park finally forfeited their lost and decided to scrap it for something more reliable and less resource demand. I figured it wouldn't have much longer in its life when compared to Dragster, however I, like most, are ticked off that it was not given the send-off it deserved.
I overheard another guest at BGW asking for a paper map because his company phone would not allow him to download the park's app. Plus, I miss being able to collect paper maps.
Dumbest move, retheming of rides no one asked for and the theming done poorly. Example splash mountain, or sea world Sparkletts water show at San Diego and Orlando, both becoming 4d theaters that not worked well.
Single Rider Queues are goated. I use them all the time and they save loads of time, as well as being good for filling rows for efficiency. Part 3 Suggestion for dumb ideas: Fast & Furious Supercharged lmao. Taking part of the Hollywood studio backlot tour and thinking it'll hold up as its own ride (it doesn't). Dumb movis. You can tell that they know it was a bad ride too, they're willing to shut it for the entire 2 and a bit months of HHN to put a house in because they know nobody's gonna be upset they didn't get to ride Supercharged lmao
2 Things 1) When a park has extremely short summer hours. Is SFGA really at the level to be 11-8 on weekdays; 11-9 on weekends. I feel like this makes the park seem cheap. It can’t be good for the park either because, in my region at least, most parks stay open until 10 on weekends which I feel like should be the standard. 2) Making weekends hours longer than weekday hours. If your park is open later, more people will come. So I feel like parka should keep consistent hours (in the summer) as it would distribute the crowds better. Maybe I’m over-analyzing though.
I mean since both TT2 and Formula Rossa are SBNO right now, this actually makes Red Force the tallest and fastest coaster in the world which is kinda crazy to think about
Great Adventure removing Kingda Ka without an announcement to get your last rides in needs to be on part 3 for the dumbest things
Facts lol
Yeah the lack of announcement made me think it was gonna be sticking around a bit longer despite the rumors. They could get away with it with Green Lantern, not something iconic like Ka
Same with Over Texas and La Vibora, although not as dumb bc that’s not one of the star rides
I never got to go on kingda ka I live in Milwaukee 😢
I don’t know much but I feel like if they announce king da ka closing more people will try and rush to the park to get their final rides.
Great Adventure removing Ka with no proper sendoff is probably one of the dumbest things corporate has ever done
Hey, at least they delayed their public backlash for a few weeks.
@@WhatAG23The backlash is definitly gonna be worse.
Cedar fairs doing, not great adventure, they wanted to keep it
I’ve only noticed this at Thorpe park but they had free sunscreen dispensers all over the park, that’s honestly one of the simplest yet smartest things a park can have
Holiday world has this also. Not sure ive seen another park do it
@@AirtimeThrills Lake Compounce introduced free soft drinks late this year (but this might be just for their fright fest). When you get 26 Boulder Dash rides in one day, it's very important to stay hydrated.
@@AirtimeThrillsChessington World Of Adventures + all other UK merlin parks
@@AirtimeThrills Holiday World also has free pop. I’m not talking free refills; absolutely free. You never buy one, and it is self service. What a concept. Their admission is still very economical. Very smart. Thanks Holiday World!! Come on Sux Flags, get with the program!!
Lots of european parks do that in the summer.
Smart thing: parks like Disney don’t allow anyone under the ride’s height requirement into the ride’s queue, so it speeds up operations and reduces the amount of guests trying to cheese their way onto a ride
Six flags removing a third of great adventures capacity for the entirety of 2025 season and still charging more. Should be on this list.
Well sometimes you don't have choice not announcing it is something else.
Six Flags not giving Kingda Ka/Green Lantern any sendoff was by far the dumbest thing they’ve done in a bit
Smart Idea- Theme parks installing sky rides, makes it easy to get from end to the other. Also, there are some unique overhead views of rides/coasters.
These were some of my favorite attractions when I was a kid and they also help with crowd flow. A lot of parks took theirs out because they had Von Roll sky bucket rides from the 1970s that were getting harder to maintain. I remember Hersheypark had one that went from what is now Founder's Way to what was then the back of the park, near Coal Cracker. (They also had a tiny chairlift-style ride that didn't take you anywhere, and that one is still there.) What they should do today is put one in that takes people back to somewhere around the waterpark area. Even better would be a triangle like they have at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
I would like to see the second skyride added back to Cedar Point, the one that used to take you all the way back to Frontier Town.
@@that1tallguy33 Legoland New York just added one. I think these rides are a great long term investment!
*Here's my obligatory poor handling of the kingda ka closure comment*
Not so smart thing: parks not cracking down on guests who cut in line, or act unruly. Some parks may have while other parks may need to be more stringent on those who don’t follow the rules
I now realize how thankful I am that Silver Dollar City gave us a warning that they were closing the original Fire in the Hole. If Great Adventure had given us a couple months' warning, we would have taken off from work and gone to Kingda Ka for the first and last time.
Once, before I had a decent job, I got free tickets to Frontier City for donating blood, but at that time I wasn't able to afford the parking, so I know the parking fee is too much for some others as well.
Not giving coasters a proper send off has to be the stupidest thing ever if its a fan favorite or cultural icon
Closing green lantern and kingda ka was dumb,the 2 big green rides
This already needs updating for Six Flags not telling anybody about. Kingda Ka's closure until after it already had its final rides
3:03 That is me every time. I always get behind the person who takes 10 minutes to get through the parking gate (park entry gate too), often with needing to call a manager to come over.
In terms of running 1 train, it's amazing to see such huge differences at parks. At Dollywood this week, coasters have been running 2 trains, despite such light crowds. Today, they learned & put LRod, Wild Eagle, & Thunderhead on 1 train, and they were still walk-ons. Meanwhile, Knoebels always runs 1 train on Phoenix, Twister, & Impulse, even if the lines are an hour. The workers there consider a 1-hour line a "dead day".
Funny you mention dollywood and knoebels. Both parks got me while i was in line and had a 2nd train added. One on wild eagle, one on twister. Both times pissed me off
Words cannot describe my frustration at finding out "Chickie and Pete's Crabfries" contain neither crab nor chicken.
The late 90s and early 2000s was wild! Dumb financially but I still remember the euphoria of that era
Please do a series of these. These are one of my favorite videos by you.
Thanks For including my ideas Chris.
You know it’s a good day when Chris posts
Especially on a bad roller coaster day
Smart thing: Giving rides a proper sendoff before a permanent closure (e.g. Vortex [KI]) or major reformat (e.g. Colossus [SFMM) when possible.
Dumb thing: Failing to give a ride a proper sendoff when it was clearly possible to do so (e.g. Kingda Ka [SFGAdv]), whether the ride is closed forever or undergoing a major reformat.
Rides where circumstances forbade a proper sendoff, such as Top Thrill Dragster (accident) and even Volcano (closed early because maintenance issues became too much), get a pass here.
The Ka removal is dumb. People flock to Great Adventure because Ka (GP). GP will now be less attracted to the park, and I will expect a slight decline in attendance. At least Flash is opening.
People have already mentioned Ka, but I want to mention the fact that Great Adventure is also closing their skyride. Another very dumb decision.
Such a great skyride too
I only know this to be true at Kings Dominion and Carowinds but if you put your wallet in a locker and time runs out you cant get your wallet out to pay for it. It should automatically charge the card for the extra time or be like Six Flags and allow you to rent an all day movable locker.
I’m not sure how many parks do this now but Great America started requiring separate admission to Hurricane Harbor and I think that’s really dumb. Maybe it works financially, but not for guest satisfaction. It just makes me angry now whenever I walk by the old entrance gate on my way to Viper and Raging Bull and see the sign telling people to go to the front of the park.
Great America also cut out their single rider line due to people bringing large groups in it, which is also infuriating. It used to save me a lot of time waiting for rides like Goliath.
That does suck, the goliath single rider was great. Who cares if there are groups, they should know theyre getting split up
@@AirtimeThrills Six Flags removing single rider lines is chain-wide. Really disappointing.
@@WhatAG23 Water park is included at Holiday World and parking is free and soda pop is Free. Home to the greatest wooden coaster. 😁
FYI Carowinds started using the music pavilion this summer and having concerts for free with your park ticket or season pass. 😊
I love Scream Break. Such a good idea.
I was at SFGA for the last day of Ka. Despite the crush of enthusiasts grabbing last rides on Ka and the rest of the park being not too busy, Ka wasn't the longest line I waited in. The Ka ops were amazing, the line 40-50 minutes (the locker line was long but we used Superman lockers). The longest line was Superman - only one train and super slow ops. The line took us 75 minutes and it probably should have been around 30. And then the ride itself was pretty lame.
Dumb Idea - Bringing in a third party company (Aramark) to manage all of the food, not getting rid of them when people complain that the food is awful, and then having to introduce budget cuts because nobody is spending money in the parks. (Merlin Entertainment)
The main reason I don't want DC IP at legacy Cedar Fair parks is unless they do a very immersive and well themed land, I don't want the legacy Six Flags treatment where they just lazily throw a character's name on the ride and give it a matching paint scheme.
So like as a Brit only our Merlin parks make you pay for parking on site (BPB Has No Exclusive Parking) and that's only around £12 or $15. So to see that some parks charge nearly 3x is insane.
2:45 speedy parking doesn’t work at SFGAm at all. No designated lane making it the same time to wait as normal.
Smartest thing done in a while was definitely the six flags cedar fair merger, the two competing companies set aside their differences to better each other
I loved part one, so being able to watch part two is even better!
9:53 could not agree more with the family coasters idea. My kids just hit 54” a couple months ago and finding things for all of us at Busch Gardens and Sea World was difficult. Adding rides without a 54” height requirement gives the family more to do. Add to that, my son isn’t the same daredevil that my daughter is so he was nervous of rides like Cheetah Hunt or icebreaker and wouldn’t dream of going on an Iron Gwazi or Mako. Adding Phoenix Rising and Penguin Trek definitely encourages the whole family to come and enjoy.
Dumb Thing: Haunted Castle (WARNING: this will be disturbing and this is also an engineering fiasco with widespread effects outside of amusement parks)
A fiasco everyone luckily learned from
Great video! I really enjoyed watching this!
Silver Dollar City:
Has interactive bubble wands for Christmas to use around the park or during the lighted parade at night.
Concerts are a big thing at SDC that draws people of all ages.
In the Fire District, there are USB charging stations if you have a cord or you can buy one at Lucky’s Toy Shop
7:26 thanks so much for doing mine!! Great video!
When I went to Blackpool, a bunch of rides were running with one train. On most occasions it wasn't too bad, but with Big One and Avalanche it was awful. Pretty easy to see why Big One having one train ops would suck given it's a 2 minute ride, but Avalanche might have actually been worse because the trains only have six seats, and while you can have two people in the same seat, this typically wouldn't happen more than 2 or 3 times on one train. Both of these rides had 40 minute wait times when almost everything else was a station wait.
I work at sfgadv and we get loads of free tickets but we have to pay for parking. It’s annoying because I wanna go to Dorney more frequently but it’s 30$ everytime I go on top of tolls. So I just got a gold pass with the all park so I can save 30$ everytime trip
Interesting. When I worked for six flags i never remember paying for parking
@ we don’t pay for our own park and it was outside of the chain so might not have had to buy the pass. We also pay for parking at Hershey but free tickets. Times change
We might get parking at six flags parks and not legacy cedar fair
I did find out the flash pass is actually unlimited but only at your home park. That actually makes a lot of sense now that I think about it.
They have chain wide flash also
I noticed at least for me, when it came to that, it’s limiting on how many times you can use it. It was like that when I visited SFMM for the first time and SFDK too. But at SFOT (my home park), I didn’t have that limitation. I wonder if that’s different from what you’re bringing up. 🤔
Dreamworld (and afterwards, the other parks) reduced the upcharge prices to ~$15 ($27 for 2 people for Steel Taipan) but is more so dynamic pricing. Its way easier for the pocket and you kinda see a bit more people on them.
Went to Magic Mountain a few weeks back and Full Throttle closed down after I stood in line for about an hour for it. When I came back to try again later in the day it had an even longer line, and I saw the one shot fast pass option and thought "Man I can't have Full Throttle close on me again!" I paid the $15 it and cut straight to the front, was on the train within like 2 minutes of purchasing the one shot, it was kind of insane. Totally worth, Full Throttle was incredible, especially around sunset!
A one shot success story
Gonna agree with everyone here and say I'm annoyed at the "not announcing closures" thing.
I never got the Green Lantern credit...so pissed. No warning. Hopefully they are sending it to another park...probably not.
I hope it goes to a smaller neglected park like Michigan’s adventure. (And also convert it to a floorless)
From my last buy or sell, i bet it finds a new home, maybe as a floorless
F in the chat for Kingda Ka closing with no announcement
Props to holiday world for having conveniently located smoking sections.
13:13 It could be healthy to avoid crowds exposed to secondhand smoke
Raging Bull or other coasters should have the line split off with a separate line for back row. That way the GP that don’t realize how awesome the back row is, they will stay in main line.
About Parking. My home park Liseberg in Gothenburg, Sweden have some parking. But i never use them cause there are busses going to Liseberg. Its about 100 meter walk from the busstop to main Entrance. I heard that Liseberg may implement free bus ticket together with the entrance if you prebook the entrance. I dont know of its true or not. If it is true it should be easier for many to just park at a free parking and take the bus. For me that live close to Liseberg can take the bus home, Im home before those that take the car even have left the parking space. Some times it can take like 1 hour to leave the parking after the park closed.
Six Flags right now: What’s a sendoff?
Sendoff? Never heard of her
Right now Six Flags is in a purge mentality, getting rid of many rides
@@Longlivetheking4014 Dumbest thing ever that a park has done or in this case not done. No official send off. Come on Six Flags/ Cedar Fair
Hersheypark is seemingly the only park that still does concerts, I wonder how they are still successful in that field. I ain’t complaining though, listening to music next to candymonium is awesome!
On the complex yes, but not in the park, right?
Correct, they do at Hershey Park stadium "separate from the park" but no longer in park
Canobie Lake Park does the store-brand version: lots of celebrity impersonator acts, often at their modest outdoor stage. (Their Taylor Swift tribute has been getting some online attention lately--when it's nearly impossible to get actual Taylor Swift tickets, she's attracted a fan following for being a pretty faithful substitute.) Way back in the big-band swing era, their ballroom was a major concert venue.
One of my all-time favorite weird bits of area amusement-park trivia is that the downfall of Milli Vanilli happened at Lake Compounce.
@@AirtimeThrills Yeah the complex, still more than what others do
That train movement on Predator at 14:40 just looks super painful. Imagine going 50mph with trains that bounce on and off the track like that
SF Discovery Kingdom parking has gotten outrageously expensive
Highkey been waiting for this vid
What do you think of green lantern and Kingda Ka closing
Lets see what they put there, thatll be the final verdict
@3:09 not me recognizing my home park by the parking lot shot from the ferris wheel
Totally bought season pass to great adventure cause it was the same price for day w parking.
Carowinds had a great concert series this year!
I prefer holiday world for the free parking and drinks. I spend more money in the park because of the savings there
I think there is a hidden negative cost to these outrageous parking fees. I had no idea they were getting to $40 plus now, that absolutely will turn away repeat visitors and potential customers. Like spitting in the face of your customer at that point. As always with Six Flags, I think their cost cutting and general cheapness actually hurts them in the long run, you'd be shocked about how many people I have heard say they will never go back to a Six Flags because of how awful their experience was last time. Hell, I'm a coaster enthusiast and I don't really care to go back to a Six Flags park anytime soon. At least not until Cedar Fair management is able to radically transform them.
No doubt, if people have a better option they choose it. So many people from the mid Atlantic say SFA is closest to them but they never go there, they choose Hershey or GADV or BGW or KD
3 DAYS IN A ROW!!! ITS A MIRACLE ❤❤❤
Well this week will end up being 4/5
@@AirtimeThrillswhat’s tomorrow’s then, I NEED TO KNOw
I thought the only coaster to get the permit to demolish was green laturn
Thats true but the announcement today implies Ka is also coming down, but i am not convinced yet
@@AirtimeThrills Oh it's coming down! Lance Hart from Screamscape just got direct email confirmation from the Great Adventure PR and marketing manager that Zumanjaro is closing as well, meaning the entire structure is coming down for the new for 2026 coaster.
You can thank ticket master for ending time park concerts. Big artists are contracted to set areas. Small time acts don't have the ability to fill the seats....so the concert venues have become defunct
Sad, there were great concerts at wonderland in the 80's and 90's
I read a tour itinerary from The Fixx (80s band) circa 1983-1984. It read like a thoosie trip.
SeaWorld adding more coasters over the past decade has been great but, I can't deny that the parks were much better ran back then.
Can’t SFGAV at least keep Ka open for the rest of the year?😢
Not sure if it can run in the cold
After today I am expecting a certain something on the dumb list for part 3....
Huss Rides used to use Darien Lake as a proving ground for their rides back in the 1980’s along with an Arrow looper when Arrow and Huss rides were briefly the same company
1:29 I love single rider lines! I am very into the mechanical side of roller coasters, and not so much into riding them (I have been doing better tho, I did cheetah hunt) so anytime my family wanted to ride a ride at six flags (New England) I would always marathon pandemonium using the single rider line, it’s a fun ride, and it’s really fun when you get with someone who’s terrified of roller coasters. But then this season they removed it and I was really sad :(
i had multiple plans of visiting parks but after looking at the parking prices i just decided to stay at home.
@@ryanleeuwis1602 Parking is free at Holiday World.😁
Now that Great Adventure removed Twister they won’t have in my opinion the parks best flat ride. They shouldn’t have done that. I would hope they replace it with something even better
The pros part of this video is much more to highlight the business part of the parks than customer-service wise, respect for doing that... we gotta remember that those parks are companies, and we're just customers, we won't be directly involved in the decision-making process of what's happening in a certain park
Ive been following you for a long time now. How you don't have a million subscribers is beyond me
I just need 900K more sets of eyeballs somehow
@@AirtimeThrills Lol! Love ur videos tho
Sfot is getting a record breaking dive
This list makes me appreciate Silverwood even more. Parking is $10.00 for the day and free for season pass holders, no up charges for "skip the line/fast pass services," affordable food prices, and smart and steady growth plans. It's a cashless park, but you can buy an "in park cash card" if you want to set a budget. Only downside is slow 1 train operations on all their coasters except Stunt pilot.
I’d say single rider you get on faster, I’m still annoyed at 3/4 hour in Hyperia’s uncovered queue on an unusually nice day.
Kingda Ka was going bye bye no matter what. it was a nightmare to operate and keep up. it needed to go or be retrofitted.
THANKS FOR USING MY SUGGESTION
( X2 special effects)
RIP kingda ka
Long live the king
Smart idea - vantage points and walkways specifically built to get a closer look to rides. For instance, Voltron has dedicated pathways under its track and an observation tower you can access to get better views on elements you can't see that much from main pathways.
Dumb idea - Imposing a reservation system to get on low capacity attractions, thus reducing their capacity even more. Think about Volcano Bay trapdoor slides, or about Tonnerre 2 Zeus backwards seats on its first year of operation.
On the topic of fastpasses, in England, for example Thorpe park, if it is a peak day you can expect to pay upwards of £15 for a one-shot
Dumb idea: Inconsistent ride policies. Six weeks ago, I rode Kinga Ka (RIP) with a backward ball cap and sunglasses with a strap. I also had my wallet and phone in my pockets. Next, I rode El Toro with the same stuff. An hour later, I walked to the entrance of Jersey Devil. An attendant with a metal detection wand asked if my bulging pockets were empty... He told me I would have to put my things in a locker or leave them with a non rider.
I went to SFGA to ride, so I didn't argue. And, I don't blame the ride ops. But, the management should have clear and consistent policies. Kingda Ka and El Toro are the fastest and most intense rides at the park, but I can't take my wallet on Jersey Devil... 🙂 Oh well; I had a great day despite a couple of hiccups.
I had this happen at Cedar Point. Rode 5 coasters, all of them had different policies
Europapark has a bus connection between the train stop and the entrance to the park with frequent service. They managed to make some IC and ICE trains stop there…
I like the Virtual Lane system for free with the EP app too.
11:39, speaking of documentary’s, could you make a cedar point documentary?
Maybe at some point, it may be hard with the park dating back to 1870
@ you might not have to do that maybe start in cedar fair era
Enjoyed both videos. I think three smart ones would be a transport ride, solar panels in the parking lot and a hotel. A transport ride like a skyride or a train provide relief from walking and the whole family can go on. Plus it does well with seasonal events. A solar array offers extra revenue and can keep cars cool during the summer. A hotel is an extra source of revenue and can help people that live further from the park and encourage a daily admission from an out of market guest. Hershey does a great job by offering a perk of getting the last few hours the night before free.
Good call out especially on the solar panels. Win win, free energy and car shade
I, 100%, will reconsider something based on whether they'll charge for parking. I haven't been to any theme park in the last 20 years where i've had to pay for parking. It is a huge deterrent for me.
Scorpion being removed from BGT!!
at Phantasialand we get some shit from people because parking is now 7€ instead of 5€.
And the funniest thing: Phantasialand doesn't even own the parking. It's another family.
Six Flags Great Adventure removing Kinda Ka
It’s because the record was broken. The are getting a ride in 2026 that is going to replace it and break records.
@@CoasterCaleb-22reliability because the model is known to not be open frequently and that’s not good for parks
@@staringcorgi6475 They are having plans for an epic ride in 2026 because Kingda Ka won’t work and the record is broken which is the main point
@@CoasterCaleb-22 but still though the model is known to not work and cost too much to get it working bc intamin
@@CoasterCaleb-22 It has always been a maintenance headache, I do not have first-hand experience, but have heard many of the stories from employee's of it and Dragster. Both were very resource intensive for the maintenance department and had obesely high operating costs. Due to the fact it will no longer hold any records, the park finally forfeited their lost and decided to scrap it for something more reliable and less resource demand.
I figured it wouldn't have much longer in its life when compared to Dragster, however I, like most, are ticked off that it was not given the send-off it deserved.
This aged perfectly
I overheard another guest at BGW asking for a paper map because his company phone would not allow him to download the park's app. Plus, I miss being able to collect paper maps.
Buy or Sell: Kingda Ka gets reimagined like Top Thrill 2
it's been confirmed that Ka is getting torn out in favor of a new coaster for 2026
Ill address this tomorrow
They didn’t even say anything about Ka! My mom says cedar fair did this to Kingda Ka
Thats a fair assessment
@AirtimeThrills yeah
Dumbest move, retheming of rides no one asked for and the theming done poorly. Example splash mountain, or sea world Sparkletts water show at San Diego and Orlando, both becoming 4d theaters that not worked well.
Goodbye, Kingda Ka.
And Zumanjaro
Single Rider Queues are goated. I use them all the time and they save loads of time, as well as being good for filling rows for efficiency.
Part 3 Suggestion for dumb ideas:
Fast & Furious Supercharged lmao. Taking part of the Hollywood studio backlot tour and thinking it'll hold up as its own ride (it doesn't). Dumb movis. You can tell that they know it was a bad ride too, they're willing to shut it for the entire 2 and a bit months of HHN to put a house in because they know nobody's gonna be upset they didn't get to ride Supercharged lmao
2 Things
1) When a park has extremely short summer hours. Is SFGA really at the level to be 11-8 on weekdays; 11-9 on weekends. I feel like this makes the park seem cheap. It can’t be good for the park either because, in my region at least, most parks stay open until 10 on weekends which I feel like should be the standard.
2) Making weekends hours longer than weekday hours. If your park is open later, more people will come. So I feel like parka should keep consistent hours (in the summer) as it would distribute the crowds better. Maybe I’m over-analyzing though.
Im sure a LOT of thought goes into park hours, weighing the extra revenue of staying open later against the labor cost
11:55 If Hersheypark and Darien Lake can still do it, any park can😂
If great adventure removes kingda ka then if they remove it before falcons flight opens that means Top Thrill 2 might be the tallest coaster for a bit
And fastest because of Formula Rossa
I mean since both TT2 and Formula Rossa are SBNO right now, this actually makes Red Force the tallest and fastest coaster in the world which is kinda crazy to think about
Are we going to have the full circuit vs shuttle debate again? Superman EFK vs Red Force
@@SnowghostFilms I mean Superman might get faster (i doubt it) but there's no way it reaches 367ft consistently
Bro king’s island is getting another family thrill attraction
Kinda surprising