New appreciation for Disney theme parks
My sister and I took our kids to Six Flags Great America (outside Chicago) yesterday and all we could do all day long was compare our experience to going to Disney parks. Despite complaints about costs, we still feel like we get a great vacation when we go Disney.
Not so yesterday at Six Flags. In a nutshell, it was the worst time we've had going to Great America, and we've been going since it opened in the 70s.
First, we laughed at signs all over saying it was the "cleanest theme park in America." Maybe near the front gates, but that was it. Tables and bathrooms were especially filthy.
Second, almost every single line was an hour wait or longer. They didn't have enough people working there to load the rides efficiently, so people waited and waited. On one kiddy ride, there was no line control, so once you got to the loading area, people bunched in all over the place and some tried to push their way through to other areas. It was awful. Lines even to fill refillable drinks were up to a half-hour long, no exaggeration.
Third, because they hire mostly high-school and college-aged workers, everyone goes back to school at this time of year. Thus, they close the water park in mid-August on weekdays. Temps were in the upper 80s yesterday and plenty of people would have filtered over to the water park if it had been open. If they would hire older workers, they wouldn't have this problem.
Fourth, rides broke down and people stuck on rides were only offered free FlashPasses (similar to Disney's FastPasses, only you have to pay for them) for the rest of the day, with only a couple of hours of park opening left. One family who was split up said the half who had been waiting for the next roller coaster train weren't offered FlashPasses -- only the ones who were actually on the ride were given them. Not much good when only half your party can use them.
Last, everything just looked bad. The characters' costumes were saggy and looked like the ones you could get at a rental place. The flowers and landscaping was pitiful. Next to the queue of the river raft ride, marks covered the concrete wall and tickets/passes littered the water. In one dying grassy area next to a queue, a metal pipe stuck out straight in the air, attached to nothing.
We paid a little less per person than we would have paid per day for a Disney park hopper. I actually felt scammed.
I wish now that I would have just saved the money we spent there for our next Disney trip. It gave me a new appreciation for everything that Disney does in their parks.