Sounds like it is a mess down there!
Went there 2 weeks ago on a Saturday night to get a friends pass processed and the traffic was terrible then. Thanks to the Security Guard for telling me a way to get around that mess. Just think, its not even the peak of operating season yet.
I'll make it a point to call ahead to be sure there are no concerts scheduled before I make my trip up to try Nitro. This concert doesn't even show up on their web site.
The way I see it there were two things leading up to this problem. First is the exit, which was a pain when I left on Good Friday at 3 in the afternoon. Sloppy planing on the part of the park and road crews for not anticipating this problem. The second is the crowd that the concert attracted. Hot 97 plays hip hop, so there you go. I can so easily picture my home park overrun by gangsta's and wanna be's making everyone's life miserable by being loud, rude, cutting in line,grafitti all over everything, wearing underwear pulled up to their nipples, threating others, ect. For anyone who wants to witness it firsthand, simply go to SFGrAdv on any weekend or when school lets out and watch the bussloads of animals from the cities animals go running rampant. Before anyone says I'm generalizing a group, go and look for yourself. I'm not making it up. It's a shame because it's a great park that is my home park, but I'll never go there when school lets out or on a weekend. I'd almost rather hang out in the hell hole of Calcutta-it's the same thing.
Cant agree with you more Dave. The park is over-run with animals on weekends and peak times...all caused by unruley city hoodlums. Been to parks all over the country and never see this anywhere else. Unfortunatly SFGA is my home park also. Their security is a joke except when they make you wait forever at the gate to pass through the metal detectors. Much rather drive a few miles and go west to Dorney Park. Much cleaner and more family oriented.
I will whole heartily agree that having a free hip-hop concert probably wasn't a smart idea. As for the roads around there, it is scary trying to exit the park at night on that two lane road. It's another one of those situations where the park has been there forever and development has crept all around.
Glad I wasn't there. Is the road construction to improve conditions to enter the park?
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BMCOASTER
bmcoaster@wi.rr.com
Dave your fist mistake is assuming that only thugs like hip hop.I like it,and I am not a thug,I work a regular job,and go to college as well.I go to amusement parks all the time.The problem is when you mention free concert who do you think its going to attract?? People who normally could not afford to spend good money to attend such an event,and second hip hop is very big right now and crosses over to diffrent people from all walks of life.
They simply have to do something about this problem. Concert or no concert, this park is insane at closing time, especially on the weekends. But once school gets out, it's like this pretty much every night. If you're planning a trip to SFGAdv, for your own safety, plan on leaving the park a couple hours before they close for the evening. It's a shame, but it's a dangerous situation.
out of curiosity who was singing there. thanks
Not good at all. It's things like that that hurt attendance.
I knew someone would complain about my post so I must defend myself. Wheelman, if you like hip hop, by all means enjoy yourself. Unfortunately, when you have a free rap concert, it's going to attract the folks who dig it, which mostly(not all)appeals to inner city youth, who arrive there in bussloads to begin with. Throw in all day at the park, booze in the parking lot, and a painfully slow exit which should not have happened to begin with, and you have a recipe for disaster. Being invaded with Ganstas is unfortunately a way of life at SFGRADV on weekends and when school is out. Of course, not all rap fans behave badly, but the ones who do cause a reputation that follows the others around. Not all Deadheads smoke pot, but they have that reputation. It works both ways.
Great Adventure is a great park during the week from now until about the third week of June. After that, I'd almost feel safer in the Port Authority in NYC. It's unfortunate that the park is a magnet for thugs and troublemakers. Don't take my word for it, go look for yourself. If they have a concert that attracts certain elements and there are problems, whose fault is that? The pinhead who booked the thing. What were they thinking?
Of course, not all hip hop fans are bad types. However, if 5000 fans come for a concert and 5% are trouble makers, you now have 250 trouble makers which is enough to overwhelm the security of any park or the size of any small town police department and cause very major problems. Then you add everyone being on edge because they can't get out of the park, and you have a recipe for trouble.
Of course not everyone who likes hip-hop is a thug, and not everyone who likes hip-hop lives in the inner city. But, everyone should realize that most rap music is not family oriented in the least bit. Try to watch most rap videos on MTV and you wont be able to understand half of the words in the song because they're not airable under FCC regulations. Most rap music these days promotes drug use, violence, gunplay, excessive spending (not a crime in itself but many of its listeners will never be able to have that kind of wealth unless they do commit a crime) and abuse of women. We've unfortunately come along way from the more innocent days of rap.
First off, nothing in the article suggests that the concert was free. Second, the majority of rap videos on MTV are "clean" versions of the songs with little or none of the so-called 'seven dirty words'. Third, yes hip-hop is not a "family" culture, but rap was not the problem here. The problem was the parking/exiting situation. If people werent stuck in traffic none of this would have happened.
BTW: look at some of Billboards surveys of music listeners. You might be surprised to find that more of the people that buy hip-hop music live in the suburbs and rural areas than in the inner cities.
jeremy
--who swears that if he hears one more elitist comment equating the inner-cities w/ gangsters, he may have to get medieval on someone's buttocks
I used to make the 6 hour drive from Boston because We in New England really don't have a first class park (SFNE is making headway) but after numerous trips filled with line cutting thugs I just can't justify the trip. SFGAdv is a great park but some of the Guests make the day unbearable.
First off, it sounds like there are a bunch of racists on this site. If you don't like the element, then don't go to the park. Simple as that. SFGAdv has had this problem for a long time, but it doesn't stop me from going to the park because I don't let it bother me. Yes it does take forever to go through security on the way in, but wouldn't you rather be safe than sorry?
The parking lot has ALWAYS been a joke, even from day one. (in fact I think that's the last time they paved it) The directional signs are vague at best and 10,000 people heading for 2 lanes won't work no matter how you try it. The other big problem is the county for not fixing Rt 537 until now. Why they decided to wait until now to widen the road is beyond me. They had ALL WINTER, bad weather or not, to do this. How long does it take to add one lane to about a mile of roadway? The county should force SF to pay for road improvements everytime they make a major park improvement (ie, Medusa, Hurricane Harbor, Nitro)
In the meantime, watch what you say folks, and be a little more understanding that there are many, many different types of people in this world, but we all need to be treated the same.
Racists? Who said anything about race? If a park is filled with thugs, a park is filled with thugs then!
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A bad day at Cedar Point is better than a good day at work.
Thugs are thugs, be they black, or be they white.
