Six Flags America will close early during Halloween events after fights, vandalism

This why we can't have....mediocre things.

Things are really off the rails when you've lost control of your Halloween event before October arrives.

Nothing like a good haunted house at dusk.

Kings Dominion's 4th of July fireworks in broad daylight says "Hold My Beer"

There was a good post on the Busch Gardens Williamsburg Facebook page with video that I wanted to share but I it was taken down. They've had a fight(video on Facebook,)there a week or two ago that wasn't publicized like SFAs. The person made a lot of good points about giving away the gate and the crowd it attracts.

Our country is going through a time where the idiots are being allowed to rule. It's going to reach a breaking point where we are going to do something about it. SFA just allowed those entitled teenagers to ruin a good time for everyone else, and they just reaffirmed that behavior because no arrests were made. It's just sad.

What would you do if you came out to your car to kids breaking the windows and jumping up and down on the hood? Amusement park visits are turning into the possibility of that happening. Great times in our country. I'm not renewing my six flags pass.

Amp young people up on sugar and caffeine, present them several hours of violence as entertainment (mixed in with adrenaline-generating rides), act shocked when some number of them act badly. I'm not convinced the "entitled" teenagers are the origin of the problem.

Have I mentioned I haven't been to SFA since 2003?

No?

I feel like I may have.

Have I asked if I've mentioned that I haven't been there since 2003?

Sucks.

Rag on Six Flags America all you want, this is certainly not just them, it's nationwide. It's as if organized rioting mobs of adults is having some sort of impression on our youth... who'd would have thunk it.

Coasterfantom2 said:
Great times in our country.

Fun said:
It's as if organized rioting mobs of adults is having some sort of impression on our youth... who'd would have thunk it.

This is not a new thing at amusement parks.

You're equating adding metal detectors with three amusement parks shutting down early this year due to fights?

No, he's saying that the concern for violence at parks didn't start happening this year.

Searching Coasterbuzz for "brawl" turns up stories from 2005...

Yes, concern has been an issue for decades. Nor is this is the first time parks have closed due to brawls. Points taken.

But if you think this is the normal amount of brawls for a typical season, you are mistaken.

Would love to see your data source backing that up.

As soon as there is a nationwide database I'd be happy to share that with you. Until then you can ask literally anyone in the industry how guest behavior has been this year.

1. https://abc7news.com/six-flags-vallejo-fight-100-people-at-fright-fest-discovery-kingdom/11058110/
2. https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/maryland/six-flags-shuts-down-early-after-several-fights-at-the-amusement-park/65-37fdf342-a9b4-46d4-b6d0-6ee9f6f0a662
3. https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/18-year-old-arrested-fight-six-flags-over-texas-close-early/287-3da31e73-e057-499d-9757-471942f86c84
4. https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20210616/7-arrested-but-none-charged-so-far-in-six-flags-great-america-fight
5. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article254074343.html
6. https://www.wavy.com/news/crime/busch-gardens-fight-investigators-looking-for-group-of-men-who-attacked-two-others-police-say/
7. https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/mason-identifies-kings-island-fight-suspects-park-implementing-additional-safety-protocols-to-protect-guests/7XE64ACQ7VEWBPKXNYHQENZQQY/
8. https://www.yourerie.com/news/local-news/fights-breaks-out-at-waldameer-park-on-memorial-day-causing-concern-over-park-security/
9. https://www.whas11.com/article/news/local/kentucky-kingdom-chaperone-fight-policy/417-8e809136-39a9-4dd0-b3aa-deda01dc832c
10. https://fox8.com/news/12-year-old-cousins-brutally-beaten-during-six-minute-attack-at-theme-park/

Purely speculative, but I already felt like SFA is probably the most endangered Six Flags property due the pressures of its real estate value for residential commercial development. Not to mention, it’s got heavy market competition, so its probably one of their more thankless properties.

You’ve could make the same argument for Magic Mountain (Six Flags almost did..) but that park has been heavily invested in the past 20 years to at least show it’s not going in that direction.

America… not so much. I could see them trying to Astroworld it tomorrow. And with continuous situations like this that now forcing them to curfew their most lucrative season, it can’t help the boardroom cost benefit analysis discussions…

If I had to oversimplify and point at a single cause (which I don't ever have to do, but I like to do anyway), I'd say that the restart of the school year with mostly normal classes after a year of pandemic is messing with kids' psyches. Without closure or even acknowledgement that things are still weird and trauma occurred, kids are being asked to carry on with business as normal. I know my kids (and I) are more cranky, more prone to veg in front of the TV, and more moody than usual this fall.

The fact that vaccines, the original "end game" (and what I predicted would be the end game), doesn't seem to have brought us to the end leaves me wondering when, if ever, there will be a return to "normal." And that's a just-annoying-enough thought to put me in a less than pleasant mood more often.

On the 2014 discussion Vater linked to several posts ago, Jeff said:

A place like Six Flags America, with a bus line to a large metro with high crime in some areas, is far more prone to issues than a park like Cedar Point, which is an hour away from the nearest major metro area (and priced a lot higher).

Seven years later and I'd assume with Cedar Point Gold Passes the price point has narrowed quite a bit between the two vastly different parks. Seeing stuff like this (which is absolutely happening more in 2021 but hardly new) makes me even more puzzled when I think about how grossly underpriced Cedar Point is these days.

I agree it's hardly new. I was at King Dominion the day before someone got shot in the parking lot. I believe that was back around 2003 or 2004.

The difference between the past incidents and the more recent ones at Busch Gardens and SFA is the lack of security or police to do anything about it.

When you watch the SFA video and there are police officers in the video, but they were clearly out numbered. They were powerless to stop anything. That's why they weren't able to make an arrest. I've since read they are checking video and trying to find people involved. Still haven't heard that an arrest was made.

The video at Busch Gardens were a group of I'd say 10 to 15 people fighting just inside the queue of Apollos Chariot. By the time security gets there they scramble and none of them were caught or removed from the park.

In the past both these incidents would have been stopped pretty quickly. I've watched security at Great Adventure walk people out of the park for smoking a cigarette outside a designated smoking area back in say 2007 or 2008. Fast forward to our visit last year and we walked outside of an arcade to a kid smoking weed. Security were 25 to 35 feet away, watching, and didn't do a thing.

This is not the only reason I'm not renewing our SFA pass. The other reason is that they are forcing people to have a membership if you want to go to the other Six Flags parks. I'm not locking myself into a monthly payment and the nightmare it is to get out of. They need to do like the other parks we get season passes for and offer to pay up front to avoid the monthly payments. It's that simple.

We are going to make sure to go to Great Adventure to ride Jersey Devil before the end of the season while our passes are good.