Six Flags Over Georgia Free Admission!

As a resident of the Atlanta area I can tell you that this is not the first time that these free entry events have caused major problems in this city. In the last few years we have had a number of free concerts and other events staged at various locations throughout the area which have caused major traffic and crowd control problems. Several free concerts have gotten so out of hand that the promoters have been forced to cancel the show because police were unable to control the massive crowds.

Most people do not realize how populated Atlanta really is. The Atlanta metro area is the 9th most populated metropolitan area in the United States with a population bigger than Boston or Detroit. Also most major cities in Alabama, Tennessee, and the Carolinas are within a 4 hour drive of Atlanta.

Radio stations and other promoters working in the Atlanta area need to start distributing tickets for these kind of events in advance in some kind of controlled manner be it via the Internet or any various other means of providing a limited number of tickets.

All these issues were compounded by stupid parents who dropped their childrnn off at Six Flags as if it were a day care center as well as people who allowed their children or passengers to exit vehicles while they were still on the interstate and surrounding roadways which created a major safety issue which also had to be handled by the local police. *** Edited 4/6/2007 3:07:18 AM UTC by goofyrules*** *** Edited 4/6/2007 3:11:13 AM UTC by goofyrules***

I don't blame the parents for dropping off their kids at the gate. Sure, I'd want to make sure they got in the park safely, but if I had to go to work, I'd assume they'd make it and have them call me when they did.

The interstate on the other hand...

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coasterguts said:

In the end, a lessons learned will be conducted. Any future promotions like this will be one where you go to Six Flags website, key in a promotion code and the first xxxxxx people that can print a ticket will get in and everyone will be prepared, police, fire, ems, the park and perhaps Bert will get their earlier.

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Great Adventure had free tickets for opening weekend last year and that was exactly how they ran it. You picked a day (Friday, Saturday or Sunday) entered your information and were able to print 2 tickets and 2 safari tickets for the day you chose. Once they ran out of the amount of tickets for a given day, you were no longer able to sign up for that day. I did not get to the park for the free tickets (I did use the safari tickets later in the season as the Friday tickets has Safari tickets good for any day of the season) but heard it did not cause any problems and lines were minimal despite the free tickets.

Since they ran it like that last year there is no excuse for SF not to do the same thing for this event.

No ONE came forward and said "if we get a warm sunny day during what is undoubtedly Spring Break for MANY Atlanta-area people, it could become a zoo. We might need to give away tickets just to control attendance."

Apparently not... ;)

Could have even had "arrival times" for the front gate...5K at 6am, 5K at 7am, etc. Too late to think about that now I guess.

Seriously, 15K people in the area between Scorcher and SR&R is way too many. That basically includes Scorcher, a nice covered walkway (brought to you by Home Depot, LOL), and the indoor scrambler. That's all, folks. 15K people in there is PACKED.

Wouldn't get me up at 6am for that...

edit: There is the log flume in that area....doubt that was even open at 6am though...

*** Edited 4/6/2007 3:40:22 AM UTC by rollergator***

Did they not offer Flash Pass to get people through this mess? ;)

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ApolloAndy said:
I don't blame the parents for dropping off their kids at the gate. Sure, I'd want to make sure they got in the park safely, but if I had to go to work, I'd assume they'd make it and have them call me when they did.

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Uh this is exactly the kind of clientele the new management wants to reduce or get rid of completely. Unsupervised pre-teens that get dropped off by their parents for the day (who assign the park the role of babysitter). They roam the park in formidable non-family friendly packs spitting on the midway, littering, line-jumping, running, not spending much money inside the park, cussing, screaming, climbing up on decorative props...should I go on?

This whole thread would be hilarious if it wasn't so sad. Those that are trying to absolve SF from blame are out to lunch. It is Six Flag's park. Sure the radio station advertised the event. It may have been the radio statrions event, but SF had to participate to make it happen. The station could not just offer free admission on thier own, the park was in this up to thier neck.

The sad thing is that many young kids who are in families that may never be able to afford a day at SF thought they were going to the park and had their dream of a great day crushed by mismanagement. SF tried to do something good for them and the community and made it into a PR nightmare. Perhaps they can do something later in the season to make up for this somehow. Whatever it is, much more thought and planning will be needed.

Goofy, I agree that parents drop off thier kids at SFOG as a babysitter. The kids don't know how to act and they tend to cut line too often. Maybe SF needs to implement a policy like Lake Winnie and Hamilton Place Mall did in TN. No one below a certain age is admitted without a parent or guardian. This will take care of that problem. Before Lake Winnie took this action, there was a number of fights and near riots thanks to unsupervised youths. After the policy had taken place, The teenagers got the word and when elsewhere.

No amusement park should be a babysitter for parents who don't care about thier kids. They are in the business of making money but with unsupervised kids, fights will break out.

436 comments from locals about the incident.

Good stuff from people who were there or had to deal with it - not from outsiders looking in from a message board. :)

My favorite quote from the posts over there...

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AND DURING SPRING BREAK NO LESS!!!!

ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!!

YOU FRUIT CAKES!! WTF!!

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She said fruit cakes! :)

^What I found funny about those comments is that they ALSO didn't know whether to hold SF or Q100 responsible...

I gotta figure they both take a hit....neither side knew in advance that "virtually unlimited free anything" leads directly to *BAD THINGS* (TM) happening? Not possible...

Yeah, there should have been better foresight between both parties

To use a "Gonchanolgy ;)"- Lets say someone came to have that party at your house for 20 people. However, it was popular kid at school who you knew had 100’s of friends (much like a popular radio station had many listenrs) and he was going to have free beer. Also those people attending the party were not the kind of people you wanted in your house (in this case, the “cheap crowd” the SF is trying to do away with.) Knowing that there is a great chance for more than 20 people showing up despite their word and my house could be full of people I didn’t want there, I think wouldn’t agree

In addition, lets sat you invited your own guest over for later on that day (in this case the regular paying guest showing up at 10). I don’t think I would risk their enjoyment of my own guest running into people who I don’t like. ;)

Still, I agree with everyone that the radio station handled the promotion poorly, and there should have been some sort of contest or ticket giveaway to get an exact amount of people. Anytime you announce something free on the radio, there is a good chance more than just the listener’s would know as they probably told their neighbors and friends. *** Edited 4/6/2007 8:52:01 PM UTC by Joe E.***

Everyone here is assuming that the results of this fiasco are all going to be negative. However, from the no publicity is bad publicity shcool of thought, now virtually all of the 5 million metro Atlanta residents--plus untold out-of-towners who also heard about it on the news--have all been reminded of the existence of 6 Flags over Georgia thanks to the free news coverage of this event. I would guess that at least 4 million of us --and probably more than that--had no more than minor inconvenience as a result of the traffic tie up. We are not steaming mad at the park (and we don't listen to or care about Q-100). Some people will be thinking "Hey, I remember going to 6 Flags when I was a kid...maybe we should pack up the family and go one day this season."

There's almost always a silver lining in those clouds

Thing that gets me that some people did not understand is that they closed the park at capacity at 10,000 or 15,000 or whatever. The park opened to the earlybirds in sections. They had ERT on a few rides at a time if you looked at the flyer. So according to safty rules and fire hazard rules, only a certain amount of people can be let into a single section. They probably could of opened the whole park to everyone but there probably was not enough staffage particulary security to handle more than 15,000.

.... Q100 should of had the first 15,000 who call the station recieve tickets to get into the park between 6-9

This is yet another example of the brilliant management skills of Six Flags. Yes, I know on the surface it looks completely stupid and incompetent. The short sighted nay-sayers of course don't understand the brilliant executive maneuverings of a company that understands people.

Obviously, with the complaints about Six Flags and their poor guest relations and lame-ass running of rides, the people needed to be reminded just how lucky they are being in a Six Flags park. And what better way to highlight this privilege than to invite everyone in, but then admit just a portion of the folks lucky enough to knock on Six Flags door.

For those who got up at the crack of dawn, spent hours stuck in traffic, made it in time and only to be denied access, fear not. Access is always available at Six Flags for the right price. Management understands the only way for people to truly appreciate access is to deny it, and then offer general admission. And if the lines for the rides aren't moving, then offer Q-Bots. And then if that one ride every two hours doesn't cut it they offer Goldpass. Those of you who can't see the love Six Flags is offering, need to open their hearts; and their pocket books.

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kRaXLeRidAh said:

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ApolloAndy said:
I don't blame the parents for dropping off their kids at the gate. Sure, I'd want to make sure they got in the park safely, but if I had to go to work, I'd assume they'd make it and have them call me when they did.

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Uh this is exactly the kind of clientele the new management wants to reduce or get rid of completely. Unsupervised pre-teens that get dropped off by their parents for the day (who assign the park the role of babysitter). They roam the park in formidable non-family friendly packs spitting on the midway, littering, line-jumping, running, not spending much money inside the park, cussing, screaming, climbing up on decorative props...should I go on?

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Thanks for reading my comment before replying to it. </sarcasm> I said I didn't blame the *parents* for dropping their kids off at the park (the interstate is a whole 'nother thing) and expecting them to get in. My comment had nothing to do with what is or is not in Six Flags' best interest. *** Edited 4/6/2007 11:36:53 PM UTC by ApolloAndy***

<sarcasm>

It's so unfair! People who could pay for a ticket at 9am were allowed to take the rightful spots of the people who expected a free ticket at 6am!

Next thing you know they're going to be selling my spot in line with a pager-like device!

</sarcasm>

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They probably could of opened the whole park to everyone but there probably was not enough staffage particulary security to handle more than 15,000.

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Which is the park's braniac management's fault.

Somehow, I think Six Flags could open the park only for the people in this thread and make everything complementary, and half would still find something wrong with the place.

How is this Six Flags' fault? If I recall correctly, they said 3000 was the limit. You can't blame them for the mistakes of the radio station.

A few of you are implying that SF did this on purpose, because of free publicity. I wouldn't put it past SF for thinking that it would be a good idea. They'll do anything, even piss off people on purpose, to get an extra buck, so why not?

And it really seems that some of you are paid spokespersons for SF, defending every craptastic thing they do. "Six Flags is right for trying to screw everyone over because they are a business and businesses need to make money." Whatever.