Six Flags Over Texas evacuated because of fights

I think the media uses the word evacuated in-correctly. They closed the park a few minutes early. Fights are nothing new at any park that has a halloween celebration. By the number of police that responded it appears that the park was prepared for this.

SAM

Maybe episodes like this are nothing new, but I have to say that for the price of admission, I shouldn't have to "expect" that fights, violence, and an early closing are a part of the deal. I was at three different parks over four weekends this month and thankfully encountered nothing like that. For the sake of all the enthusiasts who visit many more parks than I do, I'd hate to think that was the exception rather than the rule.

Behavior like that hurts all of us even if we're not in the park or the specific area where the fights took place. The only legal way parks can control who enters is through the admission price. If they need to keep raising prices to keep certain elements away, they will, at the expense of the rest of us who know how to behave in public, who will have to pay higher prices.

The other alternative is that people will stay away. Then how do parks expect to keep paying for the newest, tallest, fastest coasters?

I went to Hersheypark yesterday (10/31) for the last day of their season and I can see why fights break out. Thankfully there were no such things there, but it seems as a country boy that there are too many urbanites that are quick to throw a punch if the are dissatisfied with ANYTHING in the park, not to mention the profound use of profanities and vulgarities. I think the parks need to update their polocies to combat such behavior and and start expelling those who disagree.

(Watch for my trip report in the coming days!)

This does seem to be a specific problem with Halloween trouble makers as Sam implied. One of the reasons why I avoid the parks on 10/31, and why some parks are now making Halloween Day a season pass only event.

We were in attendance Saturday night at SFOT. It was very crowded. So much for SF not having crowds or making money. We arrived at about 5:00 pm. Police and security were everywhere. It was almost as if something had already happened or was about to happen and they knew about it. I cannot fault them about security. It was tight and very visible. I would say the park had about a 25,000 attendance day. Based on the type of crowd that we saw and the mix of people I am not surprised that this happened. There was an abnormal number of 17 to 25 year olds hanging around in large groups. We do not stay in the park with our kids after dark much because it gets a little too intense. Overall we feel very safe at SFOT and it continues to be one the best SF's parks anywhere.

*** This post was edited by parkman2 11/1/2004 5:07:13 PM ***

Cedar Point had one of its busiest days all season long Saturday, and because of the high winds had several rides closed. No fights there. Perhaps it was the police everywhere. Perhaps it was the fact that they price it high enough that trouble makers won't bother coming.

Phoenixphan, and here I thought all along Wilkes-Bear WAS the big city.

"Perhaps it was the fact that they price it high enough that trouble makers won't bother coming."

Right on...

In regards to parkmans estimate of how many people were there, you were close, but we actually broke 37,000 by 8 p.m.! It was kinda freaky, 'cause we had just finished our final freak out show, made it back to Palace, and then we headed to the Saloon dressing room, and a few sups were on there way out the door in a fury. We were pretty much stuck there till about 1215 or so. It was funny cause we had no clue what was happening at the time, they just told us that some "some fights had broken out, so to be safe, y'all are staying in here for now."

Other than that, on Halloween it was peaceful and serene. Calm crowds, decent weather, and overall a really good fright fest season.*coming from an employee in entertainment*