Warning to anyone planning a trip to Indiana Beach

So I guess IB lost it's Charm...

This is how I felt when SFMM started getting terrible TRs about a decade ago. It's a place that I have always wanted to go to, and will get to go to someday (A dream destination, if you will), but because of the way they are running it, I have a lot less excitement about it.

SFMM has always pissed me off. I went 3 years in a row and really tried to like it. I just couldn't.

I know it's exceptionally unlikely, but I do wish the Spackman family would buy the place back. It honestly was one of the best four or five parks in the country not that long ago...

Oh Morgan spent a ton of money. I have no doubt that they were one of the high bidders for HW a few years back. They painted everything at IB. Cleaned up a couple neglected areas, But IMHO they also have no clue on how to keep people wanting to come back again.

LostKause said:
That doesn't have anything to do with closed rides and shops, as much as it has to do with forcing people who may only get to go once a year to feel bad that they missed out.

Egad. Really? Six Flags has at times been deserving of its less than stellar reputation in the past decade or so, but now they're forcing people to feel bad?

Maybe I didn't word it in such a way for some people to understand. When I could only get to SFGAdv only once every few years or so, I wanted everything possible to be open. Imagine how I felt when it didn't even seem as if they were trying, when about a third of the rides and shops were closed and the park was packed.

It was the parks fault for making me feel as if I had wasted my time, money, and efforts on trusting them to deliver a good experience to me.

The bitterness I feel makes me cautious about visiting far away parks. I don't make gazillions of dollars, and I don't travel to a park every weekend, so when I go to a park, I have to make it count.

Where I live, the closest amusement park's are four or five hours away. It's normal for people, especially non-enthusiast families, to only visit an amusement park once a year. I go a little bit more frequently (because it's a hobby with me), but I definitely want the best trip possible when I go.

Maybe that makes it a little easier to understand?

A few times that I went to a park and a lot of rides and shops were closed, I said to myself or my friends with me, "At least I am not at work today", and left it at that. Maybe that's a better attitude to have in such a situation.

I totally get what Travis is saying about SFGADV, Visited in 2001. Probably half the flats and three coasters never opened, The operations were horrid in that Dept but the ops working were efficient. The park looked run down and the atmosphere was thuggish at best.

I had written it off. Even visited PA several times since But in 2008 it was kind of a stopping point for our trip up to Coney and Rye so we did it again. Plus was that they had built ET and KK. Gotta say, Except for the Flume, Raft Ride and Wheel most of the flats were gone. However All coasters operated at full capacity save KK running five trains instead of six.

Had a great time. Security everywhere, No thug atmosphere. Id go back.

Interesting...my first visit to SFGAdv was in 2001. Two coasters were down, and so were several flats. I was still enamored with the park to the point that my wife and I returned the next year, and I was fortunate enough to ride the two coasters I missed the year before (both of which are no longer there). YMMV.

I get what Travis is saying, too, and admittedly I used to let things like that get to me a lot more than I do now. But the operative word there is let. I am responsible for how I feel; nothing else is.

A few times that I went to a park and a lot of rides and shops were closed, I said to myself or my friends with me, "At least I am not at work today", and left it at that. Maybe that's a better attitude to have in such a situation.

And this essentially describes how I approach any vacation. Focusing on the negatives usually results in me having a sub-optimal time, and believe me, there are a lot of stupid little things that have the potential to get under my skin while vacationing. But ultimately, I'm there (wherever: amusement park, beach, mountains, wilderness, cruise ship, at home doing zilch, etc.) relaxing and having fun, and not consumed with the mountain of stress that occupies my life Monday through Friday (and people wonder why I continue to lobby for bran muffins).

Not being able to ride some rides does not ruin my day...because I don't let it.

I'm not a big fan of SFGAd either. But, much has changed since 2001. I'm not saying to make a special trip. But, I wouldn't avoid it if I were in the area.

Charles Nungester said:
save KK running five trains instead of six.

Do you mean 3 out of 4?

Jason Hammond said:
I'm not a big fan of SFGAd either. But, much has changed since 2001. I'm not saying to make a special trip. But, I wouldn't avoid it if I were in the area.

I just spent 2 days there. I love that park. I'm going to let this one slip out right now, and see where it bites me - I like it better than Cedar Point.

Raven-Phile said:
I just spent 2 days there. I love that park. I'm going to let this one slip out right now, and see where it bites me - I like it better than Cedar Point.

Heh.

Not sure I'd go quite that far, but I do say all the time that as a whole in the past 2 or 3 seasons SF offers an experience equal to or greater than CF.

And I believe it.

Well, I'm particularly burnt out on CP visits, because I used to go every weekend. Great Adventure, I've only been a handful of times.

Not to mention, Toro is just freaking incredible. (that, and I love Nitro now)

I really don't know why some jump on great adventure from their experiences 10 years ago. Not every visit that I've been to cedar point was exactly stellar, parks will have their off days. The trip reports speak for themselves the past two years or so, almost all of them being positive.

I sure wasnt happy when I waited two hours for volcano, and was greying out on intimidator this past weekend. Will I completely write off kings dominion because of that, of course not.

I will kindly remind everyone who are not "getting" it that I am basing my opinions of SFGAdv firstly on trip reports within the last few years, and then secondly on my personal experiences with them from my first trips there, until 2005 (or was it 06?), when I last visited the park.

I am basing my opinion of the place on experiences there ten years ago, but that's not the only bases.

Looking at some other people's experiences within the last few years, I will say that perhaps the park changed for the better at one time, but lately it seems that they are up to their old tricks.

I've been to SFGAdventure in the 90's, a few times in the early 2000's and the last time in 2006. One visit was good (I was with great friends, it was also my first time there), one visit was ok (Chiller Robin with lap bars and heartline was actually open, loved it) and the rest of the visits were crap.

A 5 hour wait for the 2 new coasters (Ka and Toro, which I am ashamed to say I gotta flash pass for - rode those 2 <didnt care for either> and got the heck outta there). The park has dead ends at strange places, the employees were clueless, every time rides were down. Ok ok ok... the real issue is that I am less and less a 'big corporate park' guy. That's about it. Surely this park, and other places like CP are other's cup of tea.

After venting that, I will say that I still love my home park SFGAm - and I think it's the best in the chain. Best run, best variety of rides (including lost of old Anton flats and Whizzer)..

LostKause said:
We see way too many parks not taking care of things that they should be in the off season. This is becoming normal, I'm afraid.

Six Flags Great Adventure, for example...

:)

Really, can we sing a different tune for a change? Its been almost 10 years.

I based that one little example firstly (which means "primarily" or "more importantly" in this sentence) on recent trip reports, and then secondly (which means "less importantly") on past trips to the park, as I have stated above.

It was the first example that came to mind. 2005 (or 2006?), the year of my last visit, was not almost ten years ago, as stated above.

I've also recently said that I realize that SFGAdv isn't crappy al of the time. My opinion is that inconsistency is worse than consistently bad though, because if they were consistently bad, I would have stayed away after the first few times I went. I lost all hope that I will ever get a good visit from them after the tenth or twelfth time I gave them so much of my precious time and money.

Anyone planning a trip to this park should ask God (or the universe, or whatever) to help them have a complete experience, with minimal ride and store closures, and the capacity needed to serve all of the guests who are in attendance. Divine intervention may be necessary.

"Pete and Repeat were sitting on a fence. Pete fell off. Who is left?"

Can someone remind me why Chiller lost its zero-g rolls? I never got to ride it without them (which may be a good thing) and I completely forgot that happened.