Six Flags v Disney

[Hiddenmickeyboy]

Since we are all members of this forum, we obviously favor Disney World over any other park. But I wanted to know what you all think of Six Flags parks?

They have many more thrill rides than Disney Parks, but severely lack in theming and the "magical" feeling.

What are your opinions of the chain?

[Mo Noyz]

You summed up my opinion perfectly. Six Flags' are amusement parks, not theme parks. It's really kinda difficult to compare the two, to be perfectly honest. They both do what they do well, but are completely different animals.

[JoeWDW]

I have not been to many Six Flags parks except Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. I was a huge fan of the park as a child and teen but it has gone down hill big time. The cleanliness of the park is horrible, last time I was there I sat in ice cream and there was gum wads every where. I was so totally grossed out. After that I never went back.

[weepstah]

Having grown up in Central NJ, I have been to Great Adventure many, many times. The general trend in my experience has been that they have gotten better at theming and even with food, it was really terrible when I was a kid. But they are targeted towards thrill rides, not theming, and that is where the money goes. The Disney parks just operate on a whole different level.

[StewbotTalborg]

Living in central Texas I've been in driving range of 3 Six Flags parks. I used to visit Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio quite frequently, when Six Flags came in and took the park over in the mid 90's it was the closest thing I've experienced to a Disney park outside of, an actual Disney park. All of the areas had great attractions that fit into their perspective "land" in the park.

However, after being open for a few years the rides started to fall into disrepair, animatronics were removed rather than repaired but the audio for the characters was never removed, so as you're standing in queue for an attraction you here Bugs' voice but he's nowhere to be found. It's pretty depressing.

The unique theming to each of the lands has been all but abandoned, and it truly has become an "amusement park", an agglomeration of big roller coasters with faded and peeling paint jobs, and walkways littered with gum, trash, and graffiti. The last time I made the 2 hour drive down, I think I was only in the park for just as long before I got bored with it and decided to leave.

[elric]

Not fair to compare. Disney is on a higher level for family fun. Six Flags is thrill rides. Six flags is dirty and the paint is old and peeling, any shows at Six Flags are not good. All Six Flags offers is thrill rides and those are looking lame now.

[StewbotTalborg]

I've always found it puzzling that Six Flags - which closes for a couple of months every year - never seems to be able to refresh and repaint their park.

Disney has practically made an template of how to successfully run a park and and example of how to follow through with it but other places seem to either be unable to follow it or unwilling to put the effort in to bank on that example.