Since I mentioned our impending visit to Six Flags and a few people have asked me about it, here are a few thoughts:
First, I can save you a year of marketing classes in college by simply suggesting that you go to Six Flags and observe. These guys are brilliant in selling, upselling, reselling, and otherwise extracting every penny from your wallet. An example: sell a water bottle (colored and with a belt loop) for $15 that gives you free refills all day. Not attractive to you the buyer? Well, when a single Coke costs $4, it becomes moreso. Another example: charge $15 for parking. Another example: in between every ride, put many booths that charge. There’s more but I’ll stop.
Second, if your kids are about the age of mine, I recommend that the first ride you take them on is not Flashback. You do three loops and then run the whole thing in reverse. I had no idea what the ride was when we got on. Definitely not one to introduce rollercoasters to your kids. Since I made such a mistake, I wish at least I would have had video of their faces during it. Of course, any ideas they had about which rollercoasters they wanted to do before the day started based upon the map were immediately altered.
Third, I learned why it’s called “Six Flags.” Growing up, we went to Magic Mountain. Then some company bought them and tried to change the name to “Six Flags Magic Mountain.” But it was always “Magic Mountain” to us. But it turns out that Six Flags started at this particular park, and it was so named for the “six flags” of different countries that have flown over Texas: Spain, France, Mexico, The Republic of Texas, The Confederate States of America, and the United States of America.
Fourth, it was interesting to note who was there. Not many kids the age of my kids. Not many adults my age. Almost no adults older than me. Mostly teenagers and their chaperones.
Overall, the kids liked it, especially as they got more comfortable as the day went on. They were sad to leave, though quite tired out.
Hopefully you guys got to go on more rides than we did! Danielle Devore, Amos Ralston, and I went to Magic Mountain on Saturday and rode a whopping 7 rides in 9 hours! It was fun, though…
And only you would find out why the parks are all called “Six Flags”. :)
I smile and laugh at two things! :) 1) I wish I could have seen Luke and Mark’s faces too! 2) I am going to be part of your stereotype of “Mostly teenagers and their chaperones” in 5 days when I take the youth group to a similar park in Denver! :) I’m glad that Luke and Mark have now had the privilege of having that special feeling in their stomach after a good roller coaster… :)
“But it turns out that Six Flags started at this particular park, and it was so named for the “six flags” of different countries that have flown over Texas: Spain, France, Mexico, The Republic of Texas, The Confederate States of America, and the United States of America.”
I learned Texas history at Six Flags long before I had it as a class in jr. high. That’s one of the benefits of growing up in the shadow of the world’s tallest oil derrick, where the elevator “takes you 300 feet up and 310 feet back down.” :-) [Back in the day, that was the laugh line the elevator operator offered on each ride to the top.]
Since we weren’t going on the best rides, and as it was a very hot non-weekend day, the lines were not that long – probably 20 minutes max. We probably went on 25 rides. The oil derrick was closed because of “high winds.”
So, did you actually make it on any other roller coasters after that one? Hopefully you can convince them that not all roller coasters go in reverse (though Disney World, of all places, has one that has a portion in reverse). I don’t reverse coasters much. Went on one on the Vegas Strip once (twice actually, since it was a 2-for-1 ride deal … the first time was fun, the second time was too much). I probably would not have picked that one, given there are supposed to be better ones there.
In terms of line. I remember back in college, I had a season pass for Magic Mountain. One Easter it was super cold and raining, bordering on snow, on the SCV. After church, I asked if anyone else wanted to go (as I had free passes for guests). There were no other takers. The plan was to go there for Easter lunch (since the cafeteria was not serving anything that day or something like that) and hit a few rides. Well …
The place was absolutely desolate. I think I hit all the major roller coasters in under an hour (Viper, Revolution, Batman, Collasus, Psyclone, etc.) and was on my way back to campus after just two hours (maybe 2 1/2) in the park. I was able to secure a front seat on just about every coaster. I was freezing though.
At least they didn’t close in the bad weather. Went with the family to Knotts once and they shut the place down (during the long President’s Day weekend no less) due to rain. Got a raincheck, but never went back.
wow, i never knew..six flags that is a cool bit of trivia, thanks!