So Six Flags is the cleanest park in the world, not Disney?

[DJ Disney Kid]

Just went to Six Flags yesterday and they had signs all over saying "Six Flags: The cleanest theme park in the world"

Im wondering how they are judging this? I will say the park was clean, but I also consider clean by having buildings painted and taken care of, which these were not. There was alot of paint chipping and just overall stuff looking old and not taken care of. But there wasn't much trash to be found on the ground of anything. Obviously Im a WDW fan, but even putting that aside, the Magic Kingdom was definitely cleaner and more taken care of, IMO.

Also, has anyone else been recently and seen their latest scam with the lockers?! On all rollercoasters you now have to put your stuff in a locker for $1 at each coaster. There is an employee who turns you away at the beginning of the line if you have a purse, camera, backpack, anything! They force you to pay for the locker or not ride at all. Normally I'd say you could leave your stuff in the car, but with my girlfriend having her "friend visit" this time of the month she had to have her purse. It was very frustrating and talk about taking advantage of your customers! I will never return to Six Flags until they treat their guests right.

 

[penguintux]

They seriously won't allow you on rides with any bags at all? That's absolutely ridiculous. And that they charge $1 per coaster.. Awful.

 

[Buzz Litebeer]

Just went to Six Flags yesterday and they had signs all over saying "Six Flags: The cleanest theme park in the world"

Im wondering how they are judging this?

Was this Six Flags Great America? Apparently it's part of a program designed to get their employees to clean up the park, much like Disney's "everyone's a custodian" policy. I've heard they're also claiming they have "the Best Funnel Cake Sundaes in the World" and "the Best Water Park in the Nation". I'd just chalk these up to bogus inflated claims... which 6F is notorious for.

I remember when my local 6F advertised itself as "A World of Fun Larger Than Disneyland!" -- with the teeny-tiny disclaimer "based on square footage".

Also, has anyone else been recently and seen their latest scam with the lockers?! On all rollercoasters you now have to put your stuff in a locker for $1 at each coaster. There is an employee who turns you away at the beginning of the line if you have a purse, camera, backpack, anything! They force you to pay for the locker or not ride at all.

I found a great blog post about this back in 2008. Here's a sample:

Each roller coaster in the park now has its own cluster of lockers next to it, and before you can get in line, you have to spend a buck for your bag. So if you ride 10 rides in a day, you have to spend 10 bucks on lockers. It would be less bad (still bad, but less so) if at least the lockers were multiple-use, so that if you spent a dollar you could open and close it as often as you wanted to. It would still suck because you might have to cross the entire park to find your Tylenol, but still. What’s more, you have to have $1 bills to use the lockers because you have to buy a token from a machine that doesn’t make change. So if you don’t have any with you, you have to spend even more time not riding rides while you chase down change.

A friend of mine put it best: "Six Flags is the only theme park I've ever visited where I became convinced that the owners viewed their guests with utter contempt."

 

[Haley]

The 6 Flags near me is in NO way clean- it's disgusting and half the rides are broken.

Universal has the same rule that you can't bring bags of any kind on the rides but at least the lockers are free for like the first hour.

That's one thing I like about WDW- you can take a bag on EVERY ride, no exception.

 

[softball chick]

I saw this too and my first thought was "um ya did they forget about disney world". There is no way that any 6 flags park can compare to disney in being clean!

 

[Orangeandwild]

Of the Six Flags parks I have been too, seeing all the overflowing trash cans, trash all over the ground and restrooms which all always need attention I cannot believe this is true at all My guess is they gave themselves this honor.

Another theme park near here, advertises you do not need to go to some far off fantasyland when you can go here locally and have just as much fun...yeah right

 

[DisGirl819]

Six Flags over Georgia was absolutely NOT clean when we went a few years ago. It is my only 6F experience and it will probably be my last. Nothing compares to WDW/DLR. And that is garbage that they make you pay for lockers at each ride!!!

 

[allyphoe]

with my girlfriend having her "friend visit" this time of the month she had to have her purse.

Cargo pants.

ObDisney: also useful for avoiding bag check.

 

[Planogirl]

The 6 Flags near me is in NO way clean- it's disgusting and half the rides are broken.

Universal has the same rule that you can't bring bags of any kind on the rides but at least the lockers are free for like the first hour.

That's one thing I like about WDW- you can take a bag on EVERY ride, no exception.

It's wise not to take anything on some of the Universal rides. We learned this the hard way when DS lost his glasses while riding the Mummy a few years ago.

Our Six Flags is clean but it does seem a bit ragged in some areas. I think that WDW isn't as clean as it once was but it's still way cleaner than Six Flags. And so is Universal and Sea World.

 

[Spacemonkaay]

I live in Chicago and can confirm that DJ's points are all true.

Six Flags Great America has the worst customer service of any park I have ever been to. One day, we had some friends come in town from Indianapolis to go to Great America. It rained all day and only like 2 rides were open (one being the new Dark Knight coaster, which is a JOKE -- it's stupid). They decided to close the park at 2, and they were sending people out the door with no compensation. Enough people complained that they started handing out vouchers to return, but they would not reimburse the $15 parking fee. They were literally YELLING at the customers to take a ticket and get out the door. YELLING, in a rude way, not in an "I need to project my voice" way. They were treating us like we did something wrong. It was awful. I will never go back. And it was quite dirty! (This was last summer.)

The bag thing is true as well. There is nothing posted telling you to leave your bag in the car or pay $10 for storage. I hope they go under in the near future, honestly.

 

[M.I.C.]

It's kind of like going to Fenway park and them asking to "help keep Fenway Park clean" when the seats are half painted and scraping. There are more aspects to the word "clean."

 

[jayandstacey]

The bag thing is true as well. There is nothing posted telling you to leave your bag in the car or pay $10 for storage. I hope they go under in the near future, honestly.

They declared bankrutcy two weeks ago: http://www.cnbc.com/id/31341810

I would never trust my life on a carnival ride with a company that just walked away from its debts.

The lockers are a lame attempt to shake the change out of your pockets. Sadly, they are just another straw of many on this camel's back. Locally here in DC, the six flags is so bad that I doubt any other company can turn it around - so I give it this season, maybe next - then turn the park over to the vines.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

They declared bankrutcy two weeks ago: http://www.cnbc.com/id/31341810

I would never trust my life on a carnival ride with a company that just walked away from its debts.

The lockers are a lame attempt to shake the change out of your pockets. Sadly, they are just another straw of many on this camel's back. Locally here in DC, the six flags is so bad that I doubt any other company can turn it around - so I give it this season, maybe next - then turn the park over to the vines.

Seriously... that's messed up. At least at Universal Studios, you have to put your bag in lockers but it's free for the first hour. Very reasonable imo.

 

[caseybruna]

The 6 Flags near me is in NO way clean- it's disgusting and half the rides are broken.

Universal has the same rule that you can't bring bags of any kind on the rides but at least the lockers are free for like the first hour.

That's one thing I like about WDW- you can take a bag on EVERY ride, no exception.

I think maybe rock n roller coaster is the only exception to this?

Correct me if I'm wrong, im not 100% sure.

 

[Sir Robin Hood]

Just went to Six Flags yesterday and they had signs all over saying "Six Flags: The cleanest theme park in the world"

I don't think the Six Flags brand is in the same category as the "big dogs" such as Disney, Universal, and Busch.
Six Flags are considered regional parks and not theme-park destinations like the ones mentioned above. If this particular Six Flags is comparing itself with other regional parks like Dollywood, King's Island, Carowinds, and other carnival-style parks with similar reputations, then maybe (and this is a BIG maybe), they have cleaned up their act enough to be given such a title. But they definitely left the Dis, Uni, & Busch parks out of the equation when comparing cleanliness. Not even in the same league. So I highly doubt WDW had any part of this contest.

 

[Sir Robin Hood]

I think maybe rock n roller coaster is the only exception to this?

Correct me if I'm wrong, im not 100% sure.

Last time we went to DHS I carried my camera onto the ride and held it the entire time. None of the CM's said anything to me. This was back in March of '08, so things might have changed since then.

 

[dgr1973]

I am going to Great America on Tues so I will see for myself how clean it is, LOL! I can't believe all the coasters require lockers now! Last year it was only a few but some of the older ones still had storage bins to put your stuff in when you boarded the ride. Thanks for the info, I'm not bringing anything in that won't fit in my pocket.

 

[spider0215]

I haven't been to WDW yet but when I was a kid the Six Flags here (st louis) was immaculate. I mean you could eat off the ground. Hasn't been like that in years and they don't keep up their plants or buildings or anything. What use to be a beautiful park is kind of an eyesore now. I hear they've filed bankruptcy again so who knows if they'll stay floating or not. It's ashame to see something from your childhood go down like that.

 

[Metro West]

They seriously won't allow you on rides with any bags at all? That's absolutely ridiculous. And that they charge $1 per coaster.. Awful.

It's not ridiculous when you consider theme parks with outside coasters have walkways that go directly under the ride track. Imagine you're walking along minding your own business and someone's glasses or a camera comes flying down and hits you on the head. I imagine it wouldn't feel too good would it? Then you would be asking why the park didn't require lockers to keep non-riders and pedestrians safer. I DO agree charging $1.00 per ride is awful. At least at Universal, you get free lockers for the first hour.

 

[Sandy Fisher]

The only 6 Flags we ever went to was Georgia. We had been huge Disney fans for years and only went there because we were visiting family in the area. What a disappointment. And I'd never call it cleaner than pretty much anything.
We had been to numerous regional parks prior to that and I think that one was the biggest letdown.
Unless things have changed considerably, we wouldn't even go to a 6 Flags again -- even if we were in the area. There were things that would have been "easy" if not inexpensive fixes. Seemed kind of worn out.