Six Flags called and wants us to come visit!?!

That is the text I recieved on Sunday morning from my friend Jay who thought it was about time we put our season passes to good use and hit the six flags for some Sunday afternoon fun!

All in all it was a great day and Jay and I had a blast. Ben had decided to stay home and relax and thought we were crazy to go but it worked out ok. We were able to get on the rides we wanted to and still have a good time. We were able to use this special pass so we didn't have to stand in the actual line for rides and deal with stairs or such for Jay. You essentially still wait to go on the rides but in a different way (details on that can also be found on LJ).

But here, I wanted to talk about Six Flags Great Adventure and some of the changes I have noticed them making over the last year or so and what I think of them. As someone who has been going to Great Adventure for years, I think some things are great and others are not so much.

Overall the park does seem to have cleaned up its act in the sense of actual cleaning. Of course its also the begining of the season so who knows what it will look like in October! But I felt like the place looked cleaner, there were more trash cans and plenty of people walking around cleaning up.

The park has seemed to add a good amount of attractions that are geared towards kids. The addition of the Fast pass as a pay option for people is a nice attempt but I don't think it is as effective as it is in Disney World or Universal Studies. But they are learning so hopefully it will improve as time goes on.

What I was not impressed with however was the new locker/bags policy enforcement. The new thing this year is these lockers that cost $1 every time you use one and they are time limited to 2hours and all bags MUST be with a non-rider or in the lockers. While I understand the park does not want the responsibility of bags on the side of the rides and stuff, having to put items into a locker before you go in line can be inconvient when you are standing in line for 1+ hours. If you have a drink, you can't take it with you in line unless you are SURE you will finish it. What about a cell phone? Maybe you don't want to ride with it in your pocket but want to have it with you while you wait in case its needed. And honestly, $1 every time is just another way for the parks to nickel and dime visitors while they are there. So after spending $60 to get IN to the park, you now have to pay $1 at every ride if you want to have a bag in the park and don't have someone to hold it for you. I don't know but I just felt like it was a slick way to just squeeze people a little more. I mean really, was putting the bags to the side in the little bins or against a wall REALLY that bad? And if people were losing things because of theft, it still wasn't Great Adventure's responsibility. I didn't leave valuables in my bag but I often left food or drink that I already paid $20 to have. That is just my opinion.

I do think its cool they have more characters walking around and even have some specific times and locations for kids to get their photo with the characters and meet them. They also added some night time parade (they aren't trying to be Disney at all!LOL) but we didn't stick around to see it so I can't really say much about it.

All in all it was a fun time and I am sure I will be there a few times this summer!