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UGH, no, don't list Six Flags parks by state! That's a terrible way to pose the question. And anyway, you've missed two.
Here, let's do this the right way.
La Ronde (Montreal, QC) - This park is interesting mostly because of its location smack bang in the middle of Montreal, but it's not a tremendously fantastic park overall. The unfortunate thing is that it will inevitably always bee compared to Canada's Wonderland in Toronto, which is by all accounts a much better park.
Great Escape (Queensbury, NY) - Very small park, but actually one of the largest in upstate New York. Its biggest advantage is the classic Comet.
Six Flags America (Upper Marlboro, MD) - Generally thought of as the worst Six Flags park, especially now that Kentucky Kingdom is out of the picture. It's a little sad how neglected SFA is. Finally they got a coaster this year, but of course it's just the recycled old (and intensely mediocre) B&M standup relocated from Six Flags Great America.
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (Vallejo, CA) - Probably fair to call it the premier park in the Bay Area, though California's Great America isn't terribly far behind. They've got some fascinating coasters out there - the angled spike on their V2 is unique, and so are the sea serpent inversion on Medusa and the entirety of their new Superman: Ultimate Flight. It's also the only Six Flags park (with the possible exception of Great Adventure) that prominently features animal exhibits.
Six Flags Fiesta Texas (San Antonio, TX) - I always consider SFFT and SFDK to be peers. Fiesta Texas has so many rides built into that cliff, which I think is ridiculously cool. In the same breath, I don't think there's any real way to argue that SFFT is better than Six Flags Over Texas.
Six Flags Great Adventure (Jackson, NJ) - Such a biiiiiiiiiiiig park, and certainly one of the three or four flagships. I completely disagree with whoever said it's the only park in America that can compete with Cedar Point, though. No... Off the top of my head: Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Holiday World, Six Flags Magic Mountain, and Dollywood all receive just as much enthusiast acclaim as Great Adventure, if not more. But El Toro is probably the only coaster that really, REALLY sticks out. Kingda Ka, while a huge adrenaline rush, has never been anything but a silly display of one-upsmanship and a rougher version of Top Thrill Dragster with less comfortable restraints. Nitro is certainly not a dud, but it's also no longer alone in its field since the arrival of Diamondback, Intimidator, Behemoth, Silver Star, both Goliaths, Shambhala, and especially Leviathan. Their "new" Green Lantern suffers from being a relocated standup coaster, the biggest failed gimmick of the 1990s. And the layout of the park is pretty convoluted. NONETHELESS, SFGAdv is undoubtedly a major park and a definite contender for the "Best Six Flags Park" title.
Six Flags Great America (Gurnee, IL) - This is my personal favorite Six Flags park. I think it's the most well-rounded and the best looking, as well as for some reason one of the only ones with a fairly logical layout. Raging Bull and the new X-Flight are fabulous rides, and the original Batman is still one of the best. I also have a lot of nostalgia connected to Whizzer, and I love how hard they worked to save the old kiddie coaster from Kiddieland. But there are drawbacks, of course. Lines are perpetually long, since it serves the whole Chicago-Milwaukee corridor, and probably all the way out to Madison and the Quad Cities as well. The food is very sub-par. The new location of the go-karts is terrible. Etc. But all things considered, I like it more than its sister parks, or maybe, I dislike it less than its sister parks. :P
Six Flags Magic Mountain (Valencia, CA) - SFMM is a beautiful, expansive park that has become a little coaster-bloated. In the past decade or so, the prime reason for its existence has been to one-up Cedar Point's coaster record. Since then, Cedar Point has actually stated that they won't be paying too much attention to the coaster record anymore, because coasters aren't the only thing that make a park good. And I think that's SFMM's problem. It's ALL roller coasters, and honestly, not a lot of them stand out much. X2 obviously is amazing and stands out a lot. Tatsu is my favorite coaster there, and my personal favorite flying coaster, but it doesn't crack my top ten, and maybe not even my top twenty. The three biggest standouts for me were actually Revolution, Riddler's Revenge, and Gold Rusher, because I wasn't expecting to enjoy them so much. I guess to me, SFMM felt like a collection of second-best coasters with no big "best" coaster. Now, since I was there, they've added a GCI, an Intamin ball coaster, and their amaaaaaaaaaaaaazing new 400' drop tower, which I get chills just thinking about. So they may be moving in the right direction. We'll see what happens.
Six Flags Mexico (Mexico City, DF) - Sort of an odd park. I never know quite what to think of SFM. People always forget about it, and I suppose that's because there's not a ton to remember. It's definitely seen a lot of neglect, similar to SFA, but it also seems to at least be fairly well themed.
Six Flags Over Georgia (Austell, GA) - I don't think it's a stretch to call SFOG the coaster capital of the Southeast. They've got a very good selection of roller coasters, especially now they've added Goliath and Dare Devil Dive. But it isn't nearly as attention-smothered as Over Texas, Magic Mountain, Great America, and Great Adventure, for whatever reason. This is another park that has some untapped potential.
Six Flags Over Texas (Arlington, TX) - The original Six Flags park and the source of the name (six nations have flown their flag over Texas). A lot of history at this park. I haven't ridden New Texas Giant, but it looks fantastic. Feels to me like it needs about one more big coaster, though. Maybe in a couple years.
Six Flags St. Louis (Eureka, MO) - By no means the best Six Flags park, but I do think it's a bit underrated. They have the best of the Batman clones, a great exciting family coaster in American Thunder, and the so-wild-it's-almost-too-much giant woodie Boss. But they also have the travesty of a roller coaster that is Ninja and somehow no kiddie coaster.
SO, I would say the best is Six Flags Great America, but I can see strong arguments for Six Flags Magic Mountain, Six Flags Great Adventure, and maybe Six Flags Over Texas.
The problem, of course, is that Six Flags is simply not a very easy chain to love. In general, their parks are overpriced, overcrowded, a bit dingy, and ultimately underwhelming. I mean, it's hard to really enjoy your day when you're forced to pay $20 (!) for parking alone. Give me a choice, and I'll choose the Cedar Fair, Herschend, Merlin, or Busch park every time.
Yeah you pretty much described SFGA to a T! People from parts of Indiana, parts of Michigan and even past Kankakee also go to Great America so it becomes EXTRA crowded especially around this time of the year.
^I made the mistake of visiting SFGAm in early August last summer. Never again...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dallaz
Which one did you go to? I have never experienced that at SFOT.
SFOT is more of an exception than a rule. Six Flags tends to only care about four of its parks (Great Adventure, Great America, Magic Mountain, and Over Texas). The others often get left behind.
NJ and CA have the best selection of rides. Texas has the best park being the original concept and all.
You're probably right.
Six Flags over Georgia really needs to do something. It needs to get a ride that is unlike anything else. Goliath and Superman are good, but the park could do better.
The only ones I've been to are SF Great Adventure (NJ) & SF America (MD), I actually went to both in the same week once and SF America paled in comparison in every single category, plus it AND its Hurricane Harbor can probably fit inside of Great Adventure with room to spare.
Rides are debatable but as far as the actual parks go I prefer the Busch Gardens, Dorney/Hershey, Universal type of parks....they have something that SF seems to lack. I also rode past Kings Dominion (twice) but I've never been there, I want to go.
I don't know which SF is the best but I believe Magic Mountain currently has the most roller coasters, I'd love to go there.
SF Fiesta Texas in San Antonio has always been my favorite location. I especially love the big Limestone cliffs that surround the park with the waterfalls falling from them. Those cliffs really give Fiesta Texas that "Southwest" "Wild West" motif. And i'd always thought it'd be cool to live in the apartments at the top of them, you could see over the whole park, and see the laser light show for free. I'm sure I probably already posted all of this earlier in the thread.
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