Six Flags New England: The Overpriced Toilet That Can't Flush Its Prices
Written: Aug 05 '03 (Updated Aug 05 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: some really nice rides
Cons: some crabby staff, expensive, not the cleanest
The Bottom Line: It's a great park if you have $ to spare!
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| jetbluefan1's Full Review: Six Flags New England |
We recently got back from a trip to Springfield, Massachusetts after taking a 5-day vacation in New Hampshire and a 3-day trip in Newport, Rhode Island. The trip to Springfield was unexpected, but when I saw a flier for a Hampton Inn special for the Six Flags New England park, we decided to stretch our vacation just at bit.
The special showed a 2-night stay, free continental breakfast and four adult Six Flags New England tickets all for $300. This was at the Hampton Inn, West Springfield. The deal was so good that we took it.
Both my wife and I are huge thrill seekers. We love roller coasters and any ride that deals with going fast or high. After hearing so many good things about Six Flags New England, we decided to try it for ourselves. Our Six Flags - Darien Lake - is also great for thrill seekers. However, we heard that Six Flags New England was a lot larger and had many more attractions.
Park
Six Flags New England is a huge park. There are roller coasters stretching from one side to the other. The layout isn’t too confusing, but it involves a lot of walking if you want to do all of the attractions. Park maps are available when first entering. These maps are free. The park isn’t too clean, however. At night the park is very well lighted.
We went on the weekend so it was bound to be crowded. It was actually very crowded, no doubt, but it gets more crowded after 7:00pm. At 7:00, Hurricane Harbor - the water park - closes and everyone that was in the water park goes to the attractions in the “dry section” of the park. That’s when the lines are longest.
Parking is on the side of the park. It is a huge parking lot and involves a lot of walking if you’re parked in the back. Once getting to the front of the parking lot, a tram takes you to the entrance. The tram is very small and only seats like 30 people. There is also a drop-off section.
Prices & Food
Parking is $10 (yeah, that’s correct), and regular admission is $40. If you come after 4:00pm, admission is slashed to $25. Or you can use your Six Flags Season Pass which will get you in as many times as you want. If you forget your Season Pass at home, it can be looked up at Guest Relations.
As you know, a lot of water slides require you to have a tube. You can rent a single-tube for $8, or you can rent a double-tube for $12. In my opinion, it is not worth it to rent a tube as tubes are provided for free at the bottom of the water slides. The only disadvantage is that sometimes you have to wait in line for the tubes.
Food was very expensive, though it was pretty good. French fries cost $3. French fries with cheese cost $4. Chicken tenders and French fries cost $7. A bottle of water cost $3! Same with a soda from the vending machine. We bought a pizza pie for $19. Yes - you read right - $19 for a lousy cheese pizza! The food wasn’t in large portions either.
Note: You can’t bring your own food into the park. Security will throw it out if they find it. However, you can bring your own water bottles. There are also water fountains throughout the park.
Q-Bot
As some of you may recall, Disney World offers this invention called Fastpass. This is a pass that gets you to the front of the lines. And another thing - it is FREE with Disney admission. I was hoping that Six Flags New England would have something similar - and it did. It’s this thing called Q-Bot. It is just like Disney World’s Fastpass and Universal Studios’ Expresspass, but you have to PAY for it! Yep - you have to pay for it when other parks offer it for free. It is $10 per person. That’s a rip-off. So I have to PAY even MORE if I want to actually get on the rides?
Attractions
Thunderbolt is a small, wooden coaster near the entrance of the park and it’s next to Scream! It isn’t really a thrill ride. It’s actually a slower moving wooden coaster that is good for adults who are scared of the “big rides.” It’s also good for kids 7-10. I personally found it quite boring as the turns weren’t sharp and the drops were very small.
Batman: The Dark Night is a real roller coaster. It was built in 2002 and usually has very long lines. The most I waited was 30 minutes which seems forever. But that’s okay - mist sprays you while you’re in line and you can read about characters in the classic Batman shows. The characters are posted on huge boards which surround the line.
Anyway - the ride is about 45 seconds long, but it is worth the wait if it’s less than 45 minutes. There are several loops and it goes very fast. There are also many turns but no corkscrews. The coaster moves at about 50 M.P.H, but it slows down a bit when going upside down.
Cyclone is the old, screechy, wooden roller coaster all the way to the side of the park. Before going up the first hill, the coaster makes a very annoying and painful screeching sound. That means that it’s old. However, it doesn’t act too old when you’re actually on the ride. It goes very fast and throws you all over the place. There are many drops and too many sharp turns to mention.
Superman: Ride of Steel is the biggest and best attraction at Six Flags New England. It was rated the best roller coaster in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Almost all Six Flags parks have a Superman: Ride of Steel. However, this one must be the best.
There is an almost-90 degree drop which brings you over 75 M.P.H. There are also two tunnels that you go under, and many humps and dips. It is arguably the best attraction at the park. It also - still arguably - has the longest lines out of any of the attractions. But it is definitely worth the wait - especially if you go in the first row at night.
Mind Eraser is a pretty new roller coaster that is also available at Six Flags Darien Lake. It is a suspended roller coaster which means that your legs hang off the end of the seat. It has many, many corkscrews and loops. It goes very fast and has many sharp turns. It almost never has long lines, though it should since it’s such a good, fast-moving roller coaster.
Flashback is also called Boomerang at other parks. It is a steel roller coaster than can seat about 22 at a time. The coaster goes through a course of loops, corkscrews, and a drop, then it is repeated again. Only this time, it’s repeated backwards. The lines are always very short for this type of roller coaster - mainly because people are scared of it.
Scream! is an awesome ride - almost all amusement parks have it. In this particular one, there are three towers right next to each other. Each tower has a vehicle which seats 12 people. Once everyone is seated and strapped in, you’re suddenly launched into the air 205 ft. above ground. The line was very long the one time we went on it because someone puked.
Twister is a sick attraction that not too many people like. You sit in this huge machine which has about 40 seats. Once you are totally and completely locked in, the machine rotates upside down, swings you forward and throws you all over the place. It makes a lot of people puke and get really sick. The line is very short - all the time.
Hurricane Harbor
As I mentioned earlier, Hurricane Harbor is Six Flags New England’s own full-sized water park. It is located all the way to the right side of the park. When you see Batman: The Dark Night, you’ll see the water slides and wave pools. That’s the entrance to the park.
There are two wave pools. One is a smaller one that is only five ft. deep at its deepest point. This wave pool is connected to a small jungle gym where water spits out of holes in the ground and buckets of water manually are poured on you by others. There is also a full-sized wave pool on the other side of the water park.
There is another jungle gym where a huge bucket of water splashes down on people once it is filled to the top. There are also nets to climb up and a few smaller water slides to go down.
There are 10 water slides in Hurricane Harbor. They are in three different plazas - all which are spread out from one another. We only went on one plaza on water slides. These slides were covered for part of the way, and at other parts they were opened. The water wasn’t cold yet it wasn’t too warm. It was actually just perfect.
There is another unique looking slide. It is actually very fun and fast going. It looks like a blow horn but with a slide attached to the side of it. When going down the slide, you go from side to side until you go through a whole which shoots you out into a swimming pool. Just imagine a penny chute that they have in the malls.
Conclusion
Overall, Six Flags is a good park. However, it is way overpriced and the lines can get really long. I think that perhaps parking rates and food prices should be lowered. Or maybe if the Q-Bot was free, then I would be a lot happier. But amusement parks are usually overpriced anyway - especially when they have great attractions. If you have the money and time to enjoy Six Flags New England, I would recommend it.
Recommended:
Yes
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