Amusement Parks that leave you feeling dissappointed

[fefa]

Drayton Manor - So much commercialised and yet so ghetto

 

[furie]

I really like Drayton, but it's such a niche clientèle who enjoy it. It's not for "coaster geeks", but it's got a good mix of stuff if you're a "young family" - i.e. Mum, Dad and kids under 10. Plus the zoo for the grey hairs (like me and ECG )

 

[Edward M]

Why do people praise Animal Kingdom? It has no good rides (Everest suck. Blow me!). Everything is disappointing and limited from Attractions to Restaurants. I left wanting my money back luckily I spent the rest of the day at DHS, my favorite Walt Disney World park (for TOT and Aerosmith alone). I also loved Epcot! However, New Test Track looks like a disaster with its modern future and not the fun old future I crave at Epcot with Time Machines and Robots!

 

[Intricks]

Six Flags "Magic" Mountain.

Just...ugh >_< I went to this park with severely low expectations, and not even those were met. I ponder how the park manages to be succesful when the decision making is majorly questionable.

I would say 98% of the staff were rude, with few exceptions, and the general staffing was just hilarious. Why on earth do you need around 20 employees taking oppurtubistic photos of groups throughout the park? Shuck half of them and give them a broom and dustpan ffs.

 

[fefa]

I really like Drayton, but it's such a niche clientèle who enjoy it. It's not for "coaster geeks", but it's got a good mix of stuff if you're a "young family" - i.e. Mum, Dad and kids under 10. Plus the zoo for the grey hairs (like me and ECG )

I'm not someone who particularly likes intense rides so the type of park is just what I normlly go for, Drayton however is SO ghetto, terrible operation and quality of rides, very dirty and rude staff. Just ghetto

 

[Hyde]

Six Flags "Magic" Mountain.

Just...ugh >_< I went to this park with severely low expectations, and not even those were met. I ponder how the park manages to be succesful when the decision making is majorly questionable.

I would say 98% of the staff were rude, with few exceptions, and the general staffing was just hilarious. Why on earth do you need around 20 employees taking oppurtubistic photos of groups throughout the park? Shuck half of them and give them a broom and dustpan ffs.

Just to explain some of the rationale - "photo-taker" staff are not hired by amusement parks, but contracted out to reduce costs. That is to say, their pay checks don't say Six Flags on them, but another company.

I know Cedar Fair additionally contracts out face painters, which continues to keep costs low.

 

[marc]

Still find it funny how everyone has a bad experience at sfmm apart from us Brits lol.

Anyway for me it's Drayton Manor, the park is a dump and dirty. The food it the worst and the rides are poor.

Lightwater, the park is so big and really nice. But again the rides are a let down and the food at atmosphere is dire.

Chessington, it's gone so down hill since the 90's. Hard to believe it was the best park near London. The rides are old and the theming looks rank.

 

[Snoo]

I wasn't disappointed by SFMM but it didn't surprise me either. It was just an average park.

 

[marc]

See I was surprised as all I heard was how bad it was with rides times and staff etc. Found the complete opposite so was impressed.

 

[Hyde]

I would say that I had an enjoyable experience at SFMM. It is a fun park with some great rides. Definitely not disappointing.

 

[marc]

Tbh I think people go there looking for problems yet praise knotts that was the worst park in the USA I've ever been to.

 

[Intricks]

Six Flags "Magic" Mountain.

Just...ugh >_< I went to this park with severely low expectations, and not even those were met. I ponder how the park manages to be succesful when the decision making is majorly questionable.

I would say 98% of the staff were rude, with few exceptions, and the general staffing was just hilarious. Why on earth do you need around 20 employees taking oppurtubistic photos of groups throughout the park? Shuck half of them and give them a broom and dustpan ffs.

Just to explain some of the rationale - "photo-taker" staff are not hired by amusement parks, but contracted out to reduce costs. That is to say, their pay checks don't say Six Flags on them, but another company.

I know Cedar Fair additionally contracts out face painters, which continues to keep costs low.

Ah, never knew that. So scratch what I said about them minus the amount they had there. Im used to seeing them at the front gate of the park, not wandering around like I saw at SFMM.

Im willing to give the park a second chance mind you. I know the crowd was probably larger than what was expected so they may have been understaffed, but it raises the question of why didnt they pull people from the other rides with 4+ ops and shift them around.

I know I hit the park on what may have been a **** day, but leaving the hotel on Monday I saw Tatsu with 2 trains, which irked me even more. They could have placed the ride ops better so as to help alleviate the wait times, but it just seemed like they didnt care to.

I shouldnt enjoy the 'aftertaste it left in my mouth', but I feel the need to return.

 

[theRock-steel]

Six Flags America needs something more (flat rides).
Darien Lake is in the same boat.
Carowinds has two great coasters and one nice drop tower; that is all.
Six Flags Great Adventure has many great coasters but they can't handle the massive crowds very well.
The two Universal parks in Florida are nice if you do them both together, but on their own are a little lacking.

 

[Brookes]

People say they're disappointed with Dorney but it seems just like my kind of park; not too big but still a good coaster line-up. I haven't been yet though so we'll see. I kind of think this is the reason I didn't like SFMM that much. The park was just too packed and operations were very slow with so much to do meaning I missed out on quite a bit. Luckily I got on X2 but had to queue quite a long time for rides like Revolution and Ninja, and the rapids were just dire.

One I do agree with however is USF. There's just not enough there to fill a day, especially seeing as HRRR hadn't opened when I last went.

 

[theRock-steel]

In early August I am going to southern California. Keep in mind that I was last there with my parents in 1974.
I have planned for the two Disney parks, Magic Mountain, Pacific Park, and Knotts. It sounds like I will be dissappointed with most of these places. With a ton of rides, it seems like I will have plenty to do. What can
I do to keep from wanting to kick myself for even going? I like quality coasters for credits; anything thrilling is good; some "family" rides can be a big surprise. Here are my must rides:
California Screamin'
Matterhorn Bobsleds
Apocalypse
Full Throttle
Goliath
LEX LUTHOR
Superman: Escape from Krypton
Tatsu
X2
Coast Rider
Pony Express
Xcelerator

HELP PLEASE !

 

[Edward M]

^ Dude! Calm down. So Cal is a great place. Magic Mountain has some great rides (by looks not experience but Intricks didn't seem to like it). I loved Disneyland much better than Disney World. Every ride at Disney World is an inferior version of So Cal IMO (except TOT, my second favorite dark ride). Knott's looks like the disappointment of the trip but can't go wrong with a B&M invert and a Intamin accelerator! The trip will probably be fun and I think Disney will be your favorite part of the trip (you also live in Florida so the comparisons will be fun to make!)

 

[theRock-steel]

^ Ok, it's just that you have been almost the only person with something good to say.
Recap from here by most people: SFMM and Knotts are dissappointing because of either bad operations
or not very thrilling rides.
Recap from people that I have talked to while at WDW: California Adventure has nothing except Cars Land
and World of Color. Disneyland "has Walt" and the rides are all better than those at WDW. However, it is in
1/4 the space but with twice the crowds.

 

[Youngster Joey]

^ Dude! Calm down. So Cal is a great place. Magic Mountain has some great rides (by looks not experience but Intricks didn't seem to like it). I loved Disneyland much better than Disney World. Every ride at Disney World is an inferior version of So Cal IMO (except TOT, my second favorite dark ride). Knott's looks like the disappointment of the trip but can't go wrong with a B&M invert and a Intamin accelerator! The trip will probably be fun and I think Disney will be your favorite part of the trip (you also live in Florida so the comparisons will be fun to make!)

Disney world is a conglomerate of all 4 Florida parks so did you mean Magic Kingdom?

Also magic kingdom has the superior space mountain

 

[TilenB]

^ Ok, it's just that you have been almost the only person with something good to say.
Recap from here by most people: SFMM and Knotts are dissappointing because of either bad operations
or not very thrilling rides.
Recap from people that I have talked to while at WDW: California Adventure has nothing except Cars Land
and World of Color. Disneyland "has Walt" and the rides are all better than those at WDW. However, it is in
1/4 the space but with twice the crowds.

I liked Magic Mountain, but opinions do differ on different people. I didn't find the staff rude, they were quite nice actually. The only thing that kept me intriguied after I left was the 'special event' (the park was still open for some peeps wearing yellow bracelets), about which none of the staff knew what was all about...
And I still don't know why wasn't I allowed to sit on the queue fences while waiting for X2

 

[Edward M]

^ Dude! Calm down. So Cal is a great place. Magic Mountain has some great rides (by looks not experience but Intricks didn't seem to like it). I loved Disneyland much better than Disney World. Every ride at Disney World is an inferior version of So Cal IMO (except TOT, my second favorite dark ride). Knott's looks like the disappointment of the trip but can't go wrong with a B&M invert and a Intamin accelerator! The trip will probably be fun and I think Disney will be your favorite part of the trip (you also live in Florida so the comparisons will be fun to make!)

Disney world is a conglomerate of all 4 Florida parks so did you mean Magic Kingdom?

Also magic kingdom has the superior space mountain

I actually did mean all 4 parks. I am one of few but I find all the rides in Disneyland superior to their Florida cousins (even Space Mountain). It also seems to be less crowded. I just like it better. I really don't like Disney World except for TOT and Epcot.