Six Flags Great Adventure Opening Day #49 !

Team,
 
Every week I share images of the hard work that has gone into the preparations for our 49th theme park opening day.
Knowing that is only the physical plant side of the planning and preparations, we appreciate all the planning and efforts along the way during our seemingly short off-season.
As much as we want everything to be perfect, we always find a few things that are not quite finished or system glitches that may present themselves.
Do not get frustrated. Time will heal all concerns…and we have plenty more projects and openings to look forward to in the coming month!
I want to thank everyone from our Directors-Managers-Supervisors down to our front line teams for all of the efforts to date.
A special thank you to Maintenance, who handles the brunt of many of our initiatives while also preparing our rides for another year of high-volume operations.
 
Now we must all switch gears and focus on servicing our Guests starting with the first car at our tolls tomorrow morning!
Guests come from dozens to hundreds of miles away, pay us the amount they can afford to pay, and spend very long hours with us.
They visit us to escape the real-world external pressures, so we owe it to them to show them a great time.
How do we do that?  Smiles! Kindness! Courtesy! Guidance!...said differently…Friendly-Clean-Fast-Safe Service!
That is the same strategy that we have all been taught growing up…how you treat family!
Let’s focus on teaching our Guests the new things we have now and the new things up and coming.
We have more technology at play…more QR codes…more cell-phone based systems that will help guide and educate.
We have more seating, more shade, more ambience based focal points and beautification with summer landscaping.
We have more environment friendly strategies, which is why we have eliminated paper maps and a lot of signage!
We have more focus on speed of ride lines with single-rider lines at our hero rides.
We have more focus on food lines, easily seen with our beverage filling strategy away from the sales areas.
We have more equipment to help keep the park clean…and you have already seen a glimpse of the change in strategy there…our Park Services team has been performing awesome!
We have more lockers at our hero rides to help expedite the Guests to the ride lines.
…and much more…with so much more to come!
 
Our CEO has asked us to focus heavily on 6 strategies.  I would say we have checked off those boxes heavily out of the gates!
 
1. Improve and Elevate Guest Experience
•      Reducing wait times at rides
•      Reducing ride down time
•      All rides open when our 1st guest arrives
2. Create Fun through Employee Friendliness
•      Treat our guests like family
•      Be your best
•      Be happy
•      Smile, smile, smile
3. Park Cleanliness
•      Better curb appeal at the front gate
•      Better landscaping
•      Cleaner restrooms
4. Better Quality Food
•      Hot and fresh
•      Healthy
•      Grilled items
•      Better coffee
5. More Guest Amenities
•      More benches
•      More shade areas
6. Upgrade Technology
•      Skip the line
•      Flash passes
•      Ordering food
 
With that, let’s proudly show our Guests our renovations at Yum-yum and Granny’s restaurants.
They will have seen our beautiful new entry experience.
Point out our new seating…and don’t forget the new planter seats in front of Metro restrooms.
Point out our newly painted Batman and Medusa!
Point out our Safari drive-thru has 5-,iles of new roadway and lots of baby animals right now!
Point out our new Sweet Treats Starbucks coffee at the front mall, that opened late last year and most have not seen it.
Point out our new gift shop themes at Wild Things (Jr. Thrillseekers area) and Adventure Gifts near the fountain!
Point out our new orange color on the Attitudes tent that brightens up our days!
Point out our new Safari Tours for those who want a special experience…and yes, a separate ticket is required.

A few attractions will not be ready for our opening weekend.  Subject to change, but here is our list.
1.     Log Flume (supply chain)
2.     Medusa (re-theme)
3.     Zumajaro (supply chain)
4.     Twister/Top Spin (continued off-season routine maintenance)
5.     Wonder Woman (supply chain)
6.     Rapids (summer ride)

You will also find strategic food locations towards each end of the park that we will not use initially…this is normal. 
We have more than enough open to handle the early Spring crowds.
 
In closing…thank you all again for preparing our 49th opening!
Enjoy the day tomorrow…and keep us safe!

-John Winkler
Park President