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Credit: California's Great AmericaIf you are planning on visiting the Six Flags theme park, there is one rule that you must follow, or else you will be removed from the theme park immediately without warning.
When guests visit a theme park, whether it be a large park like Walt Disney World, or the more regional theme parks like those of the Six Flags brand, there is one thing that nearly everyone will bring with them, their phone. Having a cell phone with you at all times is essential for most guests visiting the theme parks, or really, just leaving their house — but at a theme park, it not only serves as a method of communication to others, but your camera.
It feels impossible to visit a theme park and not snap a photo or video for your own memories, or if you are a social media user, to show what you are doing. Since the pandemic and with the rise of platforms like TikTok and Instagram, there are tons of content creators using theme parks as their content studio, showing off things that you can do at the parks, what to eat, details of the ride, and overall experiences.
While this is free promotion for the parks, it is exactly what can have you escorted out of the park with security following you at Six Flags.
Mark Rober is a former NASA engineer, he is also the founder of CrunchLabs, and often makes videos on his social platforms like YouTube (with over 47 million followers) debunking or explaining scientific facts and scenarios. Recently, Rober went to Six Flags Great America to make a video that answered the question if a rollercoaster’s front and back car are going the same speed.
There are some content creators that intentionally break the rules and film themselves doing it for the purpose of their video, but if you have seen Mark’s videos, they are all based on teaching and science and promote learning — so he certainly is not the troublemaker creator that we have seen at theme parks on social media in the recent past.
That being said, when filming the video, Rober was recording his experience while riding a coaster at Six Flags Great America. He did this right in front of the team members and was clearly not trying to hide anything, which proves that Rober likely did not know about Six Flag’s no filming rule.
According to the Six Flags Great America website, filming on any ride is not allowed, “No cameras (video, still, cell-phone, smart phones, etc.) are allowed on any rides at any time. No exceptions.”
This is actually the case for all Six Flags parks.
Filming on rides is strictly prohibited at all Six Flags amusement parks unless explicit permission is granted by park authorities, a rarity in itself. Some parks may permit filming on select rides, usually limited to ferris wheels, carousels, and slow-paced scenic attractions. Off-ride filming for personal use is generally allowed.
However, Six Flags Great Adventure maintains an even stricter policy on ride filming compared to other parks in the chain. Violators face severe consequences, including ride stoppage, confiscation of filming devices, and immediate expulsion from the park by security personnel, without refund. Surveillance cameras installed on rides ensure strict enforcement of this policy, making it clear that attempting to film on rides at Six Flags can result in ejection from the park.
And this is what we saw happen to Rober.
In the video below, which begins as Mark explaining the speed theory on coasters, we see that his video takes a turn. Mark is filming on the ride, which ends up stopping it, and security escorts him out. Rober does not argue or fight back, and even the security guard who has to escort him out of the park feels bad as he is a fan himself.
Other guests in the park are seen chanting “free Mark”, but alas, the creator is kicked out without a refund anyway.
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Mark said “I regret nothing… except paying extra for a fast pass.”
A former Great America employee replied in the comments, “I’ve worked at Great America. You cannot film because if you drop your phone then it could injure someone or damage the ride. Kicking him out seems excessive; maybe they changed the policy since I’ve been there.” Another guest of the park also joined in, stating that they often film on rides there and they are not kicked out or reprimanded.
Many of the comments understood why the park had the no filming rule, but were shocked to see that the consequence was an immediate removal from the park without warning. Now that Six Flags has also bought out the Cedar Fair chain of theme parks, it seems likely that this rule will be carried out to their newest acquisitions, like Knott’s Berry Park.
Parks like those at Walt Disney World do allow filming on rides, so this is not a common rule, and rides that they do not allow loose camera filming on will not cause the guest to be removed from the park if they take out their phone unknowingly.
And, for those of you curious about the theory, no, there is not a difference between the front and back of a coaster in terms of speed as they are connected, if there was, they would need to split apart!
Did you know that filming on a Six Flags ride would have you escorted from the parks?