One Company, Four Experiences?

I just took my kids to Six Flags on our summer holiday, and what should have been a simple family adventure turned into a masterclass on what can break when customer service isn’t well orchestrated. 

Don’t get me wrong: our overall experience at the park was fantastic. But what happened raises some interesting questions about AI, automation, and the future of frontline talent. 

For context, Six Flags offers a premium service called the FLASH Pass that lets you skip lines. It’s essentially a VIP experience for visitors willing to pay extra for convenience. I bought three passes online to make the most of our day at the park. 

I received the digital passes, each with a QR code that needed to be activated through the Six Flags app. Sounds straightforward, right? But when I tried to activate them, the application couldn’t read the codes. After multiple attempts, I did what millions of customers do every day: I reached out to customer support. 

Meet Missi Six, Six Flags’ New AI Concierge 

My first interaction was with Missi Six, Six Flags’ new AI concierge. This bot is designed to help guests with park planning, navigation, and general information. 

But the AI couldn’t understand my issue. It completely missed the mark and didn’t provide a piece of information that would have easily resolved my query—the fact that FLASH Passes can only be activated 30 minutes before your park visit, and that you need separate activations for multiple passes. 

The interaction felt like talking to a wall. I kept thinking: What would an elderly grandmother do in this situation? 

The whole experience highlighted a fundamental disconnect between what AI promises and what customers actually need. 

Since the AI agent couldn’t help me, I did what you’ve probably done countless times: I asked to chat with a human representative. 

I was transferred to a human agent, but the handoff wasn’t seamless. I had to repeat my entire query from scratch, as no context had been passed along. And once again, I got no clear answer. 

Human Touch to the Rescue 

Fast-forward to our arrival at Six Flags, where I approached a flesh-and-blood customer service rep and explained my problem. 

Within 30 seconds, the frontline employee knew exactly what to do. They had clearly handled this scenario countless times before. What AI couldn’t resolve despite numerous attempts, the agent could fix right away thanks to their understanding of the product and of the most common customer pain points. 

One Company, Four Experiences? 

Throughout this experience, I interacted with what felt like four different companies: 

1. The digital purchasing platform 
2. The AI customer service 
3. The human contact center agent 
4. The in-person experience 

We often stress that, as AI handles more customer queries, human agents will handle more complex issues. 

In this instance, however, my request was quite simple. The reason why I couldn’t get it resolved until I met an in-person staffer at the park was the lack of orchestration across customer touchpoints and the absence of unified knowledge systems. 

Different touchpoints should be designed to work together seamlessly. In 2025, customer experience goes beyond individual, one-off interactions; it’s about orchestrating a cohesive journey across channels. 

When a customer moves from digital self-service to AI chat to human support to in-person help, each transition should feel natural and informed, not like starting over with a completely different company. 

How To Solve the Orchestration Gap 

Here’s what’s needed to address this blind spot: 

Unified Knowledge Systems: Every frontline touchpoint should have access to the same information. 

Context Retention Across Touchpoints: The customer shouldn’t have to repeat their issue each time they get transferred between channels. 

Intelligent Human Routing: When AI encounters its limitations, it should connect the customer to a human agent with the right expertise and problem-solving capabilities. 

Empowered Frontline Teams: Whether they’re in a contact center or inside a theme park, frontline employees need the training, tools, and autonomy to solve customer problems. 

Feedback Loop: The contact center needs to have an easy way to identify where support failed and a process to solve it next time the same issue occurs, creating a cycle of continuous improvement across all touchpoints. 

The Takeaway 

The question here is not whether to use AI in customer service (I think that ship has sailed.) It’s how to design systems where AI and human expertise complement each other to create experiences that remove friction and foster loyalty. 

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