coasterbill

I wish Dorney would replace this ride with an extremely relaible coaster that's smooth, intense and enjoyable (all things this ride isn't) but that's probably asking for too much. Oh... right.

Six Flags New England has removed a ton of popular flat rides over the last 5-10 years. It's nice to see them removing flats that suck now instead of just the good ones. Good riddance to this pile of crap.

Until about a week ago it was probably Lex Luthor but now I have to go with StratosFear at Knoebels. I had moderate expectations for it but it blew me away. It feels much higher than it really is and the sustained airtime is off the charts (I also loved Big Shot in Las Vegas but it's a shot tower not a drop tower so I'm not counting it).

Maybe it's just me but I don't see this park making any major investments in the coaster department. No matter what they do the coasters never have lines and probably never will as it's been like that for well over a decade. The flats usually have lines and the waterpark seems to be a huge draw but not the coasters. If I were Dorney I'd focus on those areas and mix in a relocated coaster every once in awhile. It's not what I'm hoping for but I think it makes the most sense. The last coaster they had custom designed was Hydra and it never has a line now and really never did. I walked right on to a half empty train on it's opening day.

I've been to the park between 10-15 times over the last few years and never seen any of the coasters (including Kingda Ka) closed for more than a few hours at a time. That ride has actually become relatively reliable. It sometimes opens late and it has it's 20-30 minute breakdowns but they seem to have it pretty much figured out.

We spent the afternoon at Knoebels on Saturday since we were staying in PA for Coasting for Kids the next day and had an amazing time as always. I can't say anything about this place that hasn't already been said, Phoenix is amazing, Twister was running really fast and was completely out of control and the Flyers, Paratrooper and Scooters were amazing as always but I have to talk about this drop tower. The last time I was at the park was for PPP last year so Stratosfear was new for me. I expected this to be a nice addition to the park and an enjoyable little drop tower but OMFG did I underestimate this thing. I've been on some great drop towers (Lex Luthor, Drop Zone at KI and KD, Demon Drop...) but this is the best one I've ever ridden. There is no way to describe the ridiculous airtime this ride delivers all the way down. The park was packed and this was probably the longest line in the park but it was well worth it. This ride blows the Intamin Towers away and makes the S&S towers seem like Kiddy rides. It ejects you all the way down and then stops on a dime but somehow it's a very comfortable stop. Knoebels has another winner on it's hands. PS: The lighting package is awesome too.

My girlfriend Brit and I participated in our first Coasting for Kids event this year at Dorney and we'll definitely make it an annual event! We had a great time, met some great people (deguy123, sspaz1000 and a bunch of others) and most importantly helped support a great cause. I'm very impressed with the TPR community, everyone treated us like they've known us forever and everyone had a great time and seemed to be very proud of the great cause we were supporting. Thanks to Cedar Fair for putting on such a great event and to Theme park Review for so actively supporting it!

The only thing I see running in that picture is the Skyride which is odd because it's usually the first thing to close due to weather.

Everything will probably be open tomorrow. It's a little breezy so the Skyway might open and close a few times during the day and the parachutes might open late / not open but that's probably it. Ka opens late sometimes but that's normal. I'm sure it will be open.

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. By Sunday morning it will be over eastern Canada. I don't think we have anything to worry about.

I'm only $10 away from $100!!! You guys have been awesome so far. I'd love to get to the $100 mark. It's not as much as most people have raised but as a late entry I think it would give me something to build on for next time.

Does this crap even count?

The flume is usually open much earlier in the year but a few sections were removed so that construction vehicles could access the SORA site. When we went last weekend there was no water in it and the logs were all in the maintenance area visible from Nitro. I would think it would be open very soon if it's full of water now.

Yes

Screamscape posted a video of it testing with the new trains but nobody knows any more than that. This whole thing is ridiculous. The parks newest coaster shouldn't be closed the first 2 months of the season, especially when people loved the ride even with the old trains. I don't care what trains are on the coaster, just that they finally open it.

I just had a horrible thought. Since they want to take the area back to it's roots and since this is being built right near the old site of King Cobra, maybe it's a B&M standup coaster. Wouldn't that be a real kick in the d**** to everyone. Disclaimer: I don't think this is actually going to happen but I figured I'd bring it up just for fun.

Wow, I've ridden Thunderbolt probably about 100 times and 4 or 5 times this year and never had a rough ride. Cyclone has improved but it still crawls through the course. To each his own I guess.

The chairlift is too... and that's also a must-do.

I'm not normally big on trip reports but I wanted to post about the clusterf**k that happened at the park yesterday. Every time we go to Great Adventure we have a great time, and operations are great for a Six Flags park (it's our home park so we go about 5-6 times a year). The park was the most crowded I've ever seen it outside of Fright Fest but they were busting it on every ride we saw and lines were moving quickly. They even opened both sides of the Skyway which I've never seen before in probably 20-30 visits to this park. And then there was the Safari Off Road Adventure... Yesterday at 2:30 we decided to get in the line which stretched back to the Frontier Adventures sign. Immediately after we got in line they closed the ride for the day so that everyone could get on before it got dark but it was too late. When we were the second to last people in line, we thought we were really lucky... but looking back I wish we were 5 minutes later. I've never seen a slower moving line in my life. The security guards standing behind us having to fight with everyone that came up asking why the ride was closed (I felt terrible for the security guards, I really did). We got to talking with the security guards and the one family in back of us which made the line much more tolerable and the guards told us that while they HAVE about 15 trucks, the ride was running at half capacity because they didn't have enough drivers yet. Despite this, they were somehow stacking trucks like crazy. How you can have a new ride on what's essentially it's opening day (since the park was dead the two previous days because of the weather) running it half capacity I don't know. The security staff was exceptional... it wasn't their fault. They were stamping hands so that people could leave and get food or go to the bathroom as the line was a little over 5 hours long and they had about 15 people along the line and at the entrance making sure there was no line jumping going on. At the 4 hour mark we actually decided to leave the line. While we had waited 4 hours already, it had become obvious that we weren't going to get on the ride when it was still light out and since it's a safari it's pointless to ride it otherwise. When were starting to leave security asked us where we were going and we said that we were cutting our losses and going to ride something else. They just told us (and a lot of other people at the end of the line) to go ride a coaster and they'd stamp our hands so we could come back. They actually persuaded US to wait it out. We rode El Toro and came back about an hour later (El Toro had about a 45 minute wait with the line spilling out of the entrance... the ride was obviously amazing). When we got back it was about 7:30 and we only had another 25 minutes to wait. The ride was sort of cool but we only got to see about half of it. The ride out to camp Aventura was pretty dark, but you could make out some animals. The guides were energetic and trying to get the crowds going but everyone was so disgusted at that point that they weren't having any of it. We played along because we felt pretty bad for the guides. On the way back from Camp Aventura (which is completely unfinished and not even worth talking about since it's mostly just temporary trailers and construction fences) it was dark, so our guide told us that they weren't allowed to go through a lot of the areas as it wasn't safe for the animals and they just took us back to the park and showed a few videos on the tv hooked up to the guys ipod at the front of the truck. They actually had a pickup truck following most of the trucks trying to point their headlights at some animals but it wasn't working at all. It was pitch black and you had no chance of seeing anything. The security staff was apologizing to everyone on the way off the ride. We got off the ride at about 9:05. So the total wait time was a little less than 5 1/2 hours, plus a 20 minute wait to get back on at Camp Aventura so almost 6 hours total. If I had known that I would never have rode the ride. It was getting overwhelmingly negative reviews from everyone getting off, a lot of people came over to us because we were in the back of the line (probably about 15 total) and they all said it was a waste of time. I actually thought the ride was cool but isn't worth more than an hour - 90 minute wait. It's also very unfinished and honestly shouldn't be open yet. It's available on Flashpass which made the situation worse. I'm all for Flashpass and love to use it at parks we visit less frequently but it shouldn't have been available on this ride yesterday as their inability to judge wait time actually created a dangerous situation for the animals (they actually told us this) and caused the people at the back of the line to miss out on half of the ride. Security did a great job letting everyone leave and go to the bathroom and even ride other rides. I'm never in favor of that but they made the right call in letting people do that yesterday. That line was unbelievable. The tour guides did a great job too in trying to get the crowd excited but yesterday was a mess. I'm sure they'll get the kinks worked out but they should have cut the line off way before 2:30 (and I'm sure they know that). Even with the break to ride Toro we physically stood line for this ride for 5 hours (if you count the Aventura wait). My advice is to either wait a few weeks to check this out, get a Flash Pass or get there when the park opens. The ride shouldn't be open yet. It's not fully staffed, Camp Aventura is nowhere near done, the station and gift shop don't have finished roofs and the queue rails in the line aren't even cemented in yet. The last two don't change the ride experience but It's obvious that they rushed the heck out of this. I really think that this ride is going to be cool once they get it finished and they get it fully staffed but right now it's a mess. We were at the park all day but only got on 6 rides. Still... believe it or not we had a good day. The Off Road Adventure experience was awful though. Nitro (2 Rides, walk on first thing in the morning) - We rode this in the front since it's been hit or miss this year in the back, 2 great rides Sky Screamer (45 minutes) - Great ride as always El Toro - 45 Minutes - Running out of this world OMFG insane like always Safari Off Road Adventure - 6 Hours Kingda Ka - 1 Hour - 15 Minutes - We got the last train of the night in the front seat. We cut it close since we knew they wouldn't let you wait for the front if the other rows were empty (understandably so) but we JUST made it. This ride is underwhelming everywhere else but it completely insane in the front and the cold weather made it feel even faster. I love this ride.

Are you sure you're not getting them confused? lol I've never had anything less than a great ride on Thunderbolt and never had a ride that didn't suck on Cyclone.

I think Goliath is closed so I'd head to Pandemonium first as that line moves really slowly, Flashback has a slow moving line too so hit that while you're over there. You can knock out Cyclone too because it's over in the same end of the park. After that head over to Batman and Mind Eraser (if you're a credit whore or have a fetish for pain) and then come back to the middle of the park and ride the mouse, Thunderbolt and Bizarro. Take advantage of the fact that everyone goes to Bizarro first. You probably don't need a Flash Pass if you get there at opening but it couldn't hurt. If you have time... check out Tomohawk and Buzzsaw too as they're pretty good flats.

You'll have no problem riding all of the coasters without a Flash Pass, but obviously if you want a lot of re-rides it's probably a good idea. Don't buy it online... see how the lines are at the park and make your decision then. On the off chance that Goliath opens you can only ride that with a platinum flash pass.

Got you to the $75 minimum. But, don't stop now. Good luck! -Jason What a nice surprise! Thanks!

So according to Screamscape there's speculation that the old Goliath trains may be returning. Link If this is true, that's fine with me. I have no issues with the existing trains and would really like to see this ride up and running again. Still, this project is turning into a real clusterf**k.

I can definitely use some help too. Every little bit helps! This is my first year participating but I'm really looking forward to it. It should be a lot of fun and it's definitely a worthy cause.