Zand

Last time I rode Zumanjaro, KK launched right as we dropped. Missed the sweet visual by like 5 seconds. Based on how quick they were launching KK trains, both rides should run together quite a bit. Plus Zumi usually doesn't have much of a line so you could always give it a few tries!

You should be directing your anger for dirtying Boulder Dash to Lake Compounce, not me. If they finally give Boulder Dash some much needed TLC, it can reclaim its rightful position as CT's coaster king. Until then, I stand by what I said. I predict this waterslide will have more airtime, less jackhammering laterals, and a better hourly throughout than Boulder Dash. Oh, and no steady line of people with exit passes from people who got stuck on some other poorly maintained Lake Compounce ride.

Wow...Quassy will have the TWO best "coasters" in Connecticut. Nice!

Wow...Quassy will have the TWO best coasters in Connecticut. Nice!

There's secretly electrified wire just inside the wood, so anyone who puts a key or other metal object on it will be electrocuted and become food for the Jersey Devil. Pretty awesome sign though!

I don't think "lesser RMC" is meant as a slight against the coaster, because there really isn't a bad RMC in the bunch. I've been on Steel Vengeance, Lightning Rod, Twisted Timbers, Wicked Cyclone, and this and I feel like out of those I would only put it above Wicked Cyclone. But all 5 of them are excellent coasters, so it's not a slight to consider it a "lesser RMC".

Majority of the line is under a nice looking pavilion (not pictured). All you see in my picture is the line to and from the pavilion (which is very brief in both directions) and the Flash Pass path.

Drive back was a success! Left home at about 9:30, couple rest stops and surprisingly light traffic later I pulled in at 1:15. Already 3 rides in on Jersey Devil! First couple were in the middle of the train, which wasn't all that powerful but definitely super fun. 3rd ride was the magical back seat, and wow! Insane ejector air on the first drop and a couple other spots, and it takes some of the twists faster back there also. I definitely think it's a step above a lower tier RMC like Wicked Cyclone. Makes me more interested in trying Wonder Woman or Railblazer, can't imagine how intense those are! Definitely a home run for the park. Very efficient with loading, line never stops moving. Only a 10 minute wait today, definitely going back for more laps later! Park isn't too crowded so hitting stuff on this side of the park for a bit. Line for Nitro wasn't even long enough to write this post. Excellent ride in back as usual! Edit to include thoughts from the rest of the day: Hit Batman which would've been a quick line but broke down for 15 minutes. Great ride as always. While I still contend that Banshee is the B&M invert masterpiece, I love the Batmans for sheer intensity reasons. Really need to try Montu! Had a couple beers at the Skybar, which was a bit of an ordeal as there were probably 20 people there trying to get free water or drink bottle refills. Nice spot once you get your drinks. Hit the other side of the park real quick. Mine Train was a walk on and was quirky as always. That last hill is the best airtime on a steel coaster in the park. Hit Bizarro after a 10 minute wait. Not sure if it's the age, but this ride gets more meh to me the more I ride it. I think I have a vendetta against floorless coasters that aren't or haven't once been themed to Batman. Caught El Toro reopening from a breakdown so hit that in the magic seat. Actually got a bit of a battle wound...my stomach (ok...my gut) got pinched between the seatbelt and lapbar and really got squeezed on the first hill and looks like it got pierced now. Was bleeding at the end of the ride. Worth it though! Superman was posting a ridiculous queue time of 70 mins, I don't usually bother with Green Lantern, and I got a few rides on TTD 2 weeks ago which is far superior to Kingda Ka, so I was good with that side of the park and headed back to the other side. Jumped on Skull Mountain in back, fun as always. Wrapped up the day with 2 more back row rides on Devil. Was by myself today, so they called out for a single to fill the back row. Then when I got back they once again needed a single for the back row, but no one stepped up so they told me I could hop back on lol. If Jersey Devil is on the HITP list, it will be an unbelievable lineup. Honestly would have no reason to go to the other side of the fountain (except to go get Pork Kabobs). Fun day, worth the 8 hour round trip for the 2nd time in 3 days.

So I'm off from work tomorrow and decided I'm driving back down. Hopefully don't get shut out this time!

Jersey Devil has been open all morning accoring to Queue Times. Now I know how you all feel when Lightning Rod is closed! Oh well, try again in a few weeks.

It sounds like they're working on the Steel Vengeance situation over the past couple weeks at least. I think the most optimal way to do it is to put about 50 people in the tunnel, let them go through the lockers. Then if you have both detectors running, FL+ goes left and standby goes right. If not, then keep everyone together and just have one set of stairs open. Keeping the line blended with standby and FL on both sets of stairs, and then letting 18 people in at a time from one side and 6 from the other side EVERY ride was total BS. It sounds like they were doing it right at first, so don't know why they went down the road they did the weekend I was there. Glad they learned from it.

https://amp.app.com/amp/7680076002?__twitter_impression=true Short story about Log Flume accident from the Asbury Park Press.

Stopped by for an hour on my ride home from Great Adventure. Got two backseat rides on Wooden Warrior. This little thing is always so shockingly fun and filled with some great ejector air moments. It might only be 35 feet tall but you're out of your seat 5 or 6 times and those Gravity Group restraints allow you to fly. I also took a spin on the Yo-Yo, a ride I had not ridden in probably 15-20 years. While it looks like a poor man's Wave Swinger, the seats rock back and forth like crazy when it goes around the tilted aide and actually starts getting a bit wild! Parking lot and field were filled. Wooden Warrior had a 5-6 train wait, flats mostly had a 1 cycle wait. I think most of the crowd goes to the water park. Great to see them getting a good crowd! Didn't intend on staying long, just a quick hitter on the way home. Hitting a nice family park like that after being at a Six Flags the same day makes you appreciate the atmosphere so much more. If you're ever looping through the New England parks, you're crazy to not stop here and hit Wooden Warrior. It's only 25 minutes from Lake Compounce and you'll probably drive right by the exit anyway. And you'll really appreciate Wooden Warrior after getting bashed on Boulder Dash.

They brought a crane in to work on the lift. Anyway, after getting kicked out of the Devil line around 11, hopped in a quick 10 minute line for Nitro. Unfortunately I couldn't recreate the Diamondback magic from last week, but it's still a great coaster and they were absolutely cranking trains out today, almost always by the time the next train dropped off the lift. Headed across the park, seeing huge lines for Joker and FlashPass. Was surprised to get over to El Toro and find it a walk on! Rode it twice, fantastic airtime as always. Getting a little bumpy in the sharp turns but not really that bad at all. Headed over to Kingda Ka next but found a line almost to the entrance. Walked around to Zumanjaro and waited about 15 minutes. Not the greatest freefall ride but the height is worth the price of admission and the drop goes on forever. Also got what used to be an impossible visual of a Kingda Ka launch right as we hit the top. Headed back across the park and saw the crowds are really on the rise. The Boardwalk was mobbed, Joker, Buccaneer had lines out the front, and FlashPass line was stupid considering the park closes in 6 hours. Just made my way over to check out the Jersey Devil scene and got the above crane picture. Security confirmed its closed for the day. Wanted to get on Nitro which didnt look to have much of a line but all the lockers are sold out in the area. Probably gonna call it a day, I get here enough when it's dead to wait in long lines all day. Early departure should mean a couple rides on Wooden Warrior on the way home!

Standing in a line to get into the line. Employee just came by to say it won't be open for at least another hour with guys working on the lift. That's a...uhhh...good start on the first day open to the public. Edit: They've changed their wording from "extended delay of over an hour" to "major delay, we recommend you don't wait for it." GREAT! Edit again: Closed for the day! Guess I'll ride whatever doesnt have an insane line and head out. Sounds like it ran fine for all 4 days it's been open. Figures once I make a 4 hour drive it shits the bed.

The convenience store at the Montvale rest stop on the GSP needs to update their mural.

Still the same concept as rows though. If there's a party of 2, but only 1 seat left, you need a single rider to fill it in order for the party of 2 (or more) to ride on the same train.

Another thing I haven't seen mentioned but maybe missed it...does it have a single rider line? Feel like they'd want to make sure the train is full every ride when theres only 12 seats, but I haven't heard anyone mention it.

Excited to finally get on this thing tomorrow! Are they letting you request seats or is it assigned and luck of the draw? Very low expectations heading into the park tomorrow. Will go right to Devil at opening. If the park is a sh*tshow then that might be the only thing I ride. Not getting Flashpass, but if lines aren't too bad then obviously I'd like to hit the essentials like Nitro, Batman, and El Toro. At least if I quit early, I can stop at Connecticut's best park on the way home (Quassy!). After seeing the horror pictures from the last couple weekends I have no idea what to expect tomorrow.

This was my basis for going to CP/KI on Memorial Day (not that they're close, but I'm at CP a lot). I thought about going to SFGAm, SFOG, Carowinds, or SFFT/SFOT but I've never been to any of them. After telling myself I wouldn't visit any new parks during COVID, I ended up getting burned by doing exactly that and rushing to Lagoon which was a bit of a sh*tshow. Even though there were horror stories coming from CP, I figured at least I wouldn't "miss out" if it was less than desirable. And adding on KI was an easy decision. If the employee shortage gets worked out by this fall, it might be worth going to new places but right now I'm still planning on sticking to familiar parks for a few more months. Places where if it's a zoo and I cant get a fastpass, I dont mind just walking around leisurely or just leaving.

Now that you put it that way, I see what you mean. It's just weird to see it in the 20s, but in that context it makes sense. 10ish years ago, I saw people write that they wanted to rank it lower just because its in a "bad" Six Flags park. Obviously Wicked Cyclone is (IMO) extrodinarily high on this list so I think the anti SFNE bias is gone that might've skewed polls a bit back in the day. I remember wearing a Superman shirt to Cedar Point back in 2005 or so and it was pretty much the same as wearing a Yankees shirt in Boston. They took that rivalry seriously.

Like I said, if you're planning on purchasing on a whim, you're playing with fire. That said right now, every date in the near future is available so maybe I just got unlucky.

Only one problem, and not sure if it's a new "normal" thing or just for now, but Cedar Point was sold out of FL in advance for both days I was there. As was Kings Island the first day I was there (I have no idea about the second day because I didnt check). So planning on walking into a shop (which I've absolutely done before) is risking it right now. Also, I waited 30 minutes to get my wristband at Cedar Point because there's only one booth for redemption and only 2 people working at it. They also do the dining and drink pass redemption at the same booth, so yeah...

Does anyone know if Jersey Devil will be on Flashpass (even if it's a one time reservation type thing)? Or if not can you use your Platinum skip the line pass? Staying near the park Sat Night so I can be there at opening and get one ride first thing, just trying to figure out if multiple rides is a feasible idea. If not, hopefully at least the crowds get pulled away from El Toro anyway.

^ Now do Steel Vengeance. 2 greeters at front of line. 1 greeter at the FL/Standby merge. 1 greeter at locker split. 1 employee helping with lockers. 2 employees after lockers checking metal detectors. 1 grouper who can't count to 12 at the top of the stairs. 1 ride op. 4 restraint checkers. Uhh...yeah. You don't need 13 employees to run a roller coaster unless you're Cedar Fair. That said, Kings Island usually had a maximum of 7 on one ride. 4 checking restraints, 1 ride op, 1 grouper (who also controlled fast lane because *gasp* all the lines merge at the station at King's Island), and 1 greeter. Dont remember any coasters that had more than that.