mmkaycomputer

Decided to brave The Roller Coaster at NY-NY on Roller Coaster Day, as my boyfriend and I hadn't been on it in four or five years, and we'd never experienced the discomfort everyone else seems to have on it. Plus, there was already a mass exodus of Angelenos cramming I-15, so Desperado at the NV/CA border was out, and we had recently been on the two coasters at Adventuredome. While my boyfriend thought it was only a little rough, I got knocked around those shoulder restraints for about a third of the ride, resulting in a lousy night's sleep 12 hours later. I don't have much structural or engineering knowledge of coasters, so I'm assuming it comes down to age and/or poor maintenance, especially since I hadn't had that issue with the restraints before. It's kind of a shame. I actually enjoy the coaster's layout. But failing a refurbishment or serious fix, I'm done with that thing.

A few observations on my weekend visits... Friday morning/afternoon: I give up on Apocalypse ever being the smooth woodie it once was, and the men's room right near its entrance was not only disgusting, but the A/C was blasting Arctic air (especially dumb since it wasn't even hot that day). Superman closed, then reopened, then closed while we were waiting in line. Of course, only one side was (not) working/operating. Sigh. Saturday night: Met my BF there later in the night and he was miserable—and for good reason. I have been going to SFMM since 1990 and have even worked there, and I've never seen it that crowded. Not fun. My Friday night Knott's Scary Farm visit, however, was just about perfect despite their own near-capacity crowds—and I'm not that big of a Knott's fan. We didn't even need the Fright Lane pass.

The red part just left of the black headrest. Toward the end of the ride, the car did a little bump, my head went left and slammed against that red area — OUCH. First time anything like that has ever happened to me on a coaster ride.

I'm late on this, but I went to Coney Island for the first time ever on Roller Coaster Day, and I was elated to have finally experienced the Cyclone. We rode it twice, and had a smooth ride sitting in the second-to-last row, and a very rough one in the fifth-to-last row. Weird, but whatever. We got a great pic on it, too, which rarely happens. Thunderbolt might be the worst coaster I've ever been on, and I've been on over 100 or so by this point. At the end, my head hit just left of the headrest and I wondered for about five minutes if I had a concussion. The coaster elements were not that remarkable, either. Eff you, Thunderbolt. Loved the Steeplechase. Better than KBF's Pony Express, in my opinion. The flying coaster was mildly entertaining. The only experience more underwhelming than Thunderbolt was eating a Nathan's hot dog. I might've enjoyed the fries more. I definitely wasn't enjoying the indigestion after. But like the Cyclone, I've finally experience it.

This is long overdue, but I wanna thank KBrylczyk and Sharktums and others for their advice on the park, KK and the weather ahead of my Aug. 13 visit. Accuweather turned out to be our friend, and when we went over to the park at noon, the thunderstorms and rain had stopped, the sun was peeking out, and the park barely had anyone in it all day. Woot! And though my heart was pounding before I sat down in my seat, Kingda Ka and its launch were less intense than I had predicted. In fact, whoever said that the ride feels like it's taking forever to hit top speed two seconds after the launch was right on the money. I walked off with a smidge of a headache, but I figured it was the 5Gs and the ride's general shakiness (and a hot day full of coaster-ing — we went on it last). Better than I thought, but it whetted the appetite for my future and 1st Top Thrill Dragster ride. Can't wait! Other notes: Nitro: My favorite hyper ever. I mean, wow. Better than Apollo's Chariot by a landslide, IMHO. F'n awesome. El Toro: Whereas KK exceeded my expectations, El Toro was just an A/A- coaster for me. Maybe my expectations were too high. I thought I'd be riding this all day, but when the opportunity came to re-ride something, the choice handily went to Nitro. Next time I'll ride in the back instead of the very front. Batman The Ride: I really dig the SFMM version, and have been four versions of the this ride now, but this one is definitely the best. Impressed. Parachute drop: I could have ridden this all day! Zumanjaro: Solid drop. No different than Lex Luthor in my estimation, though it would seem LL is a little scarier with Superman running up and shaking the tower, while Zumanjaro, well, you know. Maybe a 15-minute wait to board, too. Superman: Disappointing. Medusa: The floorless B&Ms tend to make me queasy, so we skipped. Ditto for Green Lantern, though not for potential queasiness — I'm already over its big brother ride Riddler's Revenge, so this wasn't necessary. Runaway Mine Train: Packed more punch than I thought. Nice moderate coaster, def. better than the other Six Flags mine trains I've been on. Log Ride: Longest wait at 20+ minutes. Food options outside the park: The area's post-10 p.m. food options suck sweaty donkey balls. One place that looked like it had potential and said it was open late wasn't, and we had to settle for an Applebee's overrun with noisy teenagers, to say nothing of the food quality. Anyway, would go back to SFGAdv in a second. I'd expedite my return to NJ/NY area just to hit this place again.

Thanks, SharkTums and Strz! I think we'll wait it out a day in the hopes of making Wednesday work.

So here I am on the west coast, all excited about my first trip to the park on Wednesday — and I read there's a 100% chance of rain/thunderstorms for Wednesday, not letting up until maybe later in the evening. My. Luck. We have hotel and rental car reservations in Jackson for Tue-Wed, and hotel reservations in NYC (but no rental car) for Thursday through the weekend. I'd hate to let go/eat the reservations and spend extra money on picking another park day, especially if the rain isn't as bad as they say it will be. But I'd also feel like I was wasting money if there's nothing to ride, or the park closes early, should we chance it on Wednesday. And I rarely get over to the east coast. Any NJ folk or park regulars have any advice on whether I should go on Wed or not? A separate rain/SFGAdv forum and other Internet anecdotes say all sorts of different things, but they all pretty much say that thunderstorms usually mean the coasters close and KK closes during any rain (or is too painful in even drizzle). Thanks!

Funny you should ask. (And pardon the quick digression from SFGA-related stuff, everyone.) I was once in line for Xcelerator and boarded. As I was locking the seat belt, the kid that had just vacated my seat was still on the platform for some reason, and when I looked over to see why he was still to my left, he unloaded one of the biggest and gnarliest vomit loads I'd ever seen. Now feeling too nauseated to deal with what already looked like a gutbomb of a launch, I took off the seat belt and de-boarded, figuring I'd maybe try again later. (The park employees ended up emptying the train for clean-up anyway.) An hour later, when I passed the now-reopened ride, I was still feeling queasy — I'm a total vomit-phobe — and decided to try again another day. In fact, I left altogether, not wanting to ride anything after that point. That was last year, and I haven't been able to make it back to KBF yet. But yeah, to your point, I have noticed that Xcelerator's launch actually looks more forceful in its first second or two than KK. It's just that KK's launch takes longer and it's not obvious to me that the chest-bursting feeling I get from the very beginning of a launch won't subside or let up before the pull up into the vertical hill. Ha, I sound such like a wuss.

Thanks everyone for your feedback re: KK launch. It still looks and sounds like it'll give me a heart attack, but I'm gonna try not to overthink it. I've yet to chicken out on a roller coaster, so I hope to keep the streak alive. Happy to read the Batman: the Ride comments here. I frequently visit SFMM and I never miss a front-row ride whenever there (unless it's going backward, barf) — though I wondered if I'd even bother with the SFGA version seeing how we only have one day there, and that the two other versions I've been on didn't feel as forceful as the one at SFMM. But I'll have to cram the other stuff in earlier in the day so I can ride it in the evening. B:TR is no Montu, but I think it's underrated.

Hi there. I'm going to make my first-ever trip to Six Flags Great Adventure soon, pretty excited about it. I do have a total n00b/kinda paranoid question about Kingda Ka: Just how intense is the launch? The most powerful one I've experienced so far is Full Throttle at SFMM — 70 MPH in 2 seconds — and while I can def. tolerate it, I feel like the acceleration stops just in time before it might become overwhelming. As I try to imagine KK, I imagine the YOLO launch going on for an extra 1.5 seconds and reaching 5Gs and I can already feel the heaviness in my chest! I'm healthy and have no heart issues (though I expect to gray out on KK's vertical ascent given my experience on old shuttle coasters). I know rider experiences can vary for multiple reasons, but has the KK launch ever felt like too much for anyone, or even made them nauseated/sick? (I couldn't find a previous thread on this, but if there is one, please link it and I'll take a look.) Thanks!

A work trip for my BF resulted in us stopping by Carowinds for the first time last Monday. Thoughts: --Bunch of coaster enthusiasts (maybe from the U.K.?) were also visiting the park. They sure do like the Voyage, judging by their t-shirts and tattoos. (Yes, tattoos.) I need to get on that one soon. --Thought most of the rides were too short. Intimidator was perfect in length -- and everything else, frankly. --Biggest surprise: Woodstock Express. Biggest letdown: The roughness down the final stretch of Thunder Road. Ow. In fact, a good handful of the rides were a little on the rough side. --Free water park: astounding idea. A shame the new slides weren't open yet, but oh well. Loved those two-person raft slides at Pipeline Peak. --Staff were nice, but most of them had to refer me to someone else when I asked a question. Can't recall a more uninformed park staff. --Happy I went and had a nice afternoon, but for a Cedar Fair park, it's just so-so. Or maybe I'm getting tougher to impress.

Park so far today is pleasantly dead. FT wait is small and they're keeping the unshaded stretch before the ramp -- as well as most of the ramp -- empty. Riddler a near walk-on even with one train. NAMTAB also a walk-on. Haven't ventured near X2 or Tatsu yet. Only bummers: Menu at FT Bar sucks. Burgers don't look worth $14, that's for sure. Also: Gold Pass line didn't start moving until 10:25, and it was long. We moved to the much shorter Discover line and still didn't get in until 10:35. Management wondered why I wasn't in the GP line and I told them, and they claimed that they would note the delay. Think I might still "note" it on my post-visit survey.

Beats the hell out of me. They already have a ride called the Hoover Half Pipe that is essentially a Pipeline Wave attraction, with the same exact zero-gravity parabolic element. This just repeats the element a couple more times. I think they just picked something cheap 'n' quick — assuming a Tornado is a) cheap and b) inexpensive — to counter the opening of Cowabunga. I think the next thing for them to do is not invest in any big attractions for 2015 — assuming Village Roadshow only has so much dough for this park — and go big with a water coaster in 2016. The head of the park told me they have a good chunk of land to still develop.

Yup, a Proslide Tornado 45 slide will open there on Memorial Day weekend. Also, they're expanding operating hours and adding days, adding shaded areas and parking spots, and will let the gold/VIP passholders in before the general public.

Nothing is confirmed; all the language on the press release was vague. But we'll have details after 10am PST today. WnW Vegas already has a Tornado wave-styled ride called Hoover Half Pipe.

Tomorrow the park will announce a new Proslide "extreme water slide" exclusive to Nevada that "simulates a natural storm experience" with zero-g sensations. I'm guessing that means it's getting a tornado slide. No opening date revealed yet, but it's inferred in the press release that the ride will open this year. More details tomorrow.

California: X2 Florida: Montu Ohio: Maverick Nevada: El Loco Texas: (New) Texas Giant Virginia: Intimidator 305

I'm late to post this, but I covered the EL Loco media event for my publication (Las Vegas Weekly) on Tuesday with my boyfriend and we had a blast. Thanks to the super-short line, we rode it three times and loved each trip. There are few things more gratifying than leaving the office early to ride and report on (actually, review) a new roller coaster. We also met John (Mr. Stratosphere) and Seth from Orlando, who were both really nice. I just noticed above that John snapped a photo of my BF and I in the front row going over the first drop on El Loco (the last of that series of rider/drop shots). I know you didn't shoot it for us, John, but thanks anyway -- it was fun to discover it!

Just rode mine: Desperado at Buffalo Bill's in Primm, NV. My roughest ride on the beast yet, but I have to say, I liked how out of control it felt.

All first-time rides for me: 1. Iron Rattler 2. YOLOcoaster 3. Superman Krypton Coaster Honorable mention: Lex Luthor and Superman: The Escape Most excited about for 2014: El Loco

Other details from today's announcement: —Final piece of track will be laid this week. —Ride will be 72 seconds. —They are still touting a greater-tan-straight-down first drop. (Someone here doubted it would be more than 90 degrees.) —Ride will have to undergo more than 2,000 safety test rides before anyone can ride. I don't work in the amusement business, so I don't know if that's more than normal. Sucks it won't be ready this month, but excited nonetheless!

Sunday was a good day, the cold notwithstanding. Observations, FWIW: I don't think the loading process for YOLO was that slow, given what I was expecting with the new seat belts. And new discovery: What a great coaster to ride at night. Employees seemed more friendly and looser than usual, whether I was asking for something or casually chatting with them. The guy I spoke with at Lex Luthor was not only super nice, but told us some funny stories about working that ride. (First time on that ride, BTW. I stared straight down during the decent, like I used to do through the grate on Freefall.) Not my usual SFMM experience. I guess I got the rougher Apocalypse train. Nowhere near as smooth as the rides I had earlier in the year. (They ran the other car empty, of course. This was at 5:30 pm.) Am I the only guy who HASN'T had his junk smashed on GL? I find those seats pretty comfortable. The lone GL disappointment I had yesterday was, per the recent conversation, that my car didn't flip once. I'm not an inversion whore in the slightest, but one or two would have made the ride a little more thrilling, as it was back in 2011. I absolutely hate the food offerings at SFMM. It's garbage even for an amusement park. Gonna start getting my hand stamped and leave the park for the Valencia Town Center down the street, or McBean/Old Road (mmm, Mod Pizza). Don't know how I feel about the park now switching to e-mail coupons for passholders given that all coupons must be printed out prior to the visit (according to the pass processing rep I spoke with). I was over bringing the books, but with the printouts, we're still stuck in, what, the late '90s? Couldn't QR codes simplify this process with minor expense? I could swear I had a virtual ticket scanned on my phone at Knott's. Six Flags is in full Luddite mode when it comes to tech. Seriously, no app? And their social media is a joke. I'll stop here before I begin repeating the laundry list of familiar grievances. I generally had a nice day at the park

Full Throttle open today!

Anyone know if Full Throttle was open today? We are going tomorrow and our fingers are crossed to the point of pain. Thanks.

Jew is onto something. I spoke to the head of the park a few months ago and he said they were targeting a soft opening in December and an official/grand opening in January.