YoshiFan

I don't think the pass pricing is that high, it was mentioned the early pricing is $132. A pass for Great Adventure is $89.99 plus tax plus $48 for parking which puts you at over $140. I know a Six Flags pass gets you into all parks but for a lot of non enthusiasts it doesn't matter because they aren't going to to go another SF park. If the park was closer to me, I would get a season pass without even thinking twice. I guess compared to Dorney it is more expensive though since a Dorney only pass had early pricing of $89.99 with parking included.

I agree, especially since they already removed Canyon River Rapids and Coal Cracker is the only water attraction in the park where you don't get soaked. SDL is a great coaster and a perfect 1st looping coaster, lapbars only don't hurt either.

I wonder if for Great Adventure they are going to theme the Wiggles World rides back to the Looney Tunes theme many of them had before they were changed to a Wiggles theme. Agreed 100%, lots of parks in the chain could use family rides that everyone can enjoy, not kiddie rides (especially in parks like Great Adventure that already had 3 kiddie ride areas and hardly any rides anyone in the family can ride together that isn't a coaster). Thomas Town at SFMM is a perfect example. They got rid of the antique cars which to me seems like the definition of a family ride since it is something anyone can ride and they put some kiddie rides in its spot.

I have mixed opinions on this, I didn't like some of the things Hershey did to the park most specifically removing the Old Engine 99 Train Ride. They also lowered the maximum height limit on some kiddie rides (doesn't matter to me personally but I would be annoyed if I was a kid that was now not allowed to go on a ride that I used to be able to) and I hated the changing of Sky Princess with the white track to the purple and blue tracked Kingdom Coaster and getting ride of the Giant Slide and replacing it with 2 smaller slides. I just hope the new owners don't remove any of the other older rides like the Wonder House. If the park continues to be open for Winter Wonderland, it would also be nice if the new owners can consider running Kingdom Coaster. I'd be willing to drive 90 minutes to ride a coaster in December.

The same thing happens at Dorney too and they have a better coaster collection. Both B&M's and Steel Force can be a walk on or 5 minute wait while the water park is packed. I think it's because only thrill seekers will go on the coasters and almost everyone can handle the waterpark and most water slides and the lower capacity of the slides makes it more crowded since it takes longer to go on everything in the waterparks.

The launch is intense and the first time I tried the coaster I had to rest for a few minutes and one ride was enough for me. Next time I was at the park I rode it twice and now have ridden up to 4 times in 1 trip. I suggest trying it once right at opening without a line so you board the ride right away and don't have time to think about it. The ride is over so fast too which helps.

I'm surprised lines weren't longer. I know 45 minutes is still a long wait but I thought lines would be 90+ minutes.

Skull Mountain last night

Seeing report after report of how bad the operations are at La Ronde makes me not feel as bad about not going there when I was in Montreal. With so many other SF parks really having better operations in the past few years, it's a shame to hear that things haven't changed for La Ronde.

Trailblazer, Great Bear and LR (both sides) were running 1 train and LR had rows chained off. Everything else ran 2 trains except sidewinder of course but Wildcat and Storm Runner had rows closed off.

I was there the first Sunday this year, it was empty. Longest wait was Fahrenheit at 15 minutes, everything else was 0 - 10 minutes. Even Storm Runner was only a 1 train wait. I was surprised since it was around 70 degrees and sunny, perfect weather for October. Someone one another side said last Saturday was very crowded. I also went on the last Sunday in 2005 (October 30th) and it was empty then too with 0 - 10 minutes waits.

Comet at Hersheypark last Sunday night.

I have been to Haunt at Dorney, Frightfest at Great Adventure 3 times and Hersheypark In the Dark (though they just have decorations up with no mazes or scare zones)

The tigers will never be out again in the park, the tiger show is closed, the trainers were fired and the tigers were moved to the Safari

I was referring to it as any part of the line that is covered and when I heard almost full I figured it meant the line was outside in the uncovered area with the rope on the sides of the queue

Do you mean almost full with the outside part before the cave with people in line? If so that has to be a very long wait.

Friday nights are the least crowded time to go to the park during Frightfest, I have gone twice in 2008 and twice in 2009 on Friday nights and never had any long waits (over 15 - 20 minutes).

I have been to Morey's 4 times and also have never seen more than 1 lane open, it makes having even a few people ahead of you in line a long wait. I like that design with some space in between the drops more than the newer design that is usually 3 lanes and has a bunch of smaller hills but other than that I won't miss the slide.

Sit in the last row of the Wild Mouse, there is more room there since the seats are low. I don't know if you are going to ride Possessed or not but the test seat is not accurate. I can't get the belt buckled on the test seat but on the actual train I can buckle the belt without any help from a ride op.

The top of the park where Talon is doesn't have many trees but the lower part of the park has more. In this picture: http://www.rcdb.com/239.htm?p=637 , to the left of the trees is a really nice walkway with benches that is covered in shade from trees on both sides.

That really only applies to the summer and is true. It is best to avoid summer weekends at Dorney if at all possible and the crowds during the week in the summer are very different than the weekend crowds. It isn't an issue during the spring and fall though.

Great Adventure hardly has any family rides, for non coaster and non kiddie rides this time of year there is: Tea Cups, Houdini, Carousel, Top Spin, Jolly Roger (smaller music express type ride), swinging ship, round up, parachutes and the sky ride. The sky ride and parachutes are very dependent on good weather to run so that doesn't leave much. Dorney has rides for everyone, but some of the tamer rides close at 5:00 during Haunt, like Thunderhawk and possibly Cedar Creek Cannonball. Plus during October, Dorney's ride lines will be much shorter than at Great Adventure. Great Adventure does have better family friendly coasters and more of them but other than that I think Dorney would be a better choice for you.

Nitro last night during Fall Family Fun Night

If you do go to Great Adventure, Friday October 8th is probably going to be the best day to go if you don't mind only 6 hours in the park. The first Friday night of Frightfest is almost always empty, last year there were only around 3000 people in the park and all lines were 0 - 10 minutes so it would be very unlikely you would need a flashpass. If that won't work, a Sunday will be better than Saturdays. I have never been there on a Saturday (I only go on Friday nights for the low crowds) in October but I have seen pictures and one report I remember reading Nitro's line was spilling out of the queue onto the midway and Batman had a line in the garden area and both were reported to be over 2 hours. I am not sure about Columbus Day this year as this is the first year they are also having a fall physics day which means school trips on top of the people visiting who have the day off from work or school so I don't expect it to be empty. Dorney isn't crowded on Friday nights early in October or Sunday. I would try to avoid going on a Saturday. Dorney doesn't have a line cutting system (except a $300 per person VIP tour) but I'd be surprised if the ride lines were long. Except for Halloween weekend, I have never seen any lines more than 5 - 10 minutes for the rides during Haunt but the Haunt attractions can get 20+ minute lines. Having both parks as my home parks I would probably pick Great Adventure on coasters alone but as others mentioned Dorney has a more balanced ride collection. For Halloween events, Haunt at Dorney is way better than Frightfest at Great Adventure if that matters and as mentioned earlier Great Adventure charges $5 for each of their walkthroughs and at Dorney they are all included with admission. The scare zones are also better at Dorney, Great Adventure's have 3 - 4 actors at most in a whole section, Dorney's zones have actors every few feet.

Nice pictures, Dorney is always empty this past weekend since WWK is not open and Haunt hasn't started yet. Once Haunt starts the crowds pick up but ride lines are never that bad (same in the summer when crowds on the ride side only pick up when WWK closes for the day)