YoshiFan

Trailblazer is smooth, Runaway Mine Train at Great Adventure isn't too bad, but the drop after the MCBR can throw you around especially if you aren't in the front row of a car (the front row of each car has more leg room)

Yeah, they got rid of it in 2007 or 2008. It had mechanical problems and the spot has some turbo bungee upcharge ride. There is no reason they couldn't have replaced it with a new swing ride but that is a problem with the park, they remove flats without replacing them.

I would like to see some thrilling flats, family flats and tame rides (antique cars, interactive dark ride, train) added to the park. I go to the park for coasters but if I feel like riding something else I have trouble finding non coaster rides since the few non coaster rides I like are usualy closed (skyway) or have too long of a line (parachutes, log flume)

The only 2 rides I have heard them enforcing fastpass return times are Toy Story Midway Mania and Soarin but supposedly it is very rare for them to even enforce the time on those rides. Splash Mountain will be closed unless you go in early January (one of the first 2 or 3 days of the year) or March. It closes a few days into January and reopens at the end of February usually. If you do go in January, hopefully you will have warmer weather than this past January. It was freezing in the upper 30's and low to mid 40's the entire time I was there.

No, both of Lightning Loops were relocated, one to Frontier City the other to Adventure World.

It was closed when I was at the park today (well I guess yesterday), 1 car was almost at the top of the lift, the rest were in the boarding area.

Thunderstorms could be an issue, I remember 2 years ago at Great Adventure it had rained for a few minutes and stopped and was sunny out yet all the rides were closed because lightning was within a certain distance of the park. They had to wait around 15 minutes for the lightning to be further away before they could reopen the ride (not that 15 minutes is a long delay but if it is storming all day it could keep the rides shutdown). Kingda Ka will close in the rain, the Skyway will close because of wind and possibly rain as well. Rolling Thunder will go to 1 train in the rain. Batman also closes in the rain because of grease leaking onto riders. Otherwise almost everything should be open in the rain.

I ask all the time if I can go ahead of people to fill an empty seat. I have never had anyone say no. The only ride I have ever seen that happen at except Disney parks is at Kingda Ka. If there is an empty seat or seats, they will ask for single riders to fill in those seats. I think it's because they want a full train to have less of a chance of a rollback.

Yes, Great Adventure has gotten a lot but has lost more rides than any other park in the chain (and probably the country if not world) in the last 10 years. I think I mentioned it before in this thread a while back but either 32 or 33 rides have been removed or SBNO in the park since the early 2000's.

There were plans to build one, RedZone canceled it

And it was the smoothest in the front seat, or at least I thought it was. I made sure to ride twice in the front seat last week one of those rides being what I thought was my final ride (and still might be if I can't get to the park again before the 18th)

Strange it was so crowded for a Thursday even with it being a holiday weekend especially since on Tuesday lines were much shorter. It should be interesting to see tomorrow if GASM is closed or not

Great American Scream Machine for probably the last time

Cool pictures especially of the Sugar Shack since it was hard to get a good look at it on FEAR when it was dark, I used to really enjoy watching FEAR until I found out it wasn't real with all the extras MTV added like sounds and the episode filmed there was my favorite of the series.

I would brave the cold to go ride coasters in our off season I'd be willing to drive 6 hours for coasters in January or February. I have ridden coasters in the low 40's with somewhat strong wind in October and there are some warm days once in a while in the winter.

I like Hershey more than Great Adventure. Both parks have an excellent collection of coasters but Hershey is a more well rounded park with a lot more flats and non coaster rides to choose from. Plus the Boardwalk is included with admission if you like waterparks.

Like the ad on a billboard right outside Dorney with an Arrow looper featured. I don't think they will announce GASM is closing ahead of time. Chiller and Viper closed without notice as well as all the other non coaster rides removed recently.

The front of half of the train never seemed that rough to me, I made the mistake of trying the last row and that was horrible. It was a totally different ride with my head slamming into the back of the seat. I will only ride in the first 3 cars now. As for Rolling Thunder, my last trip I rode in a non wheel seat it was fine but the trip before that I was in the last row of a car and it was brutal. I wouldn't care about losing Rolling Thunder if we got a GCI or Gravity Group coaster as a replacement.

Great pictures, I really liked the waterpark update since it looks like they have a lot of cool slides and you don't see waterpark reports that often.

I agree it is running smoother this year, very little to no headbanging even in the corkscrews which were sometimes a problem. I'm not so sure about the whole replacement parts reasoning either. Didn't they get a train from Shockwave after it closed? Plus the blue train hasn't been seen at all this year either running or in the storage area so even though there is a chance they are using that for parts too. I have no idea if Vekoma services Arrow loopers or not but considering how similar the rides are, you would think Vekoma would be able top.

I hope if the 5D plans are canceled they do something with the theater. It was already supposedly gutted with the current setup removed and it would be a shame to see another SBNO ride. If GASM is closing July 1st, that isn't much time to get final rides in. I shouldn't have skipped it last week.

I hope whatever is wrong with Batman is nothing too major. Having 2 of the more popular closed will make lines a lot worse than normal.

In the summer most days are crowded, even during the week (though not as bad as the weekends). If you get there at opening and get the popular/low capacity rides out of the way first like Comet, Fahrenheit and Roller Soaker out of the way first, it should be ok especially while the Boardwalk is open. If you plan to go on the Boardwalk attractions, it is going to be difficult to avoid crowds. Last year I went on a Monday in August and the Boardwalk was packed, 45 - 60 minute waits for the Tornado and Bowl Slide (I didn't wait but heard people say that is how long they waited).

I agree about the flat rides. I was at the park on Thursday and other than coasters, we really didn't ride much because there was hardly anything else to ride. When I take a solo trip to the park it isn't too big of a deal since I just want to power ride coasters but when going to the park with others who don't ride the big coasters, there isn't a whole lot to choose from. Did you ride on a non wheel seat on Rolling Thunder? The non wheel seats seem to be ok this season but a few weeks ago I made the mistake of riding in the last row of a car and it was a totally different ride.

Hurricane Harbor is closed during the week until the week after next (http://www.sixflags.com/hurricaneharbornj/info/parkInfo.aspx ). I don't think the park will be crowded at all. School is still in session for almost everyone and the park is open until 9 so if there are school trips, the park really should empty out around 5 or 6.