Nozzy

Came over for opening since I'm home for Easter, but things are pretty rough. Ka and Zumanjaro down for wind, Toro yet to cycle and now I've been in line for Safari for over half an hour... there's been one truck in the last 15 minutes... Ugh...

It's taken me long enough, but let's try a New Jersey chain-Surf Taco! Surf Taco's specialty (and my favorite) are the Surf Tacos, which are fried cod with a nice cilantro sauce. My other favorite is the chicken tender taco- I generally get one of each every time I go! The order comes with chips and there's a nice salsa bar available for your pleasure. There's plenty of other options as well, but I haven't ventured beyond my normal cause I like it so much! Fish taco! It's a bit away from Great Adventure (~15-20 minutes, but there's not too much near Great Adventure) and there are locations in Point Pleasant and Seaside as well if you don't feel like boardwalk food. The Jackson location features both a full bar and a Coke Freestyle machine! Six Flags Great Adventure- 21 Hope Chapel Rd, Jackson, NJ Seaside Park- 212 SE Central Ave, Seaside Park, NJ Jenkinson's Boardwalk- 1300 Richmond Ave, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ

Gladiator's Gauntlet sure looks like it was interesting. I got to ride it's descendent at Six Flags Mexico, and it was pretty thrilling- much better than normal Top Spins! I liked watching the ride cycle- I think the colors are fun and it brings a bit more excitement to the area! I'd like to see a bit more going on near the back of Festa Italia (replace Roman Rapids please!) but at least this is something to accompany Apollo's Chariot. It's placed great to wave to people going up Apollo's lift as well. The rethemed gift shop is quite nice too.

I went over to the park a bit later in the afternoon (once things were warmed up a bit!) and got quite a few pictures of Tempesto testing. They are below. I also checked out the shows as a good way to warm up. I found Roll Out the Barrel to be fun, if nothing special. You can make it into the backstory of our heavenly pretzel shop if you want, which is cute. Anything's better than Entwined, right? Celtic Fyre has once again made insignificant changes to the dialogue that probably made someone very happy. Also, Conner (the dog) has been fired, along with the little drum band member, replaced by a live violinist. That was pretty cool. I also am finally completely convinced that the singing is live as there was a microphone problem tonight ^_^. On a final note, the pretzel wrapped bacon is currently absent from the pretzel shop. I was tempted by the strawberry shortcake sundae, but alas, I could not brave the cold treat as Chuck did. Perhaps next time. Anyway, the pictures... It's testing! It actually isn't a lawn ornament! Is this the start of the ride or the end? I forget, so no one will ever know... Through the banner! Crawl through the inversion... I looked like an idiot to everyone else in Apollo's queue taking this, I hope you appreciate it Still some railings to go in While so much attention has been on it's new neighbor, Apollo's Chariot does have this fine new office chair. Seeing Tempesto run with Apollo is pretty cool Dive-bombing the old ice cream Has there been a picture of the train yet? Do I get a prize? I could have stopped but I knew that you'd want more. I think this one was the start, so let's call that one before the end. I'll add that the general consensus among people was excitement. One guy kept talking about how he absolutely had to take off work to come ride on opening day. Kinda side view of train. The harnesses seem to come out a bit. Only a few weeks til we can ride! It's 40 degrees out- what better way to warm up than a ride through Pompeii? I noticed this appear last year near battering ram. Now it's labeled as Gypsy Wagon on the wolf path. The info sign says it's made of wood, but not too much else. What's its park related history?

Yeah, that's the one I'm referring to. At this point I'm just interested to see whether they have some grand announcement for Saturday, or if it'll just be "yeah, you may have noticed the new roller coaster." Or better yet, they don't announce it, sending everyone into even bigger confusion. Won't make it to preview day this year, but I'm sure I'll see plenty of reports...

I had a coworker tell me that the tram attendant announced it on their way out back in October or December... And I think there was an article in a Williamsburg paper a bit ago.

I think this will be my chance to finally get on a backwards Batman (to be immediately followed by Great Adventure if the train does go up to NJ as rumored). I still can't believe this actually works, so I'm excited to ride and see. Looking at the park website I don't see anything definite- is Backwards Batman on any FlashPass, just Platinum, or none?

Just to add one more voice 1. I took the train from Barcelona- it stops right across the street from the resort, it was very easy. 2. As Elissa said, the onsite hotels are fabulous. I went a few years ago and stayed in the Western themed hotel, and back then the hotel stay included park tickets, one-time front of the line access for some rides and free breakfast. I'd check that it's still the case, but keep that in mind. The breakfast was amazing (5 years later and I still remember the heavenly fresh churros and hot chocolate). I have no idea where Salou is in relation to the park (it seemed like it was middle of nowhere) but you can't beat being able to walk to the park! 4. Tomahawk is family- it's kind of interesting onride trying to distinguish it from Stampida. (And if ever it's not big enough for you there's no harm in not counting it after you ride ^_^ )

I dunno, it's just concept art. After Six Flags adding all the seat belts I could imagine a new style restraint being offered, but I could also imagine the artist just went with it. It's not as though this is an accurate picture of the ride. I must say though, I'm digging that skull in the clouds. If we can have that for the actual ride it's be pretty awesome. Now that I look at it more maybe it's a helmet. I'd rather it be a skull. Let's go with skull.

Just out of curiosity, what did they do to trash their capacities? DarKastle isn't a ride I really enjoy, so I haven't really been on it since 2006/2007 (though I rode it a LOT in 2005/2006), and no one in my family ever wants to go on Rapids. Did they change something on those rides in the last few years? Also since Hastings got mentioned, maybe I'm just being overly nostalgic, but I really preferred Hastings to Ireland Questor really hasn't been topped by any of the motion simulator rides since. Corkscrew hill was ok, but I remember thinking that it was lacking in comparison. Europe in Air and King Arthur's Challenger were both... yeah it doesn't even need to be said. I also really enjoyed the shooting gallery there when I was younger, LOVED Thread Needle Fair (which I'm guessing is gone due to liability reasons.Some of those games were a bit dangerous!) As Chuck said, they essentially don't use the turntable as a turntable, which frequent stops and running around. I only occasionally ride, partly due to weather but more due to the long waits to get on, followed by a good chunk of time sitting waiting to unload. I may have been overdramatic concerning Darkastle (perhaps it's contagious) but the dual unload station isn't used, which I've seen make running both load stations pointless (the first sled is gone before the second has advanced from unload). Anyway, my main point was supposed to be I'm excited for the new ride. I never got to visit the park before 2005. I'm curious what was Thread Needle Fair games were like? Thanks for posting the video.

Hmm--considering that Festa Italia is already the home of both Apollo's Chariot and Roman Rapids, I'm don't agree with your "bastard stepchild" comment. I'm am curious to see how the area will look once the new coaster is finished, though. I'm thinking maybe he means that it doesn't quite mesh with the more classically themed areas throughout the rest of the park? To me, Festa Italia has always seemed to be a carnival atmosphere, which I believe was the original intention- the Roman gods are having a grand old time and whatnot. I think the colors look fine (though perhaps after being a student at Bucknell and Virginia Tech I've become used to the pairing of orange with random other colors) and are fitting for a brightly colored area. The location practically on top of Apollo seems cool for the views. It's gonna look crazy, that's the point- now that it's gone vertical I can see how it will be so visible from the parking booths, which is great- I already get hyped up pulling in and seeing Apollo, this will add to it. I'm much more disappointed with how Darkastle and Roman Rapids have trashed their original capacities by not running as they were designed than I am at any currently theoretical issues in the new rides capacity. Sure, it'll have huge lines next year, and hopefully will have lines for years to come cause everyone enjoys riding it. I think the most confusing part of all this for me is that we're getting a roller coaster. They are not ripping out a classic attraction. They are taking up next to no land. We aren't building a ride that will prevent us from getting an existing Intamin version that would actually break down less and have better capacity. And best of all, they are ripping out that atrociously gaudy water wars that I associate with Farmer Brown's mini-golf, yet from the moaning seems that people prefer this in a "world class theme park" to an actual ride. Anyway, I'm excited for this. I'm also excited to share some more of my mediocre photos from Christmastown yesterday. I don't know if the rainy Saturday played a part but it was PACKED! I arrived at 2:30 and had to park in Italy, and they ended up using the overflow Scotland lot as well. Luckily for me I was content to walk around adoring the lights, riding Verbolten, and check out a really cool candle shop I had no idea existed in New France. Plans to check out the Festhaus menu were thwarted by the huge line to get into it, but I enjoyed some donuts, wassail, and cinnamon cranberry pretzel. The park was busy enough that at around 8 they extended the closing time to 10 PM, though the crowd had really thinned out by then. It's a nice gesture, but when the main attraction is shows, and extending the hours doesn't make any new showtimes I'm not sure how much it helps. Glad to see the event is so successful though, and hoping they can figure out ways to expand the offerings to be even more awesome next year. With Santa managing the construction I'd say we're in good hands. So pretty from the outside. I wasn't waiting 2 hours to party with Santa again though. Do you wanna eat a snowman? So much lights. Reminds me a bit of Tangled's lanterns, which is awesome. Still impressed at the festive Peppermint Swirl. Happy Christmas! A lovely evening in the gardens.

Thanks Bill! Are you implying that Canadian Thanksgiving doesn't count? It's pretty crazy how these Christmas events are spreading, just saw the report of Magic Mountain now too. We had the drive-thru lights at Great Adventure for a bit but no rides or anything. I miss being somewhat close to Smoky Mountain Christmas, but happy to still have a park to celebrate the season at. Looks like great weather again this weekend for it too!

So despite earlier plans to skip Christmastown this year I decided to get a pass and once again enjoy Busch Gardens transformation into a wintry wonderland, preferably during weekends with temperatures approaching 60 degrees. I began by not looking up when the park opened and arriving at 2, when nothing of substance would open until 2:45. On the plus side that meant I was the second person of the day to see the penguins, and I didn't need to wait for 90 minutes like I did last year. The penguins are still cute and the decorations inside are nice, though the experience is a tad short for the waits it gets. I had some nice rides on Verbolten (it's so nice when no one else in the train knows what's going to happen) and the Wave Swinger and then hung out with Jeremiah and Nicole for some tasty food and shows. I was pleased to see that the Cinnamon Cranberry Pretzel has returned, though I opted for the also delicious Chocolate Pretzel Nuggets. In an inspired moment Jeremiah got a bacon pretzel with chocolate sauce, but alas it's just a chocolate colored peppermint dip. Still, perhaps a red velvet bacon pretzel is in order for the future. The Festhaus show was OK, traditional Christmas songs. Over in Ireland Gloria was also a fine Christmas show, though I noted that they never actually sing Gloria during it. Scrooge no More is my favorite show to come to the Globe this year, though it had a few glitches with the projection system throwing up a London Rocks information screen and having some double vision moments- I'd like to see it again, moderately catchy music and some cool costumes for the villagers. Leaving the show was completely magical as it was snowing! Sure, the ground was covered in soap for some reason, but looking up at all the lights and the falling white stuff was rather breathtaking. To end the night we looped around the Skyride, stopping at the North Pole to visit Santa. This was my first time seeing the big guy at Busch Gardens. The very excited elves were great (even when attempting to get 4 adults excited about seeing Santa) and Santa was awesome too. I think theme parks put Santa in a better mood than shopping malls... Anyway, can't wait to get back for some more food, see Miracles and enjoy another snowy night. Maybe with my real camera so I can try to get good nighttime pictures- here's some from the trusty iPhone. Thanks to the $12 ticket deal there were plenty of people waiting for the park to open. The teacups look so much better covered with lights The penguins might get all the attention, but they aren't the only birds here for Christmas. The ravens are not back for Christmas though, though you might see some snow And partying with Santa. He played it coy, but maybe if we're good we'll get a roller coaster for Christmas. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy those dessert pretzels! First stop- Penguinland! Who doesn't love penguins? Come visit me! I'm amazing! Also amazing to some people will be the Pumpkin Pie Crepe (likely the same people getting the Pumpkin Latte here) Always take the bow off the car before driving. It's Christmas! Thanksgiving is on Thursday, but there's a tree and I'm happy! A required stop for anyone's trip to Busch Gardens.

^This. Going between Rolling Thunder and El Toro was night and day for rider responses. Rolling Thunder riders would give mixed, negative or no response after being asked by the op. El Toro riders just come back cheering without any prompting.

As nice as you made that seasonal temperature sound for Friday night, I think I'll be going this afternoon/evening to take advantage of the un-winter-like 60 degree day! I need to verify if the excellent holiday dessert pretzels and fresh fried donuts have made their return! Of course, if I really am looking for my dreams to be fulfilled, could they possibly make a cinnamon sugar pretzel wrapped bacon...

Oh that all looks so delicious. I got to try the Raleigh location back in February, and after seeing this would love to make this a part of my next trip to Universal. I notice they don't have what I had in Raleigh on the menu, a flash fried burgushi with ground beef and 2 or 3 kinds of fish- I wonder if they are varying menus between locations or if it might expand in the future (or giving me a great reason to try something new!). Regardless, that Prime Time Roll looks amazing!

After reading posts the past few weeks when I went to El Toro at 10 to midnight I was expecting it to be closed, but it seems that they reopened the line after it was clear it wouldn't be excessive. Still, the entrance attendant was lying to everyone about the wait time and number of trains, but I had a nice post-midnight ride. I arrived on Saturday around 1 and got in 4 quick rides on Toro, Bizarro, Runaway Train and the Parachutes before any big lines formed. I know it's probably been this way for awhile, but after so many years of 2-4 chutes, it's awesome to see all 8 operational (and all open together!). After getting my pass processed (these barcode only passes sure are funky) everything had filled up. Still, once night came I got to see my favorite Halloween shows, Dead Man's Party and Dr. Zomboni's Freakshow (it still makes me sad that Busch Gardens Halloween shows aren't as good as these). Not much going on in terms of scaring since it was so packed, all the clowns had to stand on the Circus Psycho facade just to be seen. Still not used to this view I would have liked a few more fire flare-ups but these fireworks were a nice touch. Who wants a flashpass? (I wonder how long the wait was) Glug glug glug Glad I got my first ride in while the line was only filling half the queue!

Nice pictures Chuck! It was awesome to see you, as always. I have to agree that the Scareactors here seem to be much more entertaining than at Busch Gardens- I liked that the people in the mazes actually would talk to you or follow you around, while I feel like at Busch it's always the same "Get out!" that I don't even find to make much sense (as opposed to the Slaughterhouse Butchers imploring me to hang around for a while). Glad I finally got to experience all of the mazes KD has to offer.

To my knowledge they only publish the 10 AM opening. During summer the gates open at 9 and Nessie at 9:30 I believe. My map from last 2 weeks ago (man do I need to clean off my desk) says England and Nessie opened at 9:45 for Sundays in September. I'd guess that is the case for October in general, but not completely certain. You need to take a tram to get to the main gate from general parking, so if you really need to be there at opening remember that, but there's really no need to rush, enjoy the park and have fun. Oh, and it's been awhile since I've posted "Eat a pretzel from the German pretzel shop" so make sure you do that too.

The park opens in stages so if you are there before/at opening, you can ride Loch Ness Monster before anything else opens, Griffin at 10 a few times, Alpengeist a few times, Verbolten at 10:45 and you've missed Apollo's Chariot opening but there still won't be any line.

Awesome report Thad! I loved how pretty the park was, and your pictures are a great reminder. The "scary animatronic bears" you have pictured would occasionally play the music from Tetris, even going so far as to sing the lyrics. Quite a surprise, but it made the park even cooler. Regarding Space Race, I didn't see this supposed instructional video you watched (perhaps because we were running through the queue yelling Space Race!!!!) and thinking back to Tivoli came to the conclusion that all lasers on bumper cars don't work since it wasn't registering as I shot random planets (and then decided to just go bump people). Glad to know that they can work.

Heard from a lot of people that many wanted to keep trying but the heat was such a huge problem and if they even got off to apply sun screen or get water they'd automatically get disquallified. Plus, most people were trying but the rules were really strict, you had to come back on time from breaks and 5 people who were just 30 seconds late got disqualified, so it wasn't for lack of "trying" You could only get up during breaks as well and they were only 15 mins, so there's more truth that what you believe. You had to be back from breaks on time?!? What kind of crazy rule is that? And no getting up when not on break? It's almost as if they are trying to make them ride continuously during an event where they signed up to continuously ride... GO CAESAR!

Felt like forever since I'd been to Busch Gardens (though I had a good reason) so I took a quick trip over tonight. WHile I had been on the puzzled side with the whole America thing... The Statue of Liberty: Truly, DaVinci's finest masterpiece but I've decided that, you know what, this festival rules!!!!! (Not technically part of the festival, but still greatly affected my opinion of it) It was so friggin hot out, Roman Rapids still had a line at 8:30 PM. Of course it doesn't help that they use the turntable to load rafts one at a time. Has it always been like that? I miss the Scandi rapids rides.... Still, my biggest hope for Busch Gardens this year was to get the Bacon Pretzel Fury, and they still need a name for it but it is here

Quick Queue merges with the station for all coasters except Apollo's Chariot, where you ride in Row 2 (or possibly Row 8 if it's a very busy day and they need two rows!). For Escape From Pompeii you will be in Row 2 (which is where you want to be anyway). I can't attest to Pierce's Ribs, but the Smokehouse has some darn tasty and not too expensive spareribs. Speaking of food, get a pretzel in Germany.

So happy the park was able to get the ride open for their 40th anniversary! While the weather wasn't very nice, the crowds were light and I had a nice little visit with my sister and her boyfriend. Zumanjaro seemed to be opening as we arrived at 2 PM. The queue line pathway is enormously long but on the plus side no switchbacks ^_^. There is a single rider line getting great use already, and it's cool getting the new views of Kingda Ka and El Toro. I haven't been on Lex Luthor yet, so first gigadrop, and I was very pleased with the ride. It takes a bit to get up but there's a nice view and the drop just seemed to keep going and going! Afterward took a quick ride on Ka with a 10 minute wait, then walk ons for Green Lantern, Toro, Medusa, Batman and Nitro. Still a awesome collection of rides, and operations for all were very good. I must say, the state of Nitro's queue is atrocious- the railings are in pieces, settled a few feet into the ground, weeds, toppled garbage cans... The park had been looking so good for the past few years, hopefully this gets some attention soon. Finally, there is a really awesome exhibit on Great Adventure's history set up in one of the tents near the Boardwalk. Lots of old souvenirs, pictures, and ride vehicles. There's also buttons for alumni! For someone like me who grew up in the park and had always heard stories of the older days of it from parents, it was extremely nice. I'm thrilled that Great Adventure has a drop ride- it took awhile since Freefall closed, but was well worth the wait! Can't wait to get back and ride it again! It's open! This is the drop of DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM so no blue sky. It wouldn't be the Rolling Thunder hill without this! Ride'em while they're still the tallest! I must admit I like being able to admire all of El Toro's majesty now. Happy Birthday Great Adventure! Noted! The new money shot- very slightly different.