Photo TR - SFGAdv 8/28 & 8/29

[SFNE Dude]

Day 1 - 8/28/06

 

On Monday morning I set out to a park I've been waiting years to visit but just never got around to, SFGAdv. We left a bit later than I would have wanted, 9:00, for the 5 hour trek to New Jersey. Although we hit a few spots of heavy traffic in Connecticut, we still managed to roll into the hotel parking lot just around 2:00 which conveniently was the check-in time. We put our stuff away, relaxed a bit, and headed to the park. We got there a bit after 3:00, paid the $15 to park, showed our SFNE season passes and walked through the gate. I contemplated buying a flash pass but decided I would tomorrow.

 

Without a set plan, I headed to the Batman/Nitro side of the park. Batman came into view first so I entered the queue. The ride was running 2 trains with decent dispatch times. Surprisingly, I walked right into the station and waited 2 trains for the back row. I'm sure you are all familiar with the layout (loop, zero-g, loop, 2 corkscrews) so I'll spare you those details. The positive g's on this thing are insane. The loops are very intense and the corkscrews whip you around like a rag doll. Pleased, I headed back around to catch another ride, this time closer to the front.

 

Since Nitro was right around the corner, I headed there. Now this is a coaster that I've heard lots about, some good and some bad. I entered the queue and waited about 15 minutes and boarded the back row. It was running two trains with fast dispatch times. I lowered my restraint (best restraint ever!) and off we went. The first drop was great and better than S:RoS'. I don't know why considering it's shorter and less steep. It had a great floater air. Next we went up the first incline with more floater air. After banking to the left, we hit a trim (I don't think it was on though) and headed over the next hill with even more floater air than before. Around the overbanked turn into more great drops with floater air. Into the helix we went. I'm not sure if my two previous Batman rides had anything to do with it, but the helix felt weak. After the brakes run, we finished off the ride with some great bunny hops. I don't know why some people don't like this ride because I loved it. Sure it doesn't have ejector air like S:RoS, but it has a great layout, good floater air, and B&M makes the best hyper trains.

 

We headed to the other side of the park to Frontier Adventures. There I noticed the Mine Train was closed which dissapointed me. Medusa was just ahead so I entered the queue. The line was at the bottom of the stairs, and was about 5 minutes, maybe a little more with two trains running. I boarded the back row and off we went. This coaster is much better than B:TDK at SFNE. It felt smoother and was no more forceless than Batman. All the inversions are bigger and the added cobra roll and helix make for a more complete ride. Batman feels like it's way too short while Medusa feels like it's the perfect length. Since the line was rather short, I went around and rode again.

 

We crossed the bridge, and headed around the giant wooden structure of El Toro into Plaza del Carnaval. This has to be one of the most visually stunning wooden coasters I've ever seen. It had a pretty long line but I decided to wait it out. It was through all the first switchbacks and into one or two from the second set running two trains. I'm sure you guys think this is short but compared to the next day it definately was very long. Midway through the wait it broke down leading to a bunch of empty trains being sent off. After about an hour wait total, maybe a bit more, I was in the station waiting for the back row. I love how everyone waits for the front rows, leaving the back of the train with a much shorter wait even though the back is much better.

 

Once on and strapped in, we were sent off and up the very fast lift hill. We made the 180 degree turn and dropped down the incredibly steep first drop. I got amazing ejector followed by some strong positive g's on the bottom with great headchoppers (they actually tricked me into lowering my hands). We headed over the next two hills getting the best ejector air ever. Around a highly banked turn and over a few tiny hills. They should have just put one airtime hill there instead but whatever. Around the turn and over Rolling Thunder getting more ejector. Next we flew through a bunch of highly banked S-curves (are these 90 degrees?). Before we knew it the brakes were upon us and this amazing ride was over. The line was now shorter so I waited for another ride. This time it was about 20 minutes. I wanted to ride in a row in either the middle or front of the train, but I noticed that the second to last row had no one waiting so I jumped back on for another great ride.

 

While this ride is absolutely amazing while it lasts (my #1 wood) it's not better than S:RoS as I've heard some proclaim it to be. S:RoS is much more complete with twice the airtime moments, a better twister section, and two underground tunnels. The airtime is stronger but you can't overlook S:RoS' length and elements.

 

Next I headed over to the Golden Kingdom to see how Kingda Ka was doing since I hadn't seen any trains launch in a while. Going through, I took in the nice theming. The tigers are a great touch. On my way, I asked the attendent handing out tickets how long the wait was. She said about 2 1/2 hours. As I inched closer to the launch track, I noticed it broken down with a bunch of disgruntled passengers sitting on the launch track. It seemed like the brake fins weren't going down.

 

Since I wasn't going to waste my night in line for a ride that wasn't guaranteed to work anytime soon, I headed over to the boardwork. On my way over I ate at Nathan's. The food was good, though very expensive. I witnessed possibly the worst Top Spin ever. It didn't even flip and just kept going round and round. We were getting ready to leave soon to get some rest for the long day tomorrow so I decided to choose between S:UF or Scream Machine. Since I wasn't in the mood to wait in a long line, I opted to go on Scream Machine.

 

I've heard lots of bad things about this coaster so I wasn't expecting much. I walked through the long queue to find a rather empty station with two trains running. I took third row and off we went. The drop was a nice curving affair and the loops had some good g's. The batwing had some nice hangtime and the corkscrews had zero headbanging. Come to think of it, there was no headbanging at all. There was a few bumps along the way and when you hit the MCBR you fly into the restraint but it was actually rather smooth overall, especially for an 18 year old Arrow coaster. Pleased, I stayed in my seat for a second ride. Upon returning to the station, I decided to give it a shot towards the back of the train. It was definately rougher but nothing as bad as I've heard.

 

At this time it was a bit after 8:00 and almost dark so we headed back to the hotel. Watching a weather report later that night showed that it was supposed to rain almost all of the following day with thunderstorms possible and flood watches in effect for almost all of New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania. It looked grim, and in a bit of a down mood after hearing the weather report, I went to sleep.

 

Day 1 Ride Totals

 

Batman: 2

Nitro: 1

Medusa: 2

El Toro: 2

GASM: 3

 

Total: 10

 

 

 

Day 2 - 8/29/06

 

We woke up Wednesday morning to hear the same grim weather reports. It did look as though the A.M. hours would be dry so I thought that at least I'd have a few hours before the rain set in.

 

At around 9:15 we arrived at the park with plans of going into the Safari first. We got in for free thanks to our season passes. I won't give out any details since this is a coaster site but I really enjoyed it as did everyone else in our party. This is a great thing to have right beside the park.

 

At 10:00 we rolled into the amusement park parking lot. We got the preferred parking since we didn't want to walk far if it started pouring. We parked right beside S:UF and went into the park. I headed over to the flashpass center to buy a regular one since I knew crowds would be light. When I went in, the girl at the counter talked me out of it saying that the rides didn't have a wait right now and if it rained later it would be a waste of money. This was definately the way to go and I thank that employee for saving me the money!

 

My original plan was to go KK and ET first but KK was not testing and ET had an empty train stuck on the lift. Figuring they would open around 12:00 I headed to the boardwalk to ride S:UF.

 

I walked through the very, very long queue making my way toward Superman. The line was in the station with one train and very slow dispatches. I waited two trains for the second row and was off. The flying sensation is cool and the sense of speed is great. The layout of the other hand is not. The pretzel loop is excellent and pulls a lot of positive g's but after that the ride dies out. It has a bunch of turns followed by an inline twist before hitting the brakes. The flying aspect is nice, I just with they put together a good ride to go along with it.

 

I noticed GASM was running with mostly empty trains so I went on it since I was right there and had enjoyed my 3 rides the night before. The station was empty and the ride was running two trains. I stayed on the train for 2 rides before leaving. This is a true steel classic and I hope they don't remove it.

 

Next I decided to walk in the direction of Toro to see if it was open since the train was no longer stuck on the lift. It was testing and there were attendents blocking the queue saying they didn't know when it would open.

 

I decided to ride Rolling Thunder while waiting for Toro to open. I entered the queue to find the line in the station with one train running on the left side. The ops were really taking there time and dispatch times were borderline unbelievable. I had to wait two trains before getting my front row ride. As I was waiting, I saw train after train go by on Toro. I saw two trains go by with an employee riding it so I knew it would open very soon. At this point I just wanted to get my RT ride over with and get back over to El Toro. As I was climbing the lift hill, I saw that they were letting people into the line on ET and it was now open. So close! Everyone in RT train was, "No!" because they were waiting for Toro to open too. It was pretty funny.

 

Back to RT. This ride looks a lot smaller in person although nearby ET may have something to do with that. The ride wasn't too bad in the front row. It was a bit bumpy but too rough. There wasn't really much if any airtime but it was a decent woodie and not as bad as everyone says. This ride must be fun while it's racing. Lets hope GAdv gets it back to full form next season.

 

I literally sprinted out RT's station to El Toro. It was running two trains. The line was building and made its way through two or three switchbacks. In about 5 minutes I was in the station and waiting for a row in the middle of the train. The middle is not quite as awesome as the back but still amazing. With the line even shorter, I decided to go again, this time in the back row. What can I say other than unbelievable. While waiting on the brake run for them to let us back in the station I saw Kingda Ka running with people already. I really wanted to ride more times but there were more rides I had to go on and the threat of rain still loomed with very cloudy skies.

 

I made my way to Kingda Ka. The line was very short. It was just making it into the switchback area after the lockers. Upon entering, I was told by a security guard that the ride was broken down and he wasn't sure when it would reopen. I decided to wait a bit and see what would happen. In about 10 minutes they launched a few test trains and it reopened. 10 more minutes passed and I was in the station. The ride was running two trains with very slow dispatches. The front row line was very long and there was no one waiting for the second to last row. I decided to jump on instead of waiting another 20-30 minutes and risk a breakdown.

 

I was on the train in the back of the station so I had the pleasure of watching the train before me launch just ahead. At this point I was pretty nervous. I was not scared, just not sure what to expect. The last time I was this nervous was my first launch on Storm Runner. We got into position. A few seconds passed, then the fins went down, we rolled back a bit, and launch! The launch was very intense and pulled us up to speed. I do not remember pulsing on the launch but I wasn't looking for it so I'm sure I just didn't notice it. As we reached top speed, the train started shaking a lot. It was very rough and much more violent than I had expected. We crested the top, got a bit of floater air and headed down the drop. The train shook like crazy as we once again went over 120 mph, we then crested the bunny hill which you barely notice and hit the brakes.

 

The ride is only 20 seconds long but it was probably the most exhilarating 20 seconds of my life. I don't remember the last time my adrenaline was as high as it was when I hit that brake run. The roughness brings the ride down a bit, but I still give KK props for what it does right. It's an amazing experience but I'm sure it gets a bit more dull the more you ride it.

 

After getting my Kingda Ka fix, I credit whored BLTT before eating at the Wok & Roll near Skull Mountain. The food was good but expensive as usual.

 

I headed to the other side of the park to ride Nitro. I arrived to see a wondrous site, a mostly empty station with 2 trains running. The crew was moving at lightspeed and the ops were all very energetic even though there wasn't a line. I walked onto the back row and got another great ride. As we came back into the station, the op said as long as no one is waiting for your row you can ride again so of course I did. I kept riding, switching from the back to front to the middle and over to the back again. Nitro rocks and is definately a back row ride. I rode ten times in a row, without leaving the train. This was one of my ultimate coaster experiences ever. It was absolute bliss. Every ride, I had my hands up and legs out with plenty of room for air between me and the restraint. Nitro is an amazing coaster and my new #2 steel. I wanted to ride even more but the threat of rain still hung above and my count stood at Nitro: 11 & El Toro: 4.

 

Batman, running two trains, didn't have a wait either so I hit it two more times, once in the back and once in the front without leaving the station. It seemed even more intense than yesterday. The g-forces were killing me at every element.

 

I still hadn't rode Skull Mountain and it was nearby so I went to it and walked on the back row. It had two trains running. Isn't this ride supposed to have strobe lights or something because it was completely dark inside. I didn't really like it because I kept slamming into the side of the car because I had no idea when the turns or drops came.

 

After SM, I went back to El Toro. Amazingly the wait was in the station and averaged about three trains for most rows. I rode twice in the back and once towards the front. At this point in the day my body was a little tired out after all the rides and g-forces I was subjected to so I cut it a bit short after three more rides.

 

I wanted to ride Kingda Ka at least once more and rain was still a possibility so I headed that way. The wait was about 20 minutes. I had the choice of waited almost ten more trains for row 1-1 or getting right on row 1-2. I opted for the latter since dispatches were very slow. The wind in your face is pretty crazy. I can only imagine what the direct front is. While getting off, I had a really bad headache due to the roughness of the ride coupled with the battering my body took from all the rides in a such a short period of time. I would have went again but I don't know if I could take another rough launch, as my headache was bothering me quite a bit.

 

My party wanted to go in the Daily Planet store near S:UF so I went on that ride again since I was there. Upon exiting the queue it started raining and I saw lightning so we headed out at about 5:00.

 

Thus ended an amazing two days at a great park. In less than 12 total hours I had 36 rides, ate 3 meals, took almost 100 pictures, and enjoyed the amazing park that SFGAdv is.

 

Day 2 Ride Totals

 

Batman: 2

Nitro: 10

El Toro: 5

GASM: 2

Superman: 2

Skull Mt: 1

BLTT: 1

Rolling Thunder: 1

Kingda Ka: 2

 

Total: 26

 

 

Two-Day Ride Totals

 

Batman: 4

Nitro: 11

El Toro: 7

GASM: 5

Superman: 2

Skull Mt: 1

BLTT: 1

Rolling Thunder: 1

Kingda Ka: 2

 

Total: 36

 

Entering Parking Lot

 

Scream Machine

 

Scream Machine

 

Scream Machine

 

Kingda Ka

 

Kingda Ka

 

Kingda Ka

 

Kingda Ka

 

Medusa

 

Medusa From Safari

 

Superman

 

Superman

 

Skull Mountain

 

Batman

 

Batman

 

Nitro and Batman

 

El Toro First Drop

 

El Toro Pic You’ve Seen A Million Times

 

El Toro

 

El Toro

 

El Toro

 

Poor Chiller…

 

The Fountain

 

Sign

 

Sign

 

Sign

 

Character Café

 

Random Pic With Freefall In The Backround

 

Random Pic With Ferris Wheel In Backround

 

Giraffes

 

Giraffes and Zebra Truck

 

Giraffe that walked right in front of our moving vehicle

 

Tigers

 

Ostrich

 

Rhinos

 

Camels

 

Zebras

 

Bears

 

Bear lounging

 

Kangaroos

 

Kangaroo in the road

 

Baboons on a piece of coaster track

[yankees15]

Great trip report! It sounds like you had a great time. I'm going on the 9th (next Saturday) and I hope the crowds are similar. I can't wait to see those pictures if you post them.

 

Aslo was Kingda ka running one train to flash pass and one to the regular line or were you allowed to go on whatever train you wanted?

[pvcoasterguy]

I had the exact same experience as you did with GASM on Shockwave at Six Flags Great America. It was actually the smoothest coaster I had ever been on- there was no headbanging or bumps whatsoever. I know it sounds really crazy, but it's true. The corkscrews were the best, though. They were taken at a perfect speed and were very flowing and fun.

 

Perhaps it was because I was in the last row, right in front of the train's trailer that has a ton of wheels on it. But, that was my Shockwave ride, and one of my best coaster experiences ever. I was expecting the worst but it ended up being one of the best coasters I had ever been on. It's a shame that I could only get that one ride on it, because in August of that year, Shockwave was shut down and taken apart for Superman.

[SFNE Dude]

Great trip report! It sounds like you had a great time. I'm going on the 9th (next Saturday) and I hope the crowds are similar. I can't wait to see those pictures if you post them.

 

Aslo was Kingda ka running one train to flash pass and one to the regular line or were you allowed to go on whatever train you wanted?

Good luck. I don't know if you'll get as lucky as I did though unless it's supposed to rain.

 

I'll be posting the pictures soon.

 

Hardly anyone had Q-bots (if anyone did I didn't see them) on the day I rode Ka since it was so empty. They were letting us get in line for whatever train we wanted. I believe on normal days though there is one for flashpass and one for the regular line.

 

I had the exact same experience as you did with GASM on Shockwave at Six Flags Great America. It was actually the smoothest coaster I had ever been on- there was no headbanging or bumps whatsoever. I know it sounds really crazy, but it's true. The corkscrews were the best, though. They were taken at a perfect speed and were very flowing and fun.

I know what you mean. I had heard so many bad things and was execting the worst and ended up getting no head banging. I thought the corkscrews would be the worst but they were actually smoother than the loops. In many ways I enjoyed it more than Medusa across the park.

[SFNE Dude]

I've added the pics to the main TR post and changed the title to read "Photo TR". Tell me what you guys think!

[gmoney422]

Day 1 - 8/28/06

 

The wind in your face is pretty crazy. I can only imagine what the direct front is.

 

Baboons on a piece of coaster track

 

I've went front row 3x in a row...it's crazy! Ever see Spies Like Us? It's just like when Chevy and Dan went on the centrifuge test! That's how I felt.

 

*mumbling* "Hey, wanna get some coffee..."

 

And the track in this pic was off one of the original loops of GASM before they were replaced with those new loop tracks.

[yankees15]

Good luck. I don't know if you'll get as lucky as I did though unless it's supposed to rain.

 

I'll be posting the pictures soon.

 

Hardly anyone had Q-bots (if anyone did I didn't see them) on the day I rode Ka since it was so empty. They were letting us get in line for whatever train we wanted. I believe on normal days though there is one for flashpass and one for the regular line.

 

Yea I hope the lines aren't bad. I think running one train for the regular line for Ka is the stupidest thing ever! Ecspecially since their only running 2 train when they could be running 4!

 

Also great pictures! I enjoyed looking at all of them!

[mkast]

Great TR. I agree with you on your El Toro vs. SROS opinions. At first ET was my favorite coaster but then i rode SROS and it blew me away. It beats El TOro but not by much. Also I've riden front and second row of KK. I prefer second for the short wait but once in a while I'll take front (not too much better). Well anyway great TR.

[GMAN962]

Great TR!

 

Sounds like alot of fun! I almost went there earlier this summer, but didn't go. Mabye next year, or the year after that I'll go.

 

ET sounds so fun!