Great Adventure or Cedar point

[SteveC]

^ in 2004 I should have said, but still - very painful and NOT FUN, but I guess you will have to take my word for that given the existing policy.

[Thom25]

^Yes, biased. "Horrible operations"??? Compared to who? Disney and Universal charge significantly more for a day ticket - and if you are going to tell me SF has better operations than CP, I will stop right here, cause you truely are biased and delusional to belive that.

[ginzo]

As ginzo posted, their website still seems to reflect the fact rides do close in rain. There has also been conflicting reports on the matter depending on what TR you read. So I'm hardly convinced the policy has changed. Please do enlighten us with something official from the park before you accuse us all of being bias.

 

I just called CP guest relations and that did not help clarify matters. She said that the web site is absolutely up to date with their current policy, but then shifted gears and said that they tend to close more for wind than for rain. And that they run rides "when it's safe". She suggested calling the park the day of to see what's open, which isn't much help if you're traveling some way and already have your airfare/hotel/etc booked.

[Reon]

Tough call for me. I'm swayed towards CP just because I've been there more times, but my trip to Great Adventure was...great. I didn't get the chance to ride Houdini or Parachute, but they had some cool stuff. As far as coaster standing goes:

 

1. Maverick

2. El Toro

3. Nitro

4. Raptor

5. TTD (line was too long for Kingda Ka, so I didn't ride)

6. Rolling Thunder

7. B:TR

 

I think Six Flags has a better coaster line up overall, though CP has some awesome coasters and nice flats that SF lacks.

[Meteornotes]

I think the one thing that SFGAdv is doing that puts it ahead of CP is the QBot. There is no similar system at CP, and I think that's a huge error. Then again, I've never found Cedar Fair to have particularly good customer service, so this doesn't surprise me (yes, SF has its issues, but they seem to be improving, or at least attempting to do so, outside of SFA, which will likely become condos sooner than later anyway). If you have to visit a major park on a summer weekend, I know I'd choose the one that would allow me to get the most stuff done.

 

This doesn't even take the coasters into comparison, where I feel GAdv is the clear winner. Cedar Point is overrated.

 

dt

[snoodog]

Cedar Point has some awesome steel coasters when GAdv has maybe 3. GAdv has better wooden coasters than CP

[gatorchomp83]

Through my experience (CP visits in 2000 and 2007; GADv visit last month) I hand it over to GADv easily.

 

My trip to Cedar Point in 2000 was terrible. The lines were atrocious and the service was not very good. Not to mention the quality of the coasters was notches below the quantity. I came away from that trip hating the park. My visit in 2007 was a LOT better, although still left a lot to be desired.

 

On the flipside, my two trips in one weekend to Great Adventure last month were AWESOME. The staff was friendly, the park was clean, the operations were top notch, the landscaping and setting was immaculate, and the ride selection blew CP's out of the water.

 

My personal ranking for coasters:

1. Nitro

2. El Toro

3. Millennium Force

4. Medusa

5. Raptor

6. Kingda Ka

7. Dragster

8. Superman

9. Wicked Twister

10. Batman

 

Both parks are very nice, but given the choice, I'd much rather spend time at GAdv.

[southpuddle]

I work at CP, guys. At Magnum. I don't care what the website says, as it also still states that alcohol is not permitted in line, which is another policy change from last year. We no longer close the ride for plain ole rain. There's even a TR on this site with photos of coasters operating in the rain this season here: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=43741 In light precipitation, we'll go down to two train operation, and in heavy rain, unfortunately, we'll go down to one train. Also, we no longer have to cycle five times per train before we can load it after the rain has stopped. We only have to cycle once. As for other rides, I'm not as familiar. This is what I know. So please, stop all of your "OMFG THEY"RE RIDEZ GO DOWNZ WHEN IT SPRINKLEZ!!! WORST PARK EVAR!" bullcrap.

[almightyfire]

Well when I went to SFGA in 2006, It was the worse park I had ever visited. It was dirty, operations were horrible, staff seemed uninvolved and slow and the rides all needed painting. I went to CP the year before and operations were wonderful, the park was clean and the staff was on top of its job. Now this seems like an oxymoron but I hated SFGA so much that I dont ever want to go back but my top 2 favorite coasters r there. Nitro and El Toro. Now since I have read a lot of good things about SFGA I will one day go back but ride wise I would say I like SFGA more. I wasnt impressed with any ride at CP but Mean Streak and yes Mean Streak. Raptor wasnt as good as Alphengeist, Mantis was no where near as good as Riddler at SFMM, Iron Wolf is not as good as BBW at Busch, Millenium wasnt as good as NITRO and Magnum didnt impress me at all.

 

So SFGA hands down for me but I am a big B&M coaster fan.

 

I actually enjoyed SF Guega Lake better than Cedar Point. The Batman there and the villian were tops for me.

[Jew]

^Yes, biased. "Horrible operations"??? Compared to who? Disney and Universal charge significantly more for a day ticket - and if you are going to tell me SF has better operations than CP, I will stop right here, cause you truely are biased and delusional to belive that.

 

I don't even know how to respond to that. I'm biased for having a HORRIBLE day at Cedar Point? I hate to burst your bubble, but I am not biased at all. Biased for comparing it to Universal and Disney? The trip cost me as much as a trip to Universal or Disney would (actually a lot more if you count my local Universal and Disney parks in So Cal), so from my point of view it is a fair comparison. I flew from LA to Detroit, drove from Detroit to CP, paid for a night at a hotel, etc...only to get 4 credits in 6 hours due to their horrible policies and the employees didn't seem to care. I couldn't even find a supervisor anywhere. Then once the weather cleared up, the only crew hauling ass was Raptor. No other crew was going any better or worse than what I have found at Six Flags Parks. I was also left in the Mantis queue for 45 minutes with no spiel or any employee talking to us as they redid their block check (and got blown off when I called customer service while waiting in line), had to wait 10 minutes with nobody in line to get my pass processed because the girls in there were gossiping, had a food employee who could barely speak english try to charge me $300 for an energy drink and churro...so forgive me if I was less than impressed. Their horrible operations also cost me a trip to Geuga Lake, as I needed to stay that second day to get my credits.

 

In fact, in another cross country trip last season...I went to two Six Flags parks (SFA and SFGADv) and had no problems at all. Got all my credits that were open at both parks, used the child switch program with no hassles, and was even able to enjoy all the big coasters multiple times thanks to Q-bot.

 

So yes, in my experience, SF parks were much better than CP last season.

 

The policies may have changed now, but that visit from last season is/was my only impression of the park. And it was a HORRIBLE visit.

[ginzo]

Their horrible operations also cost me a trip to Geuga Lake, as I needed to stay that second day to get my credits.

 

Apart from the lost credits, they were probably doing you a favor there.

[FeelTheFORCE]

I have only been to Cedar Point, I am going to GADV for the first time in a few weeks, but from what I hear, GADV has the better coaster selection, but no flat rides. So it really depends on what your preferences are. If you like the more all-around park, Cedar Point, but if you like great quality coasters, GADV.

[Erik Johnson]

CEDAR POINT HAS CHANGED THEIR RAIN POLICIES!!!

Jesus, people. I swear... the park did something last year that got all of your panties in a twist and you still can't stop going on about it even though that policy now no longer exists... I'm sorry that rain ruined all of your guys' trips last year on the Midwest tour, but the park did what it did and they learned from their mistake. Get over it. Coasters remain open in the rain now (except the ones that closed for rain before last year's idiotic policies).

 

You really can't expect to ask this question on this site and get an unbiased answer. Half of everyone here has some strange anti-CP thing going on. If you asked the same question over at Pointbuzz, it would be the complete opposite. Try to ignore what everyone here has said and just go where you want to go the most.

 

I would not say that the rain ruined our CP visit during the Midwest Tour. Sure it was annoying that we could not ride much of anything until the early afternoon, but we all did get all the credits we wanted in the remaining day and a half. Actually one of the highlights of the trip was hanging out at TGIF's with people while waiting for the rain to stop. I had a great time at CP during our visit, I just overall like SFGadv better.

[Erik Johnson]

Well when I went to SFGA in 2006, It was the worse park I had ever visited

 

They started to really turn the park around in 2007. I had an awesome visit to the park a few weeks ago.

[mateony]

I don't care what the website says, as it also still states that alcohol is not permitted in line, which is another policy change from last year.

You can drink in the queue now? HOLLA!

[sam06pr]

I would go to great adventure. I felt that CP was a bit overrated, their rides were fun but not that great. I like SFGAdv atmosphere better. And I loved KK area where they had the tiger enclosures.

I thought Nitro was fun with lots of airtime. MF and magnum are ok rides

I enjoyed Medusa a lot and Great American Scream Machine despite the roughness.

The employees at SFGAdv were way much better than CP.

[lil jimmy norton]

I will try and not be byest. I love GADV, I just came home a little while ago from a great visit, even in the rain. El Toro is my favorite wood and overall, and Maverick is my favorite steel. I had so much fun at CP last summer, the whole weekend was a blast. While both parks have their employees that don't seem to care, they also have their employees that do care and are willing to help you out. So I guess for me its a coin flip.

[Airtime&Gravity]

Having been to both parks, I can say that SFGADV is the better choice. While CP is a good park, it is not as good as it is hyped up to be. Sure it has the most coasters, but they aren't that special. Sure they are fun, but they don't live up to their hype. While CP also has a decent flat ride collection, it is just your standard park rides with nothing that is unique.

 

While some of what I said could be applied to SFGADV, it is still the better park. The staff is great, and the park is really well run. The coasters are fun, and in designs shared with CP, SFGADV wins in most cases. SFGADV also has a decent flat ride selection, but like CP, there is nothing that special about it. SFGADV also has a superior water park, and an animal safari, so when you are done with the ride park, there is still a lot to do. SFGADV also has Q-bot, so you'll still be able to ride a lot even on a crowded day. Plus SFGADV has El Toro which is a good enough reason to visit.

[HerBlackWings]

Regarding Breakers cleanliness...(during the Midwest tour) someone took a dump on the floor in the men's room. I have pics.

 

SRSLY. Ask Casey.

[packfanlv]

I visited both of these parks for the 1st time last year. For me, SFGAdv is the better of the two parks. While I enjoy both of them, the combination of Kingda Ka, El Toro, Nitro & Medusa along with rides like the parachute and Houdini (I know its closed this season) push SFGAdv over the top.

 

I also think with Wiggle's World and new coasters like The Dark Knight, SFGAdv is a better rounded family park. I know the kids section in CP got a makeover this year, but it really stunk when I was there. With that said there is only one park where I can ride 17 coasters in one day. (And I did!)

 

IMO SFGAdv is the best Six Flags park and the little touches like the theming in the newer areas (tigers) adds to its charm as well. If I had to rank coasters in the parks here would be my top 5.

 

1. El Toro

2. Maverick

3. Nitro

4. Millenium Force

5. Kingda Ka/TTD (They were too similar for me)

 

BTW does anyone else think that Magnum XL is a horribly uncomfortable and painful coaster? I always see it ranked high in the polls, but I really didn't like it!

[ginzo]

BTW does anyone else think that Magnum XL is a horribly uncomfortable and painful coaster? I always see it ranked high in the polls, but I really didn't like it!

 

It is very uncomfortable, the seats are the biggest penis pinchers I've ever seen. It doesn't track well, especially at the turn around. And I think the airtime is greatly overstated. The way the seats are arranged I didn't get ejected from my seat as much as bashed in the legs by the restraints.

 

Painful? Probably not, but I do think it's a big Yugo of a coaster that should be replaced with a modern hyper coaster.

[FeelTheFORCE]

Magnum definitely needs new lap bars, probably needs a whole train rehab. The lap bars are starting to stick really bad and are getting hard to pull down when you get in, and push up when you get off. Many times during my visit on the 12th and 13th someone would get stuck in the seat because they couldn't push the lap bar up. It's still a fun ride, but it's starting to get rougher than ever.

[hemmy]

Maybe the majority of coaster enthusiasts are just brittle, because I didn't feel an ounce of pain on Magnum.

[denning]

I think the one thing that SFGAdv is doing that puts it ahead of CP is the QBot. There is no similar system at CP, and I think that's a huge error... If you have to visit a major park on a summer weekend, I know I'd choose the one that would allow me to get the most stuff done. dt

 

I like Great Adventure more for exactly the same reason. When you drive almost 10 hours for a park, spend hundreds on a hotel room and only get to go once every several years, there is nothing worse than spending your whole day in line.

 

I agree that Top Thrill may be better than Ka, but I have ridden Top Thrill once and Ka 15 times. And waited longer in line for Top Thrill then all the Ka rides combined.

 

I wish that every park had a gold qbot. Best money I ever spent.

[packfanlv]

Maybe the majority of coaster enthusiasts are just brittle, because I didn't feel an ounce of pain on Magnum.

 

I guess the other poster put it better in saying that Magnum is uncomfortable. Yes it banged my knees quite a bit and no I didn't experience much airtime. When comparing it to modern coasters like MF or SROS it just doesn't compare when it comes to comfort. Now I guess I will go drink a glass of milk to strengthen my old bones!