6/1: Maryland Coaster Tour PTR

carolinacaniac · June 5, 2008

Hey everybody!

So this is my first "official" trip report of the year. I would have liked to be able to have more posted by this time, but because of certain things that have come about, I had to nix many of the plans I made for different parks because of different reasons ranging from having to pay for Summer Classes out of pocket to the stress from work and class causing me to feel a bit depressed. But now that we have more or less gotten those issues out of the way, it was time to go out for a day. Originally I was only going to do Six Flags America, but then I randomly decided I was going to do the Credit Whore bit and stop by Adventure Park USA and Planet Fun for their two coasters before going to SFA.

Adventure Park USA

I arrived to the place just before opening around 10, and took a little time to wonder around. I have to say that the "themeing" of the place is actually really good for a FEC. I bought the $20 fun card that was worth about 220 credits, and tried some of the video game, one of their go-kart tracks, but most importantly, Wildcat (#150). The work that they did to the ride after removing it from Williams Grove looked really good, and the ride ran very well for my two trips on it. I must say that I was a little disapointed that it did not seem to have the same forces that Wildcat at Cedar Point has, but that could be because of its slightly smaller size. Adventure Park is definatly worth a couple hours for a visit. I would have done more while I was there, but I had other things on my agenda.

Planet Fun

Well, many of us have had our share of these Jeepers/Former Jeepers, but I have to say that of those I have been to, this was probably on the bottom of quality. Not to say that I would be an expert on these places, but just from a general outlook, it seemed run down, with broken video games all over, and equipment just sitting around. I took one ride on the Haunted Roller Coaster (#151), and I realized that for some reason I like these Python Pit clones, they are just kind of fun. Not much to say about the place as a whole though besides what was said before.

Six Flags America

This was the main reason for the trip. I had figured that since it was a Sunday, it would be like a typical slow day at SFA where many of the coasters were walk-ons............not exactly. After pulling into the parking lot around 1 in the afternoon. I found the lot to be almost pack, and walking into the gate I saw the place busier than any of my previous visits. So I figured they would have two trains on anything that they could, and that waits wouldn't be terrible...............agian, not exactly. The first ride I came to was Mind Eraser, which had a full station and extended a little into the regular queue. That was when I noticed they only had one train going, and the ride ops were taking their time. So i thought I would come back later.

I decided to try Roar, which to my delite was only a 1 or 2 train wait. I go on the front row, buckled up and ready to go, but the ride op in the control booth was d*cking around on the phone with a fellow employee at the pirate ship. Then the two ride hosts check lap bars just kind of stood there, talking to the guy on the phone, and telling him to tell the other employee "hi" and other stupid crap. Finally they checked the restraints and sent the train on its way. Needless to say, Roar is still an awesome woodie!!

At this point, I decided to see what the line for Joker's Jinx was like, to find the station full, and people in line complaining that they had been waiting for a while. So I decided it was time to eat, and dump the camera as I lost my motivation to take pictures for the day.

After a pretty good meal of orange chicken and ride at Panda Express and dropping my camera off in the car, I decided to give the Flash Passes a try. I must say that getting these could very well have been what made this day still pleasant. I used the five passes for Batwing (still a fun ride), Superman (I had some FREAKING AMAZING AIRTIME on this day), Mind Eraser (Not much head bashing, but rather spine altering), Joker's Jixnx (still an awesome ride), and Skull Mountain (Which was off and on most of the day, but I thought I would take advantage of the pass while it was working). Without the flash passes, I had another ride on Superman and Roar, as well as a ride each on Wild One and Shipwreck Falls.

To sum up my day at SFA, I would have to say that Flah Passes really do make a difference. I think the biggest thing that got on my nerves was the apparent lack of effort in operations in some cases, like the earlier mentioned roar incident, as well as Superman and Mind Eraser only running one train each (Superman's other train was MIA). I have read about the improvements going on at other parks in the chain, and wonder why the same effort hasn't been put forth at this park. I will say that I hope that the improvements going on at other Six Flags parks will eventually find its way to SFA.

Thanks for reading! I will try to get the pictures up soon.

June 5, 2008

Melissa and I did this same trip a few weeks back, but reversed. We started at SFA, but didn't get there until around 1:30 ish. We thought the sme of Adventure Park, but only had time to get the credit and food. Very nice place with friendly staff. Plant Fun was a dump, like you said, and I thought the coaster to be a bit painful. I will post my pictures after you get to, so as not to steal your thunder.

SFAfan#1 · June 5, 2008

Nice trip report. I'm guessing SFA is getting more crowded because of the high gas prices and nobody goes away for the weekend anymore. Next time try to get there alot earlier. Can't wait to see the pics

And ever since I was young, Planet Fun (Jeepers back then) has always been a dump. I thought it was the best place in the world when I was 5, but when I saw pics of that place back then, it was trashy and crowded, and don't mention tiny.

carolinacaniac · June 5, 2008

^SFAfan:

While I could see that getting to the park earlier may have ment a few extra rides before the lines got backed up, I still think that the operations were less than what I hoped for. I wouldn't call the day a complete loss though, for all the coasters (Minus Mind Eraser) made for good rides on Sunday.

^^Frissbeking:

It's funny, my wife's name is Melissa too. I would say that I wish I had more time for Adventure Park than what I had planned. I originally thought that this visit would be a one time deal to get the credit, but after thinking about it, I think this is a place I would like to come back to again when the opportunity arises. Planet Fun on the other hand, I could do without a return visit.

Now that I have had the chance to transfer the pictures from the camera to the computer, I have them here for your viewing pleasure! Sorry for the lack of SFA pictures, but as mentioned in my earlier post, I put the camera away after a while, but I hope you enjoy what I have!

-Gary

Because of lines like these that take twice or three times as long at SFA than they do at most other parks. Oh well, it still turned out to be a decent day with the use of flash passes. Hope you all enjoyed the pics!

"Hey Gary!!!!!! Why So Serious?!?!?!?!"

Well this was to be expected, although I was surprised later in the day when they actually had it running, so I nabbed a ride and thought it was pretty fun.