Photo TR: Six Flags Extravaganza!

[printersdevil78]

After the Behemoth/Ravine Flyer Trip opened my eyes to the world of lumber and speed, I just couldn't get enough wooden coasters! I spent the next day at Knoebels, contemplated buying a full-day ticket to Hershey Park for a 45-minute window I had the day after just to get my fix (I didn't do it--but I was a little sad about it) and ultimately ended up driving two and a half hours after work that Thursday, the one-week anniversary of the trip's end, to Six Flags America to cram in two hours of woodie goodness.

 

I figured out in the end that it was actually more beneficial to go ahead and purchase an SF season pass, which would get me into Six Flags Great Adventure that Sunday. Then five days later, I met up with a very special guest at some non-Six Flags parks near my hometown. And this weekend I'm driving nine hours to Hard Rock Park for one final woodie blowout on Life in the Fast Lane, giving up my last completely free weekend until after Thanksgiving (and one of the only two until after Christmas).

 

It's no longer a hobby. Or even a lifestyle. It's an obsession!

And remember that special guest from five days later that I mentioned in the introduction (you did read the introduction, didn't you?). Well here he is: It's Big Mike, who joined me on the Wacky Worm at Baja Amusements in Ocean City, MD!

 

Actually, we toured three parks in the greater Ocean City area... but he took more than enough photos for both of us, so this was the only one I managed. Keep an eye on the Big Mike Road Show thread for updates on our Wacky (Worm) adventures!*

 

*This message neither paid for nor endorsed by Big Mike Enterprises.

Will do!

I thoroughly enjoy the fact that Six Flags' own graphics design people put the company logo in the garbage on every trashcan and T-shirt.

...and a graveyard. Apparently they were already starting to set up for this year's Halloween event.

...Daffy Duck...

...a barbershop with poor business practices...

...and an Italian castle (wonder if they use DelGrosso's sauce)...

Even when I wasn't riding things at SFGAd, I got to see some neat stuff. Like a tiger...

But grinding's OK, right?

This flag in the simulator's sparsely decorated que area (in fact this flag was the ONLY decoration in the que area) should have offered an early hint that this ride was going to be a flop. Count the stars; there are only 48. The film (and ride) are set in 1969, a full decade after the last 48-star American flag was produced. R&D=fail.

This would be the second and last ride my sister rode at Six Flags, the park's new simulator based on a movie that hadn't even come out yet when we rode it. It was horrible in that it didn't actually simulate anything, but instead just showed some film clips (presumably taken directly from the movie) and jiggled the seats a little.

 

Simulator designers, I implore you: If you're going to go through all the trouble of making these things, make them from the audience's POV. That's the ONLY way they work. See Soarin' Over California, Shrek 4-D and Corkscrew Hill for examples.

It was cool, however, to see a working parachute ride. Not many of these left, at least not at the parks I've visited.

Boy, the U.S. military budget must be WAY down if they're sending troops to train at Six Flags!

My side lost

However, I did ride Rolling Thunder, in all its rough woodie racing glory!

And if I wouldn't ride GASM, what do you think are the odds I rode Kingda Ka?

I also didn't ride GASM. Because I'm a sane person. And not a credit whore. Most of the time.

El Toro is... OK, I admit it. I didn't actually ride El Toro. Because the line was and hour and a half long, and I felt bad leaving my sister (who normally won't ride anything faster than It's a Small World) sitting alone on a bench for that long. But I'll get you next year, El Toro! *Shakes fist* Next year!

I touched El Toro, and I could hear again from my deaf ear!

I would trade my first-born child (if ever I have a first-born child) for one more ride on El Toro!

God Himself couldn't have made a coaster any more impressive than this!

This coaster is simply amazing!

Because they're all over here, Pepe!

"I cannot understand vhy ze crowds, zey are nowhere near me."

Oh, come on. How much did Warner Bros. have to pay the U.S. Department of the Interior to have a whole park named after Bugs Bunny?

Our time in Frontier Adventures ended happily.

Next it was time for a little credit whoring. And I'd like to give a shout out to the entire population of Guadalajara, Mexico, which cut in front of me in line for this ride.

Like most sawmills, this one had a flume and a restaurant.

I'm not sure why, but my Gotham City Rail car apparently took me all the way to the old west. At least that's the impression I get from that giant covered wagon....

OK, now where were we? Oh yes, waiting in line for 45 minutes (that short only because I got there within an hour of park opening) to catch the Gotham City Rail out of town.

 

Those who are in the know already know this facade houses SFGAd's newest ride, The Dark Knight. You also know it's been heavily panned, not least of all on these boards. Well you know, I liked it. No, it wasn't all thrills and spills... but the theming was extraordinary. Unlike most coasters, it had a storyline, which I really enjoyed. And thanks to the theming (like the "City at War" newspaper posted out front), I could easily follow it without having seen the movie.

 

I call it a success and would have ridden it again later in the day if the line hadn't been 90 minutes by then.

And again!

And there he is again!

Oh, THERE he is!

Apparently that's all it takes to get a star on the Gotham City Walk of Fame (coincidentally, his is the ONLY star on the Gotham City Walk of Fame). And where's Superman while all this is going on, anyway?

OK, so the Joker's on the loose, Gotham City is at war, and Batman is too busy posing for pictures with Wonder Woman to do anything about it? Just checking.

...Hawkgirl and The Flash are busy posing for pictures. (Again, Hawkgirl, really? They couldn't have spent that money on the Green Arrow? Or if they needed a female superhero, Super Girl?)

Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice...

The Joker's on the loose! And he looks nothing like Heath Ledger. Which kind of makes one wonder why they're still using the traditional Joker walk-around character instead of switching to the new movie version.

 

Even more puzzling, why have a walk-around character of Captain Cold? Only die-hard comic book geeks like me are going to know who he is (The Flash's archenemy). Shouldn't they have spent that money and licensing fee on someone the general public actually may have heard of? Like the Penguin? Or Catwoman? Or Lex Luthor?

Oh, THAT'S why!

 

Fun fact: The front page of this newspaper, on display at The Dark Knight ride, was actually printed and distributed as a four-page paper to help promote the movie. This and several other issues were also distributed online as part of the film's virtual marketing campaign. How's that for synergy?

There seemed to be lots of places for sale and lease in Gotham City. I wonder why.

And while I have absolutely no clue what this was supposed to be, it sure was cool!

I wasn't sure if this was part of the theming or just Jersey being Jersey.

Behold Batman: The Ride.

The theming in Movietown was just awesome! Though I don't understand why they just don't rename the whole area "Gotham City" and get it over with.

Noted!

So then we saw the Batmobile. Which just standing still and roped off was about a thousand times cooler than Skull Mountain.

Should say, "Danger: This ride represents 15 minutes of your life you will never, ever get back. The pumpkin said so."

Skull Mountain's track layout reminded me a lot of one of the other family coasters, Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train.

This coaster has such a cool name! And it's in this really cool building! And it has a really, really cool que! And then it sucks. It totally, totally sucks. It's a family coaster (if that). In a box. With one over-sized cartoon skeleton/scarecrow thing. And a neon pumpkin. Yes, a pumpkin. W... T... F..?

 

You East Coast-trippers ALL know what I'm talking about.

First coaster of the day: Skull Mountain.

People also looked like ants from the Big Wheel. Probably. I didn't ride it.

Look up, you people-looking ants! Look at me or I will crush you!

This is where the sky ride cars live.

I love World's Fairs. And of all the World's Fairs, the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair, though illegitimate, was probably the grandest of them all. So yeah, we rode the sky ride. In fact, it was one of the only two rides my sister (who went with me on the "free guest" coupon I received with my season pass) rode the entire day.

Um, is that boat jumping, or did they just forget to add dye to the water?

Dolphins live here!

I wonder how far Concord is from Lennoxford.

A fountain in the entry plaza? How quaint!

Hi, Mr. Wiggle!

But someone should really tell the Road Runner that his tail is dead.

And I guess Wile E. Coyote is acceptable.

OK, the Daffy Duck topiary is approved.

That's a little better....

Bugs Bunny greets visitors at the gate. At least I think it's supposed to be Bugs Bunny....

Three days later, it was on to SFGAd.

We see you and your Halfpipe, Tony Hawk!

Roar!

Six Flags quality, baby!

As woodies go, Roar was a lot more fun than Wild One. It had a lot to do with its crew. Wild One's ops had what I came to discover was the typical SFA "Please shoot me now" attitude (and I stood in line with several guests who I suspect would have, given the opportunity). Roar's ops were high-fiving riders, cracking jokes over the PA system and generally having an infectiously good time.

"If I was open, I'd be vomiting boats about now!"

Dead men tell no tales!

Should we open "Two-Face" today? *Flips coin* Nope!

But screw that, I got my woodie fix!

It opened as the Giant Coaster at Massachusetts' Paragon Park in 1917.

This was the main reason for my 150-minute drive: the historic Wild One, highly recommended by wooddragon1988 during the Behemoth/Flyer trip.

My favorite WTF part of this park (and there were many) was how they obviously strove to make it as authentically colonial as possible within a theme park setting... and then piped in hip-hop music throughout the colonial Main Street. Even more juxtaposing was that the rest of the park was bathed in all the greatest hits of the 1970s (go Donnie and Marie!).

I fought a tough work day, killer storms and rush-hour traffic to get here... but I finally made it to Six Flags America!

[Jcoaster]

Did you ride Nitro? And you should have given GASM a try, its not that bad if you ride with your head back.