Six Flags New England (SFNE) Discussion Thread

[CenturyFlyer]

I'm going next Friday and expect the crowds to be pretty bad. Looking at queue-times.com, it shows Riddler Revenge as having one of the longest lines in the park. Should I prioritize this coaster? I'm thinking of doing Superman and the wild mouse first to get a low capacity ride out of the way. Then I might hit Riddler and Joker. I'd just rather be stuck in a long line for a RMC than a SLC.

[AmyUD06]

Is Flash Pass out of the question?  You really should get a Flash Pass, at least Gold level if not Platinum.

[coasterbill]

1 hour ago, CenturyFlyer said:

I'm going next Friday and expect the crowds to be pretty bad. Looking at queue-times.com, it shows Riddler Revenge as having one of the longest lines in the park. Should I prioritize this coaster? I'm thinking of doing Superman and the wild mouse first to get a low capacity ride out of the way. Then I might hit Riddler and Joker. I'd just rather be stuck in a long line for a RMC than a SLC.

The issue with the "Get the low capacity rides out of the way" plan is that most coasters in this park have low capacity.

I don't even think there's a clear ride that you should rope drop here. I could see the argument for going left and knocking out Pandemonium and Wicked Cyclone, I could see the argument for knocking out Superman and the mouse or I could see the argument for going right and knocking out Riddler, Joker and Batman while you're over there. I could also see the argument for adding Thunderbolt to any of those plans as it runs one 24 passenger train.

No matter what you're going to wait in some painful lines.

Personally, I'd get Flash Pass but if you're not I would probably do Superman, the mouse, Ridder, Joker and Batman in that order and just suck it up hard on Pandemonium but it's not like there's any real perfect plan here.

Also, if you wait until it's too late to do Batman and people start leaving the waterpark then you're screwed. I'm looking at the waits right now and it's posting a 150 minute wait. Honestly, all of this looks awful. Get the Flash Pass.

PS: Flashback was just posting 150 also but is now down to 5.

 

[Rai Fox]

It's a good day to come by the park.  A bit of rain supposed to stop soon and...

 

[CenturyFlyer]

Does Pandemonium really have a single rider line "hidden" in the Flash Pass line? I don't mind doing that if it saves an hour of waiting, but it also sounds like something that could make you look really stupid if the operators aren't using it.

[Rai Fox]

Just a quick mini-TR; didn't have time to take a lot of pictures or anything since I was running around with a group and trying not to hold them up.

 

Just got back from the park; ended up being a pretty great day.  I went in with low expectations knowing what parks are like in general this summer, but SFNE is really doing an impressive job handling everything, and, really, hiding the worst of it.  Weather kept the crowds to a minimum at the beginning of the day, but they slowly built up to what I'd say is probably nearly normal for a sunday on another summer.  The park seemed nearly fully staffed; most of the rides had full crews, all food stands and stores were open.  Operations were decent for the most part, which is to say better than usual for a Six Flags park.  Virtually everything was open; Houdini and Tomahawk opened a bit late, but did open.  Fireball was still down; I don't think it's reopened since the storm damage, and I realize now I never checked Kontiki, but I don't remember anything else (besides Goliath) down after early afternoon.  Lines were mostly pretty tolerable; we didn't bother with Fastpass this time and had no problem getting on every major ride, multiple times when we wanted, without rushing at all.

The only real slowdowns or issues at all we ran into was Cyborg; with it being an indoor ride, the park still seems to be using COVID protocols, loading half the seats and wiping stopping to disinfect frequently.  Probably wise since there's no real airflow or sunlight in there.

Wicked Cylone gave the best rides I've ever had on it with the track wet; felt like someone strapped a rocket to the back of it.  Superman is running reasonably well; a little shuffle but not so bad; similar with batman.  Riddler is a mixed bag; it's definitely rough as hell, but I don't really find it to be too unpleasant with the new restraints, and it's absolutely hauling despite the bouncing around.  Thunderbolt...could use a bit of track work.  Supergirl isn't quite a replacement for an Enterprise if you ask me, but pretty great on its own.  Harley Quinn is still the best flat out there, if you ask me.

The new mexican stand that replaced Aztec Nachos, down by Batman, is pretty solid.  I tried the jalapeno ranch nachos and they were definitely at the upper end of what I expect at a Six Flags park; not spicy at all despite the HOT label, but quite good.  Run by an outside company, though, so not on the meal plan or eligible for any discounts, so some tradeoff compared to the old place.

Just in general, the park seems to be doing a pretty good job of hiding the issues the industry is dealing with; I really would have had a hard time seeing it as anything but an ordinary July weekend there today.  I'm impressed.

[Sluggo77]

10 hours ago, CenturyFlyer said:

Does Pandemonium really have a single rider line "hidden" in the Flash Pass line? I don't mind doing that if it saves an hour of waiting, but it also sounds like something that could make you look really stupid if the operators aren't using it.

I can say yes I’ve used it in the past. Batman too. 

[CenturyFlyer]

The highlight of my visit to SFNE was the free kiwis (sponsored by Sun Gold) outside of the entrance. It's a little hard to scan your pass with one hand while eating a kiwi with the other, but.... Six Flags 

[abovethesink]

My son and I returned to SFNE Saturday afternoon after visiting Quassy and Lake Compounce earlier in the day. We got in at maybe... 4:30? This was (I think) my sixth visit to the park. Notably it was our first since 2018 and therefore first where my son was over the 54" mark.  Our mission was to get him on the three coasters he couldn't ride last time and revisit Wicked Cyclone.

We began by marching back to Batman. I think the book is well written on this one. Decent supporting coaster, but pretty weak compared to most other B&M loopers. I will say I remember previously banging my head on the corkscrews and that didn't happen this time, so that was nice. Next we walked over to The Riddler Revenge (it hurts my soul to type that name), but my eleven year old was upset at the line and said he would rather wait for Superman if he had to wait for a long time.

So, to Superman we went. That started quick, but when we got to the station something went wrong with the blue train and there was a delay. Then they kept lapping it empty, so every other train was empty. That was unfortunate, but fine. The problem was their lack of urgency in doing so. There must be something I didn't understand about what was happening. They kept stacking the red train outside the station waiting for the empty blue train to depart for extended amounts of time. It was very strange and turned it into over a half hour wait from the point of entering the station. Then they loaded the blue train one train before we got on and it was running again the rest of the night. Maybe they were waiting for some kind of computer check each time before sending it empty each time? Anyway, we grabbed second to the back train and this ride remains an absolute powerhouse. If the lap bars weren't so painful for me on the airtime, this would probably still be in my top five. This might touch some nerves but for me this has the superior layout to even Sky Rush. But the lapbars really do hurt me a lot and prevent me from re-riding without a lengthy break, so that is a real problem I hope they address someday.

From there we hit Wicked Cyclone and this ride was just further reaffirmed as my favorite rollercoaster. I LOVE Wicked Cyclone. Everything about it is perfect. I really need to get out to more RMCs. I have only ridden Wicked Cyclone, Lightning Rod, and Jersey Devil. Well, everything is perfect about the ride experience once you are actually on it. Damn those restraints are sensitive. Dispatches on this thing are very slow and I don't think the ride ops can do much more than they already do. Still, the airtime is insane and the stalls are so much fun... I just love this ride.

After Wicked Cyclone we circled way back to Riddler and that was decent. Definitely the best SLC I have ridden thanks to the vest restraints. From there we did dinner and headed back to Superman. It was dark at this point and we waited for the front row. I had to keep my hands down on the restraint to help ease the pain in my legs, but I still loved the ride. That was truly a great ride to the point that my kid declared it his new favorite rollercoaster. That wouldn't stand by me! I led us back to Wicked Cyclone for a front row night ride to compare. Getting in line was a mini-emotional rollercoaster in itself. We walked up to the line and found it closed with the ride having broken down. My heart fell, but pretty much immediately the security guards at the entrance were radioed to open it back up. We were first back in line and first into the station. Walking onto a front row ride was very nice and it was incredible as expected. Back in the station we realized the line was still barely formed, so we circled back for a quick back row ride too. After the back row ride my son joined me in naming Wicked Cyclone his favorite ride.

At that point it was near closing and we had hitting the Sky Screamer after dark to take in the park lights on our to do list, so we ran over there before it shut down. That experience was not what I expected. I haven't been scared on a ride in ages but holy crap... 400 feet up from the highest point of land in the park, at night, pretty intense winds spinning you around, flimsly chains being the only thing holding you up, your body pretty well exposed, nothing to do but look down... my heart was racing and I was glad for the descent. I did not expect to have any reaction to being up there other than enjoying the lights!

When we got down it was 2 minutes before 9 according to my phone and my kid wanted to run over to see if Pandemonium was open. I humored him expecting it to be roped off, but it wasn't and we walked on as the last ride of the night for both us and the coaster. We sat next to each other and left the other side open for the weight imbalance and OH.MY.GOD! We spun insanely fast from the second we started down the drop to well after we stopped on the final brake run. That was completely disorienting and I was very dizzy for minutes after walking out of the park.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable nightcap at SFNE and a great day overall. I do hope the park gets something knew soon though. It could really use a launch or modern wooden roller coaster. 

 

[AmyUD06]

@abovethesinkGreat report.

A trick that I've found and thoroughly enjoy with those style of Intamin restraints (and all non-OSTR restraints, really) is sit slightly forward/elevated legs in the seat when they're checking restraints, and then once you're moving, slide back/down.  This should leave some room between your body and the restraint and prevent the issues you're experiencing.  As a bonus you also get to experience actual butt-out-of-the-seat airtime instead of simply negative Gs.

[cpfanatik77]

^^ It sounds like we basically had the same day as you last month hitting up Quassy, Compounce, and SFNE. I completely agree about Superman's restraints. The outside of my legs hurt pretty much the whole time I'm on the ride. The layout is absolutely incredible, though. If it had the T-bar restraints like every other lap bar Intamin hyper/giga I've been on, it immediately climbs near the top of my rankings. Got back to the park this summer for the 2nd time, and the first time since 2012, and man was Cyclone great! Knew it would be, but it still exceeded my expectations. The double down by the station was quite unexpected and really threw you around in the back seat. My son and I also had the weight disparity on Pandemonium and were spinning like crazy. We had a blast despite stumbling down the exit ramp.

[necoastergp]

1 hour ago, cpfanatik77 said:

^^ It sounds like we basically had the same day as you last month hitting up Quassy, Compounce, and SFNE. I completely agree about Superman's restraints. The outside of my legs hurt pretty much the whole time I'm on the ride. The layout is absolutely incredible, though. If it had the T-bar restraints like every other lap bar Intamin hyper/giga I've been on, it immediately climbs near the top of my rankings. Got back to the park this summer for the 2nd time, and the first time since 2012, and man was Cyclone great! Knew it would be, but it still exceeded my expectations. The double down by the station was quite unexpected and really threw you around in the back seat. My son and I also had the weight disparity on Pandemonium and were spinning like crazy. We had a blast despite stumbling down the exit ramp.

Superman had t bar restraints (like Millenium/dragster etc) when it opened but the state required Six Flags to remove them after an incident in the early 2000s, I forget the year exactly.

[Rai Fox]

Just got back from the first night of Fright Fest at SFNE.  A bit too tired after driving back for a long report, but...Given how difficult a year 2021 has been all around, I was pretty impressed with them.  It was basically the same event as 2019; same haunts and events, but I don't blame them for not having time to rework the event entirely; I was just grateful to be able to go at all this year.  The only significant rides not running were Fireball (still down from storm damage, I guess) and Houdini, which gets turned into a haunt for the season.  The actual haunts were staffed well enough (I know people always comment on their being few actors in them, but I really didn't get that sense at all...no worse than any other haunts I've been through), and maybe just because it's the first night, or maybe people are just eager to be able to do these things again, but the actors seemed to be getting pretty into their roles.  Ops were good; all the coasters were running with minimal stacking, apart from the occasional troublesome guest, even on WC, which is an impressive feat.  Wicked Cylone , Superman (red train) and Batman were all running great; Riddler's Revenge was...well...Riddler's Revenge.  Brisket at JB's was pretty great for Six Flags food.  The Hell's Belles show (cheesy, but I have a soft spot for it) was definitely better than 2019; new ending makes a bit more sense, and the performers were definitely better than I remember.  Crowds were very low, too; I had my skip the line passes from the VIP membership, but didn't need them for anything except Harley Quinn; every other ride was a walk-on all night; same for the haunts  I still wish they were open more than 5 hours; I could have used more time just to enjoy the atmosphere, after missing Halloween almost entirely last year, but...great start to the season.  SFNE is still doing an impressive job of keeping things mostly normal this year.

[BigJoe123]

A crane is now onsite to remove Goliath.

[AmyUD06]

It'll be interesting to see if they dismantle it with care or just chop it up.  For the sake of everyone's brains, I hope its the latter.

[swfan1988]

^Actually... for the sake of everyone wanting to experience the better version of this credit, we should all hope that they sold the parts to SW to keep Aftershock going for a few more years...minus those trains of course, we should all be pissed if we see those trains in North Idaho next year. Even just looking at them makes my head hurt....

[Zand]

So what goes in that spot? An inverted boomerang? A frisbee? A trabant? A mouse coaster?

Gotta keep the lineup fresh you know...

[thrillseeker4552]

I think an Invertigo would fit nicely in that spot.

[Zand]

They could always call Dorney...I'm sure Stinger is in pieces somewhere. If they include Demon Drop in the deal, I think it would be a positive deal for SFNE!

[Sluggo77]

Will be interesting to see since that crane doesn't look like it's nearly big enough to start to bring goliath down.  From the pictures it doesn't really look like it's setup next to it either but I'm no crane expert LOL.  

[coasterbill]

Maybe they're here to take down the Skyway towers like 5 years late? lol

[Zand]

15 minutes ago, coasterbill said:

Maybe they're here to take down the Skyway towers like 5 years late? lol

What Skyway towers? Would you happen to mean the 50 foot tall Christmas Tree poles?

[Canobie Coaster]

Over the past few days, I've noticed Six Flags scaling back their coaster offerings at a few of their parks for Holiday in the Park.  There are a few emails floating around on social media, but it looks like Thunderbolt will be the only coaster open for HITP.  It will be one of three adult rides open along with the Carousel and Scrambler.

I've always been one to drive the extra few hours in winter to Great Adventure, but I'm hoping their ride list doesn't get scaled back as well.

[Zand]

5 hours ago, Canobie Coaster said:

Over the past few days, I've noticed Six Flags scaling back their coaster offerings at a few of their parks for Holiday in the Park.  There are a few emails floating around on social media, but it looks like Thunderbolt will be the only coaster open for HITP.  It will be one of three adult rides open along with the Carousel and Scrambler.

I've always been one to drive the extra few hours in winter to Great Adventure, but I'm hoping their ride list doesn't get scaled back as well.

They could close all the rides at SFNE to better staff Great Adventure for all I care lol. 

I'll be at SFNE Sunday for closing day. Haven't been since opening day. Seems like light years ago with the Covid restrictions lol.

[Sluggo77]

18 hours ago, Canobie Coaster said:

Over the past few days, I've noticed Six Flags scaling back their coaster offerings at a few of their parks for Holiday in the Park.  There are a few emails floating around on social media, but it looks like Thunderbolt will be the only coaster open for HITP.  It will be one of three adult rides open along with the Carousel and Scrambler.

I've always been one to drive the extra few hours in winter to Great Adventure, but I'm hoping their ride list doesn't get scaled back as well.

I really hope they do add a few more rides to that list that I've seen circulating.  I know that it's a smaller event than Great Adventure's but I have enjoyed the park during this time of the year.  I thought they did a really solid job of adding the event to SFNE when they did.  I understand the scaling back just hope it's somewhere in the middle instead of cut way back.