Six Flags New England (SFNE) Discussion Thread

[Superbatboy]

That birthday cake funnel cake looks delectable! Nice pics!!

[coasterkid124]

Any chance they deliver?

 

That funnel cake looks delicious

[coasterbill]

Thunderbolt is a really underrated ride. Despite what some people have stated I've always had butter smooth rides on it in every seat since I started visiting this park almost 20 years ago. Kudos to Six Flags for actually giving a crap about taking care of it. It's not that big, it's not that fast, it doesn't have much airtime but it's an incredibly fun ride and always has been.

[Sluggo77]

Thunderbolt is a really underrated ride. Despite what some people have stated I've always had butter smooth rides on it in every seat since I started visiting this park almost 20 years ago. Kudos to Six Flags for actually giving a crap about taking care of it. It's not that big, it's not that fast, it doesn't have much airtime but it's an incredibly fun ride and always has been.

 

Well stated!

[Sluggo77]

That birthday cake funnel cake looks delectable! Nice pics!!

 

Thanks it was a fun day taking them.

[Vonni]

Well, that was an awesome report Sluggo77! Thank you for sharing!

[Sluggo77]

Well, that was an awesome report Sluggo77! Thank you for sharing!

 

Thanks!

[robbalvey]

Do we have anyone that would be interested in covering the Fright Fest media event for TPR on Sept 25th? If so please email robbalvey@themeparkreview.com

 

When you email us, please give us at least a little bit of information as to who you are. Thanks.

Edited September 16, 2016 by robbalvey

[BoulderDash]

Well, looks like SWF won't be relocated!

 

[Vonni]

^ Oh wow, I'm actually really surprised by that

[xVicesAndVirtues]

^^I was kind of thinking maybe they'd store it for a year then send it somewhere like Great Escape. But I suppose maybe it's seen it's day.

[coasterbill]

It brings joy to my heart to see this ugly and stupid piece of sh*t ride being demolished.

[I<3RMC]

SFNE's Fright Fest Media Event!

 

This past weekend was the opening weekend for haunts throughout the country, and Six Flags New England is in on the action. Yesterday, Sunday September 25th, was the media event and TPR was there to see all they had to offer!

 

Some quick details about the event before I get into the details about yesterday's event. SFNE's is open on weekends with Fright Fest and the park's season running until October 30th. With all of the regular roller coaster running, Fright Fest brings nine "Monstertainment" shows to the park along with free "Haunt Zones" scattered around. There are five Premium Haunted Houses for this years event, the new Psycho-Path Haunted Asylum, and returning haunts including: The Aftermath: Zombie's Revenge, Midnight Mansion, Wicked Woods, and Slasher Circus 3D.

 

Here you can get an idea of what to expect from Slasher Circus 3D! I will talk more about their haunted houses in subsequent posts, but know that this attraction is entirely different when experienced in person with the 3D glasses on.

 

Below are pictures from the day. Enjoy!

Found the entrance and was greeted by a lovely ghoul and his entourage of Six Flags employees checking guests in for the event. Thanks Jennifer!

I wonder what he uses that respirator for

Year round screaming on the Scream Tower. The Emporium is the sight of "The Awakening" that kicks off the haunting each night

It's alive!!!! Many photo opportunities for guests were setup throughout the park

Hmmmmm tough choice here on which coaster to ride first. Can you guess which one I chose?

Outside of the Haunt Zone "Undead Alley" this truck is animated in all sorts of ways after dark

Walked by Mayhem Mission: Ghoulish Gameshow during the day

Four of the five haunted houses are down in the Rivers Edge Picnic Area. We will be back later for food and screams!

Where is Superman's VR Headset?

VR really does slow down the boarding process, and having to wait upwards of five minutes here in the sun was a little uncomfortable

Still, it does not change the fact that this coaster is awesome! Shout out to the couple in the front row ready for their close ups

Speaking of close ups

Ummmm.... Is this what they call "Cross Brand Promotion?"

I wonder if that water tastes like cherries

Poor Butch

A number of their flat rides received minor face lifts for the Halloween season. Here the bumper cars have plenty of neon paint that looked great under the blacklights

For those who guessed "Wicked Cyclone" earlier, you are correct! WC popped my RMC cherry and it is one fast ride!

Wicked Cyclone is smooth and relentlessly fast!

Rivers Edge is a beautiful area of the park! Picturesque New England woods along the Connecticut River. I really have to appreciate the use this area receives, especially with two of the haunted houses! More on that to come

Wouldn't be a proper event without buffet food and an open bar. YUM!

Here's Mort, the local used coffin salesman! He'll give you a great deal and even has his own show repeating during the night

Mayor Slayer himself! The Awakening ceremony has some great lines and an awesome moment when the hordes of monsters come running through the crowd!!

I see you

With the Awakening over the fun for the night can begin! Next up we will check out all of the haunted houses

[I<3RMC]

Time for the Haunted Houses!

First house of the night was Midnight Mansion. Guests are invited to celebrate the life, and death, of the murdered owner

After being welcomed into the house you are asked to pay your respects to the gracious host

After a brief stint inside, we make a visit to the backyard. Those shovels are loud on the pavement!!

Pick a door, any door. 13131313

Nice stuffed animal collection you have there. Neon and blacklights are put to good use here and in Slasher Circus

I've stabbed myself and I can't get up

Me: "What's on the menu tonight?" Butcher: "You!"

He hasn't washed his hair in two weeks, dedicated to the cause of scaring guests!

Back at Rivers Edge Picnic Area for the newest haunted house, Psycho-Path Haunted Asylum. Guests are grouped up into parties and travel through the house with a smart flashlight and a rope. The flashlight switches modes depending on the part of the house guests are in

Unsure if the medicine administered or the strobe light gave this haunt their siezure

Shhhhh just sleep, it will all be okay

I believe this clown received that lovely facial reconstruction right next door from the Haunted Asylum's Doctor

Like in the Midnight Mansion, Slasher Circus has an introduction portion of the house to prepare you for the horrors within

Would you like to play a game?

All of the sets and lights within this house are designed to disorient and confuse! This clown has a green light that, combined with the 3D glasses, will obscure your vision as you search frantically for the exit

Did you bring your hiking boots? Too bad solider, you've got a zombie problem to take care of!

The Aftermath takes you through the woods on property at SFNE. This and the Wicked Woods were fan favorites with everyone we spoke to

While this trail map is posted it won't help you fend off the zombies

"I'm here to help make sure you make it through these woods alive"

"mmhh redneck brains" welp there goes our guide

No need to break trail or set up camp, its already been done! Nothing but five star service at Camp Killya

Officer Smokey the Bear here to say "If you see green goo, don't drink it. It'll turn you into a zombie."

Plenty to see outside in the woods

Fog is put to good use as there may or may not be something hiding within this tunnel

Wicked Woods is the only haunted house that has a sponsor. I will leave this house unspoiled as there are certain elements and surprises that you have to experience in person!

[coasterbill]

While I've always found the mazes at this park to be complete sh*t, I'm really glad that Total Darkness is gone because that was the biggest pile of sh*t of any of them.

[I<3RMC]

Trip Report Write Up

 

My friend and I arrived at the park just before 3 pm on Sunday afternoon. Fall is finally here in New England and it was a beautifully clear day with a high of 66. We parked at the preferred lot by the entrance and then checked-in and received our "VIP Guest" badges.

 

Now prior to this trip I have only been to Six Flags New England once, back in September 2013. Then Superman was still Bizarro and Cyclone was yet to become Wicked. Besides SFNE, I have only been to two other Six Flags parks although they are no longer owned by Six Flags (Darien Lake and Elitch Gardens). Like most, I'm a big fan of Disney. (Land>>>>World ).

 

Entering the park was a breeze as it was mid-afternoon and we were greeting by the carousel and an arch letting us know we were passing into the "Graveyard." From here and throughout the park there are the usual Halloween decorations, including carved pumpkins, gravestones, headless hunch-men, cobwebs (both real and fake), coffins, zombies, fog machines, bloodied trucks, animated ghoulish looking things and more. Since most of the fun wasn't starting until 6 pm, we headed to Wicked Cyclone to get some rides in.

 

Thanks to the VIP badges we had, we were able to walk right up to the exit gate of each ride and got to choose our seats. This treatment was the best at WC because the attendants let us on the next empty train. While Wicked Cyclone is not the tallest or the fastest of RMC's installations, it is still an incredibly fun roller coaster. To be clear, besides that one time I was standing outside of Neiman Marcus on the edge of a Texas Quarry to catch of glimpse of red topper tracks under construction, this is my first time up close and personal with a RMC machine. During our six hours at the park we rode WC four times, once in the front row and three times in the back. I preferred the back for as soon as you crest the lift to the brake run you are floating between your harness and your seat. The hangtime on these barrel rolls are unreal, the pop that first drop gives you in the back is impressive and the smoothness of the whole experience is only matched (again in my experience) by a B&M.

 

We then moved to ride Thunderbolt, if only out of respect for history. Its almost as slow to load each train as Superman with VR and is more bumpy than trying to ride a unicycle over cobblestones. But it is the oldest roller coaster on Six Flags property so it is worth a ride.

 

We then headed down to the river to ride Superman and attempt to figure out the hype surrounding Virtual Reality on a roller coaster. Personally, I was very skeptical of the benefit wearing a headset while riding a roller coaster. I do have some experience with this technology as I "own" google cardboard and I have demo'd both of the high end headsets on the market, the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive. Those expensive headsets are very cool, and while the cell phone VR headsets do mimic this experience it is limited in its quality.

 

First we got a baseline for the ride by going without the headsets. Thanks again to the VIP badge, we only waited two minutes before taking our seats. Everyone else waited upwards of an hour and a half and the queue was rather empty. This ride is great, and the beautiful views it offers of Western Massachusetts and Northern Connecticut really add to it all.

 

Superman VR uses a Samsung Galaxy S6 as its screen and when we rode with VR it took over five minutes to load the whole train with only half of the train taking headsets. Both my friend and I experience blurriness, even after adjusting the lenses. In the row behind us, the couple who waited in the regular line actually returned their headsets due to their perception of the quality. The blurriness ended up being a minor issue for me, as I found when the ride was in motion and I was moving my head the image was mostly clear. Speaking of the movement, it is very smooth and tracks your head very closely even as the train is flying down the track. VR is honestly a lot of fun to experience while riding a world class coaster. I sat with the headset on for five minutes and practically forgot where I was sitting by the time the train started up the lift hill. I knew in my head what to expect in terms of the forces of the ride, but with the surreal action in front of my eyes really distracts from that knowledge leaving it to become a surprise. I may be mistaken, but the visual experience within the headset is tracked to the rides course for all but the long left turn and crest before the final tunnel. During this section the ride is moving through one of the most tame elements, but in the VR experience you see, and to some degree feel, your world tumble through a barrel roll. With this disconnect between the actual forces and the visual element, it was the only time I "got lost" as to what point in the ride I was on. Overall I am now convinced that VR is not a gimmick on roller coasters and does distinctly change the experience of the ride. As the quality of the headsets increases the VR element will add more value so to speak. That being said, I still felt as though I needed to wash my face after wearing the headset and do enjoy seeing the speed of the ride along with feeling it.

 

By the time we got rides in, it was time for food! Now this being only my second time visiting SFNE, I had not been to Rivers Edge picnic area before. Now this is where four of the five haunted houses are and was also the location of the buffet for the Media event. The food was good and I enjoyed the parmesan chicken with clam chowder. They also had an open bar which is never a bad thing. This area is beautiful and separate from the main area of the theme park. Now that we had food in our bellies it was time to watch the opening ceremony for the evenings haunts.

 

We arrived to find plenty of security and the character Mort counting down to The Awakenings start time at 6 pm while keeping the crowd entertained. Mort is a use coffin salesman with his own show, but here was his chance to launch his campaign for mayor against the incumbent Mayor Slayer. With comments such as "I don't build walls, I tear them down!" and "I don't delete emails, I send SPAM!" he was a great way to make sure people walking by understood why people were crowding this area of the park.

 

The Awakening has Mayor Slayer being brought to the stage in the back of a hearse where he proceeds to welcome all of the ghouls, zombies and monsters to come out. It really is a fun moment when all of these actors come running from all sides through the crowd to scare the guests. It was really chaotic and between the actors and the guests lots of people were running and screaming!

 

Now at this point I had taken plenty of pictures and used my phone to the point where it was dead. But it was already after six and the park no longer allowed reentry!! No problem, we had Patrick from security to ensure that I could get my portable battery from the car (along with my jacket brrrr) to keep updating the outside world to each minute of my life.

 

After making sure we were ready for the night we headed towards Midnight Mansion. This house actually opens at 4 pm and is the most tame out of the five houses. Entering into the house in groups of 5-7, we are greeted and told the rules about not touching the actors or sets then screamed at to leave and enter the house. Quickly you are asked to pay your respects to the deceased owner of the estate as you pass by his coffin. The path then goes through a portrait hallway, quickly out into the graveyard in the back and then back inside. My favorite scenes here were the hallways of doors, as they actors run through opening them and slamming them shut behind them, along with the butchers room with some gruesome meat hanging everywhere. MM is fairly standard and really the tamest experience.

 

Heading back to Rivers Edge, we went for the other two inside houses as we waited for the sky to go fully dark. Both Psycho-Path Haunted Asylum and Slasher Circus 3D are housed under the same roof, which is used normally for open air picnic tables. Equal in size, they wind through temporary plywood structures painted black.

 

First was Psycho-Path Haunted Asylum. Here, like the rest of the houses, guests are grouped up into parties. PPHA is unique here as the leader is handed a flashlight attached to a rope which they ask you to hold. The flashlight is rather dim, but it does change colors between white, red and green along with modes where it flashes or switches off in a dark hallway before a strobe light on the wall goes off. While the smart flashlight was cool, it was really only experienced by those in the front. The rope led to PPHA being the only Conga line experience of SFNE's Fright Fest.

 

Once we exited the Asylum, we headed right next door to Slasher Circus 3D. Like their other indoor houses, this experience includes the standard jump scares. What is nice about this house is the effects. Its very colorful and has a whimsical feel. Here is the video again showing this house. It was filmed just before the park closed at 9 pm and I think I was the first person to walk through the house in a while. I also think a couple of their actors went home as I tried to film walls where I knew actors would pop out of and scream.

 

 

Finally came the two outdoor "houses."

 

The Aftermath: Zombie's Revenge is a tour through the scenic backwoods of a wilderness park that has been invaded by zombies. Like I mentioned earlier, the Rivers Edge area is very scenic and although it is dark out it is nice to take a stroll through the wood and be chased by zombies. Here, the open spaces allow for more story telling. First you are greeted by a weapon outfitter who gets attacked by a roaming zombie at full speed. You continue along and meet deranged survivors and redneck zombies. Between the design of the sets and the way you are quite literally left in the dark as to where the next zombie will attack you from, this was my personal favorite house. That might also be the outdoor junkie in my speaking.

 

The last house is Wicked Woods. This seemed to be their "premiere" haunt, and it also has a corporate sponsor. I can spoil some of the key elements of the experience if there is interest, but know that this was the only house that actually surprised me. It takes a lot to make me even flinch (running up to my face and screaming definitely does not), but this house had two moments that caught me off guard and it was a lot of fun because of that!

 

With that I can conclude my first trip report for TPR! It was an awesome time and I have to give big thanks to Robb for making it happen! I've been following the craziness of this site for years and now I finally had my opportunity to participate!

 

Until next time!

 

Finally, there are the two outdoor

Beautiful both to ride and to look at

Thank you and goodnight SFNE!

Here is the Fright Fest guide with general information and the show schedule

Other side with the map showing where each show and house is located

[cfc]

The world's most terrifying candy bar!

 

[coneyislandchris]

The world's most terrifying candy bar!

Which of the three Musketeers would that be? Athos, Porthos, or Zombos?

[JordyC]

The world's most terrifying candy bar!

Which of the three Musketeers would that be? Athos, Porthos, or Zombos?

 

I see what you did there

[BoulderDash]

Went to the park for a quick visit today pretty much just for food, but managed to get a ride in on Superman. Got there around 3 and the cars were already in the overflow lot. lol

 

Here is some great news.. VR is done on Superman! 3 out of the 4 boxes they put on cars 3 and 7 on each train were removed. Should have ditched it sooner. My guess is they are moving it to Mind Eraser for next year, which I have heard is indeed the case.

 

The operator was also announcing that they need to send the train within 60 seconds to get people hustling. Awesome job SFNE. I rode once in the front on the red train and it was fantastic.

 

Splash Water Falls is pretty much gone besides a small piece of the station building. Looks like they may be keeping it.

 

I didn't go down to Cyclone but the app said the line was 85 mins. Superman was about an hour for the front row. Goliath still has two seats in the front row out of commission. That train is a complete disaster.

[Brassinthegrass]

At the park now, slightly windy but everything is running!

 

In line for wicked cyclone the person behind me wanted his friends to know that " if you sit in the front row you will get unadulterated views". Smh some people should have their college degree is taken away from them...

[Sportsdude360]

Have yall gotten any Joker 4D track yet at SFNE? I ask because here at SFOT our parking lot is full of the stuff.

[Superbatboy]

Have yall gotten any Joker 4D track yet at SFNE? I ask because here at SFOT our parking lot is full of the stuff.

I wonder if RMC is fabricating the track one installment at a time. Possibly SFNE and SFGAM havent shipped yet.

[annatheshortest]

At the park now, slightly windy but everything is running!

 

In line for wicked cyclone the person behind me wanted his friends to know that " if you sit in the front row you will get unadulterated views". Smh some people should have their college degree is taken away from them...

 

 

Having ridden Wicked Cyclone for the first time on Sunday (October 23rd), the front seat does offer an unadulterated view of the track. And lets not even get into the air time the front seat provides compared to the back.

 

BTW where should I mail you my English Education degree to

[Canobie Coaster]

I'm at the park now and saw something I've never seen before- all 3 towers on Scream running. I was especially shocked since it's the last day of the season and not overly crowded.