Six Flags New England (SFNE) Discussion Thread

[Canobie Coaster]

Great reports. I don't think I'd make the trek (4+ hours) to this park with WC and Supes closed, but it looks like they put on a great event and I hope it remains successful.

 

Alternatively I am considering trying to make the trek down to your Six Flags since they have a hyper coaster open this time of year.

 

I am just hoping the event is successful enough that maybe Wicked Cyclone could be added in future years. As amazing as the views from Sky Screamer would be, I could see that being one heck of a frigid experience this time of year.

[coasterbill]

Alternatively I am considering trying to make the trek down to your Six Flags since they have a hyper coaster open this time of year.

 

Do it! Holiday in the Park at Great Adventure is f*cking fantastic.

[Canobie Coaster]

I was there last year and loved it. No ride lines (for a change at that one) and some amazing B&Ms. Only downside was that Joker was down last year.

[jray21]

The Holiday in the Park looks really good! I don't think I'll ever get out there for it, but I'd love to try some day.

[Sluggo77]

Six Flags New England held their media day for the park's first ever Holiday in the Park this past weekend and TPR was there to cover the festivities. Like other Six Flags HITP events the entire park isn’t open but a large section of it is. This includes several of the parks coasters.

 

The ones running were Batman, Flashback, Mind Eraser aka Riddler?, Joker & Thunderbolt. The Great Chase is open for the little ones or those who are all about grabbing a credit. Other thrill rides and several of the kiddie rides are also open. For me having coasters open in December in New England is enough to say sign me up!

 

However after attending SFNE’s Holiday in the Park I have to say that the coasters became an afterthought once inside. My first impression was just WOW! The park looks incredible. A ton of thought and detail has been put into all of the lighting, displays, shows and general entertainment. The first thing we did upon arrival was to go to the special media day showing of the park’s main holiday show called Frost - A Holiday Cirque Extravaganza. In a nutshell it’s basically a variety show with singing, dancing, trampolines and other Cirque type performances set to several remixed holiday tracks. It runs for approximately 30 mins non stop. Having a true show in the park was a welcomed addition. I found it very entertaining and definitely recommend checking it out.

 

Another awesome sighting was that Six Flags President & CEO, Jim Reid-Anderson, was also at the park. He was with several Six Flags employees including SFNE’s Park President John Winkler. When we exited the theater I ran into Jim. All I have to say is what a friendly and awesome guy. I didn’t want to take up to much of his time but when we started talking he just encouraged the conversation. You can see that he’s really into the parks and I enjoyed our brief conversation. I could have definitely continued on for a while.

 

After that we headed down to the park’s Kringle Way Tree, which is set up in front of Goliath, for the tree lighting ceremony. At this point you could see how well attended HITP was. After this we took our time and just walked the park taking in the sights, sounds and smells. Yup they have sections of the park with specific holiday scents!

 

This was the first time that I’ve ever gone to SFNE and rode only one ride. To boot it was Flashback, a Boomerang, which at that point had no line. Outside of that we just spent several hours walking the park and enjoyed it.

 

Just wanted to give a huge thanks to the park for inviting TPR and to Robb for having us cover it. As always the awesome Jen McGrath and the rest of the SFNE team put on a great event. I also want to again thank Mr. Jim Reid-Anderson for being so friendly and willing to chat. That’s what the holidays are supposed to be all about! Six Flags New England has another hit on their hands. I highly recommend a visit to SFNE’s Holiday in the Park.

 

Here's a bunch of photos, hopefully not overkill, of HITP. These really don't show how great the park looks.

TPR's back in Agawam

We're ready to check out SFNE's Inaugural HITP

Some cool swag handed out to the media attendees.

Here's some shots from the Frost show.

This dudes balancing act was nuts.

All sorts of crazy trampoline fun.

After the show SFNE's Communications Manager, Jen McGrath and Park President, John Winkler said a few words.

As mentioned SF's President and CEO Jim Reid-Anderson was also in attendance. Thanks again for being so awesome Jim!!!! Sorry for the poor photo quality. Not sure what happened with this one.

Lots of S'more pits throughout the park.

This is where you can meet the big man.

Here's several pics around the park.

Now we're ready for the Kringle Way Tree lighting.

So were a whole bunch of other people!

Let's light this thing!

There it is with a side of Goliath in the background.

Hi Superman. See you in April!

Pretty cool walk through ornament.

The Polar Playland area was really done up well for the kiddo's.

A little love for the last few days that Buzzsaw will be doing this.

According to the Dippin' Dots guy big changes are coming to the South End In 2018.

It's Mind Eraser

I wonder why its sign is in green ????????????????

More of Gotham's finest.

Harley Quinn will be making her debut here next year.

Some more of the festive fun.

Totally Kickin' Chicken has been converted into the Snowflake Soup Company for HITP.

Here's more views of HITP.

Good night SFNE. Absolutely loved HITP. Hope it continues to grow for years to come. For all those in the area also don't forget that on December 31st the park will be having Fireworks starting at 8:30 p.m.

Edited December 6, 2017 by Sluggo77

[coasterbill]

We're totally in this picture, but I totally can't find us. it's like Where's Waldo.

 

We were there on Saturday also, though we didn't know anything about the event and didn't participate in it at all.

 

Great report!!!!

[Canobie Coaster]

Great report! It definitely looks like a hit for the park.

[Sluggo77]

Thanks Guys! You both always add great comments and reports so I appreciate it!

[cfc]

Very nice, indeed--looks like they went all out at Six Flags New England. I especially like the walk-through ornament. Thanks for the report and the photos.

[Zachbinx113]

Awesome! Can’t believe JRA was there! Thank you for sharing!

[coasterbill]

Holiday in the Park seems to be totally crushing it, and I think a lot of the credit for that goes to New Englanders who honestly, truly give ZERO f*cks about cold weather.

 

When we were there a few weeks ago we absolutely noticed a major difference in these crowds versus the Great Adventure crowds. Generally at Great Adventure, later at night when it gets significantly colder the park clears out quickly and on colder days basically everything is a walk-on aside from Justice League. That didn't happen in New England, these people don't care. My kind of people...

 

Obviously all of the east coast parks are going to have a rough weekend and I expect many of them (including maybe this one) to close due to accumulating snowfall, but I was curious to see how they would perform on a Friday night (generally these are slow at Great Adventure) on a cold night where the temperature at park open was in the low 30's and they seem to be doing really well!

 

I figured it would be a major test for them so I decided to check in on queue times and social media to see how things are looking. It's 33 degrees and snow is on the way in a few hours. I expected the park to be dead tonight but the reports seem to say otherwise. Thunderbolt is posting at 30 minutes, every coaster (including Fireball) is posting at at least 10 (minus Flashback which is a recurring theme since nobody knows it's open) and rides like the Bumper Cars and train have reached as high as 20.

 

Is the park bursting at the seams busy? No. But there seems to be a significant crowd on a night where you wouldn't really expect one and I'm sure they're filling Rockville Theater to capacity and probably turning people away (which they were doing for every show the other night... they really need a bigger theater).

 

Also, every ride is open including Flashback which at this point seems to be a permanent part of the Holiday in the Park lineup.

 

I'm really impressed with the turnout at this event. They were slammed when we were there last weekend and people seem more than happy to flock to this event in temperatures that nobody would have ever dreamed they would even a few short years ago. The turnout tonight is a BIG DEAL for the future of this event.

[Canobie Coaster]

The more the merrier! I wonder why Flashback still isn't listed as a ride for the event yet it keeps opening.

[coasterbill]

Yeah, if they opened it at 34 degrees I'm thinking it's pretty much just open now. lol

 

What's crazy is that unlike it's counterparts there are no wheel heaters to speak of on Flashback. Apparently that ride's just a bad a**.

 

I have a weird, new-found appreciation for Flashback for some reason so I'm sort of liking this.

[steamedturtle]

I absolutely share your enthusiasm. It's so great to see Holiday in the Park on the east coast succeeding for so many reasons. It's just a win win win win win. The parks are crowded and lively, and even the worst line isn't bad at all. Hopefully they'll continue to invest in and expand this event. Obviously, riding coasters in the cold and dark is an awesome experience.

[Canobie Coaster]

By not heating the wheels, I guess it shows the 3 valleys in April probably weren't related to the cold then.

[TheDarkMaxim]

Will everything still be going in today's snow? I imagine it would make it even cooler looking.

[coasterbill]

I fully expect them to close today, though if I'm wrong and people actually show up that would be amazing.

[Sluggo77]

Anyone head to the park today? Would love to see some shots with the snow and all.

[ice1972]

Hi guys I have been a fan of TPR YouTube videos for a while and just signed up here as my interest in theme parks and especially coasters continues to grow.....we have been members now at SFNE for 2 seasons now and it has been so great to come here and be able to ride one of the truly special coasters ever built - Superman.....solid shout to Wicked Cyclone too....Inhave always loved roller coasters but there was a while there for many years I did not ride one.....then we got the SFNE membership and I’ve gotten back into it.....anyway here’s my topic.....

 

We are season pass holders and have enjoyed the inaugural Holiday in the Park here......a good portion of the park is closed - like the whole lower area where Superman is and then the north end of the park where Wicked Cyclone is - but the rest is open and they are operating Batman, Mid Eraser, Thunderbolt, and Joker......question is how the hell are they doing this when the temp was at 30 maybe a tick lower......I love all the roller coasters here and while Batman has gotten a bad rap it’s not a bad coaster IMO and I rode it 3 times tonight.....last row then front row then right in the middle.....it seemed to run fine but I was reading up on coasters in cold weather and the general theme was that under 40 the ususal practice is to close..... it was easily below freezing tonight.....as well as last Sunday night when I rode Batman twice.....I will note that Batman did speed check itself at the bottom of the dive right before the picture is taken.... so IDK, if slow speeds are a worry during cold weather Batman seemed to be going fast enough that it needed to be speed checked during the ride.....

[coasterbill]

under 40 the ususal practice is to close..... it was easily below freezing tonight

question is how the hell are they doing this when the temp was at 30 maybe a tick lower

How the hell are you using your GPS when the car is in motion? The instructions totally said not to.

 

I don't work in maintenance and don't claim to be an expert, but there are a few factors at play here.

 

1) This is America, the most sue-happy country on the face of the earth. I'm NOT speaking from authority and I am completely speculating but my gut tells me that the manufacturers came up with these recommendations to cover themselves from liability (if... let's say a coaster saddles in a place where riders are stuck for hours and then they turn around and sue the park), and the parks obey these recommendations so if something does happen and someone tries to hold them liable they can turn around and pass that liability on to the manufacturer. If they didn't follow these recommendations, the manufacturer would likely tell them to go screw (sorry, that's a bit of complex legal jargon) and be absolved from liability.

 

I pulled that COMPLETELY out of my a**, but I feel like that's very likely what's going on here, especially because other countries who aren't as sue happy seem to have no issue running coasters in the dead of winter (hi, Japan!).

 

From what I can tell, the coasters can run fine if you don't mind a few close calls in morning testing, and the park thinks that the risk/reward is worth it if it means they can stay open 2 extra months and make a notable profit in November and December for (likely) the first time in their history. They likely don't think the event would be nearly as profitable without their coasters, and they're likely correct. Other parks have different philosophies but also appeal to different demographics and/or invest more heavily in non coaster related holiday offerings like shows / ice skating rinks / animal encounters / snow slides and things of that nature.

 

2) Unlike at Great Adventure, Six Flags New England's plan for running coasters in the winter is more involved than just hitting the dispatch button and hoping for the best. In addition to likely using harder / faster wheels, they use wheel heaters on all of their coasters for the event. I went into a little bit of detail elsewhere so I'll just quote my previous post in a different thread.

 

Joker and Mind Eraser had heat lamps in their stations. They weren't right on the wheels, but they warmed the temperature of the station overall which was nice for the riders, the people in the queue and for the train (as they were pointed at the train, just backed off 5 to 10 feet). Batman (their floorless coaster) had tons of huge lamps under the track pointed up at the floor mechanism and the wheels.

 

On a more interesting note, they brought out the heavy artillery on Thunderbolt (their classic, valley-prone wood coaster). They had an enormous (and I mean enormous) propane heater attached to a tube and a sheet metal vent system they built under the station that absolutely blasted the wheels with heat to the point that even sitting on the train waiting to dispatch was awesome since you were nice and toasty warm just sitting in the train despite the 31 degree temperature. They were monitoring the speed and if it ever ran slow they just waited a few extra minutes to send it while they blasted the entire thing with heat. It ran great.

 

Also, once a coaster gets warmed up it runs faster. There's a big difference between cold starting a coaster on a 27 degree night with a test run of an empty train and starting it with the sun out at 2 in the afternoon when it's likely 15 degrees warmer, running it all day which gets the wheels warmed up and causes it to speed up and then having it drop down to 27 degrees later on at which point the coasters has been running for 6 hours already... especially since it's running 1 train which means it's never parked on the block brake. It's ALWAYS either moving or sitting over heat lamps in the station so the wheels stay warm.

[ice1972]

Anyone head to the park today? Would love to see some shots with the snow and all.

 

I just saw your post today but we were there last Sunday the 10th and the park looked great with all the snow......I was nice how they cleared it too by actually hauling it away rather than push it to the side.....they left landscaping untouched so the lights buried under the snow really made it look good.....we went back yesterday and they had lost some of it but it still looks good.....probably the only SF doing HITP with actual snow? IDK maybe Great Escape....

 

Carousel as you enter the park......

Cool ornament with Fireball in the back.....

In the kiddie area with Superman lit up in the back.....

Another view of cool ornament looking back the other way with Scream and Goliath in the back....

[ice1972]

Awesome thanks....the legal stuff wasn't nearly as interesting as the technical coaster stuff.....on a side note when I rode Batman yesterday for the third time in a row - there was no line - I noticed that it speed checked itself right before the entry into that cool roll it does after the pic is taken.....Batman is a nice ride....it gets a lot of hate I think.....I also have a lot of coasters to ride too lol....

 

How the hell are you using your GPS when the car is in motion? The instructions totally said not to.

 

I don't work in maintenance and don't claim to be an expert, but there are a few factors at play here.

 

1) This is America, the most sue-happy country on the face of the earth. I'm NOT speaking from authority and I am completely speculating but my gut tells me that the manufacturers came up with these recommendations to cover themselves from liability (if... let's say a coaster saddles in a place where riders are stuck for hours and then they turn around and sue the park), and the parks obey these recommendations so if something does happen and someone tries to hold them liable they can turn around and pass that liability on to the manufacturer. If they didn't follow these recommendations, the manufacturer would likely tell them to go screw (sorry, that's a bit of complex legal jargon) and be absolved from liability.

 

I pulled that COMPLETELY out of my a**, but I feel like that's very likely what's going on here, especially because other countries who aren't as sue happy seem to have no issue running coasters in the dead of winter (hi, Japan!).

 

From what I can tell, the coasters can run fine if you don't mind a few close calls in morning testing, and the park thinks that the risk/reward is worth it if it means they can stay open 2 extra months and make a notable profit in November and December for (likely) the first time in their history. They likely don't think the event would be nearly as profitable without their coasters, and they're likely correct. Other parks have different philosophies but also appeal to different demographics and/or invest more heavily in non coaster related holiday offerings like shows / ice skating rinks / animal encounters / snow slides and things of that nature.

 

2) Unlike at Great Adventure, Six Flags New England's plan for running coasters in the winter is more involved than just hitting the dispatch button and hoping for the best. In addition to likely using harder / faster wheels, they use wheel heaters on all of their coasters for the event. I went into a little bit of detail elsewhere so I'll just quote my previous post in a different thread.

 

Joker and Mind Eraser had heat lamps in their stations. They weren't right on the wheels, but they warmed the temperature of the station overall which was nice for the riders, the people in the queue and for the train (as they were pointed at the train, just backed off 5 to 10 feet). Batman (their floorless coaster) had tons of huge lamps under the track pointed up at the floor mechanism and the wheels.

 

On a more interesting note, they brought out the heavy artillery on Thunderbolt (their classic, valley-prone wood coaster). They had an enormous (and I mean enormous) propane heater attached to a tube and a sheet metal vent system they built under the station that absolutely blasted the wheels with heat to the point that even sitting on the train waiting to dispatch was awesome since you were nice and toasty warm just sitting in the train despite the 31 degree temperature. They were monitoring the speed and if it ever ran slow they just waited a few extra minutes to send it while they blasted the entire thing with heat. It ran great.

 

Also, once a coaster gets warmed up it runs faster. There's a big difference between cold starting a coaster on a 27 degree night with a test run of an empty train and starting it with the sun out at 2 in the afternoon when it's likely 15 degrees warmer, running it all day which gets the wheels warmed up and causes it to speed up and then having it drop down to 27 degrees later on at which point the coasters has been running for 6 hours already... especially since it's running 1 train which means it's never parked on the block brake. It's ALWAYS either moving or sitting over heat lamps in the station so the wheels stay warm.

[coasterbill]

Great pictures!

 

probably the only SF doing HITP with actual snow?

 

New Jersey is currently snow covered also.

 

[fbvideonew]

[/fbvideonew]

[robbalvey]

Awesome thanks....the legal stuff wasn't nearly as interesting as the technical coaster stuff.....on a side note when I rode Batman yesterday for the third time in a row - there was no line - I noticed that it speed checked itself right before the entry into that cool roll it does after the pic is taken.....Batman is a nice ride....it gets a lot of hate I think.....I also have a lot of coasters to ride too lol....

What is with all the .... in your posts?

[ice1972]

Awesome thanks....the legal stuff wasn't nearly as interesting as the technical coaster stuff.....on a side note when I rode Batman yesterday for the third time in a row - there was no line - I noticed that it speed checked itself right before the entry into that cool roll it does after the pic is taken.....Batman is a nice ride....it gets a lot of hate I think.....I also have a lot of coasters to ride too lol....

What is with all the .... in your posts?

 

Sorry. I read and post on a weather board and have for a long time and over time my posting style has evolved into a very loose conversational style. The ellipsis are just where my thought changes or where I think I need them to convey my point. I'll work on it lol.