SFNE Trip Report.... 7/23+7/24

[Nitro X 230]

Well yesterday morning, my dad and I decided to go to the Basketball Hall of Fame because we were bored and today is my birthday. I realized that SFNE is like 10 miles from Springfield so I wanted to spend a few hours there, forgetting that it was a Saturday and the place would be packed.

 

I arrived at around 4:45, and immediatley went down to Superman prepared to wait a very, very long time. In line, many people were cutting the line, and there of course is not one person watching the line at all. When we got into the interior switchbacks, a fight broke out because a boy scuffed some girl's kicks up. She shoved the boy, and his sister stepped in, only to get smacked up. The attendant was watching the entire fight, and the rest of the line cutter's party cutting the line. Guess what she did? NOTHING!!! She didn't even call security!

 

Both trains were running and dispatch times were pretty good so I was on in only an hour. Just like on every roller coaster in existence the second row line was totally empty so I got in there, but then I realized that the next rider for the front was by herself... LIKE ME!!! I asked her if I could ride with her and she said it was allright. Going up the lifthill is absolutely amazing, with a beautiful view of the CT River right next to you. The cars travel the lift very quickly unlike another hyper coaster I know..... We dive 225 feet straight into a tunnel, and I can already tell that this ride is going to be amazing. The g's on my face were incredible, and I found it very difficult to get my hands up after the first drop. The airtime in the front row was OK, but nothing special. I came off the front row literally tearing because it was that intense.

Front Row- 10/10

 

After getting off, I decided to walk around the park to ride another coaster only to find that Pandemonium and Flashback had longer lines than Superman! I was not waiting that long for either ride, so I walked all the way to Cyclone to find that it was completely empty. The setup in the station is horrible.... Of course people are going to wait for the front row, and that jams up the rest of the station, so all the other gates are completely empty. I saw that Cyclone had newish PTC trains which I love, so I thought that the ride may not be that bad, until I heard the screeching of the other train on every inch of the ride. I rode with a Red Sox fan, and we had a nice talk about how the Yankees suck, and I was obligated to apologize for taking Pedro. The ride seemed smooth at first, but then I realized that it was going to be as rough as Rolling Thunder. And it was, but it was rougher. I really hope the real Cyclone is not this bad :unsure:

3/10

 

I then proceeded to walk all the way down to B:TDK to find out that it had a two hour line, as did Mind Eraser. It was at this point that I realized that this day sucked. I had gotten on 2 rides in 2 hours! I walked back to Scream, and waited 45 minutes to board a space shot tower. It was awesome, and I liked it better than Dr.Doom.

8/10

 

I made sure I got a side facing Superman so I could see the line which had expanded from 2 outside switchbacks when I rode at 5 to three outside switchbacks. I decided that there was nothing better to do so I got in line. This was around 8. At 9:20, a train got stuck on the lift hill, but I heard the horn a few minutes later, and the sent the train back on it's way only to get stuck two more times, one of them leaving half the train dangling over the drop! They ran a test run of red train after that, and it was all good. I boarded the back row at 9:45, in the pitch black. It was absolutely incredible! Every moment of the ride provided airtime, and it was incredibly intense. My new #1 coaster!

Back Row- 15/10

 

Yea, so I walked off Superman I had to stop in the bathroom then I walked out, and across the bridge to where my parents were waiting for me. Overall, the day sucked. I got on 4 rides in 5 hours.

 

Day 2: Better But Still Sucky

 

We went to the Basketball Hall of Fame in the morning, and I had not been since they opened the new one years back. It was nothing special, but the full-size b-ball court was cool. We stopped at Wal-Mart so I could get a bathing suit because I had left mine at home, and scored a hideous one for $5 .

 

We got to the park around 1, and I walked over that bridge thing, bypassing ticket windows to get my SP scanned. I walked through, and all the way to Hurricane Harbor. I bought a locker, and stuffed all my junk in there. I started to walk around HH, and saw that the place was packed. I walked around and the lines were ridiculous, so I just dove into the lagoon thing for a few minutes. It felt really good because I have been going to the beach so much lately, I forgot what clean water was like . I saw the body slide lines were short so I climbed the tower, and got on one of the twisty blue ones. Those things always sting my back like hell, and this one did just that.

 

I got off and went over to Tornado, and had a whole ordeal learning that the only way I could ride would be to find someone with 3 people in their group and ride with them . Screw that!

 

Walked over to Typhoon and got on line even though the line was pretty long. I boarded with a father and his son who were really cool about 40 minutes later. This ride was absolutely amazing, I got totally drenched, and all the hills had a nice kick of airtime.

10/10

 

I decided that I wasn't going to get on anything else so I just took all my stuff out of the locker, put my kicks on and headed out. I saw Batman's line was much shorter than yesterday, so I got on. It was about 35 minutes, but I got on front row because they needed a single. It was a pretty good ride, and it reminds me of B:TR because it's a smaller, cloneable version of a great B&M concept. Short, sweet, to the point.

7.5/10

 

I headed over to Superman, who's line was in the interior switchbacks, and got a ride in the 8th car. Great ride like always. I got back in line because I only waited a half hour for my first ride, and got another ride, this time in the last row, my favorite seat. The attendants were such jerks though. After getting off my second ride, there were many rows that had open seats, so I asked if I could get back on, and they of course said absolutely not. I will never understand why they wont let you do that. Why a single rider should have to wait as long as everyone else when they dispatch trains with 4 or 5 empty seats is beyond me, but why I can't get on again is even more of a mystery.

 

I called my parents who said they would be there to pick me up around 20 after 5, so which gave me like 40 minutes to do whatver. I decided to go over to Pandemonium, and was happy to see that the line was short, but even happier to see that there was a single rider line! I go up the single rider line and tell they attendant I am a single rider and what does she say? NO!!! Single riders get in the Fastlane line. WTF!!!?!?! Why are you sending out trains with three people when the ride was designed to have a single rider line?????????? The ride broke down and I ended up getting on around 5:15. It was a really fun, smooth ride, one that would be a wise investment for Six Flags to make at Great Adventure.

8/10

 

I got a bottle of iced tea and headed home.

 

Notes:

The employees suck

The way queues/stations are managed suck.

 

Wrapup: Maybe it was just because I went on a weekend, but every minute I spent at the park made me hate it more and more. I normally would not have gone on a Saturday, but we were going to be in the area anyway, I can get in for free, and I wanted to ride Superman, so I guess it all worked out.

 

Anyway, I'm glad I will be at Great Adventure tomorrow for some good old fashioned fun!

 

And, I'M GETTING MY PERMIT THIS WEEK!!!! 8)

[SharkTums]

Very good and honest TR! Glad to hear the positive things about Superman after hearing some negative things about the new restraints!

 

Elissa "I like Batman a lot too!" Alvey

[Token Yankee Guy]

Good TR, very honest. I've been going to the park many times (since it is my homepark) and I've never run into serious problems where I left the park mad. It's best to hit the park during the beginning of June when they're open seven days a week and school is still in session. Wait times for rides will get really low, like 10 minutes for Superman. But at this time of the summer, it's best to get a Q-Bot if you're not from the area. It helps you get all the credits without worrying about the lines.

[Paul]

I had almost forgotten how bad weekends are at SFNE...I've been there a few times on weekends, and it's almost impossible to ride anything. You'd have definately had a better time if you went on a weekday, but as you said, it was unavoidable. I went on monday, and had a maximum of a 25 minute wait, and got in 6 rides that day. It's good that you at least got to enjoy Superman, though. As for the new restraints, as Elissa mentioned, I've only seen a few people complain that they bother your legs, but they don't bother me at all...and don't have any effect on the airtime whatsoever.

[Nitro X 230]

Maybe it was because of all those Chiller rides, but I hardly felt the things on my ankles at all. You are right, the ankle grabbers and the e-bars don't limit airtime like I thought they would. My only problem is that the seatbelt buckle would bother my waist during airtime, but not enough to do any damage to ride for me