Photo TR - Six Flags New England - Thursday, May 28th, 2009

[KBrylczyk]

How do, everyone? I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that 99.999% to 100% of you have no clue who I am, haha. I was a member of the forums wayyyyy back when they first started here, back when I was a young teen who thought he knew everything there was to know about the world. Then I went to college, haha.

 

Unfortunately throughout my time in college I had very little to do with coasters. Being from Central Jersey (yes, we do exist), I got out to Six Flags Great Adventure once a year or not at all and that was all. Gotta love those shoestring budgets. Needless to say, being Great Adventure, my time in college was like living in Hell with Satan by my side in terms of theme parks and coasters. I can't stand the place, haha.

 

But hey, here I am, fresh out of school and ready to dive right back in to what I love, and that is anything and everything dealing with rides! To kick off this newfound freedom, I went to Hersheypark for the first time in about four years. No photo TR for that one, though. Forgot a camera, haha. This report, however, comes to you thanks in part to my cousin, Eddie, who lives in New Hampshire. He invited me up for a long weekend and I decided that since it's only a half hour out of the way from my usual route to his place I'd finally make a trip to this Six Flags park.

 

The drive up was quite the story in itself. The weather was pure crud with tons of fog all around NJ. I was on the road at 5:20 AM and made it to the George Washington Bridge by 6:30, only to be welcomed by a wall of 18-Wheelers and SUVs. The radio told me that the bridge was fine...oh how they were wrong. I was finally over the bridge and back on I-95 at 8 AM, so I got a move on to New Haven, then jumped onto I-91 which brought me into Agawam like a speed demon, haha.

 

The weather was still pretty blah up in Massachusetts but it was definitely better than it was in Jersey. I got into the parking lot at 9:55 AM and saw a grand total of about 10 other cars and one school bus. The day was looking to be a good one. Until I got slammed by the $15 parking fee. Why, Six Flags? Why?

 

Rather than get into a huge rant about how every single thing in the park is EXTREMELY overpriced, I'll just get on with the report, haha. I did catch a break with my ticket, though. AAA Online Discounts are incredible.

 

I got into the park and headed straight for Superm-er, Bizzaro. This ride had one hell of a reputation to uphold. I've been hearing for years how great it is, along with it consistently winning the coveted #1 Steel Coaster In The World four times. I headed directly for the back seat. Wow, amazing ride. The way it maintains it's speed, tries to send you rocketing out of your seat and into the stratosphere, and the completely tangled mess of track at the end all combine to make this thing a force to be reckoned with. Still, I didn't feel that it was #1 in the world material. Tons of fun, but not quite the full package. Of course, with the weather keeping everyone away, I rode another two times (one in middle, again in back) before heading to other rides.

 

The Batman ride here was a mean little sucker. Short, sweet, and to the point, very much in the same vain as the five-kajillion Batman: The Rides at other Six Flags parks. This guy packed a punch with it's tight layout and kick-my-ass forces. I dunno, maybe it's because I've been so out of practice, but I felt some tunnel vision coming on on the turnarund through the loop. In all a very fun ride, but it could use some train maintenance. The entrances to both corkscrews gave me a nice pounding. Also, please, oh, please let them find new ride operators for this thing. The person assigning the rows was the most inconsiderate and stubborn guy I've met, and I'm from Jersey.

 

Mindbender...well, we all know what's comin here. Typical SLC, only way worse. This was far and away the worst one I've ridden. I got off feeling like I'd entered the ring with Tyson.

 

I made my way over to Thunderbolt, which my uncle had warned me packs a punch I wouldn't expect. He was right. This little, tiny, old woodie slapped my ass and called me susan, and I loved every minute of it. Definitely give this one a go in the third row of the first car. As a bonus to the ejector airtime, you'll also get a free spine-adjustment! What a deal!

 

Their Boomerang was same old, same old, but not too rough, so it wasn't as bad as I was expecting.

 

Cyclone, the big woodie...um, not sure how to classify this one. I guess it'd be best to say it's like Mean Streak. It has a ton of potential, but terrible retracking and trim brakes destroy it. I swore we weren't going to crest the second hill. When the train is allowed t pick up speed, this thing hauls, but it is a very rare occurence.

 

Pandemonium was a very fun little ride. I'd only ridden Crazy Mice in terms of spinning coasters before, nothing like this one, though. Very entertaining. It didn't spin a whole lot, but just enough to get the job done. I was laughing the entire time.

 

I headed back to Bizzaro to give the front seat a try, just to see if it was any different than the back. Holy. Hell. Do I have a new #1? I think I do! Riding in the back was fun, sure, but riding this thing in the front is like a religious experience. Nothing compares to it (from what I've ridden). That's all I can really write about it, honestly. I can't put into words how great this monster was in the front row. None of that second row stadium seating stuff, either. I tried the second row. It's a whole different world in the front. Oh. My. Nuts.

 

I went around to the very few flat rides the park offers that aren't kiddie rides. Scream (Double-Shot Tower) was a fun guy. I sat on the side facing Bizzaro and, thus, the lower ground and river, and had a fun time. After the one on the Stratosphere Tower, though, none of these manages to scare me, haha.

 

A very pleasant surprise for me was Splashwater Falls, the family raft ride imported from Astroworld. I watched a few full rafts come down and, after deciding that I won't get too wet in the 60-degree weather, walked the mile-long queue to get in my own raft. Holy wow this thing threw me for a loop. I felt like I was in the spin cycle in my laundry machine! Almost immediately after getting off of the conveyor and onto the actual slide this thing spins out of control, and I was laughing like a lunatic the entire time. Pure fun that came out of nowhere.

 

Unfortunately Catapult was shut down for the day, which I was VERY disappointed about. I love psycho flat rides, and I was really looking forward to riding it, but alas, it's not meant to be.

 

After another loop around the park for pictures, I ended my day by riding Bizzaro another 10 times, finishing with a final ride in the front row. I love this thing to death. And yes, every effect was working, including the fireballs. Did I mention the misters in the tunnels yet? Yeah, I know you know they're there, but what you don't know is how high they were turned up when I was there. Walking between the entrance and Johnny Rockets was a challenge, as you couldn't see two feet in front of you. That's how high they were turned up. You'll see in the pics.

 

Overall it was a very good day. It was nice to finally get to a Six Flags park that knows what theming and landscaping is, as well as one that knows what it is to keep the place clean. The park is gorgeous.

 

ONE LAST NOTE - The soundtrack for Bizzaro is hilarious. It really has absolutely nothing to do with the ride, it's just a mashup of different quotes from various Warner Bros. movies. The beginning, meaning leaving the station to halfway up the lift, sets up a military idea to fight Bizarro, but it suddenly switches to random quotes, but it all fits very well with the ride. The sound effect that accompanied the fireballs went perfectly, but my favorite was the Ty Webb (Caddyshack) cameo for the final two bunny hills. Completely random, yet hilarious and awesome, sountrack. I just felt it needed a mention.

And to close us out, here's one I took by nearly sacrificing my camera. I like it.

Let's play "Spot The Cliche!" OK, I'll give you two guesses, but you'll only need one. See it yet?

A train full of passengers about to have their faces rocked off by MASSIVE PILLARS OF FLAME!

Funny, it looks so much bigger at this angle. ZING!

Panda-monium? Nah, Six Flags wouldn't be that cool.

Wait a minute! I figured it out! The Mist is really the mist from the Stephen King book! It's trying to take over our dimension!

What direction is the track going? I don't know, man!

Mist...

More mist seeping out.

SFNE actually has dueling coasters, now...only they dont fight each other, they fight the tea cups.

I'm thoroughly convinced that the weather was actually perfectly sunny and warm, but its the misters that caused the overcast!

3 coasters, 1 shot. Boosh.

Once again, check out the mist level!

Going....down?

Remember what I told you about the misters? Yeah, that's all from the misters by the open-air tunnel next to the exit.

SUPERM-er, BIZZARO!

The fog at the GW Bridge

[Electerik]

Thanks for the TR! Looks like you had some really terrible picture-taking weather.

 

Good job despite that, though.

[Superman06]

Nice pics! I have learned never go thru big cities, too much traffic. I live in South Jersey and I take the parkway way up as far as possible, I believe its the Tappanzee bridge. It was quite the breeze getting to SFNE as opposed to the GWB, no traffic at all.

 

Just like when I go to Hershey I won't go thru Philadephia. I will drive a little north to avoid it.

[AmyUD06]

OP...do you have an older sister named Alyson?

[KBrylczyk]

OP...do you have an older sister named Alyson?

 

Quit stalking me, haha.

[IrishBuckeye]

awesome pics. I love it.

 

I wanna go there and ride bizarro.

[raptor6]

When I was reading your trip report, I was having flashbacks of two years ago when I visited the park. We have nearly the same opinions on most of the ride at SFNE.

[KBrylczyk]

Nice pics! I have learned never go thru big cities, too much traffic. I live in South Jersey and I take the parkway way up as far as possible, I believe its the Tappanzee bridge. It was quite the breeze getting to SFNE as opposed to the GWB, no traffic at all.

 

Just like when I go to Hershey I won't go thru Philadephia. I will drive a little north to avoid it.

 

Yeah, I know to avoid the GW Bridge like the plague, but since I was up there so early I figured it wouldn't be too bad. I'd rather shave the extra 30 miles off of my trip than go to the Tappanzee (Tappan Zee?) Bridge. Guess I learned my lesson, though. No time is safe for the GW, lol.

 

I went to school at Rowan University, about 10 miles southeast of Philly. I learned my way around that mess, too, haha. If I knew the Phillies or Eagles were having a home game I would steer clear of the Walt Whitman, or if it was around rush hour I'd stay away from the Ben Franklin. The Commodore Barry was a good friend of mine, lol.

 

When I was reading your trip report, I was having flashbacks of two years ago when I visited the park. We have nearly the same opinions on most of the ride at SFNE.

 

For some reason I think we'd get along swimmingly, haha.

[AmyUD06]

OP...do you have an older sister named Alyson?

 

Quit stalking me, haha.

 

Heh, no stalking...just saw your username and that isn't exactly a common last name. She was in my graduating class in HS.