Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread

[strz]

2:30pm Saturday....line + stacking at Bizarro....time to take care of my 2015 pass and get out of here!

[strz]

3 people running Bizarro....can't fault them!

[agerikson]

So, yesterday was probably the most crowded I've ever seen at an amusement park. My girlfriend and I did a splurge and purchased platinum flash passes and scare passes. The flash pass was tremendous for something I probably won't ever purchase again. Glad I did it as it was life saver. Even with platinum, the times were still 20 minutes on nearly every coaster from about 7 onward and the even the flash pass lines were lengthy. My girlfriend and I ditched out on a final night ride on El Toro at 11 pm when the line was 30+ minutes to get scanned. I have a problem with the Six Flags operations when the park was that crowded as numerous people in the flash pass queue on rides like Zumanjaro and El Toro were not able to ride yet but blocked other flash pass users who were ready.

 

As far as rides go, my girlfriend and I got about 10 rides on El Toro and Nitro. El Toro was fun in the morning but was absolutely rolling in the evening with full trains and a warmed up track. Nitro was also really running well. Four rides in the front and six rides in the back and we were getting great floater air through the whole ride. Kingda Ka is was it is. Zumanjaro is still fun but is definitely at its best after sundown. I finally got a front row ride on Bizarro (haven't had one since Medusa) and it is still fun. Literally no one in the station when we were waiting and had no triple stacking on our four rides. Batman The Ride is still my favorite invert, enough said. We skipped the other coasters so we could get more time on the our favorites. Also got the last truck of the day on the safari. Our guide, Ashley, was so much fun. She had a great personality and interaction with the guests.

 

Overall the park employees did a great job in spite of poorly behaved guests. In addition to Ashley above, I have to give shout outs to ride ops on El Toro and Zumanjaro. A rider on El Toro got walk of shamed and decided to take it out on the ride ops and other guests in line, for some reason, took his side and started booing the ops when he insisted they unlock the train and open the airgates so someone in his party could ride with his son. Took about 10 minutes to dispatch but the ride ops took it well. On Zumanjaro, a group of four were in the single riders line and started screaming profanities at the grouper when she told him they would have to be split since they're in the single riders line. The grouper took that awful behavior in stride and disengaged rather than escalating the situation.

 

Finally, I can definitely say that the terror trails are not worth the wait/extra cost. I enjoyed the actors in Wasteland and Voodoo Island but compared to the two Halloween Haunts I've done at two Cedar Fair parks, I wasn't impressed with the theming, costumes, makeup, and scare zones. I have no regrets in purchasing the scare pass since the 3 hour waits they had for the several of the trails would have put a damper on our evening and now I know I can skip the terror trails in the future.

Edited October 26, 2014 by agerikson

[gp1086]

Went to the park yesterday expecting it to be crowded (there were even warning signs on the drive in), but I could not have imagined just how packed it could be.

 

By the time it got dark out, there were just hoards upon hoards of people regardless of where you went in the park. Yes, including bathrooms, arcades, and stores. One of the workers at Johnny Rockets (20 minute wait for chicken fingers btw) mentioned that they have "maxed out" in the past, which I imagine may have happened yesterday. Makes me wonder what the max capacity is.

 

Got there at 1:00 and left at 10:30 - got to go on 4 rides. Zumanjaro first (1 hr wait), El Toro second (1.25 hr wait), Nitro third (2 hr wait), and Superman last (1 hr wait). Even the flash pass line on Nitro had a 20 minute line probably. Heard rumblings that the wait for Zumanjaro at night was 4 hours.

 

Regardless, I just love being around the park and always have a fun time.

 

One thing that really pissed me off is that they "closed the line" (had never heard that phrase before) of Kingda Ka from 8:30 onwards. This to me is just wrong when it's one of the main attractions you advertise. In the past they've let people get on lines until the park closes - which I don't necessarily always expect, but closing a ride 3.5 hours early is unacceptable. I certainly didn't see them closing the lines to upcharge attractions. Two thumbs down here.

[El Toro_Ryan]

Those crowds sound brutal. From what I remember, the park hits capacity when the regular lot, overflow lot, and hurricane harbor lot fill up which amounts to about 75,000 people in the park. Just for reference, on average days there are usually about 20,000 people in the park.

[rcjp]

^OMG that must be like hell!

[gp1086]

Some photos from yesterday:

 

Where the Nitro line started around 5:00 p.m. Solid 2 hour wait - love that they still play the Mortal Kombat music. This ride rocks at night.

 

 

Finally towards the front of the Nitro line. Not too jealous of Flashpass folks who look to be waiting 20 minutes or so. Batman queue looks full too while we're waiting. At least I'm riding a good one.

 

 

Navigating the Boardwalk at 8:00 p.m. If I wanted to go on fewer rides, I could have waited in the Season Pass processing line that looked to be a minimum of 45 minutes (no hyperbole). Why can't SFGA make this more efficient?

 

 

Pretty cool motorcycle stunt show on the Boardwalk after finding at Kingda Ka's "line" (not ride) was closed for the night.

 

 

Walking out of the park. A similar experience to navigating through a standing room only rock concert.

 

[Password121]

Some photos from yesterday:

 

Where the Nitro line started around 5:00 p.m. Solid 2 hour wait - love that they still play the Mortal Kombat music. This ride rocks at night.

 

 

Finally towards the front of the Nitro line. Not too jealous of Flashpass folks who look to be waiting 20 minutes or so. Batman queue looks full too while we're waiting. At least I'm riding a good one.

 

 

Navigating the Boardwalk at 8:00 p.m. If I wanted to go on fewer rides, I could have waited in the Season Pass processing line that looked to be a minimum of 45 minutes (no hyperbole). Why can't SFGA make this more efficient?

 

 

Pretty cool motorcycle stunt show on the Boardwalk after finding at Kingda Ka's "line" (not ride) was closed for the night.

 

 

Walking out of the park. A similar experience to navigating through a standing room only rock concert.

 

That is incredible. Thanks for posting those pictures.

 

The profits they earned from yesterday alone (everything from admissions, Flash Pass, parking, food/drink, FF attractions) are probably more than enough to pay for their Super Loop for next year. And then some.

 

Sorry I'm still pretty salty about that. I know it's an off year, but the money could've been utilized elsewhere.

[gp1086]

That is incredible. Thanks for posting those pictures.

 

The profits they earned from yesterday alone (everything from admissions, Flash Pass, parking, food/drink, FF attractions) are probably more than enough to pay for their Super Loop for next year. And then some.

 

Sorry I'm still pretty salty about that. I know it's an off year, but the money could've been utilized elsewhere.

Indeed. I was discussing with the people I went with what the revenue / earnings must have been yesterday. Imagine revenue would have to be multiple millions of dollars, even with season pass admissions taking a portion of the attendance. While it's not necessarily "fun" to go when it's so crowded, it is kind of cool to see the park so vibrant and lively. Next time I'll have to do a Tuesday in early June.

[El Toro_Ryan]

Regarding Ka's line closing early, the only sense I can make out of it is that Ka has to close by a certain time so maintenance can do their nightly work and inspections. Back in June, the park was open until 4 am one night for grad night and Ka had to close at midnight for its nightly maintenance . If the line Saturday closed 3 and a half hours early at 8:30, then the ride must have had that long of a line but I doubt that. The park probably wanted the ride to close early for extra maintenance time. I've seem them do it plenty of times when Zumanjaro first opened. If that's the case, then GADV really picked the worst day for that if they had other days to do so. lol

[coasterbill]

Was Ka the only line that closed early?

 

Also, are they turning away Flash Pass users who have reserved it (or does it just say "full"). If it's just Kingda Ka it's no big deal, but if they're closing lines early when the park is that packed then I'm not interested in spending money on a Flash Pass we can't even use the last 3 hours the park is open because we'd be worried about being turned away and would have to just get in the stand by line to guarantee a ride.

[UrbanLegend]

I was also there on Saturday. It was absolutely ridiculous. Half an hour just to get to the gate, and getting out of the parking lot took about an hour and a half. We got FlashPass, and even then we only got on four rides (El Toro, Superman, Nitro, and the ferris wheel (how romantic)).

They closed Ka's line right as we got there. It makes sense, considering how they normally lines empty out as long as you get in before closing, and then how ridiculously crowded it was. It was about a 4 - 4 1/2 hour wait when they closed the line. They also closed El Toro's line at around 11:15 for similar reasons.

I still managed to have fun but I'm definitely never going to Fright Fest again on a Saturday.

[boldikus]

Oh man those pictures! Looks awful. While its nice when you aren't the only person there (empty trains dont run very fast) I think my favorite night @ the park this year was Coasters After Dark back in April. Was eerie how few people were there that night. At one point we were sitting by the lake/RMT looking at El Toro and there wasn't a soul around. Pretty weird.

 

I had no plans to go during Fright Fest this year, always hearing horror stories about insane crowds. Then we actually went up 2xs this year anyway (10/10 and 10/19), and we got lots of riding and fairly low crowds both times. Guess I should consider myself lucky.

[Seddy]

Yesterdays visit to Great Adventure was not too bad. It was packed (especially for a Sunday). We were one of the first ones through the gate so we got Kingda Ka and Zumie out of the way before the heavy crowds arrived. We did Ka in the front row of course lol. Zumanjaro was definitely an experience. That lift took forever and I like how it slowed down a little and then sped back up. And that drop... Whew.. Enough said.

 

After that, we headed to El Toro who's line was at the switchbacks and it seemed like the Flash Pass chick was being kinda shady by letting several groups of Flash Pass people up versus those of us waiting in the regular queue. I think we waited about 45 minutes. Back row of course. My lil buddy had on his Batman Skully when we left the station but it was gone by the time we had our on-ride photo snapped (I told him that first drop was not a joke. Lol).

 

After Toro, we hit Bizaro. The line was just reaching the switchbacks so we waited about 30 minutes. The fire and mist was working too... Gotta love the blasts of heat. Lol. Next we hit up Superman which had about an hour wait. We got stuck in the flying position for about 5 minutes after we got back to the station, but eventually they got us back upright.

 

At this point Green Lanterns line was horrible so we passed him by. We headed to the opposite side of the park and went straight to Nitro. I think we waited 2 hours and by the time we got to the steps I had to pee so bad that I was forced to leave the line. Fortunately a supervisor (can't remember her name) understood my situation and allowed me to load thru the exit so I could ride with my group. Leaving Nitro we hit up Batman who's line was out in the park area before the switchbacks. We waited about 45-50 mins but we had to ride front row. Batman was our first after dark ride and it definitely didn't disappoint. Next we hit up Skull Mountain (40 minute wait) and The Dark Knight (shortest wait of the day - 15 minutes).

 

After TDK, we realized that they had opened the Skyride so we took that back to the other side. We hit up Bizarro for a night ride with the fire effect. Unfortunately our journey was interrupted as soon ad we hit the lift thanks to some genious who decided to pull out her iPhone to take a selfie. (I mean come on... Every ride has a 'no cell phone' sign at the entrance and you have the nerve to say 'Oh I didn't know...' When the ride op comes up and calls you out. Smmfh. )

 

After Bizarro we attempted to get a night ride on Toro but that line had to be about an hour and it was already 9:30pm. So we stopped and got us some chicken strips and headed out the gate and to the NJTransit stop. Overall it was a decent day since we rode all the major rides with the exception of Green Lantern. I took some pics during the day but my phone went dead before it got dark so no night pics. I'll upload them tomorrow when I get home from work (On the BoltBus now headed back to Baltimore.)

 

Park time - 11am - 10pm (My feet were killing me by the time we got back on the bus)

 

Coaster/Ride Count

Kingda Ka - 1x

Zumanjaro - 1x

El Toro - 1x

Bizarro - 1x

Superman - 1x

Nitro - 1x

Batman - 1x

The Dark Knight - 1x

Skull Mountain - 1x

[Nozzy]

I was also there on Saturday. It was absolutely ridiculous. Half an hour just to get to the gate, and getting out of the parking lot took about an hour and a half. We got FlashPass, and even then we only got on four rides (El Toro, Superman, Nitro, and the ferris wheel (how romantic)).

They closed Ka's line right as we got there. It makes sense, considering how they normally lines empty out as long as you get in before closing, and then how ridiculously crowded it was. It was about a 4 - 4 1/2 hour wait when they closed the line. They also closed El Toro's line at around 11:15 for similar reasons.

I still managed to have fun but I'm definitely never going to Fright Fest again on a Saturday.

 

After reading posts the past few weeks when I went to El Toro at 10 to midnight I was expecting it to be closed, but it seems that they reopened the line after it was clear it wouldn't be excessive. Still, the entrance attendant was lying to everyone about the wait time and number of trains, but I had a nice post-midnight ride.

 

I arrived on Saturday around 1 and got in 4 quick rides on Toro, Bizarro, Runaway Train and the Parachutes before any big lines formed. I know it's probably been this way for awhile, but after so many years of 2-4 chutes, it's awesome to see all 8 operational (and all open together!). After getting my pass processed (these barcode only passes sure are funky) everything had filled up.

 

Still, once night came I got to see my favorite Halloween shows, Dead Man's Party and Dr. Zomboni's Freakshow (it still makes me sad that Busch Gardens Halloween shows aren't as good as these). Not much going on in terms of scaring since it was so packed, all the clowns had to stand on the Circus Psycho facade just to be seen.

Still not used to this view

I would have liked a few more fire flare-ups but these fireworks were a nice touch.

Who wants a flashpass? (I wonder how long the wait was)

Glug glug glug

Glad I got my first ride in while the line was only filling half the queue!

[coasterbill]

Okay so I have a question for the real Great Adventure experts out there (like employees, ex-employees and Yoshi level experts lol).

 

This Saturday is our last chance to ride coasters this season so we're going somewhere no matter what the weather forecast is. I've been trying to avoid going to Great Adventure because their new closing rides early for no reason policy really rubs me the wrong way but we don't have any other options because Saturday is supposed to be cold, raining and miserable so Hershey and Dorney will likely not run the coasters (Hershey because of the cold and Dorney because of the rain) and Knoebels apparently ended their season last weekend.

 

So we're stuck with Great Adventure but the forecast calls for 47 degrees, a 90% chance of rain and 15 - 25 MPH winds. I know the forecast can and probably will change but assuming it holds up do you think the park will remain open all day and do you think they'll run the coasters (with the exception of Kingda Ka). I know there's no way to know for sure but if you think closing early is likely I'd rather not make the 2 1/2 hour drive.

 

I know the park has been known to close early in awful weather and this forecast is amazingly bad but it's also a Saturday during Fright Fest... what does everyone think? Going Sunday is unfortunately not an option.

[Jcoaster]

Okay so I have a question for the real Great Adventure experts out there (like employees, ex-employees and Yoshi level experts lol).

 

This Saturday is our last chance to ride coasters this season so we're going somewhere no matter what the weather forecast is. I've been trying to avoid going to Great Adventure because their new closing rides early for no reason policy really rubs me the wrong way but we don't have any other options because Saturday is supposed to be cold, raining and miserable so Hershey and Dorney will likely not run the coasters (Hershey because of the cold and Dorney because of the rain) and Knoebels apparently ended their season last weekend.

 

So we're stuck with Great Adventure but the forecast calls for 47 degrees, a 90% chance of rain and 15 - 25 MPH winds. I know the forecast can and probably will change but assuming it holds up do you think the park will remain open all day and do you think they'll run the coasters (with the exception of Kingda Ka). I know there's no way to know for sure but if you think closing early is likely I'd rather not make the 2 1/2 hour drive.

 

I know the park has been known to close early in awful weather and this forecast is amazingly bad but it's also a Saturday during Fright Fest... what does everyone think? Going Sunday is unfortunately not an option.

 

You beat me too this question. I'm looking to head there Saturday one last time as well. I'm just hoping for a change in the weather forecast.

[El Toro_Ryan]

^ The park should run all of their coasters besides Ka and possibly Toro earlier in the morning if it's too cold and windy. It'll probably be empty too so even if they do close early, you should still have time to ride all the major rides. Just get there at opening and you should have a few good solid hours. And the weather could always change by Saturday as well. Hopefully everything works out for you.

[ejot]

I have the same drive ... I'm planning on going ... can't believe they would close a Fright Fest night for anything but the most extreme weather, they must rake in the cash after dark even with a bit of rain. Optimistic that the worst will just be intermittent showers. Also despite the insane crowds last Sat after dark, a friend who was there from open to mid afternoon said lines were light that whole time.

[coasterbill]

Thanks for your response (I was hoping you'd be the one to respond since you're the best one to ask). I hope the weather holds up at Great Adventure, I'd hate to have to go somewhere like Six Flags New England on the last weekend of the season. lol

[Genx24]

The forecast I usually check, and is accurate more often than not is only calling for a chance of showers in Jackson on Saturday. I can't imagine the park closing early or shutting down rides due to showers. To be honest, the prospect of closing out the season in cold, possibly wet weather has me pretty excited.

[michaellynn4]

Anyone else going on Sunday? I'm planning on visiting early in the morning for a few hours before meeting up with family later in the day.

[El Toro_Ryan]

Thanks for your response (I was hoping you'd be the one to respond since you're the best one to ask). I hope the weather holds up at Great Adventure, I'd hate to have to go somewhere like Six Flags New England on the last weekend of the season. lol

 

No problem. I always enjoying helping out.

[strz]

The forecast I usually check, and is accurate more often than not is only calling for a chance of showers in Jackson on Saturday. I can't imagine the park closing early or shutting down rides due to showers. To be honest, the prospect of closing out the season in cold, possibly wet weather has me pretty excited.

 

 

IMO- this should scare off (no pun intended!) the masses.....and should allow you to take advantage of those "cracks" in the weather (when there is no precipitation) in order for you to get plenty of ride time. Enjoy!

[nicman]

Do you think Kingda Ka will get a new paint job to cover up all that rust?