Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread

[tykunkel1031]

If you thought about coming today, and opted out, you were absolutely right. I got here at 1:00 or so, and it was already pretty warm. Then somehow, it got even hotter, and Satan decided to plop his crack down on Six Flags Great Adventure. Incredibly hot. My sisters both almost threw up, from heat alone. Now, the park is closed for the incoming storm. We're gonna try to wait it out I think, since everyone always says they have such a great weather policy. We've only been on El Toro, Bizarro, Dark Knight, Nitro, Log Flume, and Skull Mountain so far. We had a flash pass for Ka, but it conveniently broke down right as we were gonna use it. They gave us a front of the line pass for this. The exact same thing happened with Superman, but for the storm. Could the locals, who know more about their policies and what will allow them to open rides, check the radar for me and see what you think of it? Will it be worth it to stay? Thanks!!

[Genx24]

You're wasting your time. This storm is supposed to be huge, and it's a thunderstorm. Their weather policy is usually good but everything closes with lightning.

[Password121]

Speaking of The Joker, I'm surprised to see on the website that it's available with any level of flash pass. Is this accurate or am I missing something? There's a chance I'll have a day at the park in a couple weeks and might spring for a flash pass being my only visit of the year.

[coasterbill]

If you thought about coming today, and opted out, you were absolutely right. I got here at 1:00 or so, and it was already pretty warm. Then somehow, it got even hotter, and Satan decided to plop his crack down on Six Flags Great Adventure. Incredibly hot. My sisters both almost threw up, from heat alone. Now, the park is closed for the incoming storm. We're gonna try to wait it out I think, since everyone always says they have such a great weather policy. We've only been on El Toro, Bizarro, Dark Knight, Nitro, Log Flume, and Skull Mountain so far. We had a flash pass for Ka, but it conveniently broke down right as we were gonna use it. They gave us a front of the line pass for this. The exact same thing happened with Superman, but for the storm. Could the locals, who know more about their policies and what will allow them to open rides, check the radar for me and see what you think of it? Will it be worth it to stay? Thanks!!

 

This is a crapshoot. It looks like it'll stick around for awhile but you never know. Marathon Skull Mountain in the back row and then pull up the radar a little later and reevaluate.

 

Skull Mountain and Dark Knight both operate in thunderstorms but Skull has an indoor queue and is a better ride.

[tykunkel1031]

If you thought about coming today, and opted out, you were absolutely right. I got here at 1:00 or so, and it was already pretty warm. Then somehow, it got even hotter, and Satan decided to plop his crack down on Six Flags Great Adventure. Incredibly hot. My sisters both almost threw up, from heat alone. Now, the park is closed for the incoming storm. We're gonna try to wait it out I think, since everyone always says they have such a great weather policy. We've only been on El Toro, Bizarro, Dark Knight, Nitro, Log Flume, and Skull Mountain so far. We had a flash pass for Ka, but it conveniently broke down right as we were gonna use it. They gave us a front of the line pass for this. The exact same thing happened with Superman, but for the storm. Could the locals, who know more about their policies and what will allow them to open rides, check the radar for me and see what you think of it? Will it be worth it to stay? Thanks!!

 

Marathon Skull Mountain in the back row and then pull up the radar a little later.

Can't even do that. They closed it. Only thing open in the entire park right now is dark knight, on the opposite side of the park from me right now

[coasterbill]

Why did they close Skull Mountain? For weather? WTF?

I'll be honest. I'd leave right now before that second one hits. I doubt anything re-opens.

[tykunkel1031]

Why did they close Skull Mountain? For weather? WTF?

Yeah trust me I was pretty mad too. Thankfully everyone's been incredibly nice about the situation. We bought a flash pass to try to squeeze all the rides in before the storm. I didn't realize how big the park was! We didn't get to use them at all, and they were kind enough to refund them. And also... This place is awesome! Can't wait to come back tomorrow!

[coasterbill]

Wow. They really didn't have to do any of that but that's really nice. It's great to hear about such awesome guest service at a Six Flags park.

[tykunkel1031]

I know; it was impressive. +1 Six Flags for sure. And it's not like we were begging for tickets or anything. We just asked out of curiosity at both, since we're from Indiana, and they came right out and offered it. To be honest, staff wise, it's close to on par with Holiday World for accommodations like this. All the ride operators were going at a good pace, despite the killer heat. But whoever mentioned bizarro operations, you're exactly right. I've never seen someone look more done with life before. Anyway, not a bad day and I can't wait for tomorrow!

[gp1086]

Planning a trip for Monday, August 15. How have crowds been this year? How do Mondays in August usually look for crowds?

 

Trying to determine if Flash Pass will be worth it. At a minimum would like to do Joker, El Toro, Kinga Ka, Zumanjaro, Nitro, and El Diabo. Would be good to get on Superman: UF and Bizarro as well. Would also be great to ride The Chiller and Movietown Water Effect but I'm not holding my breath.

[coasterbill]

Line for Nitro should be about 21 minutes. 37 minutes for El Toro but it should go down to about a 12 minute wait by 9:24 or 9:25 after the brief rain shower. No issues at all with Chiller. It's been running about as often this season as it always has.

[Genx24]

Would also be great to ride The Chiller and Movietown Water Effect but I'm not holding my breath.

You're in for quite the surprise.

[TBpony414]

Wow, that's pretty high praise. I pulled up my old Great Adventure ride ranking list which has really stood the test of time and decided I'd probably put it somewhere around #13.

 

1) Skull Mountain

2) Pointsetta Peak

3) The Waffle Cart

4) Skyway

5) El Toro

6) Safari Off Road Adventure

7) Batman

8) Nitro

9) Kingda Ka (Front Seat)

10) Saw Mill Log Flume

11) Zumanjaro

12) Bizarro #1 (Get twisted)

13) Superman

14) Sky Screamer

15) Choo Choo

16) Dark Knight

17) El Diablo

18) Parking Lot Off Road Adventure

19) Root Canal

20) Getting hit by a truck

21) Green Lantern

 

^^ Couldn't have written a better list myself!

[FSUFanChris]

Line for Nitro should be about 21 minutes. 37 minutes for El Toro but it should go down to about a 12 minute wait by 9:24 or 9:25 after the brief rain shower. No issues at all with Chiller. It's been running about as often this season as it always has.

All kinds of win here. From start to finish.

[carolinaman]

We (my family, 7 of us) are going on Aug the Tues. 9th and Wed. 10th. I hope the crowds and lines are not too bad those days. Carowinds and SFoG are our home parks, so it will be nice to see a different park. The kids are REALLY looking forward to this trip.

[boldikus]

LOL @ that list, Bill.

[anonymouscactus]

Speaking of The Joker, I'm surprised to see on the website that it's available with any level of flash pass. Is this accurate or am I missing something? There's a chance I'll have a day at the park in a couple weeks and might spring for a flash pass being my only visit of the year.

Unfortunately the website is incorrect. Platinum only, no re-ride. -- source: person who went to the park with a platinum pass and didn't get to ride it since it was down 85% of the day

[CoasterNerd]

While on the topic of The Joker, why were the fins on the lift removed? While I was at the park today I noticed the removal of some of the decor on the ride vehicles themselves too. The Joker J's were removed from the side of the cars. The ride experience itself definitely seemed a bit tamer for some reason.

[coasterbill]

What did the lift fins do and why do so many people care? On our ride I barely remember the "lift hill" experience.

[boldikus]

There were fins on the lift that made the cars spin a bit. A teaser if you will. Seems they have been having probs off and on with the lift mechanism and there is a theory I read elsewhere the fins were removed as sensors kept stopping the ride on the lift where the fins were. All hearsay but it seems to make sense.

 

I haven't even been up there since its been opened. Fingers crossed it'll be open for HITP since thats when I'll get to ride it w/ this relentless heat that is slowly, surely killing me.

[ericthewanderer]

Praying for a Batman repaint - that blue they used at Magic Mountain is damn pretty.

How about a grey track and blue supports?

[tykunkel1031]

Trip report! This is my first real TR, so don't judge too hard If you go back a couple of pages, you'll see my whole rough experience, live I still loved the park, however!

 

So we got there, on the first day, at about 1:00, and it was 1000000 degrees outside. Both of my sisters ended up with giant stomach aches and were light headed due to the mix of crazy heat, not enough water, and riding things. I even got a nice stomach ache after eating. So there's the prologue, but now the actual story!

 

So we first got there, and we decided to try and buy flash pass to make sure we got everything in before the soon-incoming storms. Yeah, major bust, but more about that later. We reserved Kingda Ka with a 1.5 hour wait while we went on other things. So, we went straight to El Toro. The park was very dead today, except for that wild Kingda Ka wait, and Superman (why we decided to go for a Flash Pass), so El Toro was a one train wait. This turned into 10 minutes because of, I kid you not, 4 walks of shame in one train. So that took a while, but the ops were still doing a good job dispatching on good intervals (as I watched from other parts of the park). But wow, this ride is good. I'd say it cracked my top 10, but I'm not exactly sure where yet. I'll have to give it some thought. The air is crazy, especially in the back, where I rode. You know it's some good airtime when you come off with marks on your thighs from the restraint. Only thing though, it wasn't as smooth as everyone raves about. Yeah it was nothing like Voyage or something, but there was more roughness than I was anticipating. Either way, probably second smoothest woodie I've ridden, behind Lightning Racer. Awesome ride, 9/10.

 

Then, we went to Bizarro. Nothing out of this world, but definitely a very fun ride. Of course the mist effects weren't working in the blazing heat Ok but let's take a second to remember this crew… They were soooooo dead! I'd say 4 minute dispatches or so. Not the worst, but the real problem was their expression. They all looked like zombies. This was probably due to the heat, but I've never seen someone look so miserable before. Anyway, I give this ride a 7.5/10

 

After this, we took a break on the log flume. Fun, just like any flume you'd expect. I liked how theirs was almost all elevated, very interesting.

 

Here, we were going to try to go to Ka with our flash pass, but surprise surprise, it was down. So, they just gave us a free front of line pass for Ka! We didn't get to use this, though, as it didn't open again

 

Next, we went to Nitro. Man this thing is impressive. I was completely greyed out for the majority of the helix and the first bunny hop. Probably because of the heat, but definitely more intense than Diamondback for positive forces. I still like Diamondback a bit better, just because I'm more of a fan of more airtime, and the helix made me nauseous. The airtime was very good, though. Especially in the back row on the first drop. Definitely a good ride, probably top 25 or so. 8.5/10

 

Here, it started raining, so we ran to Dark Knight. Nothing special, but definitely good theming especially for SF. I agree with my mom, she said they did so good on the queue, but practically gave up on the ride (theming-wise). At the end of the day, it's still a wild mouse. 5/10

 

Here was where we did Skull Mountain. I was expecting to be able to ride it again; there was no line. So I just went for a no-wait middle seat. Of course, we go around to the entrance, and it's closed! I'll rate the ride in the day 2 section, from the back seat

 

Here's where things went downhill for this day. I'll just let you look back a couple pages back to see that story

 

Day 2:

 

If you haven't read the previous pages of this thread, we got rain check tickets to come back the next day! Awesome! This time around, we got there at about 10:00. We went right to Joker, and it wasn't open yet. We decided to try to wait for it to open. Well we waited 15 minutes, which was enough time for everyone to go to other rides. Then, an op came out and said they didn't know when/if it would open. We decided to just forget about it, as I'd rather get on Kingda Ka than Joker. So, I went there alone (the rest of my group wimped out ). I got in line, and man this line looked huge. I sat there for about 5 minutes in the massive switchbacks, when everyone moved up. We ironically moved right to the station. I went for second row, as the front row line was GIANT. I waited another once I first hit the station. Zumanjaro (butchered spelling I'm sure) really does wreck capacity here. They were doing a great job of getting trains out very quick. There was always one siting ready to be launched. There's just nothing they could do. I could see how this could become a people eater if they used both ends and sides of the station (which they did neither of), but man that wait for Zum takes forever. On to the ride. Woah. These accelerators are mind blowing. While I liked this, I still prefer TTD. The people saying the launch is rough, you're correct. It's not exactly rough but rather shaky, like the track is just bent or something. I don't get how a ride can shuffle like that on a straight track, but whatever. I did also feel that launch wasn't as consistent, it kind of gave tugs multiple times. Solid ride, but Cedar Fair/Point wins here 7.5/10

 

Afterwards, we went to Green Lantern. Hold your weapons, but I actually liked this ride. I was expecting incredible pain, but I didn't think it was bad at all. I rode row 2 and it was actually pretty fun. I've found with any OTSR coasters, whether it be Arrow, B&M, Vekoma, anyone, stick your head out. It won't box your ears this way. It does hurt your legs pretty bad, though. I actually liked it more than Riddler at SFMM. 7/10.

 

From here, we hopped over to Batman. Intense as ever. I liked this a bit more than the SFMM version, not sure why. I am amazed that B&M can build and keep rides so smooth for so long. 8/10

 

We went to Skull Mountain at this point. Decent theming, for SF at least. Thank you coasterbill, for telling me the back seat! OMG EJECTOR! I rode with my 9 year old sister, and she said was close to standing up! 100000000000/10

 

Here, we went to go check on Superman, as that was closed too at the beginning of the day. We saw Joker open! We hopped right in line and waited about 30 minutes. Awesome addition. Nothing mind blowing, but coming over the lift, knowing you'll be spinning wild, is actually pretty scary. Nice addition to the park. 7/10. Also, I heard some enthusiast behind me in line, and he was saying that the green side is more intense. Is this true? If that was you and you're reading this, let me know

 

After, we went to check Superman. It was finally open!!! We only waited 15 minutes. Man, I love flyers. I really wish there were more of these rides. Holiday World, help me out here I do wish that they could figure out a way to lower it into the invert-type of position on the brakes. Isn't that exactly what it is? So what would be the problem with just lowering it on the brake run? It would also improve capacity (not by much, but a bit). Even though people say it's nothing outside of the pretzel loop, I still loved every second. I didn't really feel like it was meandering. I think that's the point of the ride. It's supposed to give you a sensation of flight, and the "meandering", I think, represents that. I like this ride a lot. 8/10

 

Here we went on the parachutes. Fun! I wish more were out there. The breeze felt good, and the view was nice.

 

Here, we had to leave, as we were headed to NYC. Tonight we had a Broadway show, so we headed out without rerides of anything We also did miss Runaway Mine Train, but I'm fine with that; I got on superman instead.

 

Overall: Wow. This park doesn't even seem "Six Flags"! Great operations (almost, bizarro, I'm staring at you) across the board, AWESOME customer service, and great ride collection/maintenance. I loved this place! It's in my top 3 parks for sure. Now for some pics!

Walking up to a couple B&Ms is always a good thing!

And the tallest coaster in the world!

Combo shot

Stupid water cooler! Oh well. I still love Nitro's entrance. It makes it seem way taller as you watch it slowly climb the lift.

The skies look a lot better on day 2!

This was a rushed on-the-way-out shot, but hey, I'd say it's not that bad. Joker and the sky ride combo definitely make for a nice entry view.

Good ol' Superman peering over the trees! I'm a fan of this (and all flyers at that) for sure!

Green Lantern train, Superman train, AND and airplane?! I need to go the lottery. I can never get Thunderbird and Voyage crossover shots back at home.

How many coasters do you spot? This park has an amazing first impression with the 2 B&Ms and now these two Intamin monsters, along with another B&M just barely standing way back in the back.

Goodbye Nitro and Great Adventure! What an amazing park! I loved it!

[KICoasterkev]

Really nice pictures, didn't know SFGAdv has a Skyride. Looks like a fun park!

[thrillseeker4552]

Nice report! I loved my visit to SFGAdv as well. Aside from Green Lantern, I don't think I rode a single "bad" ride there.

[TyRush]

Parking is looking real beautiful this year. Seems like they made some inner improvements