Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread

[bill_s]

^^-- I went Sunday the 12th and crowds were as expected, may have been the cold though. I have a feeling that every time someone warns of these deals at GrAdv or SFA, I've already been during one before and didn't even know it. However the difference between around Sept. 20 @ SFA (the KD closed weekend) was completely different between 2015 and 2016, which has me on guard.

[QuakerOaties]

Has anyone ever visited the park the day after Thanksgiving? I'm contemplating going but don't want to get stuck in massive crowds. Thanks!

[coasterbill]

Crowd levels are generally manageable for Holiday in the Park.

 

Just to be sure, you know that El Toro, Zumanjaro, Kingda Ka, Bizarro and Runaway Mine Train will be closed for the season right? Personally I think that Holiday in the Park is the best time of year at Great Adventure but since I see you’re from out of town that might be a dealbreaker for you.

[boldikus]

Has anyone ever visited the park the day after Thanksgiving? I'm contemplating going but don't want to get stuck in massive crowds. Thanks!

 

Bill is right that HITP crowds are totally manageable, even when the park is busy the coaster lines don't ever get bad. Though I will note the first year of the event I did go to the day after Thanksgiving on a freak 70 degree day and the place was mobbed - absolutely the busiest I've ever seen it during the event.

 

Speaking of which - sounds like we might try to go on opening weekend (the 17th/18th). Anyone else gonna be there? We can't wait.

[coasterbill]

Brit and I are totally going. I've been trying to convince mom to come with us since she loves HITP (probably because it involves riding Nitro a lot) but getting her to go anywhere is like pulling teeth.

[boldikus]

Awesome, I'll have my people contact your people.

[QuakerOaties]

CoasterBill - thanks for that information! The closure of El Toro and Kingda Ka are dealbreakers. I grew up going to SFGADV but haven't been in about a decade and was looking forward to getting my fiance onto Kingda Ka and El Toro.

[Jason Maier]

I'll be going up for sure.

 

What's not to like, not to busy coaster lines and of course marathoning Nitro

[jpdupuis]

For the "extra november days" coming up at SFGADV, are Kingda Ka and El Toro closed ? Is there a full list of the rides open this week?

[Canobie Coaster]

I believe this is the final weekend of El Toro and Kingda Ka. The only thing I've heard closed in November in the past has sometimes been the area back by Bizarro.

[michaellynn4]

We were there last weekend and the only thing closed back there was Log Flume (though KK was down due to wind).

 

It won't get blocked off until HitP officially starts.

[boldikus]

HITP 2018 map is out

 

As usual, courtesy of GAH.

 

[coasterbill]

Awesome! A few things of note after looking through it:

 

- Cyborg is obviously going to operate

- The area near the Parachute Tower will no longer feature the big tree or be called "Treetop Summit". It will now be called "Deck the Halls" and the Parachute Drop will operate. It sounds like the new area will feature some of those huge walk-through ornaments like the one in New England.

- Merry Goats seems to be moving

- Holiday Spirits is the best name for a bar ever (It's probably going to be basically unchanged from Yuletide Brews otherwise)

- Holiday Craze Mirror Maze is a new upcharge

- Joy to the World will move back near the Skyway

- "Wonder" looks kind of cool and for the first time I almost want to watch the show in Adventure Theater. It's bound to be cheesy but I'm sort of okay with that.

- "Holiday Feast" will replace Panda Express. I think everyone knows my thoughts on that.

[xVicesAndVirtues]

Oh wow, I never paid attention to how much they keep open for HITP, I always just assumed it was a lot more scaled back compared to that. I've contemplated going as I'll be up in NY around Christmas for a couple of days, but I'd rather just read Bill's TR talking about riding Nitro in the 20 degree weather and then go ride Mako 10 minutes away.

 

If they ran El Toro, I'd maybe think about subjecting myself to riding it in the arctic blast that I don't understand how you guys put up with every year. But that clearly will never happen.

[thrillseeker4552]

Is Nitro the largest roller coaster in the country (at a seasonal park) that runs during a winter event? I'm having a hard time thinking of a bigger coaster.

[Sluggo77]

It was posted on GA History that the flames have been removed from El Diablo. Maybe the rumors of it getting sent to La Ronde are true.

[Canobie Coaster]

Is Nitro the largest roller coaster in the country (at a seasonal park) that runs during a winter event? I'm having a hard time thinking of a bigger coaster.

 

Technically SFOT is seasonal, right? If Titan runs, it beats it in height. Loses in ride quality though.

[RAWKIN_coaster38]

The early rumor for 2020 is that Six Flags Great Adventure may be preparing to work with RMC… but don’t worry, they wont be touching El Toro. Instead they are said to be looking to take up some of the old Rolling Thunder space near El Toro to build a custom new RMC coaster creation. It may actually even interact with El Toro and just might even reuse that small section of Rolling Thunder supports that they left up that passes through El Toro. One possible idea was to even give it name inspired by Rolling Thunder and possibly call it Twisted Thunder. Given the location involved, this could also explain the sudden removal rumor for El Diablo.

Everything is a long way out at this point however, and always subject to change, so stay tuned.

 

Screamscape.

 

[coasterbill]

Screamscape needs an intervention. I'm starting to worry about their mental well-being.

[larrygator]

The only part of the Great Adventure rumor I can not envision is the use of the old Rolling Thunder track, although it will be a good time to finally remove that section. The area in question is difficult to develop with smaller rides as people already complain about the walk to Zumanjaro.

 

The park has made great strides in bringing the flat rides up to speed. The park is certainly more well rounded since the last time the park spent $8-$10 million on a coaster. Maybe they can even provide a path through the coasters to connect Plaza de Carnival to Golden Kingdom near the Kingda Ka entrance.

Edited November 12, 2018 by larrygator

[xVicesAndVirtues]

Wait but are we sure they'll have enough power..?

 

 

But in all seriousness, I love the idea of an RMC and El Toro having an orgy under El Toro's airtime hill that's better than most orgasms, but since this has been talked about since (what year did Rolling Thunder get removed?), I'll file this under "believe it when I see it"

[B&MIntaminGCI]

I really hope that they RMC the remaining part of Rolling Thunder under Toro just for the laughs it will provide the community. If I was RMC, I'd troll that hard.

[prozach626]

But in all seriousness, I love the idea of an RMC and El Toro having an orgy under El Toro's airtime hill that's better than most orgasms,

 

Thank God I don't go to enthusiast events.

[coasterbill]

Same

[CoasterAuditor]

I mean to be fair my non-enthusiast friend after riding El Toro for the first time said "I think I just came" when we hit the breaks on El Toro due to how good that coaster is. Now an RMC & El Toro orgy is quite beyond anything I can come up with involving an RMC being in close proximity to El Toro. I was thinking more like "man won't it be cool to have an RMC and El Toro in the same park?"