Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread

[jamesinclair]

21 hours ago, AmyUD06 said:

I would recommend present-day Hersheypark over any given year of Great Adventure, let alone this year.  The only thing (IMHO) that SFGAdv has going for it is El Toro, which is running rougher than it has in the past, and some would argue Nitro (but I've never been too impressed by it).

Hershey has an absolutely insane Intamin hyper, a surprisingly-good RMC hybrid, a unique Intamin looper, a classic Schwarzkopf, a better B&M invert, a drop tower (3 of them, actually), a screaming swing, one of the only log flumes with a jump at the end, a splash boat ride, drive-em cars, a much better atmosphere, better food, free admission for 2 hours the night before your visit, an included water park (that is admittedly too small), etc. etc.

As for the Safari, if you want to ride the truck through instead of driving your own car, then yeah you need to go to the "Wild Safari Base Camp" outside of the park next to the drive-through entrance.  It's considered a separate park.

Thanks, sounds like Hershey is an easy choice until Six Flags gets their act together.

Im curious about those logistics of the Safari entrance, seems like a long walk. Do they expect people to drive their cars between the two entrance areas? I wonder how that works when the park is at capacity and the lots are full. Having it by the log ride made a lot more sense.

[AmyUD06]

Again, these days, the safari is treated like a separate park, and a regular park admission ticket does *not* include the safari park AFAIK.  They don't expect you to walk - they expect you to drive your car through.  For those that choose not to, they have parking available next to the safari entrance for a reduced rate where you can then board the truck.

[BobloLives]

Just returned from my second-ever trip to Great Adventure. No pictures but a couple of thoughts.

The Flash: Vertical Velocity is a good ride. Not great, but quite fun if there's little wait and buttery smooth. I Love You New Vekoma. In fact, toward the front of the train there's a delightful pop of airtime on the backwards return run. Flash and El Toro now have mandatory free lockers in the queue which worked really well, I thought. El Toro was down half the day but opened up mid afternoon with one train. Dispatches were taking a loooong time so something going on with sensors, maybe? Anyway, it is noticeably jarring in the third seat of each car but the middle seats, at least, negate most of the potholes. I had forgotten how insanely intense El Toro is -- what a beautiful ride. Super minor notes: their Dark Knight coaster is *not* a mirror image clone of SFNE's Gotham City Gauntlet -- GA's is *much* smoother through the trim brakes and lacks the awful bunny hops/hit the brakes section at the end that SFNE's has. The darkness really makes GA's so much better. Wonder Woman never opened at all yesterday. Jersey Devil also had issues on and off all day. Oh, and last but not least (since I'm not that familiar with this park) -- was it always just a giant mostly closed shopping mall with rides scattered about? Even with the brutal culling over that last year or two, this place has more shops than I've ever seen at any theme park! The ratio, even a few years ago, has to be at least 10:1. Granted there are a lot of shuttered storefronts, but my lord.

[DannySixFlags]

Did we mention the 2026 coaster is gonna be delayed probably??

This is who Zimmerman is acting like:

[michaellynn4]

Is that actually based on anything, or just some YouTube comment sections run amok? I've yet to find anything to substantiate the claim.

[Sportsdude360]

2 hours ago, michaellynn4 said:

Is that actually based on anything, or just some YouTube comment sections run amok? I've yet to find anything to substantiate the claim.

The problem here is that no track pieces have arrived for the alleged "Record Breaking Launch Coaster", nor has any installation work been done. Construction crews have not even arrived to begin the work of installing this supposedly large scale ride. 

Compare that to the rapidly progressing work on the new Giga-Dive at Six Flags Over Texas. Track pieces and supports are arriving by the truck load, almost every day. Crews are hard at work digging the holes and placing the first footers for this massive coaster. 

A coaster on the scale of what is supposedly planned to replace KA would need nearly a year of construction work to complete.

[prozach626]

Those are good points.

[Zand]

I mean...Kingda Ka itself didn't start site work until July of 2004 (and this new coaster really won't even need much site work) and didn't go vertical until September, and then opened in May. It's only June, and Six Flags doesn't like opening coasters until August these days anyway so is it really surprising that nothing is going on yet?

[KBrylczyk]

You guys are thinking of the wrong records.  Remember Viper?  They're bringing it back for the record of "Most consecutive left turns on a coaster."

[Zand]

I'm planning a road trip to the Midwest and back and I think I'm starting to buy into the conspiracy theory that the new chain really hates Great Adventure.

The following parks are open later than Great Adventure during midsummer on weeknights:

Waldameer, Indiana Beach, Great America, Mt Olympus, Valleyfair, Nick U, Cedar Point, and yes even DARIEN LAKE is open an hour later than Great Adventure.

Michigan's Adventure and Bay Beach close at the same time: 8pm.

The only park on my trip that closes earlier is Little Amerricka.

I was floored to see Great America is open till 10 every night. The way it's supposed to be. Why do they hate us?

[prozach626]

I think they're just going through a transition and going to reinvent with quality over quantity, while cutting costs from expensive rides to maintain. It's like when a sports team goes through a rebuild. It takes time.

[Zand]

Holiday in the Park canned AND 2026 coaster will not be happening for at least one more year.

Thank you Cedar Fair for officially destroying everything good about this park.

[KBrylczyk]

Are we at self-parody level yet?

[Satans Hockey]

1 hour ago, Zand said:

Holiday in the Park canned AND 2026 coaster will not be happening for at least one more year.

Thank you Cedar Fair for officially destroying everything good about this park.

I'm waiting to see if we get an answer about us getting access to all the cedar fair parks before I decide on canceling my gold memberships. The new season passes cost just as much as what I already pay and will include them so if they don't include them I'm better off just canceling. Also might take all of 2026 off too. 

[YoshiFan]

It’s a shame to see HITP gone. It was always my favorite time of year to visit with the lights everywhere, most of the coasters open and lower crowds compared to Fright Fest.  Christmas Candylane at Hershey was already very crowded and now I guess more people will be going there if they want to ride coasters in December.