Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread

[Nitro1118]

I find it strange SFMM is getting another coaster. I feel like SF ignores a lot of their properties; they ought to just sell a few of the lesser properties to private developers or something.

 

I find it strange, too. When you give your park so many additions all in a short matter of time, you kind of saturate the market and don't see the kinds of revenue/attendance increases that you'd want as opposed to if you spaced them out (and had some park rennovations/improvements inbetween).

 

Sometimes I get jealous, then I remember when we got Chiller, Medusa, Nitro, S:UF, KK and El Toro in an 8 year span

 

Well, technically 9, but Chiller didn't fully open until 1998, sooo....

[Parallax]

Great Adventure has a "Premium" Season Pass, which looks to be the same thing as Gold.

[Nozzy]

Great Adventure has a "Premium" Season Pass, which looks to be the same thing as Gold.

 

Not quite- the premium pass includes the NJ Hurricane Harbor but that's pretty much it (every other "benefit" also appears under the normal season pass benefits)- unless you buy 4 you don't even get free parking at Great Adventure. The gold passes at the other parks are including parking at all Six Flags parks.

[Athletekim]

So they originally said big, bigger, biggest...did I miss the "big" part? .

 

I think the big part was that the Safari would be included in the park admission and that the park admission would cost the same next season as it did this season.

[Her0ofLime]

Can't wait to have Tigers steal my shoes on the zipline!

[Voxelmatic]

Can't wait to have Tigers steal my shoes on the zipline!

Unless the "bigger" addition is a family of 40-foot tall tigers, seems unlikely.

[coasterbill]

We went to the park yesterday and had an amazing time. I went with my girlfriend and my mom which was kind of a nice change. When I was little she always brought me to parks and no doubt is the reason why I love theme parks so much. Even though I've moved out of the house and my girlfriend and I usually go to parks together as a date we try to go with my mom a few times a year and I think everyone had a great time.

 

I'll save everyone the tl;dr trip report and just mention a few positives and negatives.

 

Negatives

 

Bizarro operations: Does anyone remember that show on MTV called Boiling Point where people were given $100.00 for putting up with awful service or obnoxious people for 15 minutes without saying anything? I think the show is coming back next year and all of it will be filmed in the Bizarro queue. I'm a coaster nerd... there's no denying that fact. But when I go to parks with non-coaster nerds I usually keep the nerdiness to a minimum so I didn't say anything about the bad operations. I didn't even have to. As has been the case every time I went to the park this year, everyone in the station was pissed off and complaining.

 

Once they dispatched a train, everyone would walk over to the operator booth and talk until that train was in the brake run. After the train was back, the person at the control booth would pick up the phone and talk to someone in the photo booth. The two girls responsible for checking restraints would then walk over to the railing that swings open if and when a train is ever dispatched and yells down to the girl in the photo booth about something that has nothing to do with the ride or the park.

 

After all of this they would finally start checking restraints. Once they were finished the girls would ask the person at the panel if it was break time yet and he would tell them how many more minutes they had until break. Then they would finally send the train. This happened with every single train. Just for fun my girlfriend started timing them using her watch and dispatch times were usually between 4 and 6 minutes. For some idiotic reason they were running three trains. Bizarro is a great ride and it deserves much better. We waited 35 minutes and the line was only to the bottom of the stairs (probably because people know better than to try to re-ride it because of how slow the line moves).

 

Golden Kingdom: I like Golden Kingdom a lot (even though now it's two separate areas that are only connected if Safari Discoveries is open)and the theming is great but has anyone ever been there at night? There are almost no lights anywhere, not on the stairs exiting Kingda Ka, not on the paths leading to Kingda Ka (there are a few but it's really dark) and I almost feel like the Kingda Ka queue line should be an insurance liability. The huge holding area which takes at least 45 minutes to get through when it's full doesn't have a single light. Unless there's a full moon you can barely see your hand in front of your face. Would it kill them to put a few lights in the queue area before someone gets hurt?

 

Positives

 

Operations: I said my piece about Bizarro but every other ride seemed to be dispatching trains really quickly and was actively trying to fill every seat despite relatively light crowds. Rolling Thunder was racing all day and the El Toro and Nitro crews should be recognized for doing such a great job. They're awesome (and fun).

 

Maintenance and up-time: Every single ride was open yesterday and this is the case almost every time we go to the park. If anyone remembers this park in the late 90's / early 2000's it was notorious for closed rides but this isn't the case anymore. Any time we notice something that's broken there's always a swarm of maintenance people trying to fix it.

 

Friendly Employees: Every single employee we ran into (besides the Bizarro operators) were having fun, interacting with guests and pumping up the crowd. They have quality employees this year (except Bizarro... I feel like I really need to drive this point home).

 

Nitro: At the end of the night everyone went to see the fireworks so Nitro had almost no line. We got off and got back in line three times and only had to wait one or two trains for the back... then after the 3rd and 4th rides they let us switch to an empty row and stay on the train. We had five amazing rides in a row to end the night. Everyone on the trains and in the station was clapping to the Nitro station and music and having a great time, the ops were pumping up the crowd but still dispatching trains at an amazing rate. Thank you Nitro crew for being awesome. Maybe those losers from Bizarro can go on a field trip to Nitro (or El Toro) and learn how to run a ride.

 

As I said at the start of this post, we had a great day. We're really lucky to have a coaster collection like this so close to home (2 1/2 hours with no traffic... 4 hours yesterday). I think El Toro, Nitro, Kingda Ka (if you ride it in the front), Batman (I don't care of it's a clone... clone it 500 more times if you want) and Bizarro are world class coasters and they have a solid collection of flats, water rides and other coasters to compliment them. My mom upgraded her ticket to a season pass and we'll be renewing ours next year for sure. Keep up the great work Six Flags (except the Bizarro crew... you suck).

Edited September 3, 2012 by coasterbill

[Spideyfreak]

Who makes the vehicles that will be used in the safari? I've seen them at Movieland Park in Italy. I'd be interested if anybody knows.

[YoshiFan]

^^I agree Bizarro's operations, on Friday night the line was barely out of the station but I still skipped it because I thought it would still be a 20 minute wait (I don't mind a 20 minute wait if the line keeps moving). I wonder if it was the same 2 girls checking restraints that I saw last week. They also stopped to talk about non park stuff in the middle of checking restraints while the trains were double stacking. They might as well save the costs and run 2 trains instead of 3 since they always double stack.

 

I also agree about Kingda Ka's queue and the Golden Kingdom being dark. With the misting fans at night I couldn't even see how long the line was until I got to the end of the line.

[Parallax]

So I lost my iPod on Nitro a few days ago. When I went to the Lost & Found they were closed but they gave me a number to call. I've called every day and nobody answers. Does anyone know if there are certain times when they are open? It seems odd but maybe they have certain hours. Also, if by some reason they do have it (I think it fell out of my pocket when I was getting out of the seat, not during the ride) would I have to go to the park to get it back? Thanks in advance.

[SLUSHIE]

One of the ride ops already sold it on eBay.

[larrygator]

So I lost my iPod on Nitro a few days ago. When I went to the Lost & Found they were closed but they gave me a number to call. I've called every day and nobody answers. Does anyone know if there are certain times when they are open? It seems odd but maybe they have certain hours. Also, if by some reason they do have it (I think it fell out of my pocket when I was getting out of the seat, not during the ride) would I have to go to the park to get it back? Thanks in advance.

 

Your best chance is going to be showing up in person to clain it. Even if they do have it, the park is not going to send it to you.

[3Mutts]

Hey guys, I was just wondering what crowds would be like this weekend at SFGADV and SFNE as we are trying to decide if we should take a day trip to SFNE or a weekend trip to SFGADV and it all depends on crowds and weather (which looks ok in both places) thanks for the advice.

[Rider117]

I find it strange SFMM is getting another coaster. I feel like SF ignores a lot of their properties; they ought to just sell a few of the lesser properties to private developers or something.

 

I find it strange, too. When you give your park so many additions all in a short matter of time, you kind of saturate the market and don't see the kinds of revenue/attendance increases that you'd want as opposed to if you spaced them out (and had some park rennovations/improvements inbetween).

 

Sometimes I get jealous, then I remember when we got Chiller, Medusa, Nitro, S:UF, KK and El Toro in an 8 year span

 

Well, technically 9, but Chiller didn't fully open until 1998, sooo....

 

Long time no see!

[YoshiFan]

Hey guys, I was just wondering what crowds would be like this weekend at SFGADV and SFNE as we are trying to decide if we should take a day trip to SFNE or a weekend trip to SFGADV and it all depends on crowds and weather (which looks ok in both places) thanks for the advice.

 

I went to Great Adventure the Saturday after Labor Day weekend last year and it wasn't crowded at all. My longest wait was 15 minutes for Nitro.

[AndrewRnR]

After riding Colossos on the Europe trip this summer I decided I must get up SFGAdv and ride El Toro. I'm limited with time but was going to fly up the weekend of Sept 22/23. I'm planning on driving down to the park on the 23rd but need some local experts help:

 

1) I know FrightFest starts on the 22nd... Should I expect crazy crowds? I'm going with Flash Pass regardless just trying to decide if it would be worth getting one of the higher levels.

 

2) What's everyone's thoughts on travel time (driving) from the park to the Newark International Airport...My flight leaves at 8pm. Directions say it is just over a hour drive. Is that true? I figured leaving the park around 5 would get me to the airport shortly after 6 and give me time to return the car and get to the gate (I'm not checking bags).

 

Thanks!

[zacattack]

After riding Colossos on the Europe trip this summer I decided I must get up SFGAdv and ride El Toro. I'm limited with time but was going to fly up the weekend of Sept 22/23. I'm planning on driving down to the park on the 23rd but need some local experts help:

 

1) I know FrightFest starts on the 22nd... Should I expect crazy crowds? I'm going with Flash Pass regardless just trying to decide if it would be worth getting one of the higher levels.

 

It really depends. Fright Fest can be totally hit or miss, crowd wise. I wish I could give you some more solid information than that but I've been there on days when it's totally dead during FF, and days when I got in 2 rides in 4 hours. Seeing as you're going the weekend it opens, I would expect heavier crowds rather than lighter unless it turns out the weather might drive some people away.

 

2) What's everyone's thoughts on travel time (driving) from the park to the Newark International Airport...My flight leaves at 8pm. Directions say it is just over a hour drive. Is that true? I figured leaving the park around 5 would get me to the airport shortly after 6 and give me time to return the car and get to the gate (I'm not checking bags).

 

Without traffic, drive time from SF to Newark should be about 1hr 20. NJ always has traffic, though, and you'll be nearing Newark on the tail-end of rush hour just a few miles from NYC. Even though most people will be outbound from the city, you'll probably hit some delays, not to mention all the construction on the NJ turnpike and parkway. I'd plan for 1hr 45 from SF-Newark that time of day, to be on the safe side.

[SharkTums]

^And if it's a Sunday evening you're driving back up to EWR I would add even more time to be safe as a ton of people return to the NYC Area after a weekend away. The Turnpike can be a parking lot.

[larrygator]

I have never seen lights crowds during FrightFest at SFGAdv, plan accordingly.

 

Although traffic shouldn't be too bad at that time, I'd plan for 1hour 45 minutes just to be safe. There is on-going contruction on the New Jersey Turnpike just north of the Great Adventure exit.

[Brassinthegrass]

I always plan a little extra time, I stop by the WaWa or McDonalds and grab some cheap grub before heading into the parking lot and taking it the view, which in my humble opinion has one of the best sky lines of any park!

[ernierocker]

which in my humble opinion has one of the best sky lines of any park!

 

Agreed. It is as impressive as Cedar Point if not more to me!

[UrbanLegend]

Last year at Fright Fest I managed to get incredibly light crowds. Got on every major ride except for KK, which was broken down. Plus two rides on Nitro and SEVEN rides on El Toro, all within six hours. But that was a fluke I think; it was raining on and off all day, then stopped as soon as I reached the park.

 

It's a crapshoot I guess. Bring your lucky rabbit's foot.

[coastercrazy 9]

Go to El Toro first. Even on busy days, if you are one of the first people at El Toro, than you can stay on for up to 3-4 rides. The most I've ever stayed on was 7 rides.

[Chroniq]

So I lost my iPod on Nitro a few days ago. When I went to the Lost & Found they were closed but they gave me a number to call. I've called every day and nobody answers. Does anyone know if there are certain times when they are open? It seems odd but maybe they have certain hours. Also, if by some reason they do have it (I think it fell out of my pocket when I was getting out of the seat, not during the ride) would I have to go to the park to get it back? Thanks in advance.

 

 

I lost my iPhone on nitro around 9:00am. At 11:00am, I went to the lost and found to file an official claim and they had already found it. They have a dedicated "picking team" that walks the ride paths and collects all lost items. I was seriously impressed that they already had found it. You should contact the lost and found department in person( because you will have to identify something original/specific about your item) as they probably have your iPod .

 

Lost and Found is located on the far north side of main street, closest to Nitro. I believe their operating hours are park open to 5:00pm.

[coasterbill]

2) What's everyone's thoughts on travel time (driving) from the park to the Newark International Airport...My flight leaves at 8pm. Directions say it is just over a hour drive. Is that true?

 

I'd allow 2 - 2.5 hours just in-case. Even though it's only 10 miles from 7a (The Six Flags exit) to the split... it can be 10 miles of pure hell since it's a Sunday. By the way when you're driving south on the turnpike (towards the park) make sure you get in the cars-trucks and buses lanes and not the car lane. The car lane sucks hard.