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Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread


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Yes. We got the clone of the original design from SFoG, not a custom ride...

Don't get me wrong, it's a very popular ride, although something bigger with more inversions like Tatsu would have been nice. Really, there's only one, maybe two good parts to Superman: the pretzel loop, and maybe the barrel roll coming into the break run.

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For personal reasons I'm bummed I missed Media Day as it moved from Thursday to Friday in anticipation of the weather. I did not realize the excursion was in the neighborhood of 60-90 minutes.

 

I'm curious to know the estimated number of annual guests the park projects for the Safari Off Road Adventure. From a business standpoint maintaining the animals must be a huge expense.

Edited by larrygator
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I'm not normally big on trip reports but I wanted to post about the clusterf**k that happened at the park yesterday.

 

Every time we go to Great Adventure we have a great time, and operations are great for a Six Flags park (it's our home park so we go about 5-6 times a year). The park was the most crowded I've ever seen it outside of Fright Fest but they were busting it on every ride we saw and lines were moving quickly. They even opened both sides of the Skyway which I've never seen before in probably 20-30 visits to this park.

 

And then there was the Safari Off Road Adventure...

 

Yesterday at 2:30 we decided to get in the line which stretched back to the Frontier Adventures sign. Immediately after we got in line they closed the ride for the day so that everyone could get on before it got dark but it was too late. When we were the second to last people in line, we thought we were really lucky... but looking back I wish we were 5 minutes later. I've never seen a slower moving line in my life. The security guards standing behind us having to fight with everyone that came up asking why the ride was closed (I felt terrible for the security guards, I really did). We got to talking with the security guards and the one family in back of us which made the line much more tolerable and the guards told us that while they HAVE about 15 trucks, the ride was running at half capacity because they didn't have enough drivers yet. Despite this, they were somehow stacking trucks like crazy. How you can have a new ride on what's essentially it's opening day (since the park was dead the two previous days because of the weather) running it half capacity I don't know.

 

The security staff was exceptional... it wasn't their fault. They were stamping hands so that people could leave and get food or go to the bathroom as the line was a little over 5 hours long and they had about 15 people along the line and at the entrance making sure there was no line jumping going on.

 

At the 4 hour mark we actually decided to leave the line. While we had waited 4 hours already, it had become obvious that we weren't going to get on the ride when it was still light out and since it's a safari it's pointless to ride it otherwise. When were starting to leave security asked us where we were going and we said that we were cutting our losses and going to ride something else. They just told us (and a lot of other people at the end of the line) to go ride a coaster and they'd stamp our hands so we could come back. They actually persuaded US to wait it out. We rode El Toro and came back about an hour later (El Toro had about a 45 minute wait with the line spilling out of the entrance... the ride was obviously amazing). When we got back it was about 7:30 and we only had another 25 minutes to wait. The ride was sort of cool but we only got to see about half of it. The ride out to camp Aventura was pretty dark, but you could make out some animals. The guides were energetic and trying to get the crowds going but everyone was so disgusted at that point that they weren't having any of it. We played along because we felt pretty bad for the guides.

 

On the way back from Camp Aventura (which is completely unfinished and not even worth talking about since it's mostly just temporary trailers and construction fences) it was dark, so our guide told us that they weren't allowed to go through a lot of the areas as it wasn't safe for the animals and they just took us back to the park and showed a few videos on the tv hooked up to the guys ipod at the front of the truck. They actually had a pickup truck following most of the trucks trying to point their headlights at some animals but it wasn't working at all. It was pitch black and you had no chance of seeing anything. The security staff was apologizing to everyone on the way off the ride. We got off the ride at about 9:05.

 

So the total wait time was a little less than 5 1/2 hours, plus a 20 minute wait to get back on at Camp Aventura so almost 6 hours total. If I had known that I would never have rode the ride. It was getting overwhelmingly negative reviews from everyone getting off, a lot of people came over to us because we were in the back of the line (probably about 15 total) and they all said it was a waste of time. I actually thought the ride was cool but isn't worth more than an hour - 90 minute wait. It's also very unfinished and honestly shouldn't be open yet. It's available on Flashpass which made the situation worse. I'm all for Flashpass and love to use it at parks we visit less frequently but it shouldn't have been available on this ride yesterday as their inability to judge wait time actually created a dangerous situation for the animals (they actually told us this) and caused the people at the back of the line to miss out on half of the ride.

 

Security did a great job letting everyone leave and go to the bathroom and even ride other rides. I'm never in favor of that but they made the right call in letting people do that yesterday. That line was unbelievable. The tour guides did a great job too in trying to get the crowd excited but yesterday was a mess. I'm sure they'll get the kinks worked out but they should have cut the line off way before 2:30 (and I'm sure they know that). Even with the break to ride Toro we physically stood line for this ride for 5 hours (if you count the Aventura wait). My advice is to either wait a few weeks to check this out, get a Flash Pass or get there when the park opens. The ride shouldn't be open yet. It's not fully staffed, Camp Aventura is nowhere near done, the station and gift shop don't have finished roofs and the queue rails in the line aren't even cemented in yet. The last two don't change the ride experience but It's obvious that they rushed the heck out of this. I really think that this ride is going to be cool once they get it finished and they get it fully staffed but right now it's a mess.

 

We were at the park all day but only got on 6 rides. Still... believe it or not we had a good day. The Off Road Adventure experience was awful though.

 

Nitro (2 Rides, walk on first thing in the morning) - We rode this in the front since it's been hit or miss this year in the back, 2 great rides

Sky Screamer (45 minutes) - Great ride as always

El Toro - 45 Minutes - Running out of this world OMFG insane like always

Safari Off Road Adventure - 6 Hours

Kingda Ka - 1 Hour - 15 Minutes - We got the last train of the night in the front seat. We cut it close since we knew they wouldn't let you wait for the front if the other rows were empty (understandably so) but we JUST made it. This ride is underwhelming everywhere else but it completely insane in the front and the cold weather made it feel even faster. I love this ride.

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Went to the park today and got to ride SORA! Overall I enjoyed the ride for what it was. was it top notch no. But it was a fun experience. Anyway onto the more detailed review.

We arrived at the park at around 10:10 with no issues the people working the parking were moving VERY quickly. After we parked we walked up to the metal detector line was out to the edge of the parking lot. you would think that they would be moving people into the park and holding them. But what can I say it's six flags I cant expect that much. after waiting 40 minutes to get threw the metal detectors we got into the park. We went immediately to SORA and was stopped outside of the frontier adventure sign. Apparently you aren't allowed in till 11:00 so we waited with TONS of other park guests. Than we were allowed to get into the queue. we got about halfway up before we caught up with the rest of the line. It took us about 30 minutes to get to the picture section where they take your photo in front of a safari backdrop and you have the ability to purchase the picture in camp adventura. Than we got onto the truck and took off into the safari. And whats the first thing you get to see in the safari? An advertisement for 101.7 Radio. Pitiful. This makes me so upset that they ruin a very good themed ride with advertisements. anyway we took off and got to see some animals before stopping at camp adventura. After that you got out of your trucks and had a chance to look around. there was some animals inside a small building and some more in a petting zoo. you have the ability to finish the tour and get back on a truck whenever you please. on the way back you get to go through the black bear enclosure and the tiger enclosure before returning back to the park. Overall the ride was very good for a six flags attraction I enjoyed it there was some stuff they could have improved on but overall a fun ride that the whole family can enjoy!

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My friend went to the park yesterday and said that the Log Flume wasn't running but it was filled with water. Is the log flume going to be closed for a while still or no? I thought it would of been open considering how hot it was yesterday or maybe I missed information that it won't be open for a while.

She also mentioned that the wait for SORA was 3 hours long in the afternoon (they skipped it) and their shortest wait was 5 minutes for Bizzaro.

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The flume is usually open much earlier in the year but a few sections were removed so that construction vehicles could access the SORA site.

 

When we went last weekend there was no water in it and the logs were all in the maintenance area visible from Nitro. I would think it would be open very soon if it's full of water now.

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Log flume is running today. Green Lantern's third train is still below the maintenance building. I don't think we will see it running anytime soon.

 

The park really struck me as worn down. There were weeds everywhere. The trains were in pretty bad shape too. On Ka, I could move my harness a good inch left and right. On El Toro, there was a screw sticking out which nearly cut my leg.

 

I didn't get to try the SORA, maybe next time.

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Okay, what happened to Kingda Ka? I had one of the roughest rides on any coaster on Ka today. We rode early in the morning (about 11:30) and there was a noticeable rattle. By the time we got back at around 3:30, it was full on vibration. The whole train shook violently at the pull-up before the top hat and the transition down from the top-hat. It was terrible, and I walked off with a headache. I remember it rattling a little bit a couple years ago, but nothing like today.

 

And while I'm at it, Nitro and El Toro both had some roughness too. Toro had a rough patch at the bottom of the first turnaround, but everything else was smooth. Nitro had a rattle on the bottom of the drops before the hammerhead. It wasn't bad or painful, but it was definitely noticable. Also, the El Toro and Nitro ops were slooooooow. Nitro was stacking three trains and El Toro took about 3-4 minutes to dispatch one.

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^I've never had a less-than-butter-smooth ride on Nitro, but Toro has had a kink coming out of the turnaround for years now. Not sure why it hasn't been addressed, but I've just learned to take my back off the seat at the bottom of that drop. Other than that, the ride's running great! I'll even take the slight jostling around the turnaround itself because it gives it that nice woodie character.

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I think 1 of Nitro's trains is running badly, I'm not sure which one it is though. I rode Nitro 5 times today and some rides were smooth and others were rougher. It's been like that all season.

 

Crowds were very strange today, I was there from 1:30 to 5:45 and some coasters had no lines and others were longer than normal for the crowd level. Nitro was a station wait both times I went to the coaster same with Superman yet Green Lantern looked like it was around a 45 minute in the afternoon. Kingda Ka was around 20 minutes at around 4:00, after the ride I saw the line looked like it doubled.

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I'm headed to SFGAdv in the morning, and I'm wondering even though it's supposed to be partly cloudy tomorrow will any rides be closed because of the heavy rain we had today? Just wondering. Because I really want my Ka credit tomorrow.

 

Everything will probably be open tomorrow. It's a little breezy so the Skyway might open and close a few times during the day and the parachutes might open late / not open but that's probably it.

 

Ka opens late sometimes but that's normal. I'm sure it will be open.

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Sorry guys, but it's going to be another one of "those posts"...

 

Some friends and I will be visiting Great Adventure for the first time on Sunday, June 23. What can we expect in terms of crowds? If we arrive at or before opening, do you think it will be possible to ride everything we are hoping to ride? Aside from all of the coasters, I think we might be trying things like Houdini's and SkyScreamer.

 

Thanks!

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Yesterday was a great day at the park! No lines were longer than 30-45 minutes, and Ka was only about 20 minutes all day.

 

They need to learn how to load a flying coaster. Even Tatsu has better operations than Superman. Bizarro also ran 3 trains and double stacked and still had no line. Green Lantern.. Meh, but I do jinks that it's better than Riddler's Revenge. Much smoother. Nitro.. It's good,but Diamondback is better. Great coasters though!

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Sorry guys, but it's going to be another one of "those posts"...

 

Some friends and I will be visiting Great Adventure for the first time on Sunday, June 23. What can we expect in terms of crowds? If we arrive at or before opening, do you think it will be possible to ride everything we are hoping to ride? Aside from all of the coasters, I think we might be trying things like Houdini's and SkyScreamer.

 

Thanks!

 

There are no events going on that day which is good. Since not all schools will be out by then I would expect moderate crowds (probably 10 - 15 minutes for the smaller coasters, 30 - 60 minutes for the larger coasters). Sunday mornings are usually not crowded at all so even if crowds pick up later you should be able to get a lot of rides in, between 10:30 - 12:00.

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Sorry guys, but it's going to be another one of "those posts"...

 

Some friends and I will be visiting Great Adventure for the first time on Sunday, June 23. What can we expect in terms of crowds? If we arrive at or before opening, do you think it will be possible to ride everything we are hoping to ride? Aside from all of the coasters, I think we might be trying things like Houdini's and SkyScreamer.

 

Thanks!

 

I always make sure to get in my rides on Kingda Ka first thing. Even better if you get there at opening, and make sure to jog there before all the other guests figure out how to get over that way.

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Slight extension to the question posed above, but I'll be visiting the park for the first time on Friday, 6/21. Unfortunately, I'll need to leave the park by 3pm, but I plan on being there right at opening. My question is, which coaster should I not bother with, to ensure I can maximize my day? Mind you, i'll be going by myself and I go to SFMM fairly regularly. Should I just get a fast pass???

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... Should we start the rumor mill for next years new coaster?

 

Im going to say, X-Flight in the old Batman and Robin location....

 

[attachment=0]Screen Shot 2013-05-19 at 5.03.11 PM.png[/attachment]

 

I feel like this section of the park needs some love, it seems the other side of the park has received MANY updates in the past decade, while this side decays...

 

Thoughts?

 

Great Adventure does not need any more coasters. Get some flats and shows. When I visited the park on a Friday in June last year, the place was dead. Crowds were significantly bigger at Hersheypark midweek. Hershey is the better overall park, because there is more to do than just coasters. Great Adventure would be the best park in the chain if it was more balanced. It's coaster collection blows my home park away.

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^Have to agree with this. Braved the rain to visit today as it was my only chance (have to fly out tomorrow) and managed to get on everything (when it was open) with relatively short waits. We did Dark Knight and Skull Mountain while it was raining, but if the weather hadn't improved there would have been very little to do.

 

Some weird ops though - Bizarro was running three trains with maybe 4-6 people on each train, but they were still stacking. Superman was the only ride with any real wait, only running the one train so queue was about 20 minutes. That was mostly due to GP not understanding how to get themselves into the restraint... a half hour wait and you didn't have five seconds to look at how other riders were getting in? Boo.

 

But the collection of coasters is just awesome - Batman, Nitro, Bizarro, Kingda Ka, El Toro, Superman and Green Lantern all in the one park? Amazing! Seriously any one of these would headline at a lot of parks. Great to ride Kingda Ka up into the clouds, and El Toro definitely lived up to the hype.

 

(grumpy old man rant starts here) School groups though, oh man, think I'd prefer the summer lines to having to listen to the incredibly noisy drivel some of those kids produce in the queue and on rides. Couldn't even hear the Dark Knight preshow over the yelling, and if Runaway Mine Train wasn't a terrible coaster to begin with it was made worse by the dumb shouting going on behind me. Most obnoxious teens I've encountered on the trip, and I was at SFA last week... (end)

 

Also got a chance to take the Safari tour, no wait at all. Our truck had some clear plastic rain covers on the side so we didn't get too wet (the roofs are not waterproof). Overall I thought the tour was quite good, plenty of diverse animals to see and a decent length. Due to the rain we did not stop at the outpost which I hear is a bonus. Hopefully the guides will warm up to their roles over time, ours was OK but mostly just read the script, nothing hugely memorable.

 

Would love to visit on a sunny day in the future - as it was I thought we'd be lucky to get in even one of the outdoor coasters and we got them all so that was a huge bonus. And the Safari would definitely be better with some good weather.

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