Nozzy Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 So happy the park was able to get the ride open for their 40th anniversary! While the weather wasn't very nice, the crowds were light and I had a nice little visit with my sister and her boyfriend. Zumanjaro seemed to be opening as we arrived at 2 PM. The queue line pathway is enormously long but on the plus side no switchbacks ^_^. There is a single rider line getting great use already, and it's cool getting the new views of Kingda Ka and El Toro. I haven't been on Lex Luthor yet, so first gigadrop, and I was very pleased with the ride. It takes a bit to get up but there's a nice view and the drop just seemed to keep going and going! Afterward took a quick ride on Ka with a 10 minute wait, then walk ons for Green Lantern, Toro, Medusa, Batman and Nitro. Still a awesome collection of rides, and operations for all were very good. I must say, the state of Nitro's queue is atrocious- the railings are in pieces, settled a few feet into the ground, weeds, toppled garbage cans... The park had been looking so good for the past few years, hopefully this gets some attention soon. Finally, there is a really awesome exhibit on Great Adventure's history set up in one of the tents near the Boardwalk. Lots of old souvenirs, pictures, and ride vehicles. There's also buttons for alumni! For someone like me who grew up in the park and had always heard stories of the older days of it from parents, it was extremely nice. I'm thrilled that Great Adventure has a drop ride- it took awhile since Freefall closed, but was well worth the wait! Can't wait to get back and ride it again! It's open! This is the drop of DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM so no blue sky. It wouldn't be the Rolling Thunder hill without this! Ride'em while they're still the tallest! I must admit I like being able to admire all of El Toro's majesty now. Happy Birthday Great Adventure! Noted! The new money shot- very slightly different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sspaz1000 Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 hoping to get back to GA sooner than later this season. Looks like it's going to be a pretty fun ride. Can't wait to give Zumanjaro a ride! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaYmoNeY12 12 Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 Hi! Cant wait for my trip to great adventure to ride zumanjaro. Quick question, does anyone know what time the early entry for the premium or combo season pass start at? I hear you cant get on rides but you can go to the ride and wait there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njcoasterguy34 Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 If you have a season pass or a membership, you can get in 10 minutes before park opens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swede Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 I can't wait for my next visit to SFGAdv but I'm sure it won't be until 2015 unfortunately. I missed out on Ka and Superman when I was there but I'll be sure to give Zumanjaro a go as well. It looks great in the new video. Oh, and about the park looking run down I think it depends on where you are coming from. As a first time visitor I think it was fine and didn't really give it a thought. If you have visited the park over several years however you might have a different perspective on it. My only annoyances was the lack of shade while standing in line for some rides. Mesh nets doesn't do a propper job and some parts didn't even have that. I burn easily in the sun and look like a boiled lobster after 5 minutes in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Toro_Ryan Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 It turns out Zumanjaro has a retractable roof that shields the gondolas while Ka is running its cycle. The two rides are not allowed to run together at all. GADV is still going to fight against this though but for now, the two rides will not run together whatsoever. I heard Ka launches like 2 to 3 trains and then Zumanjaro sends out a cycle. Here's some pics of the roof provided by greatadventurehistory.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcjp Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 ^Oh that's nasty. I'm guessing it will affect capacity pretty badly if you always have to follow that cycle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetsplumber Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 I wonder how much ka's capacity is going to be diminished due to NJ's bs regulations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrlandoGuy Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 I feel like the park should have checked up on this before building the ride...this is a pretty terrible capacity killer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onridecentral Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 Is the parking lot a good viewing spot for the fireworks? My father-in-law doesn't have a season pass, so we won't be going into the park. Or is pulling over on 537 by Prospertown Lake better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianparkfan Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 I wonder how much ka's capacity is going to be diminished due to NJ's bs regulations. Wasn't the whole reason Intamin came up with the vest restraints on their rocket coasters due to problems at GAdv as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superbatboy Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 Is this why the ride opened so late? They had to install a retractable roof?? This definitely seems like a capacity nightmare for both rides Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetsplumber Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 im pretty sure the retractable roof was designed from the beginning. who wants to be hit with falling items from Ka while loading and unloading zumanjaro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inxy Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 It turns out Zumanjaro has a retractable roof that shields the gondolas while Ka is running its cycle. The two rides are not allowed to run together at all. GADV is still going to fight against this though but for now, the two rides will not run together whatsoever. I heard Ka launches like 2 to 3 trains and then Zumanjaro sends out a cycle. Here's some pics of the roof provided by greatadventurehistory.com Glad they did this. Can't wait to go on Wednesday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitro1118 Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 At the park now. Waited 45min in the single rider line for Zumanjaro. Some thoughts: -They did a very nice job with the queue. It's landscaping was well-done and the open views of El Toro are amazing. -They were giving an entire gondola to FP customers, so figuring 2-3 single riders get on every rotation, that means only 12-14 people from the main queue get on. To compound that issue, waiting for Ka to launch 2 trains eats up another 2min every ride cycle. So, my suggestion would be to make use of FP (obviously) or the single rider line. -I love the restraints. They are comfortable and very open. -The ride up is very pleasant. It isn't taken too fast and allows for some amazing views. If you look over by Nitro you can actually see Philly, which is many, many miles away. -The drop was...disappointing. Felt more controlled than an S&S and the airtime was nearly non-existent. Overall, it's a great addition to a park in desperate need of flats. Despite a disappointing drop, and some capacity issues, I still thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience. Now I'm burning some ime with my gf and step-son before I get on line for Toro in the dark! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoinItForTheFame Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 Okay. Just an observation. But does the gondola on the right (if you're looking at the tower from the front" always seem to drop later than the others? In all the videos (and photos) I've seen it's always falling later than the others. Any one else notice this? (Not that it matters at all that it drops a split second after the others.) Just something I noticed. And was curious about. With that being said: The ride still looks amazing. And I can NOT wait to ride it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Toro_Ryan Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 I got trained at Zumanjaro today and it's pretty interesting. I think Ka and Zumie might be programmed together. Basically, when all three attendants press a ready button at their stations, the roofs retract automatically and the ride is ready to go. However, if Ka has a train on the tower, the roofs do not retract until the train has cleared the tower. I don't know if the two rides were necessarily programmed together but there's something syncing the two whether it be sensors or an actual program. And Ka launching 2 trains while we load isn't as bad as it sounds. As soon as the roofs go up after the gondolas park, Ka launches a train and then another quickly after that because they stack up their trains on the launch pad while we run our cycle. So after the second (occasionally third) Ka train clears the tower, we do our cycle and then it repeats. It seems to work pretty well but let me know what you thought if you waited in line for either rides today or yesterday. And Zumanjaro has been having lots of bugs but they're being worked out. I believe programmers were on site to help smooth things out. If you go to the park soon, expect to see the ride break down quite a few times but this should hopefully be resolved. Okay. Just an observation. But does the gondola on the right (if you're looking at the tower from the front" always seem to drop later than the others? In all the videos (and photos) I've seen it's always falling later than the others. Any one else notice this? (Not that it matters at all that it drops a split second after the others.) Just something I noticed. And was curious about. With that being said: The ride still looks amazing. And I can NOT wait to ride it! Yeah the right gondola definitely drops later than the others. It's pretty weird haha It was kind of funny though because that gondola would still beat the others back to the ground because heavier people tended to be in that one by chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreaminNewEngland Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 Yay going friday!!! I am hoping everything is all cleared up now down there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitro1118 Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 Just got done riding Toro...as train was leaving the fireworks started! Not only at the park but all the surrounding towns/counties as well. Add in the fact that it's mid-summer and it created the recipe for possibly the best ride I've ever had on Toro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcdude Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 I got trained at Zumanjaro today and it's pretty interesting. I think Ka and Zumie might be programmed together. Basically, when all three attendants press a ready button at their stations, the roofs retract automatically and the ride is ready to go. However, if Ka has a train on the tower, the roofs do not retract until the train has cleared the tower. I don't know if the two rides were necessarily programmed together but there's something syncing the two whether it be sensors or an actual program. And Ka launching 2 trains while we load isn't as bad as it sounds. As soon as the roofs go up after the gondolas park, Ka launches a train and then another quickly after that because they stack up their trains on the launch pad while we run our cycle. So after the second (occasionally third) Ka train clears the tower, we do our cycle and then it repeats. It seems to work pretty well but let me know what you thought if you waited in line for either rides today or yesterday. I was wondering if something like this would happen, as it would totally kill capacity if everything was manual. I can just imagine the headaches if there's a loading delay at one ride. A system that just holds the launch on Kinda Ka for 45 seconds or whatever the ride cycle is on Zumanjaro would probably the best option to prevent simultaneous operation without creating too much capacity loss. I'll be visiting the park next month, but I've got a question purely out of curiosity for those that have rode Zumanjaro: When you're being lifted up the tower, is the ascent smooth at a constant speed or does it vary as you go up? One of the things I really like about Lex Luthor is how it will slow down and speed up while climbing the tower, so if you're not looking at the tower you'll think you're at the top only for the thing to speed up again and keep climbing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XYZ Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 -The drop was...disappointing. Felt more controlled than an S&S and the airtime was nearly non-existent. Not surprising at all since Lex Luthor doesn't have that intense of a drop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillseeker4552 Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 -The drop was...disappointing. Felt more controlled than an S&S and the airtime was nearly non-existent. This is how I felt with Lex Luthor at SFMM. The drop really didn't do anything for me. All I felt was the speed. I prefer Supreme Scream at Knott's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil009 Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 -The drop was...disappointing. Felt more controlled than an S&S and the airtime was nearly non-existent. This is how I felt with Lex Luthor at SFMM. The drop really didn't do anything for me. All I felt was the speed. I prefer Supreme Scream at Knott's. Could somebody explain why this might be? All the ride does is take you to the top and then drop you, why wouldn't it feel like an exciting dead-weight drop? Are the gondolas too light or what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njcoasterguy34 Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 I just got in from my 7th trip to Great Adventure this season. The fireworks were amazing. The parking lot afterwards was a nightmare. I got to my car about 10:40 PM or so. I didn't get onto the road until about midnight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterfreak101 Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 Hopefully the park can figure the whole roof thing out with NJ...this shouldn't be surprising seeing as they shut down the extended queue for Ka years ago, but still. It's disappointing and definitely restrictive for both rides' throughputs. Yeah the right gondola definitely drops later than the others. It's pretty weird haha It was kind of funny though because that gondola would still beat the others back to the ground because heavier people tended to be in that one by chance. That's not how physics works. The brakes on each tower are just a little different, or maybe it's the magnetic strips on the gondolas. You can see when the cars in this run hit the bottom: . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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