Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread

[coasterbill]

Middle seat of last car actually

 

Absolutely... I couldn't stress this enough. It's much smoother than the back seat and it's still awesome.

[boldikus]

Alright so like I said we got off to a late start and made it up a little before noon on Sunday and stayed til about 5:30. I went up with my buddy Ian who has not been on any major coasters since the late 90s. Ian is a very physical, athletic up-for-anything type so I figured we would get a lot in. That turned out not to be the case but I can't complain, I personally had a great day overall. The park didn't *feel* crowded while walking around, at least compared to the real busy days this summer when I was there. We got a regular flash pass and the wait times were not too bad. Zumanjaro was not on my FP so when I went to ride it, I reserved Toro on FP and went in the single rider line for Z:DOD and waited almost an hour. Superman and RMT were still down yesterday.

 

Both Zumanjaro and then later El Toro broke down just as I was about to ride. I was actually seated and strapped into ZDOD when they made everyone get off for a test run. I still got right back on after they made us wait an additional 10 minutes for maintenance dudes to show up and fiddle with the control panel. As someone who was not a fan of drop rides earlier this year, this ride is fast becoming a favorite at the park.

 

The wait for Toro when it broke down was also about 5-10 extra minutes, I am assuming it was a glitch with the station breaks. They had maintenance dudes show up who were doing something in the control booth but they had the train moving back and forth in the station with people on the train, some not with their restraints down. Was weird to see the train moving with folks inside not strapped in, some looking a little panicked. Nothing else really noteworthy, so here are some pictures.

 

El Toro 4x

Nitro 1 x

Batman 1x

Zumanjaro 1x

Arrival. I wasn't trying to be artsy just forgot I had my camera set to B&W.

I was bummed S:UF was down simply for the fact that it draws lines away from the best rides.

Blah

Fright Fest decorations are everywhere.

Got right through security with no wait.

Did I mention the weather was perfect???

Where did we head first? Silly question. We watched the ride for a few minutes waiting for our reservation time. 20 minute wait on our FP for our first ride.

Ian loved this and was hooting and hollering like he was at a rock concert when we pulled into the break run. I got 4 rides total and loved every second of them. This would be Ian's final ride on the bull today.

After Toro we headed over to Batman to walk right on. This was the only coaster Ian had done before and he was stoked. Unfortunately, he felt nauseous after and we sat and took a break.

To his credit, Ian tried to soldier on with me on Nitro. After this he got sick and that was his last ride of the day.

Ian cursed Batman for the rest of the day. He was bummed he felt sick and I was bummed for him. Personally, I thought it was a great ride yesterday. Back row right side, smooth as hell, no headbanging at all for me.

Sky Screamer had a healthy line anytime we passed it.

Not too crowded.

I thought of CoasterBill when I took this LOL.

Twister is fun to watch but I won't go near it.

Love the views of Toro from over here.

Ian hung out, had some beers, and made some friends while I got my ZDOD ride in and some more runs on Toro.

The infamous RT hill. So good!

Feets on the rise.

FF decorations.

Where to?

I took this on the break run. Yes, I pulled my camera out on the break run, sue me.

That crane is still near Supermans lift.

Til next time, SFGAdv.

I always stop to watch the next train drop after walking down the exit steps.

[El Toro_Ryan]

The wait for Toro when it broke down was also about 5-10 extra minutes, I am assuming it was a glitch with the station breaks. They had maintenance dudes show up who were doing something in the control booth but they had the train moving back and forth in the station with people on the train, some not with their restraints down. Was weird to see the train moving with folks inside not strapped in, some looking a little panicked. Nothing else really noteworthy, so here are some pictures.

 

That's weird. When I was working, we would always empty the train before moving it back and forth during a breakdown. Maintenance usually does that when the collector rails under the cars don't give a proper verify that the lapbars are down far enough. Good thing however is that the ride is switched into manual mode when they move the trains back and forth and in manual mode, the train can't engage the lift hill so while those guests on the train may have been alarmed, they weren't going anywhere. haha

[coasterbill]

I thought of CoasterBill when I took this LOL.

 

I call myself a "Coaster Enthusiast" but everyone knows I'm really a Sky Ride and Log Flume enthusiast first and a coaster enthusiast second. Coaster enthusiasm is a gateway drug.

 

... actually wait, I never call myself a coaster enthusiast. I try to keep that on the down-low. lol

[boldikus]

 

That's weird. When I was working, we would always empty the train before moving it back and forth during a breakdown. Maintenance usually does that when the collector rails under the cars don't give a proper verify that the lapbars are down far enough. Good thing however is that the ride is switched into manual mode when they move the trains back and forth and in manual mode, the train can't engage the lift hill so while those guests on the train may have been alarmed, they weren't going anywhere. haha

 

They eventually opened up the air gates, made everyone get off, and ran one empty train, and we were back up and running.

 

I thought of CoasterBill when I took this LOL.

 

I call myself a "Coaster Enthusiast" but everyone knows I'm really a Sky Ride and Log Flume enthusiast first and a coaster enthusiast second. Coaster enthusiasm is a gateway drug.

 

... actually wait, I never call myself a coaster enthusiast. I try to keep that on the down-low. lol

 

LMAO. I did really think of you tho, haha.

[TunaSled]

Twister is fun to watch but I won't go near it.

 

"Twixter"

uuuuggghhh

[gp1086]

Thoughts from my trip to the park yesterday:

 

- Knew it was going to be more crowded than my liking when they had all 12 parking lanes open and there was a 10 min wait to get through (approx 11:30 a.m.) - apparently a lot of people don't care about football and / wanted to bring a friend for free

 

- First stop, Zumanjaro. Mistake thinking the single rider line would be quick. It was probably 1/3 the size of the normal queue, but moved about 1/5 the pace, or maybe slower. Took me over an hour to move about 70 feet. Still though, the ride is AWESOME! So much fun.

 

- Always considered / thought of "Best of the West" as a hidden gem for eating. Not so much yesterday, before they had 2 lines opened up, it was probably a 20 minute wait to get lunch (around 12:45). Then they opened both lines and it was a little quicker.

 

- Checked out Safari line after lunch. 2 HOUR WAIT! Dammit. I came back at 4:55 and it was already closed for the day. WTF!?

 

- Shorter ride queues (< 30 mins during day) included: Bizarro, Skull Mountain, Houdini's (fun to do every now and then)

 

- Reasonable queue in afternoon (30 mins): El Toro, Green Lantern

 

- Closed rides: Superman, Log Flume, Runaway Train. Think everything else was open.

 

- Rides I skipped due to time: Nitro, Batman, TDK, Twister, Skyscreamer,

 

- I've continued to ask myself this every year since I used to go all the time in 2009 - WHY THE HECK IS THE SHORTCUT FROM NEAR KINGDA KA TO EL TORO CLOSED? It used to be so convenient to cut through near where the tigers were. Now you have to go all the way back to Boardwalk and walk around. Easily adds 10 minutes to the walk. Is there anything there now?

 

- Despite the single rider line being inconveniently placed so late into the Green Lantern queue, the line was never empty, so can't say it really added to the wait.

 

- Towards the end of the night I got to ride Zumanjaro again (cool in dark), Kingda Ka (always such a blast), and El Toro 2x in a row (got last ride of the night, so they let some of us stay on). All this happened within about 1.5 hours, so not too shabby.

 

- Side note, really wish they had the ride "Chaos". Remember going on that during a HS field trip and it was badass.

 

Will be back for Fright Fest in October and guessing I can anticipate an even larger crowd.I need to start taking days off from work again in the summer to avoid people.

[gp1086]

Also, kind of cool the park will be open until midnight this year during Fright Fest. Don't believe they've stayed open that late before (correct me if I'm wrong).

[3Mutts]

^^ Since the Super Loop is opening in that area, I hope they reopen that path to El Toro

[TBpony414]

Does anyone know if S:UF down for the remainder of the season?

[Lightnin Loops]

Does anyone know if S:UF down for the remainder of the season?

 

On sat, John who was giving the tour I was on at ROTB, said the lift hill motor was being refurbished, and they were hoping to have had it fixed that weekend. They didn't get it back as of sat. So hopefully it gets fixed this weekend. Also said Mine Train is waiting on some new track.

[michaellynn4]

^ I know the general hope is that the path to El Toro from Kingda Ka gets reopened next year with this new addition, but did anyone confirm any of this with the folks at ROTB?

[Lightnin Loops]

^ I know the general hope is that the path to El Toro from Kingda Ka gets reopened next year with this new addition, but did anyone confirm any of this with the folks at ROTB?

 

I didn't hear any mentions of the path from El Toro to Kinda Ka being reopened at ROTB, but I remember hearing like 2 yrs ago it was closed for the games in the boardwalk area to get more foot traffic.

[njcoasterguy34]

Call me stupid, but what the heck does ROTB stand for?

[strz]

Call me stupid, but what the heck does ROTB stand for?

 

 

Riding of the Bull:

 

http://calendar.theadvocate.com/jackson_nj/events/show/371275688-riding-of-the-bull-2014

[El Toro_Ryan]

^ I know the general hope is that the path to El Toro from Kingda Ka gets reopened next year with this new addition, but did anyone confirm any of this with the folks at ROTB?

 

I've talked with management and the story is there will be a path from Ka to Toro next year but the park wants to build a new path for some reason instead of using the old one. I'm not sure why they aren't using the old path but hey, at least there will be some sort of path.

[strz]

^ I know the general hope is that the path to El Toro from Kingda Ka gets reopened next year with this new addition, but did anyone confirm any of this with the folks at ROTB?

 

I've talked with management and the story is there will be a path from Ka to Toro next year but the park wants to build a new path for some reason instead of using the old one. I'm not sure why they aren't using the old path but hey, at least there will be some sort of path.

 

Not that it matters now, however- I recall how good that area of the park looked when it opened, saying to myself....if SFGA can keep theming this way, plus maintain (the park in this manner) long-term....then this will really be a tremendous park in so many new ways!

[TBpony414]

Lightnin Loops: Thanks for the info on S:UF. I am supposed to make the trek up to NJ this weekend with a friend in from out of town but she's feeling a little under the weather, and S:UF is one of my favs so that may play into our decision on whether to still go this Sat.

[coasterbill]

^ I know the general hope is that the path to El Toro from Kingda Ka gets reopened next year with this new addition, but did anyone confirm any of this with the folks at ROTB?

 

I've talked with management and the story is there will be a path from Ka to Toro next year but the park wants to build a new path for some reason instead of using the old one. I'm not sure why they aren't using the old path but hey, at least there will be some sort of path.

 

The thing that really amazes me about Six Flags is that they're the cheapest company in the world when it comes to pretty much everything but sometimes they go way out of their way to completely waste money needlessly.

 

They're cheap when it comes to operations by closing rides early, not staffing rides properly and not running all available trains / cars (this isn't an issue at Great Adventure except with the Skyride but it is at their other parks).

 

They're cheap when it comes to aesthetics by leaving parts of old rides they don't feel like removing (Rolling Thunder, the boat ride at SFA and by the sounds of things the New England Skyway towers next year), not theming anything, leaving ride pads empty and putting ugly fences off to block off areas they've closed.

 

They're cheap when it comes to new rides by buying carnival rides in bulk and building low cost coasters compared to chains like Cedar Fair (though some of them do end up being very good rides).

 

Then when it's time to waste money they go all out...

 

At Six Flags New England for example they had a new ride that was great. Everyone loved it, it was running as reliably as it was going to run and it was a major hit. Then they decided to waste a ton of money on a new train when the old one was fine. This huge expense caused the ride to be closed for half of a season, didn't increase capacity at all, didn't make them any money, didn't make the ride any more reliable and ruined the ride experience. They wasted a ton of money and time on something with no up-side, no increased profits and a much worse guest experience.

 

Now at Great Adventure they already have a path and a Safari Discovery area that could go from Golden Kingdom to El Toro. All they need to do is open a wooden gate. Sure there will be empty, ugly ride pads there but that never bothered them before...

 

Instead they're going to clear more land and build a brand new path that's probably going to require electrical work, plumbing work, land clearing, materials and labor and it's completely stupid because they already have 2 paths they could use that are both probably better themed than this one will be and all they need to do is open a gate. That's it.

 

From a guest perspective I don't care but I'll never understand how a company that pinches pennies everywhere keeps wasting money on projects that are completely pointless.

[gecomet92]

At Six Flags New England for example they had a new ride that was great. Everyone loved it, it was running as reliably as it was going to run and it was a major hit. Then they decided to waste a ton of money on a new train when the old one was fine. This huge expense caused the ride to be closed for half of a season, didn't increase capacity at all, didn't make them any money, didn't make the ride any more reliable and ruined the ride experience. They wasted a ton of money and time on something with no up-side, no increased profits and a much worse guest experience.

 

And they wasted 9 million on renovating the #1 coaster in the world, which in turn made SROS/Bizarro lose it's #1 spot. SF doesn't understand the saying "If it aint broken don't fix it"

[strz]

^ I know the general hope is that the path to El Toro from Kingda Ka gets reopened next year with this new addition, but did anyone confirm any of this with the folks at ROTB?

 

 

Instead they're going to clear more land and build a brand new path that's probably going to require electrical work, plumbing work, land clearing, materials and labor and it's completely stupid because they already have 2 paths they could use that are both probably better themed than this one will be and all they need to do is open a gate. That's it.

 

 

Too funny!

[Hayzle]

I have got to think that building a new path is part of a larger plan to keep adding rides in the golden kingdom section of the park. By building the path down by Ka's entrance over to El Toro's entrance it would end two odd dead ends in the park. Then the area between the new path and the boardwalk can be filled with rides

[coasterbill]

[And they wasted 9 million on renovating the #1 coaster in the world, which in turn made SROS/Bizarro lose it's #1 spot. SF doesn't understand the saying "If it aint broken don't fix it"

 

I almost mentioned that one but I'll give them a pass because as dumb as that was (and it was really dumb) I think they were expecting a return on investment on it (and maybe they got one... who knows?). They tried to brand it as a new experience and they rolled out a ton of new merchandise for it. With Goliath's awful new train they didn't market it at all and there's no way they could have thought it would give them any return. It was just a complete waste of time AND it ruined the ride.

[3Mutts]

Hi everyone we are heading down to the park on saturday or sunday, I know that both are bring a friend for free day and that on saturday it is going to rain. Im just wondering what the rain policy is (if its as bad as CP we wont go on saturday) and how bad the crowds are on a bring a freind for free day is.

[coasterbill]

Hi everyone we are heading down to the park on saturday or sunday, I know that both are bring a friend for free day and that on saturday it is going to rain. Im just wondering what the rain policy is (if its as bad as CP we wont go on saturday) and how bad the crowds are on a bring a freind for free day is.

 

Great Adventure's rain policy is awesome. They don't care about rain at all... the only ride that closes in the rain is Kingda Ka (and for good reason). The Safari might close if it's muddy enough but I don't see that happening.