Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread

[El Toro_Ryan]

I'm curious what T Express's theoretical is, I was at the park when it was running 3 trains and the crew were hustling so much, having a train leave the very second the 2nd train hit the block and 3rd on the course somewhere. They were letting 3 trains worth of people on the station to make it as fast as they could so I got stuck in the single-rider line by myself for almost 40 mins (i'll cover it in the TR) they were hustling so much and had no time to get people through station and reopen gates.

 

After a little nerding out, it takes roughly like a minute and a half from when the train dispatches the station until it hits the block (based on a youtube POV). That's 40 trains an hour if the crew hits that interval every time which is 1,440 people an hour. Toro and Millennium Force come in at 1,296 an hour so T Express is definitely an improvement . But again, this is based on a Youtube video so its probably not right. The ride could be capable of sending trains even more trains an hour.

 

Can you actually send it as soon as you get the light? Hydra gives the light when the train is in the 2nd half of the cobra, but it won't let you dispatch until it hits the corkscrew.

 

Possessed would also give you the light as soon as the restraints were locked, but you couldn't dispatch until it was blinking quickly, as the LIM's have a (If I remember correctly) 1 minute cool down timer between launches.

 

Yup! As soon as the computer gives you the light, you can press dispatch. We will only send out a train this early however if the train on the track is filled with riders because the full trains glide through the brakes much more quickly which avoids setting up the train on the lift hill. With an empty train, you have to wait until it hits the first set of brakes. However to get the dispatch light, the train has to be verified already, so all the chunky monkeys have to be stapled first. lol

[JRice92]

You probably came while we we're trying to hit the theoretical max number of cycles for an hour, which is 36 trains.

 

1. That's awesome that you get the crew hustling like that, congratulations!

2. Interesring note about Intamin's capacity. Even though Millennium runs 3, adding an block (and train) between the final break run and the loading station doesn't increase capacity at all. Millennium Force's max number of cycles per hour is also 36.

 

Thanks! and wow that's interesting. I guess that makes sense with the way the blocks are set up for Millennium Force. But i would assume having that unload station probably makes it easier to hit the 36 cycles. Sometimes we will miss an interval due to people taking forever to exit the station. Plus with the unload station, I would assume it makes loading the trains much faster because there is no delay while loading guests wait for the exiting guests to get off the train. I've always wanted to work Millennium Force, I love the way it is set up.

 

And a quick question, does the computer make you wait to send the next train until the train on the course is at a certain point near the end of the ride? El Toro will not give you a dispatch light until this hill right here. [attachment=0]AF1QipOLTrel6ctuZHRQXhTDESicZh3vGf5eSgJR-4CX=I-U.jpg[/attachment]

 

Millennium gives you dispatch lights as soon as the catch car is back in place. That usually happens sometime between the train descending the airtime hill next to the station or as late as the front of the train entering the straight track before the final overbank. If the trains are running normal speed we dispatch the second that light turns green. If the trains are running slow (during halloweekends or just the beginning of the day) the train will take a little while longer to go through the breaks. Because of that we still get lights but it's up to the person in controls to wait a few seconds before dispatching. If we dispatch too soon the train will set up for a few seconds on the top of the lift, then automatically go over once the train in front gets into the unload station. It's pretty common for us to dispatch to early when the trains are running slow, in the CP thread a week or so ago someone's TR said they stopped at the top of the hill for 5-8 seconds, that's a result of dispatching too early. And we also get that really loud sound of the anti-rollbacks droping when the train stops.

 

And yes I'd definitely say it's easier having separate platforms for loading & unloading. I feel like we get a lot more time to check our trains because of it.

[boldikus]

Loving this Millennium vs Toro ride op technical nerdfest.

[Keetz]

MF, El Toro, and Fury 325 are my favorite coasters to wait for because you can feel the efficiency.

I guess when MF stops on the lift you can also hear the efficiency.

[coasterbill]

you can feel the efficiency.

 

[boldikus]

[Keetz]

Bill, that gif is the feeling when you walk into the MF techno toaster at night.

[TBpony414]

Loving this Millennium vs Toro ride op technical nerdfest.

 

Understatement of the year! Keep the MF vs. Toro operating scenarios going please, guys! It is really interesting to learn about the green lights for dispatching, which blocks/return hill the train has to be over for it to dispatch without pausing on the lift, etc.

[Jason Maier]

Regarding El Toro . . . .

 

What's the longest the line for it has ever been?

[boldikus]

Personally I've seen it wrapped around to and across the bridge to Bizarro. How long of a duration was the wait? I wouldn't know as I'd never wait that long for it.

[michaellynn4]

I've seen it wrapped around just like Boldikus described above. Fright Fest pulls no punches.

 

Side note: On my way out the door to go vote, then I'm driving up to the park. Message me if you're there and want to meet up!!

[El Toro_Ryan]

Millennium gives you dispatch lights as soon as the catch car is back in place. That usually happens sometime between the train descending the airtime hill next to the station or as late as the front of the train entering the straight track before the final overbank. If the trains are running normal speed we dispatch the second that light turns green. If the trains are running slow (during halloweekends or just the beginning of the day) the train will take a little while longer to go through the breaks. Because of that we still get lights but it's up to the person in controls to wait a few seconds before dispatching. If we dispatch too soon the train will set up for a few seconds on the top of the lift, then automatically go over once the train in front gets into the unload station. It's pretty common for us to dispatch to early when the trains are running slow, in the CP thread a week or so ago someone's TR said they stopped at the top of the hill for 5-8 seconds, that's a result of dispatching too early. And we also get that really loud sound of the anti-rollbacks droping when the train stops.

 

And yes I'd definitely say it's easier having separate platforms for loading & unloading. I feel like we get a lot more time to check our trains because of it.

 

Awesome that's really interesting. And yeah I know all about those Intamin anti-rollbacks. Occasionally at Toro, the rollback wheel will slip going up the entire lift hill and the entire park can hear the anti-rollbacks going off.

 

Now does Millenium Force also have a verify system for the lapbars or are the seatbelts what determine if someone can ride or not? All the times I've been to CP, I've never witnessed anyone get kicked off the ride and you guys seem to hit every interval which is awesome! The verify on Toro is super strict and some days it can be super hard to hit intervals due to the amount of chunky monkeys in the park. Fright Fest is generally the worst time of year to run the ride because people's jackets lower their chances of verifying and sometimes we end up kicking several people off the same train.

 

Also, do you know what the total ridership for the season was for Millennium Force? I know you guys usually do around 1.7 million which is super impressive. We've done about 1.25 million on El Toro so far this season.

 

Regarding El Toro . . . .

 

What's the longest the line for it has ever been?

 

Definitely wrapped around the ride and heading towards the bridge to Bizarro. A full q-line takes an hour if the ride is running at about 800-900 people an hour so it's probably only been about 2 hours at most. If we're rolling trains, that line may only take about an hour and a half. Now when the ride first opened in 2006 and only one train was used combined with 5+ minute dispatches, I'm sure the line was much longer.

[Satans Hockey]

The verify on Toro is super strict and some days it can be super hard to hit intervals due to the amount of chunky monkeys in the park. Fright Fest is generally the worst time of year to run the ride because people's jackets lower their chances of verifying and sometimes we end up kicking several people off the same train.

 

Almost every single time I ride El Toro I end up on a train where people have a hard time getting the seats to verify lol I know it's not your guys fault. I've also seen idiots who just don't listen and they pull the lap bar down first before locking their seat belts which causes even a longer delay when the car has to be unlocked.

[El Toro_Ryan]

The verify on Toro is super strict and some days it can be super hard to hit intervals due to the amount of chunky monkeys in the park. Fright Fest is generally the worst time of year to run the ride because people's jackets lower their chances of verifying and sometimes we end up kicking several people off the same train.

 

Almost every single time I ride El Toro I end up on a train where people have a hard time getting the seats to verify lol I know it's not your guys fault. I've also seen idiots who just don't listen and they pull the lap bar down first before locking their seat belts which causes even a longer delay when the car has to be unlocked.

 

Yeah there's always chunky monkeys in the park who don't know how to buckle seat belts. Another weird fact, the first few weeks Toro was open, there was no system to tell you what cars were not verified. You might hear the operator calling car 4, car 5, etc which means that car isn't verified. But back then, you just had to guess which car was not verified. And if you had to unlock a car, you had to unlock the entire train. Now we can unlock individual cars.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

This is all very interesting, including the verification system. There are sensors, I would guess, that tell if the restraint is down far enough. I've noticed this only on very new coasters, including the calling out of specific seats. It's awesome that you have that as a double check. *in an old guy voice* Back in my day, the restraint check was a ride op pulling on the bar and saying "I hope you make it back okay. Wouldn't want to lose any more today."

[JRice92]

 

Awesome that's really interesting. And yeah I know all about those Intamin anti-rollbacks. Occasionally at Toro, the rollback wheel will slip going up the entire lift hill and the entire park can hear the anti-rollbacks going off.

 

Now does Millenium Force also have a verify system for the lapbars or are the seatbelts what determine if someone can ride or not? All the times I've been to CP, I've never witnessed anyone get kicked off the ride and you guys seem to hit every interval which is awesome! The verify on Toro is super strict and some days it can be super hard to hit intervals due to the amount of chunky monkeys in the park. Fright Fest is generally the worst time of year to run the ride because people's jackets lower their chances of verifying and sometimes we end up kicking several people off the same train.

 

Also, do you know what the total ridership for the season was for Millennium Force? I know you guys usually do around 1.7 million which is super impressive. We've done about 1.25 million on El Toro so far this season.

 

There's no verification system whatsoever on Millennium Force you can dispatch a train in full auto mode with the lapbars up. However if someone actually did that you could kiss your job at CP goodbye. If the seat belt can fasten the guest is good to ride. You all know we have the notoriously short seatbelts. Fun fact: all seat belts on Millennium are the same length, which makes it fair for everybody but the ability of each ride host to buckle a guest of a larger size varys from person to person and that's how we have the rumors that the seatbelts are all different lengths.

 

Millennium had another 1.7 million riders this season. The highest on Millennium was 1.9 million in 2001

 

I noticed you said you can unlock each car individually, I'm so jealous of that, if we need to unlock it's all the seats or none.

[Satans Hockey]

The verify on Toro is super strict and some days it can be super hard to hit intervals due to the amount of chunky monkeys in the park. Fright Fest is generally the worst time of year to run the ride because people's jackets lower their chances of verifying and sometimes we end up kicking several people off the same train.

 

Almost every single time I ride El Toro I end up on a train where people have a hard time getting the seats to verify lol I know it's not your guys fault. I've also seen idiots who just don't listen and they pull the lap bar down first before locking their seat belts which causes even a longer delay when the car has to be unlocked.

 

Yeah there's always chunky monkeys in the park who don't know how to buckle seat belts. Another weird fact, the first few weeks Toro was open, there was no system to tell you what cars were not verified. You might hear the operator calling car 4, car 5, etc which means that car isn't verified. But back then, you just had to guess which car was not verified. And if you had to unlock a car, you had to unlock the entire train. Now we can unlock individual cars.

 

Wow I can't even imagine what a pain in the ass that must have been between that and the long lines for it just opening.

 

I enjoy reading all the info, you guys do a great job.

[Jcoaster]

At the park now, its absolutely dead. Three gates open at the entrance. Gotta ride my face off for the next four hours since next visit will be HITP.

[Jason Maier]

A couple of Great Adventure related questions:

 

The Haunted Castle (NOT about the fire, that's been discussed ad infinitum), for those that actually saw the attraction, what was it like? I'm sure it would have made an awesome Fright Fest addition.

 

For those that work there (or have worked there in the past) . . . what have been some of your favorite moments working there?

[larrygator]

A couple of Great Adventure related questions:

 

The Haunted Castle (NOT about the fire, that's been discussed ad infinitum), for those that actually saw the attraction, what was it like? I'm sure it would have made an awesome Fright Fest addition.

 

At the time it was built there was an abundance of Haunted Houses in close proximity. Stand alone attractions in Long Branch and Brigantine were huge. My memories are fuzzy since it was so long ago, but here is what I remember.

 

It was a long walk through but not as long as Brigantine Castle or the Haunted Mansion Long Branch. Also, although it was well done but not nearly are well done as the other haunted attractions I mentioned. Lots of teenagers would try to hide and hang out in the attraction trying to scare people, sometimes to better results than the scare actors. Many times the scare were not in your face but well themed rooms/scenes with the actors during there best to stay in character and be creepy. The scare actors did a good job, but the scares you saw back then were more creepy scary then surprise you scary. The anticipation and build up to the scares were bigger than the actual scares. Lighting was inconsistent, in some places too dark and others too well lit. I remember walking through it at least three times with friends during school trips and it was always fun. One of the most anticipated attractions in the park for teenagers.

[coneyislandchris]

Hit the park this morning after doing the whole voting thing. Got to the car gates around 10, they opened up around 10:30, and there were not a whole lot of folks around. It was supposedly both a Physics Day for school trips and a Bring-A-Friend-Free for pass holders, but you wouldn't know it judging by the turnout.

 

Got through the main gates around 10:55, made a beeline through the arcade to get to El Toro and get my last few rides of the season in. Managed five in a row without leaving my seat and another one after switching seats. Was running really well thanks to the unseasonably warm weather in the upper 60's/low 70's.

 

After having my fill of the bull, I headed over towards Superman to get at least one lap in. This was the longest wait of the day simply due to them running one single train and the slow loading/unloading procedure. The ops announced "this train is scheduled to leave in 30 seconds"... was closer to three minutes. Even with this, it didn't end up being more than ten minutes with a two train wait. Love that pretzel loop and its unyielding ability to completely knock the wind outta me. Side note, Green Lantern was down, not that I was planning on riding it anyway.

 

From there, I headed towards Ka and on my walk past the station noticed it was totally empty, but they were dispatching trains. This surely can't be? By the time I made it through the switchbacks and into the station, I was greeted with a half-full platform and only two folks waiting for the front row. Slipped in line right behind them and was in and out within the span of five minutes. Also decided to try it hands up in the front for once... shouldn't have done that. Should not have done that. They felt like they were going to be ripped from my sockets. Live and learn...

 

Stopped at Nathan's on my way through the boardwalk section, grabbed some corn dog nuggets, and nibbled on those while walking towards Joker. The line was smaller than I had seen it at any point in recent memory, so I walked through the queue straight into a completely empty single rider line to find that the very next group had five people. They shuffled us off to the purple side and I ended up facing forward. My opinions of this haven't changed much since opening day, unfortunately. No full rotations at all. Kinda solidifies itself as a ride that I'll take a chance on if there's no wait but anything longer than 10 minutes and I can find better stuff to do with my time.

 

Over to Nitro, greeted with a last row walk-on. Does it get any better than that? Not for my money it doesn't. Tons of floater air and a rush of speed. Got a reride in here as well before having to vacate, but no complaints. That left me just enough time for some Batman The Ride action and as always that thing was HAULING. Still missing the backwards train from last season but it doesn't matter. I'll ride it forwards, backwards, in the front, middle, or back, and it always gives me a great ride. Looking forward to a ton of night rides on these two during HITP.

 

Grabbed some Dippin' Dots for the walk back to the car, consumed them in rapid fashion and dealt with the associated brainfreeze, turned the key in the ignition, and the display on the clock read 1:45. Easily the least amount of time I've ever spent in the park, but who cares? I did everything I wanted to do and then some, and had next to no waits. Much love to park management for keeping the park open today for us diehards! \o/

[Physical]

Had a pretty great day at the park, we mostly just parked our asses on Toro with some other rides thrown in throughout the day.

 

Gotta say, Toro's ops today were pretty slow. But what can you do, shit happens. Had a few run ins with the typical "Rude Six Flags ops" but that could be partially my fault. What I find funny generally isn't what most people consider funny. Had the Toro operator ask me if I wanted to come up and operate, I would have gladly volunteered, but eh, I figured I gave him enough hell throughout our 11 or 12 laps

[Jason Maier]

(If anyone knows this) . . . . so far, what coaster at Great Adventure has seen the highest ridership number this year?

[El Toro_Ryan]

Had a pretty great day at the park, we mostly just parked our asses on Toro with some other rides thrown in throughout the day.

 

Gotta say, Toro's ops today were pretty slow. But what can you do, poo-poo happens. Had a few run ins with the typical "Rude Six Flags ops" but that could be partially my fault. What I find funny generally isn't what most people consider funny. Had the Toro operator ask me if I wanted to come up and operate, I would have gladly volunteered, but eh, I figured I gave him enough hell throughout our 11 or 12 laps

 

Lol we have staff from Six Flags New England and Six Flags America at the park this week to help us out. (Seriously if you need a job, apply now or next year for 2017!) Was the operator Donovan by any chance?

 

(If anyone knows this) . . . . so far, what coaster at Great Adventure has seen the highest ridership number this year?

 

That would be Nitro with most likely about 1.4 or 1.5 million riders for the year (I'll try to find out the exact stat.) They were the first in the Six Flags chain to hit one million just like they are every year.

[Physical]

Had a pretty great day at the park, we mostly just parked our asses on Toro with some other rides thrown in throughout the day.

 

Gotta say, Toro's ops today were pretty slow. But what can you do, poo-poo happens. Had a few run ins with the typical "Rude Six Flags ops" but that could be partially my fault. What I find funny generally isn't what most people consider funny. Had the Toro operator ask me if I wanted to come up and operate, I would have gladly volunteered, but eh, I figured I gave him enough hell throughout our 11 or 12 laps

 

Lol we have staff from Six Flags New England and Six Flags America at the park this week to help us out. (Seriously if you need a job, apply now or next year for 2017!) Was the operator Donovan by any chance?

 

Not sure, couldn't see his name tag. If I didn't live an hour and a half away I probably would apply for a ride op position. I was talking with a New England ride op over at Ka, and he told me he's getting paid 13 an hour (his rate at New England)