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Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread


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Edit: ^ Beat me to it

 

Every non-water ride including the Safari will be open. Be sure to get there early as the line closes early depending on queue length as it needs to cycle through before it gets dark. The park will likely be very busy that weekend as it's Fright Fest. Get to the park a little before opening.

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Ahh fright fest, I didn't think it started that early. I thought first weekend of October the park might be pretty dead Guess not. Perhaps labour day weekend would be better for crowds? Last weekend for Hurricane Harbour, I don't know if that's bad or good as far as crowds

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Crowd-wise, anything would be better than Fright Fest.

 

That said, if you want to come up that first week of October then I'm also contractually obligated to inform you that it's Phoenix Phall Phunfest at Knoebels, which also happens to have the most kid-friendly height requirements of any park in the region.

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Hershey is also closed during Columbus Day weekend. Hersheypark in the Dark starts the 3rd weekend of October this year.

 

If you do go to Great Adventure, I would plan to get most of the rides in on Columbus Day since it usually isn't that crowded. Not all schools are closed and with it being a school night and work night and the park open until 10, the ride lines are usually reasonable once people start to leave and others go to the Fright Fest attractions. The problem with that is Saturday and Sunday are going to be horrible as already mentioned. I have never gone to the park during Fright Fest on a Saturday and seeing pictures of traffic and crowds, I never will.

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Hershey is also closed during Columbus Day weekend. Hersheypark in the Dark starts the 3rd weekend of October this year.

 

Good point, I totally forgot HPITD was only the three weekends.

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My first (and so far only) visit to SFGAdv was on a Fright Fest Saturday (I didn't know that Fright Fest got crowded at the time, nor did I have any say in when we went anyway). The park was super crowded, and almost everything was 45min wait. Luckily, I had overall a fun trip because 1)I was with my best friend, and 2) see my signature . Unfortunately, because of wait times, Ka going down after I waited 45min , and excessive walking as well as just standing around, I only got 5 of the coasters (Toro, B:TR, Nitro, Bizarro, Dark Knight) and only one re-ride (Toro). So I wouldn't recommend Fright Fest.

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Yeah as soon as you guys mentioned Fright Fest that idea went out the window, I've read about it too Now contemplating Labour Day weekend, unless that's a busy weekend too

 

Labour Day weekend is usually pretty busy, I would seriously contemplate coasterbill's suggestion:

 

That said, if you want to come up that first week of October then I'm also contractually obligated to inform you that it's Phoenix Phall Phunfest at Knoebels, which also happens to have the most kid-friendly height requirements of any park in the region.

 

I love Fright Fest at Great Adventure, but I used to be a local so the long lines don't bother me. You will never regret going to Knoebels for Phoenix Phall Phunfest. Seriously they have the best ride lineup for families, including thrills that rival the best coasters at GAdv. It's free admission and pay-per-ride (you can opt for an unlimited ride pass) and the wait time for most rides will only be 15 minutes (even though it's their busiest day of the year). The best time to visit Great Adventure imo is April or early November (post Fright Fest). Even a summer weekend is way less crowded than Fright Fest haha

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Yeah as soon as you guys mentioned Fright Fest that idea went out the window, I've read about it too Now contemplating Labour Day weekend, unless that's a busy weekend too

 

Labour Day weekend is usually pretty busy, I would seriously contemplate coasterbill's suggestion:

 

That said, if you want to come up that first week of October then I'm also contractually obligated to inform you that it's Phoenix Phall Phunfest at Knoebels, which also happens to have the most kid-friendly height requirements of any park in the region.

 

I love Fright Fest at Great Adventure, but I used to be a local so the long lines don't bother me. You will never regret going to Knoebels for Phoenix Phall Phunfest. Seriously they have the best ride lineup for families, including thrills that rival the best coasters at GAdv. It's free admission and pay-per-ride (you can opt for an unlimited ride pass) and the wait time for most rides will only be 15 minutes (even though it's their busiest day of the year). The best time to visit Great Adventure imo is April or early November (post Fright Fest). Even a summer weekend is way less crowded than Fright Fest haha

 

What about the weekend after Labour Day? Still busy? We're planning on going to Hersheypark and Knoebels on the same trip, one day at each.

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That weekend has been bad the last few years since they have made it a bring a friend free weekend (I'm not sure if it is bring a friend free this year as well).

 

how does that work? at laronde, albeit its my first time with a pass, there doesn't seem to be bring a friend free days but rather we have a voucher to bring a friend free that can be used anytime between may long weekend and june 24th or something.

 

anyways our plan would be sat 8th at knoebels, sun 9th at hershey, mon 10th at great adv. so should be good for great adv since we'll be there on a non holiday monday (well, it's rosh hashanah but i don't know if that's brings crowds), hoping hershey isn't going to be too bad on the sunday. does something special happen at knoebels for the phoenix phun fest? i'll have to look up the kids rides there, i didn't know they had lower than normal height restrictions.

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It's the same at Great Adventure, usually that weekend is one of the weekends where there is bring a friend free in addition to other times throughout the year.

 

I went to Great Adventure on Rosh Hashanah last year (it was on a Thursday). Crowds weren't bad. I looked up my trip report from last year ( http://www.greatadventurehistory.com/Forums/index.php?/topic/5354-92117/ ) and waits were mostly 10 - 30 minutes.

 

Hershey should be good on a Sunday. For some reason Sunday's in the spring and fall are usually low crowds while Saturday's are crowded. I know a Sunday is always going to be less crowded than a Saturday but it's to the point where there could be 30 - 60 minute waits on a Saturday and 5 - 15 minute waits on a Sunday that time of year.

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I headed out to the park for a few hours yesterday before a Memorial Day BBQ.

 

Arrived at 11:30 in a light drizzle/heavy fog, and only KingdaKa/Zumanjaro were closed. The crowds were very light. I went straight to Justice League and rode 8 times (some guns were giving problems last week, this time no issues). The ride ops were a little off though, making odd grouping decisions. (Example: Taking two riders from the regular line and putting them in one row of a car and sending it, while others were waiting in the regular, single rider and fast pass lines.)

 

All food locations looked to be staffed properly. Ordered a grilled chicken/applewood bacon/ranch sandwich (knowing it usually takes longer for grilled chicken) and it only took three minutes from the Metro Grill. Did Nitro three times as a walk-on with re-rides in open rows)? Walk-on for Batman, one train wait for Joker, then two walk-on rides for El Toro (which only had one train in service). I don't know if they started the day with two days,

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Saw the website and noticed the memorial days sale

 

Jesus christ when did they start selling 15 different pass tiers. Last I checked a membership was a slightly more expensive way to pay for a season pass for folks who wanted to split up the payments. Now thee's a super diamond mega deluxe tier?

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^ It's been like that for the past few months. SF introduced the 4-tier memberships to all their parks sometime around February or March and has been really pushing for people to choose it over the standard season passes.

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I stopped by the Membership Services set-up to compare my current pass to the membership options and the only thing I'm really missing between what I currently have and the membership I would purchase is the dedicated entry lines. I'll probably convert over to a membership at the end of the year after HITP.

 

Personally I think SF wants everyone with a multi-park season pass to convert to a membership for a few reasons.

1- Automatic renewals provide a small revenue stream from customers who may delay cancelling of forget to cancel.

2 - More balanced cash flow throughout the year (looks good to the investor community).

3 - Trying to bundle as many extras together, but at a low monthly fees, hides the true cost of ownership.

4 - Allows SF to more easily address the cost variances of people buying passes from different parks. The parks currently selling season passes for 49.99, 59.99 or 69.99 can continue but those passes will only be valid at the park purchased without a chance to upgrade to a chain wide membership.

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^ It's been like that for the past few months. SF introduced the 4-tier memberships to all their parks sometime around February or March and has been really pushing for people to choose it over the standard season passes.

 

Odd that they would introduce it in the winter when their big season pass push is September-October.

 

I did a comparison and at least this past weekend, the gold tier was indeed cheaper and superior to the gold season pass. However, the benefits werent really there to go up to platinum.

 

I found it interesting that the mega double diamond deluxe tier seems to include everything.......except discounted/free locker use.

 

I find it insane that they still havent found a way to tie in your pass or phone app with the storage units. It is annoying to have to wait in line to use the kiosk every time.

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The one big difference that I had noticed between the diamond membership, and the elite diamond membership is that you get 2 skip the line passes per visit with the elite. And your whole party can go on each line skip pass. Plus you get 50% off almost anything with the elite.

 

So both me and my wife have the elite memberships. By both of us having them, it allows us to get a total of 4 skip the line passes each park we visit. No need for the extra cost of fastlane. So this saves us a ton. Not to mention the 50% off of food and merch.

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The one big difference that I had noticed between the diamond membership, and the elite diamond membership is that you get 2 skip the line passes per visit with the elite. And your whole party can go on each line skip pass. Plus you get 50% off almost anything with the elite.

 

So both me and my wife have the elite memberships. By both of us having them, it allows us to get a total of 4 skip the line passes each park we visit. No need for the extra cost of fastlane. So this saves us a ton. Not to mention the 50% off of food and merch.

 

How exactly does this feature work?

 

Are they paper tickets, or via the app, or they scan your physical membership card?

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The one big difference that I had noticed between the diamond membership, and the elite diamond membership is that you get 2 skip the line passes per visit with the elite. And your whole party can go on each line skip pass. Plus you get 50% off almost anything with the elite.

 

So both me and my wife have the elite memberships. By both of us having them, it allows us to get a total of 4 skip the line passes each park we visit. No need for the extra cost of fastlane. So this saves us a ton. Not to mention the 50% off of food and merch.

 

How exactly does this feature work?

 

Are they paper tickets, or via the app, or they scan your physical membership card?

 

You show your card at the location that sells fastlane to get scanned, and they give you a paper for each fastlane. You have to tell them what attractions you want to use them on, and they write that attraction and number of people in your party on the paper. It looks like a paper receipt.

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The one big difference that I had noticed between the diamond membership, and the elite diamond membership is that you get 2 skip the line passes per visit with the elite. And your whole party can go on each line skip pass. Plus you get 50% off almost anything with the elite.

 

So both me and my wife have the elite memberships. By both of us having them, it allows us to get a total of 4 skip the line passes each park we visit. No need for the extra cost of fastlane. So this saves us a ton. Not to mention the 50% off of food and merch.

 

How exactly does this feature work?

 

Are they paper tickets, or via the app, or they scan your physical membership card?

 

You show your card at the location that sells fastlane to get scanned, and they give you a paper for each fastlane. You have to tell them what attractions you want to use them on, and they write that attraction and number of people in your party on the paper. It looks like a paper receipt.

 

And you say it applied to the whole party?

 

So if Im a mega deluxe member and my gf isnt, we both get in?

 

I wonder if thats also the case for concert priority seating

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Yes...you both can use the skip the line passes. Just tell them that there are 2 of you in your group.

 

To be clear, it does not get her into the park, just gets her on your fastlane. You do get deeply discounted tickets for guests, and priority parking as well.

 

The parking has to be reserved online 24 hours before your visit.

 

As far as shows, it did mention something about that bit I did not look into it as we never go to the concerts at the park.

Screenshot_20180529-154122.thumb.png.0bc753b62ed341f993df98bee11efcee.png

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Hey guys I will be making my first trip to SFGAdv on a thursday in mid June and was looking for some tips. I will probably go on Cyborg first (I'm assuming that it will be open) then I see JL is right next to it and then Nitro so I will probably hit those 3 first. After that which rides should I go on early that are usually the busiest so I can get them done (Also which seat on the ride is best) Which rides in the parks have the longest wait times in order? Also I want to do the Safari as well any advice would be great thanks!

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