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Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread


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Yesterday was fantastic. There was a threat of rain listed for Saturday all week, yesterday every app was showing “rain” but when you opened up the hour by hour it was basically perfect for the operating hours. It did most a bit, but the forecast kept everyone away.

I lost count of how many rides we got on Nitro and “The JDC” (ride ops, stop trying to make that a thing)

I’ve never seen Nitro run that fast for Holiday in the Park.

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Our Nitro night rides on Saturday were absolutely otherworldly. Since the park was a ghost town there wasn't even more than a train wait for the front so we rode up there a bunch too and those were some of our best laps. Hauling ass. Not only was it f*cking flying, the entire area was shrouded in this grey haze/mist so coming up that first airtime hill after the first turn we were just kind of floating up and over this moonlit cloud that had settled just above the tree line and then back down into it before being whipped through the hammerhead and back up and over the cloud on the next hill. Just simply amazing, some of the best rides we've ever gotten on it.

Before Saturday, I'd only managed one single (back seat) ride on The JDC (its a thing) not long after it opened this summer. Any time I've been to the park since its been mobbed or the ride was down. I'd hoped all season that one day during HITP we'd get a weather day like that (mild, kinda rainy) where I could just sit on the the thing all day long and well... we got it. They were running two trains and filling them but we would walk around and right back on, over and over. We rode at least a dozen and a half times, probably more, all over the train. Keep in mind its my only single rail coaster, but I actually find it to be a very intense ride, the best moments being the first drop (especially in the back - ho-lee-shit), the hanging stall thing, and the turnaround right after it. They had the midcourse mostly off all day so the final bunnyhops were all providing ample air, especially the tiny straight pop right before the final brakes. I'd probably say I prefer the back over the front but I think the best rides were in the middle-back-ish part of the train. It's a very intense ride, especially to marathon.

I've said it on here before, but we're spoiled AF at this park. We were just down in Orlando two weeks ago so going back to the ol' local SF felt janky as all hell, but we have some absolutely amazing rides and the fact that we're able to ride things like Wonder Woman, Nitro, JDC etc in December when people are out Christmas shopping is something I'm certainly still grateful for. In addition to the extended marathons on Nitro and JDC we managed rides on Wonder Woman, Batman, Justice League, Dark Knight, Skull Mountain, and Superman (wow the suck really shines after riding Manta last week). The Skyway is sadly closed for maintenance, Cyborg is FUBAR'd, Houdini actually had a line when we passed it and neither of us felt up for Joker. All in all one of the best days we've had at the park in quite some time.

I guess this is kind of some sort of trip report now so some photos?

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^ Saturday was awesome. It also came together last minute which made it even better.

Like 48 hours prior, my plan was to drop Brit at the airport in NYC and then brave the sea of humanity doing Christmas shopping that day in the rain. The next day, she was flying out of Philly for $300 less and I was totally-not using that as an excuse to swing by Six Flags for a ride or two if the rain held off. The next day Boldy was down, it totally wasn’t going to rain and we had some bangin’ cheesesteaks in Philly and then rode Jersey Devil and Nitro like 800 times each in an empty park. 😂 

Good times. I love Holiday in the Park. We should cancel Fright Fest and start it in September every year.

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By far my favorite ride at the park and the only coaster I've ever actually marathoned a stupid amount of times, got really lucky one day with nobody at the park and they just let us sit in the seats the entire time, think i ended up with close to 17 rides in a row. 

I enjoy sitting towards the back more but too many selfish idiots with their phones out has lead me sitting towards the front of it more and more over the past few years. 

Can't wait to get back on it next year, haven't been to the park since 2019 now. 

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… annual reminder that this ride is a brick shithouse and the day that it closes for temperature is the day that hell freezes over.

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Am I posting this because I’m 10 minutes from Carowinds, they’re predicting seven consecutive days over 70 degrees and Fury is closed and it annoys me? The world may never know…

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Superman and Jersey Devil are the only two rides I could see getting lengthy waits if they're still running at reduced capacity.

Jersey Devil only had one train yesterday, so the line reached 2 hours midday.  I found out after the fact it was recently added to the membership skip-the-line passes, but even when I redeemed those, the line still took 20ish minutes from that point.  It sounds like it had been running with 2-3 trains most other days for Holiday in the Park.  The ride did open at least an hour late, so maybe they were having some trouble.

Superman was doing this weird thing where it was only loading the first four rows.  Combined with one train, that line crawled.

All the other coasters were walk-ons.

20211226_145800.heic

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Closing Day report:

Arrived about 20 minutes prior to opening. When the gates opened I decided to head left to the Boardwalk as I usually skip that stuff. Flew with the Man of Steel on its first 2 rides of the day, both in back. First train had 3 total people and the second was pretty filled up, and the speed difference was noticeable.

Moved over to Green Lantern next for a front row ride. Unpopular opinion, but this is a better coaster than Bizarro. Shame me all you want. Smoother and more forceful. Other than the lack of a zero-g, this is better.

Took a walk on Parachute ride which is always fun. Can't believe this thing is still standing and running in 2022, but here we are. Also running next door was Twister, which I rode solo and got 7 or 8 flips on the come out roll. When it's running like that, why even bother with Joker?

As I was walking towards the other side of the park, the gates for Houdini opened and I hopped on to be the first rider of the day. Effects all working which was nice. By then the clock was striking 2:00 and I had already managed 6 rides.

As I continued walking across, I took note of how every single ride was open as well as the vast majority of food stands, shops, games, and plenty of characters as well. Eat your heart out Cedar Fair, Six Flags managed to staff a park better and get more open in January than you did in mid summer.

Hit the back row of Skull Mountain next, followed by the back row of Nitro which has been kind of ruined by Diamondback for me. The airtime is far better in southern Ohio. Nitro is kind of the Millennium Force of the park to me...big fast and fun, but you could take a nap on it. I love both, but time has kind of passed them by on being list-toppers. Nitro was running two trains and usually there was a good 30 second wait after dispatch for the next train to come back, once again reminding me that I wasn't at a Cedar Fair park.

Got 3 consecutive rides on JDC next, one in front and two near the middle. The ejector moments are great in front, but I think I like the back more just for the first drop. 2 of 4 trains running here, more than enough to keep up with today's small crowd.

From there I did a loop through Gotham, hitting Batman in back, Mouse in a Box, Wonder Woman, and Justice League (which had a 25ish minute line, by far the largest i saw today). Fun rides on all. The truck horn effect on Dark Knight no longer works (although Superman would later hook me up, as I parked right next to its station and they blasted the horn on it right when I got to my car).

By then it was getting dark, and while I could've stayed till closing the wife had prior commitments that required us to be back in MA at a reasonable hour. Last night was supposed to be the night riding session, but the park closed for inclement weather that never really happened. I got my Pork Kabobs from Jersey Devil BBQ which are always fantastic. Hit JDC one more time after a 10 minute wait, once again getting the middle. This thing was f*cking flying by now and I can't wait to marathon it next year during HITP. Last coaster ride was Nitro up front, my only night ride on it this year unfortunately but always a good one.

On the way out we decided to hit the Skyscreamer. When we sat down it started to drizzle and naturally when we got in the air, the skies opened up and some gusts of wind came through. After being pretty hot and sweaty all day (on January effing 2nd) suddenly the day was gonna end cold and wet. Still a ton of fun, but after that it was time to call it quits.

Call me crazy, but even though the World's tallest coaster, World's tallest Freefall ride, World's best wooden coaster, World's best ejector air Mine Train, the World's most mediocre purple B&M, and the Log Flume are all closed I vastly prefer going to Great Adventure during HITP over going midseason. The atmosphere of the park is so much better, the usual ornery crowd is calmed down, and the coaster lineup still kicks ass (even more so with the addition of JDC). I honestly don't even feel like I miss those rides when I go this time of year. It's an amazing event and I know some parks are cutting it next year, but hopefully there's no change to this one.

Pics in the FB group since my phone is being uncooperative with posting here for some reason.

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Another season in the books... we swung by for closing weekend, once on Friday and again last night for the last few hours since we were in the area both days.

Both times the park was pretty crowded though last night around 6:00 it rained for about an hour and that front dropped the temperature by almost 20 degrees so the last few hours of the night we had the place to ourselves, though it was frigid. The temperature itself was fine (mid-to-high 30's probably) but the wind really picked up to the point where they started front-loading Nitro and holding Jersey Devil in the station until the trains were full before sending them (they did get a second train back on, by the way). We spent the last 30 minutes of the night riding Nitro and I'm shocked that I can feel my hands at all. Worth it though...

PS: I was bored today so I checked Instagram to look this up... apparently despite this being my home park in the year that they opened a brand new RMC, prior to Holiday in the Park I had only been there 3 times this year. We logged 5 visits during Holiday in the Park. That should give you an idea of what I think of this event (and what I think of summertime and Fright Fest crowds at this place too 🤣).

This season was mostly an absolute clusterfuck. Jersey Devil broke constantly during the summer (once for almost a straight month) and they managed to derail both their best coaster and somehow a log flume but Holiday in the Park was as awesome as ever! See you next year, Great Adventure. Now go fix El Toro.

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Damn I wish I didn't have to leave early last night. Love plopping down on Nitro at like 8:00 and not getting up for an hour. Did that on NYE 2 years ago and was treated to firework shows in almost every direction. Not sure I would've stayed late if I had the choice though - I got soaked by the sudden downpour on Skyscreamer and was dressed for the upper 50s, so riding coasters with a light but soaked sweatshirt and temps in the 30s wouldn't have been much fun.

Early shift is worth it too though. Maybe 300 people there at opening, and 290 of them went towards Nitro/JDC so the Boardwalk was like a personal playground for an hour or so.

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Question for anyone who went to the park in the last week:

I know Bizarro is closed for HITP, but did any of you guys notice any progress on the new neon-green/bright-orange paint job from the park's skyline? It's weird that the park hasn't made any more official updates on social media regarding the supposed Riddler re-theme.

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There is new orange and green paint on the coaster that is visible from the Giant Wheel, Sky Screamer, etc.

I think its weird that you think its weird that they haven't announced the retheme yet. Parks add new rides etc to bring in more money. If they announced a coaster is getting painted and rethemed now what would be the point be if the park is closed for another two and half months? Do you think anyone but coaster nerds will actually make it a point to visit in three months just to ride a coaster thats been there for 22 years and is simply being repainted?

I'm willing to bet that 1. this won't even be ready by opening day and 2. they won't even announce it until the park is open for the season.

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Maybe it's just temporarily not working? It seemed like there were quite a few effects not working now that I think about it. Guess I'll have to go to Knoebels and ride the Haunted Mansion to get my horn fix (or park next to Superman again...you can probably hear that damn horn from Philly).

Forgot to mention, I am unreasonably proud of Great Adventure's guests for managing to let the Pine Barrens sign, which is a mere foot from a busy walkway, live through an entire season without vandalizing it. Well done, my extremely low expectations have been exceeded.

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They might as well rename the park to "Six Flags 'Quite A Few Effects Not Working Now' Adventure" with the way all four of the dark rides were operating these last two months.

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