Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread

[coasternut]

I'll be at my second most favorite park today and tomorrow! I didn't go last night because of the weather. From the reports, I guess I should've.

 

I cannot imagine Zumanjaro to be as scary as Lex Luthor at Magic Mountain. The KK tower seems more stable than Superman's at the Mountain. On Lex it's quite exciting to be at the top as Supe launches and the entire tower begins shaking! I guess time will tell, but I don't expect as much motion on the KK tower.

[coasterbill]

El Toro was running very rough (for El Toro, would be GLASS for any other woodie). I think the rain and wind had more to do with this rougness than anything.

 

Not really, El Toro is running significantly rougher this year than normal. Hopefully they do some more re-tracking in the offseason. The bottom of the hill before the turnaround needs some work.

 

The secret to a smooth ride on El Toro is the same as getting a smooth ride on most wood coasters. Just ride it in the middle row of any car (not on a wheel seat) and it will deliver a perfectly smooth ride. The best seat on the train (in my opinion) is the second to last row... so the middle row of the last car.

 

By the way, I wanted to echo what you said... even a rough ride on El Toro isn't that rough. It's still awesome, but the ride is getting a little rougher.

[boldikus]

dodnt forget sunday is also one of the weekends a season pass holder can use the e-coupon to bring a friend free. that might affect crowds

 

Yeah I considered that too. I"m actually holding off on using my Sunday Bring-A-Friend coupon as my sister is itching to go in a few weekends and I'll use it for her - she also hasnt been in quite some time but recent enough to ride El Toro. In fact, her requirement for getting a sitter and driving us up there was that we do Toro at least 5 times that day haha.

 

As far as this Sunday, I'm also thinking that since next weekend is Memorial Day, and most folks in Philly/Jersey/NY do the Jersey shore or some sort of long weekend vacation, that might help us with lesser crowds this weekend. We'll see... As far as the Dance thing, looks like it was over the course of 3 weekends and this is the last so theoretically it might see the smallest crowds for that. LOL I'm trying to be optimistic.

 

And agreed about the 2nd to last row on Toro. Did that seat the last two times I rode @ CAD and it was smooth as silk.

[coasternut]

^^ I totally agree on El Toro. I had a rideop tell me about that seat. That's now my row. I'll be there this morning.

[yankeeman311]

I have to disagree about the next to last row. Even with a little rougher ride in some parts there is still a BIG difference between back row and next to last row imo on El Toro. The ride just feels so much more out of control in the very back.

[rcjp]

^Really? Shouldn't it be the same as it is in the same car?

[El Toro_Ryan]

^Really? Shouldn't it be the same as it is in the same car?

 

No, you'd think that though. Picture on the first drop, the farther back you are on the train, the more of a whip the train gets. By the time the second to last row starts going down the drop, the train is already going pretty quick. It continues to gain speed and then the back row starts going down the drop. So the back row hits the drop a little faster giving more airtime. But honestly, the difference on El Toro between rows in the same car is minimal and so is the roughness. I test ride it every morning in empty trains where it's actually more bumpy than in a full train and it's not uncomfortable in anyway. I could ride it all day.

[neil009]

IMO the difference in roughness between the last row and the second to last row is much greater than the difference in "force". The best ride is definitely second to last. You would need to ride it many, many times to notice the microscopic difference in airtime, but you only need to ride it once to notice the difference in roughness.

[gerstlaueringvar]

^Really? Shouldn't it be the same as it is in the same car?

haven't been on El Toro but Maverick's first drop is a huge difference for the second last row and the last row.

[coasternut]

^Really? Shouldn't it be the same as it is in the same car?

 

No, you'd think that though. Picture on the first drop, the farther back you are on the train, the more of a whip the train gets. By the time the second to last row starts going down the drop, the train is already going pretty quick. It continues to gain speed and then the back row starts going down the drop. So the back row hits the drop a little faster giving more airtime. But honestly, the difference on El Toro between rows in the same car is minimal and so is the roughness. I test ride it every morning in empty trains where it's actually more bumpy than in a full train and it's not uncomfortable in anyway. I could ride it all day.

 

Hey Ryan I think you were working ET yesterday morning. I'll be back today, and I'll say hi. The only "semi-rough" part of ET is the the turn around after the main drops. Lot's of up and down bouncing, but I try to push up out of the seat. Any plans to do a little work on that? If so it would need to happen this week as I think you start daily operations after Memorial day. Yes, I too can ride it all day, but a little work on that one part would make it perfect! It still runs great after all those year... Definitely my #1 by a long shot.

[JaYmoNeY12 12]

Gondolas up close

The gondolas have been attached to the track for a while but six flags just posted

Posted a picture of them a day or two ago.... will testing begin soon?

[rcjp]

^Really? Shouldn't it be the same as it is in the same car?

 

No, you'd think that though. Picture on the first drop, the farther back you are on the train, the more of a whip the train gets. By the time the second to last row starts going down the drop, the train is already going pretty quick. It continues to gain speed and then the back row starts going down the drop. So the back row hits the drop a little faster giving more airtime. But honestly, the difference on El Toro between rows in the same car is minimal and so is the roughness. I test ride it every morning in empty trains where it's actually more bumpy than in a full train and it's not uncomfortable in anyway. I could ride it all day.

Yeah, you're probably right.

But I still assume that it is smaller than the difference between cars.

[jetsplumber]

I just spent 4 hrs in the park with my sister, brother in law , niece and mom. The visit was for my 3yr old niece who loved all the kids rides. I did ride 3 coasters, el toro first train of the day which opened up about 10 min late, bizarro and mine train. The mine train op made a announcement after our ride that kingda ka is opening Friday and to come back to ride. That's great news. The parking lot was very crowded when we left at 3pm.

[boldikus]

I did in fact make it over to the park today and will just have to chalk it up to a bad hunch because contrary to what I'd hoped for, it was PACKED. Between the Dancefest thing and some sort of Catholic Youth Rally we didn't manage to get much in and gave up a little after 3pm. I'm spoiled after the lighter crowds of opening day and then basically having the park to ourselves for Coasters After Dark.

 

Stopping at the Wawa on Monmouth has always been a good gauge of how crowded the park is going to be. Well, the parking lot and store were overflowing with cars and people. Hmmmm...

 

Upon navigating the entrance road just after 10am, we could already see how unexpectedly full the parking lot already was. We got to the gate at 10:20 and it was a sh*tshow. My buddy who purchased a ticket online (and therefore used a separate line as me) managed to get past the gate in a matter of seconds. The 'Activated Season Pass Holder' lines were horrendous. They honestly must have had the two oldest employees at the park operating the biometric scanners, one of the newest pieces of technology the park has in operation. Slow. as. molasses. Didn't get into the park for another 20 minutes at least. This started the day off on the wrong foot. Definitely feeling cranky. (Side note: while in line, overheard a group of people talking about how El Toro is being removed at the end of this season. LOL)

 

Finally make it in, and bee-line through the arcade shortcut to where else? El Toro of course. It's really the only thing I've thought about the past few days leading up to this morning so I was determined to get at least one ride in before the lines got too long. And lucky us, we succeeded. Pretty much a walk on, sat in the magic seat (2nd to last row). My riding buddy had never done it before and loved it. Without hesitation he agreed for a second spin so we walked all the way around and back through the empty queue, right up into the station and right onto the next train pulling into the station - this time in car 4, middle seat. Great ride both times but I have to say felt a little slow. Anyone know if it is because it was early? I feel like I remember there being discussion about that. Also, while it was still early/dead and they should have been, the ops were insanely fast and were dispatching the train before the other train hit the break run, which I don't think I've ever seen on Toro before. (Side note: from the break run you can see the just-about-finished walking paths for Zumanjaro through Rolling Thunder's old infield.)

 

Now I was in a much better mood. But it was then I made my 2nd mistake of the day which was not going for a third spin since the queue was still a ghost town (1st mistake was going to the park at all). However, it was bathroom break and while we're over here - why not a spin on the walk on that is Bizarro? Not really, but only a one train wait. Ops seemed faster than usual, running all three trains and only stacking one. Ran smooth as always. Sat far left 2nd to last row and smooth as butter with the only headbanging in the same spot as always - after the cobra roll going into the MCBR.

 

Now for quick dash to the Skyride - a walk on at this point also - to hop over and hit up Nitro. At this point I was feeling confident that the park wasn't in fact that crowded and my experience at the gate gave me the wrong impression. Upon arriving at Nitro I was shocked at the line - through both sets of switchbacks almost to ride sign at the front. (!?!?!) I said it was early and if there was one thing worth waiting for besides Toro, it is Nitro. Besides, Nitro is a people eater and I was hoping they were running all three trains. Wait was about 30 minutes total. Got a bunch of good BTR pics from Nitro's queue. Got train A, back row (far right) and it rode fantastic. Such a great first drop in the back. Never gets old.

 

It seemed BTR was cycling trains very fast as we queued for Nitro so we gave it a shot. Line was out to the front of the ride and seemed to be wrapping around the Batmobile. Nope. Over to S:UF/Lantern and checked the lined for both. I knew what was coming. Enormous. Ugh. Not rides I felt like waiting an hour for. Back to check on Toro. Line was through both sets of switchbacks and almost at the entrance/sign. We'll try back. Do we really go for a Flash Pass?

 

Let's break for lunch. I usually pack a cooler and pop out to the car for lunch but we wandered around and finally settled on the Main Street Pub. I wish SFGAdv had an actual pub where I could sit and hold a menu and be waited on. The food here was overpriced as expected but was actually really good. Nachos Grande with a Red's Apple Ale that went down really easy. I'm used to living in center city Philly and the food prices here but $20 for one beer and nachos? Robbery! Still, it was good. We got a table outside overlooking the fountain and sat for a while and talked about nothing and enjoyed the weather and people watching. This was one of the highlights of the day, really.

 

After, we headed back through the boardwalk to Super/Lantern. The park was noticeably CROWDED at this point. We gave S:UF a shot but the line was almost out into the tent/indoor potion of the queue. Nope. Lantern? Line is long but let's see how fast it moves. If not, we'll go back to Toro and wait as long as we need to for our last ride of the day. My thinking was the line for Lantern would be moving faster as it has 3 trains and the loading isn't as complicated as S:UF. Once we waited for a while I figured out they were only running 2. Grrrrrr. We'd already waited a good 20 minutes before I realized that so I'm feeling like we're already in too deep, why give up now, etc. We noticed a giant menacing cloud overhead and as we are entering the final area of the queue just before the steps, it starts to drizzle. We had waited at least 45 minutes at this point. This is one of my least favorite rides at the park, so why are we waiting again? Also, line jumpers. Many. Totally cranky. Just get me on this thing already. Finally we made it up the stairs, I sat 2nd to last row far left side. Made sure everything was where it needed to be before they locked the seats (gentlemen know what I am talking about) and also made sure the seat was a bit low so my taint wasn't bearing the brunt of G's at certain spots. Surprisingly, this ran great. One of my mottos in life is that everything happens for a reason so after we rode this I decided that the reason I waited so long to ride something I didn't even really want to was so that I could see that it was in fact enjoyable. But I still prefer sitting over standing on a coaster. Buddy LOVED this. Said it was his favorite after ET. I think he's crazy, but that's a whole other trip report.

 

We decided to give Toro one last shot for the hell of it, and agreed that if the line was worse than the last time we checked that we would just throw in the towel and head home. And after seeing the line now wrapped around the back of the coaster toward the lake bridge we just laughed at each other and started walking to the main gate. Upon leaving, the parking lot seemed to be completely filled. Have to say weather was great. Cloudy/overcast with periods of sun, in the upper 60's/low 70's. The clouds and blue sky made for some nice pictures. Got a little sunburn. Being that I got not one but two rides on El Toro first thing this morning without waiting, I can't complain. That's all I really wanted. I guess I just got a little greedy.

 

El Toro 2x

Bizarro 1x

Skyride 1x

Nitro 1x

Green Lantern 1x

Now, just a few pictures. I didn't take too many, mostly when we were in line for Nitro and Lantern. Enjoy.

Main gate @ opening.

Who needs coffee when you can spend your Sunday morning with this?

Obligatory Toro/Ka from Skyride shot.

BTR was cycling trains very quickly. We kept hearing blood curdling screams while the train was still on the lift. Multiple times. Is this a thing? Why?

But we never rode it.

People seemed to be enjoying it.

Nitro was also cycling trains with maximum efficiency, as always.

Train to heaven.

Looking up Nitro's skirt.

Why are we waiting for this again?

Gotta love multiple coasters-in-operation shots.

Lantern's queue gives you plenty of great photo opportunities.

It's not that bad of a wait simply because its fun to watch over your head the entire time.

Damn Flash Passers. I envy you.

Edited May 19, 2014 by boldikus

[UrbanLegend]

"We kept hearing blood curdling screams while the train was still on the lift. Multiple times. Is this a thing? Why?"

 

Teenagers doing teenager stuff, I would venture to guess. It's damn annoying if you're right next to them, but I remember it being pretty entertaining when I was part of a dumb teenager group.

[CoasterPrince]

I'm tempted to take a bucket of hot water, a scrub brush, and some elbow grease into the park just to clean the rust off of Nitro's station. I mean seriously how hard could it be to clean that?!

[boldikus]

^ HA! I think about this every time I am in line.

[YoshiFan]

That's a shame it was so crowded. I didn't think there would be almost full queues. Green Lantern only has 2 trains now since they sent the 3rd train back to Magic Mountain last year.

[boldikus]

Ahhhh ^^ thanks. I thought it looked like there was no third train when we got close enough to the train shed to see inside but guessed it was maybe out for maintenance or something. I think I knew that about the third train moving to SFMM but it never crossed my mind today. Too cranky to think.

[El Toro_Ryan]

^Really? Shouldn't it be the same as it is in the same car?

 

No, you'd think that though. Picture on the first drop, the farther back you are on the train, the more of a whip the train gets. By the time the second to last row starts going down the drop, the train is already going pretty quick. It continues to gain speed and then the back row starts going down the drop. So the back row hits the drop a little faster giving more airtime. But honestly, the difference on El Toro between rows in the same car is minimal and so is the roughness. I test ride it every morning in empty trains where it's actually more bumpy than in a full train and it's not uncomfortable in anyway. I could ride it all day.

 

Hey Ryan I think you were working ET yesterday morning. I'll be back today, and I'll say hi. The only "semi-rough" part of ET is the the turn around after the main drops. Lot's of up and down bouncing, but I try to push up out of the seat. Any plans to do a little work on that? If so it would need to happen this week as I think you start daily operations after Memorial day. Yes, I too can ride it all day, but a little work on that one part would make it perfect! It still runs great after all those year... Definitely my #1 by a long shot.

 

Unfortunatelly, work like that is all done during the off season. How you see El Toro will be how it is all season. The offseason leading into this season saw minor parts of the ride receive track work.

 

Great ride both times but I have to say felt a little slow. Anyone know if it is because it was early? I feel like I remember there being discussion about that.

 

El Toro runs much slower in the morning than the rest of the day as do almost all coasters. It's just more noticeable on El Toro because of all the airtime it's capable of delivering and how noticeable the difference in airtime is in the morning, especially during the 2nd half of the ride. Once the wheels warm up a bit, she flies through the course.

[El Toro_Ryan]

^Really? Shouldn't it be the same as it is in the same car?

 

No, you'd think that though. Picture on the first drop, the farther back you are on the train, the more of a whip the train gets. By the time the second to last row starts going down the drop, the train is already going pretty quick. It continues to gain speed and then the back row starts going down the drop. So the back row hits the drop a little faster giving more airtime. But honestly, the difference on El Toro between rows in the same car is minimal and so is the roughness. I test ride it every morning in empty trains where it's actually more bumpy than in a full train and it's not uncomfortable in anyway. I could ride it all day.

 

Hey Ryan I think you were working ET yesterday morning. I'll be back today, and I'll say hi. The only "semi-rough" part of ET is the the turn around after the main drops. Lot's of up and down bouncing, but I try to push up out of the seat. Any plans to do a little work on that? If so it would need to happen this week as I think you start daily operations after Memorial day. Yes, I too can ride it all day, but a little work on that one part would make it perfect! It still runs great after all those year... Definitely my #1 by a long shot.

 

Unfortunatelly, work like that is all done during the off season. How you see El Toro will be how it is all season. The offseason leading into this season saw minor parts of the ride receive track work.

 

Great ride both times but I have to say felt a little slow. Anyone know if it is because it was early? I feel like I remember there being discussion about that.

 

El Toro runs much slower in the morning than the rest of the day as do almost all coasters. It's just more noticeable on El Toro because of all the airtime it's capable of delivering and how noticeable the difference in airtime is in the morning, especially during the 2nd half of the ride. Once the wheels warm up a bit, she flies through the course.

[jetsplumber]

I'm tempted to take a bucket of hot water, a scrub brush, and some elbow grease into the park just to clean the rust off of Nitro's station. I mean seriously how hard could it be to clean that?!

 

 

That's how you know your in a six flags park. Very little maintenance and up-keep

[boldikus]

El Toro runs much slower in the morning than the rest of the day as do almost all coasters. It's just more noticeable on El Toro because of all the airtime it's capable of delivering and how noticeable the difference in airtime is in the morning, especially during the 2nd half of the ride. Once the wheels warm up a bit, she flies through the course.

 

It was giving us a lot of airtime in all the usual spots, I suppose it helped to sit toward the back as its always more intense. This was the first time I really noticed a coaster running slower. Wasn't sure if it was just my imagination.

[michaellynn4]

^ Nope, I noticed it, too. I've ridden it several times this year so far, mostly later in the day after it's "warmed up". The litmus test for me is the hill that used to cross over Rolling Thunder. It no longer gives me OMFG AIRTIME moments like it did in the past. Don't get me wrong, El Toro is still an airtime machine and the best coaster in the park, but it's definitely been slowed down a little bit.

[coasterbill]

El Toro has always been a little slower in the morning and the El Toro drop over Rolling Thunder is the same as it always was... even on opening day when the coaster is usually a bit slower (it was last year).

 

In my opinion if the coaster seems slower it was probably early in the morning, a cold day, a near empty train or your imagination (though Ryan can shed more light on this as he knows much more about the ride than any of us do).