Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread

[rcjp]

The NJ state is not helping at all but shouldn't the park have confirmed they could operate them at the same time before they built it?

[DJeXeL]

Hindsight is always 20/20.

[jedimaster1227]

^^I'd imagine that this was something that the state could only sign off on once the rides were both operational for testing. This wasn't likely something that could be approved before that point.

[TBpony414]

I was in NJ for the weekend so we stopped by SFGAdv Friday from 8-11:30PM and Saturday from 7:30-11pm. I didn't take any pictures but will write a bit about my visits. Friday the crowds were huge and it took us 45 minutes to get from the parking lot through security and into the park. Lines were 45+ mins so we got the gold flash pass which was well worth the money. In fact, we had such a good time Friday that we went back Saturday and did the same thing. Crowds were significantly less on Saturday night. Some weird stuff was going on though.

 

First the parking attendant said our gold season passes were not scanning so we should go back to the park we got them from (SFA) and get them checked. What? We explained that we were at the park the night before and everything was normal, showed that our passes say Gold on them and she let us through. Later on in the night we were waiting to get on KK and, with large lines, the decided to transfer off the 3rd train. Ok, whatever. We reserved El Toro next and by the time we got over there at 10:50 they had closed the ride for the night. The park was open until midnight so this was a little odd and quite disappointing. Went over to Bizarro and the same thing. As we walked around the park we noticed all the little boutiques were locked up, all the rides were dark, everything was closed with no explanation. One attendant I found claimed that they were closing the park early due to lack of attendance. There were still quite a few people there and plenty in ride lines minutes before so it was odd. It was as if there was some sort of park-wide malfunction since everything was shut down so quickly and more than an hour before closing. In our two brief nights there we got a heck of a lot done ride wise as well as ate relaxing dinners, saw motorcyclists in a cage and got hoodies on Saturday since it was much colder.

 

Friday: El Toro 2x, Bizarro, Superman, Parachutes, Kingda Ka, Zumanjaro, Nitro 2x.

 

Saturday: Nitro 2x, Skull Mountain, Superman 2x, Ka 3x, Zumanjaro 3x. We violated the cardinal rule of coaster riding and left El Toro for last so we could marathon it before leaving. BF insisted it would be fine and then they closed early so we sure won't make that mistake again. Ouch.

 

Zumanjaro was the surprise hit of the trip! Drop towers are the only rides that make me nervous and they scare the heck out of my BF. Eventually he finally agreed to do it and we reserved it on the Qbot. Well actually, we made the mistake of riding KK first which reminded us just how high that tower is. Yikes. The queue to Zumanjaro is quite the walk and the screams from riders are so loud it can be heard across the park. Every single person we passed walking back was laughing and smiling so I figured that was a good sign. We loaded & were locked in quickly and waited while Ka launched above us. Sitting in the little hard plastic seats feeling the entire structure rumble and shake with the coaster zooming above us was absolutely terrifying. I looked over at BF and his face was absolutely void of all color LOL. My hands started sweating profusely. The overhead lap bar has almost nothing to grab onto and it's mostly metal so I couldn't even grip anything.

 

The lift to the top starts quite slowly and then picks up speed, eventually you think you're at the top because it slows down momentarily only to pick up speed again (feels like it grabs on to another cable or something?) and continues for a while to the top. Holy freaking crap, 415 feet is VERY HIGH!!! Everything looked miniature. I instantly regretted getting on the ride and my heart was beating so fast I thought I might pass out. Ride slowed down, jiggled into place, clicked and dropped. The freefall felt more like 1,000 feet! I'm a yay-this-is-so-fun-screamer but I let out a my-life-is-ending scream the entire way down. We got to the bottom and we immediately burst out laughing, cackling, doubled over cracking up at the adrenaline rush. What a ride!!! We couldn't stop smiling and BF said he was excited to ride it again! Unfortunately by then we only had time to head over to Nitro before the park closed, but we did ride it 3x the next night. A+ addition and I highly recommend it to everyone.

 

Ride dispatches on Friday were fast and Saturday was OK. I thought the way they loaded and stacked Ka to send 2 trains per 1 Zumanjaro was very smart and the line moved much faster than it used to. I don't see how they could get any more cycles in for either KK or Z because it was so efficient and there was little to no sitting around. El Toro was the star of the show per usual and we may make the trek way back up there to ride it again in 2 weeks.

[boldikus]

Ok, whatever. We reserved El Toro next and by the time we got over there at 10:50 they had closed the ride for the night. The park was open until midnight so this was a little odd and quite disappointing. Went over to Bizarro and the same thing. As we walked around the park we noticed all the little boutiques were locked up, all the rides were dark, everything was closed with no explanation. One attendant I found claimed that they were closing the park early due to lack of attendance. There were still quite a few people there and plenty in ride lines minutes before so it was odd. It was as if there was some sort of park-wide malfunction since everything was shut down so quickly and more than an hour before closing.

 

This blows so hard, I would have been livid. On my many visits to the park this season I have a ritual where I hit Toro first, mainly so that if its running in the morning and goes down for whatever reason at least I got a ride on it. I usually try to hit it last too just to leave on the highest note possible.

 

Im wondering if the closing early due to attendance is because they employ so many more people during fright fest (scare actors on top of all the regular employees) so maybe since crowds were so low it was hard for them to afford to pay all the extras.

 

Either way you cut it, thats lame as f*ck.

 

We are planning on going up Friday night, and I see its supposed to rain so my hope is it keeps people a way. I have a poncho I have yet to use this season so I plan to break that out get as many rides on Toro as I can, since this will likely be my last trip to the park this year. Also, I've never ridden Toro in the rain and Ive heard it runs even faster, tho I dont know how thats possible. But I'm excited to see for myself!

[coasterbill]

The amount of cost cutting going on at Six Flags parks this season is flat out infuriating.

 

Last season they closed the park at 11PM on busy Fright Fest days and if the park was packed they would announce that the park would be open an extra hour. That's a much better way of running a park than saying the park will be open until Midnight and closing everything early. That's just complete disregard for your guests. If you want to close some shops and food stands then go for it but closing the park early is ridiculous.

[YoshiFan]

That reminds me of Fall Family Fun Night 2008 (season pass night). It was raining all day and stopped at around 4, multiple people called the park and were told they would be open normal hours (5 to 10). At 6:45 they announced in the park they were closing at 7:30 even though there was no rain. So many people were angry with the park since some had gotten there at 7 only to not be allowed to enter the parking lot and others got there at 6:30 and only got a few rides in. I wasn't really upset because from 5 to 7:30 I had walk ons the entire time.

[FaithPlus1]

Anyone know when the entire Looping Dragon ride will arrive on a singe flat-bed truck?

[coasterbill]

Anyone know when the entire Looping Dragon ride will arrive on a singe flat-bed truck?

 

Probably in July.

[michaellynn4]

So I noticed something about the "rendering" of Looping Dragon the other day when I was reading more up on the Larson Super Loops. I found this picture:

 

Compared to the "rendering":

 

This must set some record somewhere for laziest Photoshop job ever for a park.

[TBpony414]

Ok, whatever. We reserved El Toro next and by the time we got over there at 10:50 they had closed the ride for the night. The park was open until midnight so this was a little odd and quite disappointing. Went over to Bizarro and the same thing. As we walked around the park we noticed all the little boutiques were locked up, all the rides were dark, everything was closed with no explanation. One attendant I found claimed that they were closing the park early due to lack of attendance. There were still quite a few people there and plenty in ride lines minutes before so it was odd. It was as if there was some sort of park-wide malfunction since everything was shut down so quickly and more than an hour before closing.

 

This blows so hard, I would have been livid. On my many visits to the park this season I have a ritual where I hit Toro first, mainly so that if its running in the morning and goes down for whatever reason at least I got a ride on it. I usually try to hit it last too just to leave on the highest note possible.

 

Im wondering if the closing early due to attendance is because they employ so many more people during fright fest (scare actors on top of all the regular employees) so maybe since crowds were so low it was hard for them to afford to pay all the extras.

 

Either way you cut it, thats lame as f*ck.

 

To say we were pissed is an understatement. When returning our Qbot a little after 11, despite still being able to reserve rides yet the rides were closed, I kindly but firmly told the gal that we were quite displeased, I realized it's not her fault and I'm sure she could understand how upsetting it was for us. After a lot of back and forth and her not apologizing a single time for the inconvenience she got a manager who eventually asked what ride I was upset about. She said she'd give me two exit passes to use the next time we came to the park for El Toro. Great! When I got in the car I saw that she put an expiration date on them for 11/2/14. How helpful of her to give me two passes that are essentially useless to me since the park is only open a few more days the rest of the year and we live 4 hours away. Grr.

 

Interesting to hear other people's experiences with the park closing early! Disappointing but not shocking to hear they've done this before. Six Flags doesn't give a crap though and even though we were furious it hasn't turned us off. Will we get gold Qbots the next time we visit? Absolutely - there's no question that we will. There's just no way for us to enjoy the park otherwise and it's worth the extra money to us to have a smooth experience with minimal waiting in queues with sweaty hooligans.

[Diamondbacker27]

Anyone know when the entire Looping Dragon ride will arrive on a singe flat-bed truck?

 

Probably in July.

[boldikus]

 

This must set some record somewhere for laziest Photoshop job ever for a park.

 

I posted about this earlier in the thread when that rendering first surfaced. When you consider that super loop is 70 feet tall and Toro's first camelback is 112 feet, it is absolutely laughable.

[Jcoaster]

Anyone know when the entire Looping Dragon ride will arrive on a singe flat-bed truck?

 

Probably in July.

 

Meaning it should be ready for FightFest 2015! Don't everyone jump at once.

[GwaziBSRider1]

Even then, it'll still open before SFA's!

[boldikus]

Anyone else braving the rain tonight in hopes of low crowds? Ill be there, likely on and around Toro. If you go and see me, say hi!

[YoshiFan]

I'm probably going to try to get there today, the forecast keeps changing every hour. Around 2 hours ago weather.com said no rain until midnight, now its a 30% chance until 8 and then should be ok. I'm hoping its less crowded than last week, since I want to try to marathon Nitro for part of the night.

[boldikus]

Yeah I have high hopes its gonna be dead, hoping to marathon Toro for a bit, rain or no rain.

 

http://www.wunderground.com says 31% chance til 7, then 2% 7-9pm, then 20% chance after 9.

 

Yoshi I don't know what you look like, so if you see me say hello. I'm sure I'll be over @ Nitro at some point too. I'll be w/ my bro-in-law who wants to get his first ride on Zumanjaro so if its running, we'll be over there too!

[RyanTPM]

There really is a lot of things wrong with that rendering

[YoshiFan]

Tonight wasn't as crowded as last Friday night and it seemed like lines were only bad from around 7:45 to 10. I'm glad it didn't rain at all.

 

Yoshi I don't know what you look like, so if you see me say hello. I'm sure I'll be over @ Nitro at some point too. I'll be w/ my bro-in-law who wants to get his first ride on Zumanjaro so if its running, we'll be over there too!

 

I looked but didn't see you.

[boldikus]

We were there 6:30-11:45. No rain except for a tiny drizzle walking in the front gate, and while driving home. Awesome night, park was half crowded, we just got a gold pass cause f*ck it, its our last trip of the year most likely.

 

We bounced around but

- he got his first ride on Z:DOD (my fourth time now, first at night - crazy!!!)

- 3 runs on El Toro (can I just brag and boast for a second about how this is the greatest roller coaster ever built and its in my home park and you have no idea how much I love this thing and love that it is there)

- a spin on the Sky Screamer (his first, my first at night, such a great ride)

- and a little B&M fest of Bizarro/Batman/Nitro/Superman, one time on each. Love Bizarro & Nitro night rides, Nitro is so freaking good in the back. That floater air on the drop!! Had train A, slight rattle but still a great ride. Bizarro ran really well tonight, all effects were on and it was totally smooth and hauling ass. Same with Batman.

 

We tried for Ka @ 11:40 and then told us the line was closed. Went for Zum again on FP and said "FULL". Decided to throw in the towel and call it a night. Good times, scare zones were not that scary. I think we were only in the Main Street, Boardwalk, and Frontier scare zones. Dorneys were better a few weeks ago. Lighting, smoke etc was just better. The chainsaws tonight were a nice touch tho. I also liked all the music throughout the park.

 

On both Bizarro and El Toro while waiting for the next train we got to watch the ops do a cleaning job on a few seats. I think Bro-in-law even got a pic. I do not envy that job. Bro got pics on his phone, I had no camera. I'll have him send them over and upload them tomorrow.

 

Great last visit of the year. I'm really gonna miss El Toro this off season.

[YoshiFan]

That is strange they closed Kingda Ka's line early since they also did the same thing at The Dark Knight at 11:15. I'm used to seeing lines closed 2 to 5 minutes before closing but not 20 to 45 minutes early.

[strz]

Rain is stopping.....seems like a "perfect" day to make it to the park, relative to afternoon crowds (too bad I already got plans!)

[boldikus]

As promised, a few photos. Last night was definitely a fun way to end the season.

First stop of the night, station wait

Station was rammed, as expected

Just excuse your way to the magic seat, that no one seems to care about

Bizarro was running really well. Stacking as usual but the ride was great.

After we pulled in the train after us was stopped on the lift due to a guest with a cell phone out. Op made a big hoopla out of it which was nice. People were chanting "Asshole!"

My shoes match the entrance portal

Til next year SFGAdv! ;(

A little Lysol and we'll have you as good as new

Batgirl even had a cape on. Serious business

Nitro is fantastic at night

Batman is always awesome

Some beers before our final ride on Superman.

[strz]

As promised, a few photos. Last night was definitely a fun way to end the season.

 

 

Always love the token beer (or two) thrown in just for sh@#s and giggles!