Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread

[Genx24]

Bye bye to zumanjaro's short lived record.

It holds the record until the new project opens, so Zum has it for at least another two years.

[Password121]

Honestly after the first season of operation, advertising records like these usually begin to fade even if the record is held. It's not the big news anymore, and it draws fewer guests for being new or record breaking. How many commercials/ads do you see/hear now for Kingda Ka than in 2005? Probably not as many.

Edited February 13, 2015 by Password121

[Genx24]

^ I agree, and I never really pay any mind to records anyway. For me, something being the tallest and fastest doesn't really matter if the ride is a one-trick pony, which both Ka and Zum are.

[Lightnin Loops]

I'm always all about the cooler and stopping to pick up Wawa hoagies for lunch before we head in. I rarely get food here unless its a full day from open to close and we get desperate for a bite later in the evening. I'll bring some brews usually too so its nice to go out to the lot, take a break and tailgate for a bit in the middle of the day.

 

I'm really leaning towards Easter Sunday since it seems like a good day to take advantage of a fairly dead park on opening weekend.

 

Also really hoping they're doing Coasters After Dark again this year, last years was one of my favorite trips to the park all season. Has it always/usually been in April?

 

years ago, me and a bunch of buddies did the whole tailgating thing in the parking lot. we went as far as bring up out tailgating grill from football. we did burgers, meat tacos, small beer keg , a few other items. security said there were complaints , and we were ordered to shut down. I think guests were jealous for not thinking of doing something like this, and rated us out. we were out near the busses parked, and no cars were around. go figure.

[Lightnin Loops]

^ I agree, and I never really pay any mind to records anyway. For me, something being the tallest and fastest doesn't really matter if the ride is a one-trick pony, which both Ka and Zum are.

 

 

well said.

[boldikus]

years ago, me and a bunch of buddies did the whole tailgating thing in the parking lot. we went as far as bring up out tailgating grill from football. we did burgers, meat tacos, small beer keg , a few other items. security said there were complaints , and we were ordered to shut down. I think guests were jealous for not thinking of doing something like this, and rated us out. we were out near the busses parked, and no cars were around. go figure.

 

LOL oh man, that's pretty funny. I use 'tailgating' loosely, we've never brought a grill. I could see people/security complaining. We just pack a cooler with a six pack or so - I don't like drinking heavily and riding, doesn't mix for me - and we'll stop for some sandwiches/chips/etc on the way in and save those for lunch. We'll hang off the back of the truck and chill out for a bit, always makes for a nice mid day break from the crowds and an opportunity to recharge.

[coasterbill]

...the ride is a one-trick pony, which both Ka and Zum are.

 

I agree but both rides have great tricks, and I love Kingda Ka (in the front seat). I like Zumanjaro too but unless they manage to get the rides to run together I'm still not a fan of it. It's not worth what it did to Kingda Ka's capacity.

[DevilsFlight]

^ I haven't ridden Ka since 2014 because I can't stand waiting multiple hours for it. Hopefully the state will loosen their corset and let them run together

[boldikus]

^ I haven't ridden Ka since 2014 because it hasn't been open since then.

[Genx24]

...the ride is a one-trick pony, which both Ka and Zum are.

 

I agree but both rides have great tricks, and I love Kingda Ka (in the front seat). I like Zumanjaro too but unless they manage to get the rides to run together I'm still not a fan of it. It's not worth what it did to Kingda Ka's capacity.

They're definitely great tricks. Ka is amazing, but only in the front, and Zumanjaro is terrifyingly fun. I too wish they could run together, but the selfish part of me likes the current set-up because both queues hold so many people, keeping all other rides' (especially El Toro's) waits to a minimum.

[coasterchitchat]

Looks like SFGADv will build a 100-acre solar farm to power the entire park.

 

http://www.jacksontwpnj.net/documents/minutes/planning_board/2014/12-01-14.pdf

 

Ordinance – Solar Energy Facilities

Ray Shea represented Six Flags along with representatives of KDC Solar. Mr. McGuckin said the ordinance was generated

per request by Great Adventure to allow for a solar field on their land. The Township Council did not introduce the

ordinance as it was too late to refer it to the Planning Board before the end of the year, but the Council is sending it now

to the Planning Board to weigh in prior to introduction of the ordinance.

This ordinance will be referred back to the Planning Board for review of consistency with the Master Plan, after the

Township Council’s first reading introduction. Mr. Hudak said this is a request from Six Flags to put in a solar array on a

100 acre site on property they own. The property is not developed and is currently wooded. They will be able to

generate almost all the energy they use at Great Adventure. Mr. Bressi said another positive note is they would go back

three years on taxes for their forestry benefit. They could run the entire park at times on the solar power. The Council

supports the ordinance but couldn’t introduce it before the end of this year, but they want it to move forward.

Rick Roseberry, KDC Solar, was sworn. He said there are two changes brought by this ordinance, the rezoning of Lot 15

to CR-2 and to add the solar use as a conditional use in the zone. The project will make Six Flags completely solar

dependent. They have the ability to project their costs for the next 20 years which would allow them to save money on

electricity and develop other commercial ventures in accordance with the Master Plan.

Mr. Peters said in terms of the Master Plan, it is environmentally friendly. The area is not developed and the solar field

would help meet the needs of the facility. The project would put some land back on the tax rolls. Mr. Peters finds

nothing wrong with the proposed ordinance, adding that it is the more time efficient manner to approvals than asking for

a use variance. The ordinance preserves their rights in a cleaner and efficient manner. Mr. Bressi added that if they

went before the Zoning Board and anything changed, they would have to appear again before the Zoning Board.

Mr. Klee said he met informally and said this is a good project. There would be an analysis of all the trees to be lost.

Mr. Kern asked about the net meter projects as he felt it important to look forward. Mr. Roseberry said the Board of

Public Utilities regulates that. This is an accessory use. They can specify that it is a net meter project. Mr. McGuckin

said they should submit that to the governing body. Ms. Buono gave a copy of the ordinance to Mr. Roseberry. Mr. Kern

asked how large the project is and was told 22 megawatts DC, 17 megawatts AC. He asked why not use the parking lot,

and was told it would be not feasible. They would deforesting near Reed Road. Mr. Kern asked if there is any nonforested

area to consider. Mr. Roseberry said this is the only area that has contiguous acreage to support the project.

Mr. Kern asked about the inter-connection and was told there would be a substation on Route 537 near the employee

entrance. They will have to build another substation.

Public portion opened, no one came forward; Motion to close public portion by BRESSI/Kern. YES:

Unanimous among those present.

Mr. Hudak approved of the project for tax revenues and helping the environment.

[boldikus]

^ Holy crap, thats a great idea. Sun powered coasters! I hope it all works out for them.

[EastCoastKid]

Woah. This is crazy, yet awesome. I'm sure some people will bash Six Flags and call them "cheap" for wanting to save money over the long run, but to me, (as someone who knows little to nothing about the logistics of solar power), this seems like a great idea. Especially if the park is planning on being able to power itself solely from the sun. Very cool.

[p-sychiatrist]

Regardless of whether the intentions are solely financial, this is an amazing step forward. Powering the entire park would be an incredible feat, but even if it only cuts down a portion of the park's energy consumption it would still be a great use of the land. Best of all this could encourage other parks to follow suit. I feel like a hippie getting so excited over this

 

Think about it this way, if parks start saving money on energy, that's more funding that can go into new rides, infrastructure, and maintenance.

[Password121]

I think it is very indicative of the anticipation of El Diablo that many (myself included) are more interested in the prospect of a solar energy field over the ride itself. Speaking of, I wonder what this potential project would cost... and how long it would take to make up those costs in energy savings. Whatever happens, I think this could be a great move, as long as too many additional trees aren't removed. That would be a shame, considering how much open space the safari already has available.

[Meteornotes]

Smart move on Six Flag's part getting into solar. And "smart move on Six Flag's part" is likely not a phrase that gets used very often...

 

dt

[larrygator]

I am confident that some environmental group will fight the idea as it will be uncovered that some rare animal like the "royal speckle penised worm" only lives in the area where Six Flags wants to build.

[mark549]

Solar powered (partly) Six Flags is long overdue, but I question the design of their system.

 

Cutting a forest for a single large array isn't the way to do this.

 

The fairgrounds in Sacramento, Ca. has a large solar array over part of the parking lot. It serves two functions: it makes electricity and shades the cars, keeping them cooler.

 

I'd love to see at least some of the solar panels used as shades for the queues, at least where that would be appropriate. Rooftop solar is the most efficient for space and transmission of power, although Six Flags probably just wants to put in a large system and not have to do any electrical work in the park itself.

 

A hybrid solar / wind system would probably work best for them, they have some open areas and being close to the ocean they probably get decent wind at times.

 

I've used solar panels (directly) for more than two decades, they provide most of my home power in the summer.

 

El Toro is my favorite coaster I've been on (233 credits is my count, I think).

[coasterbill]

Cutting a forest for a single large array isn't the way to do this.

 

It is interesting that the park is "going green" by adding the panels but cutting down a ton of trees to do it. I know the main idea here is to save money not to save the environment but usually when companies do this they like to make a big deal about how "green" they are and pat themselves on the back. That doesn't really work if you level a large part of the forest to do it when you have a massive parking lot and a huge area around the old Wild Safari entrance that's already clear that you could have used.

 

It doesn't matter to me. I'm no environmentalist. I'm just saying it's a bid odd...

[Lightnin Loops]

I love this. Hopefully will all the saving on electric, we can see our Season Pass prices even cheaper in the future. Maybe like $50 for a gold SP

 

 

Looks like SFGADv will build a 100-acre solar farm to power the entire park.

 

http://www.jacksontwpnj.net/documents/minutes/planning_board/2014/12-01-14.pdf

 

Ordinance – Solar Energy Facilities

Ray Shea represented Six Flags along with representatives of KDC Solar. Mr. McGuckin said the ordinance was generated

per request by Great Adventure to allow for a solar field on their land. The Township Council did not introduce the

ordinance as it was too late to refer it to the Planning Board before the end of the year, but the Council is sending it now

to the Planning Board to weigh in prior to introduction of the ordinance.

This ordinance will be referred back to the Planning Board for review of consistency with the Master Plan, after the

Township Council’s first reading introduction. Mr. Hudak said this is a request from Six Flags to put in a solar array on a

100 acre site on property they own. The property is not developed and is currently wooded. They will be able to

generate almost all the energy they use at Great Adventure. Mr. Bressi said another positive note is they would go back

three years on taxes for their forestry benefit. They could run the entire park at times on the solar power. The Council

supports the ordinance but couldn’t introduce it before the end of this year, but they want it to move forward.

Rick Roseberry, KDC Solar, was sworn. He said there are two changes brought by this ordinance, the rezoning of Lot 15

to CR-2 and to add the solar use as a conditional use in the zone. The project will make Six Flags completely solar

dependent. They have the ability to project their costs for the next 20 years which would allow them to save money on

electricity and develop other commercial ventures in accordance with the Master Plan.

Mr. Peters said in terms of the Master Plan, it is environmentally friendly. The area is not developed and the solar field

would help meet the needs of the facility. The project would put some land back on the tax rolls. Mr. Peters finds

nothing wrong with the proposed ordinance, adding that it is the more time efficient manner to approvals than asking for

a use variance. The ordinance preserves their rights in a cleaner and efficient manner. Mr. Bressi added that if they

went before the Zoning Board and anything changed, they would have to appear again before the Zoning Board.

Mr. Klee said he met informally and said this is a good project. There would be an analysis of all the trees to be lost.

Mr. Kern asked about the net meter projects as he felt it important to look forward. Mr. Roseberry said the Board of

Public Utilities regulates that. This is an accessory use. They can specify that it is a net meter project. Mr. McGuckin

said they should submit that to the governing body. Ms. Buono gave a copy of the ordinance to Mr. Roseberry. Mr. Kern

asked how large the project is and was told 22 megawatts DC, 17 megawatts AC. He asked why not use the parking lot,

and was told it would be not feasible. They would deforesting near Reed Road. Mr. Kern asked if there is any nonforested

area to consider. Mr. Roseberry said this is the only area that has contiguous acreage to support the project.

Mr. Kern asked about the inter-connection and was told there would be a substation on Route 537 near the employee

entrance. They will have to build another substation.

Public portion opened, no one came forward; Motion to close public portion by BRESSI/Kern. YES:

Unanimous among those present.

Mr. Hudak approved of the project for tax revenues and helping the environment.

[rcjp]

^Yeah, for sure. . . .

[Bolliger&Swagillard]

I hope Six Flags adds this to all their parks across the country, and like this we won't have any sh/tty announcements like last year.

 

 

First post guys yay

 

EDIT: I say this because tons of money will be saved if this project becomes a reality.

[Password121]

Why would you want to lower the cost of season passes? They're dirt cheap as they are and allow too many teenagers to just leech off the park. The park doesn't turn a large profit (if any) off them, and it creates the atmosphere the park has become known for. If anything, the prices should be closer aligned to Cedar Fair's. I paid $50 for my SFA 2015 gold pass with parking. That is far too low and I would have no problem paying $100 for SFA, more for Great Adventure.

 

Edit: doesn't the Jackson planning board limit tree removal? At Greatadventurehistory a user posted an image showing how large this area would have to be-- about twice the size of the entire parking lot. I don't see this being approved, assuming that many trees are removed.

[larrygator]

I love this. Hopefully will all the saving on electric, we can see our Season Pass prices even cheaper in the future. Maybe like $50 for a gold SP

 

That would be a stupid thing for the park to do.

 

How about they use the savings to fix all things aspects of the park you complain about?

 

 

Instead of delaying a ride opening to get more passes sold, how about they stop running the park like crap and pissing off the people that buy passes so that they might actually buy one again.

 

Unfortunately this probably won't happen until the chain smartens up and starts charging $100+ for a season pass.

 

 

totally agree, a gold pass should be sold more the $61.99, like way more

[Bolliger&Swagillard]

The park is in desperate need for some refurbishment on some of the rides (Nitro paint job, because darn that paint is ugly.), and just some more love and care all throughout the park. The cement all around the Boardwalk area is all cracked up and just all out nasty. The better the park looks, the more I will enjoy my visits here and the GP would come back over and over again.

Edited February 14, 2015 by larrygator