Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread

[michaellynn4]

^ I also went to the park the last operating day last year. Overall crowds were manageable and a good time was had. However, my experience was marred because it was SO EFFING COLD and, like the moron I am, didn't bring a jacket. I've a feeling this year will be a bit better.

[boldikus]

I've a feeling this year will be a bit better.

 

LOL because you're gonna remember that jacket?

[coasterbill]

Boldikus nailed it. Kingda Ka is unreliable but it's very unlikely that it would ever be closed for a whole day...generally it's just up and down a lot throughout the day. Despite the line you absolutely 100% have to ride in the front. Kingda Ka in row 1 is a mind blowing experience.

[jburns309]

Hey guys! New to this discussion board. I've never been to a Six Flags park before, and I have a trip planned to Great Adventure in 2016. I have a few questions regarding the trip.

Welcome to the board.

 

1. Lowest crowds tend to be very early in the season (April/May) but always pay attention to the parks event page on their website. If they have a few groups at the park it can become insanely crowded, even on days early in the season. Like Spring Break. During the summer, mid week is best but again, if there are groups (camp trips etc) you'll be looking at lines. Sat/Sun in the summer can be brutal, especially if weather is nice. SFGAdv typically opens their new attraction Memorial Day weekend. If you are planning your trip around the opening of TM and are booking (hotel, airfare, whatever) in advance I'd plan for after July 4th. Zumanjaro opened July 4th weekend. I would hope TM will be open for Memorial Day since SF has installed this ride before (Batman, SFFT), but you can't use that argument since Lex Luthor is essentially the same thing and it still took GreatAdv until July 4th to get Zum up and running.

 

2. Kingda Ka is a definite must do for any coaster fan. It's hard for me to say as I'm not a huge fan and have only ridden it like 2-3xs this season, but generally it seems to be reliable. If this is at the top of your list, get there at opening and go right to the ride and wait for it to open if its not already.

 

3. If you have two days you can probably squeeze everything in that you want to w/o a flash pass but if you only have one day and its reasonably crowded I suggest you splurge on a Gold Pass, but don't bother with Platinum unless you plan to ride and re-ride as much as possible. A gold pass can get the job done, just make sure to reserve your next ride as soon as you are scanned into your current ride. Don't wait until you are finished riding.

 

4. Depends on what you really want to hit. Superman usually has long lines because of its restraints and usual understaffing of the ride, but if you've never done a B&M flyer I highly recommend it. A lot of folks here won't agree but there is nothing else in the park like that pretzel loop. The rest of the ride sucks, but worth a ride for that element alone. Ka always has a line so another you want to hit right away. With Zumanjaro, the line does move slower, so again, go there first if that's your big "must do".

 

Any other tips? Ride El Toro - 2nd to last row. Best ride in the park hands down. I always tend to go here first since its a little out of the way and doesn't get a line for the first 30-60-90 minutes of the day. And you can re-ride it for a while until the line forms. And you'll probably want to re-ride it. Nitro - back row far right seat. Bizarro - in the front. Green Lantern - unless you really have a thing for having your skull bashed in, skip it. Runaway Mine Train is worth a ride, great fun and a great setting. Ride the Skyway for great views. Macho Nacho is good food. Best of the West has OK food but great views if you get a good seat. We have a pretty good log flume. Zumanjaro very quickly became one of my favorite rides in the park. And don't skip Batman, it's amazing. Oh and I can't forget Skull Mountain - last row.

 

Here is a good report with crowd pictures from closing day on Sunday last year:

http://www.greatadventurehistory.com/GATrips_Autumn_2014_11_02.htm

 

Thanks Yoshi! Was hoping you'd have some insight. Anyone else?

 

I agree. Well said!

[Ilovecedarfair]

Thanks for all the useful information! I'll definitely keep these tips in mind. I won't say I'll be 100% unsatisfied if I miss KK but it would be a huge blow as I'm such a far distance and just the monicker of "tallest in the world" makes me really want that credit. I've done Dragster in the front row and I can't even describe in words the rush of the launch so I imagine KK to be just a amazing! Never been on a B&M flyer but I've heard good things so I'll be sure to check that out. Overall I'd say I'm most looking forward to El Toro.. I have yet to experience a decent wooden coaster.

[coneyislandchris]

Forgot to mention this -- it looks like wait times are finally working in the app;

 

 

Bizarro with a shorter wait than Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train. Gotta love it.

[michaellynn4]

Bizarro with a shorter wait than Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train. Gotta love it.

 

Based on each ride's capacity, this doesn't surprise me at all.

[El Toro_Ryan]

This sorta random but shouts out to the Superman crew! They hit a million riders this year for the first time since the ride opened in 2003. Bizarro recently hit a million as well.

 

Forgot to mention this -- it looks like wait times are finally working in the app;

 

[attachment=0]image.jpg[/attachment]

 

Bizarro with a shorter wait than Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train. Gotta love it.

 

I don't think it works on everyone's phone yet. The official roll out for wait times is supposed to be next year.

[Lightnin Loops]

This sorta random but shouts out to the Superman crew! They hit a million riders this year for the first time since the ride opened in 2003. Bizarro recently hit a million as well.

 

Forgot to mention this -- it looks like wait times are finally working in the app;

 

[attachment=0]image.jpg[/attachment]

 

Bizarro with a shorter wait than Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train. Gotta love it.

 

I don't think it works on everyone's phone yet. The official roll out for wait times is supposed to be next year.

 

 

the wait times on the app have been so far off. they really need to fix it

[boldikus]

This sorta random but shouts out to the Superman crew! They hit a million riders this year for the first time since the ride opened in 2003. Bizarro recently hit a million as well.

I'd be curious to know Nitros numbers this year for comparison.

 

Also how many of that million on Bizarro were during Fright Fest (I know you prob don't know this Ryan just sorta wondering out loud).

[Lightnin Loops]

This sorta random but shouts out to the Superman crew! They hit a million riders this year for the first time since the ride opened in 2003. Bizarro recently hit a million as well.

I'd be curious to know Nitros numbers this year for comparison.

 

Also how many of that million on Bizarro were during Fright Fest (I know you prob don't know this Ryan just sorta wondering out loud).

 

 

bizarro must be fudging #'s, because when you sit out on the break run for a good 5 to 10 min because the crew is so slow, no way they hit 1 mil. especially its usually always empty except for a holiday or fright fest. Those #'s need to be audited.

[coasterbill]

^ Honestly even with a terrible crew a 3 train floorless coaster would have to work really hard not to hit a million riders. It's up-time has to be near 100% and it could theoretically put through a ton of trains.

 

The Superman numbers are impressive though, I wouldn't expect that from a 2 train flyer in a Six Flags park where it's generally not going to be properly staffed.

 

Hey Ryan, can I dork out for a minute? Any idea what the Skyway numbers are? I would think it would have to be over a million... Cedar Point always is and I'm curious how the Great Adventure numbers stack up. On one hand, Cedar Point sends out cabins at a much faster clip and has people at catch, unload load and trip as opposed to one person for catch and unload and one person at load and trip and that ride doesn't need to be tripped manually. On the other hand Great Adventure has 2 cables and goes down for weather much less often so I've always been curious to know how they compared.

[El Toro_Ryan]

^ Honestly even with a terrible crew a 3 train floorless coaster would have to work really hard not to hit a million riders. It's up-time has to be near 100% and it could theoretically put through a ton of trains.

 

The Superman numbers are impressive though, I wouldn't expect that from a 2 train flyer in a Six Flags park where it's generally not going to be properly staffed.

 

Hey Ryan, can I dork out for a minute? Any idea what the Skyway numbers are? I would think it would have to be over a million... Cedar Point always is and I'm curious how the Great Adventure numbers stack up. On one hand, Cedar Point sends out cabins at a much faster clip and has people at catch, unload load and trip as opposed to one person for catch and unload and one person at load and trip and that ride doesn't need to be tripped manually. On the other hand Great Adventure has 2 cables and goes down for weather much less often so I've always been curious to know how they compared.

 

I think Bizarro averages around 750-820 riders per hour and yeah, by running all year with lots of uptime the numbers add up. But bizarro doesn't always hit a million. Some years, they're worse than others. And yeah, the superman crew this year was on point. I know over the summer, they were staffed well (3 or 4 people on the train) and were rolling trains and pulling in 900s or 1000s for the hour.

 

And nerd out all you want. Haha The skyway hasn't hit a million this year or nor did it last year. I don't believe we run ours at as high a capacity as Cedar Point. Although it can have the highest potential capacity in the park if both sides are running and it's fully staffed. I know in 2013 it gave out over a million when both sides were consistently running. This hasn't been the case this year or last year.

 

Some more fun facts, technically Kingda Ka pulled in the best numbers when compared to its target throughput for this year (which is rather low now due to Zumanjaro but I was shocked when I found out.) And we typically give out 9,000 to 10,000 riders a day on El Toro on a regular operating day.

[UrbanLegend]

I've seen this discussed briefly when HitP was first announced, but what do you think the likelihood is of them running anything other than B&M coasters during Holiday in the Park? As much as it pains me, I'm guessing to not expect El Toro to run, unless it would be an unseasonably warm day?

I haven't been/ am not able to go to Great Adventure at all this year, which is a first in many years

[coasterbill]

It sounds like Golden Kingdom and everything past the boardwalk will be closed, which is totally reasonable as far as I'm concerned. I highly doubt any coasters not in the boardwalk, lakefront or Movie Town will run and again... That's fine by me. I'm thrilled to be able to ride Nitro, Skull Mountain, Superman, Dark Knight and Batman in the winter.

[boldikus]

This map for HITP was posted about a month ago. Its not super easy to see but you can see (as ^ Coasterbill said) Golden Kingdom, Plaza Del Carnival, Frontier Adventures will all be closed. This is exactly why I am hoping to get up to ride Toro, Zum and Bizarro this coming weekend. Also it'll be interesting to see what they do in Old Country.

 

[El Toro_Ryan]

This sorta random but shouts out to the Superman crew! They hit a million riders this year for the first time since the ride opened in 2003. Bizarro recently hit a million as well.

I'd be curious to know Nitros numbers this year for comparison.

 

Also how many of that million on Bizarro were during Fright Fest (I know you prob don't know this Ryan just sorta wondering out loud).

 

I think Nitro hit one million in early August. They're probably around like 1.4 or 1.5 million riders now if I had to guess. I haven't checked the stats in a few weeks. Bizarro actually hit one million earlier in October so they might hit around 1.1 million for the year. Maybe slightly more or less tho depending on how they're doing hourly.

[boldikus]

Well this was a surprise. In a passholder email I just got from the park:

 

Bring a Friend for $9.99 Nov 6-8

 

Pass Holders and Members can bring a friend to Great Adventure for just $9.99 on November 6, 7 or 8!

 

Special Bonus Days for Six Flags Great Adventure Season Pass Holders and Members! Six Flags Great Adventure will now be open Friday, November 6; Saturday, November 7 and Sunday, November 8. On these special "Pass Holder Celebration Days" Great Adventure Pass Holders can bring a friend to the park for just $9.99 (85% off the regular price).

 

Redemption Instructions: No Coupon Required! Present your valid 2015 or 2016 Six Flags Great Adventure Season Pass or Membership at the ticket booth on EITHER November 6, 7 or 8 to purchase one general admission ticket for $9.99 plus tax. One discounted admission allowed per Season Pass or Membership Holder. Not valid with any other discount. Ticket obtained with this offer is only good on the date of purchase and cannot be sold. Admission is valid only at Six Flags Great Adventure.

 

Deadline Extended to Pick Up Your 2016 Pass

If you haven't stopped by the park to pick up your 2016 Season Passes you now have until Sunday, November 8. You must pick up your pass ID at the park by Sunday, November 8 to receive your free upgrade to Gold and free parking for the 2016 season. If you've already picked up your 2016 Season Pass please disregard this reminder.

 

Fright Fest Ends Sunday, November 1

If you haven't visited Fright Fest you have just one weekend left! The park is open tonight, Saturday and Sunday. Check the park operating schedule for complete details.

[michaellynn4]

[boldikus]

I'm confused if the park is open just for passholders. It kinda sounds like it the way its worded but would seem silly (albeit awesome for us nerds) for them to be open for three whole days just for passholders. Also Sat and Sun are the Grape Adventure Wine fest thing so that'll be going on too.

[Lightnin Loops]

I'm confused if the park is open just for passholders. It kinda sounds like it the way its worded but would seem silly (albeit awesome for us nerds) for them to be open for three whole days just for passholders. Also Sat and Sun are the Grape Adventure Wine fest thing so that'll be going on too.

 

well looking at the sf website under hours, its doesn't specifically say sph only.

[coasterbill]

Awesome! Any insight as to whether it actually needs to be a Great Adventure pass or if it can be any Six Flags pass valid at Great Adventure?

 

Our memberships (believe it or not) are from Magic Mountain.

[boldikus]

The wording says "Great Adventure Passholders" but I really don't know. I am pretty sure I'm going up this Sunday, at least for a little bit in the morning, but if that falls through at least I have next weekend. I wish it was just passholders next weekend, the two passholders night I've gone (Coasters After Dark the last two years) I felt like Clark Griswold in a completely empty park.

[YoshiFan]

This is great, now there is only 1 closed weekend between the last operating day of the regular season and when Holidaying the Park starts. I wonder how crowded Friday will be, I thought it would be empty but schools in NJ are closed.

[coasterfreak101]

Awesome! Any insight as to whether it actually needs to be a Great Adventure pass or if it can be any Six Flags pass valid at Great Adventure?

 

Our memberships (believe it or not) are from Magic Mountain.

I'm wondering the same thing - I have a pass for this year from America, and for next year from New England. I'd love to get up to Great Adventure one last time to close out the season!