Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread

[YoshiFan]

The closing rides early seems to be worse when the park closes at midnight. Last year I was there and all the rides shut their lines at 11:30 even with no waits. I saw people complaining to a security guard at the closed Kingda Ka entrance that the park was supposed to be open until 12:00 and a security guard said "The park is open until 12, the rides aren't." If they are going to close rides early, they should post it ahead of time like Dorney used to on their website when the rides closed at 11 but the park and Haunt attractions were open until 12 (I think they stopped closing the rides early).

[coasterkid124]

It would make sense that they wrapped the supports if they aren't planning on actually building for a while yet. Especially if the snow ( ) could be coming soon.

 

I'm personally surprised that parts have shown up this early. I thought that they would wait until the week before opening day to start building anything .

[woolandmammoth]

Im at the park today and we couldn't have picked a nicer night! We walked on Nitro, Skully, and Zoomie. Short lines (under 30min) for Kingda Ka, El Toro, Namtab, and Superman. Crowds seem pretty light!

 

I noticed that the terror trail wristband is now $25 for all of the trails. To rich for my blood. No option to buy tickets individually. The trails looked great, but I did not get a chance to enter.

 

Certainly a good end to the regular operating season

[woolandmammoth]

*Double post*

[boldikus]

I was also there for a bit yesterday and the crowds were light and totally manageable, but we didn't stay all day. I guess between Halloween party hangovers and a chilly, overcast morning it kept things quiet. What was originally going to be just me and my bro-in-law Tom turned into my sister and 2 yr old nephew joining us so it turned out to be a little more low key with a bunch of kiddie rides mixed in with our favorites. We arrived early, around 10:20, and joined the season pass line - I'd say there were maybe 10-12 people in front of us. At 10:40, they started to open our line and then just opened all of them. No rope drop or anything, just let everyone right in 20 minutes early. I'm not complaining, there weren't very many people waiting.

 

We headed toward El Toro of course and as we walked up to the station the first train of the day was dispatching. I rode first with my sister while Tom hung back with my nephew, and when we got up into the station there was 3 people waiting for the front, with every other row empty. So where did we go? Dumb question. It was chilly and the first ride was slow but still amazing, with my sister chanting "I'm not ready for this" as we ascended the lift. When we pulled back into the station she said "OK let's go swap out with Tom and you can ride again", to which I replied "Just go tell him to come and meet me, I'm riding again, I'll be back by the time he gets up here" and off onto lap number 2 I went. By the time I finished he had just gotten into the station and he hopped in and joined me for my 3rd lap. After, the station was still empty but now someone else was lined up for the magic seat so we just jumped back to the last row and rode again. I absolutely love Sunday mornings where the ride is empty and you can re-ride for an eternity.

 

With my sister waiting for us w/ my nephew at the exit we knew we couldn't keep at this all day so sadly out of the train we climbed and grabbed the on-ride of our (possibly) last ride of the year. My nephew was getting ants in his pants so we took him into Bugs Bunny National Park where he rode just about everything, most of which I didn't even know was back here. He loved the Daffy's Hot Air Balloons and the mini-Himalaya ride, Canyon Blaster. While Tom rode a bunch of stuff with him, my sister and I ventured off for a bit to ride Bizarro since it won't be open after this weekend and on our way I realized I haven't ridden Runaway Mine Train all season so we checked the line and there was none, we walked right onto row 2. Always a good ride, a true classic I hope this park never gets rid of. Crazy airtime on the hill over the lake.

 

Off to Bizarro and we were able to walk right up the steps and right onto row 7. I love this ride so much, and think its extremely underrated. Its so forceful in the front or back of the train and the zero-G is one of my favorite elements in the park. Only effects working were the fireballs but whatever - the effects are really only great at night. They were of course running 3 trains even though the park was fairly dead and stacking like only the Bizarro crew knows how to. After we were finally released from Bizarros grip we met back up w/ Tom and had a seat in front of the lake across from Toro and just enjoyed the weather and the park itself. It is so beautiful this time of year with the leaves changing. I kinda went nuts and took a ton of pictures because of that. We shared a jumbo pretzel w/ cheese which was super salty but delicious.

 

We wanted to take my nephew on the Skyway and over to Safari Kids but just as we decided to do that they came over the loudspeaker and said it was closed for high winds. Boooo. So we walked over which was cool because we spotted a ton of trees and buildings covered in lights for Holiday in the Park as we walked through Fantasy Forest and Adventure Alley. We stopped in Safari Kids and again, my nephew rode just about everything, including Road Runner Railway, twice, which seems to be his favorite ride in the park. Unfortunately one of these times he wanted to ride with me, and jesus that thing is brutal. The last little dip during the turn before the brakes is insane and just about broke my back. Meanwhile my nephew is chanting "more! more!"

 

While we were over there we admired Skull Mountains running waterfall and Tom and I were able to pop over to Nitro which was another walk on for row 7. Very noticeable drag on the train from the high winds which we suddenly noticed as we ascended the lift. We spotted the ToteMay supports from the lift, as well as the boats from Congo Rapids, which was all emptied out (as was Sawmill LF). Our train on Nitro had a tiny rattle that was noticeable but was still a great ride. No wait when we returned so we went out for 2nd verse, same as the first.

 

Here comes the problem with taking a 2 year old to the park: nap time. He'd gone from ride warrior to cranky cry baby in a flash, so we decided to end the day on a high note, but Tom was determined to do Zumanjaro since we might not be able to ride it til next year. Earlier in the day we hadn't seen it run at all with people - we did spot it testing a few times empty. We headed back towards main street and Tom sorta ran up ahead. As we neared the fountain we got a text he was already in Golden Kingdom and it was running, so we made our way over to a line of about 10 people and got on the next drop, then ran around for a similar wait to do it again. Such a great view of all the fall foliage all around us.

 

We didn't go crazy riding but still managed to have a great time and it's fun to see the park through my nephews eyes. This was his 2nd visit and he seems to love it and love rides. I was a beaming proud uncle when we got in the car to leave and asked what his favorite ride was and he responded with perfect pronunciation "the roller coaster". This is probably my last visit until Holiday in the Park but there is a small chance we might go back next weekend. If not, we ended the regular season on a high note.

 

Count:

El Toro 4x

Bizarro 1x

Runaway Mine Train 1x

Road Runner Railway 1x

Nitro 2x

Zumanjaro 2x

To get to the park I have to take two trains and a short drive after I meet up w/ the fam. This is the first set of rails I'll ride today.

Just before my train came, this pulled in. And you guys thought Six Flags were bad w/ the train wraps...

Good morning.

Errr... not really.

Toro's open? Ok, moving on.

To be fair we were early but it was QUIET.

Thanks Great Adventure!

The Fright Fest decorations have taken a beating by now but overall the park still looks great.

The changing leaves are amazing.

I *LOVE* the Bloody Fountain this year. Pumpkinhead makes it looks so great!

Off to Plaza Del Carnival we go

Kids Trick-or-treat trail

Shhhhhhhh

Not even testing yet.

Yes!

I love that when you exit you can see the next train dropping. I could stand here all day.

As slow as it was running you still get absolutely ripped over this thing.

Ominous.

Amazing how many little rides they cram into these kiddie areas.

And most times to me its like they are not even there

Sup guys?

Quiet on the lakefront, but won't be next year.

Someone is out there fishing.

Beautiful park, - lockers and all.

Yeah I know, you've seen this shot a million times. Now you are seeing it again.

Themeing

Don't think you are getting any drinks today.

My nephew loves the M&Ms guys, and loves to point them out all over the park.

OK

I feel bad for the person who has to go around and take all these cobwebs down, they are everywhere!

Bizarro would be hugely popular if it wasn't in a dead end of the park.

Get twisted

Til next year, Sawmill.

Nephew loved watching Sky Screamer.

It is coming...

We started to notice tons of lights already strung on all the trees over here

Need a chiropractor? You will.

Yes, I took this picture, and like an idiot didn't take any of the ToteMay supports

This is what I like to see!

*Mortal Combat theme*

See?

Last row, last ride of the year. The turnaround is getting bad on these wheel seats - otherwise smooth as silk.

Super windy and slow but still fun.

Foliage

The waterfall!!! Also the sun came out!

We didn't ride, 15 minute wait (according to the wait times on the app). I'm saving all my Skull worshipping for HITP.

While Skyway was closed due to winds early in the day, it opened before we left. We never got a ride.

I took these for Billy.

Fun fun fun

One of the great things about Zum are the views of Toro from back here

I think the ridiculously long path keeps people from riding.

I love it now that everything is growing in.

I have no problem walking back here for Zum - its such a great ride.

All in all a good day. In and out in 3 hours, rode everything we wanted to more than once.

Love days like this!

[coneyislandchris]

Love days like this!

Hey, thanks for posting a picture of my car!

 

Needless to say, I also was over there yesterday for a short period of time. Even though I was out by 2:30, I got a helluva lot of riding in thanks to the extremely light crowds.

 

I was over in the Discover card line, and as soon as they let us in, I headed over towards Ka just to check... and, of course, it wasn't ready yet because they were still doing testing on Zumanjaro. No biggie. Even though I'm not a fan of the two B&M gimmick coasters, I headed back towards them to give them one more mercy try before the end of the season. Hopped on Superman: Ultimate Flight first and got the last row. Still bored by it, though that pretzel loop gave some serious G-forces in the back. I think I'm fine with riding this one only once or twice per season.

 

Next, bounced right over to Green Lantern. Yep. Still uncomfortable as hell for me, and the shaking and rattling seemed to be even worse than the last time I rode it. Glad I got it out of the way early, but you know, I don't think I'll be riding this one again unless they convert it from a standup to something else. It's just not fun for me in the slightest.

 

By this time, I noticed a few test trains being sent up Ka, so I jammed my way over there to find a mostly empty station and a walk-on to the second last row (yay single riders!). Definitely some shaking happening in the back, but as I was disembarking, I saw there was still no line, and it wasn't even 11:45 at this point, so I said to hell with it and jumped back in line, this time for the front seat (which I hadn't done yet). Usually the wait for the front is so off-putting I don't even bother, but in this case, I'm glad I waited the six trains to get it, because WOW, what an amazing rush being in the front is! Especially when you're hanging up at the top facing straight down for what feels like an eternity while the rest of the train makes its way over. I never want to ride any other seat on Ka ever again.

 

From Ka, I bounced my way around over to El Toro and once again found a mostly empty station! Did two laps on El Toro and it's just as great as I remember. I'm seriously hoping my son makes it up to 48" by next summer so he can share in the revelatory joy of El Toro.

 

Next on my must ride list was Bizarro. I'm in the same boat as Boldy because I absolutely love this ride, but then again, I love B&M floorless coasters in general. Definitely one of my favorites though. My first ride through I only got the flame effects, but since the station was empty by the time our stacked train made it back, I didn't even bother unbuckling... and to my surprise, the mist was on during the second ride! It's NEVER been on for me, so that was a pleasant surprise (even though it was overcast and windy).

 

My plan from there was to hop the Skyway over to the other side of the park and hit up Namtab one last time. Two major issues hampered this from taking effect. One, the Skyway was temporarily out of commission, so instead I hoofed it over like a chump. Two, when I get to Batman's queue I see people in the courtyard, and ask the gate attendant how long the line is... "Oh, about 45, 60 minutes". Having walked on previously I didn't much feel like spending another hour in line to ride it again, and that train might still be around for HiTP anyway, so I said to heck with it and swung over to Nitro instead.

 

RIGHT MOVE. My first ever walk-on to Nitro. I could hardly believe my eyes! Grabbed the last row far left on Train B, and yeah... although it was definitely more sluggish yesterday than usual, that just helped with the floater airtime, especially since the lap restraint left me ample wiggle room. I managed four re-rides in the last row before the station had enough people in it to force me to move. Unbelievable. Four in a row was a fantastic experience and I hope to be able to repeat it or top that during HiTP.

 

Checked the wait time for Namtab while I was exiting Nitro, saw "55 minutes", and crossed it off the list. Not today, guys, not today. Decided to head back towards Bizarro and get one more in on that, but as I was walking back, I passed by Skull Mountain. And, okay, fine, I bought into the unyielding hype that you cultsters have been pushing at every opportunity. I got in there, got the last row, and... was thoroughly underwhelmed once again. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Well, at least the kiddo will love it when he gets big enough to ride, I'm sure.

 

One last Bizarro ride, then a walk back to the car, and I was back in Queens before 5 PM amazingly enough. Good sanity day for me for sure.

 

PS, Boldikus, did you happen to see this artist's rendering on the Santa shack?

Skull Mountain is to become Poinsettia Peak!

[boldikus]

Love days like this!

Hey, thanks for posting a picture of my car!

LOL too funny. I took that from next to the car as we were leaving so we parked literally right behind you. Small world!

 

but as I was walking back, I passed by Skull Mountain. And, okay, fine, I bought into the unyielding hype that you cultsters have been pushing at every opportunity. I got in there, got the last row, and... was thoroughly underwhelmed once again. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Well, at least the kiddo will love it when he gets big enough to ride, I'm sure.

Sounds like the Mountain rejected you. There's always next time.

 

PS, Boldikus, did you happen to see this artist's rendering on the Santa shack?

[attachment=0]IMG_0577.jpg[/attachment]

YES!!! Mucho excitement!!

[michaellynn4]

I was there for about two hours yesterday (2:30PM - 4:30PM). My aunt and 8-year-old cousin hadn't processed their passes yet, so my brother and I tagged along with them. We didn't do much - just the Tea Cups, Parachutes, and Carousel. My cousin wanted to play a couple games on the Boardwalk, so we threw some rings at bottles and raced on Top Glo 2 (I won!). We had family waiting back at my mother's house, so we left shortly thereafter.

 

Fun times. I might take off of work on Friday and head up to get some actual coaster riding in on the bonus days!

[El Toro_Ryan]

Next we headed over to Bizarro where we saw that despite the mostly empty trains they were still triple stacking in ridiculous fashion but we got our back seat ride. Next we headed to El Toro for one last ride (we got there at 11:50). The greeter said "Just the 2 of you?" and we said yes... so he informed us that that was great because we would be the last 2.

 

I guess this means Great Adventure is back to their old practice of cutting lines off early and not telling anyone. Do they seriously think the 10 minutes they're saving themselves is worth the disappointed guests they're going to get by doing that? I can't stand this practice because the 20 MINUTE DIFFERENCE between Cedar Point's policy of a 10 minute grace period and this awful policy makes a much bigger impact on a guest's day than it could possibly make on their bottom line.

 

Luckily we got in line and when we got into the station we were greeted with a bottleneck of people waiting for the front so we got past and were happy to find that despite the fact that they wouldn't send many more trains and despite the fact that they cut the line off early we'd still be able to ride in the second to last row. The op told everyone that they would only be sending a limited number of trains and everyone waiting for the front would need to go to another row so if there were more than 2 people in front of you you needed to pick another row (obviously this is a standard practice). At this point the entire back of the train was basically empty and we were next.

 

People dispersed and filled in all but one row up near the front. At that point the ops tried to get someone waiting for the front to fill it in (there were about 30 people waiting for the front and we were the only people anywhere else) and they wouldn't listen so one of the ops pointed to us and pointed to the seat near the front because since nobody waiting for the front was listening they figured they would be lazy and make us sit there even though we were following the rules and that was completely stupid. I always listen to what the ops say but there was no way that was happening since they were sending 2 more trains, we were next in line for our row, the op on the board had just said that "if you were next in line for your row you could ride but everyone else needed to move" and they had now spent 5 minutes trying to fill 2 seats because (as they announced through the microphone) they "wanted to go home" when if they would have just dispatched it they would probably be done already. We just ignored him and chose to listen to the op on the mic who was saying something totally different (something that actually made sense) since it worked for everyone else and it worked for us too because their laziness prevailed in the end and they just let it go empty. Finally for the next train they made everyone waiting for the front do what they had been telling them to do and filled the train and we got our last ride.

 

Hey, that was me at Toro's entrance! haha I remember you guys being the last two of the night. Sorry if the situation in the station after was hectic. Things usually aren't that bad because the front row usually does listen and disperses to other rows when we ask them to.

 

And yeah, closing the ride's about 10 minutes early is very normal during fright fest even if there aren't long lines. From a worker's perspective, being at the park from 10 AM dealing with countless numbers of rude guests and lots of other things can be very very aggravating and draining. It becomes important that we go home too, because if it's a Friday or Saturday night especially, most of us we'll have to be back at the park at 10 AM again to repeat. Trust me, we want to give you guys the best time possible but sometimes, there's only so much we can do. haha

[michaellynn4]

Ryan, I'm assuming that the long hours are a result of a lack of available staff to help split shifts more reasonably and not the park purposefully understaffing and scheduling you guys for 12, 13, even 14-hour shifts, right?

 

(Pretty sure I know the answer, but just asking in preparation for the usual uproar of "WHY DOESN'T THE PARK STAFF MORE PEOPLE?!?!?! THEY SHOULD FIND MORE PEOPLE ON THE STREETS AND FORCE THEM AT GUNPOINT TO WORK THESE RIDES!!! DANCE FOR OUR AMUSEMENT RWAR!!111!1ONE")

[El Toro_Ryan]

^All I'll say is that if you want a job working with coasters, come on down to the employment center!!

[jburns309]

Buldikus, Great review! We were on that El Toro train with you! The two dudes in the first row of this picture. That's awesome! I heard you guys talking about how El Toro is better if you were to come back at night and I thought to myself "This guy knows his stuff" haha. Glad you had a great day!

[michaellynn4]

^All I'll say is that if you want a job working with coasters, come on down to the employment center!!

 

Gotcha!

[boldikus]

Buldikus, Great review! We were on that El Toro train with you! The two dudes in the first row of this picture. That's awesome! I heard you guys talking about how El Toro is better if you were to come back at night and I thought to myself "This guy knows his stuff" haha. Glad you had a great day!

Haha! Nice one. So I guess you got a free on-ride pic thanks to me! LMAO. The funny thing is, the guy working the photo booth tried to crop you out! LOL

[jburns309]

Buldikus, Great review! We were on that El Toro train with you! The two dudes in the first row of this picture. That's awesome! I heard you guys talking about how El Toro is better if you were to come back at night and I thought to myself "This guy knows his stuff" haha. Glad you had a great day!

Haha! Nice one. So I guess you got a free on-ride pic thanks to me! LMAO. The funny thing is, the guy working the photo booth tried to crop you out! LOL

 

 

Haha Yeah. Free picture! I bet he wishes he cropped us out now! haha It was awesome marathoning El Toro though. Best coaster in the park in my opinion.

[coasterbill]

Lol I didn't even realize you wee greeting. They should have had you in the station, maybe it wouldn't have been such a train wreck up there.

 

(Pretty sure I know the answer, but just asking in preparation for the usual uproar of "WHY DOESN'T THE PARK STAFF MORE PEOPLE?!?!?! THEY SHOULD FIND MORE PEOPLE ON THE STREETS AND FORCE THEM AT GUNPOINT TO WORK THESE RIDES!!! DANCE FOR OUR AMUSEMENT RWAR!!111!1ONE")

 

I kind of feel like they have the staff an they just make strange staffing decisions... For example things like Jolly Roger, Tango and Seaport were staffed and totally empty all night. Why? Put up signs telling people that those rides will close at 6 because kids really shouldn't be in the park after 6 anyway during Fright Fest and send the staff to the coasters. They had plenty of opportunities to cut back staff too... The parachutes were running 6 chutes. Why? Don't close it but run 2 at night which would make the line 5 minutes at most and send the other 2 ops somewhere else. Other parks figure this stuff out... Six Flags never does though. Again, I know it's not always that simple but you dont see other chains do this type of stuff.

 

And again, I'm not blaming the ops. Other than the people in Toro's station at the end of the night they were all great. Especially that Toro greeter... that guy deserves a raise lol

[thenewzolt]

Does anyone know what coasters will be open for holiday in the park? Originally I thought they were keeping them open, but I spoke to one of my riding buddies that was there yesterday. He said they are only keeping nitro open? Anyone know anything further?

[boldikus]

Straight from Great Adventure's website:

 

Holiday in the Park also features nearly 30 thrilling rides such as SkyScreamer, Carousel, Big Wheel, Parachutes and Tea Cups. Children can enjoy pint-sized thrills in the Adventure Seaport area. Coaster fans can challenge world-class rides like Nitro, BATMAN™: The Ride, THE GREEN LANTERN and SUPERMAN – Ultimate Flight, THE DARK KNIGHT Coaster and Skull Mountain, weather permitting.

[coneyislandchris]

But what I REALLY want to know is if Blackbeard will be open. If not, perhaps I won't bring the 4-year-old, lest he flip his lid when he discovers it's not running. It's his absolute favorite there.

[thesman]

Which years season pass will cover this?

[boldikus]

But what I REALLY want to know is if Blackbeard will be open. If not, perhaps I won't bring the 4-year-old, lest he flip his lid when he discovers it's not running. It's his absolute favorite there.

If the map is anything to go by, I'm gonna say no.

 

Also, looks like the Flash Pass building is gonna be closed/cut off too. I'd be amazed if they weren't trying to rob people with Flash Passes.

 

Which years season pass will cover this?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe both 2015 and 2016. When they announced it they sold it with "free to all 2015 passholders" and I think they're using the same line with their 2016 pass advertisements. edit: Just logged into my passholder portal and my SP expires January 10, 2016. It's safe to say both 2015 and 2016.

 

Also, just noticed BAF for $19.99 Nov 21st - Dec 13th.

[jburns309]

But what I REALLY want to know is if Blackbeard will be open. If not, perhaps I won't bring the 4-year-old, lest he flip his lid when he discovers it's not running. It's his absolute favorite there.

 

Also, looks like the Flash Pass building is gonna be closed/cut off too. I'd be amazed if they weren't trying to rob people with Flash Passes.

 

My buddy who works Flash Pass said he will be working every day and every hour of HITP, so I'm pretty sure Flash pass will be open.

[strz]

Saw these guys are repainting TTD.....interesting list of rides they've done:

 

http://www.baynumpainting.com/latestprojects.html

[coneyislandchris]

Yeah, they're also currently in progress on repainting the Coney Island Cyclone over here. But why bring this up in the Great Adventure thread? Am I missing something? Are they going to do Nitro or Bizarro again? Both of those could really use a fresh coat...

[boldikus]

Most of Bizarro looks OK, its only bad on the rails and the catwalks, you can really see the old Medusa paint in spots. We were just talking about that when riding on Sunday. Overall the supports look OK still.

 

And I'm conflicted about them painting Nitro. Hell yes it could use it, it just looks terrible, but the majority of the ride can't be seen from the park so why waste the money they should use to completely redesign and repave the parking lot.