Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread

[coasterbill]

I doubt anyone thinks this is going to draw people from 2+ hours away.

 

For most people you're right, but if they would have done nothing but go to Wal Mart, buy one 3 foot a pre-lit pop up tree, put it at the front gate, forget to plug it in, do nothing else holiday related but let us ride a hyper coaster in New Jersey in January I would think many enthusiasts would make the drive. I know I would.

 

Maybe it's just the sensation of night time, combined with the rush of cold air, but coasters 'feel' like they're running smoother and faster in the cold to me. We went to our first cold weather event earlier in the year at KI and Diamonback, Beast, and Banshee felt like they were hauling. Maybe some parks/rides have a better cold weather setup than others or maybe it just does 'feel' faster? Can anyone comment on this?

 

I agree with this completely. I know they don't but coasters always feel faster in the cold to me.

[El Toro_Ryan]

Park number of guests today only 1500 though.

 

Based on your posts I guess you work at the park? I'm not questioning you but this number doesn't even seem close to being right. The midways were very crowded last night even during shows... So let's say there were 500 people in the theater at a time (seems close to being right, when we went they just about filled it), coaster trains were generally full even if it was re-rides so Nitro would have about 72 people on it at a time, Batman 32, Green Lantern 32, Superman 32, Skull Mountain 56 (2 trains) and Dark Knight was filling it's pre-show last night so let's say that's 30 people. So just if we count people on the coasters and I'm the theater at any given time that's above 750... So that would mean at any given time half the people in the park (assuming they were all there at the same time and nobody left) was sitting in coaster trains or in the theater. Maybe you take a few off because each coaster will have some empty seas for groups of 1/2/3 that's don't even out but not many. Plus Skull Mountain and Batman had full station waits for most of the day and at one point Nitro's line was back to the old hot dog cart so that's about a 20 minute wait or more.

 

Now how can that number explain crowded midways, long food lines everywhere, long lines for most of the flats, the people on the flats, the people in the stores, the long line to meet Santa. The Mrs. Clause show that was almost always just about filled... Again I'm not questioning you but that number doesn't add up. Not even close... I mean look at the pictures on the last page (and a report of an hour wait to see Santa around 4 which is the same time Nitro's line was at it's longest point).

 

Is Skyscreamer running with those lights on it? Seems like it's stationary with the way it's all rigged up.

 

Also I'm curious how Nitro was running in the cold. I know Steel Force at least starts to slog quite a bit when the temps dip below 45ish. Is it still giving good B&M floater despite the cold?

 

Nitro ran well... Earlier in the day it was a little sluggish but as it kept running it really sped up. The greeter said they plan to keep switching between warm weather and cold weather wheels as needed for the event too (maybe Ryan can shed some light on how that works). Last night the mid course was even kicking on which it doesn't do when the ride really crawls.

 

1500 people equates to super light crowds. Maybe that person meant 15,000 as that sounds much more fitting to the crowds you guys were describing. Anything above 25,000 people is when the park begins to get very congested but 15,000 is usually crowded midways but not too bad lines.

 

As for Nitro switching back and forth between the warm and cold weather wheels, I'm going to assume the ride will primarily run the cold weather wheels and maybe if there's a fluke warm weather weekend, they'll swap a few cold for warm weather wheels. The biggest issues the rides have in the cold are warming them up in the mornings so the cold weather wheels would make more sense.

[larrygator]

The good news is they got a lot of families and families spend money. There were huge lines for foods, everyone was buying those Holiday in the Park drink cups, everyone was buying the smores and the Christmas ornaments were flying off the shelves.

 

They have El Toro ornaments now BTW... just throwing that out there. Everybody go get one.

 

These are the keys to the event being a fiscal success I hope the park can pull in at least 2,500 - 3000 attendees per day.

[coasterbill]

The good news is they got a lot of families and families spend money. There were huge lines for foods, everyone was buying those Holiday in the Park drink cups, everyone was buying the smores and the Christmas ornaments were flying off the shelves.

 

They have El Toro ornaments now BTW... just throwing that out there. Everybody go get one.

 

These are the keys to the event being a fiscal success I hope the park can pull in at least 2,500 - 3000 attendees per day.

 

I think Ryan is probably right about the 15,000. Attendance yesterday was pretty strong.

 

 

 

 

 

(A few pictures were posted a few pages back, the last 2 are from Great Adventure History)

[jburns309]

The good news is they got a lot of families and families spend money. There were huge lines for foods, everyone was buying those Holiday in the Park drink cups, everyone was buying the smores and the Christmas ornaments were flying off the shelves.

 

They have El Toro ornaments now BTW... just throwing that out there. Everybody go get one.

 

These are the keys to the event being a fiscal success I hope the park can pull in at least 2,500 - 3000 attendees per day.

 

I think Ryan is probably right about the 15,000. Attendance yesterday was pretty strong.

 

 

 

 

 

(A few pictures were posted a few pages back, the last 2 are from Great Adventure History)

 

You're right. Just confirmed it was 15,000.

[prozach626]

What a difference a zero makes.

[Superbatboy]

With HITP, Gradv might become the top attended SF park again. I know in 2014 they only trailed MM by like 50,000 guests or so. Though MM had a pretty crowded 2015 with the opening of TC, so it'll be interesting to see attendance figures when they come out next year.

[YoshiFan]

lol nope! I will also say that Flash pass and ride operators were overstaffed. Those were there yesterday would probably agree with me. I honestly think they were expecting a bigger crowd in my opinion. Should be more crowded today with the Santa Run.

 

I didn't see a single person using Flash Pass yesterday which I was kind of surprised about since even on days when the park is empty I always still see a few people with Flash Pass. Maybe they would have had more Flash Pass users if they had big signs to let people know it is half price compared to the rest of the season. I don't know if the $5 off season pass discount still applies but that would make a regular Flash Pass $17 (website is showing the non passholder prices as $22 for regular, $35 for gold, $55 for Platinum).

 

Also, and this isn't necessarily directed at you - but so many people have posted online why they are not going to go to this event from Toro and Ka being down to the Safari being closed, to the many other holiday events in the area, etc. I am surprised more people aren't just content with the fact that for the first time ever we have an open park with coasters running until January. I'm so happy they are doing this, based on reports here and elsewhere it looks fantastic, I guess people will always find something to complain about.

 

For years I have wanted Holiday In The Park and have said in the past I would have been happy with just Skull Mountain and the Dark Knight open and I would have still attended the event since 2 coasters is better than nothing (since the only alternatives in the area before Hershey this year were all kiddie coasters). As soon as I heard Nitro would be running, that was enough for me to want to get back to the park at least a few more times before January.

[larrygator]

The good news is they got a lot of families and families spend money. There were huge lines for foods, everyone was buying those Holiday in the Park drink cups, everyone was buying the smores and the Christmas ornaments were flying off the shelves.

 

They have El Toro ornaments now BTW... just throwing that out there. Everybody go get one.

 

These are the keys to the event being a fiscal success I hope the park can pull in at least 2,500 - 3000 attendees per day.

 

I think Ryan is probably right about the 15,000. Attendance yesterday was pretty strong.

 

You're right. Just confirmed it was 15,000.

 

Well then, that's a great start, and I'm glad they proved me wrong.

[neil009]

Maybe it's just the sensation of night time, combined with the rush of cold air, but coasters 'feel' like they're running smoother and faster in the cold to me. We went to our first cold weather event earlier in the year at KI and Diamonback, Beast, and Banshee felt like they were hauling. Maybe some parks/rides have a better cold weather setup than others or maybe it just does 'feel' faster? Can anyone comment on this?

 

Some rides, like Batman apparently, it doesn't seem to matter as much. But for me, all woodies in particular feel slower in the cold so far without exception. Maybe because the track and wheel lubricant matters more, and we all know grease gets slicker when it's hot. But last time I went to Dorney in the cold (probably low 50s) all the rides felt slower and rougher, Steel Force in particular.

 

But El Toro I will admit I'm overly sensitive to how it runs. If it's less than perfect then I suddenly regret making the two hour drive down to that miserable, miserable place. On both camel backs in the back row, I want to be feeling that pressure in my cheeks from the second we start cresting the hill all the way to the bottom. If I can only feel it after we pass the apex like you normally do on other, lesser coasters, then it's a disappointment. I know that's unfair but I'm definitely not one of these "It's still insane even when it's running slow" people.

[Password121]

I think it depends on the ride. El Toro is very temperamental depending on the weather, temperature, how full the trains are, how smooth it's running that day, etc, and the nature of its layout makes it fairly easy to tell whether its running at its full potential. That being, in the evening after a 90 degree August day.

 

Other rides it's not as easy to tell, or it might even seem faster in the cold. Kingda Ka is not as temperamental because it's launched so it's within about 2% (3pmh or so) of its top speed 100% of the time. The cold weather can make the wind feel more extreme, making it feel "faster." I think Batman is similar, especially because it's very small and the weather won't impact it's speed as much as a ride like El Toro. It's also not as dependent on whether it's retaining that last mph or not--it's intense whether it hits the brakes at 40 or 42.

[Chris27]

Went yesterday, park wasnt that crowded.

 

all the lights were cool, alot of babies, kids, lines were all walk on. Nitro, Batman, Lantern and Superman all wall on, all multiple rides in a row. Superman at end of the night nobody was on it, rode back row three times and could have stayed on for 5 more times if we wanted.

 

Lights were cool but they didnt light up the Ferris Wheel, thats a mistake. We all thought it would have been really cool if they lit it up even if it wasnt running.

 

Only negative was getting food, lines were crazy long, everyone wanted to use dining pass.

 

We to to J Rockets and I'm telling you it was the worst serve I've ever seen in a park. We ordered, stood in line for 25 minutes without moving an inch while burgers/meals were piling up, everyone was just like WTF? They were having trouble with one lady and my aunt being my aunt started to flip. SHe's yelling at the manager to get moving, food is getting cold, WTF is going on, it was a mess.

 

We waited 35 minutes, its not like line was all the way out the door, we were inside the place and its not big and it still took that long. Of course our food was cold, cold shit fries, cold burger. Wasnt even worth complaining, I regret even going there for food.

 

Wish they kept the backwards batman cars cause the harnesses were bigger, with all my coats etc on I barely fit on batman, the backwards cars had better harnessess.

 

Was cold but not that cold, was cold on the rides. Thought Nitro was running like shit, very slow going over the humps at the end, never felt it that slow before. Was it the car or the cold weather slowing it down?

 

Def gonna go back atleast one more time. Already spent about 40 bucks on food since I got my 2016 dining pass so its already half paid for and its not even next year. So thats gonna end up being a good investment

[El Toro_Ryan]

I think it depends on the ride. El Toro is very temperamental depending on the weather, temperature, how full the trains are, how smooth it's running that day, etc, and the nature of its layout makes it fairly easy to tell whether its running at its full potential. That being, in the evening after a 90 degree August day.

 

Other rides it's not as easy to tell, or it might even seem faster in the cold. Kingda Ka is not as temperamental because it's launched so it's within about 2% (3pmh or so) of its top speed 100% of the time. The cold weather can make the wind feel more extreme, making it feel "faster." I think Batman is similar, especially because it's very small and the weather won't impact it's speed as much as a ride like El Toro. It's also not as dependent on whether it's retaining that last mph or not--it's intense whether it hits the brakes at 40 or 42.

 

Oh absolutely. El Toro desperately needs cold weather wheels but I don't believe Intamin provides those for the plug n' plays. Does anyone know if the other Intamin woodies are so weather sensitive? Hell, El Toro evens slows down dramatically during summer nights where it sits quiet between park operating days. Then it gains it's speed back during morning test runs.

[michaellynn4]

...that miserable, miserable place.

 

[screaminkid2005]

I am glad they're doing a good job with it (though I'll be curious to see if that level of quality keeps on year after year), and if I lived 30 minutes away I'd probably consider going. I guess that's probably what they're hoping for anyway, I doubt anyone thinks this is going to draw people from 2+ hours away. I'll be curious to hear how this works out for them

 

The thing is is that the event is in fact bringing people in from 2+ hours way. I myself live 4 hours away, took the trip down from Massachusetts for opening night and had a great time. I also have many non coaster enthusiast friends that want to go down for the event because it looks, and in my opinion, is that good. I also saw many license plates from other states like New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts. So what ever the park is do, it's clearly working.

[Vonni]

Wow! It really does look like they did a great job! I really like the blue lights on the trees, and I really like what they did with the Old Country path. With this path being reopened I really hope that will be the area of new additions for 2017/2018.

[Garet]

Oh absolutely. El Toro desperately needs cold weather wheels but I don't believe Intamin provides those for the plug n' plays. Does anyone know if the other Intamin woodies are so weather sensitive? Hell, El Toro evens slows down dramatically during summer nights where it sits quiet between park operating days. Then it gains it's speed back during morning test runs.

 

Everland can't run T Express if the weather is lower than -2 and I know from personal experience once the temperatures get low in the winter, it can be very hit and miss on the visits if it's even running, even when it's above that amount if it's windy or wet. They normally just take it down for its yearly rehab January-February because the temperature just doesn't get high enough to run it at all so they use that time to get the work done since Everland is a 365 day park.

 

I'm kind of curious if El Toro is not as smooth when the cars are empty, when I've used the single-rider line I've sometimes ended up in a "single-rider dump" and though it's nothing to complain about at all, it always seems a bit more shaky in an empty car. A "single-rider dump" being the times they've been running all 3 trains they have to constantly load so fast and dispatch that the grouper already has the next trains peoples lined up so by the time single seats are spotted the gates have already shut again so they dump you in an empty car in the middle when there's a big empty spot where a group has gone for the front or back and the grouper didn't have time to get people to those gates so they fill up the seats with the 2-3 people in the single rider line. You still need a reservation ticket (T Express doesn't always open its standby line) so there's normally only 1 or 2 in the single rider line. It's a shame since they dispatch so many cars there's always a lot of empty seats but I guess they don't want people flooding the single rider line when it's sold out.

 

 

it could also just be because the ride runs almost 300 days a year for the last 7 years but I was just curious if El Toro could be like that since I remember when I first arrived riding an empty car and not finding it too rattly.

An example of what my friends and I took to referring to as the "single ride dump" is the man in his own car.

 

I wish there was a way to run the single rider without needing the reservation ticket, I always see so many empty seats but at the speed they needed to get the trains out to keep 3 trains cycling there just isn't much time for the spotter to spot the seats, get a person there and get him past the next 2 trains worth on the platform before the gates close.

[El Toro_Ryan]

Oh absolutely. El Toro desperately needs cold weather wheels but I don't believe Intamin provides those for the plug n' plays. Does anyone know if the other Intamin woodies are so weather sensitive? Hell, El Toro evens slows down dramatically during summer nights where it sits quiet between park operating days. Then it gains it's speed back during morning test runs.

 

Everland can't run T Express if the weather is lower than -2 and I know from personal experience once the temperatures get low in the winter, it can be very hit and miss on the visits if it's even running, even when it's above that amount if it's windy or wet. They normally just take it down for its yearly rehab January-February because the temperature just doesn't get high enough to run it at all so they use that time to get the work done since Everland is a 365 day park.

 

I'm kind of curious if El Toro is not as smooth when the cars are empty, when I've used the single-rider line I've sometimes ended up in a "single-rider dump" and though it's nothing to complain about at all, it always seems a bit more shaky in an empty car. A "single-rider dump" being the times they've been running all 3 trains they have to constantly load so fast and dispatch that the grouper already has the next trains peoples lined up so by the time single seats are spotted the gates have already shut again so they dump you in an empty car in the middle when there's a big empty spot where a group has gone for the front or back and the grouper didn't have time to get people to those gates so they fill up the seats with the 2-3 people in the single rider line. You still need a reservation ticket (T Express doesn't always open its standby line) so there's normally only 1 or 2 in the single rider line. It's a shame since they dispatch so many cars there's always a lot of empty seats but I guess they don't want people flooding the single rider line when it's sold out.

 

 

it could also just be because the ride runs almost 300 days a year for the last 7 years but I was just curious if El Toro could be like that since I remember when I first arrived riding an empty car and not finding it too rattly.

 

The front half of Toro's train is generally always smooth, whether the train is full or empty. It's very similar to when the ride first opened. The back half is more rattly. But it's noticeably smoother with a full train here than an empty one. Toro has large gap between the upstop wheels and the track so the train tends to bounce more when it's empty because I guess less weight is holding it down. Car 6 row 2 is the best row on the ride tho. Smooth as glass with all the speed of the back.

 

And that's interesting about T-Express. I guess it works in the park's favor that they can just perform rehab during the coldest part of the season. Toro has the most difficulty in the beginning of the season where it's trying to break in all its brand new parts while it's only 40 degrees out. Towards the end of the year when everything is broken in, it does much better in the cold. If you don't mind me asking, does T Express also encounter the same issues Toro does with people not fitting in the ride? I thought that might be more of an American issue. Lol

[ejot]

One of my greatest Toro memories is riding seven consecutive laps in the sleeting rain / high-30's temps at the end of last season. It was running "slow" but I was having too much fun to really care. I have a hard time being snobby about the ride because it just puts the biggest d@mn grin on my face .... every. single. lap.

 

I'm glad the opening weekend for HITP was pretty successful, and I'm excited to check it out in the next few weeks (even without the bull).

[ImNotOneOfYou]

...that miserable, miserable place.

 

 

[Philrad71]

This event looks like a lot of fun and I would imagine that a cold night ride on Nitro would be a blast.

 

Just not sure I would make the trek from here without El Toro running. If they were able to run it, I would probably have been heading down there in the next couple of weekends as I love me some holiday events. But seeing El Toro standing there in the dark idle might just make me feel depressed & bereft of holiday joy.

[coasterbill]

Make the trip... this event is incredible. I'm still shocked that Six Flags has put on an event with this level of quality. It's worth the trip for the waffles and Christmas tree show alone.

[Superbatboy]

...that miserable, miserable place.

 

LOL!!!

[boldikus]

^^ OMG shut up about those waffles already! Where did you get them?? lol

 

Just got the thumbs up our office is closed Friday so I'll definitely be up to check out this affair, finally. Weather looks like it might be decent! We are taking my nephew for his 3rd visit to the park. He's 2 but loves the park so extra excited he's coming along, think he's gonna love it. So much Ive heard from all these reports that I want and/or need to check out. Funnel cake, hot cocoa, ornaments, waffles, light shows...

 

oh who am I kidding I absolutely cannot wait to ride Nitro on Friday afternoon!

[coasterbill]

oh who am I kidding I absolutely cannot wait to ride Poinsettia Peak on Friday afternoon!

 

Fixed

 

^^ OMG shut up about those waffles already!

 

No

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

lol I got them over by Johnny Rockets right at the big tree.