Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread

[coneyislandchris]

Here's the drive-through map that was posted on Facebook:

Looks like this could be a lot of fun!

[Sluggo77]

This seems like a pretty smart move by the park. For very little cost they’ve added several more potential operating days. SF’s has really been thinking outside the box to combat the current issues. Very cool to see!

[coasterbill]

Two things

1) I bet they're praying that someone crashes into Cyborg and totals it

2) Unpopular opinion: Six Flags is running circles around the rest of the industry this year. While their actual enforcement of the covid policies is complete ass, their ability to make creative business decisions and implement their crazy ideas on a dime AND to run their parks closer to "normal" than anyone else is commendable. They're running all of their rides all day, they're selling Flash Passes, they're coming up with creative ways to make people un-pause or never pause meberships, they brought back Wild f*cking Safari, they did Fright Fest haunts, they did Holiday in the Park and now they're doing this here and at Magic Mountain.

They also have contingency plans for everything. If Murphy shuts them down, within hours they'll be able to just switch to this seven days a week.

I'm happy that my home park isn't a Busch park or a Cedar Fair park this year. I'm much happier with Six Flags and it feels wrong saying that. I understand that this is a Bizarro-World 2020 parallel universe but yeah... go Six Flags.

[Canobie Coaster]

I wasn't expecting this, but it's a creative way to make money on the days they'd be closed and it's a contingency plan if they close.  I wonder if we'll see some of their other parks try this too.

[Jason Maier]

2 hours ago, coasterbill said:

Two things

1) I bet they're praying that someone crashes into Cyborg and totals it

2) Unpopular opinion: Six Flags is running circles around the rest of the industry this year. While their actual enforcement of the covid policies is complete ass, their ability to make creative business decisions and implement their crazy ideas on a dime AND to run their parks closer to "normal" than anyone else is commendable. They're running all of their rides all day, they're selling Flash Passes, they're coming up with creative ways to make people un-pause or never pause meberships, they brought back Wild f*cking Safari, they did Fright Fest haunts, they did Holiday in the Park and now they're doing this here and at Magic Mountain.

They also have contingency plans for everything. If Murphy shuts them down, within hours they'll be able to just switch to this seven days a week.

I'm happy that my home park isn't a Busch park or a Cedar Fair park this year. I'm much happier with Six Flags and it feels wrong saying that. I understand that this is a Bizarro-World 2020 parallel universe but yeah... go Six Flags.

1. I busted out laughing at that!

2. Truly a sign hell is freezing over ....

And let me add 

3. Going by what Magic Mountain is doing, the speed limit is 5 mph; which is higher than Lightning Rod on most days!

[michaellynn4]

No, speed limit is 3mph per their website. Still faster than Lightning Rod currently, though. 

[SharkTums]

This is so great for all of the reasons you guys talked about and more.  This really is the best Six Flags park and continues to prove it even in a shitshow year!

[boldikus]

So the park's drive through event opened apparently last night and while the GAdv fanboys are unsurprisingly foaming at the mouth over it -- and I can't say I've been through it myself (nor do I plan to check it out) -- but a bunch of POVs have surfaced already and... it just looks bad. (Go on... you know how to search)

Don't get me wrong, I *LOVE* Great Adventure's Holiday In The Park, but just simply driving through really spotlights how bad their HITP lights have become over the seasons since they've been doing it. Also, most of the path they have the cars driving makes sense (the loop around Main Street, along Santas House, etc), some of it is weird (the end of the boardwalk near Superman is great with the lighting installations, but the drive up to that through all the shut down games feels kind of sorry), some of it is cool (that folks can drive across the "bridge" to Metropolis), and then some parts seem a bit questionable where I have concerns over those with large vehicles.

Like... what?

Also, I never realized the park had so many trash cans. But instead of something cool to line the path with - like... I dunno... lights? They've lined the entire drive with trash cans upon more trash cans. Also, why is Chop Six one of the most well-lit buildings? Why are all the lights out on the path leading up to Sky Screamer from Joker? A huge chunk of the tree near Batman is out. Just... lol

I love that they are doing this to make extra $ and give people work, but at the same time it feels like the biggest waste of time and money when you can just go on Fri/Sat/Sun and see the same sorry lights BUT ALSO ride awesome rides and spend all day and drink beer and stuff.

 

[coneyislandchris]

I get where you're coming from on this Boldy, but at the same time, I gotta disagree with you. My family and I did the drive-thru last night, and we had a wonderful time -- so much so that we actually ended up doing it twice in a row. I'm sure on a POV it doesn't look that impressive but for us, this was our first time back in the park since January 1st. The novelty of driving our own car through it is a big part of what makes it a unique experience. Add to that the streamable soundtrack they provided on the website (which of course includes that straight fire banger, the "Holiday In The Park" theme song), cups of hot chocolate, and numerous photo ops throughout the half-hour long drive-thru.

Are the lights perfect? Are they better than what they are at any other point during the HITP season? No. But there's still some great moments of magic, such as the forest between Batman and Main Street, the peppermint swirls by Houdini, the carousel, the tunnel of lights, and Snowglobe Santa. The performers that we saw on both loops through the park ended up switching up as well so there were different folks to wave and scream at.

Is this worth $14.99 per person? Nah, probably not. But as a free add-on for the season passholders and members, for those with young children, and especially for those of us who have been staying away from the park during the pandemic, it was a nice little treat and way to escape for about an hour. And compared to another drive thru that we did last week over at Sesame Place, it was a way better value for money; that one literally took us straight down the middle of the park from one end to the other and was over in five minutes. (And that wasn't even included on our season passes, either!)

Here's a few photos my wife took on our drive(s) through the park:

Not much of a line at all, even though people had been reporting that most time slots were sold out for passholders/members.

You could go to the left to just get scanned through, or go to the right to pick up some treats and souvenirs. They're saying "prepaid bundles" but I didn't see them anywhere on their website. They were more than happy to sell them to you at the gate however. We ended up getting some of the teddy bear packages for the kids.

This stilt-walker greets you as you pull in through the pavilions and make your first turn towards the Hall of Justice.

The big HITP ornaments are on display in Gotham near the shops...

...while the Batmobile has been replaced with a large traditional Christmas tree and appearances by the "Evergreen Queen". (The kids were sure it was actually Merida from "Brave".)

Leaving Gotham put you into the forest with trees wrapped in multi-colored lights at the front, and...

...after passing by Santa's house...

You ended up in the blue trees with the falling snow lights.

This led directly to the main fountain area with the gigantic HITP tree. It was mostly cycling through colors, no animated shows like you would typically see during normal operations.

This candy cane area is usually one of our favorites during normal operation.

The carousel is gorgeous as always.
Would be nice if they had actually turned the lights on for the Big Wheel, but this is nothing new... I don't think those have been on in at least half a decade.

The "Poinsettia Princess" was missing in action, so an elf was standing in for her tonight.

"Ho ho ho" or "HA HA HA!!"?

The tunnel of lights is short but enchanting to drive through, especially with the moonroof open!

Even Twister gets its turn in the spotlight! Well, kinda, it's still upstaged by the oversized ornament and trees.

No driving through Frosty, but this elf is eager to entertain with a little bit of juggling!

These present light sculptures are beautiful!

Only fitting to have the man himself out in front of Superman IMO.

Even though he's safely enclosed in his snow globe bubble, they gave him a microphone so he could talk with the kids and wish everyone a merry Christmas!

Non-operational this evening, but always photogenic.

[coasterbill]

The fact that all of their lights trip when it rains also doesn't help the POVs from the first night. They should have honestly cancelled it (or... you know... maybe they should fix that). I still wouldn't go but the second night does look better since the Christmas lights were actually on. At least Green Lantern is closed so that's one plus over just going on the weekends.

[Superbatboy]

3 hours ago, coneyislandchris said:

I get where you're coming from on this Boldy, but at the same time, I gotta disagree with you. My family and I did the drive-thru last night, and we had a wonderful time -- so much so that we actually ended up doing it twice in a row. I'm sure on a POV it doesn't look that impressive but for us, this was our first time back in the park since January 1st. The novelty of driving our own car through it is a big part of what makes it a unique experience. Add to that the streamable soundtrack they provided on the website (which of course includes that straight fire banger, the "Holiday In The Park" theme song), cups of hot chocolate, and numerous photo ops throughout the half-hour long drive-thru.

Are the lights perfect? Are they better than what they are at any other point during the HITP season? No. But there's still some great moments of magic, such as the forest between Batman and Main Street, the peppermint swirls by Houdini, the carousel, the tunnel of lights, and Snowglobe Santa. The performers that we saw on both loops through the park ended up switching up as well so there were different folks to wave and scream at.

Is this worth $14.99 per person? Nah, probably not. But as a free add-on for the season passholders and members, for those with young children, and especially for those of us who have been staying away from the park during the pandemic, it was a nice little treat and way to escape for about an hour. And compared to another drive thru that we did last week over at Sesame Place, it was a way better value for money; that one literally took us straight down the middle of the park from one end to the other and was over in five minutes. (And that wasn't even included on our season passes, either!)

Here's a few photos my wife took on our drive(s) through the park:

Not much of a line at all, even though people had been reporting that most time slots were sold out for passholders/members.

You could go to the left to just get scanned through, or go to the right to pick up some treats and souvenirs. They're saying "prepaid bundles" but I didn't see them anywhere on their website. They were more than happy to sell them to you at the gate however. We ended up getting some of the teddy bear packages for the kids.

This stilt-walker greets you as you pull in through the pavilions and make your first turn towards the Hall of Justice.

The big HITP ornaments are on display in Gotham near the shops...

...while the Batmobile has been replaced with a large traditional Christmas tree and appearances by the "Evergreen Queen". (The kids were sure it was actually Merida from "Brave".)

Leaving Gotham put you into the forest with trees wrapped in multi-colored lights at the front, and...

...after passing by Santa's house...

You ended up in the blue trees with the falling snow lights.

This led directly to the main fountain area with the gigantic HITP tree. It was mostly cycling through colors, no animated shows like you would typically see during normal operations.

This candy cane area is usually one of our favorites during normal operation.

The carousel is gorgeous as always.
Would be nice if they had actually turned the lights on for the Big Wheel, but this is nothing new... I don't think those have been on in at least half a decade.

The "Poinsettia Princess" was missing in action, so an elf was standing in for her tonight.

"Ho ho ho" or "HA HA HA!!"?

The tunnel of lights is short but enchanting to drive through, especially with the moonroof open!

Even Twister gets its turn in the spotlight! Well, kinda, it's still upstaged by the oversized ornament and trees.

No driving through Frosty, but this elf is eager to entertain with a little bit of juggling!

These present light sculptures are beautiful!

Only fitting to have the man himself out in front of Superman IMO.

Even though he's safely enclosed in his snow globe bubble, they gave him a microphone so he could talk with the kids and wish everyone a merry Christmas!

Non-operational this evening, but always photogenic.

Great pictures. I need that green Christmas tree for my bedroom

[coasterbill]

That tree is actually super cool. It's pixel mapped and there's like a 10 minute show that they do every 30 minutes when the park is open. It's a shame you would sort of miss out on that with the drive-through.

[cfc]

It's good to see some parks try to make the best out of a tough year. I like how they lit up the carousel.

[coasterbill]

Six Flags is now running the drive through from the 4th through the 10th after the park is scheduled to be closed for the season.

I love this move. Low risk-high reward.

[swfan1988]

Hey Great Adventure Fans!

Does anyone know if Jersey Devil Coaster will get a moving loading station like Wonder Woman at SFFT?

I'm wondering if that is the new standard for RMC raptors or not?

[AmyUD06]

7 minutes ago, swfan1988 said:

Hey Great Adventure Fans!

Does anyone know if Jersey Devil Coaster will get a moving loading station like Wonder Woman at SFFT?

I'm wondering if that is the new standard for RMC raptors or not?

I don't know the answer to your question (I don't think it will), but had to call out the "new standard" comment.  It's kinda hard to have a "new standard" when only two of a particular thing exist, and the one with the moving loading platform was actually the first one to open (by about a month).  Just sayin'.

[swfan1988]

6 minutes ago, Mike240SX said:

I don't know the answer to your question (I don't think it will), but had to call out the "new standard" comment.  It's kinda hard to have a "new standard" when only two of a particular thing exist, and the one with the moving loading platform was actually the first one to open (by about a month).  Just sayin'.

Understood, maybe "new standard" wasn't the right phrase. What I was going for was if RMC and potential future customers discovered that Wonder Woman with the moving station, worked better than the traditional one on Railblazer, then most future Raptors would go the moving platform route.  So it's not technically a new standard, but more like it comes standard with new Raptors going forward?

I'm mostly interested because its difficult to tell from the Stunt Pilot plans if its going to have the moving station or not, and that got me curious as too what Jersey Devil (or other future Raptors) would have.

[Sluggo77]

With the four trains I could swear I had read it would have the moving station but I’m struggling to confirm that info. 

[qpb2004]

If anyone has been to HITP, can someone let me know if the crowds/social distancing have been better than during Hallowfest? I am planning on possibly going next wednesday, as I figure it will be a light day for crowds. 

[coasterbill]

It's been much better than Hallowfest but it's still Six Flags. Mask compliance is also much, much better than it was because it's cold and because it's Holiday in the Park people and not Fright Fest people but don't expect Disney with that either.

[qpb2004]

That's what I figured. I'll plan on visiting on the 23rd.

[coasterbill]

Nice! Enjoy.

[Canobie Coaster]

Despite being hit by a blizzard that dropped 12" of snow overnight, Six Flags Great Adventure cleared up the park for the drive thru even tonight.  A+ work by them!

[michaellynn4]

Nice! I'm probably going to do it next week. Excited to see it!

[boldikus]

Got a park planning survey with some interesting concepts for allowing the park to stay partially open (note: no rides open for any of these) throughout the winter. Its nice that they're clearly trying to recoup their losses from last spring and keep folks employed, money flowing in, and SP/memberships off pause. I screenshot'd each. After each concept, they asked if you were interested, how much you think it should cost, who you think it will appeal to, etc.