Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread

[boldikus]

Who else is waiting on parts from Intamin?

[CedarFlags]

Xcelerator at Knott's has been down since February, and Top Thrill Dragster didn't open at all this season.

[SoCalJasonland]

Oxymoron = Intamin + reliability

 

[grsupercity]

11 hours ago, CedarFlags said:

Waiting on parts from Intamin seems to be all the rage right now... 

It's insane how slow their process is.

I blame parks for not stocking common issue parts and are prly slow to order them to fit within certain budgets 

[tndank]

During the ACE event in Florida earlier this year a tech on Cheetah Hunt was quick to name Intamin as the worst company for parts right now. He said they are running at about 22 months for most things.  Didn't seem to be exaggerating or making it up. They try and keep everything they need on hand but sometimes sht happens. 

[coasterbill]

Skull Mountain looks like crap this year. The curtain is pulled back so it's not even dark in there, there's no music, they forgot to plug in any of the theming that they bought at Spirit Halloween on 11/1 for 50% off. It's like they don't even care.

I'm glad this is a thing. Bring this ride back to it's typical brilliance, please.

[FeelTheFORCE]

Had a decent few days at the park this past Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning.  Monday was rainy, but the park was beyond dead, which resulted in walk-ons for everything.  Jersey Devil during a downpour was interesting, and I'll take a front row zen ride on Toro any day of the week.  Tuesday's weather was better, and the crowds weren't bad at all.  We were able to do everything, and then some, and the only major rides closed that I noticed during all of those days were Batman and Zumanjaro still.  Zumanjaro being down still was a bummer, but such is life and more reason to go back.  Yesterday morning only consisted of 9 straight rides on El Toro before making the trek back western PA lol. Glad to finally get back to this park after 14 years though.

[tndank]

Zumanjaro opened today. Hate that you missed it by a day. 

[Masquerade]

I don't think a park known for its haunted house incident should use the tag #FIREAF

[AmyUD06]

6 minutes ago, Masquerade said:

I don't think a park known for its haunted house incident should use the tag #FIREAF

Let's be honest here....I would be very surprised anyone in the park's social media office is over the age of 25.  Those born 25 years ago were born in 1997, almost 15 years after the fire, so by the time they get to an age to be cognizant to things like that, that's 25-30 years since the fire.  Anyone that worked there when it happened, even big shots, have most likely retired by now.  It's not a bright spot in the history of the park, so why would it be mentioned to new hires?*

Nobody knows about it except park enthusiasts and "boomers" who were local to the area when it happened, which is sad...but a reasonable expectation.

*I worked there from 1998-2003, and no one ever officially told me about the haunted house fire.

[Masquerade]

3 minutes ago, Mike240SX said:

Let's be honest here....I would be very surprised anyone in the park's social media office is over the age of 25.  Those born 25 years ago were born in 1997, almost 15 years after the fire, so by the time they get to an age to be cognizant to things like that, that's 25-30 years since the fire.  Anyone that worked there when it happened, even big shots, have most likely retired by now.  It's not a bright spot in the history of the park, so why would it be mentioned to new hires?*

Nobody knows about it except park enthusiasts and "boomers" who were local to the area when it happened, which is sad...but a reasonable expectation.

*I worked there from 1998-2003, and no one ever officially told me about the haunted house fire.

I personally only know because my parents told me about it.

Still a (darkly) funny coincidence though.

[Connor Hartman]

Considering going to the park tomorrow but I see that on the parks website El Toro is listed as temporarily closed, and Nitro is listed as closed. Anyone have some info on why this is/if they would be closed tomorrow? Its a bit of a drive for me and I honestly don't want to drive down here if they will be closed. 

[KBrylczyk]

On 7/4/2022 at 11:08 AM, Connor Hartman said:

Anyone have some info on why this is/if they would be closed tomorrow?

It's because they done gone broke, Connor. 

[Jason Maier]

On 6/29/2022 at 9:41 PM, boldikus said:

Who else is waiting on parts from Intamin?

I am, I'm waiting for fresh lugnuts from them! 

[coasterbill]

The park has started making some cuts to operating hours. All Summer 10pm closes are now 9pm closes. I'd honestly expect more and more of this as the park has been a complete ghost town all year.

[SoCalJasonland]

I am curious why this park is dead when all of the So California parks are packed.  Is it the heat or are your locals getting sick of amusement parks?  Knott's and SFMM have hour plus waits on most of the good coasters. Why does SFGA have station waits in peak summer season?

[KBrylczyk]

^ Knott's and Magic Mountain have a much better location for spur of the moment trips to the park. LA and Orange County have over 12 million people living there.  The entirety of NJ is 9 million. People in NYC and Philly have to travel at least an hour by car and there are no decent public transit routes to get you there.  Monmouth, Ocean, and Mercer counties are generally the only people going to Great Adventure on the regular for funsies, especially with gas prices the way they are.

Source - I lived ten miles away from Great Adventure for 25 years of my life.  Practically everyone in Monmouth and Ocean had a season pass to the park.  Outside of that area, though, you're looking at visiting once or twice per year.

[coasterbill]

Every non-Six Flags park in the area seems to be doing just fine, but Great Adventure and (to a lesser extent) New England are hurting this year.

I don’t know why, but it’s hard not to assume that some of the changes this year with the passes / dining plans and general price increases at-least play a role. I really didn’t expect them to since they were still positioned as the cheapest chain but I don’t really know what else it could be. 

[prozach626]

I can't believe people aren't visiting Six Flags parks in droves right now, with at least three new cardboard signs per park and themed areas including pre-existing rides.

[KBrylczyk]

14 hours ago, coasterbill said:

Every non-Six Flags park in the area seems to be doing just fine, but Great Adventure and (to a lesser extent) New England are hurting this year.

My theory still holds water.  Great Adventure and New England are the two Six Flags park that aren't located in a population center.  Great Adventure is practically in the Pine Barrens and New England is nearly two hours from Boston and three hours from NYC.

[coasterbill]

You're not wrong but Hersheypark is located near a bunch of corn and cow shit and they're bursting at the seams so Six Flags does need to come up with a way to spin that one.

[KBrylczyk]

Simple.  Hersheypark is a FAR better park than any Six Flags, especially for families with younger children.  Amish country is also a huge tourist attraction so there's a built-in audience.  Nobody is driving around Central Jersey for shits and giggles.  I lived in Monmouth and the only times I'd go into Jackson were either to go to Great Adventure or I was on my way to Philly.  You know what else is in Jackson?  Jack shit. Unless you're a rich golfer in which case Metedeconk might interest you, but that $250,000 annual membership might turn some of the Six Flags clientele off.

Edit - Speaking of Metedeconk, I used to caddy there while I was in high school and college.  I actually caddied for Joe Pesci a couple of weeks prior to him getting expelled from the club for tearing up the greens after getting too drunk.  Nice guy, though, and he tipped extremely well.

[Jason Maier]

On 7/11/2022 at 7:45 PM, coasterbill said:

Every non-Six Flags park in the area seems to be doing just fine, but Great Adventure and (to a lesser extent) New England are hurting this year.

I don’t know why, but it’s hard not to assume that some of the changes this year with the passes / dining plans and general price increases at-least play a role. I really didn’t expect them to since they were still positioned as the cheapest chain but I don’t really know what else it could be. 

Higher gas prices for those that have have to travel from far off (like me for instance). And I agree 100% with what you said about the passes/dining plans and price increases.

[coasterbill]

2 hours ago, Jason Maier said:

Higher gas prices for those that have have to travel from far off (like me for instance).

Like I said though, people have to drive to every other park too. The fact that they're willing to do so for other parks and not for Six Flags should be incredibly concerning for Six Flags.

[AmyUD06]

What Bill said.

I may be personally biased, but if I'm fixing for some amusement park time, I'll drive to Kings Dominion (3.5 hours), Hershey (2 hours), Knoebel's (4 hours), Morey's (2 hours), or even Dorney Park (2 hours) before I'll drive 1.5 hours to Great Adventure.

This summer, I've already taken an 1800 mile road trip west for a bunch of parks, am driving 9 hours each way to Cedar Point in 2 weeks, then taking a 1,000 mile road trip to the Northeast states in August (including two Six Flags parks), and two 9 hour each way trips in October for Kings Island's and Cedar Point's Halloween events.  I have zero interest in going to Great Adventure.