Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread

[abovethesink]

1 hour ago, CaptainUnknown said:

Hopefully, the park takes this time to add a turntable for increased capacity.

I would be happy if the delay was for this reason. 

[JJLehto]

On 8/8/2024 at 11:57 PM, JJLehto said:

Of course lol 

 

Ah well, there it is lmao 

As stated already no one is really surprised just typical Six Flags stuff.

[KBrylczyk]

2 hours ago, CaptainUnknown said:

Hopefully, the park takes this time to add a turntable for increased capacity.

Spend the money, use it twice, turn it off forever.

[KBrylczyk]

Edit - Double post because my internet is being dumb.

[Zand]

Did I miss an announcement that Fright Fest "Extreme" is a separate ticketed event? If you look at the hours for GAdv in October it shows that they close at 5pm every day. However, if you look at SFNE for instance, the closing time is 10pm during October. 

Do I live under a rock or are they about to implement a separate gate for Fright Fest without telling anyone till the last minute?

[tndank]

It was announced a month ago, maybe.  Pretty sure it's just Great Adventure and Magic Mountain doing the 'Extreme' park.  Passes still get you in. 

They really should fix the calendar and get more info on there to help people.

 

[Zand]

Well in that case, I'm sure there will be many others who aren't paying enough attention (like me apparently) that will be in for quite the surprise if they show up with a day ticket during fright fest.

Anyway, I did stop by for a few hours yesterday. Just from the parking lot I observed KK sending test runs and Superman completely deserted. Went to El Toro first where...you guessed it...cycling empty trains. Thankfully it opened up pretty quick although what the app reported as a 5 minute line was really 20 (2nd half of switchbacks totally full). Nice ride in the magic seat although based on the reactions of the people in front of and behind me, the wheel seats are getting pretty brutal. Even got to meet eltororyan heading over to ride his pride and joy.

Foreshadowing?

Headed over to Medusa where there was more app f*ckery going on. 5 mins was the reported line, but the queue was half full AND only 1 train ops meant an easy 30-45 minute line so I skipped it. I've seen the reports of a lot of 1 train ops this year and I don't get it. Great Adventure has never been a park to run 1 train during peak season. I've always bitched that Medusa usually runs 3 trains which is unnecessary and results in getting baked on the brake run for 5 minutes. Now we're down to one. Is it a requirement to run an odd number of trains here or something? 

Hit up Mine Train next which was also running one train, though with a much shorter line just on the stairs. In 30 years I don't think I've ever seen 1 train ops on this. I know I'm not a local and not there every day, but something about this just feels off to me. Anyway, got the magic seat (back row of the front car) and was treated to the typical fare of being thrown all around on the ridiculous transitions and then being launched to the moon on the best airtime hill at Great Adventure. This thing is way more insane than it has any right to be.

Made our way across the park, stopping at the saloon in Golden Kingdom for a drink (and enjoying those nice rocking chairs for way longer than I needed to) and checking out Dream Street which really looked fantastic. I have to give the park credit that it looks better than it has in years. I just don't understand why ops are suddenly falling off when that's been their one strong point all these years.

Checked out Rave Mountain for the first time (since they decided they didn't feel like doing it last year) which was interesting I guess. A quick 2-3 train wait anyway.

This won't get fixed in our lifetimes lol.

Nitro was about a 25 minute wait including a quick breakdown and a couple test runs. Always weird riding it in the summer when it absolutely hails through the course. But it's weird not flying over a frozen tundra instead. Soon. Two trains ops here and typical lightning fast Nitro dispatches.

Finished up with Batman which was a walk on with two trains (so again, wtf is up with Medusa) and was batshit crazy as usual. 

On the way out we tried doing some shopping for some 50th anniversary merchandise and we were quite disappointed at the lack of said merchandise. There were a few shirts left in the tent on Dream Street but almost all small/medium and a few XXL. I was really looking forward to picking up a couple shirts, hopefully they'll restock later this year. The stores up front had absolutely nothing.

Oh boy I bet that new 50th anniversary coaster is going to be amazing! Oh.

We'll just pretend you're not there for now.

Hopefully be back in November for the true start of Great Adventure season!

[prozach626]

18 hours ago, Zand said:

Well in that case, I'm sure there will be many others who aren't paying enough attention (like me apparently) that will be in for quite the surprise if they show up with a day ticket during fright fest.

Things seem to be getting overly complex. It's almost bait and switch.

[Zand]

3 hours ago, prozach626 said:

Things seem to be getting overly complex. It's almost bait and switch.

I think a lot of people would actually welcome the change to separate gate considering the type of crowd and how big of a crowd f(r)ight fest usually brings in. They just need to be more up front about the change so people actually know. And make sure the upcharge is actually worth it (I have high expectations that they will make the haunts more Cedar Fair-esque and not try to keep getting away with the pitiful things they've been doing for years).

[Zand]

I lifted this off Facebook. The Batmobile was replaced by a Maserati to advertise some show coming to Max. 

I personally think they're out of their minds. Not that they're advertising, but that they put a Maserati inside a 3 foot tall fence where there is a 99.9% chance it will get vandalized or broken into.

[Satans Hockey]

2 hours ago, Zand said:

I lifted this off Facebook. The Batmobile was replaced by a Maserati to advertise some show coming to Max. 

I personally think they're out of their minds. Not that they're advertising, but that they put a Maserati inside a 3 foot tall fence where there is a 99.9% chance it will get vandalized or broken into.

It's Batman related at least, it's for the new series on max the Penguin with Colin Farrell who played him in that last Batman movie. The Maserati is his car... 

https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/the-best-baddie-cars-in-film

[Zand]

1 hour ago, Satans Hockey said:

It's Batman related at least, it's for the new series on max the Penguin with Colin Farrell who played him in that last Batman movie. The Maserati is his car... 

https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/the-best-baddie-cars-in-film

I just think it's crazy to put a Maserati inside a 3 foot tall fence at Great Adventure and not expect it to get vandalized

[thepoint4life23]

Depending on the year of that car they depreciate a lot. Not that great of a car. 

[abovethesink]

I don't think anyone has ever bought a Maserati because of thoughts on depreciation. 

[prozach626]

It's safer there than it is in California.

[Zand]

Per the app, Log Flume has reopened. 

If they're going to debut the Flume the week before Labor Day, perhaps they can give us a sneak preview of the Flash in December?

[DannySixFlags]

On 7/12/2024 at 10:11 AM, prozach626 said:

Casting of stones by the 21-year-old who talks to theme park characters. ??? Woah...

The satire "wtf" was half in response to your random insertion of a story and half of a statement I'd never heard before:

Chill on the coffee.

I am fucking AUTISTIC, okay?? I know they aren't real. I don't drink coffee.

[prozach626]

Holy shit chill. Why are you responding to my posts from July?

[abovethesink]

There is a lot of confidence in various theme park nerd communities that Kingda Ka and Green Lantern are gone at the end of the year. Not only that, but that the park isn't going to announce it either.

I can't say I would be shocked about either of their removals, but to do both together quietly is eye brow raising. Green Lantern could be snuck off from a lineup as big as SFGA's, but Kingda Ka? This leads me to believe that they are waiting on good news to annouce in the pairing. The rides do butt up against one another and run along the parking lot. All I am saying is that there is going to be a lot of backlash for sneaking Kingda Ka off in the middle of the night, if they are, and from a PR perspective, Fury Northeast would do a lot of good to undo that damage. 

[willh51]

It'll be sad and very disappointing to lose Kingda Ka and Green Lantern period, much less without a conversation.  I think the Top Spin will probably be gone, too.  I agree with the above poster, unless Great Adventure announces something like a giga, massive multi-launch, huge wooden coaster, etc., you're going to see a lot of ticked off folks.  

Ka is pretty legendary in the greater New York/Philly area.  People are very familiar with it; probably more so than any other coaster except Nitro or Toro.  It's expensive, I get it.  They run a business.  But damn, I did not expect these hydraulic coasters to start falling off so soon.  I remember riding Ka in it's second season when both stations and all four trains were in use.  These are strange times for the coaster community.

[prozach626]

8 hours ago, abovethesink said:

All I am saying is that there is going to be a lot of backlash for sneaking Kingda Ka off in the middle of the night

Probably not enough to matter in the long run.

SF now knows exactly how much money they can save by not operating the ride after dragster has been down for so long. The first year of it being SBNO probably saved them a ton of money with no loss at the gate. CP took the gamble and lost in the short term. They may not be willing to do it. If they close Ka, it will make TTD even more unique again.

SFGadv has received plenty over the years to offset these a rough ride and a maintenance headache. I wouldn't feel sorry for any of the guests. Taking something like Fury away from CW would be a much greater loss.

I'm sure there will be a replacement. Parks like MM, KI, CP, AFGAdv always come out smelling like roses.

[Zand]

I'll be there Sunday. Was already planning on it before this hullabaloo came up. I much preferred TTD over Kingda Ka but with that gone, the prospect that we may not have any hydraulic launched stratas left after Sunday is pretty sad.

This whole situation is just so bizarre though.

[SteveStL]

17 hours ago, prozach626 said:

Probably not enough to matter in the long run.

SF now knows exactly how much money they can save by not operating the ride after dragster has been down for so long. The first year of it being SBNO probably saved them a ton of money with no loss at the gate. CP took the gamble and lost in the short term. They may not be willing to do it. If they close Ka, it will make TTD even more unique again.

SFGadv has received plenty over the years to offset these a rough ride and a maintenance headache. I wouldn't feel sorry for any of the guests. Taking something like Fury away from CW would be a much greater loss.

I'm sure there will be a replacement. Parks like MM, KI, CP, AFGAdv always come out smelling like roses.

Ka is coming to SFSTL, I can feel it in my gut!  

Instead of your typical Trains however, they will use the Horses from our SBNO Carousel.   This explains why it hasn't opened in the last 5 years, this was on the Books.

[prozach626]

Steve, I believe that actually may be more realistic than just, "we're still working on filling, sanding, and painting." One is way more of a reasonable excuse than the other.

[YoshiFan]

If it is true, I'll miss Kingda Ka. I became an enthusiast towards the end of 2004 and was following the construction of the coaster. I thought it was amazing that the world's tallest and fastest coaster was going to be less than an hour away from me. It wasn't my favorite ride in the park but the launch was unlike anything else I had experienced. I may even be more disappointed about Zumanjaro likely being removed too. Of all the drop towers I have ridden, it's easily my favorite.