xVicesAndVirtues Posted April 10, 2011 Posted April 10, 2011 As most of us know thanks to the handy calendar at the top of the forum index, Saturday, April 9th, 2011 was opening day at Six Flags Great Adventure! I was happy to start my 2011 season with this park, even if the day kind of felt like a "dress rehersal" for the park... Got to the park around 1PM after some TERRIBLE traffic on the way, to find a promisingly not-so-full parking lot. As soon as you pull into the lot, you really can see how Green Lantern is changing the Great Adventure skyline, while leaving a sad memory gap of the red and white giant that used to be in it's place. So, we got into the park to find it was some kind of Boy Scouts event, so the crowds were a tad heavier than the parking lot suggested at first glance. We immediately headed over to Nitro, to find the line extended around the out-of-station dip, but not quite as far back to go into the switchbacks. The line overall took only about 25 minutes, with a friendly, excited crew dispatching the two trains running today very efficiently. Strangely enough, the third train was nowhere in sight, not even in one of the storage sheds. This would become the theme for the day. I will say, though, that Nitro was running the best I've seen in a while today. I rode in the 8th row and found plenty of airtime to be had, and none of the shuffling that I experienced the last few seasons that really caused it to drop in my rankings. After Nitro, headed over to Batman The Ride, to find another theme of the day, that it was experiencing some downtime. Waited in the queue just outside the station for about 25 minutes while they cycled trains but continued to run into issues. Finally, we just decided to re-visit it later. We then headed over to the giant wheel for some photo opportunities, especially for those of the now greener skyline over in the Boardwalk/Golden Kingdom. Rode the Skyway for the same purpose, but also to get a little closer to El Toro the lazy way. Went over to El Toro, just to find it down for the count like Batman. To our luck, though, Toro being down made us remember that my friend's bag was sitting in a locker that was about to time out over by Nitro, so we immediately took the Skyway back to retrieve it. Since we were in Movietown with the smells of the Character Cafe and several other eateries enticing us, we decided to grab a bite to eat. I got the $8.99 pizza slice/fries deal at Primo's, formerly Papa Johns. I must say...THANK GOD for the end of the cardboard Papa John's frozen garbage they sold for the past couple of years. This new pizza is pretty good and I'd highly recommend it. I mean, it's no Ray's that you'd experience a few dozen miles to the north, but it was definitely great for theme park pizza. Primo's also had some really awesome and enthusiastic employees running it. This would be the most positive theme of the day. I found all the employees attitudes and care for the guest to be on par with what you'd expect at a Universal park. We then headed over to Bizarro, which had a pretty full queue, but it always tends to move quickly. Again, two trains running as efficiently as possible, with the third train M.I.A. Bizarro also ran the best I've seen it run in a few years, if not the best I've ever seen it run. Sadly for me, they strangely chopped the end of the soundtrack after you hit the final brake run, so no more "Bizarro #1!" and "Bizarro, Bizarro, Bizarro!" chant at the end. I always liked that. After Bizarro, we went back over to El Toro. This time, it was up and running, but with only one train, and again, the other train not even there! What the heck? And on top of that, there was a full queue, making the wait time a little over an hour. But, for me, no wait for an Intamin woodie is not worth waiting. As always, El Toro ran like it knows it's the best damn wooden coaster in the country and feels the need to show it off. Amazing drop, tons of awesome airtime, smooth, you know the story. It was getting kind of late, so we decided to head over to what always seems to be my evening coaster, Kingda Ka. Ka was attempting to run three trains today, but it wasn't working out too good. Three lengthy breakdowns while I was in line meant an hour's wait, but at least we got to witness a sweet rollback, which is something I hadn't been fortunate enough to ride on, let alone witness in person. The crew was doing all they could to try and please the crowd, though, which really helped the overall experience. Then, we again attempted to get our Batman ride for the day. Went over there to find a huge line with a one-train operation. We decided to just say screw it for Batman today. To end the night, we headed over to Superman, which ended up being a four-rides-in-a-row deal. No line at all for Superman Ultimate Flight?!? I barely ride this coaster once a year because of the line, so I took what I could get. While it's no Manta, it's definitely a fun little flyer, and everyone loves a good pretzel loop. Overall, it was a really fun day. I'm a pretty big fan of Six Flags Great Adventure and I've never gone earlier than late May, so I'm more than willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for some of the technical difficulties and operations. I can understand that opening day might be difficult and may not run as smoothly as desired. Either way, I'll be back in a month for when Green Lantern opens, I just hope we'll see all the coasters with their additional trains present, if not running. Now, enough text, onto the pictures. Sorry for some of the quality, they were all taken with my iPhone 4. Oh, hey, it's been a minute. ...you're not Ron. The new skyline walking in More Flags, More Arthritis! Nitro needs some love, too! Green Lantern Fort. There are no wooden roller coasters at this park. Only packs of gum. There is something in this picture that does not exist in the state of Massachusetts. Some scenery. I've always loved how nice Runaway Mine Train looks over the water. El Toro's turnaround is also a beautiful element. The boardwalk, now with a new skyline "I'm not too concerned about this new roller coaster. Let me know when there's new grass." Taller than your trees. New perspective from the Superman queue Some station work And finally, the dive loop from Superman's queue ...and a great way to end the night. Thanks for reading!
braztaz Posted April 10, 2011 Posted April 10, 2011 Great photos! I can definitely see the GP thinking Green Lantern and Kingda Ka are the same thing from far away...but Green Lantern looks amazing anyway! Can't wait until it opens up.
thrillrider Posted April 10, 2011 Posted April 10, 2011 Great pictures. I plan on hitting up this park again later this year. Btw, the park does have a wooden coaster called rolling thunder.
xVicesAndVirtues Posted April 10, 2011 Author Posted April 10, 2011 Thanks for the replies, guys! ^The wooden coasters thing was something I heard a member of the GP saying when I was in line for Nitro. Also, after a rollback on Kingda Ka, a bunch of girls started FLIPPING out saying "dat sh*t is dangerous, we leavin'!", even though there's signs in the queue stating how rollbacks are a normal occurrence.
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