Photo TR: Mini New Hotness/East Coast Trip

[Gnome]

I've always thought Dorney as whole looked like a great park. While they don't have any particularly stand out rides from a global top 10 perspective, I think the overall offerings are very well rounded and provides a good variety. If Dorney was my home park, I wouldn't complain one bit.

[Meteornotes]

To me, it's just so generic. There's not a stand out attraction, and there isn't anything there that makes me say "oh, I have to go ride that this summer". I get that the water park is the main draw, so they don't really need to put much effort into the ride side. But it would be nice to see a new signature attraction.

 

Deena worked at Dorney when she was in college, and she hasn't been back since, so one of these years we will make a trip up there for the day, just so she can see all the changes.

 

dt

[YoshiFan]

Even with Dorney only 45 minutes away from me, without Wildwater Kingdom being open I rarely feel like visiting in the spring and fall. Talon, Steel Force and Possessed are usually the only coasters I feel like I need to ride more than once per trip. Usually I ride Hydra and Thunderhawk once per trip and other than a handful of non coaster rides I try to get in every time I am usually done with the ride side in 2 to 3 hours, compared to a park like Great Adventure where I spent 6 1/2 hours at last week and still wanted to keep riding coasters. I skip Wild Mouse besides the horrible operations, the brakes are painful and even if Stinger was open, it has too much headbanging for me to go to it more than once or twice a season.

[cfc]

I've always thought Dorney as whole looked like a great park. While they don't have any particularly stand out rides from a global top 10 perspective, I think the overall offerings are very well rounded and provides a good variety. If Dorney was my home park, I wouldn't complain one bit.

 

The park itself is quite clean and attractive; but, as others have said, it's just so "generic." I'm not saying that people won't enjoy themselves there, only that there's nothing about the park that "stands out" (especially now that Laser is gone).

 

Now it they were to install a Mega Lite, or something like Lightning Run . . .

[Jim S.]

I rode Stinger last year and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it DIDN'T live up to the horror stories that people tell about Invertigos. It was a very intense ride, but I've had more headbanging on a non-inverted Boomerang.

 

Hydra, I just don't know what its problem is. For years now, it's had this terrible rattle throughout the course, like the wheels are running on gravel! On a hot day when I'm not properly hydrated, it's given me more of a headache than anything I've ever been on except for Mantis. On a good day though, I love the way it's constantly twisting and following the terrain. I like to ride the back row so I can watch the train in front of me. And the JoJo roll performs the vital function of emptying loose items out of the train before it gets up to speed! (Look underneath it sometime.)

 

Thunderhawk has one moment of violent ejector airtime that makes it worthwhile despite the complete suckiness of the rest of the ride! You just have to know it's coming so you don't crack your ribs...

[cfc]

I think Invertigos as a group are OK rides (better than Boomerangs), but they are rather unreliable (as shown by the current state of Stinger).

[DJeXeL]

I rode Stinger last year and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it DIDN'T live up to the horror stories that people tell about Invertigos. It was a very intense ride, but I've had more headbanging on a non-inverted Boomerang.

 

Consider yourself lucky you got to ride it.

 

^That's definitely a shame. How has Invertigo's reliability been @ KI this season?

[cfc]

^Well, it wasn't working the day TPR was there. But I got that credit back in 2009.

[DJeXeL]

^I got the credit back in '07 but it didn't open until mid-afternoon. Nothing has changed I see. As you were Invertigo, as you were.

[rcjp]

I know a lot of enthusiasts don't rank Talon too high on their lists, but I really find it enjoyable. Yeah, I admit, it isn't super forceful/intense like a BMTR clone, but I thought it was a pretty solid coaster when I rode it. I'd put it right up there with Afterburn and Raptor. The zero-g roll is better than Raptor's IMHO, and I LOVE that big slanted helix directly after the immelman. Not to mention that ground-hugging turn near the wing-over has some really good forces. I thought it was pretty solid.

 

I haven't ridden Hydra since it first opened, but I thought it was pretty good as well. The mojo jojo roll was a pretty cool prelift bit, and the zero-g roll is honestly the ONLY time I feel like I experienced an absolute ZERO-g. It felt like I was stationary, and the vehicle rotated around me. I can't remember which seat I experience this in, as it was a while back. But i thought the layout was interesting/unique, plus the straight drop is a nice bonus, none of that swoopy drop waste-of-airtime bullshit. I can't speak for how it's aged though, but in memory it seemed like a fun little coaster. I'm still SUPER PISSED they did away with Laser though, as it was my first ever experience with going grey on a coaster.

 

Thanks for the Photo TR, it was really nice seeing how the park has changed/stayed the same since my last visit. Great photos by the way!

I also really like talon. That turn after the corkscrew is awesome.

I also agree that hydra is one of the few coasters where I actually got zero g during the zero g. As to the rest of the layout, I find it fun. Nice first drop and I like how (especially in the front) you seem to enter the last corkscrew pretty hard after a moment of floater.

[King]

I don't think anyone has mentioned that you have to push the gates open. I agree that Dorney lacks character.

[coasterbill]

I never understood the magnetic gate thing at Dorney. It doesn't have any impact on operations or anything but it's definitely strange.

[rcjp]

^It is kind of odd. The only park I've been to with those.

[PrismTx]

I rode Invertigo during the TPR KI Banshee Bash about 4 pm or so I think, must have gotten it up and running later in the day or something. First time riding it since 2012 I believe, not a big fan of it either, once a year or every other year is definitely fine with me lol.

[cfc]

^I saw that it was down earlier in the day, and never heard about it running later; then again, I've ridden it, so it wasn't on my priority list. As a group, Invertigos are better than Boomerangs but not as good as Giant Inverted Boomerangs (which, from what I've seen, are even less reliable).

[cfc]

Day 10: A Much Better "Six Flags Day" at Great Adventure

 

Six Flags Great Adventure would be worth visiting for El Toro, its world-class Intamin wooden coaster, alone, but the park also offers the most well-rounded coaster collection on the East Coast. Any park would be happy to feature rides like Nitro (the park's B&M Hyper), Batman (a clone, but still one of the best inverts B&M ever developed), and even Kingda Ka (I'm not a fan, but it is the tallest coaster in the world, which gives it some cachet).

 

The park even ups the ante over other parks in the Six Flags chain with the very good Safari Offroad Adventures. This originally started as a "drive yourself" tour of the park's large animal preserve, but was converted into a guided tour, similar to the Kilimanjaro Safaris at Disney's Animal Kingdom. While Great Adventure's safari ride lacks the immersive theming of Disney's, it's still a lot of fun, and the animals can get very close to the ride vehicles. Well, vegetarian animals can, but not carnivores like lions, tigers, and bears--oh my! (OK, who did not see this joke coming?) A bit of trivia: Some of the track for the defunct Great American Scream Machine was repurposed to provide a play structure for the park's monkeys. The safari doesn't include the primates, though, as the park is still working on some way to keep the monkeys from dismantling the ride vehicles. (Yes, the monkeys are very much like some theme-park guests I've encountered.)

 

This visit marked four other firsts for me, in addition to the safari. I picked up a "new" (well, clone) credit with The Dark Knight. I rather like this "mouse in a box" coaster, much as I do the version in Illinois--much more interesting than your standard outdoor wild mouse on a concrete slab. New credit number two was Green Lantern, which turned out to be a better-than-average (as in not painfully bad) B&M stand-up coaster. But even better was that I finally got to ride Houdini's Great Escape. This Vekoma Madhouse, which wasn't operating during my previous visits, is very enjoyable and quite well themed by Six Flags standards. I wish more American parks would install these rides (Disney and Universal could go crazy theming them). Zumanjaro, while not the greatest drop ride I've ever experienced (that would be Blue Fall at Sea Paradise in Japan), is good and offers great views of one of the nicer parts of Jersey. I also rode The Coaster Formerly Known as Medusa (Bizarro), but I don't count this as a "new credit"--the coaster itself, goofy theming aside, seemed better than when I last rode it (less rattly, at least). And, hey, it has fire!

 

Yes, we had a great day at Great Adventure, with a bit of "surprise" ERT on Kingda Ka, a walkback to the new Zumanjaro drop ride (which is a bit of a hike to get to), priority seating for the safari, and nighttime ERT on El Toro. Any visit that ends with night rides on El Toro is great.

 

Let's go in.

Birdemic 2: Six Flags of Fear!

Well, looky at what I see over there in the distance. Yes, I do believe it's some sort of . . . quonset hut! (El Toro's back there, too.)

Do not mess with Dan! He's a member of the Knoebels Swat Team!

The ride that strokes and pleasures Kingda Ka.

I will need both of the documents . . .

. . . if I want to tour Great Adventure's Recycling Center.

OK, the Recycling Center was interesting and all . . .

. . . but how about some early rides on Kingda Ka?

Hey--I can see my house from here! Well, somebody's house. Could be mine. (As you can tell, this photo was taken a little later in the day than the previous one.)

"Welcome to Zumanjaro! Appropriately themed clean underwear is available in the gift shop for a nominal fee."

Great Adventure boasts not only the world's tallest coaster and drop ride, but also the world's shortest wooden coaster.

Zumanjaro is so demure as it peeks from behind the tree.

Actually, they just want you to think you were "soiled from track lubricant," rather than some other source. Thus, what's left of your dignity is preserved.

Intamin cable terror times six!

It looks like two out of three Crouses are very excited.

I thought you were supposed to get these from riding Zumanjaro.

The best view in any Six Flags park.

This ride can be summed up as follows: Whee! Ouch! My knees! Whee! Ouch! My knees!

Welcome to Not Kilamanjaro Safaris--but still very good.

I wonder if I can buy a truck like this one? I could start a cheap airport-shuttle business, which Williamsburg very much needs.

Our guide was great.

"Wha?"

"Sheesh! Could someone keep better track of their kids? Now, if you'll excuse me, gotta go!"

Aw-w-w-w-w . . .

"Where does my head end and my butt begin? I have time to ponder many such weighty questions here." More to come.

Edited October 25, 2014 by cfc

[tarheel1231]

A bit of trivia: Some of the track for the defunct Great American Scream Machine was repurposed to provide a play structure for the park's monkeys.

I don't know why I found this to be funny.......

 

Great report so far!

[cfc]

More animals and nonsense at Great Adventure.

"Looky! I got my own umbrella! I'm special!"

"If you're waiting for me to bury my head in the sand, you're gonna have a long wait."

"Yes, I do, in fact, own the road!"

"Tonight on Moster Chiller Horror Theatre, 'The Amazing Two-headed Zebra Transplant'! Aw-o-o-o-o-o-o!"

"Someone killed Big Red! Let's go find Little Red!" (That's a Disney's Animal Kingdom joke, by the way.)

"Why, hello there! Too bad I'm a vegetarian. I could probably live for months off a chunky enthusiast like you."

Well, time to stop and ask directions.

Oh, man! We're still not anywhere near Kumba Camarron, and we have to make Timbuktu by midnight! (This is a stop during the tour, where they have some small animal exhibits, snacks, and an up-charge zipline.)

"Oh, you're going to Kumba Camaroon? Could you bring me back a pizza? I know a great place there."

The tortoise's natural habitat is an ice-cream-cone box. Bet you didn't know that.

Just in case you want to try feeding giraffes while on a zipline.

Here we see North American Smokers in their native habitat.

Nitro says, "Howdy! I'm over here."

"They won't let me ride El Toro because my horns are too big. What you might call 'ironic.'"

"Hey, I can touch my genitals with my beak! In your face, primates!"

"Gawd! So hammered!"

"Look, dear, here comes the rolling buffet. My goodness, it all looks so good . . . I don't know where to start."

"One of these days, some kid's gonna fall out . . . oh, yeah."

A kangaroo habitat sponsored by an Australian-themed restaurant chain based in Florida. Yeah, I guess it makes sense.

Yoo hoo, emu!

"Do any of you have coffee, or maybe an Excedrin? I have a wicked hangover."

"Kids, this is the result of one night of unprotected sex. One day, you're hopping along, foot loose and fancy free. The next, you got a joey hanging out of your pouch. It can happen to you."

I think this is a great picture of a chain-link fence with some blurry tigers behind it.

"Yay! You all made it back alive!" One more set of photos to come.

[cfc]

A bit of trivia: Some of the track for the defunct Great American Scream Machine was repurposed to provide a play structure for the park's monkeys.

I don't know why I found this to be funny.......

 

Great report so far!

 

Thank you. I think this is the best possible use for GASM.

 

Time to finish our day at Six Flags Great Adventure.

And so they did.

I suffer for my art--not it's your turn.

Please note: This is amazing . . .

. . . and this is mind blowing. Any questions?

And this was surprisingly OK.

Looks like they borrowed the loop from Dominator at Kings Dominion.

I guess the yellow loop has to do with facing your fear, while the green loop is about overcoming it. Call it, "theming."

Oh, that's helpful. (To be fair, the ramp is on the other side of the stairs, but I think they could've done a better job placing this sign.

Yay! After three visits, I finally got a chance to ride the park's Madhouse.

Before . . .

. . . and after.

This is your colon on Takis.

"I ate too many Takis, and look at what happened to me! Learn from my mistake!"

The Batman clones are still among B&M's best inverts.

Plenty of snap--not to mention forces.

Here's to the new credit. Same as the the old credit.

Darkness falls.

El Toro looks both beautiful and ominous.

But before ERT, there is Bizarro.

What can make almost any ride better?

Yes, fire is nice, but square-wheeled wagons rule!

Well, let's not go crazy now.

My god! Giant bug eyes in the night! Boogie, boogie, boogie!

Er, Merry Christmas?

Time for some damned good ERT. It doesn't get much better than El Toro.

"'Night Ka." "'Night Toro." That's all for now.

[Genx24]

Great pics, as always. I love getting a look at GAdv through the eyes of someone who doesn't visit quite often.

[larrygator]

Since they converted Medusa to Bizarro, I never noticed that the park changed to wheels on that wagon to be square until now. No one can theme like Six Flags.

[coasterchitchat]

Since they converted Medusa to Bizarro, I never noticed that the park changed to wheels on that wagon to be square until now. No one can theme like Six Flags.

 

Agreed. Six Flags themes when a new ride opens but then just doesn't maintain the theme afterwards.

 

Nice report from SFGADv Chuck! I really need to come to SFGADv some day.

[larrygator]

^ I consider most of what Six Flags does to be decorating not theming.

[jray21]

Awesome pictures and captions! I had a great time when I last visited the park. Great to see El Toro still being an amazing ride!

[cfc]

^ I consider most of what Six Flags does to be decorating not theming.

 

Yep--that's what they tend to do.