Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread

Why can't I lie with non-zippered pockets? Will they check?

 

 

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You probably could but if something comes out and hits someone in the face or you simply just lose something that's on you.

Why can't I lie with non-zippered pockets? Will they check?

Yesterday they were kind of checking. If the security officer thought he saw something in your pocket you were getting a pat down.

Great Adventure is seriously lacking in hotels around the park. Literally. Closest lodging is maybe 20 miles away? Hopefully Michaellynn or someone else very familiar with Jackson can chime in on that. The park is more or less in the middle of nowhere.

Nope, the park is definitely within the middle of f**king nowhere. The first three options on the lodging section of the park's website are pretty solid options, you can get to the park from each within 15 minutes easily. The other ones (Tinton Falls, Toms River) are way too far away to be viable options. Staying in either East Windsor or Freehold opens up your food options significantly.

Staying If you choose to stay in Freehold at the Radisson, you've got Moore's Tavern, Escondidos, Longhorn Steakhouse, Olive Garden, more options down Route 9, and a bunch of restaurants at the Freehold Raceway Mall up the street, all within a five minute drive from the hotel. East Windsor gives you a trade-off - although it may an easier focal point for you travel-wise (it's literally exit 8 on the NJ Turnpike), you don't have as many restaurants to choose from, but there are still plenty good ones, including the Americana Diner on Route 130, which I highly recommend if you'd like a Jersey diner experience.

Because even if they don't check, the stuff in your pockets is still subject to Newton's laws of motion. The real question is why you would think it's a good idea to take stuff on a drop tower in an unzippered pocket.

Thanks, but I've been on more than enough rides with stuff in my pockets, including Lex, and everything at this park over 20 years excluding Zum. It's never been an issue. The l o c k e r s should be free.

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Hey,

I'll be at Great Adventure for two days in early July, possibly on a flash pass. Is there anything I should hit up? How should I plan my days?

...Is there anything I should hit up?

Everything. Literally everything. Including Dark Knight, and Skull Mountain.

Don't pass on Houdini, Zum, the parachutes ride, Skull Mountain, the skyway, or the safari (time permitting). Do Justice League and the SkyScreamer if you haven't been on one of those before.

The Ferris wheel offers some nice views that are worth it if the line is short enough. I personally did this over SkyScreamer.

You know... The more I think about it, the more I HATE the idea of the park adding VR to Zumanjaro. . . Seriously... the views from that ride are amazing. Why in the gay hell would you want to strap a phone to your face, and ruin the amazing views? #SMH

You know... The more I think about it, the more I HATE the idea of the park adding VR to Zumanjaro. . . Seriously... the views from that ride are amazing. Why in the gay hell would you want to strap a phone to your face, and ruin the amazing views? #SMH

You know... The more I think about it, the more I HATE the idea of the park adding VR to Zumanjaro. . . Seriously... the views from that ride are amazing. Why in the gay hell would you want to strap a phone to your face, and ruin the amazing views? #SMH

...You know it' not required, right?

Hey I'm hitting up Six Flags Great Adventure in late June, probably the 26th or 27th. I have a few questions about Thai park. 1. Should I buy fast passes? If so, which ones should I buy? 2. In what general order should I ride everything (including the flats as well) 3. Where and when should I eat?? That's pretty much it, I would really appreciate your time to answer if you visit SFGA often

Don't pass on Houdini, Zum, the parachutes ride, Skull Mountain, the skyway, or the safari (time permitting). Do Justice League and the SkyScreamer if you haven't been on one of those before.

 

The Ferris wheel offers some nice views that are worth it if the line is short enough. I personally did this over SkyScreamer.

I have the New England SS credit. Should I skip the Gr. Adv. SS?

My brother and I are planning on going to Great Adventure on Sunday (30 April) and was wondering if getting FlashPass is worth it. Any tips, advice? I was last there about 3-4 years ago.

 

Also, with the weather slated to be in the low 60s for highs and winds around 10-15mph, will Ka and Zoomanjaro be open? Thanks.

Hey,

 

I'll be at Great Adventure for two days in early July, possibly on a flash pass. Is there anything I should hit up? How should I plan my days?

Hey I'm hitting up Six Flags Great Adventure in late June, probably the 26th or 27th. I have a few questions about Thai park. 1. Should I buy fast passes? If so, which ones should I buy? 2. In what general order should I ride everything (including the flats as well) 3. Where and when should I eat?? That's pretty much it, I would really appreciate your time to answer if you visit SFGA often

OK so it seems we've once again arrived at that time of the year where we have a bunch of randoms showing up in here asking about potential trips they have coming up and craving our experienced advice and recommendations. Well, I've been sick in bed and dead to the world for three days straight, it's Monday morning and I'm just about getting ready to get off my ass and venture back out onto this great filthy metropolis I lovingly reside in. As I sit here and allow my morning coffee to invade my veins and kickstart my brain, I'll attempt to alleviate some of your concerns and hopefully help to ensure that you have not a two or five Flags day... Nah bro we want you firing on all Flags for your expected epic excursion at our fantastically fine funspace.

First off, Flash Pass. I've said it a thousand times on here and I'll say it again: If this is your one and only visit to this park and you want to make the most out of your day (especially if you are coming from far away) - BUDGET FOR AT LEAST A GOLD FP. Why anyone would plan to travel a healthy distance to visit one of the planets few "elite" parks and not make every attempt to have an amazing day is beyond me. If you want to travel a far distance to stand around in queues with sweaty obnoxious Jersey teenagers all day long, fine by me. But just be aware I personally think you're an idiot. The park is huge and has many excellent rides including an enormous and awesome Safari, the tallest coaster anywhere, the best woodie anywhere, not to mention 5 B&Ms, a handful of decent family coasters, an S&S freespin, the tallest drop tower, a great Vekoma madhouse, an awesome Star Flyer, etc etc.

Are you getting excited?!?!?

You should be.

You may wind up visiting on a day where the weather is maybe looking not-so-great, in effect keeping crowds low, so therefore DO NOT PURCHASE A FLASH PASS IN ADVANCE. What a freakin waste of money. Be patient young child, just wait til the day you arrive, check out the scene, if wait times are generally horrible right away, or if there seems to be a bunch of buses in the parking lot, or if you notice dozens of groups of smelly teenagers in matching T-shirts clogging up the queues, calmly make your way back to Main Street and buy yourself a gold (or Platinum) Flash Pass. Then go enjoy the hell out of your day while the suckers stand around in lines.

Next - what should you hit up!?!? EVERYTHING!! As mentioned we have some great rides. The locals are spoiled b*tches and will whine that we need a giga, an RMC, etc etc etc but f*ck them. Our park could use a handful of improvements, but overall its a great place to call my homepark.

If you have even a passing interest in the Safari go there first. Expect long waits otherwise. Plan for an hour or so for the ride. It's a great one.

We also have The Bull. If this is your main concern (and it should be) and you're feeling like an eager early bird, and show up before opening, you could run right to El Toro for some early morning ERT since people are stupid and generally do not run right to the best ride in the park. Seriously, if you head here first and its running you can sometimes enjoy 30-60 minutes of a completely deserted ride because people are always more concerned with other things in the park. Dummies. Anyways, the magic seat is second from the last row. Sit there.

Or. You can save all that airtime for later, and do the sensible thing like go to Kingda Ka first (it will get lines, its an Intamin rocket coaster so it will break down at some point) and then hit Zumanjaro right after (since it has dumb VR on it this year no doubt resulting in longer waits). Sit in the front row on Ka, especially if its early and the wait is short. If you do Toro earlier or later make sure to stop over at Bizarro and Mine Train both nearby. Bizarro is extremely underrated and one of the best inverting coasters in the park - best in front of back rows. The mine train is solid, in a great setting with a couple nice airtime moments. Back row all the way.

Superman: Ultimate Flight is NOT a must ride unless you haven't ridden a B&M flyer, in which case head there right after Ka/Zum. Front (for the view) or back (for the forces) row. For whatever reason the average park goer just LOVES them some Ultimate Flight and the loading is slow as molasses, so this too gets and keeps a line all day. Smart to just get it out of the way early. If you hate life you can hit Green Lantern right from here. It's terrible but hey, don't let me stop ya.

Our newest hotness, at least until Justice League opens in a month, is Joker, and contrary to what the haters say, it's a great ride, so you'll probably want to get that out of the way earlier as well if possible. While you are in the area be sure to hit Houdini. It's not life altering but it's fun. Also in the area, and also not a must ride is Skyscreamer. If you haven't ridden one of these definitely make some time for it. Especially if you have a fear of heights. if you're a whore the Crazy Train is next to Joker and can be fun.

Obviously you'll want to get some laps in on two of our best B&Ms so make your way over to the mess of yellow track over on the west side of the park to get you some Nitro and Batman. Both are fantastic, do not skip. Nitro back row, right hand side. Batman front row all the way, its worth the extra wait. Just nearby is Skull Mountain. Sit in the last row and only the last row. Dark Knight is OK but it's a mouse in a box with half broken themeing. The pre-show is cool but you're not missing anything if you skip this ride. Obviously if you're after credits you'll ride this so you might as well stop in the kiddie area by Nitro and ride the tiniest and somehow worst coaster in the park, Road Runner Railway. But go ahead, we won't judge.

Our water rides are a bit of a joke. Sawmill Log Flume is actually pretty great but the park ruins it with their horrific grouping policy of putting as many people as humanly possible, strangers or not, balls-to-ass in each log guaranteeing an awkward and uncomfortable experience. Congo Rapids is fine but you don't get all that wet and it's rather short and uneventful. I never go to Hurricane Harbor but have only ever heard horror stories like hour+ lines for slides, excessive line jumping, and poo in the lazy river.

Where to eat? For some reason every other stand in the park has those giant turkey legs so you could buy one of those and walk around sucking on it like a heathen.

Otherwise, I'm a fan of Macho Nacho. Lots of people hate it but I have yet to have a bad meal from here. There are two locations, both conveniently next to two of our best rides - Batman, and El Toro. Both on the dining pass. Not on the dining pass (therefore no waits) is Panda Express next to Skull Mountain. Pretty good for park food. Best of the West (on the plan, across from Mine Train/next to Log Flume) used to be great, its been a while since I've been there and I'm hearing its been terrible lately. Then there's lot of generic places like Granny's, Garden State Grill, Boardwalk Steak and Fries, that are all on the dining plan and will be busy no matter what. You could pack a cooler and stop for some hoagies @ Wawa outside the park and then dip out to the parking lot for your lunch. Much cheaper and Wawa is usually great. You could also stock your cooler with some beers for some proper tailgating as well. Just sayin.

Drinking in the park? I'm not sure anyone asked about this but IDGAF. We luckily have a bunch of places to imbibe the day away - Skybar (near Skyscreamer), Liberty Pub (next to Flash Pass), both Macho Nachos, Best of the West, Main Street Pub, and a few others I think I'm forgetting will get you some suds. The park surprisingly has a decent selection of beers (some craft beers among the Bud and Coors) and you can get mixed drinks at Skybar and the Macho Nachos (maragaritas, daiquiris).

Now, as a local I get to visit this awesome park a bunch throughout the year and honestly it's been so long since I've been to the park on a really busy day that strategy has kinda gone out the window. I usually try to hit Toro (or Nitro if it's HITP) first and then hit whatever from there. Your best bet is to budget for a flash pass and do whatever you feel like. With moderate crowds a gold pass gets the job done, on a packed day splurge on the platinum. It might seem expensive but after a day of skipping right passed hour+ queues and doing whatever the hell you want all day you'll realize how worth it it was. If it turns out you don't need to buy a FP then you have extra money to spend on whatever the hell you like to spend your cash on.

In any case, go forth and have fun. Let us know how it all works out for ya!

Edit: Coasterbill will scorn me if I don't mention the Skyride so at some point during the day take it. Great views of the entire park and makes a great shorcut across the park when it doesn't have a line.

Edit: Boldikus beat me to it, lol

Hey I'm hitting up Six Flags Great Adventure in late June, probably the 26th or 27th. I have a few questions about Thai park. 1. Should I buy fast passes?

Probably, but don't buy them until you get to the park and see if they'll be necessary.

If so, which ones should I buy?

Everything is available on the base level Flash Pass, so either that or Gold would be sufficient.

2. In what general order should I ride everything (including the flats as well)

This totally depends on what you want to do and is impossible to answer without more information. There's no single preferred method for approaching this park and the two things that can throw everything off are Zumanjaro VR and Safari Off Road Adventure.

Personally if I were you and wanted to ride the coasters in one day I'd rope drop Joker because it's an unreliable piece of sh*t and it could easily close and be down for the day, then hit Kingda Ka and ride it in the front, then hit Zumanjaro if it doesn't have a line.

After that it really doesn't matter what order you go in. I'd be tempted to hit Superman next because it always has a line and it's on the way out of Golden Kingdom but if you've never been here you'll probably be itching to ride El Toro at that point so you can do that too. Honestly though, every other coaster will probably have manageable wait times.

I guess if I had to give you an order I'd say...

1) Joker

2) Kingda Ka (wait for the front)

3) Zumanjaro if it has a short wait

4) Superman

5) Green Lantern if you insist, if you don't care about credits then skip it because it blows

6) Parachutes if there's no line because you're right there and it''s a really unique ride

7) El Toro

8) Bizarro

9) Choo Choo

10) Safari Off Road Adventure (This ride can easily have a 60 - 90 minute wait and the ride experience can take up to 60-90 minutes if you get off at Camp Aventura so only ride this if it's a major priority for you or if you're making good time. If you get off Choo Choo and it's early afternoon then go for it. If not then skip this. Note that the ride line closes early to ensure that all trucks get back before dusk).

11) Skyway

12) Skull Mountain

13) Nitro

14) Batman

15) Dark Knight

Then just ride anything you missed (I suggest hitting Houdini and maybe the Log Flume but beware the stupid grouping policy), whore some family coasters if that's your thing or re-ride El Toro.

Where and when should I eat??

I swear by Panda Express but some people like Macho Nacho and Best of the West.

I was at the park this Saturday and the ops on Kingda Ka were god awful. They ran one train on Ka and then waited for Zumanjaro to go. One train on Ka is not nearly enough time for them to unload and load Zumanjaro since they launched the train when the catch cars were about halfway down the tower so we would just wait there for a good 2 minutes while a second train was already on the launch track for them to run Zumanjaro. Bizarro was also stacking 3 trains and had 3-5 minute dispatches since the ride op felt the need to make bad jokes all the time.

Batman was running amazingly well and was incredibly forceful. Nitro was running pretty good as well.

Great park details Boldikus, you ought to make that into a brochure. Or bookmark the page and link it every freaking time someone asks about the park.

Help With Meal Passes - if anyone here gets an email about the Lunch + Snack meal deal anytime in the future, can you please send me the link for it ASAP? We are trying to get them this year again but SF is retarded and only sends them out randomly, refusing to sell them even if you call the offices while the sale is going on. We did not receive the email this year and they said the lunch deal should be on sale again sometime this spring/summer. Hoping someone on here reads this and can make it happen. Usually it's sent out in an email on a Friday and expires Sunday night. Thank you!!

Great park details Boldikus, you ought to make that into a brochure. Or bookmark the page and link it every freaking time someone asks about the park.

That's the plan.

Anyone know if i should get a flash pass? I'm going June 1. (ITS A JOKE). As someone who has been looking into the flash pass, Boldikus's post was very helpful (and hilarious).

If you hate life you can hit Green Lantern right from here. It's terrible but hey, don't let me stop ya.

Don't mind if I do. I'm ready for the nostalgic memories of my youth on Mantis and Iron Wolf to be shattered to bits.

As somebody who has been to GAdv a few times already, and only hasn't been on Zum and Joker (and JL, obviously), when I go again later this year, I think I'll hit up Joker first, then Ka (front row only), then Zum (no VR). However, after that, I'm inclined to just marathon the shizz out of El Toro for a while, honestly! As much as I loved JL at SF:GAm, having done it already there, and not counting credits (I know, I know...) for things like that, I'm disinclined to wait in the ungodly line that it will no doubt have. Joker being a coaster (not looking to start a fight over that one either - and not really sure why there even IS a fight over that one), that's why I'll be hitting that one up at GAdv, even though I will have likely already ridden it at GAm earlier this year.

Unless my GAdv newbie sister who is going with me really protests, I'm envisioning solo spins on Bizarro, Batman, and Skull Mountain (if the line isn't too bad), and maybe just two or three laps on Nitro. I will strongly advise against even bothering with Superman (she's ridden it at GAm anyway, and the line is always brutal), and Green Lantern (for obvious reasons.) Doing this should allow us maximum El Toro time, which is really my end-game for this trip!

If you hate life you can hit Green Lantern right from here. It's terrible but hey, don't let me stop ya.

I so wish I would have known this prior to Friday. Green Lantern?? Jesus H. Coasters!! Ouch!!!

LOL have you never been in this thread before?

LOL have you never been in this thread before?

I guess I haven't paid enough attention!! Lesson learned. My head still hurts from that ride!

Hm, Friday May 26...

10:30am to 10:00pm

Suspicious. Is this a trap?

Honestly this park is such a crapshoot with crowds that I don't even know what to tell you. Crowd levels are hard to predict at any park but at Great Adventure it's almost impossible.

We went on opening weekend and every ride had a 5 minute wait with nice weather, we went a few weeks later and most rides were pushing an hour and 2 weeks ago on a Sunday with picture perfect weather every ride was a walk on except Safari. Honestly, it's the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. I wouldn't be shocked if every major ride had a 5 minute wait, I wouldn't be shocked if every major ride had a 45 to 90 minute wait. I give up trying to predict crowd levels at this park.

^ For real. At this point the only reliable method to avoid crowds is to steer clear of any BAFF days.