After having a fantastic Easter Sunday at SFGAdv (Bunny Day PTR here) we could hardly wait to get back for some nighttime riding at the Coasters After Dark event. Again the park was closed to everyone other than season pass holders, but on this Friday the skies opened up and it rained all day.
With it pouring outside and the wife home early from work to attend the event, we decided to take care of some kitchen errands instead of hitting the road toward Jackson, NJ. We went shopping for the back splash tile and by the time we found the one we wanted (3rd store of the day) the rain was subsiding. With the skies clearing, the kid & I decided we would take a chance and head south for the park.
The usual hour drive took an extra 30 minutes due to the Friday evening traffic heading out of NYC and we arrived at the park around 7:30pm (2 & 1/2 hours after opening). There was still a slight drizzle in the air, but the deserted parking lot put a smile on our faces.
As we headed to the entrance we could see that neither Kingda Ka nor El Toro were running, but at least Superman was testing. So with that side of the park basically in-op, we headed straight for Nitro. I don't think we saw more that three guests along the way & by the time we arrived at the floater all rain had ceased, so we walked right on to the back row for some airtime funness.
Next we hit up Batman for some front seat action & this time we were the only ones on the train. We hadn't seen a soul on our way over from Nitro & there was no one waiting as we departed the train, nor was there anyone within sight as we exited the ride.
Since the ride ops told us that Ka & El Toro were still both closed, we walked over to the Dark Knight's empty queue. After a 5 minute wait the doors opened & we watched the ride pre-show all by ourselves. It was starting to feel a bit weird without anyone around when the other doors opened & we headed up the ramp to the station, only to finally see about a half dozen people ahead of us. By the time we got to the top of the ramp the other guests were already gone off into the darkness. We took our turn on the trim-less dark mouse & by the time we exited the ride there was no one in sight again.
I should have taken some photos of the emptiness, but we were immediately off to the other side of the park to see what was up. With the Ferris Wheel dark & no other lights around, photos probably wouldn't have come out anyway. Along the way we passed the new Cyber Cafe, where we got a glimpse of two or three other guests inside.
I though we would at least see a good few people at the Midway, but again there was hardly a soul in sight.
By now it was 8pm & night was upon us.
We could see Kingda Ka was testing & hear El Toro doing the same in the distance, so we headed for Superman.
I can't begin to describe the eerie feeling we had from being so alone in the park after dark. Even though the queues are well lit, it's kind of creepy with no one else around.
The train had finished it's testing & was just waiting for us to arrive.
We had to wait a few minutes for some other riders to arrive before pulling out of the station for a front row flight.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eao1rpqEoBA[/youtube]
Since it looked like they were still testing Kingda Ka we hit up GASM next.
The kid took the back seat & I took the front, without a soul in between.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6rOi3NUo6U[/youtube]
Next it was on to Kingda Ka and our first glimpse of any real amount of people, but even this bad boy was walk-on for any seat other than the front row.
I couldn't believe they actually had two trains running with so few people in the park, so we only had to wait for the third train to get our front row ride.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTa1IKrl9Ck[/youtube]
After the blast off into the night we headed over to El Toro & a walk-on front row ride on the Wild Bull!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMGKkYt6KjU[/youtube]
With the queue empty they were allowing riders to remain seated for another go round as long as no one was waiting to get into your row. Since there was someone waiting for the front row by the time we pulled into the station, we headed for the back of the train. We took a second to the last row ride followed by two more back row rides before heading back over to Nitro so that I could take an night time POV.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLyreYJfW7I[/youtube]
That was the last ride of the night as it was now 10pm & closing time. All-in-all it was a great night & we managed to get in quite a few rides in the 2+ hours we spent at the park.
Ride count:
El Toro 4x
Nitro 2x
Batman, Dark Night, Superman, GASM & Ka 1x
That's it for now. I'll be back in a little while to post our visit to Dorney Park's Opening Day.
With it pouring outside and the wife home early from work to attend the event, we decided to take care of some kitchen errands instead of hitting the road toward Jackson, NJ. We went shopping for the back splash tile and by the time we found the one we wanted (3rd store of the day) the rain was subsiding. With the skies clearing, the kid & I decided we would take a chance and head south for the park.
The usual hour drive took an extra 30 minutes due to the Friday evening traffic heading out of NYC and we arrived at the park around 7:30pm (2 & 1/2 hours after opening). There was still a slight drizzle in the air, but the deserted parking lot put a smile on our faces.
As we headed to the entrance we could see that neither Kingda Ka nor El Toro were running, but at least Superman was testing. So with that side of the park basically in-op, we headed straight for Nitro. I don't think we saw more that three guests along the way & by the time we arrived at the floater all rain had ceased, so we walked right on to the back row for some airtime funness.
Next we hit up Batman for some front seat action & this time we were the only ones on the train. We hadn't seen a soul on our way over from Nitro & there was no one waiting as we departed the train, nor was there anyone within sight as we exited the ride.
Since the ride ops told us that Ka & El Toro were still both closed, we walked over to the Dark Knight's empty queue. After a 5 minute wait the doors opened & we watched the ride pre-show all by ourselves. It was starting to feel a bit weird without anyone around when the other doors opened & we headed up the ramp to the station, only to finally see about a half dozen people ahead of us. By the time we got to the top of the ramp the other guests were already gone off into the darkness. We took our turn on the trim-less dark mouse & by the time we exited the ride there was no one in sight again.
I should have taken some photos of the emptiness, but we were immediately off to the other side of the park to see what was up. With the Ferris Wheel dark & no other lights around, photos probably wouldn't have come out anyway. Along the way we passed the new Cyber Cafe, where we got a glimpse of two or three other guests inside.
I though we would at least see a good few people at the Midway, but again there was hardly a soul in sight.
By now it was 8pm & night was upon us.
We could see Kingda Ka was testing & hear El Toro doing the same in the distance, so we headed for Superman.
I can't begin to describe the eerie feeling we had from being so alone in the park after dark. Even though the queues are well lit, it's kind of creepy with no one else around.
The train had finished it's testing & was just waiting for us to arrive.
We had to wait a few minutes for some other riders to arrive before pulling out of the station for a front row flight.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eao1rpqEoBA[/youtube]
Since it looked like they were still testing Kingda Ka we hit up GASM next.
The kid took the back seat & I took the front, without a soul in between.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6rOi3NUo6U[/youtube]
Next it was on to Kingda Ka and our first glimpse of any real amount of people, but even this bad boy was walk-on for any seat other than the front row.
I couldn't believe they actually had two trains running with so few people in the park, so we only had to wait for the third train to get our front row ride.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTa1IKrl9Ck[/youtube]
After the blast off into the night we headed over to El Toro & a walk-on front row ride on the Wild Bull!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMGKkYt6KjU[/youtube]
With the queue empty they were allowing riders to remain seated for another go round as long as no one was waiting to get into your row. Since there was someone waiting for the front row by the time we pulled into the station, we headed for the back of the train. We took a second to the last row ride followed by two more back row rides before heading back over to Nitro so that I could take an night time POV.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLyreYJfW7I[/youtube]
That was the last ride of the night as it was now 10pm & closing time. All-in-all it was a great night & we managed to get in quite a few rides in the 2+ hours we spent at the park.
Ride count:
El Toro 4x
Nitro 2x
Batman, Dark Night, Superman, GASM & Ka 1x
That's it for now. I'll be back in a little while to post our visit to Dorney Park's Opening Day.
