Six Flags Great Adventure, May 25th
So after four weeks of exhausting traveling and too many new creds to count, I finally have an opportunity to continue writing this report.
Six Flags Great Adventure was a super highly anticipated park for me on this trip, and well, I’ll just say it did not disappoint at all. We spent two days at the park on the trip, one right at the beginning and one towards the end. This is the report of the first day, I won’t be writing about the second day because it consisted of mainly just rerides. The only thing new we did that day was the Safari, which was really enjoyable although it took forever to get on.
We got to the park right around opening, not quite at rope drop, but maybe 30 minutes after. We weren’t too worried about crowds, as it was a weekday with school in the area still in session and the weather forecasted for bad weather (not bad enough to close creds though).
*Forgot to take picture of park entrance*
We went straight for the star of the show, a woodie commonly regarded as one of the best in the world.
They have a super strict no loose article policy, allowing absolutely nothing even in your pockets so you have to buy lockers. I got away with having my phone, keys and wallet tucked in a cargo pocket, but someone in my party didn't get as lucky and had to leave the line to go put their stuff in a locker. No big deal, the line was very short.
They were running two trains on it at the beginning of the day and took one off later in the day when crowds were almost none existent. One train had Kia Soul advertisements all over the train…. Not really fitting for this ride if I say so. First ride, we went straight to the back row. I was beyond pumped for this ride. Lets freaking go.
AND WOW, WHAT AN INCREDIBLE RIDE. The first drop is absolutely bonkers and is one of, if not my favorite first drop I have ever experienced. It just absolutely flings you over in the back row. The airtime hills give some of the absolute best airtime I have ever experienced, and gives great head choppers when it goes under itself. The Rolling Thunder hill is a religious experience and every coaster experience needs to experience it. At first, we only got one ride on it, because with the potential bad weather coming in, we had cred anxiety and wanted to get everything else done before getting rerides. I did get plenty more rides later in different rows, which I will talk about later on.
El Diablo had a cool plaza but we weren’t interested in a cookie cutter flat ride. El Toro went down soon after our first ride, and was INOP for about 30 minutes.
It was a super foggy day, and Ka was constantly covered. It looked fantastic, more on that later!
Bizarro was up next. I always thought this looked like one of the best B&M floorless coasters out there. I loved the entrance, with the big sign and walking straight under the cobra roll. This thing is freaking loud and it sounds awesome, absolutely love the old school Beemer roar.
They were running three trains, even though there were no crowds. Went to front row.
And wow, that was an awesome ride! The forces were great, the smoothness was there, and the theming, although cheap, worked surprisingly well. The dive loop and zero g roll were my favorite elements on this one, both provided great snap. The cobra roll was fine, along with the interlocking corkscrews. Later in the trip on our second visit, I was able to get a back row ride, and there is a bit of rattle and shakiness back there, nothing too unbearable though. This and SKC are really close for my favorite floorless.
Up next was their mine train cred. It wasn’t anything special, but there was quite a bit of whiplash and a very good pop of ejector towards the end.
This is the typical basic bitch money shot for Great Adventure.
Up next was their newest ride, Joker. I really enjoyed Batman the Ride at SFFT, so I was looking forward to getting this one.
This one wasn’t any different than the SFFT version. It was fun, but nothing remarkable. These things feel like flat rides more than roller coasters and are guilty pleasure rides to me. I just wish they weren’t so cookie cutter and Six Flags would stop putting them everywhere.
Kiddie cred time!
Holy mother of god that train is so damn long!!!!! Sitting in the back row, the front is already cresting the lift hill right as you and the back row are just getting on the lift!
Skull Mountain brought back (actually a lot of the rides) huge nostalgic memories from my Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 days, so I was excited to ride it just for that reason….
Sorry about this blurred image. It wasn’t anything fantastic but it was a fun little ride. I like Runaway Mountain at Over Texas way more though.
I’m a whore. They let us get on this one even with no kid.
I rode so many clones of this model of kiddie credit on the trip….
Up next we headed over to Movie Town for the big, sexy hyper coaster.
But first I had to take these cool shots of Batman….
I was super pumped for Nitro.
Hype for the Hyper.
As you can see in this picture, they were running 3 trains, when they very well could have gotten away with 2, IF NOT ONE. Crowds were non existent.
I had heard mixed things about this one…. Some people love it, some people think it’s super mediocre. I have to say, I love it! The airtime was great, there are lots of airtime hills, and it is very forceful in the helix before the mid course. After many rides, I determined that I think I like front just a bit better, because the airtime is more ejector up there, while in the back it is definitely more floater. Great coaster, got tons of laps on it.
Another Six Flags park, another BTR clone. Luckily they’re actually really fun and enjoyable rides.
These things are legit intense as crap and are always super fun.
One of the guys in our group was at 149 after BTR and he wanted to make Ka his 150th… So we skipped Dark Knight for the moment and headed to Ka so he could make this his big 150th instead of a wild mouse in a box.
If you haven’t noticed from most of the pictures in this report so far…. It was an extremely foggy day…. And most of Ka’s tower was almost half covered throughout the day, at times, the ENTIRE TOWER was covered… and they still were running it. Yeah, it was super cool.
Ok first off…. The new loose articles policy on this and Toro is really really ****ing annoying. I can kinda understand where they are coming from, but the execution wasn’t good. If you are going to make us put stuff in a locker… Make the damn lockers free. It’s super annoying that you have to spend MORE money (only a dollar, but still) on a locker, when zipper and cargo pockets will literally hold the items just fine. We were with a few park locals, and they stated on crowded days, they don’t have enough lockers sometimes and there is literally a line to get lockers….. C’mon man.
Now that I have that off my chest…. Lets talk about this ride. This had easily the longest queue of the day, around 30 minutes while everything else was walk on. We went front row first ride…. Holy ****ing crap that’s intense. Up front, it is not rough, and the launch is so damn wicked fast. In any other row…. rough and not fun. Rode it a total of 3 times, only once in the front. So what do I have to say on the inevitable TTD vs. KK comparison? Ka is better up front IMO, but Dragster beats it anywhere else. Overall, I like Dragster more, because it has lap bars and the theming is way cooler and the execution is done better. Oh, and riding this thing in heavy fog is bat**** insane. It was so damn cool getting to the top and looking over and not seeing anything, just fog.
Zumanjaro was closed the first time we tried, but we eventually came back and tried again, it was open. We rode it non VR and VR, each once. The view, was fantastic when there is no fog (we hit this park twice on the trip, the 2nd time was a sunny day) and is really really high you could say. The drop though, felt mediocre, I didn’t get the air I was expecting. Also, the VR on this thing sucks, the “drop” in the VR world wasn’t in synch with the real life drop, so it didn’t line up and I wasn’t able to brace for the sudden stop…. ouch.
Another shot of the fog.
Up next, the 3rd and final Superman Ultimate Flight clone for me. I always enjoyed these rides so I was excited to finally get back on one.
The queues on these things are super long and just keep going and going, but I love how they have the cutouts of villians and heros in the Superman comics.
It was fun as usual, the highlight being the big pretzel loop.
The parking lot was so empty. Most of the guests in the park were obnoxious school group kids.
Up next, the stand up. Oh boy, here we go. FYI that is NOT me in that picture, just some GP who felt the need to sit there for a good half hour doing who knows what.
Me being a pilot, I thought the theming was really cool, they have this jet on display and the station looks like an aircraft hanging… If there is any other aviation enthusiasts reading this, do you know what type of plane this is, if it’s even real? I saw it and had no idea what it is, I wasn’t even sure if it was a real aircraft or was just some fake and fictional model.
She was a pretty girl and was fun to look at, and this thing sounds fantastic too. Super loud and the roar is more high pitched and aggressive sounding than some of the low, deep roars that other Beemers have.
Ka from the station.
We went front row because we wanted as little pain as possible.
Yeah, it wasn’t too fun. It really hurts your legs and this is a headbanger for sure. Is it terrible though? Not necessarily, but it isn’t good either. It was pretty forceful though, I just had no desire to ride it again.
We did Houdini’s Great Escape also, I walked in with absolutely no clue as to what the ride was… and wow, what a cool experience! I’m not going to spoil anything for those who have not ridden it yet, but basically it’s kind of a giant optical illusion. Once you ride, you’ll know exactly what I am talking about.
Went back into Movie Town to get the Dark Knight credit. Nothing special, but it was a fun little ride. I knew what to expect already riding the one at GAm.
Headed over to Nitro for a few more re rides after.
No queues is a thing of beauty.
We headed over to Toro to finish up the day marathoning it. We got a total of 11 rides in over a 1 hour period. That does wonders for the soul, I highly highly recommend it. I discovered in the front row, the ejector air is stronger but doesn’t last as long, while in the back, it is longer and more sustained but isn’t the air isn’t as forceful and violent. It is absolutely fantastic in both seats though. The ride is rough in a few spots, most notably before the turnaround. However though, that doesn’t affect how I rank this ride. This thing is absolutely incredible, and gets my top spot. The airtime is so insane, the drop is probably the best drop I have ever experienced. I absolutely love how you can literally hear the unstop wheels on the two airtime hills following the drop. Sounds bat**** crazy and scares the crap out of people nearby. I am sad because I may not be out here for a while and won’t be able to experience it as much as I’d like.
Some of our stuff was still in a locker by Ka, so we went over there after closing to get it back, and I got this shot. That is Kingda Ka right there, absolutely covered by fog.
What the hell is this Six Flags? How GP can you get?
Overall, I absolutely loved this park. It definitely feels like a Six Flags park, but their lineup is fantastic. We got plenty and plenty of rides in on everything over the two days we were there, thanks to low crowds. Also, I came out with a new #1, which is always a good thing….
Final coaster lap count for the two days-
El Toro- 16
Bizarro- 3
Runaway Mine Train- 2
The Joker- 2
Harley Quinn- 2
Skull Mountain- 1
Roadrunner kiddie cred- 1
Nitro- 7
Batman the Ride- 2
Kingda Ka- 3
Superman- 2
Green Lantern- 2
Dark Knight- 1
Up next- One of, if not the prettiest park I’ve ever been to,
Busch Gardens Williamsburg! Stay tuned…