SilverArrow
Certified Ride Geek
So, as some of you know already Daviddoc and I did a roadtrip in June (around the time lots of others ont he forum were doing similar kind of trips) around the east coast of america. We covered a pretty big area (2500+k miles) and I gained 137 new creds as I hadn't done anything that we did before. We did so much it's going to be hard to do a proper trip report so I'm just going to see how this pans out. It might end up like a list of coaster opinions or more of a travelogue, i'm not sure. I'm going to add to it in separate posts so you'll get more added as time goes on.
So without further ado,
Six Flags Great Adventure
My first six flags park! woo finally. There is so much at this park and we visited 3 times over three days (we had passes). Even just reviewing this park seems like a mammoth task! What a view you get when you drive in, so many coasters!
El Toro - My first cred of the trip and what a ride!! This was like nothing else i'd done, that first drop is something else! We got so many rides on this over the 3 days I lost count of how many times we did it, certainly a top rate coaster! My only complaint would be that it can get a little abusive near the end after many re-rides but I appreciate the intenseness so I'll let it off for that.
Kingda ka- I had put this off onto the final visit (partly due to having just come off of the plane on the first day and it being down half of the second) partly due to being slightly nervous of this one. For those who came on the ghosterforce trip know, I had (note HAD) a bit of a fear of launch coasters which Taron cured but I still was slightly nervous of doing the tallest and one of the fastest and most thrilling coasters on the planet! I'm sure lots of people have been a bit nervous to ride KK because, it is quite a beast of a ride! Finally got my butt on it and oh my goodness what a ride! We did a few rides and wow what a cred to get! I was chuffed with myself and actually loved it!
Zumanjaro- I was so hyped from riding kk that we decided that checking off the world's tallest drop tower was no mean feat (daviddoc had already done both). I don't usually do drop towers just because they're a bit scary (scared of heights a little) and aren't usually my kind of thrill, but here I was locked into the seat of the world's tallest, rising fast above the park. Oh well I though, yolo! It was walk-on and we were the only people on our gondola thing so no time for second thoughts! hahah It was a bit high but I wasn't nearly as scared as I thought I would be (I had sworn against doing this ride well before coming on the trip) and I survived so I was pretty proud of myself! I had also driven to the park on this day for the first time in the US so I had completed the trifecta of awesomeness on our third day!
Batman (Invert) - WHAT HAPPENED HERE?? Ok so batman just looked like a normal B&M invert, I'd done the batman layout before in Madrid bla bla. This this was pulling ridiculous forces!! It was as if they had greased up the wheels or something it was running so so fast! This was faster and more intense than any other B&M invert I'd ever done and we both came off gobsmacked. I could feel all the blood rushing to my feet and it got pretty uncomfortable! No wonder no one was queuing for the back. We didn't try it but I can't imagine what it would have been like. Is it normally like this???
Cyborg- we got on this on the member/passholder day and it was pretty much as weird as it looks. It wasn't as intense as a top spin or top scan but I expect it will freak out non-enthusiasts who aren't used to riding weird rides. We finished the cycle and then got stuck in the air for about 10 minutes while it failed to park. Luckily we were in the shade and in a relatively comfortable position. The ride then closed after that for a bit so I don't know how tricky this thing will be to maintain. I'm not sure whether they were running it at full speed (or even if it has speed settings). At a faster speed I think people might find it a bit gross, not sure. It was weird.
Rest of the creds
Green lantern really hurt my legs. I felt like all of the blood was going to them and they were about to burst or something, yuck. Nitro was great and has really good views, not my favourite B&M hyper but up there with the better ones, you get some nice views over the lake. Another ride that gives you views over a lake, or would if you ever stopped long enough upright is the joker. This was horrid!! I hated it so much! Bizzaroo and superman were fine, the pretzel loop on superman didn't feel as bad as Manta's which was nice. Skull mountain back row is great, the arrow mine train felt like it had square wheels. The dark knight ride had a horrible car horn that they blasted at you which was unpleasant but nothing else to report about that ride and the kiddie creds really.
Other stuff
The safari is a must-do. It lasts quite a while so I expect some coaster geeks have avoided it but if you like animals at all you'll enjoy it. It's informative, relaxing and in the shade in a breeze if, like us you had very hot weather!. We also watched the sea lion show which was decent and also in the shade! Obviously I had to try a larson looper.....and I'm going to say it...it wasn't that bad. I'm a fan of looping starships (well I like bgt's one) so this had a similar feel. Yes, it's not a cred but it was a decent flat. I'm a fan of cable cars and the great adventure one is fab! You get a great overview of the park and it saves you a lot of walking as the park is big! We also did the parachute jump which is another must-do because it's based off coney island's defunct one and I believe it may be the only operating one of that style. We probably did some other stuff but those are the memorable things that come to mind.
Here is a picture from the cable car because why not-you've seen all the classic photos before.
So without further ado,
Six Flags Great Adventure
My first six flags park! woo finally. There is so much at this park and we visited 3 times over three days (we had passes). Even just reviewing this park seems like a mammoth task! What a view you get when you drive in, so many coasters!
El Toro - My first cred of the trip and what a ride!! This was like nothing else i'd done, that first drop is something else! We got so many rides on this over the 3 days I lost count of how many times we did it, certainly a top rate coaster! My only complaint would be that it can get a little abusive near the end after many re-rides but I appreciate the intenseness so I'll let it off for that.
Kingda ka- I had put this off onto the final visit (partly due to having just come off of the plane on the first day and it being down half of the second) partly due to being slightly nervous of this one. For those who came on the ghosterforce trip know, I had (note HAD) a bit of a fear of launch coasters which Taron cured but I still was slightly nervous of doing the tallest and one of the fastest and most thrilling coasters on the planet! I'm sure lots of people have been a bit nervous to ride KK because, it is quite a beast of a ride! Finally got my butt on it and oh my goodness what a ride! We did a few rides and wow what a cred to get! I was chuffed with myself and actually loved it!
Zumanjaro- I was so hyped from riding kk that we decided that checking off the world's tallest drop tower was no mean feat (daviddoc had already done both). I don't usually do drop towers just because they're a bit scary (scared of heights a little) and aren't usually my kind of thrill, but here I was locked into the seat of the world's tallest, rising fast above the park. Oh well I though, yolo! It was walk-on and we were the only people on our gondola thing so no time for second thoughts! hahah It was a bit high but I wasn't nearly as scared as I thought I would be (I had sworn against doing this ride well before coming on the trip) and I survived so I was pretty proud of myself! I had also driven to the park on this day for the first time in the US so I had completed the trifecta of awesomeness on our third day!
Batman (Invert) - WHAT HAPPENED HERE?? Ok so batman just looked like a normal B&M invert, I'd done the batman layout before in Madrid bla bla. This this was pulling ridiculous forces!! It was as if they had greased up the wheels or something it was running so so fast! This was faster and more intense than any other B&M invert I'd ever done and we both came off gobsmacked. I could feel all the blood rushing to my feet and it got pretty uncomfortable! No wonder no one was queuing for the back. We didn't try it but I can't imagine what it would have been like. Is it normally like this???
Cyborg- we got on this on the member/passholder day and it was pretty much as weird as it looks. It wasn't as intense as a top spin or top scan but I expect it will freak out non-enthusiasts who aren't used to riding weird rides. We finished the cycle and then got stuck in the air for about 10 minutes while it failed to park. Luckily we were in the shade and in a relatively comfortable position. The ride then closed after that for a bit so I don't know how tricky this thing will be to maintain. I'm not sure whether they were running it at full speed (or even if it has speed settings). At a faster speed I think people might find it a bit gross, not sure. It was weird.
Rest of the creds
Green lantern really hurt my legs. I felt like all of the blood was going to them and they were about to burst or something, yuck. Nitro was great and has really good views, not my favourite B&M hyper but up there with the better ones, you get some nice views over the lake. Another ride that gives you views over a lake, or would if you ever stopped long enough upright is the joker. This was horrid!! I hated it so much! Bizzaroo and superman were fine, the pretzel loop on superman didn't feel as bad as Manta's which was nice. Skull mountain back row is great, the arrow mine train felt like it had square wheels. The dark knight ride had a horrible car horn that they blasted at you which was unpleasant but nothing else to report about that ride and the kiddie creds really.
Other stuff
The safari is a must-do. It lasts quite a while so I expect some coaster geeks have avoided it but if you like animals at all you'll enjoy it. It's informative, relaxing and in the shade in a breeze if, like us you had very hot weather!. We also watched the sea lion show which was decent and also in the shade! Obviously I had to try a larson looper.....and I'm going to say it...it wasn't that bad. I'm a fan of looping starships (well I like bgt's one) so this had a similar feel. Yes, it's not a cred but it was a decent flat. I'm a fan of cable cars and the great adventure one is fab! You get a great overview of the park and it saves you a lot of walking as the park is big! We also did the parachute jump which is another must-do because it's based off coney island's defunct one and I believe it may be the only operating one of that style. We probably did some other stuff but those are the memorable things that come to mind.
Here is a picture from the cable car because why not-you've seen all the classic photos before.
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