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SFGAdv Opening Day = Thorpe Opening Day - Not Quite

ECG

East Coast(er) General
Staff member
Administrator
Six Flags Great Adventure opened it's doors for the 2009 season this past Saturday and you can bet your bottom dollar we would be there to ride the first El Toro train out of the station. Little did we know the amount of patience it would take to continue the tradition we started four years ago.

We arrived at the park at 10am sharp knowing full well & good that even though the front gates were open, nobody would be allowed anywhere near the rides for another half hour. As we approached said gates our first glimpse of Bizarro greeted us in the form of a frickin' huge sign smack dab in the middle of the main walkway.
BizarroSign.jpg
After a 20 minute wait & numerous warnings from the security guard to make sure we stay behind him as he walks us to the rides ("running will not be tolerated & could result in expulsion from the park"), they dropped the ropes as the throng of delighted guests followed the guys in the neon glowing school crossing guard harnesses like a herd of brainless cows. Moo....moo!
As the bovines continued their way towards Kingda Ka we split off towards the Tea Cups followed by a few 17-year-old coaster geeks that immediately caught on to our devious plans. Within seconds we were on the opposite side of the carousel & out of sight of the school crossing guards. We did a fast step past the Tea Cups & cut through the neighboring Arcade. Once through the game room we made a bee line straight toward our favorite woodie. Minutes later we were within striking distance of the Wild Bull, only to find the gate closed with the ride manager, Mike, awaiting our arrival. Mike was quick to inform us that although they were on site the night before putting the coaster through it's paces well past midnight, the ride was down due to the weather.
It was about 54 degrees out with partly cloudy skies, but the wind gusts were up around the 50mph mark.
By this time the school crossing guards & the heard of moo cows arrived. Mike explained to everyone present that the coaster would be down for at least an hour as they needed the time to heat the wheels of the train & then make numerous test runs to get the track warmed up. They would then have to unload the water dummies & wipe off the train before the ride could open. Within seconds the bovines all disappeared leaving no one but the three of us & the coaster geeks left in the queue.
And so we waited & chatted & waited some more & chatted some more. We watched as across the park we saw Nitro begin it's tests runs. With 50mph wind gusts there was no way that they were going to open Kingda Ka, even though they were testing the train when we first arrived at the park (not a single train had tested since). We continued to wait & chat as we watched GASM begin testing, but by now Nitro had stopped running.
Finally after an hour El Toro's train poked it's head out of the station. Yeay!
ElTorotest.jpg
With the roar of the Intamin farts reverberating throughout the park, it didn't take long for the moo cows to begin to gather. Even though the maintenance crew had spent an hour heating the wheels, I have never seen the bull circle round the track so slowly. Hell, the train barely cleared the 'insane ejector hill' the first three go rounds. It was clear that it would be at least another hour of testing before there would be any chance of the tracks warming up enough to ride the coaster.
After about a dozen test runs the long line that had formed began to clear out again as the moo cows grew weary of watching the bull go round & round without getting any gratification.
It was about this time that we learned from a couple that had moved up in the line near us that Nitro had valleyed during testing and was still down. Superman Ultimate Flight was also down due to mechanical trouble & Skull Mountain was closed as well. After 45 minutes of testing GASM was loading passengers and we watched the calfs & heffers screaming on Runaway Mine Train for the past 90 minutes. The only other coaster running was the Dark Knight, so we felt great about our decision to just sit tight & wait it out at El Toro.
After just over two hours are patience was rewarded as the gates opened & we headed straight to our favorite seats at the back of the train.
ElToro1sttrain.jpg
The ride on the wild bull was the slowest I've ever experienced as the 'insane ejector hill' felt more like the second hill with plenty of pull, but no ejector. But it felt great to just be back on my favorite coaster & it really made me realize just how much I miss riding this baby during the off-season. After we pulled back into the station we flew out of our seats & ran back around into the queue, which was still so short that it barely extended out of the station.
Within minutes we were back in position to ride in the last car, this time taking the second & third to the last row.
ACElTorotrain.jpg
By now the train had made a half dozen fully loaded runs & was running much faster. We actually got some ejector on the insane hill & I left the train completely satisfied. I also managed to snap a quick photo of Bizarro from the top of the lift hill.
BizarroOverview.jpg
It was nearing 2pm and we were getting hungry, so it was off to Nathans for some dogs & fries. After chowing down we noticed that Superman was testing again, so we heading down the midway toward the flyer. We sat basking in the sun for another half hour, watching one group of moo cows after another stroll up & then turn away as they came to realize that the coaster was down. Bored with watching the bovines, we headed off to the opposite side of the park to ride Batman (since we heard a security guard tell one of the groups of heffers that Nitro would not be running today). Along the way we ran into Mr. Six, who was performing a little dance for the crowd that had gathered.
MrSix.jpg
We also ran into my buddy Paul, the Marketing Director for the park, who was totally bummed that we were having sunny 60 degree weather, yet half the coasters were down due to the high winds.
After a quick spin on Batman, which was walk-on, we realized that the wife hadn't ridden the Dark Knight last year, so we went over to everybody's least favorite indoor mouse coaster.
She liked the preride show & the mask effect TV monitor in the queue line, but didn't think much of the coaster itself & even less of the half assed themeing.
DarkKnightMasks.jpg

We thought we would give El Toro another go since it was the only coaster we really like that was running, but when we arrived the queue was well over an hour wait (since they only had one train operational) and we decided to just head for home. Of course we couldn't leave the park without a closer look at Medusa's transformation.
Bizarro.jpg
It looked like they still have quite a bit of work to do over the next month & a half. (I wonder what will replace that shabby debris awning that covered the dug up portion of the walkway?)
BizarroEntrance.jpg
I also hope that they going to make some sort of improvements to the station - a new paint job at least.
BizarroStation.jpg
On the way out of Frontierland I stopped to snap a couple of photos. I almost got all three coasters in this one.
MineTrain.jpg
This is one of my favorite views in the park, of course.
ElToro.jpg
This was the first time we were leaving the park having ridden only four coasters.
ACBye.jpg
Even Snoo Snoo, UC & I did better last year when the entire park was down for over five hours during a thunder storm. Hell, if I'm not mistaken even Ben, Jake, Andy & Mike got more rides in that day and they left before the park reopened after the storm.
At least we have Easter Sunday & May 1st (Coasters After Dark night) when the park is only open to season pass holders, to make up for the poor start to the season.

My apologies to Jer for leaving my phone at home & not being able to meet up. I wish we had gone ahead & gotten in line for El Toro that last time, as I'm sure that's when you were there. Hopefully we can get together on Easter Sunday or at Coasters After Dark.
 

Snoo

The Legend
Poor kid.

Well.. at least you got to ride Toro. In the end, getting in one ride makes the whole trip worth it.
 

ECG

East Coast(er) General
Staff member
Administrator
Yeah. I got two & it was worth it, but then it's not like it's much of a trip. :wink:
It also kept our family tradition of being the first to ride El Toro every season intact.
 

furie

SBOPD
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
It was still a better count than most people managed at Thorpe opening day :p

If you add in quality of rides, then you're 1005% up :p

It's also better than I've managed at Alton this year too (Two visits, 0 coasters :lol: ).
 

Jer

Strata Poster
It's okay Jerry, maybe easter.

Aslong as we're talking about crappy days @ six flags I too had a pretty crappy that day. I don't have pictures however. 4 rides in 4hrs, just aweful.
 

Antinos

Slut for Spinners
Even though you didn't get on much, it must have felt great to get back to the park. I can't wait for May 16th, as well as August!

Your photos of Bizarro look nice too.
 
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