JJLehto
Hyper Poster
On a cloudy/misty day I trekked to Six Flags Great Adventure with a college friend of mine.
Despite concern that it would be loaded thanks to the holiday, or that we might get rained out, the day was dry and must've driven the crowds away. At times the park was like a ghost town!
We hit up Kingda Ka first, wait 12 minutes.
It's still a crazy short ride, but after a wait like that it was tough to complain. The brake hill had more airtime than I recall. I also had the start of grey out by the launch end.
Then over to Superman, which was even more underwhelming than I recall. The pretzel is still fun as hell but wow, I think it was the least fun coaster even behind Skull Mountain and the Runway Train.
Also I really am perplexed by the hideous load times. We had a 10 minute wait, but it was well over 30 by the time we hit the brake run.
Next was the Green Lantern, another 10 minute wait. By leaving a bit of slack I made it through pretty much sore free, and it was actually more intense than I remembered.
We then went made our way to El Toro and rode twice in a row. Once from front row, 30 minutes, and the other time just a few minutes. What a truly insane ride! Such forceful ejector airtime, unrelenting pace, and that wicked 90 degree figure 8 at the end. Truly one of the most intense coasters out there.
After a quick lunch we made our way to the other side of the park, hitting Skull Mountain along the way.
Still a fun little ride! Especially for a walk on, it's worth the cred if you havn't ridden.
We walked onto Dark Knight. I knew it was a dark wild mouse ride, so I expected a wild lil coaster and was let down how mild it was. The turns pulled instead of thrashing and drops weren't too sudden. It also wasn't very dark
The theming was kind of nice though, especially for Six Flags. When we're used to parking lot rides and half assed paint jobs this ride seemed like Disney World.
At least it was something I've never done before, so I got to add a cred.
Then Batman the Ride twice. Wait was 5 minutes each time, and that was for front row. After all these years and coasters, Batman the Ride still packs quite a punch. Such a forceful, compact ride.
Next was Nitro, twice in a row. Wait was 10 minutes each, and while it's not as intense as it seemed back in the day, it's still a really fun ride. Great pace, layout, lots of strong floater (and very sustained) and a helix which caused very minor grey out!
We then swung back around to hit Rolling Thunder and the Runaway Train. Rolling Thunder was still fun, though it was quite a rough ride and had minor air at best. Runaway Train has some speed and a couple of moments that pop you. Better than Trailblazer at Hershey, but less than Cedar Creek Mine Ride.
Then to Bizarro which was a walk on. The ride is so smooth but still forceful enough. Not the best coaster out there but with no line can't complain!
We finished with 2 more rides on El Toro, each one seemed faster and more brutal than the last, and finally Kingda Ka, front row. 15 minute wait, it was unbelievable. The ride is so much better in the front, when moving at 128 mph the difference from 2nd row to 1st is extreme. I had to close my eyes and felt my cheeks flapping.
We tempted the fates with a 3rd ride on KK but it suffered some major technical difficulties and we called it a day. A great outing for my last park of the 2012 season.
Despite concern that it would be loaded thanks to the holiday, or that we might get rained out, the day was dry and must've driven the crowds away. At times the park was like a ghost town!
We hit up Kingda Ka first, wait 12 minutes.
It's still a crazy short ride, but after a wait like that it was tough to complain. The brake hill had more airtime than I recall. I also had the start of grey out by the launch end.
Then over to Superman, which was even more underwhelming than I recall. The pretzel is still fun as hell but wow, I think it was the least fun coaster even behind Skull Mountain and the Runway Train.
Also I really am perplexed by the hideous load times. We had a 10 minute wait, but it was well over 30 by the time we hit the brake run.
Next was the Green Lantern, another 10 minute wait. By leaving a bit of slack I made it through pretty much sore free, and it was actually more intense than I remembered.
We then went made our way to El Toro and rode twice in a row. Once from front row, 30 minutes, and the other time just a few minutes. What a truly insane ride! Such forceful ejector airtime, unrelenting pace, and that wicked 90 degree figure 8 at the end. Truly one of the most intense coasters out there.
After a quick lunch we made our way to the other side of the park, hitting Skull Mountain along the way.
Still a fun little ride! Especially for a walk on, it's worth the cred if you havn't ridden.
We walked onto Dark Knight. I knew it was a dark wild mouse ride, so I expected a wild lil coaster and was let down how mild it was. The turns pulled instead of thrashing and drops weren't too sudden. It also wasn't very dark
The theming was kind of nice though, especially for Six Flags. When we're used to parking lot rides and half assed paint jobs this ride seemed like Disney World. At least it was something I've never done before, so I got to add a cred.
Then Batman the Ride twice. Wait was 5 minutes each time, and that was for front row. After all these years and coasters, Batman the Ride still packs quite a punch. Such a forceful, compact ride.
Next was Nitro, twice in a row. Wait was 10 minutes each, and while it's not as intense as it seemed back in the day, it's still a really fun ride. Great pace, layout, lots of strong floater (and very sustained) and a helix which caused very minor grey out!
We then swung back around to hit Rolling Thunder and the Runaway Train. Rolling Thunder was still fun, though it was quite a rough ride and had minor air at best. Runaway Train has some speed and a couple of moments that pop you. Better than Trailblazer at Hershey, but less than Cedar Creek Mine Ride.
Then to Bizarro which was a walk on. The ride is so smooth but still forceful enough. Not the best coaster out there but with no line can't complain!
We finished with 2 more rides on El Toro, each one seemed faster and more brutal than the last, and finally Kingda Ka, front row. 15 minute wait, it was unbelievable. The ride is so much better in the front, when moving at 128 mph the difference from 2nd row to 1st is extreme. I had to close my eyes and felt my cheeks flapping.
We tempted the fates with a 3rd ride on KK but it suffered some major technical difficulties and we called it a day. A great outing for my last park of the 2012 season.
